In Good Company (2004) - Stars sparkle in Weitz's easy-to-take dramedy

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Three stars strike different positions with vacant stares on this unfavorable poster for Paul Weitz's In Good Company

A middle-aged gentleman is demoted in his company and gets a new boss who's just 26 years old, - and who on top of this starts dating the man's college student daughter.

 

In Good Company is written, co-produced and directed by great New-Yorker filmmaker Paul Weitz (American Pie (1999)).

It is an office comedy that is also a 'little league' drama, since it actually does handle its characters' fates with seriousness. The film lives on some good actors: Dennis Quaid (Playing by Heart (1998)) as the father; Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow (2021)) as his daughter; and Topher Grace (War Machine (2017)); sweet but with an ugly hairdo here as the new boss/daughter's love interest. In supporting roles Philip Baker Hall (Bad Words (2013)), Selma Blair (Ordinary World (2016)) and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange (1971)) brighten up scenes.

There's a couple of laughs here, but the script is still not really funny. It may be that it is a bit too sympathetic, and the characters too normal somehow.

 

Related posts: 

Paul Weitz: Admission (2013) - Despite messy script, Fey is hilarious in Weitz's romcom 

Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000) - Murphy brings down the house (co-writer) 

Top 10: Best high school titles 

Top 10: Best first-of-franchise movies 

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

American Pie (1999) or, Losing It Before Prom 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 26 mil. $

Box office: 63.4 mil. $

= Minor flop (returned 2.43 times its cost)

[In Good Company premiered 6 December (Hollywood) and runs 110 minutes. Shooting took place around March 2004 in New York and Los Angeles, California. The film opened #31 to a 151k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #3, behind fellow new release Coach Carter and holdover hit Meet the Fockers, spending 2 weekends in the top 5 and grossing 45.8 mil. $ (72.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Australia with 2.9 mil. $ (4.6 %) and the UK with 2.3 mil. $ (3.6 %). The film won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Weitz returned with Cracking Up (2004, TV-series) and theatrically with American Dreamz (2006). Johansson returned in Match Point (2005); Grace in Ocean's Twelve (2004); and Quaid in Flight of the Phoenix (2004). In Good Company is certified fresh at 82 % with a 7.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of In Good Company? 

Asteroid City (2023) - Enjoy Anderson's crisp star parade desert adventure from the comfort of a theater seat

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Post-card-like, pleasant, warm-colored poster high-lighting the long star cast for Wes Anderson's Asteroid City

In a tiny desert town in Arizona that's centered around its asteroid crater sight, an astronomical star-gazing event attracts a father of four and his off-spring, among other people, when an unforeseen occurrence forces them to share a week there together. Also, a story about the creation of this desert-plot, which is the material of a New York play.

 

Asteroid City is written by Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom (2012)) and Texan master filmmaker, co-writer/co-producer/directer Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket (1996)), whose 11th feature it is.

For the veteran Anderson-lover, the film is like a vintage serving of the singular American's style, universe and sensibilities, a delicious return to a peculiar world that most will be very pleased to spend some time in any day of the week. This time Anderson and Coppola's story is probably their most convoluted of plots to date due to its meta-textual layer: Edward Norton (Fight Club (1999)) is the playwright and Adrien Brody (The Pianist (2002)) the restless director of the desert-set play in the film's B/W framing story, with Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad (2008-13)) an amusing narrator. It is curious and has its strange attraction, but the main attraction, the spry, crisply colorful play reality in itself, that is the real dish in Asteroid City.

And a succulent one it is: Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore (1998)) is the recently widowed father grappling with his new role and relaying it to his children and father-in-law Tom Hanks (Philadelphia (1993)), also amusing. His role is in no way up to what is normally to be expected from a Hanks performance, but then Steve Carell (The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)) gets even slighter bones to pick, and ditto for Willem Dafoe (The Lighthouse (2019)) and Margot Robbie (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)). It is somehow alright, since Anderson pics are like visits to a strange and privileged playhouse, where the creator's favorite friends usually are found, and many are they indeed.

