Tag: 2015

Jurassic World (2015)

140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

If you come in with the right expectations, you can have a good time with this summer popcorn movie. If not, you may truly hate this thing.

Spoiler-free Movie Review of Jurassic World:

Serious conflicting feelings about this one. Jurassic World is perfectly fine as the good-time summer movie that it unmistakably is, but that’s really all it is. Far from the excitement I’m supposed to feel at the kicking off of a new group of dinosaur movies, I’m sort of indifferent.

Maybe one of the reasons that I haven’t written this review before now for a movie that opened several weeks ago is that I’m struggling to elaborate on my stock answer to the question “how was it?”. “Eh, pretty good” just really isn’t a satisfactory response. Let’s see if I can do better…

The movie is completely absurd. It’s fun enough that you might not care, but it really is bonkers.

Jurassic World is directed by Colin Trevorrow, whose fitness for the job was determined by exactly one feature-length screen credit – co-writing and directing the cute little indie, Safety Not Guaranteed. That’s it. One indie film and he’s in charge of one of the biggest franchises in film history (and was reportedly in the running for another; incorrectly believed to be on the shortlist for Star Wars: Episode VII). Now if you read my review of Safety Not Guaranteed, you’ll know that I could scarcely have given it higher praise, but I don’t remember saying that this guy’s next picture should be a big budget blockbuster with its own line of toys.

Is this the end of the auteur director? Have we found an amazing new talent or have we reached the point with big franchise pictures where the director is not only no longer the most important voice on a film but increasingly just another technical position there to do the hands-on work of the producers? Can both be true?

Trevorrow, along with his writing partner Derek Connolly, does seem to be a talented young filmmaker, and the duo wrote the screenplay for Jurassic World. This is his project. So why does it feel like it was made by a group of producer and focus group-obsessed suits?

The whole thing takes exactly zero risks. Nothing is left to chance. I don’t know if it’s fair to say, seeing how Trevorrow co-wrote the thing, but it really does feel like anyone could have filmed Jurassic World.

What’s so surprising about Jurassic World is that it took so long to be brought to life. This series went through twists and turns on its way to de-extinction, and they ended up more or less where you would guess they started. The premise is so jarringly obvious that you wonder how they didn’t get here long before now.

Perhaps one of the things that makes the picture feel so “authored by committee” to me is the knowledge that they seriously planned a Jurassic Park IV film in which the dinosaurs would have been cross-cloned with humans, ostensibly to make dino-soldiers. After you’ve heard it, it’s sort of hard to un-know that, and you will always be wary of the possibility of complete absurdity around every corner.

So when the otherwise cool looking Jurassic World trailers showed superstar of the moment Chris Pratt seemingly leading a pack of Velociraptors on his motorcycle, you can understand why I was more than a little nervous.

I went into the theater with cautious optimism, though; I really love this franchise and hope for it to do well with each installment. And for the most part, Jurassic World succeeds. I definitely enjoyed it, and I believe anyone who goes into the picture looking to have fun, not pick things apart, will have a good time as well.

The premise is simplicity itself, and that’s no criticism. Ever since the high-concept idea of an amusement park with live dinosaurs was dreamed up, we’ve wanted to see this thing in full swing. Sure, the story of Jurassic Park and the succeeding iterations has always been man’s hubris and lack of respect of nature, and the inevitable problems karma has in store for such people. But that doesn’t mean we don’t want to see how that plays out.

One of the reasons The Lost World was so disappointing was because we got a glimpse of another world where the InGen Corporation tried the impossible task of controlling chaos, and then we quickly left. I want to see these controls – I love the bits in the first Jurassic Park novel where Arnold and Muldoon and Wu and Harding discuss all the problems they are having with these unknowable prehistoric animals and their attempts to control it all anyway. I want to see maps of how the whole place is laid out – I just love this stuff.

