Dumb Money

Director: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Vincent D'Onofrio, America Ferrera, Myha'la Herrold, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Seth Rogen, Talia Ryder, Sebastian Stan, Shailene Woodley, Kate Burton, Clancy Brown, Dane DeHaan, Olivia Thirlby, Deniz Akdeniz
Running Time: 104 min.
Rating: R

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★) 

If The Social Network and The Big Short had a baby, you'd think it would probably resemble Craig Gillespie's Dumb Money, which begins hecticly, with numerous characters, real news footage, viral videos and a plot that seems destined to be more convoluted than necessary. But this adaptation of Ben Mezrich's bestseller detailing the infamous GameStop stock squeeze has a method of delivery we haven't exactly seen yet. A full-blown 2021 period piece, it succeeds by immersing viewers in the chaotic headspace of its players during that challenging year. It's the film's ace in the hole, dropping us in an easily recognizable universe that still feels jarring despite its recency.

Gillespie and writers Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo clear a high creative hurdle by framing this very specific event in a larger context, with those involved becoming inseparable from the madness surrounding them. Even when taking wild detours, it really grows on you, picking up steam by balancing some clever laughs with dramatic heart. But unlike the aforementioned Big Short, this doesn't assume audiences won't get it, instead telling an easily digestible story that works regardless of how familiar you are with the intricacies of what actually happened. And at its center is a likably eccentric Paul Dano performance that earns respect and sympathy for the brainy instigator behind this financial hysteria.

It's June 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when Massachusetts-based financial analyst Keith Gill (Dano) streams his stock market picks on YouTube under the name "Roaring Kitty" and posts on the WallStreetBets subreddit. After noticing the drop in fledgling video game retailer GameStop's stock, Keith pours all his savings into it, drawing eye rolls from his underachieving brother Kevin (Pete Davidson) and colleague Briggsy (Deniz Akdeniz). But assuming the chain will close, hedge fund firms like Gabe Plotkin's (Seth Rogen) have been short selling the stock, causing a price increase, as Keith's online followers pounce and start buying. 

Those buyers include financially struggling nurse Jennifer (America Ferrera), lesbian college couple Riri (Myha'la Herrold) and Harmony (Talia Ryder) and GameStop employee Marcos (Anthony Ramos). With the stock continuing to rise and investment CEOs losing millions by the day, Wall Street and the entire country take notice, with Keith emerging as a middle class hero to the masses. Scraping by to help provide for his wife Caroline (Shailene Woodley) and newborn baby, selling at the right time could make him a millionaire, but that becomes complicated when influential financial firms and the government start to catch on.

The film opens with a bang before going backwards, showing how this cat-obsessed vlogger rides a hunch based on experience and knowledge, in the process accomplishing what no one else was crazy enough to try. While you can quibble with how the script depicts him as a clueless nerd who stumbles onto a plan that was probably more calculated in reality, Dano's so engaging in the role it hardly matters. Once he was cast, it had to go in this direction, as the actor so accurately channels the type of quirky, painfully honest personality that catches fire on social media. 

Gillespsie's recreations of the headband, tie dye wearing Keith's videos are rivaled only by his take on the guru's loyal subscribers, who we follow through a series of individual side stories, none of which get the short shrift. They're all either financially struggling, excited about the risk or looking to screw over these greedy CEOs. Once this crack in the system is exploited, legal questions arise, as do ethical ones related to the tactics of Rogen, Nick Offerman and Vincent D'Onofrio's billionaires. They arguably opened the door for this and the eventual damage inflicted by Robinhood's shady chairman Vlad Tenev (Sebastian Stan), whose attempts to stop the bleeding land him in the government's crosshairs.

Much of the film's immediacy stems from its pandemic timeline, allowing the opportunity to capture these working people struggling in a stressed economy they're on the bottom rung of. But unlike other projects that very reluctantly covered the era with kid gloves, this has the conviction to visualize its effect on everyday life, masks and all. Scenes with the buyers play almost as episodic vignettes with Gillespie jumping from one character to the next, each bringing a different energy that helps unify the plot. 

As an essential worker at the end of her rope, America Ferrera might be even better here than in Barbie while Anthony Ramos' GameStop employee brings the laughs in a hilarious ongoing feud with his passive aggressive supervisor played by Dane DeHaan. Pete Davidson also knows exactly what to do, when, and how much as Keith's loud, irritating freeloader of a brother. At the other end of the spectrum is the latter's supportive but realistic wife Caroline, who Shailene Woodley plays with pragmatic perfection, offering up a necessary dose of reasonableness.  

There's a big speech lifted from Keith's actual hearing testimony that hits its mark in the final act and Dano's delivery makes it soar, driving home the point they were all cheating a rigged a game. Incorporating actual news footage, real message board posts and memes throughout, it's fun anticipating what happens to everyone involved, mainly because they all have such different endings, a few more favorable than others.

Those completely unaware or uninterested in the stock market can not only follow this, but should be hooked, knowing it touches on something bigger and more relatable than dollars and cents. Investment firms may have considered the general public "dumb money," but Gillespie's film is anything but, proving that whatever creative liberties taken resulted in a more entertaining version of actual events.    

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Directors: Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic 
Starring: Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, Sebastian Maniscalco, Kevin Michael Richardson
Running Time: 92 min.
Rating: PG

★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

Whatever you may think of it, The Super Mario Bros. Movie looks and feels exactly how most imagine the video game would if adapted into a large-scale animated family film for the masses. But more importantly, directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic capture the feeling associated with playing it and how that can be translated to the screen in ways that satisfy kids unfamiliar with Mario and parents who grew up on him. It's a delicate line to walk, bound to irritate some in the latter group with specific ideas about what the ideal approach should be, as many are still recovering from the disastrous 1993 live-action version that caused studios to swear off the property for decades. 

Illumination comes to the rescue with a refreshingly simple story that distills the character to its purest, most accessible form, hooking the next generation of Nintendo fanatics by sticking to what works and playing it safe. While the noticeable drawback is how closely it resembles all the other modern animated and Disney/Marvel related content, this at least deserves credit for landing on the higher end of that scale. A visual feast that delivers an Oz meets Lego Land vibe, clever Easter eggs are dropped for longtime fans without forgetting it's a kids movie through and through. And that's exactly what this needed to be.    

Italian brothers Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) just opened their own plumbing business in Brooklyn, free from the reigns of their brutish ex-boss Spike (Sebastian Maniscalco). After a rocky first service call, the pair rush to the scene of a giant water main leak, only to be sucked into a Warp Pipe that takes Mario to the bright, candy colored Mushroom Kingdom ruled by Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), while Luigi winds up in the Dark Lands, lorded over by evil Koopa king Bowser (Jack Black). 

Having gained access to the powerful "Super Star," Bowser threatens to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom unless Peach marries him, imprisoning Luigi to intimidate Mario. But after some much needed training from Peach, the red hatted plumber joins her and Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) in attempting to free Luigi and thwart Bower's dastardly plan with Donkey Kong's (Seth Rogen) help. In the process, the brothers learn what they're truly capable of, both together and apart.

With only a handful of game titles to draw from in cracking a story, substantial legwork was likely necessary to flesh out the characters and make them more easily digestible. Matthew Fogel's screenplay smartly takes a straightforward approach, and before calling that a "dumbing down," it helps to remember the challenging task he's dealt. Since overcomplicating an already paper thin premise doesn't serve any meaningful purpose, the movie lightly fills in the blanks and rarely rocks the boat, mostly to its advantage. Mario's a great source of nostalgia for many, but after forty years of  jumping over pipes, eating mushrooms and rescuing princesses, our favorite short, mustachioed plumber in overalls doesn't need a showcase any deeper or more complex than what we get here. 

There's some confusion regarding Mario and Luigi's ages, at times acting like fully functioning adults running their own business, while also coming across as overgrown toddlers, complete with race car posters hanging on the walls of their adjoining bedroom. You can't help but laugh when a later flashback shows them as actual children, looking nearly the same, only slightly smaller and lacking their trademark facial hair. Otherwise, the presentation of these two are spot-on, establishing them as clumsy and endearing, before they're suddenly thrust into a fantastical scenario where Mario must rise to the occasion as a cowardly Luigi learns to overcome his fears. 

Luigi being held captive instead of Peach seems like a deliberate tweak to move past the dated "damsel in distress" concept, and even if this idea isn't as glaringly progressive now than in years past, it still gives Anya Taylor-Joy a lot to work with as the fiesty princess. Many have already complained about the voice casting of Chris Pratt and his attempt at a Brooklyn accent, but the performance is pretty much fine. It's just enough but not too much, with Pratt and Charlie Day bringing enough liveliness and likability to the roles that kids will lose themselves in the their wisecracking ways. As Donkey Kong, Seth Rogen pretty much plays himself in "take it or leave it" mode, but Jack Black exceeds expectations as Bowser, especially during his subversively hilarious singing interludes.

