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Capone reviews, like a ton of movies! KNOCKED UP, MR. BROOKS and GRACIE!!!
Hey, everyone. Two quick notes before I move into what is a pretty busy week filled with tasty offerings. First, three of the seven films I review in this week's column deal with unexpected pregnancies in vastly different ways. Weird coincidence, that's the only reason I mention it. Second, I finally did see the Irish musical wonderment known as Once. It's playing at the Landmark Century Center Cinema, and you should go see it immediately. It's one of my favorite films of the year so far. Moving on…
Knocked Up
If you pay attention to movies at all or, in particular, the works of writer-director-producer Judd Apatow, then odds are that you've been reading about Knocked Up for months. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you'd seen the film already since there were about 20 screenings of it in Chicago alone. Hell, I saw a rough cut of it last December in Austin during Butt-Numb-a-Thon 8 and another one about a month ago, and I loved it more the second time. For those of you claiming that The 40-Year-Old Virgin (made by and starring pretty much everyone in Knocked Up) is one of your favorite movies in years, prepare to see an even longer, even funnier work by the current kings of comedy: Apatow and writer-star Seth Rogen. (And while you're at it, get ready for the August release of Super Bad, co-written and starring Rogen, and produced by Apatow; I'm hearing the film is just as good.)
Thematically at least, Knocked Up picks up where Virgin left off. With the earlier work, simply getting into a relationship was the tricky part. Rogen's perpetual slacker Ben Stone doesn't have trouble meeting women necessarily. In fact, he has a pretty great night one night out at a club with his roomies/business partners when he meets Katherine Heigl's Alison, who is out celebrating her recent job promotion at the E! cable channel with her sister Debbie (Leslie Mann). She and Ben get very drunk, laugh, dance, and land up back at her place (she lives with Debbie's family, which includes the great actor on the face of the earth Paul Rudd as husband Pete). They have unprotected sex and Alison becomes the film's titular character.
Knocked Up never misses an opportunity to make us laugh at some very real situations. In many cases, it puts a much needed fresh spin on some disgustingly dated movie cliches about couples having babies. (Note to all filmmakers: a woman crying out for drugs during a birthing scene stopped being funny 30 years ago, and will probably never be funnier than it is in this film, so don't even shoot that scene any more.) Still, it was the somewhat familiar material that I found the most charming. Ben and Alison shopping for baby clothes and accessories is one of my favorite scenes. And as much as the pure comedic elements score on nearly every level, Knocked Up dares to have a heart as big as the film is long (about 2 hours, 15 minutes by my count). This is not a couple destined to be together. When Ben announces to Alison just before sex "You're prettier than I am," he's not kidding. He's broke as he and his friends attempt to launch a website devoted to cinematic nudity, while she is a highly successful woman who has just made the leap from producer to on-air correspondent for E!, which makes for some great celebrity cameos, by the way. But the very thought of a couple trying to make their tentative bond work is commendable and heart warming. Seth Rogen becomes crush worthy thanks to his performance here.
What's almost more extraordinary is the way the relationship between Pete and Debbie is handled. They got married because of their own unexpected pregnancy, and they, at times, seem to despise each other. Usually it's funny; other times, it hurts to watch. Pete and Ben bond, and needless to say, the scenes are priceless. Come on, these are the "You know how I know your gay?" guys; of course, they're going to be funny together. There's a dinner sequence, in which the two couples go out to get to know Ben a little better, and it's golden. Time travel and gay behavior from this point forward will be inseparable in my mind. And the boys' getaway trip to Vegas (mushrooms and Cirque de Soleil; that's all I'm saying) is phenomenal. Still, it's capped with a sequence in which Pete pours his heart out to Ben about not feeling worthy of love. It's a scene only a quality actor could pull off and not have it seem forced and sappy.
Knocked Up is peppered with one of the finest supporting casts in any film right now. "Freak and Geeks" fans will recognize a few of Ben's roommates. Virgin scene stealer Jonah Hill (who is the star of Super Bad) just gets better each time I see him on screen. Harold Ramis pops up as Ben's dad to offer up some crappy advice. In a pair of hysterical scenes, Alan Tudyk and "SNL's" Kristen Wiig play E! executives Jack and Jill (no joke), who surprise Alison at every turn. And the fun goes on and on. I don't make declarations like this often, but if you don't have the time of your life watching this movies, there's something horribly wrong with you. Other than Super Bad, I can't even imagine another comedy being a satisfying as Knocked Up. I want this team to make a new movie every month to feed my hunger for this type of material.