So Jurassic World was destined to at least partially please me by delivering on the promise of a fully functioning park. I can’t get enough of it – the intro could have been twenty minutes longer. I want to go on a complete tour. This is great stuff and I’m a sucker for it. When you see those reference books written in a fictional universe like Star Wars and wonder what kind of geek would find more information about a space monster interesting – me. I’m that guy. I’d love a book about how they finally got Jurassic World off the ground and what’s going on with Isla Sorna.

<soapbox-alert>

Unfortunately, this sort of detail is unlikely to come. Not because they filmmakers cut corners or didn’t bother to think about it – I’m sure they did. But Jurassic World is one more in a growing trend that I find terribly alarming: sequels that try to give fans EXACTLY what they want. The principle goes like this: everyone loved the first X, not so much Y & Z. So lets pretend Y & Z didn’t exist, and just pick up as if this is the true sequel. The most blatant example has to be The Terminator series, but that’s more or less what the Disney Star Wars series is doing, as well as Jurassic Park. I believe the Ghostbusters now filming in Boston is ignoring Ghostbusters 2, though I can’t confirm that yet.

I give my absolute guarantee that this approach will be employed for Indiana Jones. Not that I’m psychic – I know it because I can see how these producers think.

While I won’t personally guarantee them, I think there’s a better than good chance that these amnesiac sequels will be employed for the following franchises (in order of most to least likely):

Indiana Jones (100% – a mortal lock to ignore at least Crystal Skull)
Pirates of the Caribbean (85%; already did with the 4th picture; other films are a certainty)
Alien (80-85% chance they will find a way to get the space Marines back for another beautiful day in the Corps…)
Star Trek (80% or better; series approaching Kobayashi Maru without J.J. Abrams; may be a reboot, though)
Predator (75% chance of getting to da choppa without acknowledging the Gary Busey-led Predator 2)
Blade Runner (50-75%; it’s definitely happening, but they may keep a lot of the first film, hence the split score)
The Matrix (even money; depends on the desire of the Wachowskis)
Jaws (40%; nothing on the horizon, but I’m sure someone will do it)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (25%; very unlikely for Whedon to backtrack, but you never know)
The Godfather (10%; almost no chance, but PLEASE! Don’t leave me with Don Connie…)

Not really counting comic book movies, which revinvent themselves every time out anyway, but Superman Returns may have been the best example of the approach – Singer truly pretended he was making Superman II. The X-Men films have done it a few times already, too…

And I’m not talking about reboots – that’s something totally else. Amnesiac sequels don’t want to reboot – they just want to pick and choose like a salad bar. (By the way – the only good examples of amnesiac sequels? Highlander and maybe one or two of the Michael Myers movies after Halloween III. Even though the movies after Highlander 2 were still crappy, no good can come of acknowledging Highlander 2…)

</soapbox-alert>

Jurassic World totally ignores the past two films, unless I missed something. And one of the characteristics of these sequels is that while they totally eschew the movies they don’t care for, they completely venerate whatever film they are trying to pick up from. It’s not even veneration, really, more like a slavish adherence to tone and cynical attempt to recreate the feel of the original. So Jurassic World succeeds at giving off the feel of Jurassic Park, and that’s the main takeaway.

I could go through every spot that is done right and every little thing that is done wrong, but what’s the point? This review has already gone on far too long. I’ll give you the highlights:

Seeing the park in full operational mode is worth the price of admission by itself.
Chris Pratt is so easy to root for that he’s fun to watch, even while he is participating in the world’s stupidest and most ludicrous subplot involving training dinosaurs.
As soon as Vincent D’Onofrio showed up on screen the whole film got dumber. I think even the people in the theater dropped a few IQ points.
Training dinosaurs as soldiers is Highlander 2 dumb. I simply cannot believe that this film spent over ten years in development hell and STILL couldn’t come up with a better storyline. Maybe they should have kept it simmering for another decade…
The gyrosphere scene is totally implausible but it’s so great looking I hardly cared.

