JMcNaughton, Author at tmc.io 🍿 watch movies with friends 40

Red Sparrow Movie Review

March 2, 2018 (updated February 28, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“Red Sparrow” is Russian spy craft for what could be called a ‘honey pot’. It is an enticing and intriguing person willing to bend to your every whim, only to double-cross and lead you into destruction. When a former ballerina becomes a Sparrow – then secrets, and blood, will likely be spilled. Hope you can get that carpet cleaned…

Dominika (Jennifer Lawrence) is the ballet prima donna at the Russian ballet, until an unfortunate accident. With a bum leg, Dominika will no longer star in the ballet, and she will be tossed out of her place. Her mother will get no medical care, unless her uncle, Ivan (Matthias Schoenaerts), can help her. But she has little choice but to take Ivan’s offer: Sparrow Training Center.

Ivan runs the Russian Security Services (the new and improved KGB). Dominika goes to the training center to become adept at seduction and persuasion. If not, her mother will die. The strict woman who runs the school is the Matron (Charlotte Rampling) and she runs the place with an Iron Curtain fist. Dominika is stripped of all dignity, and at times, all of her clothes. Brutal training includes humiliation, beatings and near rapes. Ivan takes her away for a mission. There is a highly placed general named Korchnoi (Jeremy Irons) who thinks Ivan is not carful enough with the mission.

Her objective is to seduce a Russian oligarch who had made a little too much money. But she is brutalized and he is brutally killed. Dominika is taken away and given a new assignment. She is sent to Europe to attach herself to a CIA agent named Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton). Nash has a super-secret mole, a source inside the Russian government that Ivan and his pals want to ‘talk to’. That is spy talk for torture and slowly kill.

There is much traveling – to Bucharest, then Vienna, then London and then to Moscow and back to Bucharest. Anyway, Dominika gets wind of an American who can get military secrets. She has a roommate in Bucharest who tells her about the woman codenamed Swan (Mary-Louise Parker), but her roommate is brutally murdered. Dominika goes to meet with the traitor Swan and deliver the payoff. So she gets all the US State secrets, all on three and half inch floppy drives? Wow, so up-to-date…

But Agent Nash is attempting to win over Dominika to be his double-agent. But at the same time, it is Dominika’s job to win over Nash to determine the identity of the Russian mole. Both are playing a deadly game of Spy vs. Spy. And neither one can be quite sure whose side the other one is really on. At one point a Russian killer is there to take Nash hostage and begins to torture him to death. Will Dominika come to his aid, or is her training really set in stone?

“Red Sparrow” is based on a novel, but it tries to pack as many Cold War type stories inside as it can. There is a story about the Sparrow Training Center, which Dominika later calls “whore school”. There is the Nash and his mole story, which could have been made much more prominent. This is the subplot of the Swan character selling US secrets, and how that all could have come about. There is the main story of Dominika going to meet with Nash and turn him, while Nash is busy trying to change her into another asset.

Francis Lawrence (as the director) should have picked out one of these stories and stayed with it. The movie ends up being overly long and drawn out. Jennifer Lawrence (as the main character) does a passable Russian accent, which occasionally fades in and out. Lawrence (Francis, not Jennifer) takes way too much time focused on humiliation, brutality, murder, rape, and torture. Lawrence (Jennifer, not Francis) does quite a few bold adult moves with scenes of nudity and some sex scenes.

Both Joel Edgerton and Matthias Schoenaerts do very good with their characters. Also, Charlotte Rampling is quite chilling in her role as an emotionless head of the State-run school. But the movie could have used a lot more of Mary-Louise Parker and Jeremy Irons. These two are wonderful actors and the movie perks up a bit more when they are on the screen.

