johnplocar

This is the second directorial debut from a comedic actor I've seen this week and this was also, in my opinion, a solid effort. "Eighth Grade" does a terrific job capturing that awkward part of puberty that I think we've all gone through, while also showing how difficult it can be to establish relationships in today's society with the youth constantly obsessed with being on their phones and what's going on in social media. It also finds the humor with a girl just getting into her high school years such as the rocky kinship between her and her father, her going through having a crush on the 'bad boy' in school, figuring out certain things about sexual interactions, etc. Bo Burnham has always been a talented comedian, but I think he proves that he has more range in his talents here; he shows that he knows what he's talking about with being young and lacking confidence in oneself because of those awkward phases.

"Eighth Grade" centers on Kayla Day, a young girl who is in the very last week of her eighth grade year. In preparation of going into high school she goes through an arc of trying to figure herself out while also attempting to overcome her own personal anxieties such as being afraid to speak out and simply put herself out there so people can get to know her, trying to get the attention of the boy she likes, or even finding a way to make friends with some older kids that she finds to be cool.

What I really appreciate about this movie was that it felt like a story that someone personally went through, as if Bo Burnham had held onto his pre-high school experiences and wrote them all into his script. That is what this feels like to me and I dug that about this movie. I do remember feeling awkward at that time, honestly throughout most of my time in school, feeling the want I had inside of me to be more confident and put myself out there yet lacking the confidence to do so. It's tough at that age and it's made all the more difficult nowadays with the increase in technology integrated into our everyday lives, especially with teenagers. The movie does a really good job showing that puberty is confusing and more awkward now more than ever because we somewhat lack true human connection because the majority of kids now are consistently having their eyes focused on the screen of their phones rather than actually having a conversation in person with someone right in front of them. It also shows how much that has kind of driven the kids that feel left out to seek friendship and attention out in the world wide web whether it be via posting videos on YouTube or liking everyone's picture on Instagram. We all seek a connection in some way and that's what today's youth has pretty much been led towards to find it.

But when the youth finally comes across a human connection, what happens? This movie goes into that territory too. Kayla has opportunity after opportunity to interact with her father and she squanders it because that's not really the attention we want at that time, right? We want the cool kids to like us, we want the cute boy/girl to notice us, we want a million people to listen to what we have to say and hopefully like us for who we are because we want to feel special. Kayla has her father right there telling her right to her face that he believes her to be special, yet she blows it off. Why? Because at that age we're arrogant and stubborn. We want anyone who isn't family to tell us that same exact thing because somehow that makes it real. That awkward search feels fully realized in this movie.

I also like how this feels like Burnham's eighth grade equivalent to a film like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High". In certain aspects, particularly in the comedy and certain 'inopportune timed' moments, it was very reminiscent of what "Fast Times" would do with its characters that wound up in sticky situations. I laughed quite a bit in this movie, pretty hard at times as well. There's one specific running gag with a soundtrack choice that would play whenever the 'bad boy' would show up that really made me laugh every time. Although, like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", it may be a funny movie but it also can get serious quick. With this movie there is a scene with Kayla and a high school boy that she meets and while it doesn't necessarily go into anything outright disturbing, it does get somewhat intense as things in the scene progress into a very uncomfortable level. And it doesn't feel out of place or tonally inconsistent, it feels natural to the story and captures that terrifying feeling when you're alone with someone and things just aren't quite right. The drama is also handled very well, in a way that feels realistic and believable. Especially with the scenes between Kayla and her father that seemed to understand how hard it is for a dad to talk to his own daughter in a way that reaches her without being too weird, but usually failing.

With a movie like this it could be really easy to make a teen girl that lashes out and acts moody most of the time extremely unlikable, maybe even downright irritating. Luckily with smart writing and a great performance by Elsie Fisher, the character of Kayla is relatable and I really routed for her to find her place in life or at the very least be happy. She made me laugh, she warmed my heart, she made me worry for her, Fisher does a lovely job and I am looking forward to seeing her in the future.

If I were to name any complaints, I suppose that maybe it would be that the film lacks focus at times. Not terribly so, but the structure could have had a more solid foundation. There are also some subplots and scenes that probably could have been cut or shortened. But at the same time, this movie was made to capture the feeling of the early teen years and how life kind of comes with its own set of random events, sometimes those events don't add to more than just 'well that happened and it's over now'. I had a good time with this movie; it's smart, has good commentary on social media/technology, downright funny and touching writing, quality acting, and a pretty decent soundtrack. "Eighth Grade" is entertaining and I strongly recommend to check it out if you haven't already!

Usually after I watch a movie, I try to give myself some time in order to process everything, evaluate and even re-evaluate the film. Just an attempt to let everything really sink in before I give my thoughts on it. I think that may have been a mistake this time around to have given myself so much time between now and when I watched the film, which was just last night, because I've already forgotten a lot about "The Happytime Murders". This movie is just that forgettable, that should not be a defining characteristic about a movie involving muppets being brutally murdered and have outlandish sex scenes. That just should not be the case, at all. I should remember everything about this movie, even if it was a bad movie I should not be saying that the R rated puppet comedy has already fleeted from my brain less than twenty-four hours later.

