Hello again, boys and girls. So as one of my dear readers has pointed out, it has been a couple of weeks since I have been to the theater. Well, here’s the deal. Two weekends ago, there just wasn’t anything new out that caught my eye, so I went and saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest for the second time (yes, it’s just that good). And last weekend I was out of town visiting with the parental units, so I didn’t manage to make it to the theater. But never let it be said that I don’t take very seriously the comments of my readers! And so, for you, dear readers, I took a day off from work yesterday and headed to the movies (okay, so I mainly did it for me, but it sure sounded good)!!
I was considering doing a triple feature (and actually had the showtimes all planned out – it’s amazing how many matinees you can cram into one afternoon if you schedule properly), but after the second movie decided I had enough things I wanted to do around the house that I’d call it good at two. So what did I go and see, you may wonder? Well, certainly not my usual movie fare, that’s for sure. I saw The Devil Wears Prada and My Super Ex-Girlfriend. My quick ratings of the two? I’d have to say 4 stars for the former, and sadly only 2 stars for the latter. So how about we start with the lesser of the two movies.
My Super Ex-Girlfriend is an interesting concept, but I just don’t know that the superhero genre and the romantic comedy genre were ever meant to come together in one movie, so it’s probably safe to say that this movie was more or less doomed from the outset. It has all the standards of a romantic comedy – the romantically klutzy guy, the best friend who offers nothing but bad advice, the female friend/co-worker who the main character is falling for even though she’s seeing someone else (and of course you can see her interest in him despite her supermodel boyfriend from early on in the movie). Then throw in a couple of crimes stopped by the super heroine, a genius evil villain, and the obligatory “how she got her powers” scene, and you’ve got all of the basic elements of a super hero movie. But sadly, they just don’t go well together.
Maybe it was just not the best script, I don’t know. The movie does bring up an interesting problem for our hero, though; how do you break up with a psycho girlfriend who has super powers? When said girlfriend is capable of throwing a live shark into your apartment, the answer to that question is very, very carefully. But sadly despite the interesting idea, the story just never really comes together. Uma Thurman, while a phenomenal actress, is way over the top here (although at a guess I’d say that’s mostly the blame of the script, and not the actress). Her character is just way, way too crazy jealous and possessive. And none of the rest of the characters are really developed enough to make them interesting. And sadly you can very quickly see exactly where this movie is going. All in all it has its cute moments, and is mildly entertaining at times, but at the end of the day it was something of a disappointment (and I didn’t really have high hopes going into it). So if you’re a big fan of Uma’s it’s probably worth checking out (although she is certainly not at her best in this movie); otherwise I’d say don’t waste your time or your money.
Now our next film, The Devil Wears Prada, is one that’s been out for a while now that I kept telling myself might be interesting to see (the trailer looked really interesting, and I especially loved the fact that it didn’t show much beyond the first 15 minutes of the movie, so that the rest of the film is left as a mystery to the viewers – I wish more trailers were that well put together). But there was always something else that would catch my eye, and since it is blatantly a chick film, I kept putting off seeing it. But when I decided to make yesterday a movie day, I said, “What the hell, let’s go see it.” And I’m really glad that I did. This was a really well done movie. The story is both interesting and believable, and while there is a romantic element to the story, it doesn’t overpower the more dramatic aspects of the story, which is that of a young woman getting caught up in a job and discovering her life suddenly going in a very different direction from where she’d planned it to go. Along the way she does a little growing up, and learns about herself and what she really values in life.
While the story is good, what really sells this movie is the acting. Everyone involved does a fantastic job. Meryl Streep is so much fun to watch as the psycho, pain-in-the-ass, super-demanding boss. She jumps into the role with both feet, just chewing up the scenery in every scene. You just have to have the deepest sympathy for anyone stuck working for her. Also brilliant is Stanley Tucci, who pretty much steals every scene he’s in. But that didn’t surprise me – he’s one of those character actors who always gives a great performance. Emily Blunt is also really good as Meryl Streep’s main assistant. And then there’s the star – Anne Hathaway. What can I say about Anne? She’s beautiful and talented and just does a wonderful job. She’s graduated from her Disney young-girl oriented movies to more mature roles, and done it well. I really enjoyed her performance here, and look forward to seeing her in future films.
And on the subject of Anne Hathaway, if you want to see how much range she has an actress, check out the indie film Havoc (which I just watched). If she wanted to make a break from her good-girl Disney image, she did it in spades in this movie. Her character in this film is about as anti-Princess Diaries as she could get, short of playing a mass murdering psycho killer. She uses the F-word repeatedly, does drugs, and in the first 10 minutes of the movie shows her breasts (the first time) and goes down on her boyfriend. So needless to say, family-friendly this movie is NOT.
Anne’s character is one of a group of wealthy, spoiled LA teens who rebel against their parents by embracing “gangsta” culture, acting like wannabe black gang bangers, listening to rap music and talking like they’re from the ghetto. So naturally the movie features a fair amount of profanity, unsafe sex, and drug use. A group of them go down to the barrio to go slumming, and end up having an altercation with a drug dealer. But Anne finds herself drawn to the drug dealer and his lifestyle, feeling that it’s more “real” than her own life. And so she returns with several of her girlfriends, where they meet the drug deal again and end up partying with him and his friends. Anne and her best friend continue to come back, getting drawn more and more into the world of the barrio, until they find themselves in way over their heads (I won't go into the details; if you want to know everything that happens you'll have to watch it for yourself).
All in all it wasn’t a bad movie, but it’s not one I’d be likely to watch again (other than for the nudity). It’s obviously meant to be a comment on modern youth culture, but considering I haven’t been a teenager in way too many years (and even when I was a teenager, the culture when & where I grew up was very different from the teen hip-hop culture of today), I couldn’t exactly identify with the characters (mostly I just shook my head at how stupid and pathetic they were). So even though the story didn’t really click with me, I do think it had a pretty well-written story. And Anne Hathaway gives an incredible performance. There are times you almost forget that it’s her, her character is so different from what you’re used to seeing her portray. It really showcases her range as an actress, and shows just how much talent she has. So if you’re a fan of hers (or are just curious to see her in a very different role from what you’ve seen her in before), the movie is certainly worth checking out (of course this doesn’t apply to the majority of her fans, since this is in no way a movie that tween girls should be watching).
Well, that’s about it for this entry. And don’t worry, it won't be another 18 days before I roll out my next one, since Miami Vice starts tomorrow (and there’s no way I’m not watching that one opening weekend). Until then!!