“Red Sparrow” is a quite adequate spy movie, with a high level of torture and sex thrown in. But that is an unusual combination, and it makes for an icy and chilly reception for the Cold War drama. Red Sparrow does get off the ground and flies, but it never does soar…

Annihilation Movie Review

February 23, 2018 (updated February 23, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“Annihilation” is the movie adapted from the first book in a trilogy by Jeff VanerMeer. It is a science-fiction look at a strange cosmic phenomenon created on the Gulf Coast by a bizarre meteor. Many miles around the lighthouse where it landed is covered by an other-worldly dome that they call “The Shimmer”. Every team of military experts that are sent in to investigate is never heard from again. That is, until he comes back…

Lena (Natalie Portman) is an ex-military vet who is now a biology teacher at a university. Her husband Kane (Oscar Isaac) is a Special Ops soldier who was on a secret mission but when missing. Kane turns up a year later, back at home. But he is very ill and falls into a coma. Lena and Kane are taken by the military to Area X, which the home of “The Shimmer’. That is where Kane and his unit had been sent, and nobody else has every returned.

Lena volunteers for the next mission, led by Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Ventress is a psychologist who will lead a group of female scientists into the mysterious Area X. The others on the mission are Thorensen (Gina Rodriguez), Radek (Tessa Thompson) and Sheppard (Tuva Novotny). All are specialists and they want to unravel the mystery of “The Shimmer’.

However, once inside they discover that weeks pass by like days. The radios and even the compass are non-functional. All that they have are their wits and their wills. They must learn to trust each other, and trust in the mission. But when they find that nature inside “The Shimmer” has gone a little kooky, they feel that this has become a suicide mission. The things that they are encountering are becoming more insane, and more deadly.

Lena has her own mission, to find out what was going on with Kane when he was sent here. But the things that she finds out make her more disturbed. Dr. Ventress seems to have her own personal mission, while the others are being led down a path of potential human destruction. The final goal is to find the source of the mystery, which is near the lighthouse. But what can be found in there, and will anyone be alive to find out?

Alex Garland has created some fantastic screenplays in the past, and his first director effort for “Ex Machina” was superb. But here, he is constrained by the original material, and he makes some awkward choices. He has scenes with Lena being interrogated after the mission, and these are intercut with the overall movie. It is a trite excuse to explain or bring up some unknown fact. The scientific language about the event origins and what is happening are somewhat clunky.

Natalie Portman does a very credible job as Lena, with her military and science background helping her to cope. Almost all the other characters are basic movie stereotypes, with minimal depth or back-story. Even Oscar Isaac has very little to do, even when he is critical to the story. The worst off is Benedict Wong, who has to play the inquisitor behind a clean room mask.

This movie is however quite beautiful in how it looks and in the details of the alien environment. The soundtrack is also simple and unassuming, until it slowly builds up tension and suspense towards the end. The photography is amazing and also eerie as it goes deeper and deeper into “The Shimmer”. The story is good, but some of the ideas pull from other sources. Perhaps some parts resemble “The Day of the Triffids” and short story “Weeds” by Stephen King.

“Annihilation” is a brain-teaser, and that itself makes it a cut above most sci-fi movies. But perhaps the subject is a little too weird for most audience members. Let’s hope that “Annihilation” is not what happens to this movie in terms of box office revenue…

Black Panther Movie Review

February 16, 2018 (updated February 14, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“Black Panther” is an exciting change-up in the Marvel movie line-up. Here is a hero who is a black African king, as well as being a superhero. Wakanda (a fictional nation) is a powerhouse of technology and civil order in the heart of Africa. An ancient meteor hit that place eons ago, and that meteor was loaded with Vibranium (the fictitious deep-space element that makes up Captain America’s powerful shield). The Wakanda people have enjoyed a hidden wealth of goods and services, along with their tribal rites and laws. But years ago, the king killed his own brother in a tragic incident.

King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) is the new young leader, and his country is behind him. He has a young sister named Shuri (Letitia Wright) who is a great teenage nerd with a sense of humor. Ramonda (Angela Bassett) is the Queen and mother to T’Challa and Shuri. Zuri (Forest Whitaker) is his uncle who will guide T’Challa. He also has an ex-girlfriend Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) who wants to open up Wakanda to the outside and share the secrets. The palace is guarded with an all-female Special Forces group, led by Okoye (Danai Gurira). The kingdom is secure, except for a mercenary who is attempting to break in and steal much of the Vibranium. This is Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) who has dealt with T’Challa once before.

