joinhip Reviews

License to Wed (2007)

License Revoked

[1/10 · 14 July 2007]

Aieeeee! How does one comment on a movie like this? The only way for this film to end on any kind of realistic note is to have Robin Williams revealed as a psychotic posing as a pastor and carted away to the can. You can't believe word one of this movie. A minister acting like this - bugging people's bedrooms, throwing baseballs at guy's faces, employing a ten year-old to stalk a couple night and day - would certainly get thrown out of the church. And no rational couple would stand for being treated like this. Mandy Moore and the guy from "The Office" (I won't attempt to spell his last name - but I like him!) are fine, but the writing, direction and, unfortunately, Robin Williams are so cheesy that it all turns out to be a monument of incredibly horrible cinema that I, for one, actually had to keep watching - just to see how much more awful it would get. I can't believe someone who directed episodes of "The Larry Sanders Show" actually directed this steaming pile.

Man About Town (2006)

This is really one of the worst movies I've ever seen...

[1/10 · 31 May 2007]

Okay, first of all, Ben Affleck is one of the partners of a high-powered Hollywood agency. About halfway through, he moans about never being able to close a deal or get things done. How the hell did someone like that become head of a high-powered Hollywood agency? Second, why do we care about him? He's shallow, uninteresting and his life is meaningless. That's supposed to be the point, I gather, but this is no Jerry MacGuire and no hidden interesting depths are to be found here. Third, his supermodel wife (!) has absolutely no character. She mopes around about how much she loves him (even though she's been having an affair with one of his clients), but we learn nothing about her except that she has no personality. The whole movie's emotional center is supposed to be whether he gets back together with her, but we have no reason to think they should be together in the first place (and no, the idiotic virtual CGI sequence of them scuba-diving doesn't provide that context). Fourth, the Asian woman who steals Ben's journal - every time the agency folk meet this woman, she (A) HAPPENS to have the journal in her purse (which would be the stupidest thing in the world to carry to a meeting with them) and (B) they STEAL it from her and run in a merry Keystone Cops-like chase that's completely absurd and unnecessary since...IT'S NOT HERS TO BEGIN WITH. IT'S STOLEN PROPERTY. CALL THE POLICE, YOU SIX PEOPLE WITH CELL PHONES!!! But, no, no, that would make sense. And finally (although I could go on and on), the ending where Ben and Rebecca ride away from Hollywood to who knows where. I thought to myself, where are they going? They can only function in Hollywood. They have no other existence beyond Hollywood. The viewer can't conceive of them anywhere else the way they've been presented. This movie made absolutely no emotional or logical sense, I didn't understand the writer-director's take on Ben Affleck's character at all. I don't want to bag on Ben - he's actually good when used correctly = I blame the script and direction that left him standing around with egg on his face (and on his Armani suit).

Oh, I did like Howard Hesseman.

Let's Go to Prison (2006)

Weird But Funny

[9/10 · 5 April 2007]

Hilarious offbeat comedy. I say "offbeat" since the main love interest is a large black man named Barry, who will woo you like you've never been woo-ed before. This is not your normal Hollywood comedy, it's got more of an "Arrested Development" feel - a funny script and Bob Odenkirk's direction (and supporting player role) make this work. Basically, this film takes every men's prison cliché and pushes it ten times further. If you've ever wanted to just stay in and drink toilet wine with a loved one, then this film should resonate with you. This is destined to end up a cult movie since it's not exactly mainstream humor, but if you're a fan of Odenkirk and David Cross's "Mr. Show," you'll find a lot here to enjoy - and you'll also find the very tall Brian Posner standing in a crowd scene near the end.