Author: mfordfeeney

140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

Schwimmer’s directorial debut features the first Simon Pegg lead role I saw, and one of his best. He actually works as a fully-realized man.

Spoiler-free Movie Review of Run Fatboy Run:

I love this movie. Despite the popularity of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, this was actually the first of Simon Pegg’s movies that I saw. Up until this point I’d only seen him in supporting roles, and while I liked him very much, I had a hard time picturing him leading a film. That he’s very funny in this is a given. What is maybe more surprising and certainly more impressive is how well he plays it straight and how fully developed this character is.

Pegg plays Dennis, an underachiever who never finishes anything, least of all his marriage to his pregnant fiance Libby (Thandie Newton), whom he deserts at the altar in the film’s opening sequence. Things move forward five years and Dennis is still an immature lout who disappoints everyone. But when Libby and their son Jake are being swept away by the obnoxious new beau Whit (Hank Azaria), Dennis tries to change in order to win them back. With the support of his friend Gordon (Dylan Moran) and landlord (Harish Patel), Dennis trains for and enters the London Marathon.

The script by Pegg and Michael Ian Black, based on a story by Black, is really quite good. The dialogue is very funny, it’s got a great heart and the gross-out jokes are kept to a minimum (though not a low enough number for me). Thandie Newton is Hollywood’s most under-utilized talent and Pegg really does display a maturity here that I didn’t expect. Dylan Moran very nearly steals the entire movie as Libby’s cousin Gordon, who is best friends with Dennis. He has a marvelous deadpan delivery and great timing.

Possibly the most surprising aspect of Run Fatboy Run is how inspirational it is. I’m not saying it’ll make you rethink your life, but I was unexpectedly moved by Dennis’ quest to become a better person and touched by the relationship with his son. The movie really does make you feel good, in addition to being hilarious.

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

Fail

The Representation Test Score: B (7 pts)

(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

[schema type=”movie” url=”http://www.runfatboyrunmovie.com/” name=”Run Fatboy Run” description=”Five years ago Dennis (Simon Pegg) was at the altar about to marry Libby (Thandie Newton), his pregnant fianc?e. He got cold feet and ran for the hills and he’s been going in circles ever since. When Dennis discovers Libby’s hooked up with high-flying-go-getter Whit (Hank Azaria), he realizes it’s now or never. He enters a marathon to show he’s more than a quitter, but then finds out just how much sweat, strain and tears it takes to run for 26 miles. Nobody gives him a chance, but Dennis knows this is his only hope to be more than a running joke.” director=”David Schwimmer” actor_1=”Simon Pegg” ]

Main Cast	Simon Pegg Dennis, Thandie Newton Libby, Hank Azaria Whit, Dylan Moran Gordon
Rating	PG-13
Release Date	Fri 28 Mar 2008 UTC
Director	David Schwimmer
Genres	Comedy, Romance, Sport
Plot	Five years after jilting his pregnant fiancée on their wedding day, out-of-shape Dennis decides to run a marathon to win her back.
Poster
Runtime	100
Tagline	Love. Commitment. Responsibility. There’s nothing he can’t run away from.
Writers	Michael Ian Black (screenplay) &, Simon Pegg (screenplay) …
Year	2007

#140RVW

Never liked Andy Samberg. Breaking Rashida Jones’ heart? You bastard. Wait, maybe that was just the character, huh? Never mind. We’re good.

What’s more:

It’s very hard to carve out any original space in the overcrowded romantic comedy field. Celeste and Jesse Forever succeeds largely because it is more than your standard rom-com; it is a realistic look at relationships that happens to be funny as hell.

The film opens with a wonderful title sequence showing the courtship of Celeste and Jesse, who appear to have a storybook relationship. From the opening scenes these two are adorkable and clearly perfect together. Only they’re not; this wonderful friendship is masking the failure of their relationship. The next 90 minutes follow these two trying to find happiness with or without each other, struggling with their friendship and their relationship.

Rashida Jones co-wrote this with Will McCormack, who has a small role in the film. It is the first screenwriting gig for either of them, but I doubt very much it will be the last. They’ve put together a very good script that doesn’t shy away from real emotions. These characters behave in familiar ways; not familiar for movies, familiar to actual humans. Characters you like will do things that make you cringe – it’s not clean, and neither is life.

Rashida Jones really becomes a certifiable star with this picture. It’s a great performance. Samberg leaves me cold; just a perennial smart-ass. Elijah Wood has a small but fun role as Celeste’s business partner. Emma Roberts plays Miley Cyrus, essentially, in a subplot that isn’t strictly necessary but provides some good comedy moments and gives Celeste some needed perspective.