I find it completely unbelievable that InGen is still in business after a T-Rex ate people in San Diego. They already had to introduce a new CEO in Simon Masrani (the excellent Irrfan Khan), so why not simply have a new company that bought InGen’s assets?
I think it’s time to stop expecting great things from Bryce Dallas Howard. She’s excessively OK. If there was going to be anything more interesting happening here we would have seen it by now.

I do like Jake Johnson in this – sort of. He gets far too much screen time for someone who really has no purpose to the story. He’s sort of the Ian Malcolm voice of skepticism, but that doesn’t really work when you are a willing employee.
B.D. Wong is back as the only survivor of the first film that you wish had been eaten. I really like Wong, though and was honestly glad to see him back. Except they didn’t do anything to explain why, after all that had happened in the past 22 years, he still has a job.
How many people were killed in this movie? The first film saw the deaths of four people. More isn’t more, guys…

Which brings me to my final point: you’re supposed to believe that this story is an indictment of our “more is more” culture, always wanting more, bigger, more dangerous stuff. But nowhere is this mindset more evident than IN THIS FILM’S VERY EXISTENCE. You can’t have it both ways…

For anyone still reading at this point (thanks for sticking around), I’m sure you’ve seen the film by now. Most people have, going by box office receipts. I’m not hoping to change any minds here. I’m just trying to process how I felt about a movie that so completely epitomizes my mixed feelings about moviegoing in 2015. To sum up; “eh, pretty good”…

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

Pass

The Representation Test Score: C (4 pts)

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

[schema type=”movie” url=”http://www.jurassicworldmovie.com/” name=”Jurassic World” description=”Twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park, Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond. After 10 years of operation and visitor rates declining, in order to fulfill a corporate mandate, a new attraction is created to re-spark visitors’ interest, which backfires horribly.” director=”Colin Trevorrow” actor_1=”Chris Pratt” ]

Main Cast	Chris Pratt Owen Bryce Dallas Howard Claire Ty Simpkins Gray Judy Greer Karen
Rating	PG-13
Release Date	Fri 12 Jun 2015 UTC
Director	Colin Trevorrow
Genres	Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Plot	Twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park, Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond. After 10 years of operation and visitor rates declining, in order to fulfill a corporate mandate, a new attraction is created to re-spark visitors’ interest, which backfires horribly.
Poster
Runtime	124
Tagline	The park is open.
Writers	Rick Jaffa (screenplay) &, Amanda Silver (screenplay) …
Year	2015

July 8, 2015

Dark Disciple: Star Wars (2015)

Dark Disciple: Star Wars by Christie Golden

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Note: this review was written based on a Digital Review Copy (DRC) uncorrected galley proof provided by NetGalley (https://s2.netgalley.com/catalog/book/65783)

When Disney abruptly and unwisely canceled The Clone Wars animated TV series following their purchase of Lucasfilm, it was inevitable that there would be a number of unfinished stories in various stages of development. Animation has one of the longest lead cycles of any creative endeavor, and things that are seeing release today are the product of years of development.

The Clone Wars was wildly popular, with a dedicated creative team with no expectation that the series was coming to an end, so the unceremonious pulling of the plug meant not only that many things didn’t get wrapped up, but that some storylines that had already been completed had not seen the light of day and now had no venue to see release.

A few of the nearly completed episodes were haphazardly sewn together into an inaccurately named set called The Lost Missions, that wasn’t really lost nor a series of missions, and this was kinda, sorta, Season Six. It was a Netflix exclusive until it was put on disc a little while later, and while the circumstances surrounding the whole affair give the impression of a slapdash scraping of the bottom of the barrel, the episodes are nothing of the sort. The Lost Missions are a bittersweet ending for the series, since they aren’t an ending at all, but display all the quality of the rest of the series and make you even more dismayed that it was shuttered.

A few other episodes have been portioned out as animatics and such, but we’ve likely seen the last of the animated series itself. Fortunately, there is still the less expensive to produce medium of novels in which these stories may still escape.