My love for this film knows no bounds. I implore you to drop what you're doing. Forget all the overly populated, special effect-driven junk out there, and devote your time and money to a movie with a pulse, driven by an unstoppable heart. Knocked Up is one of the best of the summer and the year.
Mr. Brooks
Okay, hang in with me here for just a second. I know a lot of you can probably find multiple reasons (or maybe just one big one) not to go see a movie that stars Kevin Costner as a serial killer and Dane Cook as a guy who blackmail's Costner into letting him tag along for his next kill. Dread does not even begin to describe my gut instinct going into this film. But as long as you go into the film realizing it's a comedy, I think you'll have fun with it. No, I don't mean this is one of the "so-bad-it's-good" pieces of crap. It's actually a well-made work. It also never misses an opportunity to be hilarious while almost never cracking a smile. The saving grace of the film is one Mr. William Hurt, who plays Marshall, a sort of alter ego of Costner's Brooks character. He always hangs back over the shoulder of our anti-hero coaxing him to kill again, and the man is a scream. He taunts and teases Brooks whenever he thinks he's being wimpy or careless with the meticulous planning of his kills. And let me say it again, the guy will have you in stitches, as will the outrageous plot, the obsessional nature of nearly every character, and even the relationship Brooks has with his wife and college-age daughter. Oh, how we laughed.
I may sound like I'm making fun of Mr. Brooks, the latest in a while from director, co-screenwriter Bruce A Evans (who directed the forgettable 1992 Christian Slater vehicle Kuffs, and co-wrote/adapted more memorable fare such as Stand By Me, Starman, and Cutthroat Island), but in fact, I actually enjoyed the hell out of this piece. And while Hurt may have been the only one who truly understood just how funny this material was during shooting, that doesn't mean it's not a blast to watch. Costner's Brooks is a successful businessman, with a loving family Marg Helgenberger as his wife and Danielle Panabaker (currently playing James Woods' daughter on "Shark") as daughter Jane. But one night after winning a some sort of self-congratulatory award from the business community, he is visited by Marshall, whom he hasn't been plagued by in about a year, after he swore off a killing spree that was deemed the work of the "Thumbprint Killer" by the police. Brooks specializes in random crimes against people he has no connection with and stalking them for weeks before carrying out the home invasion/murder.
On his return engagement, he kills a couple in the throws of a zesty sexual session and who like to leave the blinds open while they're doing it. Brooks notices this too late and quickly shuts them before posing the bodies as he's prone to do. The next day, a man who calls himself Mr. Smith (Cook) presents himself to Brooks in his office as a amateur photographer and full-time peeping Tom who happened to snap a few shot of Brooks closing the blinds. Rather than ask for money, he asks to be taken along for the next kill, perhaps even to carry out the deed himself when the time comes. With the guidance of Marshall, Brooks agrees to the scheme, and the fun begins. Meanwhile, emotionally troubled Police Detective Atwood (Demi Moore) picks up the trail of the Thumbprint Killer, wondering if perhaps the broken blinds are a clue that the killer shut them in a hurry and someone in the apartment building across the street may have spotted him. Atwood is going through a terrible divorce, and her superiors are questioning her commitment to the case at hand.
Nearly every character in Mr. Brooks is hiding something about their past or present life. Some of these secrets are predictable, while others are so outrageous as to be--you guessed it--funny as hell. Still, the way Brooks handles the situation with Smith is pretty damn clever as the two drive around town seeking out anonymous victims as Smith grills Brooks about his previous kills to mentally prepare himself for the task at hand. Brooks is also forced to deal with a situation at home involving his daughter, who has dropped out of school because of an unplanned pregnancy. Suddenly the prospect of getting caught and not being around to take care of his daughter and grandchild makes the situation with Smith all the more troubling.