As before, the focus is often on the adolescent formative age teenagers, but here also on the themes of the surrounding universe; space and the awareness of intelligent life elsewhere. The stylish panache, both in terms of production design, costumes, hair and Robert Yeoman's (Spy (2015)) striking images, are crowned in this film by Scarlett Johansson's (Lost in Translation (2003)) lovely performance as a 1950s movie star, (the clear referential connection is to Marilyn Monroe, and Johansson's brown hair color here is likely chosen for the connect not to be overly clear) , who also gets stuck in Asteroid City.

The emotions and depth don't reach the heights of Anderson's best films here, but Asteroid City is still a magical visit and very worth the prize of admission.

 

Related posts: 

Wes Anderson: 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV] 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Top 10: The best adventure films reviewed by Film Excess to date
2014 in films - according to Film Excess
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) - A very very good dream 
Moonrise Kingdom (2012) - A 1960s island youth romance present 

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) - Anderson's technically, visually admirable but a bit tiring animation 
The Darjeeling Limited (2007) - Anderson beautifies but still wins with India-journey favorite  

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 25 mil. $

Box office: 29.4 mil. $ and counting

= Too early to say

[Asteroid City premiered 23 May (Cannes Film Festival, main competition) and runs 105 minutes. Shooting took place from August - October 2021 in Arizona and in Madrid, Spain. The film opened #10 to an 853k $ first weekend in 6 theaters in North America, where it still plays. It has yet to open in several big markets that are set for August and September. It lost the Palme D'Or to Anatomy of a Fall. Anderson returns with The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023). Schwartzman has returned in a TV-series and a voice performance and is set to return with a physical theatrical performance in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023); Johansson has 6 upcoming films. Asteroid City is certified fresh at 73 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Asteroid City? 

Her (2013) - Jonze's disheartening hipster sci-fi romance

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Star Joaquin Phoenix's giant face with hipster mustache and a red shirt against a pink background makes up this simple poster for Spike Jonze's Her

In the near future, urbanite Theodore  works his way towards finalizing his divorce, while he falls in love with an OS (an artificial intelligence operative system) by the name Samantha.

 

Her is written, co-produced and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich (1999)), whose 4th feature it is.

Joaquin Phoenix (Signs (2002)) impresses again in a very intimate and sympathetic performance here; and Scarlett Johansson (Ghost in the Shell (2017)) is also outstanding in an unusually strong voice performance as Samantha. Chris Pratt (Passengers (2016)), Olivia Wilde (Life Itself (2018)) and Rooney Mara (Una (2016)) are fine, but it is especially Amy Adams (Lullaby (2014)) that one comes to care about here, although I enjoyed Phoenix and Adams as a couple more in Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master (2012).

Her relies on a distinctive and interesting story, which nevertheless has sides to it that bother me: Firstly it is, and continues to be, freaky to fall in love with a computer's voice, (even if Johansson does that voice.) The film shows friendship and romantic relationships incisively, - their weaknesses, frailties and misunderstandings especially, - which is implicitly why people in this really quite disheartening future turn away from each other. Jonze's version of the future is a well-dressed, smoothie-drinking, conflict-averse construction, - a hipster dream/nightmare, which seems incomplete to me: too slick and attractive. And the perspectives in previous Jonze films (his debut Being John Malkovich for one) simply reach farther.

 

Related posts:

 

Spike Jonze: The day after ... The Oscars 2014

Top 10: Best films about filmmaking 

2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Adaptation (2002) or, Charlie Kaufman's Fictional Life 

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Top 10: Best fantasy movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Being John Malkovich (1999) - Jonze, Kaufman and Malkovich's great triumph 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 23 mil. $

Box office: 48.5 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2.10 times its cost)

