The End of the Tour (2015)

Here's another example of a movie I enjoyed despite not knowing anything about the it or the people involved. I didn't have anything better to do at 4:30 on a Saturday, so what the hell, right?

The End of the Tour is the adaptation of David Lipsky's book Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself, which details a five day tour he took with David Foster Wallace while promoting his book Infinite Jest. I've only heard of Infinite Jest, but have never read it. The movie doesn't really go into the book though, so you don't really need to know anything about that. It's basically a road movie where Lipsky interviews Wallace and they talk about his feelings on life, women, fame and pop culture. I felt like a fly on the wall where I really wanted to join in on the conversation.

Despite no familiarity with Wallace or his work, ten minutes into the film I was sold. One of Lipsky and Wallace's first conversations hit me in a very close and personal way that actually made me think about how I'm living my life. It was that profound and in my head. It affected me so much that immediately after I got home from seeing the film I went on to Amazon and ordered a copy of Infinite Jest and Lipsky's book. I just liked the cut of their jib. I was then saddened to see that Wallace committed suicide back in 2008. The movie doesn't mention that, but it shouldn't have surprised me based on how much Wallace talked about his depression. Mentioning his suicide in the film would have taken away from what the film was really about.

Jason Segel nails it as David Foster Wallace, and it's easily his best performance as an actor. The physical resemblance is pretty spot on as well (check some side-by-sides of them on a Google image search). I've heard fans of DFW have been extremely critical of Segel's casting, but I hope they keep an open mind and still give the film a shot. I don't know anything about David Lipsky, but I enjoyed Jesse Eisenberg's performance. I like Eisenberg in roles like this. Their interaction feels very authentic and intimate.

The End of the Tour is a smart, funny, thought provoking and different movie. It's worth watching just for the performances, but it really made me think about my own life. This is a smaller release, so most will have to watch this once it hits video, but it's well worth the wait.

4.5 (out of 5) Death Stars

Now You See Me (2013)

I actually saw Now You See Me several days ago, but I had a detour in Las Vegas, where money magically disappeared from my wallet.  While in Vegas I thought about the last movie based on magicians I saw, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, which was set in Vegas, whereas Now You See Me varies the locale throughout the film.

Despite having a few days to reflect on the film, I find I don't have that much more to say about it, or that my opinion has changed all that much.  I did, however, realize that despite that Now You See Me wasn't a comedy, I actually laughed more than I did while watching Burt Wonderstone.

Now You See Me is an example of a movie that I was expecting to be so awful that I'm probably giving this a little more credit than I should simply because it wasn't a disaster.  The setup alone was already something that was making me cringe a little.  Four magicians of various skill sets - played by Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Woody Harrelson - are brought together by an unknown benefactor.  A year after meeting they perform in Vegas rebranded as "The Four Horsemen".  During their performance, they are able to rob a bank in Paris, giving the money back to the audience in attendance.

FBI Agent Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) is brought in to investigate along with Interpol Agent Vargas (Mélanie Laurent).  They aren't able to make anything stick to the Four Horsemen, and charging them with the crime would indicate that the FBI now believes in magic.  Knowing there's an explanation for all of this, Rhodes and Vargas meets with Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), and ex-magician that makes a living by exposing the secrets of other magicians.  Bradley explains to Rhodes how they pulled off the first trick, but that the Four Horsemen have been planning for a long time and will likely always be a step ahead of the FBI.

You'll find that the story spends more time focusing on Mark Ruffalo's and his Keystone Cops antics than the Horsemen.  His character also seemed to be excessively angry at times, although some of that made a little sense by the end of the film.  Overall, the plot gets little muddled as it goes on and inconsistencies pop up.  I felt like resolution of the film wasn't very satisfying and a few things were left unanswered.  Oddly, this didn't bug me that much, and that's probably due to the fact that I had enjoyed the movie so much up until that point, that a few inconsistencies weren't enough to ruin it for me.

The main reason why I enjoyed the film so much is that the dialog is actually very snappy and funny.  I was really expecting a much more serious film, so the humor was a pleasant surprise.  The pace of the film is also very brisk with more action and chases than I expected.  I didn't realize going into Now You See Me that it was directed by Louis Leterrier, who's directed films like the first two Transporter films and Unleashed.  It looks like he went into his bag of tricks to add some action elements and it served the film well.  You know what I just realized?  Louis Leterrier directed Edward Norton's The Incredible Hulk, and directed Mark Ruffalo in this film, who was The Avengers' Hulk.  Does mean we should expect Eric Bana in Leterrier's next film?

Another really strong element of the film was that there's great chemistry between the Four Horseman.  The cast, especially Woody Harrelson, seemed to be having a lot of fun together and you really feel that on screen.  Despite the good chemistry, there's not a lot of character development.  At the end of the film, we really don't know nothing about this group of people. Again, I wasn't terribly upset by this, but fleshing out the foursome would have been nice.