With respect to the slightly younger sibling, it's called Super Mario Bros. for a reason, so Luigi getting sidelined for a long stretch isn't a big issue, especially considering where that sub-plot goes. And game devotees will appreciate just how many details this slides in, like those immediately recognizable obstacles and traps during Mario's training, his Tanooki Suit and the catchy classic theme that provided a soundtrack to many childhoods. More popular songs are squeezed in, but even that works, as everyone involved recognizes how seemingly small stuff matters when attempting to please the entire audience.

Other than a third act Mario Kart sequence that sort of stalls out, the 92-minute run time is gratifying in a sea of bloated two and a half hour family films. If it's a little flat story-wise, that's understandable given the challenge, which could help explain why it took this long to get the franchise off the ground again. Given the limited number of avenues available to explore, the filmmakers shrewdly chose a sensible one, resulting in an effort that gets the important parts right, finally giving the character a chance to be seen and appreciated on the biggest stage possible.                              

The Fabelmans

Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Julia Butters, Judd Hirsch, Jeannie Berlin, Robin Bartlett, Keeley Karsten, Sophia Kopera, Sam Rechner, Oakes Fegley, Chloe East, Jame Urbaniak, David Lynch, Greg Grunberg
Running Time:151 min.
Rating: PG-13

**The Following Review Contains Plot Spoilers For 'The Fabelmans'**

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

Considering how everyone's story often looms larger than life in their own minds, that impact must feel heightened for Steven Spielberg, whose childhood has so informed his work as a filmmaker that the idea of a movie inspired by those memories may seem like a self-indulgent formality. But because it's been frequently alluded to through the years, there's a curiosity factor in seeing how his parents' divorce influenced the director who'd go on to make future classics like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. 

It's not a coincidence those three aforementioned titles spring to mind while watching The Fabelmans,  as each combine that childlike sense of wonder prevalent in Spielberg's filmography with his recurring theme of broken families. While the latter motif has either consciously or unconsciously permeated his films, this marks the first time as an audience we get front row seats to watch him sit on the psychologist's couch as he processes it. You can almost feel through the screen how personal and raw it still is, as if we've been given unrestricted access to details only those closest to him should know. And yet, there's still that universal appeal present that's categorized so much of what he's previously done. 

To Spielberg's credit, he goes all in and rarely pulls punches, further solidifying our belief it's more than "loosely inspired" by real events.  Jumping off the little we already knew, these feel like things that would have happened, but also how you imagine he'd present it. The family dynamic is universally messy enough to feel relatable, before the story to some fascinating places in the second half, retaining the idea that a series of events at a key point can set someone on a trajectory, regardless of whether they're ready. Clearly, the divorce carried life-altering consequences, but what's most interesting is how the implosion of a traditional marriage meant something far different in the 50's and 60's than it does now, making it that much easier to see how this event would so dramatically affect him.

It's 1952 in Haddon Township, New Jersey when pianist Mitzi Fabelman (Michelle Williams) and her computer engineer husband Burt (Paul Dano) take their eight-year-old son Sammy (Mateo Zoryan Francis-DeFord) to see his first film, Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth. Traumatized by the train crash scene, Sammy can't sleep or get it out of his head, determined to restage it with the toy train set he got for Hanukkah. With his mother's permission, he shoots this crash with an 8mm camera, which leads to him make movies starring younger sisters Reggie, Natalie and Lisa. But when Burt gets offered a new job at GE in Phoenix, the family relocates, with Burt's best friend and co-worker Bennie (Seth Rogen) also coming along. 

As a teen, Sammy (Gabriel LaBelle) continues making films with his Boy Scout troop, before shooting a family camping trip, the footage of which leads to a heartbreaking reveal about mom Mitzy. While an angered and distraught Sammy stews over this shocking discovery, Burt gets promoted, causing another move to California, this time with Bennie being left behind. Facing bullying and anti-semitism at a new school, Sammy temporarily abandons filmmaking and begins dating classmate Monica (Chloe East), a devout Christian who quickly falls for him. But with his family crumbling, the urge to pick up a camera remains, as does his dream of making movies in Hollywood.

This contains so much family shenanigans early on that you have to assume it was directly drawn from the Spielberg's memories since it's simply too crazy to believe otherwise. Running a robust two and a half hours, the film leads with lighter, comedic material (one including a pet monkey), that frame the picture of a family whose happiness is on borrowed time. It also marks a rare instance of the director going way over the top to make a point we're not sure he'll get around to. For a little while we wonder if he has one, until the surprise arrival of former film industry vet uncle Boris (Judd Hirsch) to berate and inspire Sammy, prophetically laying out the sacrifices ahead of him in having to choose between family and art. Hirsch's brief, electric performance has been rightfully praised, but works best when viewed as setting the groundwork for a more memorable encounter Sammy experiences later.

Sandwiched between a practical, scientific father dismissive of his filmmaking "hobby" and an artsy, free spirited mother encouraging him to reach for the stars, Sammy's soon hit with the realization all isn't what it seems with his parents' marriage. Spielberg and Tony Kushner's script isn't subtle about Mitzi and Burt orbiting different planets as spouses, and while some criticism has been leveled against Michelle Williams' flighty, occasionally downright bonkers portrayal of Mitzy, that was likely the intention. And if it's supposed to be an exact facsimile of Spielberg's actual mother, all you can really do is commend him for actually going there since Mitzy is...a lot. And it's safe bet that parts of this character will be recognizable to many, emotions flailing as the rest of the family anxiously await her next cringeworthy public display.

Spielberg probably felt he had to cast Williams' since it's unlikely anyone else could navigate a part this tricky and unflattering, filled with highs and lows. It's a better performance than most think, and given how it supposedly skirts the line between lead and supporting, eats up enough time to claim the movie mostly belongs to her. Dano disappears into the brilliant, but straight-laced Burt, whose disinterested demeanor and milquetoast personality subtly feeds Mitzy's inferiority complex. And yet you feel for him, realizing he's doing his best with all that's on his plate. Ironically, Seth Rogen's one of the film's more subdued aspects, bringing a goofy charm to Bernie, who we recognize as possibly providing Mitzy more of what she needs than her own husband.

There are some really powerful scenes, such as a family member's death, another involving daughter Reggie's (Julia Butters) embarrassment at her mom's exhibitionism and a handful charting Sammy's reaction to Mitzi's seemingly unforgivable transgression. The idea that Sammy filters everything that happens through movies begins with his restaging of the train crash but becomes even more pronounced when he splices together the single worst moment of his young life. If it seems as if the  anti-semitic bullying comes out of nowhere, that's because these things often do. And not only is it the strongest section of the film, but arguably the best narrative stretch Spielberg's had in years, in no small part due to newcomer Gabriel LaBelle's performance. 

We've seen many failed attempts from directors at casting their onscreen surrogate, but LaBelle's the real deal, undeniably great at conveying just the right amount of awkwardness, humor and angst as he single-handedly carries the remainder of the picture. And toward the end, the actor even begins to physically resemble the shaggy haired Spielberg we've seen in photos and footage from that period. Sammy's whirlwind relationship with the very religious Monica supplies the film with some of its biggest laughs, but what hits hardest is this unexpected arc with school bullies Logan (Sam Rechner) and Chad (Oakes Fegley). His filming of senior Ditch Day leads to the understanding of just how much power he wields behind the camera to tell the story he wants, while maybe even also earning a certain degree of begrudging acceptance. Watching, you wonder if Spielberg intended this as a dig at critics who have long cited the director's populist sensibilities as blunting the full creative potential of his output.  

Whether Sammy makes the choice he does to be liked or simply because it was right for the project is a question even he can't completely answer. But it leads to the film's best scene, a school hallway confrontation that crackles with a verbal and physical intensity we haven't seen from the director in years. The sequence frames everything preceding it to mean more in totality, as does an ending that sees Sammy meeting his hero, legendary director John Ford, played with cantankerous bluster by an ingeniously cast David Lynch. It's a cameo that needs to been to be believed, and even then, you still may not believe it. And it's all capped off with a clever visual gag that deserves mention as the one of the more indelible final shots of Spielberg's career.

Subverting expectations and playing better the longer it sits, the film avoids sappiness and is even a little messy, which comes as a relief considering the director's reputation for playing it safe. After Schindler's List there was no going back, almost as if Spielberg realized that delivering crowd pleasing blockbusters to the masses no longer held the interest for him it once did, as he moved toward historically based, character driven dramas. But whether it's the nostalgia of digging into his own past or again working with kids, you kind of feel that spark return here, combining the best of both Spielbergs. And by now tackling the one issue that's colored his entire journey, we're left wondering whether The Fabelmans can even be judged on its own terms, or is best evaluated as a reflection of the man who made it.                            

