Showing posts with label Ben Stiller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ben Stiller. Show all posts
WTF? Little Fockers Lacks the Little Laughs
Meet the Parents was a nice little film that was not only funny, but it also uniquely told the story of a man meeting his in-laws and struggling to fit in. Meet the Fockers had us meeting the other side of the family and the quirks they possessed. Little Fockers has kids, fraternal twins that are supposed to be the basis for the humor. A problem occurs though, they forgot the humor.
Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) is coming to Greg and Pam’s (Ben Stiller and Terri Polo) house to celebrate the 6th birthday of their two children, and yes he is still watching them. Things have change though…Dr. Bob is splitting from his wife (an affair) Kevin (Owen Wilson) is half way around the world looking to get engaged. And the Fockers (Barbara Streisand and Dustin Hoffman) are apart as Bernie tries to find himself while Roz hosts her sex therapy show.
As Greg is trying to do the best for his family, he takes on a night job as a spokesman for Sustengo (the new erectile dysfunction drug) with his drug rep Andi Garcia (Jessica Alba). So who is watching who, and why, and will this birthday party happen?
This is a hard review to write. Why? I like everyone in this film. In many instances, they have put out a range of films that have generated every emotion within me. But this film had such little emotion that I had to check my pulse when I left.
Sure there are some scenes in here that gave me a chuckle, but there were so many more that felt miserable. It felt miserable all over. I felt bad for the actors. I felt bad for the individual sitting next to me and I felt real uncomfortable for those who mistakenly brought young children to the film.
The movie was supposed to be about the “little” Fockers…but they had what seemed to be small roles in a much bigger movie, so that’s kind of a misnomer.
This film just didn’t work on so many levels. I really don’t want to trash these good people, so I’m not going to. It’s the Christmas season and I will just say, don’t see it. Rent Meet the Parents or buy Meet the Fockers instead either will be a much better selection. Otherwise you may just resort to texting a friend WTF on your way out of the theater.
C- / D+
Little Fockers
Universal Pictures
Director: Paul Weitz
Cast: Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, Jessica Alba, Dustin Hoffman, Barbara Streisand
Rating: PG-13 for mature sexual humor throughout, language and some drug content.
Runtime: 98 minutes.
READ MORE
Meet the Parents was a nice little film that was not only funny, but it also uniquely told the story of a man meeting his in-laws and struggling to fit in. Meet the Fockers had us meeting the other side of the family and the quirks they possessed. Little Fockers has kids, fraternal twins that are supposed to be the basis for the humor. A problem occurs though, they forgot the humor.
Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) is coming to Greg and Pam’s (Ben Stiller and Terri Polo) house to celebrate the 6th birthday of their two children, and yes he is still watching them. Things have change though…Dr. Bob is splitting from his wife (an affair) Kevin (Owen Wilson) is half way around the world looking to get engaged. And the Fockers (Barbara Streisand and Dustin Hoffman) are apart as Bernie tries to find himself while Roz hosts her sex therapy show.
As Greg is trying to do the best for his family, he takes on a night job as a spokesman for Sustengo (the new erectile dysfunction drug) with his drug rep Andi Garcia (Jessica Alba). So who is watching who, and why, and will this birthday party happen?
This is a hard review to write. Why? I like everyone in this film. In many instances, they have put out a range of films that have generated every emotion within me. But this film had such little emotion that I had to check my pulse when I left.
Sure there are some scenes in here that gave me a chuckle, but there were so many more that felt miserable. It felt miserable all over. I felt bad for the actors. I felt bad for the individual sitting next to me and I felt real uncomfortable for those who mistakenly brought young children to the film.
The movie was supposed to be about the “little” Fockers…but they had what seemed to be small roles in a much bigger movie, so that’s kind of a misnomer.
This film just didn’t work on so many levels. I really don’t want to trash these good people, so I’m not going to. It’s the Christmas season and I will just say, don’t see it. Rent Meet the Parents or buy Meet the Fockers instead either will be a much better selection. Otherwise you may just resort to texting a friend WTF on your way out of the theater.
