Tagged: Jason Sudeikis
Movie 43 (2013)
Not all celebrities are prudes. Only the ones with Oscars are.
The central story is about how a deranged writer (Dennis Quaid) forces a studio executive (Greg Kinnear) to make his movie. But before any moves actually take place on it, we get to see what the actual-product is as the writer reads it out to us and the executive. Basically, it’s just one dude’s shitty idea, all for us to see and cringe at. Yay!
Sketch-comedies never seem to work, that is, unless you just so happen to be drunk, horny, wild, and ready for a good-time. However, I don’t think it will matter if you’re any of those things: you may never, ever enjoy this movie. Okay, maybe if you’re 12-years-old, and love to hear the word “balls” in almost every sentence then yes, you might just have a freakin’ ball with this thing. But if you are above that age-limit in anyway, shape, or form, this is going to be one cringe-inducing trip for you. Whether you like it or not. I’m going to guess your most likely to side with the latter.
Any movie can tell a ball, poop, or fart joke like it’s nobody’s business, but it’s all how you do it and literally; this film just cannot do it in the right way where you laugh, chuckle, or even get that they just made the joke. Almost every single skit in this movie has at least one use of the word “ball” or “shit” and it gets annoying, probably around the time the first skit kicks-in and you realize that you’re going to be tormented to the core of your stomach, with non-stop raunch jokes that do nothing. Apparently, everybody who ever worked on this movie, all thought that the idea of somebody having a certain bodily-fluid sprayed all-over-their-face was downright, hilarious and it’s a huge-shocker that it never dawned on any of these people that maybe, just maybe, the type of material that they are working with, just isn’t funny enough to suit a 6-to-7-minute sketch, let alone a whole movie full of ‘em.
“Today’s lesson is, “How to NOT choose shitty movies like this”.
And also, the idea of having a movie so chock-full of sketches where big-named stars just demean themselves to the lowest, common denominator, almost seems so old-school, it’s not even worth it paying the money to go out and seeing. I mean, you can probably go onto Funny or Die, College Humor, Cracked, or even YouTube for that matter, find big-celebrities, doing some crazy shite for laughs, and actually having there be; ACTUAL LAUGHS. Here, in this movie where it’s just one, long presentation of a bunch, you get probably one-or-two laughs and that is literally all because the jokes that they use in the film that are actually funny, were already used 100-times before in all of the trailers/commercials we have either seen or heard, 100 times before. Going out to see this movie is already a crime, but actually going out to pay for it, is like a freakin’ cardinal sin. Especially when you know that more-quality humor is laying right there for you, at your fingertips.
Even if the delivery is god-awful, at least some of the placement is okay. For instance, some skits actually seem to have some promise like the one where Robin (Justin Long) actually stands up for himself and gets involved with a Superhero speed-dating event, where other, actual superheroes show-up to mingle and hopefully, get laid. This idea seems like it’s planned to be a butt-load of fun, especially if that idea came from Joss Whedon, but sadly, it comes from the makers of this shit-pile and before you could say the word, “kryptonite”, the sketch has already lost itself in saying the word “bush” or “shit”, one way too many times. I mean, when you got Wonder Woman and Batman talking to each other about how they fucked and it never amounted to anything but Batman running-away and never calling again, you would expect non-stop hilarity, right? But nope, instead it’s all about having Robin still be played-out as the softer, gayer-one of the two and if you didn’t think that joke was over-played by now, trust me, just wait for the rest of the movie.
However, without the promise of an interesting-idea, most skits just fall from grace, right from the very start. The skit where Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott both find and capture a leprechaun (played by Gerard Butler, in CGI-form), in hopes to get some gold, starts off pretty bad. Apparently the director, Brett Ratner (in case you haven’t been surprised yet), thought that the idea of having a leprechaun spew-out a bunch of dirty words was funny enough to last a whole sketch, especially one where it seemed like it’s main actors would actually sparkle in. Sadly, they just don’t do anything for the sketch, or the movie itself and the way it all ends is so dark and savage-like, that it really left me with a bad-taste in my mouth, which is very shocking since the rest of the film just couldn’t. I want to spoil the ending of that sketch for you so you understand what I’m blabbering all about, but sadly, I am a critic and I have morals, people. But still, don’t see this movie because I won’t spoil it for you.
