This Is the End (2013)

If this really is the end, I can't think of many better ways than being trapped with a group of your best friends, or a bunch of funnymen.

This'll be a quick one as there's not much to say about the film.  Not that This Is the End is a bad movie, but it's because there really isn't that much to the plot.  Even that's not really a bad thing as sometimes that's not the point.  It's clear that writers, and first time directors, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg just wanted to make a fun film with their friends that exists strictly to make us laugh.  That's This Is the End in a nutshell.

There's so little to the story, that they didn't even bother with creating characters.  All of the actors are playing exaggerated versions of themselves.  In some cases extremely exaggerated versions of themselves - I'm looking at you Michael Cera - to hilarious effect.  I enjoyed the fact that I could take the night off as far as paying attention to character names.

Jay Baruchel arrives in L.A. to visit Seth Rogen.  They've been friends for a long time, but Jay's not a big fan of L.A., so he doesn't visit much.  Seth wants Jay to bond with his group of friends more, so they head to a party at James Franco's new house.  Much like you'd expect in Hollywood, the party is full of celebrities, and while it's funny to watch, you'll spend as much time seeing how many cameos and people you recognize.  Jay and Seth step out for cigarettes, and all hell breaks loose, literally.

They get back to Franco's house, where they haven't noticed what's going on around them yet, but it quickly catches up.  The remaining group - Seth, Jay, James, Jonah Hill and Craig Robinson - board up in Franco's house while they wait for rescue.  Jay believes this is the apocalypse, while the rest think he's overreacting and it's just a bad earthquake.

That's all there is to it.  This Is the End is all about the frenetic pace and rapid-fire jokes.  This is one of those films where the laughs happen so frequently that many times the laughter of the crowd drowns out the next thing said.  Multiple views are likely going to be required.  However, I'm betting this is a release that will have a nice unrated cut.  If not, the deleted/gag reel on the Blu-Ray is going to be insane.

Anothing thing I loved about the film is that most of the best moments of the film are not spoiled by the trailer or commercials.  Rogen stated this in an interview recently, which I was skeptical of, but he was not bullshitting us.  Hallelujah!  It's so refreshing to see a movie that doesn't ruin every gag before you've even seen it.  Part of the reason is that many of the funniest moments are not suitable for trailers or commercials, but at the same time I didn't find the movie that crude.

A majority of This Is the End felt like improv, and you're watching a bunch of friends ripping on each other.  Considering the company that's a good thing.  These guys have done plenty of shitty movies that give them lots of ammo to make fun of.  They probably filmed hours of material and then realized they need to advance the plot, or something, so they started editing the film down to keep the runtime bearable.  About an hour into the film my friend finally leans over to me and goes, "I think that's the first plot related thing they've done."  Despite that there's not much of a story, it never really bugged me.  I was too busy laughing.  I've said recently that this is a weak year for comedy, but this is the funniest film I've seen this year.  I feel like I'm giving a lot of back-handed compliments here.

Rogen and Goldberg have hit home runs before as far as writing, so it's natural they step into directing the same genre.  I'm happy to say they seem to have the same sensibility directing as they've had when writing films like Superbad or Pineapple Express.  They know who their audience is and taylor the movie to that crowd.

I know I'm not giving you much to go on, but This Is the End is the easily the funniest film of the year.  I said last week that The Internship was going to be the most successful comedy of the summer, but this deserves that title.  If you're a fan of films like Superbad and Pineapple Express, then this is going to hit with you.  Full price all the way, and definitely a film that lends itself to an 'altered state' with some friends.

4 (out of 5) Death Stars

The Five-Year Engagement (2012) - Movie Review

Jason Segel and Emily Blunt star as Tom and Violet, a couple living in San Francisco that have been dating for a year.  In what shouldn't be a spoiler to anyone, since it's the title of the frigging movie, they get engaged.  Due to career changes and other issues that come up, they have to keep delaying their wedding.  This gets stretched out over several years, once again illustrated by the title.  Can you have spoilers when the title is, in itself, a spoiler?

