Identity Thief (2013) - McCarthy entertains as hellish woman in lesser film

♥♥

 

Two amusing shots of stars Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy fill out this simple poster for Seth Gordon's Identity Thief

Stacy lives a reasonable family life, when his identity gets stolen and abused crudely by a madly materialistic con lady in Florida. In order to get his life back on track, he crosses the country to catch the culprit.

 

Identity Thief is written by Craig Mazin (Scary Movie 3 (2003)), with Jerry Eeten (Elvis Took a Bullet (2001)) contributing story elements, and Seth Gordon (Four Christmases (2008)).

The tone is uneven, ranging between crass and warmly human, however without the latter quality ever settling because the film (similarly to Gordon's preceding comedy Horrible Bosses (2011)) lacks heart.

Melissa McCarthy (The Heat (2013)) is game, and she reveals several assets in her considerable talent, - more than her character can really carry, actually, - but her performance gives Identity Thief its worthwhile core and the laughs that it produces, among others in a couple of funny scenes with Eric Stonestreet (The Loft (2014)) as Big Chuck, and one with Ben Falcone (Life of the Party (2018)) as a motel desk clerk. SPOILER That Jason Bateman's (Central Intelligence (2016)) Stacy character eventually learns from McCarthy's pathological liar and even forgives her is a huge stretch, and a poorly designed CGI snake and the not exactly inventive action villains on their tails also work to weigh down this highly  fiscally successful star vehicle. Over-all though, McCarthy deserves a better director and script than is provided here.

 

Related post:

 

Seth Gordon: Horrible Bosses (2011) - The stars nearly make up for this rackety Hollywood raunch vehicle

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 35 mil. $

Box office: 173.9 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.96 times its cost)

[Identity Thief was released 7 October (Croatia) and runs 111 minutes. McCarthy's character was originally written for a man, but Bateman insisted that she was cast after seeing her performance in Bridesmaids (2011). Shooting took place in Georgia, Colorado and Tennessee. The film opened #1 to a 34.5 mil. $, spending another 5 weekends in the top 5, one of which was again at #1, grossing 134.5 mil. $ (77.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were UK with 7.4 mil. $ (4.3 %) and Australia with 7 mil. $ (4 %). The film additionally made in excess of an estimated 35.6 mil. $ on the domestic home video market as well. Gordon returned with 4 TV credits prior to his theatrical return, Baywatch (2017). McCarthy returned in The Hangover Part III (2013); Bateman in Bad Words (2013). Identity Thief is rotten at 20 % with a 4.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Identity Thief? 

The In-Laws (2003) - Fine cast fuel amusing hijinks in under-appreciated remake

♥♥♥♥

 

A festive matrimonial gathering of Hollywood stars make up the poster for Andrew Fleming's The In-Laws

A young couple are getting married, and their parents are finally about to meet: But her foot doctor father and his CIA hotshot father get closer to each other, than anyone could have guessed on this eventful weekend.

 

The In-Laws is written by Nat Mauldin (Downtown (1990)) and Ed Solomon (Charlie's Angels (2000)) and directed by Andrew Fleming (Bad Dreams (1988)). It is a remake of Andrew Bergman's same-titled 1979 hit action comedy.

The poster makes the film look like a Meet the Parents (2000) style romcom, but this is more of a buddy-tasting action comedy. Being unfamiliar with the original film is not a handicap in this case and may even be advisable. I found myself easily let along by the charming stars: Albert Brooks (The Scout (1994)) as the neurotic scaredy cat doctor, and Michael Douglas (Traffic (2000)) as the nonchalant, 'I-can-do-anything' type are well-cast, share chemistry and are really funny together. Brooks' scenes with David Suchet (Effie Gray (2014)) as Jean-Pierre (among other things appearing in a red thong!) are also a hoot. With Candice Bergen (Rules Don't Apply (2016)) as heavily combated ex-wife, and Ryan Reynolds (6 Underground (2019)) with strangely over-plucked eyebrows as the cute son getting married. 

