Reviews – Page 107 – tmc.io 🍿 watch movies with friends

Backstabbing for Beginners Movie Review

April 27, 2018 (updated April 30, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

Director Per Fly opens his film by showing the Iraqi people and their blind loyalty to the dictator, Saddam Hussein and most importantly, their unwillingness to see him as the monster that he is. It’s a brilliant move to put on display how easy it is for people, though their leader is taking their country into decline and them personally into poverty, malnutrition and slavery, follow anyway, refusing to believe the person they support would do anything to harm them. It’s very much what we are now witnessing all over the world, even in America where it was never thought possible. This movie was made to help us understand the importance of Civics being taught in our schools, something being pulled from today’s curriculum to the detriment of the people and of the state.

Set in New York in September of 2003 and based on a true story, ‘Backstabbing for Beginners’ tells the story of a brave young whistleblower named Michael Sullivan (James). Michael, whose father was his hero, desperately wanted to follow in his footsteps. In order to do that, he needed to work to try and help people. His father, a diplomat, died in a bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut when Michael was only five. He worked at the United Nations and spoke of how the U.N. was founded and why it was so important for the world that it exists.

Now, at age twenty-four, Michael finally lands his dream job as a program coordinator working for Pasha (Kingsley), the Under-Secretary-General of the U.N., as his special assistant. Pasha runs the largest humanitarian program in U.N. history, Oil-for-Food. The Oil-for-Food program was started in the late 1990’s to grant Iraq enough oil to purchase food and necessities to its people. Once the Gulf War began, sanctions were imposed and the nation got sicker and poorer.

Michael feels privileged to be working in the office in charge of trying to feed over twenty million starving people, however, instead of honor, virtuosity and the law working to help those in need of support, what he finds is corruption, thievery and bribes. Only some of the money goes to the people, a large chunk of it benefits those at the top. Michael is hired to look for any inconsistencies and to make sure everything is by the book. Working on his first report to hand into Pasha, he finds a great deal of skimming off the top, service fees that don’t add up and kickbacks that need to be investigated. Michael explains how up to or more than 30% of the funds is missing, not to mention that the Kurds are getting skipped for more money to go to Hussein’s hometown. Pasha takes the report and shreds it.

Pasha tells Michael to choose his truths wisely. Michael’s very naïve heart is crushed. Pasha, a good man, does what he can but also does for himself. He’s okay with corruption, justifying everything by saying that he’s happy there’s decreased malnutrition and starvation and that people are getting the staples. Christina Dupre, (Bisset), an officer at the U.N. is tired of the payoffs and malfeasance and she intends to fix things. Michael finally wises up when Christina, who refuses to falsify her report as Pasha does, ends up meeting an untimely death. Michael is also offered a bribe and is told by Nashim (Bilgin), that his predecessor didn’t die in an ‘accident.’

This is an important film for idealists to see and should be regarded as a reminder of what we all have to lose if we don’t keep our eye on the ball. It doesn’t matter the country in which you live, power corrupts and if we’re not paying attention, we, like the Iraqi people found out, can crash into anarchy. Twenty billion dollars of the Food-for-Oil money got diverted from the program and everyone seemed to profit. No one, Michael found out, no matter how much you may like them, can be above suspicion.

At least some good came out of Michael getting the position he held. He went to the Wall Street Journal and told his story of finding oil vouchers worth billions and even handed them a list of names he had procured. He went on record, as well, adding that he needed to take responsibility and give his name. Someone had to own what was going on to lend the story the credence it needed to be trusted. What he did led to the largest and most significant changes in the U.N.

The movie has a love scene that doesn’t really seem to fit. Once you’re involved in the story and getting to the truth of things, it’s really the last thing you want to see. Theo James is also not a strong enough actor to show the emotion the part truly needed and Michaels gullible nature and naivete does get old but for the larger part of the story, even though it works some to explain that most of those about to lose democracy are indeed Michael (not aware of what’s going on around them) this is a must-see because the message is too important not to be.

*’Backstabbing for Beginners’ opens exclusively at AMC Arizona Center

Godard Mon Amour Movie Review

April 27, 2018 (updated November 16, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

The filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, who this movie is about, has said of this Michel Hazanavicius film that it’s ‘A stupid, stupid idea.’ This quote is then put on the poster and why not? Hazanavicius knew right there that he got it right. You can’t get a bigger endorsement, in my opinion. Michel Hazanavicius, director of ‘The Artist,’ which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, now gives us the fairly humorous ‘Godard Mon Amour,’ a subtitled French film originally titled ‘Le Redoutable.’ In ‘The Artist,’ he showed us the world of silent films by introducing us to one of its actors and focusing heavily on that star’s world. In ‘Godard Mon Amour,’ we meet a truly innovative filmmaker from the 1960’s named Jean-Luc Godard (Garrel) when he’s in a state of flux. Already a successful director in the eyes of the public and of the critics with films such as, ‘Breathless,’ ‘Contempt’ and ‘Pierrot le Fou’ he decides he wants to be a revolutionary. He wants more out of life and desires to give more to the world through cinema.

