Mini Reviews

The Drop
Stars: Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, James Gandolfini
Plot: An adorable abandoned pit bull plays a pretty big part in this story about a robbery at a bar used as a drop location for the mob.
Thoughts: I wanted to write a full review for this movie right after I saw it but I couldn't quite find the right words to describe how much I loved this damn movie. Based on a short story by Dennis Lehane and featuring superb performances by Hardy and Gandolfini, The Drop is easiest the best slow burn crime thriller I've seen since Mystic River.
Grade: A

Palo Alto
Stars: James Franco, Emma Roberts, Nat Wolff,  Jack Kilmer
Plot: A bunch of bored teenagers drink and party and mess around with strangers and teachers.
Thoughts: What a waste of time and talent. It's not that this movie was bad, just sort of boring and unnecessary.  It has it's moments - Kilmer, son of Val, is crazy cute the way his dad once was and Wolff is phenomenal,  stealing the movie with ease. But mostly it's a bore.
Grade: C

A Long Way Down
Stars: Pierce Brosnon, Toni Collette, Aaron Paul, Imogen Poots
Plot: Based on the novel by Nick Hornby, the movie follows four strangers who meet and form a pact when they all try to kill themselves on New Years Eve.
Thoughts: It's a fine adaptation of a fine book. The casting is pretty right on and all of the acting surely elevates a plot that somehow feels less ridiculous on screen than it did on the page. This movie is not anything special or amazing buy it's nice and Poots is my new girl crush.
Grade: B-

The Other Woman
Stars:Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann
Plot: A successful lawyer finds out her boyfriend has a wife and then the wife and the mistress bond when they realize he's cheating on them both but it's with Kate Upton so they are all, sure, that makes sense.
Thoughts: I found this movie mostly infuriating, disgusting and slightly offensive. However, it has a few charming parts, most of which concern Mann who I adore. I would just about watch her in anything. Obviously.
Grade: D+

That Awkward Moment

The saving grace of That Awkward Moment is the fact that they had the foresight to cast two exciting young actors, who take their cliche roles in a cliche movie and give it all they have, often giving the audience a lot more than we're expecting, and definitely more than the daft script asks of them. Make no mistake: Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller are the only reason to see this movie. They both turn on the charm. Jordan manages to create a three-dimensional man out of a poorly written character, and Teller uses his natural charisma and perfect sardonic comedic timing to bring his character to life. Zac Efron is the weak spot here, but that's not to say he isn't good; he has a very good presence. But he's definitely not as good as his co-stars.

Jordan stars as Mikey, a young man who seems to have it all together. He went to med school, currently works in the ER, married a smart, pretty girl (Jessica Lucas), and everything seems to be going great for him - until he comes home one day to find out his wife is sleeping with her lawyer. Oh, you know, the one she hired to divorce him. (Side note: And here is where you have to suspend disbelief. I would sooner believe that Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man is going to come save me from a disaster than a girl ever breaking up with Michael B. Jordan, who is flawless.) So, Mikey is thrust back into the single world, where his two best friends from college flourish. It's their natural habitat. Jason (Efron) and Daniel (Teller) design book covers by day and hit on and sleep with every available girl in the five boroughs by night. They decide to not only help Mikey get a lady, but also stay single. After all, when will they have this chance again - all being young and single in the city? All things seem to be going fine until Jason starts to fall for a quirky cutie named Ellie (Imogen Poots) and Daniel begins to see his wing woman Chelsea (Mackenzie Davis) in a new light. They try to hide their budding relationships from Mikey and, of course, hilarity (or at least, soft chuckles) ensues.

The major problem with That Awkward Moment is that I'm not exactly sure it knows what kind of movie it wants to be. It's presenting itself as sort of a cross between a good ole' romantic comedy and a raunchy bro movie for dudes. The problem is those audiences don't exactly overlap. Girls want to watch sweet romantic comedies with their friends, while boys want to watch raunchy comedies with their friends. It's not exactly enough of either of those things to completely appeal to either audience. It doesn't ever give in completely to being one thing, but instead carries on for over 90 minutes as if it's having a sort of identity crisis. Also, there's just not enough laughs to justify the problems with it - plot holes, poorly written characters, cliches by the dozen. However, like I said in the first paragraph, Jordan and Teller do what they can to make the whole thing worthwhile. And they succeed sometimes, and sometimes That Awkward Moment is a fine little comedy. I think Poots is probably going to be a star sometime in the near future, but this isn't the movie that's going to do it for her. She's pretty much the most adorable thing I've ever seen, and I'm excited to see what she turns up in next (FYI: a Nick Hornby adaptation!). I like Efron for some reason, although I'm not sure he's destined to be a movie star. He has some sort of IT factor, but he's just not a good enough actor to be anything more than that Rom-Com guy, which is fine. I'd be interested to see him on TV, in some sort of Mindy Project comedy but with a guy in the lead. I think he'd probably kill it week in and week out. But he seems determined to try his hand and movie stardom, and so he's always going to be playing second fiddle to guys like Jordan and Teller. The good news is these three guys have a great sort of bro chemistry that really works and is fun to watch. If only the script around them was better. Because, from where I stand, That Awkward Moment wasn't a great way to start 2014 movie-wise. It wasn't a terrible way either, though.

Grade: C+