“No, I’M in this movie?!?!”
The idea of having all of these different stars being packed into one movie where all they do is completely raunchy and dirty shit (sometimes literally), may make them seem cool and on-the-edge, but in reality: it’s just a poor-decision. I guess it’s really strange to see heavyweights like Kate Winslet and Hugh Jackman in a skit about a dude with balls on his neck, or a skit with Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts playing parents of a home-schooled kid that give him the full, high-school experience with sex, drugs, abuse and all, but it’s even stranger to see peeps like them actually stoop themselves so low as to actually make this material work. I don’t know if they knew this right from the initial script-read, but this is terrible-material they are working with here so instead of giving it their all and actually going to town with whatever energy or sense of purpose they can muster-up to make this work, they seem almost as if they forcing it out, almost like a kidney stone (and yes, it is THAT painful to watch). Nobody here really out-shines the other and probably the only person that really made me laugh and surprised the hell out of me from this whole cast was Will Sasso, who shows-up, does his thing, reminds us that he is still alive, and actually made me laugh. I was terribly and utterly surprised, but he was the real spectacle to see for me. Everybody else can suck my nut because I hated this shit, and I hated watching them try to act in it!
Consensus: Do not, I repeat, DO NOT let the star-studded cast fool you, Movie 43 is one hell of a bombshell that begins on a lame-note and ends on an even-worse one that makes you feel like you’ve just been hit over-the-head with somebody’s foreign parts, and not in the fun, or pleasureful way, either. It’s the type of way that disturbs you and scars you for life. That is, until you see an equally as bad movie and that’s, going to be very hard to come by for some time I think.
1 / 10 = Crapola!!
Poor Gerard Butler. This is probably his worst movie to-date.
The Campaign (2012)
If only Ron Burgundy really did run for office. Do I hear the basis for a sequel…?
When long-term congressman Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) commits a major public gaffe before an upcoming election, a pair of ultra-wealthy CEOs plot to put up a rival candidate and gain influence over their North Carolina district. Their man: naïve Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis), director of the local Tourism Center.
If you are going to release an election comedy, the time right before the election would be a perfect time, really. Everybody is basically sick and tired of seeing what these candidates all have to say about themselves, their goals as president, what they think about the other candidates, how much of a wonderful family and dog they have, how they are going to lower taxes, blah, blah, and blah. So you know it’s time for a political satire, especially one with two of the goofiest and funniest comedic actors working right now, right?
You would expect a comedy about politics, being released very slightly before election-time, to have at least some sort of sides to choose or just plain and simple satire on politics themselves, but somehow, you get nothing here from that. Looking at director Jay Roach‘s track record (Austin Powers, Meet the Parents, Dinner for Schmucks), I knew that I wasn’t going to get anything that was necessarily considered biting, when it comes to satire department, but I wasn’t expecting something as safe and sometimes, soft like this. What bothered me the most about this flick is that there is so much room for political satire to the point of where you could almost make it up on your own, but for some odd reason, these guys never seem to go for it. To me, this seems like a huge, wasted opportunity that definitely could have given us a smarter look at the politics we see on TV today, but I guess they’re all fine with just settling for being funny.
Actually, this missed-opportunity probably wouldn’t have bothered me as much if it wasn’t for the fact that this film definitely isn’t as funny as I was expecting it to be. There’s a lot of those dim-witted, goof-ball jokes that we are used to getting with Ferrell and his movies, but it just seems repetitive here, almost to the point of where Ferrell and co. felt like they ran out of material to joke around about, so they just tried to say the same jokes, over-and-over again but it a new fashion. This starts to get very tiring and actually, very boring, almost to the point of where I was actually looking at my “watch” (code name for phone, but don’t tell anyone) more than anything else on the screen. Which is a total shame because I usually have a ball with these guys, as I did with Dinner for Schmucks, a very underrated comedy, in my opinion.