We meet him in 1967 when Godard was regarded as one of the most gifted directors of his generation. He was very avant-garde because about ten years previously, he got involved in the ‘Nouvelle Vague,’ a group of French movie directors who came together to shrink away from the cinema of the day that was being created, to give films a more expressive voice.

Louis Garrel as Jean-Luc Godard

Godard and Anne discuss the future of film -Photo by Philippe Aubry

Stacy Martin as Anne Wiazemsky

Godard loves a good revolution.

While making his new movie, ‘La Chinoise,’ he starts doubting everything he has ever believed in. He feels he’s old (he’s thirty-seven) and out of touch and marrying an actress Anne Wiazemsky (Martin) almost twenty years his junior, doesn’t help much. She falls in love with his passion and his talent but as he gets more distracted with his heavy interest in politics, he pays less and less attention to her, at one point telling her that love can wait for later. He is always speaking as though his life means nothing but the cinema and when he has switched to politics only, his love life falls in order. He tells her he doesn’t have it in him to make a romantic film, saying, ‘Enough with the dictatorship of sentiments… sentiments don’t make revolutions.’ While loving and attentive early on, as the film continues, she’s starting to see what this means for their future. Previous to marrying him, she thought he was fascinating, unpredictable, charming and funny but before long comes to grip with the fact that he’s miserable and therefore incapable of thinking of anyone but himself. To support her husband, the young bride finds herself running from the police during student marches and protests rather than making films with him, even boycotting the Cannes Film Festival during the strikes of the following year.

The cinematography is outstanding and worth watching for that alone. The comedy, when it kicks in, rivals that of early Woody Allen pictures but takes place so far into the film that you may lose interesting getting there. Like the filmmaker Godard himself eventually became, Hazanavicius, is looking for something other than a joke to entertain you. I’d like to go on record as saying that if the film doesn’t please your palate right away, don’t give up on it. It drags on at first but does get better. There’s a lot of ground to cover and the clever way that this profound character is revealed at such a heavy turning point in his life, shouldn’t be missed by anyone who is looking for something meaningful. Hazanavicius is relaying to his audience a time when the filmmaker was trying to stay relevant. He’ll be criticized for creatively yet harshly revealing this time in Godard’s life but it doesn’t mean it should not have been explored.

*Releasing in Phoenix exclusively at Harkins Camelview at Fashion Square.

Skyscraper New Poster Revealed

April 23, 2018 Published by Shari K. Green

SKYSCRAPER

Father. Fighter. Hero. There’s no limit when it comes to family.

Official Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | #SkyscraperMovie

Global icon Dwayne Johnson leads the cast of Legendary’s Skyscraper as former FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader and U.S. war veteran Will Sawyer, who now assesses security for skyscrapers. On assignment in China, he finds the tallest, safest building in the world suddenly ablaze, and he’s been framed for it. A wanted man on the run, Will must find those responsible, clear his name and somehow rescue his family who is trapped inside the building…above the fire line.

Written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber (Central Intelligence, We’re the Millers), the 3D action-thriller is produced by Beau Flynn (San Andreas,Baywatch), Johnson, Thurber and Hiram Garcia (San Andreas, Central Intelligence).

Skyscraper’s executive producers are Dany Garcia (Baywatch, Ballers), Wendy Jacobson (San Andreas), Eric McLeod (Kong: Skull Island, Pirates of the Caribbean series) and Eric Hedayat (The Great Wall, Real Steel). The film will be released by Universal Pictures.

Genre: 3D Action-Thriller

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Chin Han, Noah Taylor, Roland Møller, Byron Mann, Pablo Schreiber, Hannah Quinlivan

Written and Directed by: Rawson Marshall Thurber

Produced by: Beau Flynn, Dwayne Johnson, Rawson Marshall Thurber, Hiram Garcia

Executive Producers: Dany Garcia, Wendy Jacobson, Eric McLeod, Eric Hedayat

Super Troopers 2 Movie Review

April 20, 2018 (updated November 16, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

Broken Lizard is our Monty Python and Super Troopers was their Holy Grail. One can only imagine what a Holy Grail Part 2 could have been but with Super Troopers… get to the theatre today and wonder no more.