At least there was until the equally ill-advised decision to scrap the entirety of the long-running Expanded Universe (EU), designating nearly forty years of novels, comics and other stories as “Legends”, and keeping only the past couple of things in play.

Ok, I told myself I wasn’t going to do this here but I need to spend a minute on this EU Legends thing. The choice to throw out all of the material that was created before you arrived is so unbelievably disrespectful to the authors and fans of said work that it could only come from a massive multi-national company like Disney. Or could it? After all, George Lucas himself was completely indifferent to the things he didn’t personally create. Sure, he’d dip into it once in a while, when he saw something interesting he wanted to grab and use for his own purposes, but that is your right with licensed properties.

Years ago I wrote an unpublished piece to TheForceCast (the podcast of theforce.net) railing against Lucasfilm’s cavalier attitude concerning the works they had licensed. (Sidebar: the near continuous dumping on the EU is why I finally stopped listening to the show.) If you’re really interested, here’s the bit: https://www.nowverybad.com/odds-and-ends/

I found it insulting that they considered these stories good enough for me to spend my money on, but not good enough for them to actually take seriously or feel any obligation to acknowledge when coming up with new stories for The Clone Wars show. (Which spawned, wait for it, more licensed stories; none of which count anymore, either. Explain that one…) So this one can’t really be laid at Disney’s door. Lucas, after all, is the one who came up with new storylines for Episodes 7-9 as part of selling his company. (Want a bit of amusing irony? The creative team behind the new films isn’t following his stories…)

I understand the dilemma the new creative team behind the next set of films faces. I really do. You want to forge a new future for the franchise, but oops, you already have the next several decades of the Star Wars timeline filled in by authorized tales. I’m not unsympathetic, but it was your decision to make 7, 8 and 9; not mine. It’s not as though they couldn’t have used the broad strokes of the Expanded Universe and created adaptations of fan-loved stories. In fact, it would have been heaps easier. Marvel Studios will NEVER run out of their own stories to adapt and they’re doing pretty well over there. They have yet to actually write a truly original screenplay for any of their pictures so far; they are all adaptations. By my estimation, Marvel may not even need to write an original comic story ever again and they will still have enough material to make movies for, oh, say, 50 years.

Sorry for the long interlude on the EU thing. I really didn’t intend to go into it here, but it’s really difficult to discuss the new wave of Star Wars stories without dealing with this. In fact, what are they planning on calling these “new EU” stories? If the non-movie stuff before was called the Expanded Universe and now is classified “Legends”, what should we call non-movie “canon” stuff that’s being produced now? NU-EU?

“Get on with it!”

So, back to the book itself…

Dark Disciple is based on a story by Katie Lucas, Head Writer Matt Michnovetz, and Series Supervising Director Dave Filoni that would have been an extended arc of eight episodes on Season Seven of The Clone Wars. Lucas has memorably written previously for the show and particularly for the character of Asajj Ventress, notably with the Savage Oppress arc of Season Four.

In Dark Disciple, the Jedi Council, appalled at the most recent atrocity of Count Dooku, this time the near complete genocide of a race of aliens, takes the uncharacteristic and unprecedented step of sanctioning the assassination of the Separatist leader. The instrument they choose to perform this most un-Jedi act is Master Quinlan Vos, who has previously flirted with the Dark Side and worked undercover for Dooku (or has he? I don’t think those stories count anymore…)

Since Vos stands little chance of getting close to the public face of the Confederacy of Independent Systems (the Separatists), Master Obi-Wan Kenobi suggests enlisting the assistance of former Dooku apprentice Asajj Ventress. Of course, Ventress is hardly a friend of the Jedi, even if she did briefly ally with Kenobi against the sort-of Sith brothers Darth Maul and Savage Oppress – enemy of my enemy and all that – so Vos will have to be clever in tricking Ventress to help him, posing as a fellow bounty hunter. Oh yeah, Ventress is a bounty hunter now, finding it the best option for survival after her revenge attempt against Dooku for trying to kill her failed and he massacred her family, the Nightsisters.