Good if not great picture – check it out.

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

Pass

The Representation Test Score: A (13 pts)

(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

 

Main Cast	Rashida Jones Celeste, Andy Samberg Jesse, Elijah Wood Scott, Emma Roberts Riley
Rating	R
Release Date	Fri 24 Aug 2012 UTC
Director	Lee Toland Krieger
Genres	Comedy, Drama, Romance
Plot	A divorcing couple tries to maintain their friendship while they both pursue other people.
Poster
Runtime	92
Tagline	A loved story.
Writers	Rashida Jones (written by) &, Will McCormack (written by)
Year	2012

#140RVW

One of Tim Burton’s best films, this Southern gothic fairy tale is as visually spellbinding as you knew it would be, but it’s so much more.

What’s more:

A truly original film from Tim Burton. Based on Daniel Wallace’s novel Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions, this may be the most realistic film Burton has ever made, which is honestly funny when you consider the nature of this story.

Big Fish is a winding, epic tale, moving easily between realism and fantasy as it portrays the entire life of one extraordinary man, Edward Bloom. Edward’s whole life has been a series of larger-than-life events, or at least that’s how he’s portrayed them, much to the frustration of his son Will. Will grew up in awe of his father’s tall tales, but grew increasingly weary of them as he got older, feeling that the extraordinary life his father rhapsodized about was more important to the man than the family he left behind on his constant business trips.

The men fall out at Will’s wedding, but when Edward’s health deteriorates, Will returns to his estranged and now terminally ill father. Now an expectant father himself, Will presses to learn who his father really is and find the truth behind the old man’s myths.

It’s a detailed synopsis because it’s a rich story, full of unique characters, momentous events, times and locales. It’s a very ambitious film, although it must have seemed less so coming after Tim Burton’s previous film, the disastrous Planet of the Apes.

Burton is much more at home in this tale, with its quirky characters. But it is far from a typical Tim Burton movie. Yes, Helena Bonham Carter is here and he brings back Danny DeVito, but it contains little else of his usual hallmarks. (Ok, Danny Elfman does the music, but it’s not your typical quirky Elfman-esque score.)

The film is equal parts fantasy and reality, and acquits itself well with both. You know Burton knows how to do the visually gorgeous stuff. What impresses is his equal mastery of the small moments in the “real world”.

Visually, the movie is a delight. Burton first used DP Philippe Rousselot on his crap ape movie (which at least looked good) and this second collaboration is much more fruitful. (They’d team up one more time for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.)

The visuals are a bit showy and would risk overwhelming the story in any other film, but this story is so mythic in its nature that it is the perfect complement to the narrative. You’re drawn in to this mystical tale just as the audience of Edward’s stories is and it’s easy to see why the yarns he spins have such sway.

The film has truly inspired casting – the younger counterparts of Albert Finney and Jessica Lange, played by Ewan McGregor and Alison Lohman, respectively, are perfect. Lohman in particular looks eerily like Lange.Mc

McGregor is one of my favorite actors, and really shines here, but really everyone is fantastic. While he gets the most to do, Billy Crudup is the glue that holds the story together as Will Bloom, giving the story its grounding.

Finney and Lange have some wonderful scenes together, as Finney also does with Will’s lovely wife Joséphine (Marion Cotillard).

The ensemble is filled out with great performances by Danny DeVito as the circus ringmaster who sets Edward on the path to his future wife; Steve Buscemi as poet turned bank robber turned businessman Norther Winslow, and Bonham Carter in dual roles. A larger cast of characters is headlined by the late Matthew McGrory as the gentle giant Karl.

Screenwriter John August adapted the novel with obvious affection and it really deserved more recognition from the Academy. (The film received a single nomination for Elfman’s score.)

 

The story simple is marvelous, and the way it twists and turns, jumping from present to past, fairy tale to family drama makes it one of the finest efforts in Burton’s career.

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

Pass

The Representation Test Score: B (8 pts)

(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

Main Cast	Ewan McGregor Ed Bloom – Young, Albert Finney Ed Bloom – Senior, Billy Crudup Will Bloom, Jessica Lange Sandra Bloom – Senior
Rating	PG-13
Release Date	Fri 09 Jan 2004 UTC
Director	Tim Burton
Genres	Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Plot	A son tries to learn more about his dying father by reliving stories and myths he told about his life.
Poster
Runtime	125
Tagline	An adventure as big as life itself.
Writers	Daniel Wallace (novel), John August (screenplay)
Year	2003