Right out of the gate, The Five-Year Engagement is very funny and San Francisco natives will probably get a kick out of seeing many familiar sites.  At one point, even I laughed when they went to a neighborhood a friend of mine used to live in and I was like, "Hey, I've been there a bunch before!"  The familiarity helped me get into the movie and identify with it.

Anyway, shortly after their engagement, Violet gets accepted to a two-year graduate program at the University of Michigan. As a compromise, they decide to postpone the wedding and Tom quits his chef job.  Unfortunately, this happens just as he's about to be named head chef of a new restaurant, so as they are leaving there's already an element of 'what could have been' for Tom. Things are going well for Violet after the move, but Tom has difficulty getting work and has too much time on his hands.  Having a lot of time to think probably isn't the best thing in this situation.

As the movie progresses, Violet's stay in Michigan is extended further due to her success and things continue to get worse for Tom.  It becomes less about their engagement and more about how they keep dealing with the strains of their careers, being away from their family and friends and Tom's resentment and depression about the whole situation.  Eventually, it gets to the point where they doubt their whole relationship. 

While that may make it sound like the movie is depressing, it managed to be consistently funny.  It's one of those movies where people were laughing enough that sometimes you couldn't always hear the next thing said.  Like many Judd Apatow-produced comedies, it's a little on the raunchier side for a rom-com.  However, it still manages to feel realistic and have a little more substance that you would normally expect.  I'm reminded of Funny People, another movie that was very funny but ended up dealing with some serious issues.  While The Five-Year Engagement is not a totally conventional rom-com, the way the story develops doesn't leave you with many places to go, so you know how it's going to play out.  The ending had an almost magical, fairy tale feel to it, but at the same time didn't seem cheesy.  

A comedy is usually only as good as it's supporting cast and this doesn't disappoint.  Many of the supporting roles really stand out.  Alison Brie is great as Violet's sister and fans of Community may be surprised to see her speaking with a British accent.  She ends up in a relationship with one of Tom's chef friends, played by fellow NBC Thursday night alum, Chris Pratt.  Those two steal every scene they are in.  Tom's co-worker, played by comedian Brian Posehn, has some great lines, and Chris Parnell was funny as a 'faculty husband'.  The research team Violet works with, featuring Rhys Ifans, Kevin Hart, Mindy Kaling and Randall Park are consistently funny.  I think I enjoyed the supporting characters more than the leads.

That doesn't mean I have an issue Blunt or Segel though.  Emily Blunt keeps up her streak of having great chemistry with whoever she seems to be cast against.  I think she might be the reigning queen of romantic comedies.  Jason Segel gives another good performance as well and it's hard not to sympathize with what his character is going though.  Together, they make for a cute couple and you want to see them work things out.

Director/co-writer Nicholas Stoller teamed up with Jason Segel again and did a pretty good job balancing out the cast and all the elements of the story.  They previously collaborated on Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek and The Muppets, so you can find a lot of similarities to all of their previous films in The Five-Year Engagement.

It's not a perfect film though. The main problem with the movie is that it's a little long and starts to drag on a bit.  Granted, with it being 'The Five-Year Engagement' and not 'The One-Year Engagement', they have to cover a lot of time, but it gets to a point where you start to wonder exactly how much of their life we going to witness and if it was actually going to end.  This seems to be a recurring thing with other films in the Apatow family in that they run just a tad too long.  It's a minor complaint though.

There's a part (and I will try not to spoil it) that seemed to be edited very poorly, where a character is getting progressively drunker despite that you haven't seen him drink anything for a while.  While this is happening, their state of undress is also extremely inconsistent.  The scene was done for laughs, so it's easy to forgive and some may not even notice it, but it really stuck out to me as odd.  Oh and speaking of undress, I can probably use a little less nudity from Jason Segel moving forward.