You know, as I try to summarize the plot of Dark Disciple, I’m kind of making the point of the EU-bashers for them – that the Expanded Universe got too convoluted and detailed to follow and created a huge barrier to entry. Which would all be fair, except that everything I just summed up happened on the TV show. That’s a TV show for kids that ran for only five seasons, with Ventress’s story making up only a fraction of those episodes. Sure, I intentionally wrote some of the previous history above with an eye to satire – making the whole thing sound sort of like a comic book / soap opera. Because make no mistake, any long-running franchise has to face and cop to the completely valid criticisms of being over-complicated and not noob-friendly.

The fact is, I’m not sure you can completely avoid excluding new fans from any series any more than you can keep basketball discriminating against short people (stolen from 1980’s Doonesbury strip by Garry Trudeau). Let’s face it, these Expanded stories, whatever they want to call them, are aimed at existing fans – it’s like selling coffee mugs at a café – you are cultivating your audience from an existing group that has already shown an interest in your product. Sure, you want to increase your base, which is why that’s not the only place you sell your mugs, but you have to know where your main customer lives, so to speak.

Asajj Ventress is one of the most interesting characters to come from the Expanded Universe and The Clone Wars (she was an EU character first, of course – created for stories that now don’t count…). A former Jedi Padawan who came to hate the Jedi for what she perceived to be their failing of her master; a former slave who transformed herself into a skilled warrior and dark-side adept, pledging her allegiance to a fallen Jedi turned Sith Lord who responded with no such allegiance; an orphan whose surrogate families have been repeatedly destroyed.

Quinlan Vos, too, is a product of the EU and one of its most popular characters. A Jedi who has walked the narrow path between the dark and the light; particularly adept at undercover work but divided by his split roles; a Kiffar with an ability to gain information about objects by a mere touch who always been forced to remain untouched by attachment.

The narrative works very well, pairing these two multi-faceted characters on a mission of dubious morality. One of the things the TV show struggled most with was the tonality and seriousness of the stories. Star Wars is theoretically supposed to be family-friendly entertainment, but, well, it does have the word “war” in the title. Sometimes these things get dark. Throughout all of the material, canon and otherwise, creators (even the notorious GL) have searched for the right amount of gravity and import, the whole dark/light balance. The Dark Horse Comics telling of the Clone Wars tended to deal more plainly with the adult-oriented war stories, but the TV show itself occasionally featured murder, terrorism, torture, suicide bombing and slavery. These episodes would sometimes follow a light-hearted escapade with Jar-Jar or the droids.

Here in Dark Disciple, author Christie Golden is able to indulge in a story that fully explores the nature of the Dark Side, treachery, secrecy and the lengths to which you will go to achieve your goals.

The story may be a touch on the long side, but not by much and not because it wasn’t interesting. Golden writes Star Wars very well and brings the tale to life with good beats and a strong story. I really enjoyed the consistent characterization and the integrity of the story along its predecessors. I can’t imagine that this would have been any better as a fully realized TV story. Highly recommended for fans of the Wars…

Bonus:

Check out some cool concept art from the proposed show: http://www.starwars.com/tv-shows/dark-disciple-concept-art-gallery

Concept art of the streets of Pantora by Jackson Sze.

