American Ultra
Dir. Nima Nourizadeh
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All of the marketing material for American Ultra seems centered around the magical pull-quote "It's like a mix between Pineapple Express and Jason Bourne!" It's a simple hook that could very well be a great jumping-off point for 21 Jump Street-style action-comedy. What had me most excited going into this though was the writer, Max Landis, who I'm a big fan of (writer of Chronicle and the amazing Youtube short The Death and Return of Superman). Landis is generally a master at taking an established concept and tweaking it in fun and interesting ways, so to see his take on the spy/stoner comedy genre I would guess would be a fun time. Unfortunately, like his fellow Chronicle writer/director Josh Trank (who similarly belly-flopped this year with Fantastic Four), Landis' story kind of falls apart in a laughless, unenjoyable mess.
The story follows a small-town stoner Mike Howell (Jessie Eisenberg), who works as a convenience store clerk and is planning to propose to his girlfriend Phoebe Larson (Kristen Stewart), but suffers under panic attacks making the commitment difficult for him. What Mike doesn't know however is that he's a "deactivated" CIA-trained killing machine; when the "Ultra" program is taken over by Adrian Yates (Topher Grace), he sends the project's previous leader, Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton) to terminate all outstanding agents. Instead, because of her personal connection to the program, she re-activates Mike's lethal skills, which he doesn't have a memory of, and both he and his girlfriend must save themselves from the government out to kill them.
With a fun premise like that, it's easy to see why a movie like this would be greenlit, but for some reason, it's just not much fun. American Ultra is much more of a straight relationship drama than I expected, mostly lacking in "set up-punch line" jokes. Its tone shifts consistently in a disorienting way, which makes it hard to get a grip on what it's trying to make you feel (many times I questioned myself 'Is this part supposed to be funny or serious?'); some movies, like Guardians of the Galaxy are able to juggle these disparate tones (humor, action, drama), but for some reason, nothing really clicks into place here. It really needed a huge jolt in the humor department.
Kristen Stewart possibly has the least charisma of any "leading lady" in Hollywood today. Granted, I've never seen the Twilight films, but even her "meaty" roles such as those in Still Alice and Snow White and the Huntsman she employs that same reliably blank "Kristen Stewart" look. Because the core of this story is the romance, it's particularly important that Eisenberg and Stewart have a believable rapport, but I never, and I doubt I ever will, believe Kristen Stewart on screen. I didn't care if the central couple ever got together by the end, and I certainly didn't believe that they were in love with each other. One can only imagine if the casting department chose an actress with actual talent (like Eisenberg's Zombieland co-star Emma Stone). Overall, the cast wasn't that great in the film, but I chock it more up to an awkward script. The only character I had any fun with was a sort of Joker knock-off villain called "The Laugher" played by Walton Goggins, who surprising stole the movie for me (I didn't even know he was in this before seeing it!).
The tone shifts constantly, the jokes just aren't there, it's super-gory and presents plot twists without any tension whatsoever, and I was honestly bored throughout the movie. There are some clever uses of cinematography and there's a single fun action scene in a grocery store, but American Ultra is forgettable nonsense which seems to exist just to have been sold at a pitch meeting.
Rating: C-
Sinister 2
Dir. Ciaran Foy
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Blumhouse Productions seems to have a chokehold on every horror movie released into theaters, and the reason is pretty simple: they make profitable movies for relatively low budgets. Their "assembly line" horror movies are keeping various horror franchises like Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Purge, and Sinister alive. While I wasn't a big fan of the first Sinister film, I did think the creepiest thing about it was the box of "home movies" that Ethan Hawke found in his attic, showing families being murdered in increasingly unsettling ways with a cheap Super-8 camera. What I hated about it though was its predictable generic story, the annoying kids, and its lame villain, the demon Bughuul, who looks like a rejected member of Slipknot. Sinister II, instead of improving on the formula of "find movies in the attic, unleash demon," only makes things worse by making the story even more generic, adding more annoying kids, and giving Bughuul yet more screen time.
Although it takes place shortly after the events of the first, Sinister II doesn't really add anything to the mythology of the series. A single mother and her two twin boys (Shannyn Sossaman), are on the run from her abusive husband who wants custody; seeking refuge in a rural house, one of her boys experiences disturbing images of families being slaughtered. He, and shortly after his brother, are shortly then lured by Bughuul and various kid-ghosts to murder their family. The broken family plot doesn't really go anywhere and only adds texture to the predictable story. The characters are so plain and simply colored that it's hard to care what ultimately happens to everyone - not to mention that the kid actors are completely stilted.
