This Is Where I Leave You (2014)

4/5

This Is Where I Leave You is a tender, funny film about a dysfunctional family reuniting after their patriarch's death. The title comes from one son (Bateman), who leaves his wife (Spencer) after he finds her cheating on him. His sister (Fey) knows about their separation but must hide it from the rest of their siblings (Stoll, Driver) until he is ready to tell them. But their mother (Fonda) forces them all to sit shiva for a week after his funeral and all their neuroses comes out.

The brilliant script is full of meaningful writing, espousing big ideas on a small scale. Watching it makes me wish I had grown up with Tina Fey as my sister. It also makes me want to watch Girls just to see more of Adam Driver. Because this movie is hilarious. That being said, This Is Where I Leave You contains pretty ho-hum cinematic technique other than the writing/acting. Still, I highly recommend it.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1371150/

When In Rome (2010)

3/5

When In Rome is a silly little movie with a lot of heart and charm. The plot is outrageously dumb: Beth (Bell) steals five coins from a fountain in Italy and a spell is placed on the five people who threw their coins in looking for love. One is an artist (Arnett), one is a sausage businessman (DeVito), one is a magician (Heder), and one is a male model (Shepard). "But wait!" you say, "That's only four!" You are correct. Incidentally, Nick (Duhamel) is also in love with her, and Beth must figure out if it's because of true love or if it's because the fifth coin was his and he is merely under the spell.

Yes, I know, it is preposterous and corny, but it gets an A for effort. You see these men attempt to win her over with the most desperate and sad displays of affection. They try and try and try to please her but to no avail. And once you get past the buffoonery and circus-like lunacy, you find a smile somehow crept its way up onto your face. I don't know how it does this, because the writing is terrible, but the actors put so much of themselves into their ridiculous roles that you just have to love it. Some parts of the story started out blunt and obvious (e.g., Beth's love of her job over personal relationships), but further into the movie it became surprisingly subtle and nuanced. But by far the most surprising thing about this movie for me was how charismatic Duhamel turned out to be. It's easy to see why he's starring in all these romantic comedies nowadays. You don't have to watch this movie (but feel free if it sounds like your kind of movie), but you should definitely keep an eye out for Duhamel.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185416/

Baby Mama (2008)

3/5

Baby Mama is a fairly lightweight comedy that is at turns formulaic and predictable and also surprising and unexpected. It follows a successful 37-year-old barren businesswoman (Fey) and her attempts to have a child through an agency that provides her with what turns out to be an "ignorant, white-trash" surrogate (Poehler). It's fast-paced and easy to enjoy--far from a masterpiece but also far from a dud--with relatively few dead jokes and a number of laugh-out-loud moments to balance them out. I saw it because I love Tina Fey and 30 Rock, and while it's not quite at that level of perfection, it's a pleasant enough way to spend 90 minutes on a Sunday afternoon.

On the technical front, everything was average. Literally everything: writing, directing, music, acting, cinematography, editing, and anything else I'm forgetting. My favorite part of the movie was the colorful assortment of side characters, particularly Steve Martin and Sigourney Weaver as Fey's hippie dippie boss and fertile 60-year-old surrogate agent respectively. Oh, and there's also the birthing teacher with a Barbara Walters lisp. Brilliant. Feel free to go out and watch this movie if you like Tina Fey, SNL, or 30 Rock, but pass on it if you find none of those appealing.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0871426/

Idiocracy (2006)

2/5

Idiocracy is a stupid and terrible movie. I don't know how I convinced myself to watch it. It envisions the future as literally the dumbest time period of man's evolution ever. And it succeeds. The story was predictable, the characters shallow, and the humor, unfortunately, at the level of the citizens in this "idiocracy." Why would I laugh at that? Despite the movie being terrible, I did like the vision of the future, where advertising is everywhere and stupid people who reproduce more take over the world. It's a much smarter premise than the movie can deliver on. Please don't ever watch this movie. Kyle, you are wrong. It is not funny--it is awful.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0387808/