[schema type=”book” url=”http://www.randomhousebooks.com/books/7868/” name=”Dark Disciple: Star Wars” description=”Based on unproduced scripts from the blockbuster TV show Star Wars: The Clone Wars! The only way to bring down the dark side’s most dangerous warrior may be for Jedi and Sith to join forces. In the war for control of the galaxy between the armies of the dark side and the Republic, former Jedi Master turned ruthless Sith Lord Count Dooku has grown ever more brutal in his tactics. Despite the powers of the Jedi and the military prowess of their clone army, the sheer number of fatalities is taking a terrible toll. And when Dooku orders the massacre of a flotilla of helpless refugees, the Jedi Council feels it has no choice but to take drastic action: targeting the man responsible for so many war atrocities, Count Dooku himself. But the ever-elusive Dooku is dangerous prey for even the most skilled hunter. So the Council makes the bold decision to bring both sides of the Force’s power to bear—pairing brash Jedi Knight Quinlan Vos with infamous one-time Sith acolyte Asajj Ventress. Though Jedi distrust for the cunning killer who once served at Dooku’s side still runs deep, Ventress’s hatred for her former master runs deeper. She’s more than willing to lend her copious talents as a bounty hunter—and assassin—to Vos’s quest. Together, Ventress and Vos are the best hope for eliminating Dooku—as long as the emerging feelings between them don’t compromise their mission. But Ventress is determined to have her retribution and at last let go of her dark Sith past. Balancing the complicated emotions she feels for Vos with the fury of her warrior’s spirit, she resolves to claim victory on all fronts—a vow that will be mercilessly tested by her deadly enemy . . . and her own doubt.” author=”Christie Golden” publisher=”Del Rey” pubdate=”2015-07-07″ isbn=”0345511530″ ebook=”yes” hardcover=”yes” ]

July 7, 2015
An Unwelcome Quest – Magic 2.0 #3 (2015)

An Unwelcome Quest by Scott Meyer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love being wrong nearly as much as I enjoy being surprised. With An Unwelcome Quest, I got both. I really expected this thing to run out of gas by now, but to my happy surprise, An Unwelcome Quest was my favorite of the three books in the Magic 2.0 series.

Although I loved Spell or High Water, it was a rather involved story, with several arcs going at once. They all worked very well together, but I still welcomed the more direct and linear plot of An Unwelcome Quest.

Almost of the characters have been established in at least one of the previous books, so the novel just jumps in and gets going.

In a plot slightly foreshadowed in Spell or High Water, former wizard apprentice Todd, exiled for his obvious evil tendencies, obtains access to the program and seeks revenge against the other “wizards”. Instead of a simple murder attempt or direct violence, Todd transports those responsible for his banishment into a computer RPG of his own design, removing his targets powers for good measure.

To be totally honest, that didn’t sound like a real promising story when I read the blurb. It was too simple, too pat. But that’s sort of the brilliant thing about it; with a simple mandate, the characters get to be themselves – maybe more than usual. There’s something wonderfully contrary about each of the wizards – it’s what led them to the program and the Middle Ages in the first place. So forced into a structured situation where their actions are mandated, they hilariously refuse to follow the narrative at all. It’s pretty great, actually; their would-be tormentor is increasingly frustrated by their unwillingness to play along with his involved vengeance scheme.

Far from being let down by a needless attempt to continue a concept past its usefulness, I loved An Unwelcome Quest and now actually hope there are more installments in the series.

Todd smiled. “I just thought I’d give you the opportunity to explain Foucault’s pendulum to your friends.” Tyler said, “Sure. There was this guy. His name was Foucault. He got himself a pendulum. They called it Foucault’s pendulum.” – this is my favorite joke in the whole book; don’t ask me why…

[schema type=”book” url=”http://www.basicinstructions.net” name=”An Unwelcome Quest (Magic 2.0 #3)” description=”Ever since Martin Banks and his fellow computer geeks discovered that reality is just a computer program to be happily hacked, they’ve been jaunting back and forth through time, posing as medieval wizards and having the epic adventures that other nerds can only dream of having. But even in their wildest fantasies, they never expected to end up at the mercy of the former apprentice whom they sent to prison for gross misuse of magic and all-around evil behavior. Who knew that the vengeful Todd would escape, then conjure a computer game packed with wolves, wenches, wastelands, and assorted harrowing hazards—and trap his hapless former friends inside it? Stripped of their magic powers, the would-be wizards must brave terrifying dangers, technical glitches, and one another’s company if they want to see Medieval England—and their favorite sci-fi movies on VHS—ever again. Can our heroes survive this magical mystery torture? Or will it only lead them and their pointy hats into more peril?” author=”Scott Meyer” publisher=”47North” pubdate=”2015-02-10″ isbn=”1477821406″ ebook=”yes” paperback=”yes” ]

June 30, 2015

Welcome to Me (2015)

140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

Gutsy character study by Kristen Wiig, who gives her most nuanced performance yet. Story doesn’t quite fill its run-time, but not a problem.

