Romance

I Do… Until I Don’t

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: I Do… Until I Don’t
  • IMDb: link

I Do... Until I Don't movie reviewDolly Wells stars as a documentary filmmaker with a personal vendetta against marriage who sets out to prove that the concept no longer works in a modern world. In order to prove her thesis that matrimony should only last for seven years (with an option to renew), the filmmaker sets her sights on three unhappy Florida couples: a pair of senior citizens (Paul Reiser and Mary Steenburgen), a middle-aged couple (Lake Bell and Ed Helms) struggling with money and starting a family, and pair of free-love hippies (Wyatt Cenac and Amber Heard).

Writer, director, and star Lake Bell may have won me over with 2013’s In a World…, but her latest is severely lacking in charm (while sadly having no lack of cliche to fall back on). After an hour of insufferable characters who only really begin to show small moments humanity in the film’s last half-hour, I Do… Until I Don’t is like the first date from hell that only gets bearable as it nears its end. Even the few moments of genuine emotion we see in the last half-hour are sullied by the script falling back into the contrivance of the filmmaker’s project in its final few moments.

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The Big Sick

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Big Sick
  • IMDb: link

The Big Sick movie reviewWell, here’s an unique love story. Adapted from the true events of his own life, and co-written by his wife, The Big Sick stars Kumail Nanjiani as comedian and Uber driver Kumail whose relationship with Emily (Zoe Kazan) goes into a rough patch just prior to her being put into a medically-induced coma for an illness doctors struggle to properly diagnose. With Emily hospitalized, Kumail finds himself in the uncomfortable position of dealing with her parents (Holly Hunter and Ray Romano), and the expectations of his own parents (Anupam Kher and Zenobia Shroff) concerning his future.

Not as dark (or unconventional) as it sounds, The Big Sick fits pretty easily in the dramedy category with pieces of the real events exaggerated for either comedic or dramatic effect (or sometimes both). While it certainly has some romantic comedy leanings, the best parts of the movie come not from the conflict but the building of relationships, first between Kumail and Emily and later between Kumail and her parents. If you’ve seen the trailer you’ve seen almost all the film’s best jokes, but there’s still an enjoyable (if predictable) story to watch unfold.

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Michael J. Fox 4-Movie Laugh Pack

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Secret of My Succe$s, For Love or Money, The Hard Way, Greedy
  • IMDb: link
  • IMDb: link
  • IMDb: link
  • IMDb: link

Michael J. Fox 4-Movie Laugh PackThis two-disc set collects four comedies of Michael J. Fox. As a set it’s problematic given you only have one good film here, one okay movie, one not-so-great flick, and one pretty awful piece of garbage. However, at the cost of $10 you are only really paying for the good movie, so it turns out to be a bit of a wash.

Starting from worst to best, 1994’s Greedy is a dumpster fire of a film about a greedy family after an old man’s (Kirk Douglas) fortune. 1991’s The Hard Way is an ill-conceived, but not all-together worthless, buddy-cop comedy starring Fox as an actor partnered with a real detective (James Woods). 1993’s For Love or Money is a pretty standard romcom casting Fox as a concierge with dreams of owning his own hotel who falls for the mistress (Gabrielle Anwar) of the man who might be able to make his dream a reality. It’s a fun, if lightweight, film. The best of the set, however, is 1987’s The Secret of My Succe$s starring Fox as a mail-room clerk who begins to work double-duty as a company executive under an assumed name. Gloriously goofy, the entertaining film is responsible for firmly cementing my long-time crush on Helen Slater.

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Romantic Comedy Triple Feature

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Fools Rush In, The Wedding Planner, Made of Honor
  • IMDb: link, link, link

Fools Rush In / The Wedding Planner / Made of HonorThis Romantic Comedy Triple Feature collects three relatively recent romantic comedies in one set which is perfect if you need to torture your boyfriend but not much good for anything else.

Made of Honor is a pretty bland reversal of My Best Friend’s Wedding with Patrick Dempsey discovering he has romantic feelings for his best friend (Michelle Monaghan) after she asks him to be the maid of honor at her wedding. Read the full review.

The Wedding Planner isn’t that much better starring Jennifer Lopez as a wedding planner who falls for the one of her clients (Matthew McConaughey) and ruins his impeding wedding to his fiance (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras). Home-wrecking has never been so sickly sweet.

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The Light Between Oceans

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Light Between Oceans
  • IMDb: link

The Light Between OceansIn the hands of a less talented cast The Light Between Oceans would be a tedious disaster. Soap opera dressed in drag as high drama, the manipulative tale is made watchable by its choice of leads Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander in what feels very much like a story predestined for Lifetime television. Still, a talented cast can only do so much with the sordid, and extremely predictable, source material.

Adapted from the novel of the same name, Fassbender stars as Tom Sherbourne, a WWI vet who takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on an isolated island. Falling for the daughter of one of the men who hired him for the position, Tom and Isabel’s (Alicia Vikander) life on the island is full of tragedy, but the arrival of a shipwrecked boat promises a new start for the couple. To do so they will make a choice which will not only affect themselves but a woman they have never met (Rachel Weisz) for years to come.

At more than two-hours no amount of pretty (but never quite amazing) scenery or closeups of Vikander and Fassbender can prevent the lull which director Derek Cianfrance can not seem to avoid.

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