Martin's Musings

Do not be fooled by the trailer for Rachel Getting Married: It may look like a remake of Margot at the Wedding — last year’s very good movie about a bitter, unkind sister coming home for her sister’s wedding and wreaking havoc — but it’s not. Sure, the two movies have that basic plot in common, but Rachel cuts a lot deeper, with much sharper knives, and it’s much more painful to watch at times.

As directed by Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs), the action in Rachel unfolds naturally, and it’s captured in a hand-held vérité style that makes you feel like you are there. Kym (the excellent Anne Hathaway) has gotten out of rehab to attend her sister Rachel’s wedding. Kym is still dealing with a lot of unresolved internal pain and over the course of the weekend, she takes it out on nearly every member of her family. Rachel explores these familial issues, and the camerawork is effective in heightening the immediacy and pain of the situation, but the film never really resolves anything. So what we’re left with — other than some very good performances — is basically a home movie of a very awkward wedding weekend. And as such, there are some scenes, like the rehearsal dinner one, that just go on waaaaay too long. I hate going to a wedding where I don’t know anyone, and at times, that’s what I felt like I had done. I just wanted to slip out and leave. Rachel tops out at just under two hours and it should have been about 20 minutes shorter.

It’s impressive how the central couple’s mixed race is treated as a non-issue (it’s not ever referred to), and it probably should be repeated that Anne Hathaway is very good here, as is Rosemarie DeWitt, who plays Rachel. Alas, those scenes where they can really act come too infrequently in the movie and I found myself on an uncomfortable roller-coaster ride of emotion. So I’m going to keep my review to a B.

God, Bill Maher, and the director of Borat walk into a church … No, that’s not the setup for a joke, it’s the basic premise of Religulous, a documentary in which Maher goes in search of answers to the question of Is religion good or bad for society? He travels to Israel, to a truckstop church in North Carolina, to Washington, D.C., Salt Lake City, Amsterdam, and other places, and talks to members of most of the world’s more popular organized religions. Suffice it to say, everyone gets skewered. Maher pokes all the expected holes in the idea of faith, in the double-standard that says God loves but he hates gay people, in the sexism that is so common, in the obsessiveness of some people, and then some. Much of the movie is quite funny — dare I say it’s funny as hell? — and director Larry Charles makes great use of archival and related film clips to enhance the humor. Ultimately, though, Religulous is tainted by Maher’s negative attitude. Healthy skepticism is good, and some aspects of religion are certainly ripe for questioning. But Maher doesn’t really seem to have a point here, other than saying religion is bad, and the film’s last five minutes leave the viewer with such a bad taste that it corrupts the humor that previously was so engaging. I was tempted to give Religulous a higher grade, but ultimately I’m going to stick with a B. If you’re looking for a warmer look at religion’s place in modern society, may I highly recommend A.J. Jacobs’ The Year of Living Biblically.

From its inspired, brilliant first 10 minutes, right on up to the closing credits, you’ll be on the floor laughing yourself silly over Tropic Thunder. This satire of Hollywood pretension, action films, Vietnam War films, method acting, tyrannical studio heads, overzealous agents, Oscar bait, and basically anything related to the art of moviemaking, is just fall-down flat-out funny. No, those trailers at the start of the film — before the credits — aren’t for real movies, but they’re totally dead-on. All the acting — by Ben Stiller (who also cowrote and directed), Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Cruise, Nick Nolte, Danny McBride, and especially Robert Downey Jr. — is hysterical. The screenplay is filthy and at times offensive, but always meant in good fun. To ruin any of this movie’s pleasures would be wrong, so I’ll just tell you it’s the funniest movie of the summer and give it an A–. The film’s tagline is Get Some. I agree.

Like any good buzz, Pineapple Express takes a little while to sink in and take effect.

And once you get past the first, oh, 10-15 minutes, you’re in for a good time.

Not coincidentally, the uptick in the film’s quality comes at just about exactly the same time that James Franco comes on the screen, playing Seth Rogen’s drug dealer. Franco’s Saul sells Rogen’s Dale a rare and exclusive brand of pot called Pineapple Express, and after witnessing a murder (don’t ask), Dale leaves his roach behind. Thus, the bad guys know exactly who to look for, sending Dale and Saul on the run.

Comedy ensues. Continue reading →

The makers of the new documentary American Teen would have you believe that their movie is a modern-day Breakfast Club, what with its rip-off poster and references to the classic John Hughes film in its trailer. And sure enough, both films focus on the classic archetypes we know so well: the jock, the brain, the outcast, the princess, etc. But that’s where the two films differ: one was an original look at teenage angst and the other is a snapshot of teens that screams “been there/done that.”

In director Nanette Burstein’s film, we meet five high school seniors in Warsaw, Indiana: Hannah, the misfit; Colin, the jock; Jake, the nerd; Megan, the bitch; and Mitch, the charmer. Their stories and personalities are ones we know all too well, having gone through high school and having watched countless reality shows over the years. The kids don’t know life outside Warsaw, so their dramas are all amplified to an expected degree. We see the frustration Megan feels when her choice of prom theme is overruled and the heartbreak of Jake’s repeated attempts to find love. There’s Colin’s struggle to lead his basketball team and earn a scholarship, and Mitch’s pursuit of a girlfriend who may put his social standing at risk. And that’s why you sort of have to laugh when Hannah’s boyfriend dumps her shortly after she rhapsodizes about how she is in a relationship that will actually last beyond high school. The stories are just too predictable.

To Burstein’s credit, though, while the students do all fall into their expected storylines, she manages to make you care about some of them. Hannah, in particular, stands out for her determined attempts to leave Warsaw and start a new life. Jake, too, is an endearing personality. But Megan and Colin don’t seem to add much new to their respective “types,” and all the usual cliches apply (if you don’t count Colin’s Elvis-impersonating father, that is). So in the end, American Teen is about as generic as its title implies. It’s a pleasant two hours, but it’s by no means a must-see. I’m giving it a B&ndash.