The In-Laws doesn't take itself serious but it is a bowl of laughs, while it also trails around admirably as a kind of fun field trip, particularly for fans of its two headlining stars.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 40 mil. $

Box office: 26.8 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.67 times its cost)

[The In-Laws premiered 19 May (USA) and runs 98 minutes. Shooting took place from June - August 2002 in California, including in Los Angeles, in Chicago, Illinois and in Ontario, including in Toronto. The film opened #5, behind fellow new release Bruce Almigthy and holdover hits The Matrix Reloaded, Daddy Daycare and X2: X-Men United, to a 7.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 20.4 mil. $ (76.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Italy with 1.2 mil. $ (4.5 %) and Spain with 777k $ (2.9 %). Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. Fleming returned with 3 TV credits prior to his theatrical return, Nancy Drew (2007). Douglas returned with a voice performance in Freedom: History of US (2003, TV-series) and theatrically in The Sentinel (2006); Brooks in Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (2005). The In-Laws is rotten at 33 % with a 5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The In-Laws?

I Am Sam (2001) - Penn and Fanning elevate flawed disability drama

♥♥♥

 

Two major stars sit across from each other against a backdrop of familial affection on this poster for Jessie Nelson's I Am Sam

Sam is a father and intellectually disabled, and therefore the authorities want to remove his daughter from his care. But isn't his big, pumping love for her the most important thing for her well-being?

 

I Am Sam is written by Kristine Johnson (Imaginary Crimes (1994)) and co-writer/co-producer/director Jessie Nelson (Corrina, Corrina (1994)).

Sean Penn's (The Gunman (2005)) heartwarming performance as Sam makes this otherwise wobbly drama worthwhile, and he is supported by Dakota Fanning (Hounddog (2007)), who is impossibly sweet as his daughter Lucy, as well as from Dianne Wiest (The Humbling (2014)) as the good lady across the street, as well as two actors actually living with intellectual disability. 

The direction is regrettably heavy-handed: Telling looks, which the characters should have bared for a split second during a scene are instead held through entire scenes, so that the film seems condescending in its taking us for saps. Almost all the scenes in I Am Sam are chasing the wildly emotional with an at times annoyingly handheld camera. The dichotomy of the court case climax and the film's message over-all are mostly of the overly simplified Hollywood kind, here the Beatles-inspired wisdom of 'love solves everything'. Michelle Pfeiffer (What Lies Beneath (2000)) plays an overstrung career woman, failing in making her seem real. 

 

 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 22 mil. $

Box office: 97.8 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.44 times its cost)

[I Am Sam premiered 3 December (Beverly Hills) and runs 132 minutes. Penn was paid 5 mil. $ for his performance in the film. Shooting took place from March - May 2001 in Los Angeles, California. The film opened #47 to a 41k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #7 and in 1,450 theaters (different weekends), grossing 40.3 mil. $ (41.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 25.7 mil. $ (26.3 %) and South Korea with 9.8 mil. $ (10 %). The film was nominated for 1 Oscar, for Best Actor (Penn), lost to Denzel Washington in Training Day. It was also nominated for a Grammy, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Nelson returned with Love the Coopers (2015). Penn returned in It's All About Love (2003); Pfeiffer in White Oleander (2002). I Am Sam is rotten at 35 % with a 4.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of I Am Sam?

Inside Job (2010, documentary) - Ferguson presents the 2008 financial crisis in five acts in stellar documentary

♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

A grotesque mountain of cash with a suit-wearing man atop, fingers crossed eerily on his back, surrounded by praise, makes up this poster for Charles Ferguson's Inside Job

In five chapters, the film explores and explains the systemic flaws and corruption that led to the 2008 financial crisis in the US, and also how the ailments were subsequently (mis)treated.

 

Inside Job is written by co-writer/co-editor Chad Beck (Time to Choose (2015)), co-writer/co-editor Adam Bolt (Human Nature (2019)) and Californian master filmmaker, co-writer/co-producer/director Charles Ferguson (No End in Sight (2007, documentary)), whose second feature it is.

It is the silver-lined film on the financial crisis to watch, in which Ferguson and Co. coolly and educationally lays bare what happened in the years prior to the debacle, what its results were, and why the guilty parties still roam free. Inside Job holds a strict focus on the main perpetrators and achieves an impressive amount of statements, some of which makes the rotten villains stand out with clarity in their sinful natures.

Inside Job is a role-model documentary, rage-inducing and a must watch.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 2 mil. $

Box office: 7.8 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 3.9 times its cost)

[Inside Job premiered 2 February (Belgium) and runs 108 minutes. Shooting took place in Iceland, France, England, China, Singapore, Florida, New York and Washington DC. The film opened #50 to a 39k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #18 and in 250 theaters, grossing 4.3 mil. $ (55.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 862k $ (11.1 %) and France with 669k $ (8.6 %). The film won the Best Documentary Oscar and a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Ferguson returned with Time to Choose (2015, documentary). Inside Job is certified fresh at 98 % with an 8.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Inside Job?