The film seems to be on the brink of spinning out of control nearly all the time, but it turns out director Evans is able to control this chaos just enough to let veterans Costner and Hurt do their thing. Does Costner make a credible serial killer? No really, but that's sort of the point. Brooks knows his decidedly average persona almost ensures that he'd never be considered a suspect in any murder. In a movie that seems to thrive on humor, Cook is the least funny one in the room (the same could probably be said for his sold-out concerts too, but that's just my opinion). Smith is a hyper little rodent of a man who doesn't think before he acts and never considers three moves ahead in his game with Brooks. Even going in with the thought that Mr. Brooks is a comedy may not be enough to convince you that the film is worth seeing or that it's any good, and that's fine. This isn't crucial viewing by any stretch. But there's nothing quite like it in theaters now, and I think at worst, you'll see it as an ambitious experiment gone horribly wrong. On the other hand, I thought it was a stoke of unintentional genius. The traditional serial killer movie is dead, I believe, which is why we're getting unconventional takes on the subject like Zodiac and this film. Looking at the topic in new and creative ways might be the only way to keep serial killers alive, and that's a good thing.
Gracie
This is one of those rare movies that actually benefits from being a little uncertain what type of film it is. It's being promoted as a sports drama. A 15-year-old girl (played by the exceptional Carly Schroeder of Mean Creek) wants to honor the memory of her recently dead brother by taking his place on the boys soccer team. This may not seem like a big deal, but Gracie is set in the 1970s, when females in general, and female athletes in particular, were marginalized beyond belief. As an unconventional sports film, Gracie works fine. But where it shines is as a coming-of-age story about a girl who hurts so much from this loss that she rebels against her father (Dermot Mulroney) and gets involved in some pretty reckless behavior that goes way beyond staying out past curfew.
What makes Gracie all the more interesting is that many of the events depicted are actually based on real events that happened to the family of actress Elizabeth Shue and her brother Andrew, both of whom appear in the film in smaller parts. The film's director, Davis Guggenheim (who won an Oscar earlier this year for directing An Inconvenient Truth), happens to be married to Elizabeth, so the project is something of a family affair. But it also speaks to the expectations of a generation of young women who were never expected to do anything past high school besides get married and be housewives like their mothers before them. Elizabeth Shue plays the family's subdued matriarch.
As depressing as it might sound, Gracie works best when it focus on the insurmountable grief that the family shares and almost never gets through. Young Carly Schroeder buries her pain deep inside, letting it out on occasionally in explosive bursts of anger and troubled behavior. Her performance as Gracie is measured and expertly executed, and I expect to see a lot of great things from her in the future. Mulroney adds his usual dose of earthy charm to the production (in much the same way he does in Georgia Rule) as a father who hasn't got a clue how to raise a daughter (that's his wife's job, right?) or how to function without his sports hero son.
The reason you can tell Gracie isn't an average sports film is by the way it handles to story's final game. I won't say how it ends, but it doesn't feel necessary to have the team win or to have Gracie score a winning goal or something obvious like that. This movie plays fair with its audience and doesn't handle its moving story with ham hands and ladles filled with sentimentality. In the end Gracie's mission to play on the team snaps her family out of their emotional coma, but that's not the end of the story. Again, the film doesn't dish out what is expected or anticipating. This is a gentle film about difficult times, featuring one of the finest performances in years by a young actor in a truly challenging role. I liked this one a lot.
-Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com
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I'm about to be the father of twins and I have to say I wet myself watching this.
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Perhaps because I had no preconceptions. It certainly plays better as a straight slasher movie (albeit with a couple of funny moments)than a horror-comedy. And there are a couple of truly inspired scenes - I won't spoil them, but here is a clue - bear trap and Rocket launcher. I can't believe Capone preferred Creep to this. Creep was a great idea, but a truly terrible movie. Oh well, I guess we all have our crosses to bear.
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Both were great fun.
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Less of the hyperbole and crap.
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But I'm noticing a trend. I think it plays better with those of us who generally have little or no use for the horror genre in general, and probably haven't seen a horror movie in a theater in well over a decade. It doesn't take itself very seriously, and it's horror elements are quite cartoony when it comes right down to it. And I disagree...I think it's very funny and clever toying with the genre without mocking it. This played at Telluride by the Sea here last year, and it went over pretty well.
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In the time it took me to post a comment, the Severance part of the Review just fucking vanished. WTF?
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Where's an awesome Transformers article when you need one?
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Okay, the movie is good. That's for sure. Its funny too. It's just not spectacular & hysterical as some of the hype claimed.
GOOD
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* Seth Rogen is magic whenever he hits the screen. Well, at least 90% of the time.