Steve Jobs

Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels, Katherine Waterston, Michael Stuhlbarg, Perla Haney-Jardine, Ripley Sobo, Makenzie Moss, Sarah Snook, John Ortiz
Running Time: 122 min.
Rating: R

★★★★ (out of ★★★★)  

During one scene in Danny Boyle's extraordinary Steve Jobs, Jobs gets into it again with Apple Computer co-founder and old friend Steve Wozniak just as he's about to reveal his new iMac to the world. As this shouting match ensues, centered around Jobs' adamant refusal to publicly or privately credit anyone other than himself, you can't help but notice a small group of young Apple employees uncomfortably looking on. They're trapped in the auditorium as these two go at each other, baring witness to twenty years of dirty laundry being aired at the worst possible time. Then you just try to imagine being one of those cringing employees in that room when this happened. Did it really happen? And if it did, how would you tell people what went down. Would anyone even believe you?

There are many such moments in the film and just as many conversations, arguments, speeches and quick witted dialogue exchanges. While loosely based on Walter Isaacson's best-selling biography, this is still an Aaron Sorkin script after all, and in case you haven't heard, Steve Jobs wasn't such a great guy. But not in the same sense that the Mark Zuckerberg character wasn't in The Social Network. He was emotionally shut off and severed important relationships to build his technology empire, but as much of that story was successfully exaggerated and even sometimes fabricated by Sorkin, there was always this fleeting glimpse of humanity in there. The final scene served as a messed up, but poignant reminder that Zuckerberg, in his own mind, did it all for a girl. At one point during this, Jobs is asked, "What's your excuse?" and it's a real treat spending all of the film's enthralling 122 minute running time trying to discover it.

Had Jobs lived to see this, he'd probably appreciate its narrative tidiness, which not only tells us everything we need to know and some things we maybe wish we didn't, but does so with laser-like precision. It focuses only on the hours preceding three product launches: The Macintosh in 1984, NeXT in 1988 and the iMac in 1998. It's a testament to how tight Sorkin's script is that anything earlier, later, or in between, isn't missed, or in most cases, is covered anyway in the conversations and confrontations taking place before he takes the stage.

Only two scenes take place outside, flashbacks are used sparingly, and yet, it never once feels like a talky stage play. If anything, it's an action movie that uses it words as weapons, the story flying by at a breakneck pace, with Boyle using a myriad of visual flourishes to make each time period look and feel different.  He brings a non-stop energy to the proceedings that stands in stark contrast from the clinical style David Fincher (who was originally attached to direct) would have likely brought to an already icy story. But for Boyle, it's the highest imaginable compliment that we're not left wondering what could have been. No matter confined and contained the setting, it always feels like the story's moving. In hindsight, he actually ended up being the ideal choice for the material.

If the ingenious structure tightens the noose on the story and its characters then it also turns the microscope on Fassbender's performance, in which every expression, line delivery and physical action seems far more important than it otherwise would. When we first see Fassbender as Jobs in 1984, it's amazing is just how little he looks like him, and then how quickly he makes us forget by so convincingly playing such a colossal asshole. Once he busts out of the gates swinging, it's clear we're in for a wild ride. An obsessed control freak who threatens and berates employees, he never admits failure or accepts blame, even when on more than a few occasions, he completely should.  And nothing represents that failure more than him cruelly denying paternity of ex-girlfriend Chrisann Brennan's (Katherine Waterston) daughter Lisa (played at different ages by Makenzie Moss, Ripley Sobo and Perla Haney-Jardine), both to their faces and in the press.

While Sorkin's script goes a certain distance in acknowledging Chrisann isn't perfect and won't soon be competing for "mother of the year," Jobs' behavior in the opening '84 section of the film still comes off as nothing less than reprehensible. And yet, the few fleeting moments he shares with the daughter he believes (or at least says) isn't his show that he's capable of being a good father only when Lisa's connecting with him at his level. That is to say on a Macintosh. For all his flaws, he at least recognizes that it would be criminal not to foster this obviously gifted girl's creativity and intelligence, causing him to open up his wallet, regardless of how much he resents her mother. We learn that education is apparently the window into Jobs' soul, or at least for most of the film, that empty void where his soul's supposed to be.

It wouldn't exactly be accurate to say Jobs' treatment of anyone necessarily "improves" throughout the course of time covered here so much as his temperament ebbs and flows unexpectedly, with Fassbender impressively sliding in and out of jerk mode on what seems like a whim. Jobs is a volatile character and he captures that, sometimes offering even the littlest tease that this guy's turned a corner or had an actual moment of self-awareness, only to slip right back into another scary meltdown.

Physically, Fassbender's resemblance to Jobs is about on par with Anthony Hopkins or Frank Langella's to Nixon, but what's strange is when we enter the infamous jeans and sneaker phase, he somehow begins looking EXACTLY like him.The complete immersion has set in, and while it's true that original choice Christian Bale would seem on paper to be the perfect choice, it's hard to envision him surpassing Fassbender's total immersion into the public idea of who Jobs is, which never approaches  imitation of any sort. He's a complicated, contradictory figure and despite two actors attempting this before him, there's still no blueprint for it, making what he accomplishes all the more remarkable.

Supporting players and events that were skimmed over, cliff notes-style, in 2013's Ashton Kutcher-starring Jobs (which took a more traditional biographical route), 1999's TNT film, The Pirates of Silicon Valley, or even in this year's acclaimed Alex Gibney documentary, Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, are explored in far greater detail here. More accurately, it makes everything that came before it seem like a cartoon, lacking in depth or a singular vision. Regardless of how much is confirmed to have actually happened, there is this sense (prevalent in most of Sorkin's work) that we're eavesdropping on certain conversations and incriminating backstage shenanigans that weren't intended for public consumption.

Besides pulling the curtain back on Job's dysfunctional family relationships, almost as much time is spent digging into the circumstances that led to the ousting from his own company by CEO and former Pepsi chairman, John Sculley (Jeff Daniels). Previously depicted as the out-of-touch figurehead who fired Steve Jobs in just about every version of this story put on film or in print, Sorkin's script presents an entirely different take. Played by Daniels as a wise sage with some genuine insights into both the marketing of Apple computers and its co-creator's psyche, it wouldn't a stretch to call him a father figure to Steve and the only person who understands what makes him tick.

His experience on the Newsroom making him no stranger to rattling off Sorkin's rapid-fire dialogue, Daniels elicits sympathy for Sculley and his dilemma, making us wonder if we wouldn't take the same actions if put in his shoes, contending daily with an unpredictable, insubordinate Jobs. Just the very idea of a meglomaniac like him answering to a Board of Directors is a recipe for disaster. While his ousting was the first time he ever seemed to take something personally, Sorkin squashes any notion  he was somehow humbled by this or even the subsequent failure of his own competing NeXT venture. Instead, Jobs' return to Apple is depicted as the latest frightening chapter detailing his unhealthy obsession with proving himself.

As uncompromisingly as Jobs is portrayed, there's still this undercurrent that he really did something right to have inspired such loyalty in those he frequently mistreated over the years. It comes to a point where you have to wonder whether they're just asking for it, constantly coming back for more, even long after he seems to have outgrown his use for them, and they for him. Seth Rogen plays Woz as Seth Rogen playing Woz, and for this film's mission, that actually works quite well. He's a likable schlub whose request for acknowledgment of the Apple II team's contributions by Jobs spans over a decade and falls on deaf ears. The practical engineer to Jobs' big picture designer, this was a partnership always destined to crumble, as flashbacks to the garage show us.

Original Mac team member Andy Hertzfeld (Michael Stuhlbarg) is yet another victim of that tyranny, but handles it better than just about anyone, even managing to completely turn the tables on him at one point. But it's Kate Winslet's Joanna Hoffman as Job's right-hand woman and marketing executive through the years who serves as the rock of the film. The only person capable of standing up to him and winning, she's the constant presence guiding Steve in the right direction by reigning him in and cooling him off. Whenever his raging ego careens out of control to continuously threaten everything he's created, she's there to talk him off the cliff.

The character of Joanna is so strong, and Winslet's work so economical and invisibly efficient in every scene, that by the end you're convinced she's as much responsible for his success as the man himself, by simply refusing to let him self-destruct. But even she has her limits, justifiably sickened by the one thing she can't fix on her own: His relationship with his daughter. She can push but it's up to him to do the rest. Although the last scene comes closest, there's no epiphany of eureka moment where Steve Jobs suddenly becomes a heartfelt guy or great father. Rather, there's this sense the needle maybe moved just enough, his failures making him slightly more open as a person than the monster we met in the opening scenes. That's why what Fassbender pulls off is something akin to a highwire act without a net, capturing the mercurial behavior of someone you'd find impossible to like or admire, yet still begrudgingly feel forced to respect.

Jobs has his loyal followers and gets the desired results, presenting the question of whether the same qualities that define his moral failure as a human being also qualify him as an effective leader. We're left trying to reconcile the fact that this forward-thinking genius who bettered so many lives could have also been a deadbeat dad and raging egomaniac. Do the ends justify the means? It turns out what little love he had was poured into his machines, leaving very little to the one person most deserving. His biggest design flaw may have been himself, but we were lucky enough to reap the benefits. Much like The Social Network, Steve Jobs is a perfect film, not for what it says, but how, utilizing an exciting structure to thematically capture one of the most contradictory figures of our time.
          