[Her premiered 12 October (New York Film Festival) and runs 126 minutes. Jonze had had the first idea for the film in the early 2000s when first encountering an early AI voice system. He later based much of the script on his divorce from Sofia Coppola in 2003. Shooting took place in 'mid 2012' in Shanghai, China and in California, including in Los Angeles. Samantha Morton voiced Samantha but was replaced with Johansson in post production. The film opened #23 to a 260k $ first weekend in 6 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #10 and in 1,729 theaters, grossing 25.5 mil. $ (52.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 3 mil. $ (6.2 %) and Italy with 2.7 mil. $ (5.6 %). It was nominated for 5 Oscars, winning for Best Original Screenplay. It lost Best Picture to 12 Years a Slave, Production Design to The Great Gatsby, Song (The Moon Song by Karen O and Jonze) to Let It Go from Frozen by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez and Score (Will Butler, Owen Pallett) to Steven Price for Gravity. It also won an AFI award, 1/3 Golden Globe nominations, was nominated for a Grammy and won 2 National Board of Review awards, among many other honors. The film additionally made in excess of 4.9 mil. $ on home video copies in North America. Jonze has returned with 12 shorts, music videos, a documentary etc. but no feature since. Phoenix returned in Inherent Vice (2014); Adams in American Hustle (2013); and Johansson in Street of Dreams (2013, video) and HitRECord on TV (2014, TV-series) prior to her theatrical return in Chef (2014). Her is certified fresh at 94 % with a 8.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Her?

The Nanny Diaries (2007) - Johansson and co-stars elevate Berman & Pulcini fluff

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Scarlett Johansson and a boy look wronged, wearing party hats, on this cute poster for Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini's The Nanny Diaries

Annie is a newly minted bachelor student with New York at her feet, but the possibilities prove too overwhelming, and so she takes on a year as a nanny for a well-off Upper East Side family. And who does she meet in their building but a charming young fella...

 

The Nanny Diaries is written and directed by married master New-Yorker filmmakers Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini (American Splendor (2003)), whose 2nd film it is. It is an adaptation of the same-titled 2002 novel by Emma McLaughlin (The First Affair (2013)) and Nicola Kraus (Over You (2012)).

Basically too cutesy, The Nanny Diaries also wears the leg iron that our deeply privileged white protagonist's challenge in the film is her well-paid job for the rich New York family. - Hardly 'about life at the top, as seen from the bottom', as the tag-line above suggests.

The plot is served as soft sweetness and a pronounced women's picture. It is nevertheless salvaged by Scarlett Johansson's (The Avengers (2012)) own personal sweetness, a wonderful boy (Nicholas Art (Knight and Day (2010))) as her charge, who manages to be both a pain in the ass and lovable; and Laura Linney (The Details (2011)) and Paul Giamatti (The Last Station (2009)) as the fairly intolerable parents. There's excessive use of voice-over but pretty shots of New York here. The Nanny Diaries is not a great film, but it is highly pleasing company.

Related posts:

 

Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini: Girl Most Likely/Imogene (2012) - Wiig is great as another dysfunctional woman in Berman & Pulcini's unfocused fare
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

The Extra Man (2010) - One of the year's best films is this overlooked comedy gem 

American Splendor (2003) or, Happily Unhappy Together

 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 20 mil. $

Box office: 47.8 mil. $

= Minor flop (returned 2.39 times its cost)

[The Nanny Diaries was released 24 August (North America) and runs 106 minutes. Shooting took place from April 2006 - ? in New York, New Jersey and Toronto, Ontario. The film opened #6 to a 7.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it since declined, grossing 25.9 mil. $ (54.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 3.5 mil. $ (7.3 %) and South Korea with 3.4 mil. $ (7.1 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. The-Numbers.com estimate that the film made an additional 38.4 mil. $ on the home video market. Berman & Pulcini returned with The Extra Man (2010). Johansson returned in Will.i.am: Yes We Can (2008, music video) and theatrically in The Other Boleyn Girl (2008). The Nanny Diaries is rotten at 34 % with a 5.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Nanny Diaries? 

Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) - Production prevails in flawed Vermeer biopic

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Sensual, carnal lust issues from this steamy poster for Peter Webber's Girl with a Pearl Earring

Johannes Vermeer is a prominent artist in the Netherlands in 1655, but he works too slowly, and now his new housemaid catches his wandering eye.

 

Girl with a Pearl Earring is written by Olivia Hetreed (Birds Like Us (2017)), adapting the same-titled 1999 novel by Tracy Chevalier (New Boy (2017)), and directed by Peter Webber (Emperor (2012)), whose theatrical debut it is.

It is a decently made but not very inspired nor deep period film. It is a painter biopic that lets one become fascinated with things such as how colors are created for the paint that goes into the paintings, but we don't get very near to the artist himself.

