The Movie Mind

Movie Mind Says:  Add to Bottom of Netflix Delivery List

If You Like This You Should Watch:  Sideways, Duets
Better Than:  Valentine’s Day
Worse Than:  Little Miss Sunshine

Starring: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Julianne Moore

It’s become apparent that Steve Carell has been able to develop his niche on the big screen. He’s essentially the male version of Jennifer Anniston, only much funnier. Give him credit for being willing to step into the Hollywood void of a charismatic male actor who can make a pretty damn good living playing the victim. He does it like no one we’ve seen before. The problem is, it’s starting to get a little irritating. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I still love the guy. I think he’s hilarious. But I’m hoping that sometime in the near future he decides to play something other than the wounded, naïve, woe-is-me character he’s been recycling since The Office. With that being said, Crazy, Stupid, Love is not a bad flick. It’s somewhere in between decent and good. There are quite a few very funny parts and a couple of plot twists that aren’t entirely obvious from the get-go. For that, it’s worth you renting and getting a couple of giggles for the night. Unfortunately there are a couple ginormous errors in the film that I can’t get over and thus prevent it from becoming more than a run of the mill romantic comedy.

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Movie Mind Says:  Buy It (since it’s no longer in theaters)

If You Like This You Should Watch:  Sideways, Duets 
Better Than:  Michael Clayton
Worse Than:  Little Miss Sunshine

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Alex Shaffer

For the most part, The Movie Mind tries to avoid the lame, stale, clichéd play on the movie title that most cheeseball critics throw out there. At some point you may have read from some hack, “This film was “The Perfect Storm” of drama, intrigue, and excitement.” How clever. Unfortunately, I’m having a hard time avoiding that cliché here because simply put, watching this film is a Win Win scenario for all viewers. Want a sports movie? It has some decent elements of competition without the typical Hollywood sports movie ending that we all usually see coming from miles away. Do you like family and real life drama? There’s plenty of real world relationship dynamics and family conflict that most people can relate to. It’s not too goody-two-shoes, yet it still has some life lessons and positive messages without being too overbearing. Overall, this is just one of those rare well-written, well-acted, original stories that flies under the radar because it’s not one of your typical big budget remakes.

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Movie Mind Says:  Buy It

If You Like This You Should Watch:  Knocked Up, Adventureland
Better Than:  Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Grown Ups
Worse Than:  The Hangover, Wedding Crashers

Starring: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne

From now on I refuse to hear any of The Movie Mind’s female readers ever complain about crass dude-humor because Bridesmaids was full of it…and I couldn’t have enjoyed it more if I tried! I’ve heard many comparisons saying this was the female version of The Hangover. I couldn’t disagree more. Bridesmaids had much more of a Swingers – like feel to it thanks to the genuine buddy-comedy components and believable characters. What Swingers was to Vaughn and Favraeu, Bridesmaids will be to Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph. Mark my words, this is one that you’ll want to watch over and over, as there’s sure to be jokes you missed from laughing so hard at the ones before. Aside from the last 30 minutes of the film and portrayal of the male characters, there’s nothing “chick-flick” about it. This is straight-up guy-comedy cloaked inside some dresses. And if the female contingent is cool with that, then hot-damnit so am I!

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