janeannafoote

Body Double is Hitchcock by way of pornography and lots and lots of cocaine. It encapsulates the 80s in many ways and modernized several suspense/thriller cliches for the, then, current times. Craig Wasson is an appealing everyman who can't seem to catch a break when he's let go from his latest acting job due to claustrophobia and he finds his girlfriend cheating on him. He meets a nice friend who sets him up with a comfy house to sit that comes with an alluring beauty across the way who he develops a voyeuristic obsession with. Before long, Wasson is caught up in a murder mystery and has to take a detour into the realm of adult film to get to the bottom of it all. It's enjoyable, over the top sleaze and some exceptional suspense set pieces. The plot won't stand up to any major logic tests, but it goes by at such a brisk clip that you won't have time to ask too many questions until once the credits are rolling.

Book Club: The Next Chapter is a film so lazy it almost feels as if it were written by AI instead of living, breathing human beings. It's got plenty of zingers and the cast tries their best to deliver them as best they can, but even the finest thespians in the world can't make this dialogue sound realistic. The story is non-existent as the four lead characters go from tourist spot to tourist spot, drinking wine, telling corny sex jokes, and offering up cliche proverbs about friendship that are so stale and tired that they're gag inducing. The first film was no fine masterpiece, but it at least had a little more substance to it. This is simply a waste of a fine cast, but I hope they enjoyed their trip to Italy.

Dear Evan Hansen gives us a character so morally bankrupt and asks us to care for them. This would be a struggle for even the best and most likable of actors, but the filmmakers have gone out of their way to make sure Ben Platt looks as bizarre and off putting as humanly possible and it just makes him seem all the creepier. The story itself is interesting and some of the songs are alright. It's far from the trainwreck everyone's saying it is, but it's not ready to share a seat next to The Sound of Music or Chicago.