The many Brits in the cast are fundamentally unfit to capture the Dutch environment, it seems. The story doesn't swell up to greatness here, and Cillian Murphy (Anthropoid (2016)) is miscast: He and his romantic interest, the picturesque Scarlett Johansson (Lucy (2014)) regrettably do not suit each other.

 

Related post:

 

Peter Webber: 2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Hannibal Rising (2007) - Harris returns famed cannibal in sub-par origins flick

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 10 mil. £, approximately 16.3 mil. $

Box office: 33 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2.02 times its cost)

[Girl with a Pearl Earring premiered 31 August (Telluride Film Festival, US) and runs 100 minutes. The rights were bought, before the novel was published in 1999. Production was set to start with Mike Newell directing and Kate Hudson and Ralph Fiennes starring in 2001, when Hudson withdrew. Shooting took place in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The film opened #32 to an 89k $ first weekend in 7 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #17 and in 402 theaters (different weeks), grossing 11.6 mil. $ (35.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 5.9 mil. $ (17.9 %) and Germany with 3.3 mil. $ (10 %). It was the 14th highest-grossing (part-) UK film in the UK of the year. It was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Cinematography (Eduardo Serra) to Russell Boyd for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Costume Design and Art/Set Decoration to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. It was also nominated for 2 Golden Globes, 10 BAFTAs, 3 British Independent Film awards, a David di Donatello award, won 1/3 European Film award nominations, was nominated for a Goya award, won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 3 notches over this one. Webber returned with Six Feet Under (2004, TV-series)) and theatrically with Hannibal Rising (2007). Colin Firth (Fourplay (2001)) returned in Love Actually (2003); Johansson in The Perfect Score (2004); and Tom Wilkinson (Belle (2013)) in If Only (2004). Girl with a Pearl Earring is fresh at 72 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Girl with a Pearl Earring?

Ghost World (2001) - Zwigoff's adaptation is a flawless coming-of-age masterpiece

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The skirted teenage girl protagonists stand opinionated and firmly placed in a vacuum on this smart and funny poster for Terry Zwigoff's Ghost World

Enid and Rebecca are best friends. Done with high school and seemingly ready to move in together to embark on adult life, Enid begins a relationship with a much older record collector named Seymour, which brings her to doubt herself, the world and her future tremendously.

Ghost World is written by Daniel Clowes (Art School Confidential (2006)), based on his same-titled 1997 graphic novel, and Wisconsinite master filmmaker, co-writer/director Terry Zwigoff (Louie Bluie (1985, documentary)), whose fiction debut it is.
It is a film that will fool some to rate it under its value due to its surface look of being a 'small' film, (which is a questionable summation of any film generally.) In terms of scale it is a small movie but not in terms of themes or achievements, and as importantly there simply is not a fault to put one's finger on in Ghost World.
Thora Birch (The Competition (2018)) as the evolving Enid; Scarlett Johansson (The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)) as her voice of reason friend Rebecca, and Steve Buscemi (Mr. Deeds (2002)) as the hilariously funny dejected Seymour are all fantastic.
The music (score by David Kitay (Smiley Face (2007))) and acerbic, poignant descriptions of modern US society in the film help its unique effect of smarting while making one laugh. The cinematography (by Affonso Beato (Treason (1998))) and costumes are very 1990s/independent/Americana. Ghost World is an unequaled gem.

Related posts:

Terry Zwigoff: Art School Confidential (2006) or, World of Phoney
Bad Santa (2003) - Zwigoff sticks dynamite under Christmas in this modern dark comedy classic 
Crumb (1994, documentary) or, The Artist As a Cartoonist

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 7 mil. $
Box office: 8.7 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.24 times its cost)
[Ghost World premiered 16 June (Seattle International Film Festival) and runs 112 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, from March - May 2000. The film opened #30 to a 98k $ first weekend in 5 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #20 and in 128 theaters (different weeks) and grossed 6.2 mil. $ (71.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 587k $ (6.7 %) and France with 357k $ (4.1 %). The film was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, lost to Akiva Goldsman for A Beautiful Mind. It was also nominated for 2 Golden Globes, 2 AFI awards, won 2/3 Independent Spirit award nominations and a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Zwigoff returned with Bad Santa (2003). Birch returned in 5 TV and video credits prior to her theatrical return in Silver City (2004); Johansson in An American Rhapsody (2001); Buscemi with a voice performance in Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) and physically in The Grey Zone (2001). Ghost World is certified fresh at 92 % with a 7.83/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Ghost World?