As I commented in my Think Like a Man review, this is the second comedy I've seen in two weeks where one of the characters is a chef and eventually opens his own food truck.  Why is this becoming so common in films now?  I can imagine the start-up costs for a food truck are much lower than opening a restaurant, but they are always super successful and have great food, when normally I don't associate food trucks with either.  It just seems like it's getting to be an overused profession and plot device when they aren't sure what they should do with a character.

Sure, I'm nit-picking a little, but that's my thing.

At it's heart, The Five-Year Engagement is still a consistently funny and sweet romantic comedy about how love and relationships are never perfect, but when you find the right one, you'll find a way to make it work.  While it ultimately doesn't stray too far from typical rom-com conventions and runs a little long, the strong supporting cast helps makes it very enjoyable to watch.  It's a really good date movie to check out this weekend.

4 (out of 5) Death Stars

Think Like a Man (2012) - Movie Review

See ladies, if you want to get a man, you have to start thinking more like one.  I've been saying this...like...forever!  Duh!  Think Like a Man is a romantic comedy inspired by the book "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy and Commitment" by Steve Harvey.  Hey Steve, you think you could have maybe shortened that title just a bit?  That's a mouthful!

The movie begins by introducing us to a group of six friends and their 'roles'.  You have Zeke, 'The Player' (Romany Malco); Dominic, 'The Dreamer' (Michael Ealy); Cedric, 'Soon to be Divorced Guy' (Kevin Hart); 'Happily Married Guy' (Gary Owen); 'The Mama's Boy' (Terrence J); and finally Turtle from Entourage as 'The Unable to Commit Guy' (Jerry Ferrara).

You're also introduced to a few women that are likewise broken down to their 'roles', like Mya, 'The 90-Day Rule Girl' (Meagan Good); Lauren, 'The Woman Who is Her Own Man' (Taraji P. Henson); Candace, 'The Single Mother' (Regina Hall); and Kristen, 'The Woman that Wants the Ring' (Gabrielle Union). I'm paraphrasing the roles a bit as I didn't take notes during the movie, but anyway...

The women, looking for a way out of their dating ruts, turn to Steve Harvey's book for advice.  Think Like a Man feels like an updated and more realistic version of He's Just Not That Into You, a book I actually did read.  Rather than just repeating the mantra 'he's just not that into you', Think Like a Man is more about understanding how men think and turning the tables on that to get what you want.  I don't mean that necessarily in a manipulative way or actually becoming more like a man, but just trying to understand why men behave the way the do when dating.

Interspersed through the film you have Harvey chiming in, either in interview form or just speaking to the audience reciting themes or rules from his book.  He talks about things like setting your standards, not giving 'it' up too soon, being respected, keeping your power, etc.  There's actually some good advice in there, that is, if you haven't heard it already.  Some of the stuff he says seems to be common sense.  I haven't read either of his dating books, so I'm not going to go into whether or not they are any good.  However, at times, the movie felt like an extended commercial for his book.  You see many scenes of women frantically rushing to book stores, buying up all the copies, carrying it around everywhere, reading it constantly, etc.  It felt a bit contrived.

Initially, the advice seems to be working for the ladies.  However, things change when the men finally become aware of the book and try to take the power back.  This leads to a lot bad lying and things backfiring on everyone.  It also leads to some of the funnier and more uncomfortable moments in the film.  You know when you catch someone in a lie and they go, 'Huh?  What?  I don't think I said that."  Stuff like that.  Part of the message that comes out of all this is that while you should have certain expectations, nobody is perfect and you can't try to change people too much.

You still have your typical rom-com conventions here and that's my main disappointment about the film.  The way this started, I thought it may end up being more of a shrewd or keen look at modern dating, but ended up being more of a standard romantic comedy, particularly with how it wraps up.  It doesn't really take as many chances as I was hoping.  Think Like a Man is only  PG-13, so it's not raunchy, has any nudity and I really don't recall much in the way of bad language.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as I think it helps make the movie accessible to more people.  Like if I had a kid, I wouldn't feel like they couldn't watch this.  On the other hand, I think being safe or going for the lower rating might have taken away some of the bite this could have had.