King T’Challa goes to Korea to try and capture Klaue, along with Nakia and Okoye backing him up. After some cool chase scenes, they finally get Klaue. There is also a CIA agent named Ross (Martin Freeman) around to apprehend him, and they work together to bring down Klaue. Klaue then escapes with the help of a mystery person named Erik “Killmonger” Stevens (Michael B. Jordan). Erik has a background of growing up in Oakland, and he knows about Wakanda. He is also ready to confront T’Challa and take over the throne. The kingdom is in turmoil because T’Challa and Eric struggle for power.

Eric removes T’Challa from the throne and takes over. There are few that follow him, but some follow Eric as a new king. T’Challa is found alive, and he is helped by his tribesman. He also gets some outside assistance from CIA agent Ross. T’Challa needs all the help that he can get. When T’Challa goes up against the current king Eric, he will need powerful allies. There are many struggles before the end comes and the kingdom is peaceful once again. And when the issues are resolved, then Wakanda can become a major nation in eyes of the whole world. The nation will become stronger, and T’Challa will be known for being a beloved leader.

This Marvel movie is the first to have a black main character, a mostly black cast and a black director and co-writer. But even more important, it is beautiful movie with an epic sweep in terms of story and meaning. The themes echo Shakespeare, or with a more recent comparison, “The Lion King”. Brothers battle over who should be king, and even cousins are torn apart with different ideas of how the kingdom should evolve. Ryan Coogler, along with Joe Robert Cole, has crafted a story worthy of much praise.

Coogler also directed the movie, which make his contribution even more valuable. But to work out a very deep and meaningful story, it sure helps to have a cast of great actors. Starting with Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan, Coogler has found the two main character that make his story come alive. Boseman is strong and steady as T’Challa. Jordan is electric as the villain Killmonger, who is brutal and vicious – but he is doing the right thing is his own mind.

Also add in Andy Serkis as an over-the-top Klaue, who enjoys being in crazy-town. Martin Freeman plays the lonely white good guy willing to help as much as he can. But with some very strong female back up, the movie becomes even more special. Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright and Angela Bassett all add much depth and some unique black woman characters that make the movie better.

“Black Panther” is a welcome addition to the group of fine Marvel superhero movies. The story is intriguing and thought-provoking. The production values are top-notch, and the soundtrack is evocative and haunting. There are many places where this movie does new and unusual things for a ‘superhero’ movie. Let’s hope that these can happen again and more often.

The 15:17 to Paris Movie Review

February 8, 2018 Published by JMcNaughton

Europe be saved from extremists by a young group of Americans on vacation, going to France? Well, in one case, that is exactly what happened. In the summer of 2015, there were three friends who were backpacking across the continent, and they managed to be in the right place at the right time. It also helped that they did the right thing, that is – stop a major attack from happening on a high-speed train traveling to Paris. Everyone could have been killed, and they helped to stop the worst-case scenario. This movie is a depiction of that event, and the lives of the three young American men. They also happen to play themselves, not as a gimmick, but to keep the story as true as possible.

“The 15:17 to Paris” gets into the events of the train attack, but first it goes back to the high school days of the three guys who develop a bond that will last for many years. When they are finally out of school, each will decide what they will do with their lives. Spencer Stone (played by Spencer Stone) joins up with the Air Force and learns some life skills. Alek Skarlatos (played by Alek Skarlatos) gets into the National Guard and spends a tour in Afganistan. Anthony Sadler (played by Anthony Sadler) goes to college to become smarter and to learn about the world. They all decide that a trip to Europe would do them all a world of good. Spencer and Anthony get to Italy and then go to Venice. At that same time, Alek meets up with an exchange student in Germany.