C- / D+
Little Fockers
Universal Pictures
Director: Paul Weitz
Cast: Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, Jessica Alba, Dustin Hoffman, Barbara Streisand
Rating: PG-13 for mature sexual humor throughout, language and some drug content.
Runtime: 98 minutes.
Tower Heist Steals Some Laughs
Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) is the manager of the luxurious Tower in New York.
Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) is the manager of the luxurious Tower in New York.
The Tower is the place to be for some of the highest rollers in the city, and Josh knows how to treat them with the utmost respect and discretion. He demands the same type of attitude from his entire staff, understanding and catering to every need of the residents of the building.
When the FBI takes one of Josh’s tenants into custody, everything changes. Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) is this films Bernie Madoff. He has “invested” the money of a number of individuals and there is nothing to show for it. But there is a bigger problem at the tower, he also has all of the retirement accounts of all the employees there as Josh had invested it with him.
Now, it’s personal, especially after reality hits the employees that have lost everything. Josh can’t look beyond these indiscretions any longer. After confronting Shaw, he finds himself jobless. He knows that if it weren’t for his trust in Shaw’s character, the employees of the Tower would not be out all of their retirement.
He recruits a crack team of criminals to get the money back for his employees. Unfortunately only one of them has any criminal background and Slide (Eddie Murphy) hardly knows any of the crew. Can they reclaim what is there’s? Or will this be just another crash and burn experience for Josh?
First and foremost let’s get this out of the way; Tower Heist will make you laugh. I know many of my critical brethren will look at this film and immediately discount it. But they can’t knock the fact that it’s funny.
We’ve waited for years for Eddie Murphy to have some of the restraints taken off of him to return to his funniest and although this doesn’t go far enough to really unchain him, it DOES give a glimpse of that old school Murphy humor.
It’s not only Murphy, with a cast like this, you can’t help but find a variety of funny moments. From roles for Casey Affleck and Matthew Broderick to the “villain” Alan Alda and small moments for Gabourey Sidibe and Tea Leoni, this film is loaded with talent.
Some uneven sequences do exist and I have problems with the structure of the film at times, but this isn’t Citizen Kane, nor does it pretend to be.
Tower Heist is a solid funny buddy film that will have you giggling until the end all while yearning for someone to really let Eddie Murphy go again.
B
Universal Pictures
Director: Brett Ratner
Cast: Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick
Rating: PG-13 for language and sexual content.
Runtime: 1 hour 44 minutes
Three Rings of Fun
Alex (Ben Stiller), Marty (Chris Rock), Melman (David Schwimmer) and Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith) are still trying to get home to New York in the third installment of the Madagascar series. This time those penguins have crafted the plane to fly…well at least for a little while until crashing down in Europe.
There they are hunted by Captain Chantel Dubbois (Frances McDormand), an animal control professional that is missing a lion mounted on her wall. Now they will race across Europe, catching up with a circus to try and find that elusive ticket home.
The circus accepts them, but not until they claim to be circus performers. Now, along with their new circus friends, the gang must perform to get an American tour that will include a ticket back to New York.
The penguins are back, the chimps are back…the whole gang that makes Madagascar fun return to provide new laughs as they journey across Europe via train. The new animals that are part of the circus are part of the fun as the laughs exist with trying to revive a circus that has lost its way.
Still, with this installment, the penguins tend to provide the best laughs along with their sidekicks the chimps. The writing is snappy and the story keeps moving throughout the film. Visually, it works in 3D but you could do it in 2D and still have a good time. And in typical fashion with the newer films, they do a great job working in today’s music to keep the kids tapping their toes throughout.
While not the best film of the year; Madagascar 3 will make for three rings of fun for your family.
B
Paramount Pictures
Director: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, Conrad Vernon
Cast: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen
Rating: PG-13 for some mild action and rude humor.
Runtime: 1 hour 25 minutes