But for when it did make me laugh, it sure as hell did make me laugh and that’s all I can give it credit for. Some scenes stood-out to me in particular, but the best was probably in the first 15 minutes where Huggins goes around his family-table and allows them to all share secrets that they have hid underneath the table for very, very long, and some of the stuff that just comes out of these people’s mouths are hilarious and dirty. It was a sure sign that I was in for something funny and everything else from the punching-baby sequence, to the vengeful political-ad videos, to the drunk driving incident, all had me laughing enough to say that I had a pretty enjoyable time, even if I feel like there could have been so much more to this material.
The real reason this whole film works is mainly because of the two comedic all-stars in the leads that always seem to give every role they have, their all and these ones are no different. Will Ferrell is basically playing-up the same buffoon he plays in every movie, but this time with a mix of his George W. Bush impression and some of Bill Clinton in there as well. It’s a nice little mix that Ferrell makes work by just being, well, Will Ferrell, and that’s all I really ask for when it comes to him and his comedies. Then, you have Zach Galifianakis as the heterosexual Marty Huggins, that just seems so sweet and nice, but can never catch a break because of Brady is always one-step ahead of his ass. Literally sometimes, too. Zach is always a funny guy and even though he hasn’t had many times to prove so outside of his roles as Alan, he proves that here and gives this Marty Huggins a lot of jeer-full goofiness to him, but not enough to the point of where it’s annoying and campy. Whenever these guys were on-screen together, I laughed my ass off and I sort of wish that they did a better movie to head-line together because this one sure doesn’t live up to what people would most expect from these two comedic fellas.
It was also nice to see Jason Sudeikis play a supporting, goofy role as the straight-man behind Cam Brady, Mitch. Sudeikis is funny, as always, but this time he allows all of the jokes play-out from Ferrell’s side of the equation and it’s nice to see what this cat can do when it comes to comedy, considering I haven’t been all that impressed by this dude as of late. Though, the highlight of the cast is probably Dylan McDermott as the evil campaign advisory, Tim Wattley. McDermott is good with this role because he plays everything with such a stern, serious look on his face that adds so many more laughs to this film, whenever it seemed like Zach and Will weren’t necessarily helping out the situation. What was even better was how they even compared him to Dermot Mulroney during this film, which I thought was funny because I actually thought he would have been a good fit for this kind of role.
Consensus: Though it’s satire never fully takes a bite, The Campaign still features a fun cast and a funny bunch of moments that are worth to see, if only for the two leads themselves.
6/10=Rental!!
Going the Distance (2010)
A poor man’s Judd Apatow comedy, but still a good one.
New couple Erin (Drew Barrymore) and Garrett (Justin Long) don’t want their summer fling to end, but Erin must move across the country to finish school. As the bicoastal lovers try to keep their relationship going, they experience the tricky challenges of living long-distance.
This is one of those feel good films that is pretty self-explanatory: you know the general plot before you go in so there are no surprises as to what the film is about or how it will end. However, it’s not such a bad trip in between the beginning and the end.
The reason this film works is because is it’s very well-written. The comedy surprisingly works great for this type of material because at the center of this little romantic storyline going on, the raunchy material holds it out with a great balance. I found myself with a lot of belly laughs here and surprisingly a lot of insight as well.
I have never been in a long-distance relationship but from what it seems like, it’s hard and this film shows how hard it is in every way. From the non-stop texting, to the temptation, late night calls, dates on Skype, and finding any way possible to pleasure the other person are all what happens in a long-distance relationship and this film shows it in a sort of 21st century way. There was some honest truth to a lot of what was being said in this film too where these two have problems actually coping with the fact that they may not always be together and like each other the whole time which made me feel like I was listening to actual conversations and not just another crappy rom-com.
However, the problem with this film I felt was the fact that it kind of gets really dry right in the middle where very little laughs actually happen, and we are forced to focus on the fact that these two are having “problems”. It still had some insight but for this brief moment of about 30 minutes, it was what we always see in every rom-com which kind of disappointed me in a way. There were also many times where this film would bring something up but never expand on it such as temptation for both sides and I thought they ere going to start talking about it, but never really went with it fully and seem kind of strange.