The Apprentice (2024) - Abbasi and Co. tackle world's most debated man effectively

♥♥♥♥

 

Enlarged to the traditional size of Kaiju movie monsters, the three stars threaten to wreak havoc on New York City on this fine poster for Ali Abbasi's The Apprentice

The son of American businessman Fred Trump, Donald Jr. is hellbent on making himself stand out in a way that his perceived let-down pilot brother has neglected, and to boost himself into a New York tycoon and world-famous business leader, he enrolls under the mentorship of ruthless lawyer Roy Cohn.

 

The Apprentice is written by Gabriel Sherman (Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)) and directed by Iranian-born Danish master filmmaker Ali Abbasi (Shelley (2016)), whose 4th feature it is.

A biopic about the arguably most talked-about and controversial figure worldwide in the last few decades, and releasing it during his third presidential campaign, is bound to be divisive. The filmmakers have 'attacked' their subject from a critical, leftist position to be sure but to their credit have attempted to tell the story of the 1970s and 1980s arrival of Donald Trump in business without their sentiments and politics sneaking in. Global opinion on Trump is still very much in determination, and will be for his second period as US President 2025-29. This makes for an obstacle for the film, because in essence many audiences will be still too much involved in the ongoing 'Trump reality' to have the reserve and interest to look into a fictional retelling of his past. In any case he is such a behemoth that the film is likely to keep attracting new audiences for the years to come. 

This is of course also based on the fact that The Apprentice is fueled by a strong script and great performances: Sebastian Stan (Ghosted (2023)) arrives in force and is very authentic as Trump; Jeremy Strong (Succession (2018-23)) is intense and highly persuasive as the chameleon-like, powerful Cohn, whose AIDS disease renders him an outcast before his death; and Maria Bakalova (Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)) as Donald's first wife Ivana, who is portrayed brilliantly as a flawed but mostly sympathetic woman. Martin Donovan (Tenet (2020)) is a great choice and very good as Fred Trump. The production design and locations are never lacking, but what is lacking in the life of Donald Trump, it seems, is love and sincere affection. A shark-like pursuit of money and power instead rules supreme. This makes his story a fairly dark watch, but the pacing keeps it moving well, SPOILER and a darkly humorous, directorially rich flourish in the end is that Abbasi provides a gruelingly visual account of Donald's liposuction and bald spot plastic surgery, cross cut with Cohn's demise. Appropriately devoid of sentimentality, The Apprentice has an admirable punk rock energy, serious performances and may well stand the test of time.

 

Related post:

 

Ali Abbasi: 2022 in films - according to Film Excess 

Holy Spider (2022) - Blood on the hands of Iran's Islamic system and its leaders

Border/Gräns (2018) - The second Lindqvist adaptation is another wtf-experience with muddled implications if any

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 16 mil. $

Box office: 12.1 mil. $ and counting

= Too early to say

[The Apprentice premiered 20 May (Cannes Film Festival, main competition) and runs 123 minutes. Announced in 2018, the film only really came underway when the cast and Abbasi were announced in 2022 and 2023. 15 companies and support bodies were involved in the financing and production of the film. Shooting took place from November 2023 - January 2024 in Ontario, including in Toronto. SPOILER The rape scene was based on Ivana Trump's divorce deposition (under oath) in which she alleged it. She backed away from the allegation 30 years later, during Trump's third presidential campaign. Trump's amphetamine use was detailed in Harry Hurt's biography. The film was attacked by Dan Snyder, one of its financial backers, who had thought it would be a positive account of its subject. His stake was bought by James Shani and Rich Spirit, already stakeholders in the film. Trump's team unsuccessfully tried to stop the film from coming out, and Abbasi invited Trump to see it for himself, getting no response. Trump called the film a "disgusting hatchet job" and the filmmakers "human scum". The film's release was made difficult by Trump's looming power, but it was eventually released, just weeks prior to the November 2024 election. The film opened #10 to a 1.6 mil. $ first weekend in 1,740 theaters in North America, its peak there, where it has so far grossed 3.9 mil. $. The film's BoxOfficeMojo site is missing its Danish gross, where it has so far grossed at least 640k $. The film has to announced markets left to release in; Russia and Japan. It lost the Palme d'Or to Anora. Abbasi does not have his next film announced yet. Stan returns in Thunderbolts (2025); Strong in Deliver Me from Nowhere; and Bakalova in Triumph (2024). The Apprentice is certified fresh at 82 % with a 6.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Apprentice?