I Feel Pretty Movie Review

April 20, 2018 (updated November 16, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

Very few movies make you feel bad for the protagonist of the story and feel horrible about yourself at the same time. ‘I Feel Pretty’ does just that. The beginning of the film especially. Renee Bennett (Schumer) is treated horribly by society. She’s completely shunned. If she walks into a building, she’s treated like a leper. People stare at her as if her fat can instantly leap from her body and infest the entire building… how dare she inhabit their earth! Yes. I can see the point being made. This possibly and most likely is how people who hate themselves, for whatever reason, feel about their body, their face… their selves. It’s heartbreaking. However, this is pushed to the limit where the audience may feel uncomfortable about how the film itself makes them feel as they watch.

It’s as if ‘I Feel Pretty’ is a giant mirror reminding them that they should put the popcorn down and get back to dieting. This being the case, it most likely won’t be entertaining for some. The movie theatre isn’t necessarily the place you need to be reminded of each and every flaw. Again, I see the point, but must it be beaten into the ground? ‘Shallow Hal’ makes this exact storyline work without humiliating and alienating its audience. I was hoping this would be similar to Hal but was quite disappointed in that respect.

But the film redeems itself to an extent when it starts selling the message that it’s not how others perceive you that counts, it’s only how you view you that should ever matter.

Renee is both the protagonist and antagonist in this particular film. What?! Well, she shifts from a kindhearted, fun and friendly person to a lousy, callous pain in the backside in no time flat. What turns her is a journey she takes. While praying that she’ll lose weight, look and feel better, she joins a gym and listens to an instructor who’s a powerful motivational speaker. While listening to her strong words of encouragement, she falls off the exercise bike she’s on (For some reason it can’t hold her weight?!?), hits her head and passes out. When she comes to she sees, not herself, but someone else. She’s healthier, more beautiful but most of all… not fat. She walks around almost the rest of the movie acting like she just won a billion-dollar lottery. She is overly happy with her new lease on life and vows to go get what she wants. And she does just that. Her attitude toward herself also gets her attention, but it isn’t sinking into Renee that she hasn’t changed… she’s still just Renee to everyone else.

Soon, all of her dreams have come true. She has the job she has always wanted, has a boyfriend, even has admirers and her head begins to swell. Not long after, she starts looking at her friends. Suddenly, they’re dragging her down. They’re not dressed well enough and they wear their hair wrong. She wants them to change. Being that the film has been formulaic so far, you can see that a big lesson is coming her way and if she wants to come out of her present situation with only a bruised ego, she needs to realize who she really is.

‘I Feel Pretty’ has sight gags, fat jokes and follows a certain predictable pattern but if you’re a Schumer fan, it’s worth seeing. She hams it up and struts her stuff, clearly, there are no body issues for Schumer as she shows it off a lot. If she ever had issues, she doesn’t now and shouldn’t but this is why the film ultimately doesn’t work. She’s full-figured, yeah, but hardly obese. They’re making fun of how fat she is when she’s, at most, big boned, slightly overweight but is healthy looking. This makes the filmmakers look superficial and tasteless. No. It’s not lost on us that Renee needs to see what everyone else sees but therein lies the rub. They show people, adults mind you, getting both repulsed by the sight of her for her ugly, cellulite ridden, flabby body and yet want you believing that everyone sees this beautiful person within her. The filmmakers can’t have it both ways.

That notwithstanding, Schumer was great, especially when she joins a bikini contest. She holds nothing back. Michelle Williams was very fun to watch as Avery LeClaire, an incredibly hollow human being who ends up being exactly what Renee needs to see that everyone has flaws, no matter how perfect we think they are. All the performances were strong but the movie, outside of a few laughs and a good message, wasn’t as good as it could have been. I feel they were headed in the right direction but got lost along the way. Maybe they should have spent less time writing ways to make fun of fat chicks. That would have been a good start.

Where Is Kyra? Movie Review

April 17, 2018 Published by Shari K. Green

This movie is remarkable. I’d like to warn that it was also one of the most depressing films I’ve ever seen… but oh so good, I promise you that. ‘Where Is Kyra’ was very well done and the bleak, cloudy atmosphere created was so alluring that I couldn’t look away. I’d like to say it was an exceptional film.

It’s macabre and thought-provoking, sincere and honest in its description of what someone will do and who they’ll become when faced with severe adversity. I would use the word exceptional but for one choice director Andrew Dosunmu made that had me cringing when this action occurred in his film. Yes, cringe, and not in a good way. An absolutely terrible noise would accompany scenes where Kyra (Pfeiffer) was impersonating her dead mother.