Spoiler-free Movie Review of Welcome to Me:

Kristen Wiig is clearly someone we’re going to have to watch very closely over the next few years. She’s always been a comic superheroine, but she has been taking on increasingly gutsy roles and just keeps upping her game.

Much as the title suggests, Welcome to Me is essentially a one-woman show, in which Wiig brings to life the complicated character Alice Klieg. Alice suffers from borderline personality disorder, a condition worsened when she stops taking her medication after winning the lottery. Alice has for years been obsessed with Oprah Winfrey, and her new found riches allow her to indulge her desire to host her own Oprah-style TV show.

This unlikely tale isn’t really that far-fetched and the subject of fame-seeking narcissists is far from virgin territory. What makes Welcome to Me unique is the low wattage of fame’s klieg lights. (The character’s name is almost certainly a nerdy screenwriting pun.) In correctly picking all of the lottery numbers, Alice has won a tremendous amount of money, $86 million, yet only courts fame after a chance opportunity to come up on stage during the filming of a low-budget infomercial. Her money can commandeer the entire struggling infomercial production company, whose principals cannot afford to veto any of her outlandish demands.

Welcome to Me distinguishes itself from other tales of lottery winners with its frank portrayal of a member of the noveau riche who isn’t being exploited by anyone. Wiig’s take on Klieg is wholly original, as is the character. Klieg isn’t seduced by the money, or letting it change her; she’s making her wealth work for her and create the opportunity to be exactly what she wants to be. It’s the people around her who have to toe the line of enabling Alice and exploiting her.

The supporting staff is marvelous, led by Rich (James Marsden) & Gabe Ruskin (Wes Bentley) as the brotherly team that own the company that becomes the launching pad for Alice’s two-hour show about herself – “Welcome to Me”. The show staff includes sympathetic director Dawn Hurley, typically well-played by Joan Cusack, and a blink-and-you’ll-miss-her Jennifer Jason Leigh as a disapproving set designer. Tim Robbins also has a great part as Alice’s therapist, Dr. Moffat. Alan Tudyk even drops by for a small but fun part.

The finest supporting part, though, is that of Alice’s best friend Gina, brought to life by the excellent Linda Cardellini. Gina isn’t swayed or jealous by her friend’s new fortune or fame; she’s eternally vigilant of her friend’s safety and best interests in what must be a very difficult friendship. Gina is a uniquely consistent character.

Because the only real trouble with Welcome to Me is that it somewhat puts you in the role of Gina, feeling protective of Alice. The movie is very entertaining and funny, but while Alice is a remarkably self-assured character in many ways, she is a troubled person, struggling with a serious disorder, and it’s not always clear if the picture is laughing with her. There’s an unsettling feeling at times that the outlandish and bizarre situations are coming at the expense of the protagonist and that we are perhaps being encouraged to laugh at the “weird” person.

It is this last uncomfortable feeling that keeps Welcome to Me from becoming something more than the amusing black comedy that it is. The writing from Eliot Laurence is smart, the direction from Shira Piven solid, but I can’t wholeheartedly recommend the film. Welcome to Me is entirely worth a watch, particularly for Kristen Wiig’s performance, but the weak third act and the sensation of unease keep it from being truly great.

Note: Welcome to Me was screened as a festival selection in the fall of 2014, before hitting extremely limited release on May 1, 2015. It is the first theatrical film to be released to library patrons via the Hoopla service at the same time as theaters. This may leave you with the impression that the studio is cutting bait. Sadly, I believe this to be exactly the case…