The early years of the three guys get illuminated in flashbacks about how they all met. Young Spencer and his mom (Judy Greer) and neighbors to young Alec and his mom (Jenna Fischer) The two boys meet with young Anthony at school, and they all get along quite well. They spend time playing and sometimes get into trouble. But when they all grow up, that is when the real adventure starts. They all meet up in the Europe trip in Germany, and then spend some time in Amsterdam. But they are convinced by many people to make a final trip to Paris, just because it is a beautiful place. And they are in luck, because they can take the 15:17 to Paris…

However, on this particular train, there is also a passenger with very bad intent. Ayoub El-Khazzani (Ray Corasani) has brought aboard a few extra items, such as an AK-47, a hand gun, a knife, and large supply of ammo. This guy decides to take out as many people as he can in the train compartment. But little does he know that Spencer, Alek and Anthony are also aboard. It just so happens that they have a particular set of skills that just might save the day. They all face-off against El-Khazzani to give him a very bad, very no-good day. Of course, there are a couple of other people involved with taking down the terrorist and saving the day, but the biggest flag waves for the Americans.

Clint Eastwood has taken a big chance and made a bold gamble. With casting the actual guys that where there on that day, he gives a large responsibility to some people who are not professional actors. In fact, many of the actual passengers on that train are given an opportunity to recreate a moment of terror and the relief of getting control of the situation. The three come through with excellent results; after all they are playing themselves. They might have a handful of times that the acting is a tad bit rough and unrefined. But it does shine through to give a very unique view from the eyes of those who were deeply involved.

Eastwood takes his steady and trained hand to guide the (non) actors to perform the events of their lives again, but this time for our benefit. The movie is focused on the one main event, but it goes into details about how all three of these guys wound up there on that train. There are times where the movie starts to drag a bit, as you learn a little more about what these guys want out of life. But with a brisk run time, there is no time to get bored. That is because each scene is designed to being you to the main event.

This movie has the ‘true story’ aspect down to a tee. That is mostly because the actual participants are the actors. That says a lot about how important Eastwood thinks this movie will be. His vision keeps “The 15:17 to Paris” on track…

Battalion (Video on Demand) Movie Review

February 7, 2018 Published by JMcNaughton

Science Fiction and War type movies are difficult to do on a tight budget. Especially when they are done for around 50,000 Australian Dollars. The result is a very decent attempt at watchable movie. But the crude special effects, rough acting ability and jumbled plot lines are all working against the independent release called “Battalion”. This mixed-up mash-up of lots of other (and better) movies make this one DOA. Seeing that other movies, such as “Independence Day”, “Battle: Los Angeles”, “Starship Troopers” and even “Skyline” have done this same thing before, make this movie limp into the starting gate, just to go nowhere.

The story is as such: John Blake (Jesse Richardson) is a cool surfer dude style slacker in sunny California. Tracey Gleeson (Ellen Williams) is a lecturer at an Ivy League school in New England. John has a ‘brother’ named Chris Jackson (Michael Thomson), and Chris is a Marine. He is like a brother because the Jackson family took John in as a little boy when his parents died. Chris is very moody due to the war he has been fighting in South Africa. Tracey is wondering with her first date about the meaning of life and if there is a parallel universe. But then the low-rent special effects take over to show that an alien race of robots come to Earth to destroy everything.

The alien spaceships come from a parallel universe and destroy much of L.A. thus killing Chris Jackson’s family, and John Blake’s adopted family. Chris goes back to fight, because – after all – he is a Marine. And guess what? John and Tracey both join up, and they enter the Marines. But they are sent to train with… you guessed it Chris Jackson. And he will take no Schlitz from nobody. The training ramps up, and they all go into combat. Located of course in Australia. There are some magnificent views of the beautiful shoreline and the wonderful areas in Australia and New Zealand. But they keeps getting ruined by coming back to a second-rate story and Grade-Z level ‘special effects’.

Lots of fades to black later, the story gets to a time where Chris finally goes nuts, Johns steps up to lead, and Tracey is the only one who can face off and sacrifice to stop the aliens. It all works out, sort of, in the end. Much of the world is destroyed, and more fighting must continue, but John is no longer a slacker out to play rooftop football. How inspiring!

I must give the guys behind this some credit to come up with a (mostly) original story with a Sci-Fi twist and with War of the World themes. But overall, the production values are very low-rent. The special effect CGI could have been done better with “Call of Duty” graphics. The ADR (post production voice dubbing) is bad. Even the scenes inside a car, looking out a moving image on a ‘green screen’ are troublesome. The time sequence is all over the place, with starting in the present, then going back seven months and then cutting back and forth at random.

