thebubblewrapguy

Did you ever sit through a movie and find yourself hoping the entire time that it would get better? It isn't good, and hasn't been good yet, but there's some good acting and a foundation for a story and you just really, really want it to be good. But it isn't good. And it doesn't get good. And you feel bad for everyone involved. You feel bad for the actors, the producers, the writer and the director. And the editor. You pretty much feel bad for everyone because they tried, you can tell that they tried. But they failed. And that isn't fun.

The story is clearly personal and fairly believable, even if at moments it feels like a movie and not real life. This is a sharp criticism because this movie screams at you that it is real life and not a phony movie, which makes the phony-ness a little harder to digest. But in the end, you know what is going to happen every step of the way. The story is terribly predictable. And, even more unfortunately, it is very slow. Not the good kind of slow where the tension builds, you get to know the characters better, and the atmosphere takes you to another place. It's just plain boring. You know what's you're supposed to feel and you you know what's going to happen next and how you're supposed to feel about that.

In the end, you're left wishing that they had not made this movie, or had added more depth to it so that you could like it. Because you want to like it. Very good performances from Nick Stahl and AnnaSophia Robb push this movie from a 2 to a 4 for me. Dennis Hopper also comes in and does some nice work.

Finally, I adore Charlize Theron. I think she is a true talent and a genuine person. She produced this movie and plays a supporting yet crucial role in it. But, and it kills me to say this, she is not at her best here. I wish I could say otherwise, but perhaps she was too close to the material to both produce and act in it.

I really don't want to criticize this movie too much. So many people involved in this movie are people that I genuinely like. And I think that's true for nearly all of us; we like great talents like John Malkovich, Emily Blunt, Steve Zahn and Tom Hanks. Good people who have given us great work.

In this case, the real problem is that this is a boring story. I sat through the entire film with my wife and a packed house, and there was much squirming all around. There was something very amateurish about the movie, as far as the direction and writing, and it was terribly predictable. My wife said, "Why would they make this movie? It was so boring!" I wanted to disagree, because I'd give it a three while she gives it a q, but the truth is that this was like watching a bunch of people you like not have a good time.

Malkovich does his best to make his character more interesting than written, as does Emily Blunt who has the misfortune of being thrown in randomly and forced to do things just for the sake of story. Steve Zahn, who is always good, struggles to make his dull material interesting. In the end, they were all fighting against the same problem. This is a simple story with no conflict or tension or drama or comedy that telegraphs itself every step of the way. The characters are underwritten and uninteresting, and we're left with talented actors doing their best with weak material.

I would not recommend seeing this movie, even for free. It's not worth the time you need to invest. And I really wish that I didn't have to say that, because I really wanted to like this movie.

I liked this movie. Liked it. But the entire time I was watching it, I had the nagging feeling like the material was better than the movie. I never read the book and I'm not some insider who read the script before the movie came out.

I just basically kept thinking while I watched this movie, "That's a funny idea. This should be a funny scene. Why isn't it funnier?" I saw it with my wife and our friends, and my wife completely agreed with me. Then we found out that this movie was directed by Ivan Reitman's son, and, well, I hate to be a player bater but I think we got our answer.

I'm sure this Jason Reitman is a great guy, but let's be honest. He did not work his way to the top. He was not someone with brilliant talent who had to fight from obscurity to get a career off the ground. He's the son of one of Hollywood's more bankable directors, and that's why a movie that felt like it should have been great turned out to be just all right.

So.. my girlfriend is a huge 'General Hospital' fan and just had to pick up this DVD. We decided to stay home Friday night and for reasons that I don't want to get into she got to pick the entertainment and she chose the DVD with her little GH heart-throb Tyler.

Clearly, I'm player hating pretty boy a little at the start. But the reason I'm writing this positive review is because this is probably the first romantic comedy that I've been forced to sit through that I enjoyed. In fact, besides the fact that are very, very hot women for me to check out, this movie is in no way a chick flick. I laughed, I really liked the relationships between the guys in the band, and when my girlfriend got to say, "I just wish that I could kiss Tyler once" I got to reply with, "I wish that I could kiss that brown haired girl." Fun movie. I recommend it.