* Katherine Heigel is funnier than I thought she would be. I haven't seen her do anything since Roswell and don't watch that suck@$$ "Grey's Anatomy" stuff.
* Some of the one liners were downright quotable.
* Leslie Mann was funnier here than in 40yoV since she got to be manic in nearly every scene.
* The plot was a fairly nice coming of age dramedy for those of stunted maturity, which is not surprising considering 40yoV's tones & themes.
* Ryan Seacrest. I hate that m-fer, but his cameo here was priceless. To watch him go apesh** had me in stitches
* Just a great all around cast with lots of funny cameos from 40yoV and the Office.
NOT SO GOOD
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* Seth Rogen may be funny 90% of the time, but it's that other 10% reminds you why Steve Carell is still funnier. Rogen is a likable nice guy, but his comedic range is still a bit narrow.
* Harold Ramos & Kristen Wiig were just f**kin' wasted. Wiig had some funny moments, but deserved a chance to break out a bit more. Ramos' chunky a$$ was just taking up space.
* That beard gag got real old, real quick. I expected a MUCH bigger payoff than what I got. It just fizzled out way too quickly. Probably, some of the best stuff got nixed during editing.
* 2hrs & 12 minutes?!? This ain't Shakespeare in the park. It's a comedy, one that was about a half hour too long.
* The drug stuff served its purpose to show that Ben (Seth) needed to change his life, but it was over played and heavy handed. It was also a bit on the gratuitous side. I don't mind stoner stuff, but throw in great gags to go along with it. Plus, don't toss excessive amounts of it into what is more or less a romantic comedy. Really. That shroom sequence blew chunks, as if Apatow was reigning the gag in.
* She's pregnant. We get it. It's probably due to the movie's length, but the one note joke got old quickly. Howsabout we find out exactly why Ben & Allison love each other? Sure. She's carrying his baby, but that doesn't mean much between the two of them. The "I love you" stuff just came way too soon and fairly out of left field. They SORTA got to it later, but not too in depth.
* This was such a GREAT commercial for Spider-Man 3. =/ Oh, wait. It was an actual movie? The shameless studio self-promotion sh** was just sad and obnoxious.
* Ben's friends were fairly funny, but not nearly as much as Andy's in 40yoV.
* Stuff Paul Rudd in a sack & ship his @$$ to Abudabi. Not funny, at least not here.
Apatow needs some better people in editing. Brevity is not his strong point. Some of the weaker stuff should've been left on the cutting room floor. 40yoV was over the top. Knocked Up showed a bit more restraint. The audience where I went was laughing, but not hysterically so. As it stands, the movie is a definite B/B+ for me. Very funny, but 40yoV was still funnier. I hate to use the term "overrated" here. Let's just say that its not a great as advertised. Best comedy this year, but that doesn't say much. =P -
Nice reviews. Although I have no interest in seeing gracie. I saw Mr Brooks and it was worth seeing. Haven't seen Knocked Up yet.
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Mr Brooks was very close to how Capone described, but not a 100 percent spot on. It's worth checking out. I liked it it a lot. I can see now that Knocked Up will be an overblown and overhyped fanboy fantasy, especially on this site. I have nothing against the cast and creative team vcause they churn out pretty decent flicks, but the level of love this or hate it on this site can be at times sickenly bias. I will see Knocked Up probably next week and I do want to see it. I just don't like to see comedies that I know will be packed becasue i miss jokes and lines because of laughter.
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Jun 03, 2007 2:16:06 PM CDT
Whats up with these overrated romantic comedies for men
by tigerking7979
Seriously you don't have a set of balls if you like a romantic comedy. Knocked up is an overrated cliched filled movie just like wedding crashers and 40 year old virgin. Seriously who wants to see a movie where you see seth rogens ass and not katherine heigl's. I can see why everybody on this site likes it; it's a movie about a bunch of oddballs who don't take showers and watch movies and play video games all day, and one of these fools gets laid by kathering heigl. This never happens in real life. If you wanna girl like that go to the gym, get in shape, take a shower and stop hanging out with losers. And the oddball friends angle is one of the most played plot devices in movies ever, that was played out in the 1980's teen romantic comedies. Guess what the goofy oddball friends angle isn't funny anymore.
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That was a pretty cliche post.
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that was a pretty cliche post
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I may have to see this..."knocked up" now. I thought it would be a stupid chick flick.