The acting is nothing awful, but it could be better. Ellen Williams has a bit of charm with her role as Tracey, and Jesse Richardson has the surfer dude life down pat. Also, Michael Thomson has some biting lines as Chris – who is suffering from a complete lack of hope and sinking into a depression. But there are many ‘Down-Under’ actors doing many of the other roles, and quite often the accent comes out here and there. Even if they are supposed to be American Marines, or what not…

This movie is attempting to make its life running as ‘Video on Demand’ . Good on Ya Mate! But next time, don’t so much for shrimp to throw on the barbie… Try to get a few more bucks for the special effects, righty-oh?

Maze Runner: The Death Cure Movie Review

January 26, 2018 (updated January 25, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“The Maze Runner” series is a young adult dystopian fiction (is there any other kind?) that deals with teens in a critical situation when the world goes haywire. “Maze Runner: The Death Cure” is the final chapter of the three books converted into movies. The books/movies have been pretty popular, but the quality is sometime lacking. This latest serving assumes that you have a precise knowledge of the prior two movies, “The Maze Runner” and “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials“. If you are not familiar with them, you could be in for a shock.

The movie barrels right into the action as if the “Fast and Furious” was the guiding light from Heaven. With nothing in the way of introduction, it gets straight into a train robbery right off the bat. But they are not stealing cars, they are releasing prisoners. There are the goody guys against a wicked organization called WCKD. Great use of subtlety here, right? Anyway, the train is carrying captive kids from the prior movies, and they are being taken for more experiments. Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) is the leader with Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Brenda (Rosa Salazar) and Jorge (Giancarlo Esposito) helping him to get all the kids freed. Vince (Barry Pepper) is also an ally who can get the materials the need to attack the train.

Thomas and Newt are from the “Glade”, and they escaped with Minho (Ki Hong Lee) who has been captured. He was taken when another person from the Glade, named Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), turned traitor and gave Minho up to WCKD. Now Teresa works for the evil agency with Dr. Ava Paige (Patricia Clarkson), who is studying the kids to see why they have an immune gene to prevent a disease called the “Flare”. WCKD is also run by a slimy guy named Janson (Aidan Gillen), who will stop at nothing to get the “Glade” kids and keep them captive for more study.

Minho was not found on the train, so he is still captured and taken into the WCKD-run Last City, a final place for civilization that is free from the Flare virus. Thomas and Newt and friends find an old-time Glader named Galley (Will Poulter) who was missing for a long time. Galley can get into the city, so there they can search for Minho and free him. Thomas will work with a new partner named Lawrence (Walton Goggins) who is suffering from the Flare and is ebbing away. Thomas can bring back a serum from in the city where Dr. Paige and Teresa are doing the terrible experiments. When they find and release Minho, then will also bring back all the serum, which is known as the “Death Cure”.

When they enter the City and attack WCKD headquarters, it all goes sideways. There are outrageous plans to get imprisoned kids and free them and take them away on a bus. They find Minho and get him free, but by that time the City is under attack from Lawrence and his minions of Flare-infected followers. Teresa tries to get Thomas to stay and help because he is the key to the cure. Dr. Paige is ready to leave and escape, but the evil Janson will prevent anyone from leaving. Newt and Thomas are about to escape, but Newt is has been ill for some time. Who will live? Who will die? And who can make it out alive?

There is so much stuffed into this movie that it only moves forward with the full-on action sequences. There is very little exposition that connects to any of the prior movies, so the audience needs to know a lot of details from all that happened before. Characters are introduced, or reintroduced, without much fanfare about where you might have seen them before. The explanation of what the main story is about is left to seeing the action and knowing which group is the good people and which are the bad guys.

Granted, there are many well constructed action pieces that have you following along with excitement. But the characters are mostly cardboard cutouts of real people, and not given much depth or deeper meaning. With the action as the greatest asset in the movie, all the actors and acting talent become nothing more than pawns on a chessboard. They move back and forth, and there is a lot happening, but nothing really is revealed.