Drew Barrymore is lovely and a really smart leading lady because she makes a character that you really like, and you wanna see her and her relationship succeed. She also drinks, smokes, curses, and bangs a lot during this film and I have to say that it showed me an edgier side of her that I liked and a side she pulled 0ff very well. Justin Long a good fit here because he’s kind of a goofball at times, but still has that underlining scent of sincerity to him that makes him very likable. It has been said about plenty of actual real-life couples don’t actually click well together on-screen, but whatever these two got going on in real-life translates well into their work together. Christina Applegate plays the protective older sister, Corrine, and is a comedic pro who can do stuck-up without seeming stuck-up. Let’s not also forget Jim Gaffigan as her hubby who always makes me laugh. Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day play Long’s buddies, Box and Dan, who are the two neighbor/buddy characters that are straight out of a sitcom, but a funny sitcom and I found myself laughing my ass off at them the most.
Consensus: Going the Distance gets a little dry in the middle, but is still very funny with a lot of cuteness as well as a hint of insight, however the raunchy comedy and the amazing cast had me laughing the most and is what makes this better than your average romantic comedy.
7.5/10=Rental!!
Horrible Bosses (2011)
If Jennifer Aniston wants to get it on with you, it’s not considered sexual harassment.
Disgruntled buddies Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day) can’t leave their miserable jobs, so they cook up a creative strategy for eliminating each other’s micromanaging and maniacal employers (Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Kevin Spacey) instead in this crackpot comedy. Peculiar advice from con artist Motherf**ker Jones (Jamie Foxx) gets the scheme in motion, but the pals can’t keep the wheels from flying off.
If you have ever had a job in your life, no matter how big nor small, there are just times when your boss pisses you off so much to the fact where you actually want to kill that person in order to make your work-place a happier palace for you. This film lives out that fantasy, but not exactly how I would have liked it too.
The thing with this film that works, and at the same time doesn’t work is it’s script. There are a lot of good jokes here and a lot of funny things that happen here. The script is at times because you rarely ever see murder, followed by a punch-line but I have to say where this film goes made me laugh.
The plot is solid and has plenty of twists and turns to keep you interested. Also, just listening to these guys ramble on about whatever the hell there is to ramble about, made me laugh I must say even if it didn’t pee my pants.
However, the problem with this film is that when I saw the trailer and laughed at the jokes there, I realized that this was just another case of what was funny in the trailer, was the only really funny things here. Now, I can’t take away most of this film’s credit for most of the funniest jokes here being the ones from the trailer because there are an equal amount of other funny jokes here to keep you laughing as well, I just felt that they could have stopped relying less on lazy punch-lines, and more on the goofiness of the plot.
With any Judd Apatow film you have seen in the last decade, you notice that the comedy is all based on improv, conversations, and buddy chemistry. This one tries to do that too, but with less hilarity. The plot could have been funnier, and the idea of murder and comedy could have made me die in my seat, but this film just has too much of these guys going back and forth about whatever pops up in their minds. I mean if this film actually mastered the type of the almost effortless buddy-chemistry that Judd Apatow has so well, this could have really made a hurting to my stomach, but somehow it just doesn’t work as well as I expected it too. Don’t have any idea who’s problem that is, but could have been funnier.
I have to say that this is one of the better picked ensemble casts that I have seen this year, thus far. The three buddies are played by Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day who all have their own great deals of comedic timing that work in their own way here, and got me through the moments where it was just these guys playing off of each other. Bateman is likable; Sudeikis does that macho, toolish guy thing that always seems to work; and Day does that “speak with a high-pitched voice and very quickly” act, and surprisingly made me laugh a lot here.
The three bosses are played extremely well by each cast member and each deserve a great amount of praise for all being asshole-like in their own way. Kevin Spacey isn’t very funny as Bateman’s boss, but he is such an incredible dick and sort of plays a better Lex Luthor here, than he actually did while playing Lex Luthor is Superman Returns. If I ever had this dude as a boss, I would quit my job as soon as possible. Jennifer Aniston goes against type as Day’s boss and is just hilarious as she is this dirty, and sex-crazed monster that made me hot as well as laugh my ass off at her whole raunchy act. Surprised that it worked so well here, and hopefully she takes some more roles like this and no more of those shitty rom-coms. Colin Farrell is very funny as Sudeikis’ coke-addicted boss who is almost not noticeable at first, but you soon start to realize that this is Farrell playing his “bad-boy” image to his advantage here. I wish they showed more of his character in the film as much as they did with the other too, but Farrell still seems like he’s having fun.