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete (2013) - Tillman Jr. directs under-appreciated social realism gold

♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

Two boys in an urban landscape with looming, oversized adults hovering around make up this poster for George Tillman Jr.'s The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete

Mister has to take the 8th grade again, but he gets a larger problem this summer, when his mother, who is a heroin-addicted prostitute, is removed from his life, and he does his best to survive, along with his friend from the hood, Pete.

 

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete is written by Michael Starrbury (When They See Us (2019, miniseries)) and co-produced and directed by Wisconsinite master filmmaker George Tillman Jr. (Scenes for the Soul (1995)), whose 6th feature it is.

The film is a kind of modern Oliver Twist, though without a Fagin (the Dickens' novel's iconic villain.) Instead the fault for the childhood misery laid out here, - at least as grueling as in that 19th century, London-set novel, - is shared by many characters and a society at large, which despite incredible wealth allows itself to abandon children in dire circumstances. Another obvious comparison would be to Lee Daniels' Precious (2009), but unlike that great drama, The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete has no escapist insert montages but rather remains at all times in the present predicament of its two boy protagonists. When they meet hunger, addiction and rows of disappointments, it could have made the film unbearable, - and it is completely engulfing to be sure, - but the charisma and drive of the Mister character, and the way he manages so bravely keep himself above water ultimately makes the journey bearable and ultimately deeply moving. Skylan Brooks (Empire (2018-20)) is tremendous in the role, while the precocious Ethan Dizon (Avengers: Infinity War (2018)) as Pete gives one of those kinds of child performances, which is in no way faultless or seamless but is nevertheless priceless, because Dizon puts all of his wonderful being so forcefully into the work. The two are supported by Jennifer Hudson (Sing (2016)), outstanding as Mister's mother, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Wetlands (2017)) as the tough cop, who shares the film's golden nugget lines in a teary scene, and The Wire's Julito McCullum (Will You Marry Me (2024)) as a mean kid from the block.

This is an angry film about the failures of the projects, - both internally and as they relate to the surrounding urban centers and the country. The score (by Mark Isham (Blacklight (2022)) and Alicia Keys (The Secret Life of Bees (2008, actress))) is engaged and well-made, and the direction is a role-model. The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete is a humbling film.

 

Related posts:

George Tillman Jr.: 2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  

Faster (2010) - Tillman Jr., the Gayton brothers and Johnson sculpt a fantastic action movie 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Reportedly 3 mil. $

Box office: 506k $

= Box office disaster (returned 0.16 times its cost)

[The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete premiered 25 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 108 minutes. Shooting took place from July - August 2012 in New York. The film opened #24 to a 254k $ first weekend in 147 theaters in North America, its peak in the market, where it grossed 496k $ (98 % of the total gross). Its only other recorded market was South Africa. The-Numbers.com estimates that the film also made 330k $ on the domestic home video market. It was nominated for an Independent Spirit award. Tillman Jr. returned with The Longest Ride (2015). Brooks returned in Oliver, Stoned. (2014); Dizon in Sullivan & Son (2013, TV-series) and theatrically in Bad Words (2013). The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete is fresh at 84 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete?

In a Valley of Violence (2016) - West defeated in the West

♥♥

 

The two stars, in traditional western getup, look about ready to shoot each other to death on this poster for Ti West's In a Valley of Violence

A soldier who has possibly deserted from the army, is on his way to Mexico and makes a stop in the small town Denton, where the local Marshall's braindead son bothers him to such a degree that he ends up staying there.

 

In a Valley of Violence is written, directed and edited by Ti West (The Roost (2005)).

He attempts a western in Sergio Leone style here, but the result is more of a dull-brained pastiche than a staggering homage. Ethan Hawke (Training Day (2001)) is miscast as the protagonist, who loses his dog and murders freely as revenge, not unlike Keanu Reeves in the popular present day-set John Wick (2014). But where Reeves in that film seems a cool and justified avenger, Hawke at times here is risible, and generally a hard-to-justify postulate. Furthermore it is hard to grasp what makes the charming Taissa Farmiga (The Mule (2018)) fall for him here.