"The Happytime Murders" takes place in a world where puppets are alive and they coexist with humans; after private investigator Phil Phillips receives a case from a mysterious puppet woman, he happens upon a string of murders that he believes are linked by the victims being involved in a television show from the 90s (reminiscent of Sesame Street) called the Happytime Gang. But in order to find the killer, Phil must team up with his old human partner (Melissa McCarthy) and together they come across quirky puppets as well as some mayhem.

From the synopsis alone, I feel like I should be describing this film as anything other than simply mediocre. Unfortunately that is exactly what "The Happytime Murders" is, mediocre. It is more or less like any other modern comedy that you can find Melissa McCarthy or Will Ferrell doing nowadays; little story and heavy amounts of adlibbing. To be fair, it's not the worst offender of having the 'line-o-rama' syndrome, but I don't want lame babbling mouthed idiots that go on forever in my supposed 'over-the-top' puppet screwball flick. I wanted way more of what the trailer promised quite honestly. I wanted all the gruesome puppet murders, the insane puppet sex scenes, cracked out of their mind puppets offering sexual favors...and we get a little bit of that. Here and there, but no more than what can be found in the previews for this movie which is extremely disappointing because it is mostly just the characters going back and forth with adlibbed lines. And I can be fine with adlibbing and improv in film, when it is does right and edited properly. Robin Williams as Genie in "Aladdin" is a good example of how that can work well. The original 1984 "Ghostbusters" with basically its whole main cast that improvised a good amount of their lines. But with those movies the characters felt consistent, the actors got back on track with the script speedily, and the editor made sure to keep the excess fat from their improv out of the final cut. Comedies don't do that much anymore, they have their leads go back and forth while practically throwing out the script and the editor basically keeps every take in the scene when it should be severely trimmed down. "Happytime Murders" does the same thing, but at least I can say that it keeps its run time under two hours, unlike other offenders that needlessly push that two hour mark. Plus the adlibbed segments don't detract from the plot too drastically, but enough to hurt the project as a whole.

Aside from the adlibbing, the film feels as though it is played so safe. If you took out the puppets and a few specific moments of violence, this movie is like any other raunchy comedy. That to me is hugely disappointing about this movie. It should have been more ambitious in how ridiculous and over-the-top it could have been. For most of the run time I was constantly thinking about how much better Peter Jackson's "Meet the Feebles" was in comparison to "The Happytime Murders", because at the very least I can say that Jackson went all out and pulled no punches with his film. That film wasn't afraid to go places and it got dark, which supplied a substantial amount of its comedy. While with "Happytime Murders" I went for some seriously long gaps without laughing. I believe I literally went for fifteen to twenty minutes without uttering so much as a light chuckle. That should never be the case for watching a comedy. I never sat there mad or anything like that, and I certainly have seen plenty worse comedies from this year, but I was extremely bored through a lot of it.

I will say that I did appreciate that this movie took inspiration from old noir thrillers such as in its narration, the story being a murder mystery that involves a private investigator, and there's even a femme fatale. The puppeteering also has some top notch work done here; I truly enjoyed how these puppets were brought to life and how they function in this unique world of puppet/people cohabitants. The main puppet, Phil Phillips, was a good lead and actually carried me most of the way through. The violence and absurdity of the world, what little there is, is funny. When a puppet gets his head blown off and there's cotton flying everywhere, it is very humorous. Or when something like a cow puppet is filming a porno with an octopus puppet, again, it got a laugh out of me. But those moments are so rare that at no point did I ever feel like I was watching the dark comedy that this was meant to be. Also, for a film that takes such heavy inspirations from noir crime mysteries, it looks so bland. The cinematography just looks so clean and basic, when a noir is dark and full of atmosphere. Even the concept art for this movie looks much closer to a noir tale than what the final product turned out to be. The story was also very predictable, which I could have forgiven if the movie was funnier, but I only laughed a handful of times.

While no one does a particularly bad job in their roles, in terms of the actors, I really do wish that this starred dramatic actors rather than comedians. I understand that this is a comedy, therefore, yes it does make sense to cast comedians. However, if this film had starred more dramatic actors I feel that could have fed into the comedy way more because I personally find it funnier when the characters are taking their world seriously. For example, in "Airplane", the majority of that cast was acting in a way that made sure their characters were grounded in that absurd reality. They took everything in their world seriously, making the goofy things that happen all the funnier. No one here acts like this is their world. Everyone comes across as a comedian trying to be zany in front of the camera because 'comedy'. But that's not funny to me. There can be times where that works fine, but here it just comes across as simply trying too hard. Plus, if there were more dramatic actors in the movie that would largely eliminate the adlibbing problem.

Overall, I thought this movie is probably okay to turn on in the background or if you're bored and it pops up on Netflix. I say that because there are some good things about the movie, things that I do appreciate such as the puppeteering and I would hate if that were to go unnoticed. But it really isn't all that funny. It's not entirely groan inducing, but it should have been a lot better. Or at the very least a lot more memorable. I could have accepted this movie more so if it was a dumpster fire because then I would remember it. As it is, I'm going to forget that I even saw this in the next couple days. However, if I were you, I would just seek out "Meet the Feebles" because I promise that won't be boring for anyone.