The funniest of the whole film has to be Jamie Foxx as Motherf**ker Jones and even though he is only in the film for about 10 minutes, seems to be having the most fun out of the whole cast with his role. His comedic timing is on fire in a way that I haven’t seen from him since his days in Booty Call, and made me keep on laughing about his line with “Snow Falling on Cedars”. It sounds strange, but I kept going back to it when the film was over.
Consensus: The script’s laughs relies too much on weak punch-lines, conversational comedy, and a script that could have focused more on the solid premise, but much thanks to the great cast full of big-names and some funny laughs, Horrible Bosses is funnier than a lot of recent buddy-films that have come out. Also, totally relatable because who hasn’t ever had a horrible boss that they haven’t ever had wanting to kill?
7/10=Rental!!
Hall Pass (2011)
Wonder if my wife will let me have one of these.
Owen Wilson stars as a married man whose spouse (Jenna Fischer) grants him the right — for just one week — to pursue as many extramarital affairs as he can. His best buddy (Jason Sudeikis) receives an identical “hall pass” from his wife (Christina Applegate), and off the guys go. The hubbies soon discover, however, that picking up girls isn’t as easy as they recall, while their better halves embark on their own erotic adventures.
The Farrelly Brothers have a lot of films under their belts, but the problem is they haven’t really had a good one in awhile. With this, I think they kind of break that slump.
I wouldn’t say it’s a return-to-form for these guys, but they do have some laughs here that actually work. There are the usual raunchy jokes that I have come to expect from these two, and the zany psychical humor as well, but I was very surprised that there are about two poop jokes here, and I actually laughed at them. I laughed a lot more than I expected during this film, but those poop jokes, somehow got me, and I must say bravo to The Farrely’s on that one.
Though the film is funny I just wish it had what I was expecting, due to the genius idea of the plot. It’s a great idea for a film, but the plot just seems a bit too stale and episodic at points, and I was disappointed because I knew where this film could have definitely gone to be as funny. There’s also an underlying sweetness to it, but I couldn’t really buy that all too well. I wanted to see some sexy time, more guy talks, and just more humor. The plot starts to get a little cheesy by the last act, and we see where it starts to go, and I must say I was highly disappointed.
Owen Wilson is good for this role as Rick because he uses that toolish guy shtick he always has, to his advantage. I like Wilson in a lot of stuff that he does, and it was good to see him head-lining a comedy that was actually funny. Jason Sudeikis of SNL fame is pretty funny here as Fred, and although I don’t think he was the perfect fit for this role. But still, since this is his first starring role in a comedy, I have a feeling he’ll find a good role. Richard Jenkins also pops up in a hilarious side role as the pimp daddy, Coakley. Jenkins is good in almost everything he does, and this right here is no different.
However, the main problem I had with this film was probably the wives here played by Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate. Seeing that this is indeed a Farrelly Brothers film, the women in this film may be two-dimensional characters, but here it’s a huge distraction from the humor in this film. Whenever they would just shoot over to this story-line, all the humor that the main premise had going for it, just gets lost because these chicks really are such a drag and kind of stupid. If you don’t want your hubbies being horny all the time, give them some love, don’t let them get it from somebody else! Probably because I’m a dude is the reason why I’m saying this but the idea is cool, I just wish these chicks weren’t so stupid about it. Also, Joy Behar is in here?!? Surprisingly she’s not that annoying.
Consensus: The laughs aren’t non-stop like you would expect from an idea like this, and the sub-plot is terribly boring, but the cast does a good job with this script, and the jokes did somehow have me laughing, which makes Hall Pass a nice return for The Farrelly Brothers.
5.5/10=Rental!!