The practical visual effects and the CGI effects blend in pretty well. It is a well designed movie and the places look futuristic and potentially frightening. But there is no better purpose but to finish up the story that was started a couple movies back. Most things get wrapped up, presuming that you kept track of who was from what prior movie and who did what back then. There is a lot of action and it keeps going on for almost two and a half hours.

Director Wes Ball has actually been in charge of all three of the “Maze Runner” movies. He could have used a better editor, who could have taken this movie and focused the main action into a narrower path. By the time this movie ends, you are glad you made it out of the “Maze”…

Mom and Dad Movie Review

January 22, 2018 (updated January 22, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

Say you could take a movie like “The Happening“, where a mysterious plague overcomes people and makes them want to commit suicide, but it changes the results a little. Now, it only affects the parents, who exhibit a change in the attitude from protecting their children, to instead wanting to kill them. Now add the forever crazy antics of Nicolas Cage and you have “Mom and Dad”, bizarre creation that gives you another reason to demand that Cage hand back that Oscar he won back in 1995.

Brent Ryan (Nicolas Cage) and his wife Kendal (Selma Blair) have the ideal life in the suburbs with their two kids. Carly (Anne Winters) is a teen-ager in high school, and Josh (Zackary Arthur) is her younger brother. The whole family gets along pretty well, but Ryan is dealing with a mid-life crisis and Kendall wants to be back in a creative job like she used to have. Carly and her friend Riley (Olivia Crocicchia) would like more freedom to have fun. Carly has a boyfriend Damon (Robert T Cunningham), but Brent does not like him because he is older, and he is black.

But there is a sudden turn in events. The parents are overcome by an insatiable urge to murder their children. Regardless of age or disposition, they are driven like wild animals to slaughter the fruit from their loins. It happens slowly over the course of one day, and then the first reports come in of dead children. The news is ablaze with reports of theories of all sorts. It could be unusual microbe activity in the water, or a sinister plot of an evil foreign nation. But these parents are compelled to kill the lovely little shining stars in their lives. They are guided by an unseen desire to destroy their spawn.

Carly and Joshua are caught up in the murder spree that is about to imposed by their parents, Brent and Kendall. The can hide and they can run, but they have nowhere else to go. Damon has been able to escape his own death-by-paternal-unit, so he comes by to help. Carly is clever in ways that can fight back, so she can survive with her brother. Oh, and of course, this all happens on the night that Brent’s own parents are coming over for dinner. His dad Mel (Lance Henriksen) is of course under the same spell and feels the need to do the dirty deed – kill his own son in a gruesome manner.

Yes, this is a frankly bizarre and twisted movie. But it is a crazy set-up that seems tailor-made for the frantic and manic performances for which Nicolas Cage is most famous. And he does not disappoint here at all. In a sequence (a flashback that is set weeks before the weird killing virus), Cage plays Brent at home in the basement constructing a large pool table. And then in a fit of rage and fury, he destroys the same pool table with a sledgehammer, all while singing the “Hokey Pokey”. Ridiculous? Yes, it is – but at the same time it is fascinating to watch.

Brian Taylor is also the writer and director (with partner Mark Neveldine) of movies like “Crank”, Crank: High Voltage” and “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance”. That is, writing and directing movies that are so tilted and perversely skewed is second nature to him. So this movie fits quite well into his wheelhouse.

Is this movie great or meaningful? Is it even good? The movie is competently made, but the soundtrack does not fit at all. The acting is somewhat uneven. Cage and Blair are really good, but there is no depth to being depraved. Anne Winters is the best, because she has a real emotion of fear and wanting to protect her much younger brother.

I just want to see this family at the next Thanksgiving dinner…

In Phoenix area, playing only at the Harkins Valley Art in Tempe.

2017 Box Office Number 1 Movies

January 8, 2018 Published by JMcNaughton

Box Office results for 2017

Movies that reached Number 1 – three weeks in a row

Split
Fate of the Furious
The Hitmans’s Bodyguard
Coco

Not quite as impressive – these 9 movies reached Number 1 – but only two weeks in a row

Hidden Figures
Beauty and the Beast
The Boss Baby
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Wonder Woman
Dunkirk
It
Thor: Ragnorok
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Also, note that Hidden Figures was on the 2016/2017 year end divide, but it did not finish 2016 as Number 1.