I’m quite sure it was done to keep the audience on the edge so there was cause for it but it was so absolutely annoying and incredibly irritating that, for me, it not only dropped the grade down a touch but had to be mentioned to you. The audience is already mesmerized and get the point, Dosunmu. You don’t need to use sound to attack those who might have missed it. Trust me… no one missed it. The film is good without its use to influence us.

The lighting was dark and set the tone beautifully, but I will add this, the film is a bit too slow early on for the average moviegoer, however, I implore you to keep watching. That alone should never be a reason to avoid watching a film. It’s okay to allow a director to set the stage for you. I’ll try and do the same here.

The aforementioned Kyra, who Michelle Pfeiffer nailed superbly, is a divorced woman well past her prime. She’s living in Brooklyn and wants independence but with limited skills for today’s needs, she is having trouble finding a job that will keep her afloat. She moves into her elderly mother, Ruth’s (Shepherd), apartment and helps take care of her. These scenes, one of them with a very brave and very nude Suzanne Shepherd, are tremendous and the connection they have is evident as Kyra helps Ruth in and out of her bath, keeps her company… expresses to her how much she’s loved. Suddenly and unexpectedly, Ruth dies. Kyra is alone and for the first time feels abandoned. She looks around her mother’s home where her mother no longer resides and breaks down. Not only has Ruth left her but the financial support she was able to get is gone, too. What to do?

She meets up with one of Ruth’s neighbors, Doug (Sutherland), who also happens to be a caretaker at a nursing home. He’s had a checkered past but has found helping people to be cathartic and rewarding. He genuinely cared for Ruth and decides to do what he can to help her daughter. They’re physically attracted to one another, as well, so they begin to have a much deeper relationship that’s mutually beneficial. She opens herself up to Doug but when she gets so desperate for money as to do the unthinkable, she’s afraid of losing him so she keeps it a secret. She’s aware of the fact that what she’s doing can get her into bigger trouble but she’s not finding a job and doesn’t want to risk the relationship. She refuses to ask too much of Doug as she’s prideful to a degree so she tries her best to make it on her own, however, bills are stacking up and it’s time to act to remedy the situation. The rest of the movie is truly captivating and, largely, grueling but you will not get up until the credits roll. Not for anything. Phenomenal.

See this movie. Amongst a world of remakes and reimagining’s it’s quite unique and you’ll do a lot of thinking long after the film is over.

Playing exclusively now at Harkins Camelview at Fashion Square. Don’t miss it!

You Were Never Really Here Movie Review

April 13, 2018 Published by Shari K. Green

Though some may view this as painfully slow in the beginning, I see it more as art being created before your very eyes. With any piece of art, it takes time to make it come to life and why should a film be any different? Slow and lacking in story and structure is different, this builds to a magnificent climax and with its gorgeous cinematography, noteworthy performances and memorable plot, you won’t leave feeling disillusioned. In fact, if you like Martin Scorsese’s ‘Taxi Driver’ this is definitely the film for you. Joaquin Phoenix plays, Joe, his version of Scorsese’s Travis Bickle. Phoenix plays him much in the same way that DeNiro played Travis. He’s raw and unkept but Joe isn’t disturbed. He’s haunted, yes, but he has clear goals and will do anything to meet them, especially when they get personal. Phoenix won in Cannes for the film and I believe he’ll be rewarded here, too.

Joe’s past, shown to us in snippets of macabre flashbacks, has led him to perform very dark things but for good reason. He is an advocate of sorts, hired to help people, mostly little girls who were abducted or are runaways, break free of the sex trade they’re forced into… and he’s exceptional at his job. His preferred method of taking people out is a hammer and when we first meet him, he’s cleaning up a crime scene, indicating to us he’s methodical, careful and very professional. He also takes care of his elderly mother and from the flashbacks, it seems she’s all he’s ever had. With his next assignment, helping a politician’s daughter escape the clutches of a sex maniac, he ends up putting his mother’s and his own life in jeopardy. The film was directed by a female director, Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin) which could be why Joe, though a killer, conveys such loving and caring characteristics. You’ll sense great sorrow and warmth inside of him and take pity.

I don’t want to give too much away but there’s a scene when Joe’s in a lake. He’s sinking to the bottom for a reason I won’t tell you here but it’s handled so beautifully, so poetically, that it brings you to the brink of tears. As an audience member, you take on Joe’s anguish and heartache. It’s a spectacular look at this character and a shot you may never forget. His relationship with his charges may seem to get in the way of his missions but then you realize those relationships are the missions. He may be saving them but, in essence, when all is said and done, they are saving him.