West adds brutality and blood, but that doesn't elevate the level for this poor western, which does have John Travolta's (Lucky Numbers (2000)) Marshall going for it. Best here is the score (by Jeff Grace (The Artist's Wife (2019))), Ennio Morricone inspired but with modern edges.

 

Related posts:

Ti West: V/H/S (2012) - Energetic, periodically intensely creepy if flawed found footage horror anthology (segment writer-director)  

The House of the Devil (2009) - West's energetic, scary throwback period horror 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown, projected 10 mil. $

Box office: 61k $

= Box office disaster (returned 0.006 times its cost)

[In a Valley of Violence premiered 12 March (South by Southwest Film Festival) and runs 99 minutes. Shooting took place on film from June - July 2014 in New Mexico. The film opened #58 to a 29k $ first weekend in 33 theaters in North America, where it only played one more weekend, grossing 61k $. The film's only other release market (despite festival screenings) was Mexico, where the gross result went unreported. The-numbers.com asserts that the film additionally made 1.5 mil. $ on the domestic home video market. West returned with 8 TV-series prior to his theatrical return with X (2022). Hawke returned in The Phenom (2016); Travolta in American Crime Story (2016, TV-series) and theatrically in I Am Wrath (2016). In a Valley of Violence is certified fresh at 78 % with a 6.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of In a Valley of Violence? 

Inferno (2016) - Howard's third Langdon adventure is among the year's worst films

♥

 

Star Tom Hanks and co-star Felicity Jones run around in a European city and look concerned on this poster for Ron Howard's Inferno

Robert Langdon awakes disillusioned and tormented by visions of Biblical plagues in Florence, Italy, where a young British woman helps him gather answers concerning a mysterious virus that he may be a carrier of.

 

Inferno is written by David Koepp (Premium Rush (2012)), adapting the same-titled 2013 novel by Dan Brown (Angels & Demons (2000)), and directed by great Oklahoman filmmaker Ron Howard (Grand Theft Auto (1977)). It is the 3rd and last in the Robert Langdon series also consisting of The Da Vinci Code (2006) and Angels & Demons (2009).

Koepp has provided a lazy and wretched script, maybe the low-point of his career, and this film may be the low-point for several of those involved. Inferno is related in what feels like a barrage of speedily edited, flashing shots that implies actual knowledge by throwing Dante and beautiful historical sights into its nonsensical plot. Confusing, boring and marked by mitigating work from no-one, the film never finds a good pace and has inserted, dull, explanatory dialogs again and again.

Tom Hanks (The Post (2017)) appears to be in pain and also resembles a superstar who knows he is in some real junk, but goes through with it still - for a hefty paycheck, and a bit of loyalty to his partners in crime. The other cast members often combat stilted dialog, and Felicity Jones (A Monster Calls (2016)), just as in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), doesn't show what exactly made her get cast in these mega-movies, (her career understandably fizzed out following both films.)

 

Related posts:

 

Ron Howard: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) - Disney, Howard and Co. drive expensive stick through beloved franchise 

Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011) - Stapleton's Corman doc. is among the year's best films (interview subject)

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
Frost/Nixon (2008) - Howard's political drama is gripping, superiorly acted 
The Da Vinci Code (2006) - Howard's first Brown adaptation is a popcorn thriller hoot  

2001 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
A Beautiful Mind (2001) - John Nash given the Epic Treatment  
EDtv (1999) - Phenomenal cast shine in Howard's witty mega-flop

Far and Away (1992) - Howard, Hollywood's sweethearts visit the old West with dull result (co-writer/director) 
Backdraft (1991) - Howard's giant, stupid Chicago-set firefighter movie 

Grand Theft Auto (1977) or, Crash Bam Boom! 
American Graffiti (1973) or, Cruisin' Modesto '62 (actor)   

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 75 mil. $

Box office: 220 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 2.93 times its cost)

[Inferno premiered 8 October (Florence, Italy) and runs 121 minutes. Hanks reportedly earned 25 mil. $ from his performance in the film. Shooting took place from April - July 2015 in Istanbul, Turkey, Italy and Hungary, including in Budapest. The film opened #2, behind Boo! A Madea Halloween, to a 14.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5), grossing 34.3 mil. $ (15.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were China with 19.3 mil. $ (8.8 %) and Japan with 14.4 mil. $ (6.5 %). Howard returned with Genius (2017, TV-series) and theatrically with Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). Hanks returned in The Circle (2017). Inferno is rotten at 23 % with a 4.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Inferno?