There were 20 other movies that reached Number 1 for a single week (and did not repeat)

The Post Movie Review

January 5, 2018 (updated January 5, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“The Post” is a terrific movie that deserves to be seen and deserves to be rewarded. This movie is not just yesterday’s news…

Father Figures Movie Review

December 22, 2017 (updated December 21, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

“Father Figures” is a movie about fraternal twins who go out on the road to find their real father. The two guys were told by their mother that dad died soon after they were born. But she has hidden the truth, and now these two brothers want to find out what really happened. The mom had lied because she was embarrassed at how she behaved in the swinging 70’s and she did not want the boys to know too much. But now forty years later, the truth must come out.

Peter Reynolds (Ed Helms), an uptight and repressed doctor, had always thought that his dad was long gone. But when his mom, Helen Baxter (Glenn Close) , gets married – he and his brother found out the truth. His brother Kyle (Owen Wilson) is a easy-going surfer dude from Hawaii. He happened to get picked for a gig posing for a hot sauce label picture when he was young, and it has paid him off handsomely. Peter has always been jealous that Kyle never had to work hard to get ahead…

Peter and Kyle find out that Helen was a free-love hippie type in the 70’s, and she went with many different guys. She knows that one of them is the father, but she still will not say for sure. She first thinks it was probably her love interest back then, Terry Bradshaw. Yes, the former quarterback and Fox Sports analyst Bradshaw. They travel to meet him, and they get along really well. But that potential father does not exactly pan out, so they try another man named Ronald Hunt (J. K. Simmons).

Hunt is weird and mysterious, but turns out to be a thief and a miscreant. And he also cannot be related to Kyle and Peter. Hunt does give them a name of another man only known as ‘Sparkly P’. The brothers are very confused about where to go next. They find a guy out on the road needing a ride north. They pick up the hitchhiker (Katt Williams) who is first mistaken as a black serial killer, but later becomes a back-seat therapist to the constant bickering between Peter and Kyle.

Peter meets a very nice woman named Sarah (Katie Aselton) that turns into a long awaited one-night stand. Peter had been divorced for many years, and is too tense with women to ask anyone out. He and Sarah hookup, and Kyle acts a polite wingman for the occasion. Sarah disappears early the next day, they lose track of her. But later the two brothers find a lead on the ‘Sparkly P’ character and it leads them to a retired policeman. But he winds up dead a few days prior, and the wake is at his house. That is where they happen to see Peter’s new girlfriend. But could they be related? The policeman’s brother says no, it was another of Helen’s boyfriends in the 70’s.

They travel back home to see if it is Helen’s final boyfriend. He is Dr. Walter Tinkler, a local veterinarian (Christopher Walken). But soon after meeting Tickler and their mother, she tells them the truth. That makes all the difference, and they a no longer interested in doing any more searching for anyone.

This movie seems to spend a lot of time traveling, but it never seems to get anywhere. The plot meanders quite a lot. The jokes are funny in some parts, but they can also fall very flat. The whole concept is OK, but there is not a lot of meat on this bone. The characters are mostly dull and without too much spark. The ridiculous nature of what is going on strains the humor. Oh yeah, it’s funny when someone gets run into by a car… Wow, what a gag – the car gets hit by a train, and now his brother might be dead. What a riot…

Owen Wilson plays the person that Owen Wilson always plays. He is a good-natured slacker with an offbeat sense of humor. Ed Helms plays the white and uptight guy that he is known for in most all his performances. Glenn Close is OK as a mother with a mysterious past. J. K. Simmons looks like is having fun playing a nasty bastard. Katt Williams is good, but his role is short and they do not treat his character very well. Christopher Walken is in a quick cameo in a short segment. Katie Aselton is cute and spritely in a mindless role.

So, if it comes time to hit the road to look for your own father, you can do better than these clowns did in “Father Figures”. This is a road trip that quickly runs out of gas…

Author: JMcNaughton