The Interview

Directors: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
Starring: James Franco, Seth Rogen, Lizzy Caplan, Randall Park, Diana Bang, Timothy Simons, Eminem, Rob Lowe, Ben Schwartz
Running Time: 112 min.
Rating: R

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

All the controversy surrounding the release, or semi non-release of The Interview was simultaneously the best and worst thing that could have happened to this movie. Had it not incited an international incident, chances are it would just come and go, opening to mixed reviews and winning its weekend at the box office, before being set aside until the next James Franco/Seth Rogen comedy vehicle comes along. But now the Sony hack has made it an "event movie," with its release has shifting the conversation entirely and turning its stars into worldwide superstars for at least a few weeks, making the film's actual quality an irrelevant afterthought. It should be the kind of publicity you can't buy but Sony buckled by failing to conventionally release it in a timely manner to capitalize before abruptly changing course. In other words, the studio blew it.

Despite rescuing the film from playing alongside Song of the South and The Day The Clown Cried in an unseen triple feature, it's tentative release is still an ironic debacle worthy of the actual film this fiasco is centered around, which is funnier and smarter than it's getting credit for. If nothing else it's got the media satire thing down pat and features a bizarre, over-the-top performances from America's most popular "love him or hate him" actor. It's hard to watch The Interview without thinking of everything that happened precisely because it's just the kind of event this movie is spoofing.

Franco plays sleazy, dimwitted TV journalist Dave Skylark, whose "Skylark Tonight" talk show scrapes the bottom of the pop culture barrel, covering topics like Rob Lowe's baldness and Eminem's homosexuality (with both cameoing as versions of themselves). Producing it is his best friend and business associate, Aaron Rapaport (Rogen), who's viewed as a big joke in the industry due to his association with a program that makes TMZ look like Charlie Rose and gives a whole new, lesser meaning to the term "soft news." They hope that's about to change when they discover North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (Randall Park) is a fan and wants to arrange a sit-down interview with Dave, albeit under his terms, with all questions formulated by his top official Sook (Diana Bang). Seeing a potential ratings bonanza and the rare shot at journalistic respectability, they jump at the chance. But when CIA Agent Lacey (Lizzy Caplan) hears about the interview she recognizes it as a rare opportunity to assassinate Kim and plans to use Dave and Aaron to do it. Things go awry when she underestimates Dave's incompetence and stupidity and he forms an unlikely bond with the seemingly fun-loving North Korean leader.

The big question going into this was just how necessary it was to focus the plot around a real-life world leader, even going so far as to use his real name and physical likeness. While it's definitely a decision the studio paid for in many ways, it's also easy to understand why co-directors Rogen and Evan Goldberg pushed it through despite the drawbacks. They knew it would be controversial and if you're making an R-rated comedy you want it to have teeth and not pull any punches. Whether we'd have the same movie if they used a fictitious character is debatable, but the the decision does arguably give the story an edge and curiosity factor it probably wouldn't otherwise have on its own.

Make no mistake that this is all about assassinating Kim, so anyone going in solely for that reason won't be disappointed. His role is far from a cameo and they definitely don't wuss out in lampooning the real person, which would have truly been a letdown. But forget about North Korea since Sony's lucky GLAAD didn't go after the movie for the amount of gay jokes Rogen and Goldberg throw in, which are enough to make you think you're back in the fourth grade playground. It seemed they couldn't go five minutes without one, which got tiresome after a while, as did many of the sex jokes, which were hit-or-miss. Where this really scores is with the physical comedy and satire.

We may as well just admit that any scene involving the planning, smuggling, or attempted administering of the poison to Kim is laugh-out-loud hilarious. Luckily, these sight gags takes up a large portion of the film and there's a training sequence early on where Caplan's character attempts to prepare Franco's TV host for the mission, realizing there's probably no way this moron will be able to carry it out. She's mostly right. Once they get to North Korea it only gets better when Dave Skylark bonds with the free wheeling, emotional Kim, even as Aaron tries to convince him he's being taken for a ride. But Aaron's also being taken for one, by Kim's right hand woman Sook, with whom he becomes infatuated.

There's more than a few ways the character of Dave Skylark could have been played, as evidenced by the fact that real-life journalists were considered for the part at early stages in the project's development. While having an actual straight-laced newsman reacting to the absurdity around him would have been an interesting meta direction to go, the casting of Franco works better for the tone they're going for. While it's arguable whether that tone results in the best possible movie, Franco fully commits to playing Dave as basically the dumbest guy on the planet. The actor's not the least bit believable as any kind of journalist and doesn't even seem to care, which strangely makes the whole situation funnier. It's almost as if his entire performance consists of him mocking himself playing the role. Some would say that's become the story of his career, in that our feelings on whatever he's doing at the moment are completely wrapped up in our opinion of him as a personality. Obviously it works well for something like this, which is intrinsically tied to our relationship with the media, in both fictional and now non-fictional ways.

The reliable Rogen proves again his stock in trade is the likable schlub and while he isn't necessarily any more believable as a producer than Franco as a host, that's again exactly the point. There's no sense belaboring the point that these guys have such bro chemistry on screen by now that they may as well be married, a joke definitely in the spirit of this script. But it's Randall Park as Kim giving what's by far the film's best performance, especially shining in all his scenes opposite Franco and expertly skirting the line between believability and silliness when the story shifts and he must transform at the drop of a dime. His real life counterpart can at least take solace in the fact that they got a really great comic actor to play him.

If anyone deserves to emerge a winner out of all this, it's Park, and to a degree, Bang, who breathes life into movie every time she shares the screen with Rogen. Caplan's role as the CIA agent is mostly functional but she gets to have some golden exchanges early on when preparing the guys for their mission. The actual "interview" of the movie's title delivers, as does a hilarious fight sequence that takes place during it. It probably should have ended shortly thereafter since what follows isn't quite as memorable, but it's tough to complain when this is one of the few recent Rogen/Franco comedies with the restraint to contain itself at under two hours. 

Whenever massive hype is suddenly thrust upon what would otherwise be considered an ordinary release, disappointment usually awaits. There's definitely no guidebook for a situation like this but I can say it exceeded my admittedly low expectations, keeping me entertained throughout and doing more things right than wrong. It won't change the world, even if it's release seemed to alter the course of the movie industry, if just temporarily. Forced to choose between the real life incident and the one depicted in this movie, real life gets the edge. But not by much. Far worse comedies have gotten more attention for less.
                

This is the End

Directors: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Michael Cera, Emma Watson, Rihanna, Mindy Kaling, David Krumholtz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Aziz Ansari, Kevin Hart, Martin Starr
Running Time: 106 min.

★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

Sometimes it can be freeing for viewers to be given a break from the rigid constraints of what we've come to expect from comedies. To be filled with the feeling that literally anything can happen at anytime and what we're watching isn't dependent on a specific formula that's been tried before. This is the End provides that tantalizing proposition, as a group of talented, likable actors are given the opportunity to just cut loose and poke fun at their own celebrity by playing versions of "themselves." It's a golden idea from the minds of Superbad co-writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, even if it looked more enticing on the page than it ends up being on screen. I kept wondering if maybe these guys setting just a few ground rules would have done the film some good, as it starts out promising until devolving into kind of a mess about midway through.

The admittedly inspired central conceit starts running on fumes after a while, with all the actors in on a joke that wears out it's welcome. And it's a shame because what starts so promisingly eventually amounts to a bunch of actors hanging out on set smoking weed and cursing at each other for almost two hours. What nearly rescues this are all these performers since it can't be overstated how big a fan of theirs I am, only making this disappointment sting just a bit more.

When actor Jay Baruchel arrives in L.A. to meet up with his old friend Seth Rogen, he sees it as an opportunity to get high, eat junk food and play video games. But Rogen has other plans, dragging his unwilling and visibly uncomfortable pal to James Franco's debaucherous housewarming party, which includes celebrity attendees such as Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Michael Cera, Rihanna, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Emma Watson, Mindy Kaling, Jason Segel, Aziz Ansari, Kevin Hart, David Krumholtz and Martin Starr. But when Baruchel goes out for cigarettes with Rogen, the two discover mass chaos on the streets, with explosions, fire, and a strange blue light shooting pedestrians up into the sky. It isn't long after they return that a massive crack opens in the earth, swallowing most of Franco's famous partygoers while leaving Baruchel, Rogen, Franco, Hill and Robinson hauled up in his house hoarding supplies and waiting for help. Franco also has an uninvited houseguest in Danny McBride, whose belligerent behavior and glutenous consumption of food and drink is making survival extremely difficult. As tempers flare and tensions escalate at the Franco compound, Jay's bold prediction that the biblical Apocalypse is upon them is looking more more believable by the second.