Now You See Me is a surprisingly entertaining film, that has a great pace, funny dialog, and a good cast that plays well off each other.  The story is definitely the weak point, but I think you'll have enough fun with the film that you won't notice or bug you too much.  I think it's worth a matinee.

3 (out of 5) Death Stars

To Rome with Love (2012) - Movie Review

Has it always been a theme in Woody Allen films that regardless of whether or not a character is in a relationship, they'll sleep with pretty much anyone they are currently in the room with?  I've noticed this in some of his recent films and it's been bugging me.  Not everyone sleeps around.  Some people still believe in things like monogamy or being faithful.  Anyway...

Spoilers ahead...

To Rome with Love is the latest Woody Allen joint.  Rather than a central story, you get several short stories told in a very choppy style.  At the beginning, it's natural to assume that all these stories will come together at the end, and you'll get some kind of satisfying payoff, but neither happen.  They are completely independent of one another, so the storytelling is very disjointed.  It doesn't help that some are in English and some are subtitled, so you're constantly having to switch how you're viewing the movie.  Also, the stories are of varying levels of quality, so some you have no interest in.  Just when you get invested in one story, it switches to another you don't care about.

One vignette features Roberto Benigni, a man who wakes up one morning and is suddenly famous.  Nobody knows what for, but he is followed everywhere by the media, reporting on every detail of his life.  This could have been a funny commentary about the nature of celebrity, but it's really not fleshed out.  It's played more for a gag than anything.

Penélope Cruz is featured in another as a prostitute, Anna, that meets up with Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi).  It appears to be a case of mistaken identity, as Anna is really intended for someone else, but Antonio goes along with it anyway.  Their entire plot could have been removed, as you don't really care about his character at all.  The resolution to their story is one of the things that bugged me the most with regards to sleeping around.  Antonio finally sleeps with Anna, and then you recall that he's married.  Meanwhile, his wife, Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi), had a short story involving her sleeping with some celebrity, but interrupted in their hotel room by a robber.  However, she ends up just sleeping with the robber.  What the hell!?  Maybe because of all the jumping around with the stories, or maybe this was when I stepped out to use the bathroom, but I don't remember that they established that Antonio and Milly were married, so this was a surprise to me.  Either way, I though their whole story was very clumsy and hard to believe.  I will say that for the short time she had in the movie, Alessandra Mastronardi just lights up the screen.

One of the longer stories is of Jack (Jesse Eisenberg) being met on the street by John (Alec Baldwin).  In one of the more fantastical elements of the film, you realize that John is not actually there and appears to be the older version of Jack visiting his younger self.  As first, you think John just may be a figment of Jack's imagination, as he appears randomly and has conversations that nobody seems to notice, but then other characters interact with John.  So it's very unclear as to what John is.  It's also unclear if he's trying to prevent Jack from making the same mistake or just revisiting a part of his life.  Another thing that took me out story was that if John was, in fact, interacting with the younger version of himself, why didn't they cast an actor that looked the part or acted in any way like him?  It didn't fit at all.

Also, once again, we have a story about cheating.  Jack's in a stable, happy relationship with Sally (Greta Gerwig), but is tempted by a visiting friend, Monica (Ellen Page).  I thought Ellen Page was totally miscast here.  She's supposed to be this sexually open woman that Jack is just drawn to, and her character is described explicitly as being sexy, but that was the last thing I thought of when watching her performance.  While you can be sexy without being a bombshell, Page still looks like a child, and no point did I find her seductive in any way.

Woody Allen seems to have saved the best story for himself.  Allen plays Jerry, a retired music producer that travels to Rome with his wife (Judy Davis) to meet the family of Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti), the man his daughter (Alison Pill) plans on marrying.  He finds that Michelangelo's father (played by real life opera singer, Fabio Armiliato), has an amazing singing voice, but can only sing when in the shower.  This leads to Jerry pushing Michelangelo's father to pursue singing and looks for creative ways to get him on stage.  This story ended up being the most interesting and the only one that felt complete.

After last year's Midnight in Paris, I think many might have heightened expectations going into To Rome with Love, but this doesn't have the same charm or humor of Paris.  Rome has too many undeveloped stories, characters and ideas.  Many of the jokes felt stale.  Despite that Paris is essentially a fantasy movie, its characters and situations felt more realistic than Rome's.

I know it sounds like I hated To Rome with Love, but I actually didn't.  It's the very definition of a mixed bag.  Some of it works, some of it didn't.  It's a bit of a mess, but a watchable one.  It suffers from a lack of focus and too many undeveloped stories.  Rome is a disappointing follow up to Midnight in Paris, but that's a tough act to follow, even for Woody Allen.  Save it for rental.

2.5 (out of 5) Death Stars