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personally i think this review doesn't make a ton of sense and i'm struggling to understand it.
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I actually thought that Mr. Brooks was a good movie.
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I enjoyed both (I probably enjoyed Mr. Brooks more than I was expecting and Knocked Up less because I was expecting too much). For me Knocked Up never reached the hysterically funny peaks of 40YOV but it was more amusing throughout. It was cool to hear a couple references to Anchorman, too. These guys can do no wrong.
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They show them fucking each other's brains out but they don't show her tits? What the fuck? Also did I see them show the baby's head coming out of her? I'd rather see her tits.
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ONE: Capone--I saw KNOCKED UP this morning w/the wife and I have to say it was AWESOME and so was your review. Your review had ZERO similes or metaphors to your own sexual organs and their functions or someone else's you know or anyone in the movie you reviewed. THANKS FOR THAT, especially considering this is a "family" site...ANYWAY your review was PRECISELY what a review should be, which isn't a bunch of nonsense BUT an actual REVIEW OF THE MOVIE. Wow, it's about time someone did that on AICN. As for Doc Strange, look man, I was thinking the EXACT SAME THING the ENTIRE time. She's the WHOLE reason I went to see the movie in the first place and NO tits? Must be because she's on that awful grey's crapatomy. Regardless the mockup shots of her cooter were WEIRD and YES that was the baby's slimy alien head coming out of her cooch. Or rubber cooch.
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Jun 03, 2007 9:56:18 PM CDT
Mr. Brooks so far most entertaining movie of the summer
by spectrebeeyatch
Really enjoyed, perfect of course not but I found it interesting and Costner and Hurt are amazing!!!
Also some of you guys umm need to pass the 4th grade. You're crying because you didn't see tits? The movie itself is funny and probably will be the funniest movie of the summer see it for that, you want tits you're on the internet millions are only a click away. -
Just came back from Knocked Up and it was fucking hysterical. Several parts crack me up, cause its stuff me and my friends do. Schwarzenegger in Total Recall impersonations, oh, I was rolling. These guys know how to write funny stuff. It was the best movie I saw this year. It's surprising to see a comedy.. THAT MAKES YOU LAUGH!!!
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However, I just wanted to see Katherine Heigl's tits. Other than that I don't care, I'm totally desensitized. But really, when you're fucking a girl, I'm sorry, she DOESN'T keep her fuckin bra on, at least none of the girls I fucked anyway. If your chick keeps her bra on during sex, then 1. She has bad implants or 2. She has fucked up tits either way.
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My cliches worked. Yours were just the rantings of someone looking for attention and without thinking whether it was positive attention.
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Was fucking great.
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Anyone who can think up that depraved shit needs councilling, not my money. Awful, horrible, idiotic film.
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I had no intention of seeing Mr Brooks but I saw Knocked Up at the weekend, and I agree with everything above so I might check Brooks out now. Thanks Capone
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To quote your review above, "and co-wrote/adapted more memorable fare such as Stand By Me, Starman, and Cutthroat Island" Cutthroat Island, you're talking about another Cutthroat Island right? Not the mess of pile of shit directed by Renny Harlin...right? You're a damn fool Capone.
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1) While I agree that it's refreshing to read a review on here that doesn't utilize metaphorical references to stupid body parts as a previous poster pointed out, is this really supposed to be a family site or were you being facetious?
2) If Mr. Brooks is meant to be a comedy, that's some of the worst most misleading marketing I've ever seen. I never would have guessed it was supposed to be a comedy and even though it has comedian Dane Cook in it, I thought it looked like his lame attempt at a heavy dramatic turn. -
She's young and desperate for a skyrocketing career. She'll either go topless or become a Scientologist. I know for which I'm hoping.
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No one took themselves seriously in the movie, certainly not Seth, but by not flashing us the goods, Heigl holds back bigtime. Remember your male classmates at the swim party who swam with their shirts ON? That's what this is tantamount to. It's to bad too, because I really wanted to see those things. The film did not succeed because of her, it was all on Seth and the sister. Katherine the Tease.
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Best line ever. I didn't stop laughing for five minutes! Knocked Up is better than 40YOV, I agree. It's the most realistically funny comedy in years. It mixed truth, pain, and humor in a way I haven't seen since Fast Times, or The Breakfast Club.
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