To call a movie like this "self-indulgent" is not only beside the point, but possibly a high compliment. We wouldn't expect anything else from these guys and would worry if they didn't take every opportunity to lampoon their own images with tongues planted firmly in cheek. That's by far the film's strongest aspect and it's made very clear within the opening minutes with Michael Cera's extended cameo a self-absorbed, drug-addicted celebrity man whore who heinous acts include blinding Christopher Mintz-Plasse with cocaine and sexually harassing Rihanna, The movie never quite repeats it's magic once he departs (in the most spectacularly hilarious way possible). All the dirty, filthy comedy with Cera works because it's truly shocking to see him specifically act like a spoiled Hollywood brat and he just throws himself into it with reckless abandon. And of course there's his unbelievably colorful windbreaker, which should really have its own movie.

When they try to repeat much of Cera's over-the-top hijinx with everyone else it doesn't work as well. We completely expect Rogen, Franco, Hill, McBride, and Robinson to do the craziest things possible, but what's most surprising is just how much of a slog the middle portion of the picture is, with the six of men under lockdown in Franco's house hurling insults at each other and doing drugs for almost an hour straight.  While an "end of the world" scenario with these actors should be exciting, the premise actually turns out to be creatively limiting, almost as if Rogen and Goldberg didn't know what to do once the party stopped and they had to switch gears into Apocalyptic action-comedy. There's this nagging feeling that a real-time movie that revolved entirely around this party would probably be superior to much of what follows. 

That's not say this still doesn't have its moments, most of them coming in smaller doses when the actors spoof their own reputations. Franco is the pretentious "artiste," with his living room doubling as a gallery adorned with Freaks and Geeks paintings and a basement containing a Spider-Man 3 cardboard standee and an Harvey Milk sign. And that's not even mentioning what happens with his prized pistol from Flyboys. Really clever. Jonah Hill is re-imagined as disinengenous and strangely effeminate, competing with Baruchel for Rogen's attention. Craig Robinson's "Mr. Robinson" hand towel never leaves his shoulder while Danny McBride is, well, Danny McBride. Or more accurately, he's Kenny Powers. He also appears in an epic breakfast montage sure to make Walt Jr. and Ron Swanson jealous, as well as a homemade Pineapple Express sequel trailer with Rogen and Franco you almost wish were real. While it's hard to categorize these as "performances," they really are in every sense. Even that's a joke in itself when in one of the film's first scenes Rogen is harassed at the airport by a papparazzo asking why he always plays the same role over and over. That these guys all definitely seem in on it and clearly don't take themselves seriously in the slightest is at the crux of all the best scenes.

They have the right lead in Baruchel, who's great as a socially awkward hipster struggling to hang on to his friendship with Rogen despite his disdain for L.A. and everyone in it. It was smart making him the only semi-normal character in the movie, giving the audience an eyes and ears, not to mention someone really likable to root for. That everyone now gets to see just how good the former Undeclared star is may end up being this movie's biggest contribution. There's definitely a lack of female presence, with the exception of Emma Watson's extended cameo that puts her at the center of a joke that really isn't funny. While I can't say it directly contradicts with the rest of the film's tone, something about it does seem especially mean and tone-deaf. While it's arguable this joke could have even worked under any circumstances, they're undeniably way off with the execution, revolving the film's cruelest joke around an actress that whose presence instantly makes the situation seem horrifyingly uncomfortable rather than comical.

Very little needs to be said about the apocalyptic aspect of the story because if it were excised entirely I'm not sure you'd be left with something that's all that different. The special effects strike the right balance in that they're cheap enough looking to be funny, yet impressive enough looking to pass off as disaster movie worthy. But the actual apocalypse is the weak link in this, taking a backseat to all the meta references and existing primarily as the creative catalyst to strengthen Rogen and Baruchel's bromance. So by those standards it does undeniably succeed, especially at the finish line.

If I could pick a project from these actors that this most reminds me of in terms of tone it would probably be the Franco-McBride starring lowbrow comedy Your Highness, only with the Apocalypse standing in for a medievel adventure. It's ironic they justifiably trash that during this, and while actually comparing the two may be stretching it, there are definite similarities in terms of the style of humor. This is the End is much smarter and funnier, but gets most of its leverage from extremely likable actors just having a blast together, even as the audience is sometimes left out in the cold.                   

The Guilt Trip

Director: Anne Fletcher
Starring: Barbra Streisand, Seth Rogen, Brett Cullen, Adam Scott, Ari Graynor, Colin Hanks, Yvonne Strahovski, Casey Wilson 
Running Time: 95 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

Some casting choices just make perfect sense. Barbra Streisand playing Seth Rogen's overbearing mother is one of them, and in the unfairly overlooked The Guilt Trip, the actual execution of it is even better. Unfortunately, the very reason it works is probably why it was so casually dismissed by critics and audiences. Both are talented, likable performers and yet it's still strangely difficult to imagine theses two starring in a creatively successful project together, isn't it? For whatever reason, a perception persists that Rogen's always just playing variations on his stoner persona and that Streisand's merely a singer/celebrity occasionally starring in bad comedies every few years. It's a shame if that kept audiences away because they're both given as good an opportunity here as they've had to disprove it in a well-written movie that's smart, funny and even occasionally touching. This isn't necessarily a 90 minute laugh fest but it gets the job done in ways more ambitious comedies haven't by just simply telling an enjoyable story well. The smile never really left my face the whole time, as everything falls nicely into place with better than expected results. 

Rogen plays Andy Brewster, who's embarking on a cross-country road trip to try to sell his new safe and environmentally friendly cleaning product, Scio-Clean, to retailers in an effort to jump start his sagging career. Before he leaves, he's nagged via voicemail by his well-meaning widowed mother Joyce (Streisand) about everything from his lack of a love life to his diet. But after hearing a story about how a lost teenage love slipped away one summer before she met his dad, Andy plans to secretly track the mystery man down and attempts to stage a surprise reunion in San Francisco. With the hope of enticing some big chain stores in his product and filling a void in his mom's life, he takes her along for his trip, where some suppressed family baggage and a few secrets are dredged up for both.  Arguing non-stop, Andy and Joyce will have to reach some kind of middle ground in understanding one another if they each want to get what they're looking for out of this journey.

The movie makes a number of smart choices that are almost bound to overlooked because of how simple and entirely predictable the premise appears to be from the onset. What is a complete surprise is just how funny it is. There's actually very little gross-out humor, with most of the laughs coming from the fact that Andy can't stand his overbearing mother and is mostly trying to set her up with this guy to get her out of his life. What makes this a bit sad is that his situation might actually be far worse than hers and director Anne Fletcher and screenwriter Dan Fogelman do a commendable job balancing that notion with many of the lighter, relatable moments in the mother-son dynamic. You'd figure that watching this guy constantly arguing with his mom would get tiresome after a while, but it doesn't, mostly because the co-stars work so well together and there are actually more than a few welcome surprises. The first of which comes in the film's handling of Andy's cleaning product. The writing's really smart here because while his presentations are painfully bad, but they fail the way most horrible pitches would in reality, as he continuously bores prospective buyers to tears with scientific and technical jargon. And when Joyce chimes in with her unsolicited tips on how he can improve it (like changing it's horrible name), it's actually common sense advice that seems like it's coming from a sane, intelligent person instead of a comedy caricature. But we also understand why Andy's stubborn pride and insecurity get in the way of him taking it.

That the filmmakers feels no need to shoehorn in a love interest for Andy comes as a relief. In fact, he and his mom's encounter with his high school sweetheart (Yvonne Strahovski) and her husband (Colin Hanks) is handled pretty well, as is a sub-plot involving a potential cowboy suitor (a terrific Brett Cullen) for Joyce during an entertaining steak eating contest. Yes, Barbra Streisand competes in a steak eating contest. All of this should be standard hit-or-miss comedy fare but together Rogen and Streisand are able to elevate it. Of course, the time will eventually come when Joyce discovers the true intention of Andy taking her on this trip and, without giving away too much, I liked how the movie gives these two the ending we want them to have but doesn't do it in an obviously schmaltzy way. Both get exactly what they're looking for, just not how they expected to find it. There's also a great cameo from Adam Scott that's a lot more dramatic than you'd expect given the circumstances.

Rogen is reliably gold at playing a schlubby man-boy who has to grow up, but this is one of the smarter projects he's done it in. When the material is good it's sometimes easy to overlook just how welcome a presence he is on screen. In the hands of another actor it's easy to imagine Andy coming off as a crude sociopath, which obviously wouldn't have been right for this. But it's his chemistry with Streisand that really brings out the best in both, as the legendary entertainer is really on point here, turning in a charmingly comedic performance. It's just the right vehicle for her and she doesn't disappoint, making Joyce just annoying and overbearing enough, but not so annoying that she crosses into the realm of crass unlikablity. In all the nagging, she subtly makes sure we can tell Joyce's intentions are genuine and that's a big difference maker in what kind of movie this becomes. I don't even know what to say about the fact that Streisand received a Worst Actress Razzie nomination for this other than it's mean and disgusting, with its only possible motivation being to stick it to a big star. That's not funny at all. It's just cruel, and maybe even a bit irresponsible when you take into account the current state of the movie industry. Although, it's important to remember that we're talking about an "organization" that once nominated Stanley Kubrick for worst director so it's difficult to take anything they do seriously. The truth is that if Streisand was nominated for a supporting Globe or Oscar for this performance, few would have reason to complain. She's that good.