Match Point (2005) - Allen takes London with pensive thriller hit

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+ Best London Movie of the Year

The still of what appears a moment of genuine romantic feeling is contrasted eerily with the ominous tagline in the bottom of this poster for Woody Allen's Match Point; 'There are no little secrets.'

An ex-tennis pro falls for an alluring woman who is the girlfriend of his friend, who is soon to be his brother-in-law, as he is on the cusp of entering a wealthy English family.

Match Point is written and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker Woody Allen (Sleeper (1973)), whose 35th feature it is. I can't but feel it as a basically rather trite concept adult picture with the core theme being, 'luck'. Still Match Point is a captivating and good film, which impresses with a well-integrated opera element, a strong ending and Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Elvis (2005, miniseries)) giving an equally strong protagonist performance. 
This is a fine sidestep for Allen, both in terms of genre (drama-thriller) and location, (it is his first film shot abroad), and the ease with which he succeeds is admirable, - but I as an Allen fan miss some of his personality (not least his humor) in the film.

Related posts:
 
Woody Allen: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess

Café Society (2016) - The greatest living American filmmaker hands us another splendid gem

Irrational Man (2015) - Allen's pleasant morality tale divertisement

2014 in films - according to Film Excess

Magic in the Moonlight (2014) - Allen's irresistible French Riviera romance

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Blue Jasmine (2013) - Allen presenets Blanchett, a woman under the influence

Fading Gigolo (2013) - Turturro's pleasant turn as a high-end NY prostitute  (as actor)

To Rome with Love (2012) - Woody Allen's slightest film to date  

2011 in films - according to Film Excess

Midnight in Paris (2011) - Allen's zany (and a little depressing) crowd-pleaser  

Cassandra's Dream (2007) - Allen's well-laid but inconsequentiel English cul-de-sac  

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Anything Else (2003) - Perfect contemporary relationship comedy 

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) - Allen's hypnotic, noirish shenanigans 
Celebrity (1998) or, Stars in New York
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) - Sin and guilt up for laughs and rumination in unspectacular Allen work 
Broadyway Danny Rose (1984) or, Keep Your Heart   

Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Annie Hall (1977) or, My Relationship with Alvie Singer   

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972) - Allen's curious sex comedy is a riot
Bananas (1971) - Woody Allen's South American misadventure is still a barrel of laughs   
Casino Royale (1967) - The packed spy spoof frontrunner, a film very much of its time (as actor)   

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 85.3 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 5.68 times its cost)
[Match Point premiered 12 May (Cannes Film Festival, France) and runs 124 minutes. When Allen could not find funding for the film in New York, where he had set it in The Hamptons, he found it in the UK with the BBC and rewrote to accommodate the new location. Kate Winslet was cast but dropped out, and her character had to be rewritten as an American, for Scarlett Johansson (Rough Night (2017)). Shooting took place in the UK, including London, from June - August 2004. The film opened #21 to a 398k $ first weekend in 8 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #13 and in 509 theaters (different weeks), grossing 23.1 mil. $ (27.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Italy with 10.7 mil. $ (12.5 %) and France with 10.2 mil. $ (12 %). The film was nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, losing to Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco for Crash. It was also nominated for 4 Golden Globes, a César award, won a David di Donatello award, a Goya award, a National Board of Review award and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 2 notches higher than this one. Allen has said of the film: "arguably may be the best film that I've made. This is strictly accidental, it just happened to come out right. You know, I try to make them all good, but some come out and some don't. With this one everything seemed to come out right. The actors fell in, the photography fell in and the story clicked. I caught a lot of breaks!" He returned with Scoop (2006), also starring Johansson. Meyers returned in Mission: Impossible III (2006); Johansson in The Island (2005). Match Point is certified fresh at 76 % with a 7.15/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Match Point?