What saves it is that Think... is actually pretty funny. It started out a little rough due to some really tired jokes used and I was worried that this was going to be stale, but once Think... got it's legs, it really seemed to take off.  Also, the cast is extremely attractive and you like everyone in it. The guys in particular were really easy to identify with and it's easy to see you hanging out with them, grabbing a beer or playing ball. That's not to say that the women aren't good as well.  They all come off as normal people just looking to meet the right one.  Nobody ever seems too crazy or unrealistic.

While I thought guys like Michael Ealy, Romany Malco and Meagan Good (god damn!) stood out, the real star of the film was Kevin Hart.  He's a comedic dynamo!  In most of the movies I've seen him in, he's been relegated to smaller, supporting roles, but here he really gets a chance to shine and show how funny he is.  He steals every scene he's in and elevated the film to beyond just an average rom-com.

As you might expect, I have a few minor complaints.  It does run a little long, just over two hours, and started to feel bogged down with all the characters and their stories.  I think even director Tim Story knew this, as it seemed like every time the pacing was slowing down a bit, Kevin Hart would appear and bring up the energy.  I haven't been a big fan of Tim Story due to his work on the Fantastic Four movies (not all his fault though), but I think he did a much better job here of working with a large ensemble cast.

As I said, the length was a minor complaint, because with this large of a cast, you run the risk of neglecting a character, which wouldn't be fair to everyone in the film.  They even had to have Kevin Hart's character narrate throughout the movie to keep things moving along and not make the run time even longer.  As much as I liked the cast, it might have helped to maybe remove one of the couples, 'The Mama's Boy', perhaps, and this would have tightened up the movie significantly.  The screenplay was written by Keith Merryman and David A. Newman, who wrote last summer's Friends With Benefits. While I think they could have trimmed the screenplay down a bit, I think it's another good effort on their part. 

These next points might be a little spoilerific, so skip until the end if you plan on seeing this right away:

Another thing that kind of put me off is that you never meet 'Happily Married Guy's' wife.  He's the one guy throughout the film that's in a stable relationship and says sweet things about her and his marriage, but even at the very end when all of the couples are together, his wife is nowhere to be seen.  That just seemed odd to me and a missed opportunity to have a funny payoff when introducing his wife to the audience.  It seemed like even the rest of the gang didn't even really know who his wife was.

One thing that got a collective groan from the audience was that Chris Brown makes an appearance at the beginning, but it's not much more than a cameo.  This leads me to believe that he may have been in this more, but they cut his role due his current 'popularity'.  I'm just speculating here, so don't quote me on this.  That's just the feeling I got. 

Like with other movies, some of the characters live in immaculate places, in LA no less, that look like they most cost a fortune to live in.  Yet some of them never really go into detail about what they do for a living, so you're watching and going, how do these people pay for this stuff?  We don't know what they do for a living, you never see them working no matter what time of the day it is, but live in huge lofts in expensive areas.  When you hear people sitting around you making comments about this, it's clear that it's something that's getting noticed and not buying into anymore.

Here's another a weird thing, and this it a total spoiler, so be be warned.  I saw this the day after seeing The Five-Year Reunion (review coming next week) and that also has Kevin Hart in a supporting role.  Both movies involve a character that's a chef and they eventually open their own food truck.  Happy Endings on ABC (which is a very funny show) also has a character that fits this type.  This seems like a character type that's in real danger of being overused.  Seriously, how many people do you know that are chefs for one, but that also went into business for themselves with their own food truck?  I guess Hollywood thinks everyone does and that we all must identify with it.

This is all nitpicking though.  It didn't ruin my enjoyment of the film.

Think Like a Man isn't an amazing film, but it is consistently funny, has a likable, attrative cast and something I think most people will enjoy.  While I don't think it will 'change the game', I do think it might guide some people to look at the way they approach relationships a little bit.  If anything, I'm sure it will sell a few more copies of Steve Harvey's book, so I'm sure he's thrilled!  I'd say it's worth a matinee.

3.5 (out of 5) Death Stars