Much like the fictitious cleaning product at the movie's center, The Guilt Trip's bad title and poor marketing kept the public away from something that's actually very good. Once they saw the commercials they thought they saw the entire movie. And who can blame them?  In begging for laughs, most mainstream comedies these days reach for the lowest common denominator so it was almost inevitable that a funny, heartwarming story that the entire family can enjoy would fall through the cracks. But here's something even sadder: It's not even that great. It simply does what it needs to  do while keeping a consistent tone. We used to get comedies like this all the time. Now they're practically an endangered species. Or maybe I've just seen too many bad ones. Either way, critics should partially shoulder the blame, as all of them somehow found a way to get on the same page with this and still be completely wrong. Luckily, it doesn't happen often. The best thing to do going into The Guilt Trip is forget everything you've heard or read and just approach it with an open mind.                        

50/50

Director: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Angelica Huston
Running Time: 100 min.
Rating: R

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)
 
Cancer movies are tough. That could help explain why there's so few of them, and why so few are comedies. It's not exactly the easiest topic to navigate, nor one that'll have audiences rushing out in droves to see it, no matter how skillfully it's handled. Go for the comedy and risk coming off tasteless and tone-deaf. Go for the  drama and risk being sappy and sentimental. You're walking a tightrope. The general advice has always been for screenwriters to just steer clear of the dreaded "C word" altogether, so you'd figure a comedic drama exploring the issue would really be a recipe for a disaster.And that's not even taking into account how you end it. The last thing anyone wants to see on screen is someone dying from cancer, yet you can't have them pull through either because that's pandering to the masses with a "feel good" ending that may not be true to life.That's why it's such a surprise Jonathan Levine's cancer dramedy 50/50 works so well.  Intelligently written and skillfully performed, it succeeds by picking a tone and committing to it the entire way without wavering. It just simply decides to be honest, punctuating it with the right kind of realistic humor.  

Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a 27-year-old Seattle public radio editor who's just been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of spinal cancer. After coldly being delivered the 50/50 survival prognosis he must inform those closest to him of the news, all of whom react differently. His best friend and co-worker Kyle (Seth Rogen) sees the diagnosis as a golden opportunity for both of them to party and pick up women at bars. His girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard) insincerely swears to stay by his side as if she's trying to convince herself. His mother Diane (Anjelica Huston) is in hysterics, calling every hour and threatening to move in, all while still caring for Adam's Alzheimer's afflicted father. In coping with the situation Adam befriends chemo patients Alan (Philip Baker Hall) and Mitch (Matt Frewer) and schedules weekly sessions with painfully inexperienced therapist Katharine (Anna Kendrick) who reveals he's only her third patient ever. As Adam starts opening up and sharing his feelings about the diagnosis, the two begin to take more than a professional interest in one another as he struggles to battle his illness.

Of the movies have tackled the topic of cancer before, most have chosen to incorporate it as plot point or sub-plot, never the main course, perhaps in fear that it's just too difficult or uncomfortable a topic to broach over a nearly two-hour time span on screen. What then usually happens is that it feels tasteless, thrown in where it has no place and used as a ploy to evoke sentimentality. Here the cancer is the story and it's written by Will Reiser, a friend of Seth Rogen's who was really diagnosed with a malignant spinal tumor and the screenplay's unusual in how it seems to hold nothing back, but still finds ways to be hilarious. Stranger still is Levine's gift at presenting the material in such an honest, matter-of-fact way that we don't feel the slightest bit awkward laughing along with what happens since the characters are also. It'll be tempting for many to say the film gets a lot of tiny details right but without experiencing something like this firsthand or know someone who has, that's too big a declaration to make. More accurately, it feels true by not sugarcoating any of the grimmer aspects, but still recognizing it's still okay to mock the absurdity of it all. Every situation can be absurd, it's just most movies lack the guts to go there, and when they do, the tone feels off. That isn't an issue here.

However you may feel about Seth Rogen as an actor there's no doubting he can say just about anything and get away with it. He's often hit or miss but this is one of the few times everything he says hits the mark and gets huge laughs at just the right moments. Only everyday schlub Rogen could make Kyle's attempts at using Adam's condition to try to get them both laid seem almost sweetly inoffensive and get away with a Patrick Swayze cancer joke. If Jack Black or Will Ferrell tried any of this they'd come off as creeps so his contribution shouldn't be overlooked. It helps he and Levitt have such great chemistry together that you actually believe these two have been best friends all their lives. As for JGL, it's fairly astonishing how well he meets both the physical (he actually did shave his head on screen in one take) and emotional requirements of a role that was originally supposed to be played by James MacAvoy (really?) until he dropped out just before filming. Levitt plays Adam as a great guy who got a raw deal, which, as simple as it seems, is sometimes what happens. There's nothing about what he does that seems overly sympathetic or attempts to pull on the heartstrings, which isn't a surprise since he's proven long himself an actor incapable of giving a dishonest performance if he tried. 

A mark of a smart script is often that the secondary characters are depicted with precision and given realistic motivations. It takes a certain type of person to stick with someone through a cancer diagnosis and it's clear almost immediately that Adam's girlfriend Rachael isn't that person, but without giving too much away it's interesting how Bryce Dallas Howard's complicated performance makes it about more than just that. It's not easy having to play who many will rightfully consider "the bitch" of the movie, but she transcends that, making her an almost pitiable character. I believed someone would do what she did and exactly how she did it. Anna Kendrick's Katharine isn't what she appears to be at first either, her analytical, by the books approach to Adam's situation eventually giving way to her real desire to just go ahead and let him spill his guts. Since she excels at playing characters who use their intelligence as a defense mechanism, at times it feels as if Katharine's holding as much back as he is.

There are no surprises to be found on the way to the finale or when we get there, nor does the film necessarily reinvent the wheel in any department The surprises are in how deftly it handles a topic that's been botched by so many inferior efforts before it and avoids insulting the audiences' intelligence. And the saddest part is that no matter how smart and entertaining I tell someone it is they still won't see it because it's about cancer and I can't really blame them, even if they're missing out on the rare good one. It's one of those chronically uncomfortable topics that people go to the movies to escape so it's difficult to wrap our heads around the idea that a movie exploring it could be both brutally honest and life affirming, rarely succumbing to your typical disease movie sappiness by knowing it's a comedy first. Reading its synopsis, 50/50 would seem to be the least likely audience pleaser you could find, but luckily the results on screen prove otherwise.

The Green Hornet

Director: Michel Gondry
Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz, Edward James Olmos, David Harbour, Tom Wilkinson
Running Time: 119 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

When it was announced Seth Rogen would be playing the title character in an updated big screen version of The Green Hornet, I, along with many others (himself probably included), wondered how exactly he'd be able to do it, as well as co-write the screenplay. The news that it wouldn't be a slapstick comedy, but attempt to remain true to the roots of the original comic books and short-lived 60's television series best known for introducing Bruce Lee to American audiences, only kicked my skepticism up a notch. So now, after actually watching Michel Gondry's unfairly maligned The Green Hornet I'm still not exactly sure how Rogen was able to pull this off and have it work so well for him, but he did, and in a way that plays to his strengths and remains relatively faithful to the spirit of the source material. In a big surprise for a mainstream action comedy, much less a superhero movie, this is a cleverly written script full of smart choices that makes far fewer mistakes than you'd imagine. As unpopular as I'll be for saying it, this might be better than Iron Man and its underwhelming sequel, which everyone seemed to drool over for no reason other than the performances of Downey and Paltrow (which in all fairness was a pretty good reason). But the story here is more involving, and because Rogen and company wisely recognize and embrace the genre's ridiculousness, it ends up being a lot less less ridiculous than you'd think.

You know you're off to a good start when you've already got a hilarious James Franco cameo (as a goofy mob boss) a mere ten minutes in. Between that and a backstory for the protagonist that's actually somewhat tremendous, it lays the groundwork for the rest of the film nicely. Rogen is Britt Reed, the slacker slob son of Los Angeles newspaper tycoon James Reid (Tim Wilkinson), a strict authoritarian who never thought his son could amount to anything. When the elder Reid suddenly drops dead from an allergic reaction to a bee sting, Britt must abandon his hard partying lifestyle to step up and run the company. Despite firing nearly all his father's staff, he decides to keep mechanic Kato (Jay Chou) and after the two go out for a night of mayhem on the town they unwillingly (at first) become wanted criminals who land on the front page of his paper. Realizing he now has a shot at fulfilling his lifelong superhero dreams, Britt assumes the identity of a masked avenger named the Green Hornet and comes up with the idea of being the first superhero to pose as a criminal to infiltrate L.A's crime ring. As his ego and delusions grow so does the power of Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz), a crazed, insecure Russian mobster worrying his best days as a villain are behind him and looking to make a big impact by taking out the Hornet and Kato. 