While I did think the "home movies" were still effectively creepy, I'm just getting so tired of seeing this same exact story play out over and over again. Families moving into a new house and being haunted by some demon thing. I'm sick of it! Blumhouse is one of the few production companies nowadays making small-scale movies for wide distribution, and I wish they'd spend less time on been-there-done-that cookie-cutter supernatural crap, and more on fresh and interesting concepts like The Gift (a fantastic film you should all catch before it leaves theaters!), and even The Purge, which while not being perfect, at least presents cool new ideas. Sinister II isn't even worth writing a review about: no one will remember this movie in a couple weeks. It's simply a waste of time. It's destined to be in one of those cheap multi-movie packs at the bottom of the discount bin.
Rating: D+
Ricki and the Flash
Dir. Jonathan Demme
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Is there anything Meryl Streep can't do? In Ricki and the Flash, the latest from director Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs, Rachel Getting Married) and writer Diablo Cody (Juno, Young Adult) Streep proves that she is a rock star. Who knew? Her character Ricki sings and plays guitar in a band, so of course, Meryl being Meryl, she went out, got lessons, and in four months she was a rock star. No big deal. Her extended musical training may attribute to the longer-than-normal musical numbers throughout the film, which plays like a pretty standard family drama/concert film. It's a little fluffy and "Lifetime-y," but Ricki and the Flash is a somewhat satisfying, if slight, springboard for Streep's talent.
Ricki Rendazzo (Streep) abandoned her family of three to follow her rock 'n' roll dreams in California, but is given a second chance when her ex-husband Pete (Kevin Kline), asks her to visit Indiana to help with their daughter Julie's (Mamie Gummer - Streep's real life daughter) recent suicide attempt. She's filled with regret, and hoping this trip will re-connect her with her children, but things obviously don't go smoothly. Streep nails her character of course, and while it is disappointingly sappy, Diablo Cody's script does feature some nice, darkly "feminist" moments sprinkled throughout, such as an onstage jab at Mick Jagger by Ricki, stating how, as a man, he's not nearly as scrutinized for leaving his family to go on tour.
I also really enjoyed the musical numbers throughout the film. We see entire songs played out here, which is a nice change of pace, and everything is played live, not re-recorded in a studio, the way it should be (I'm looking at you, Pitch Perfect). There's a quiet moment with Streep sitting on a couch jamming a little tune that honestly seemed like a seasoned guitarist was practicing. Rick Springfield, playing Ricki's love interest and band mate, also rocks out on the guitar and shows some acting chops. Ricki and the Flash is definitely predictable, and certain relationships (like that of Julie and Ricki) I would've liked to see developed more, but the music and performances holds it all together. It's ultimately a movie about re-connecting with the power of music, and even though I would've liked to see this story told in a less saccharine way, it was still satisfying.
Rating: B-
Irrational Man
Dir. Woody Allen
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I talked about Blumhouse earlier being an assembly line for horror movies - well Woody Allen is kind of a one-man assembly line. Almost every year since 1969, Allen has written and/or directed a film, and his workman-like production style has given birth to both masterpieces and absolute stinkers, but I'm always interested to see what the guy is up to, still going at it at age 79! Irrational Man marks his 46th (I think) feature, and is unmistakably a "Woody Allen" movie. The film follows a tormented philosophy professor Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix), whose existential crisis is temporarily broken when he enters a hush-hush relationship with one of his students Jill (Emma Stone) and considers murdering a corrupt judge.
Although it's a bit disconcerting that yet again, Allen gives us an older male character that's leering over a much younger girl (which you'd think he'd shy away from after his personal history), I actually really enjoyed this film. A lot of reviewers are on the fence about this one, but I really connected with the darkly comic sensibilities of the characters, who are all so in their own heads they don't realize how self-destructive and unrighteous their views of the world are. I don't want to give anything away, but I found Abe's journey satisfying, and the "Hitchcockian" murder-y plot, ladled with Woody's typically sophisticated language, made for a good time. The cinematography is beautiful, especially on the water and whenever Emma Stone is around (Darius Khondji really knows how to make her pop off the screen - she was stunningly photographed in Magic in the Moonlight, and here she has that "pinkish hue" that fits George Costanza's girlfriend criteria). Overall, maybe not the best of Woody Allen, but hey - at 79 years old and he can still churn out interesting, quirky projects like this? I'd be lucky if I'm not neither dead or bed-bound with a colostomy bag by then.
Rating: B
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