Showing posts with label Drew Barrymore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drew Barrymore. Show all posts
Long On Distance, Short On Laughs
Garrett (Justin Long) is a guy. He is just like any other guy. His relationship has ended, but he has another girl about ready to go home with him on the same night. That girl is Erin (Drew Barrymore). She is a girl; interning at a New York paper and about to head home to California. Six weeks is all they have, if they choose to take it.
As two kids that are infatuated with each other they make the best use of the six weeks together, but as its time to get separated by an entire country; they don’t know if they are ready to call it quits. In fact, it’s time to start the long-distance relationship.
Now with Erin living in California with her sister (Christina Applegate) and her husband (Jim Gaffigan) Garrett has to resort to phone calls with a three hour time difference. Easy for Erin, not so easy for Garrett, but it’s not only the time difference it’s the physical separation that wears on them. Visits can only happen so often, especially on a record company representative’s salary. They try everything imaginable, but is there a way to make this work? Do they want to make it work? Or is it time to move on?
This is an R Rated romantic comedy. There is a high probability of raunchy antics taking place at any given moment. Just witness the couple’s first chance to reunite in California. The dining room table is all kinds of defiled.
At times, the film is funny, it really is! Unfortunately, the funny is far and few between in a story that seems stretched to the ends of the earth, or at least the country.
I couldn’t accept Barrymore at all in her role as Erin. It just always seemed over the top and unnecessary. The characters seemed like they should have been much smarter and clever than they were portrayed.
I felt the film missed the golden opportunity to utilize Ron Livingston as Garrett’s boss. He sends them to cover the perfect assignment that could be wrapped in the film to a solid comic end.
Ok, as I said before…I laughed, I did! Unfortunately the laughs were far and few between. The film has got the long distance part down; it’s just short on laughs.
C
Going The Distance
New Line Cinema
Director: Nanette Burstein
Cast: Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Christina Applegate, Jim Gaffigan
Rating: R for sexual content including dialogue, language throughout, some drug use and brief nudity.
Runtime: 109 minutes.
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Garrett (Justin Long) is a guy. He is just like any other guy. His relationship has ended, but he has another girl about ready to go home with him on the same night. That girl is Erin (Drew Barrymore). She is a girl; interning at a New York paper and about to head home to California. Six weeks is all they have, if they choose to take it.
As two kids that are infatuated with each other they make the best use of the six weeks together, but as its time to get separated by an entire country; they don’t know if they are ready to call it quits. In fact, it’s time to start the long-distance relationship.
Now with Erin living in California with her sister (Christina Applegate) and her husband (Jim Gaffigan) Garrett has to resort to phone calls with a three hour time difference. Easy for Erin, not so easy for Garrett, but it’s not only the time difference it’s the physical separation that wears on them. Visits can only happen so often, especially on a record company representative’s salary. They try everything imaginable, but is there a way to make this work? Do they want to make it work? Or is it time to move on?
This is an R Rated romantic comedy. There is a high probability of raunchy antics taking place at any given moment. Just witness the couple’s first chance to reunite in California. The dining room table is all kinds of defiled.
At times, the film is funny, it really is! Unfortunately, the funny is far and few between in a story that seems stretched to the ends of the earth, or at least the country.
I couldn’t accept Barrymore at all in her role as Erin. It just always seemed over the top and unnecessary. The characters seemed like they should have been much smarter and clever than they were portrayed.
I felt the film missed the golden opportunity to utilize Ron Livingston as Garrett’s boss. He sends them to cover the perfect assignment that could be wrapped in the film to a solid comic end.
Ok, as I said before…I laughed, I did! Unfortunately the laughs were far and few between. The film has got the long distance part down; it’s just short on laughs.
C
Going The Distance
New Line Cinema
Director: Nanette Burstein
Cast: Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Christina Applegate, Jim Gaffigan
Rating: R for sexual content including dialogue, language throughout, some drug use and brief nudity.
Runtime: 109 minutes.
It's No Miracle, Big Miracle Works For Families
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| Big Miracle, Opens 2/3/12 |
Small town Alaska has big stories for a young reporter. Adam Carlson (John Krasinski) has just finished his riveting story on avocados in the far reaching part of the world. He’s off to get footage of an amazing snowmobile trickster who just drives in circles. But in the distance he sees and hears something a bit odd. Turns out there are three grey whales (Mom, Dad and Baby) that are stuck in the ice and can’t get home.
When he shoots what seems to be a novel public interest piece on these whales it gets picked up on a national level and becomes larger than life. It attracts the attention of Tom Brokaw and journalists across the continental US. Even up and coming reporter Jill Jerard (Kristen Bell), who Adam has a bit of a crush on, comes to the great northern reaches of Alaska to report on the story. Quite possibly the most interesting person who picks up on the story is Adam’s ex, Rachel (Drew Barrymore) who is an active Greenpeace member.
Now with a diverse group of individuals that includes reporters, native fisherman, Greenpeace, the US military and a large oil tycoon must work together to try to save these great beasts. Will they get them to safety in time?
Based on a true story that captivated America in 1988, Big Miracle tries to pull all the heartstrings during its runtime. And while it is effective in its storytelling, it seems to lack in its realism and attention to detail. Living in a cold weather climate, I know the effects of being outside, and when I see Drew Barrymore go under water in the icy below zero temps with exposed skin, I just cringe. It was an easy thing and should have been caught.
Though I’m picky about the attention to detail that was lacking, the story is a little gem. It’s a touching story that will grip families. Maybe not to the extent they are portrayed onscreen, but it is an attention grabber. Who doesn’t like whales? Right?
Krasiniski is likable in his role as Adam, but I didn’t totally by off on his relationship with Drew Barrymore’s Rachel. The fun in the film is with the small roles. The Stephen Root, Ted Danson, Tim Blake Nelson roles all packed a cool punch and really made things interesting.
Overall, take the family to Big Miracle – or at least gather everyone round when it comes to DVD or VOD. It’s a crowd pleasing movie that you will go out with a level of enjoyment and remind you why animal movies grab us as viewers.
C+
Universal Pictures
Director: Ken Kwapis
Cast: John Krasinski, Drew Barrymore, Kristen Bell
Rating: PG for language.
Runtime: 1 hour 47 minutes