My familiarity with The Green Hornet as a superhero property is limited to only catching snippets of the show as a kid so I'm hardly aware of how well this nails all the tiny details. But you don't have to be an expert (or even know the character at all) to pick up on the smart choices Rogen and his Superbad co-writer Evan Goldberg made in updating it. They come up with reasonable solutions as to how to introduce Kato, give The Green Hornet his name, pair them together, introduce the Black Beauty" car and throw them into crime fighting. With lot of that they couldn't just fall back on the comics and old TV series and were forced to come up with explanations of their own. When you consider that, this plays as almost a prequel to anyone familiar with the franchise, without leaving longtime fans in the dust. What's interesting is that The Green Hornet TV Series (which ran only two seasons in the late 60's) played it straight as an action drama, whereas the legendary Batman show starring Adam West shared the same writer in during the same era, but was presented as a campy comedy. This film has more in common with the latter and while that approach would definitely result in disaster with some superhero franchises, it's fine for the Hornet because, let's face it, the whole idea behind it is kind of silly anyway. Add Rogen to the equation and it becomes even sillier, so the best thing to do was just to run with that, which they do.

Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) gets the tone just right and knows enough to give the film enough of an edge so everything doesn't seem like a total joke. In that sense it's comparable to Kick-Ass in featuring a protagonist as much surprised that he's a superhero as we are, which is why Rogen's casting is gold. He's someone who always seems like a fan at heart anyway, so he's never sold to us as an actual crimefighter, but as some lucky slacker with an inferiority complex who inherited his daddy's empire (a storyline more developed here than it was in Iron Man). Yet Rogen makes Britt likably goofy, even in between his fits of rage and delusional insistence that Kato's just his "sidekick." Jay Chou deserves a standing ovation for being able to step into that iconic role, and not only avoid comparisons to his famous predecessor, but put his own spin on the part.  No one even remembers who played The Green Hornet (it was Van Williams) but everyone knows Bruce Lee was Kato, which had to make this more difficult for Chou. How many superhero sidekicks more famous than the superheroes?  Chou's take is obviously more comical but he has great chemistry with Rogen and is completely believable as an expert martial artist in the action scenes. But at its core this is really a buddy comedy and about as funny as any of the bromances we'd typically expect to find Rogen starring in.

Any that worries Christoph Waltz would be playing a variation on his charismatic sociopath from Inglourious Basterds for the rest of his career are temporarily unfounded since he makes Chudnofsky as uncharismatic and unsure of himself as possible. It isn't too often you see a villain in a superhero suffering a mid-life crisis. Strangely resembling Ellen Barkin more and more by the day, Cameron Diaz is easily the weakest link as Britt's secretary Lenore Case. As kind of a poor man's Pepper Potts, she brings none of the wit and charm Paltrow did to that similar role and generally just seems all wrong for it. Hollywood's insistence on continually casting her in the same pin-up, air head supermodel roles she played fifteen years ago is ludicrous enough, but what's worse is she doesn't even seem to be trying anymore. That's no fault of Rogen's script, which at least attempts to give her an important function to the plot and avoids trapping her in the typical love interest role. 

Releasing this in 3D was the worst thing that could have happened to it and likely accounted for its poor reception since the story was strong enough to hold its own without a gimmick. So while I agree completely with those who feel it was just a cash grabbing ploy by the studio, the film shouldn't be penalized for everything else it does well. The actions scenes (especially the final sequence) are exciting and the the two-hour running time flies by, but there's nothing here that seems like it would be enhanced by a 3D experience, making me think I got the good end of the deal renting it. You have to figure Rogen must be fan since he really seems to be onto to something in terms of how superhero movies should be approached. Some take themselves too seriously. Others unintentionally seem like lightweight spoofs. By bending a few rules, The Green Hornet gets it right, even if audiences didn't seem to be in the mood.

Observe and Report

Director: Jody Hill
Starring: Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Michael Pena, Collette Wolfe, Ray Liotta, Celia Weston Patton Oswalt, Jesse Plemons
Running Time: 86 min.
Rating: R

★★★ 1/2 (out of ★★★★)

It's so rare when a comedy dares to do something different that when one does it sticks out like a sore thumb. Such is the case with Jody Hill's Observe and Report. I guess you'd have to call it a comedy since it is very funny but nearly all the humor is of the darkly subversive variety, not the laugh-out-loud "haha" kind you'd expect from the advertising. It's so dark that it could almost be called a violent tragedy with comedic elements thrown in for seasoning. Whatever it's supposed to be, Seth Rogen decided he would rather act in his own personal Taxi Driver instead. And it's a good thing he did.

This film goes places most mainstream American comedies can only dream as Rogen dares audiences to accept him as a violent, mentally unbalanced date rapist (!). It's no wonder everyone stayed away, yet still a shame they did because this is the first comedy to come along in a while that actually contains socially relevant ideas and will still have you thinking days after you've seen it. One viewing probably isn't enough to fully absorb this.

I sympathize with all who complain Rogen is overexposed because he is to an extent, but when an actor works hard to prove he's worthy of the attention he's getting, I don't have an issue with it. No one can say he's been coasting or phoning it in since hitting it big with Knocked Up and this represents the pinnacle of his efforts, revealing a shocking hidden dimension to his talent we've never been exposed to. The spirit of another dark comedy, The Cable Guy, lives on in every scene of the picture, only this is sicker and more depraved, just as bipolar as the film's lead character. It also joins another Rogen film, Funny People, and this year's Adventureland, as comedies marketed as something they weren't, sharing with the latter one of the year's best soundtracks. But what's scariest is that if this were actually marketed as what it was, there's a good possibility EVEN FEWER people would have seen it. Hill has constructed a film that seems deliberately intended to shock and attain cult status, which it likely will. Yes, it knows it's cool. But that's hardly a problem when it really is every bit as cool as it thinks it is.

Rogen plays Ronnie Barnhardt, the bipolar head of security at Forest Ridge Mall who lives at home with his alcoholic mother (Celia Weston) and is not so secretly in love with the make-up counter girl Brandi (Anna Faris). When a serial flasher begins terrorizing the mall's patrons, Ronnie sees it as his big opportunity to step up and come to the traumatized Brandi's rescue by launching his own investigation. He assembles a crack team consisting of Dennis (a crazily cast Michael Pena), the Yuen twins (John and Matt Yuan) and newbie Charles (Friday Night Lights' Jesse Plemons) to uncover and apprehend the culprit. This ruins the plans of Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta in his best role in YEARS), whose own investigation is being sabotaged by Ronnie's shenanigans. A nasty feud begins, dragging to the surface Ronnie's lifelong dream to join the police force, a near-impossibility given his unstable mental condition. It isn't enough that he merely defeats Harrison at his own game. He actually wants to be him.

The brilliance of the film is how careless it is. Almost as if it was intentionally made for the studio to lose money. How many comedies do you see where the characters are shown shooting heroin? Or where the hero date rapes a nearly unconcious girl after she's vomited all over herself? It's sick stuff and Rogen plays it completely straight, his character operating under the illusion that he's always doing the right thing and is the protector. Of course in actuality, he's far more of a threat and much more unbalanced than the streaker he's trying to bring to justice. A fact lost on every other character in the film.

Expectations are challenged and reversed, putting the viewer in the awkward position of rooting for a psychopath. This is especially true with the strange relationship that develops between Ronnie and Detective Harrison. One scene in particular, where Harrison vindictively sets him up, has a payoff you would have never guessed any writer could be smart enough to think of, much less have the guts to pull off.

In what can't amount to more than 10 minutes of screen time, Anna Faris gives a supporting performance unmatched by most actresses so far this year. No joke. At one point Ronnie describes Brandi as "the most beautiful girl in the world," but Faris peels the layers away to reveal her instead as the ugliest and most repulsive. She shows complete fearlessness and a total lack of vanity in going to all the uncomfortable places the part requires. At first glance you think she's going to be playing another lovable, air- headed ditz but it soon becomes obvious this is much darker and very far removed from that.

Brandi is so self-centered and detestable that even her worst act of betrayal against Ronnie isn't an act of betrayal at all because that would operate under the false assumption that anyone's else's feelings would be on her radar screen. Faris makes every second this character is onscreen a vile, unpleasant experience in which we quickly lose patience with Ronnie for not being able to see through this. Ever wonder what would happen if the super-talented Faris were given darker, more challenging material to work with? Here, we finally find out.

The ending of the film is disturbing in that Ronnie's delusional actions are actually considered heroic by these people. As if that's not enough, Hill's screenplay also forces us to identify with him and them. We see how he feels marginalized by society and the scenes with his frequently drunk mother are sad, but strangely touching. The Taxi Driver comparison is appropriate because despite the vulgar humor around him, Rogen plays Ronnie as scary, not funny, and the entire movie seems to exist in this pitiless vacuum of moral depravity.

If the movie has any heart at all it belongs to disabled food court worker Nell (played brilliantly by Collette Wolfe), whose friendliness and optimism in the face of verbally abusive treatment from her manager (Patton Oswalt) so starkly contrasts to the goings on around her that the character really leaps off the screen as someone special. It's such a well-written part, never cloying or begging for sympathy as we hope the clueless Ronnie eventually sees what's been right in front of his face the entire time.

I'm not familiar with Jody Hill's polarizing work and have never seen his cult comedy The Foot-Fist Way or Showtime series Eastbound and Down, both of which star Danny McBride (who cameos in this as a gang member), but I now have a good idea what to expect. It's kind of sad that a comedy has more to say about the society we live in than most dramas released recently. That Hill somehow manages to do it all in an economically sound running time of 86 minutes and with a killer soundtrack (featuring obscure gems from The Yardbirds, Queen, The Band and Patto) to heighten the crazy mood, is even more impressive. This isn't Paul Blart: Mall Cop, but as dark as it is it's still a lot of fun because there's a real thrill in watching a comedy take chances like this. Observe and Report proves that it isn't showing off if you're able to back it up.

Funny People

Director: Judd Apatow
Starring: Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman
Running Time: 136 min.
Rating: R

★★★ 1/2 (out of ★★★★)

I was always fascinated to hear and watch stories about how people carry on with their lives after having a near-death experience. But I never really bought into the idea that you're necessarily "reborn" or become a "new person" as a result of it. Chances are that if your life is loaded with problems only you can fix, almost dying isn't going to wipe them all away. That's the central premise of Judd Apatow's third film, Funny People. That's right, only his THIRD film. I had to double-check that, but it's true. Doesn't it seem like he's made about 15,000 so far? As a writer and producer he probably has, but as strange as it seems, it really is only his third outing in the director's chair. And if recent box office estimates are to be trusted, it's officially his first commercial flop.

When his sophomore effort Knocked Up became a huge hit, I was puzzled what moviegoers found funny and endearing about a nasty, mean-spirited drama that unsuccessfully tried to pass itself off as sophisticated comedy. Now the shoe's on the other foot as I find myself defending the one film of his that has understandably been failing to striking a chord with mainstream audiences. To the relief of many, the days of Apatow indulging himself with nearly two and a half hour cuts have probably come to an end after this. But there's a lot of good news anyway.

Unlike Knocked Up (which this is about a thousand times better than by the way), what's supposed to be funny is funny and what's supposed to be dramatic is dramatic, with the two never mixing uncomfortably. It very much feels like a dramedy, if maybe an overly ambitious one. But at least there's no confusion as to what it's supposed to be. The film is a lot better than you've heard and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if in the coming years it starts to experience a re-evaluation from the same critics and audiences who dismissed it.

Funny People can be broken down into two sections: The BEFORE and the AFTER. When lonely, self-absorbed actor/comedian George Simmons (Adam Sandler) is diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia he falls into a deep depression questioning his life and career choices. Enter Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) a sub shop employee and aspiring stand-up comedian who has to unexpectedly follow George's depressing routine at a nightclub and responds by mocking him. Despite their shaky start, George sees something in the young comedian he likes and hires him as his writer and personal assistant, much to the chagrin of Ira's jealous roomates, aspiring stand-up Leo Keonig (Jonah Hill) and egotistical actor Mark Taylor Jackson (Jason Schwartzman), whose recent taste of fame as the star of the new NBC series, Yo Teach! is going straight to his head. That's the BEFORE.

The AFTER comes when George discovers he's been miraculously cured of the disease, a piece of information the studio has curiously gone to great lengths to reveal, perhaps fearing even fewer people would turn out for a comedy they think features Adam Sandler slowly perishing from a leukemia. George uses this new lease on life to re-connect with old flame Laura (Leslie Mann), an ex-actress who will always be better known to him as "the one that got away." But winning her back from husband Clarke (Eric Bana) is a problem since George has come away from his life altering ordeal no less of a jerk than he was before, if not more of one. He still has a long way to go before he can be considered a fully functioning human being capable of a real relationship. Ira is the only person who has George's back, even if he doesn't seem to appreciate it.

Surprisingly, nothing in this film feels forced. Celebrity cameos (from the likes of James Taylor, Eminem, Tom from MySpace and a whole bunch of comedians) and pop culture references are blended in seamlessly. Even more impressively, stand-up comedy is extremely difficult to depict on film in an entertaining way and here we're not only given a (presumably) inside look into that world, but the stand-up material is hilarious. Of all the three Apatow written/directed films this one has the highest percentage of jokes that hit the mark and it's a screenplay filled with clever in-jokes that shouldn't be spoiled.

For a while things are going so perfectly that you don't ever want the movie to end. Of course, you could say that with a running time of almost 140 minutes, it almost never does. There's only one thing that doesn't completely work and while it doesn't completely fail either, it's problematic enough that it starts to become an issue in the third act, especially considering the amount of time allotted to it. Apatow makes a questionable judgement call in asking us to root for George and Laura's potentially rekindled relationship, despite being spawned from desperation and infidelity. But that's not much the problem as it's a reflection of George's immorality, of which only Ira seems able to see. The problem is, save for a couple of flashbacks, we're not given enough background on their relationship to really care about it all that much.

Apatow didn't necessarily craft a role for his wife that's underwritten since she gets plenty of screen time and is given a lot to do, but that's not to say it could have been written better. Sure, we don't want Laura leaving her husband and kids (played by Apatow and Mann's real life daughters) for the selfish George but we don't want her staying with her jerk husband either. This gives us no one to root for and and a host of unlikable people, chief among them Laura for her awful judgment. Luckily, she played by Mann who's able to conceal much of that and I was just so happy to finally see her in a well deserved major role that I hardly noticed the writing flaw. Bana, who was the subject of Knocked Up's most memorable joke, helps save the final act by showing a charisma and gift for comedy we never knew he had. Or at least we wouldn't know he had it from watching Munich, Hulk or Troy. It's a real shocker. Almost as shocking as the fact that Bana used to be a stand-up comedian.

I'm not sure that this is Sandler's best performance but I am positive that George Simmons is my favorite character that Sandler has ever played, mainly because it recalls so much of what I always imagined he's really like. For those like me who grew up watching him on SNL and listening to his early comedy albums it's thrill to see him sending up his own image like this and the incorporation of his early career footage into the film just adds to that authenticity and nostalgia.

It's difficult to discern the game Sandler's playing with us in taking this role, if it's a game at all. Is this some kind of admission of guilt or apology for making the choices he has in his career, despite the fame and success it's brought him? Or is he laughing at us for being stupid enough to enjoy them? Is he in on this joke? We'll never know, but the cruel irony is that after the commercial failure of this film Sandler will once again have to go back to making the same kinds of movies he appears to be mocking himself for in this picture. We criticize his "sell-out" choices but whenever he attempts to stretch with more meaningful work like this we hate him for it. It makes me wonder if George's speech about people expecting too much from him could have come from Sandler himself. Scarier still, he may be right.

As interesting as his performance is, it isn't the best in the film. Rogen's is. Even though many feel as if he's been overexposed of late, he just seems to get better and better with each role he takes. Despite the comedic elements surrounding him, he gives Ira a full-fledged dramatic arc, making his friendship with George the focal point from which everything else in the story bounces off of. Because Rogen's work is subtly present and understated (words I never thought I'd ever use to describe a performance of his), it isn't instantly obvious how well he serves the material. Had another actor been cast in the part this wouldn't have been the same experience at all. And bonus points to Apatow for cleverly incorporating Rogen's recent weight loss into the character's backstory.

As autobiographical a film as this is for Sandler, it feels like it could be even more autobiographical for Apatow, kind of like he was shooting for his own Almost Famous. We knew this guy was a major writing talent when his his TV series Freaks and Geeks was cancelled almost a decade ago, but I don't think anyone (including him) had a clue he would go on to enjoy the kind of success he's had. This movie seems like his way of reconciling that and maybe just stopping for a breather to take it all in.This looks and feels like his first real adult movie and more like the kind of film that would be directed by James L. Brooks and released into theaters during awards season (he even employs Schindler's List and Munich cinematographer Janusz Kaminski ). He really came to play this time. And as oppressive as it's running time might seem to be on paper it didn't FEEL long to me, at least compared to other movies these past few years that have abused their running times.

This picture was on my list of most anticipated films of 2009 not because I thought it would be some kind of masterpiece (which it isn't) but because I know no matter what Apatow does right or wrong it's almost always guaranteed to be more interesting than a lot of what else is out there. Go figure I would enjoy the ugly step-child in his filmography this much. At best, Funny People will have a far longer shelf life than most expect, or at worst, be remembered as a fascinating curiosity in the career of one of comedy's most influential voices.