Don’t miss this fascinating film for anything. I can’t stress this enough. Enjoy the fact that Ramsay takes some time to paint you the full picture… it’s worth it. You’ll like the soundtrack that accompanies the film, as well. The ending is somewhat vague but had it drifted on a definitive course, it wouldn’t have fit the style. Go see this asap!

Truth or Dare Movie Review

April 13, 2018 (updated April 12, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“Truth or Dare” is no longer just a game or a bad Madonna documentary. Now it is an actual movie. It is “Final Destination” for the Snapchat Generation. “Final Destination” (from 18 years ago) was an intriguing look a group of kids who ‘cheated’ death, only to have death come back to take them one by one. Now many years later, this movie says that just playing a silly game in a place possessed by a demon can be bad for your life expectancy. Play the game, or else you DIE. Tell the Truth and lie, then you DIE. Play the Dare and do it wrong, then you DIE. Hey, mind if I live stream your gruesome death?

College student Olivia (Lucy Hale) and her Best Friend Forever Markie (Violett Beane) take a Spring Break trip to Mexico. They are joined by some friends who also come along. Lucas (Tyler Posey) who is Markie’s boyfriend, Brad (Hayden Szeto) the gay Asian friend, and Penelope (Sophia Ali) and her main squeeze Tyson (Nolan Gerard Funk). They are about to leave for home, but that night Olivia meets a guy named Carter (Landon Liboiron) at the bar. He convinces them all to come with min and play a little game. But soon the cat is out of the bag. Carter explains that they are all stuck in the ‘Truth or Dare’ game for life – literally.

Olivia is sort of the goody-goody type, and she wants to see everyone do well. But she is misled by Carter into the game, and now all the people in the group are involved. When they get back home, they are all haunted by an evil demon who forces them to one-by-one take a ‘Truth or Dare’ challenge. But if they refuse, or make a choice and do not deliver, then they are led to tragic end. But because it is a PG-13 movie, the death is not bloody or graphic (or the least bit interesting). But later on, the rules change, er – I guess the demon says they rules get refined. It sounds more like the four writers of this movie just kept coming up with new things to try to stick to the wall.

After a few members of their group get ‘Dared’ to death, they start doing the sleuthing thing, getting into every social media account ever (all on Apple machines, of course). They hunt down the ‘Carter’ guy who got them into this whole mess. They find some information about a ‘Dare’ murder that was in Mexico. It was done by a woman who was earlier possessed by the ‘Truth or Dare’ demon. They work their way down to Mexico and back several times. Olivia even meets with an old ex-sister who claims to know about the abandoned church in Mexico and the demon who took it over. The movie never takes a straight line in any direction. It zips and zigs and then it flips and flops over and over again.

Seeing a group of ill-defined and uninteresting characters go through the motions of getting killed off in boring ways… what else could a horror movie fan want? There is no purpose behind this movie. There is little motivation to follow anything through. There are no likable characters and you feel no loss if one of them screws up against the evil ‘Truth or Dare’ demon. There is not all that much that makes any sense, except for some Apple product placement. The story goes all over the place, and the dialog is cheesy. But it is not cheesy enough to make it a guilty pleasure. It is just bad enough to make you lose interest.

All the actors make a true effort to seem like they are on board with this movie. But everything that need to do or say goes against them. The movie winds up flat and scattered, like a cardboard box run over in the middle of a Mexican dirt back road. The visual effects are goofy and cheap looking. They give the characters who taunt the main person into ‘Truth or Dare’ a weird Snapchat face filter that gives them crazy eyes and a Joker style mouth. There are couple of final scenes that do not even try to hide the fact that the ‘green screen’ technology was broken that day.

If someone gives you a ‘Dare’ to see this movie, tell them the ‘Truth’ – you would rather see a decent movie…

Rampage Movie Review

April 13, 2018 (updated April 12, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

Movies that are based on video games have not had a high success rate. Not even “Tomb Raider’ (redone, again) made much of difference at the box office last month. So can a movie based on an old arcade-style game called Rampage bring to life the movie magic? Best be thinking that if there is anything good to be found in this movie, it will be in the work of Dwayne Johnson and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Those two are the bread and butter, but the rest are just garnish.

Engyne is one very evil corporation that is conducting secret genetic experiments. Even better, the serum they produced is on the space station – which simply explodes into bits. There are three containers of genetic serum that land on Earth, ready to cause havoc. One lands in the San Diego Zoo, where Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson) has spent years working with the giant apes, and teaching then sign language. One of the apes is named George, so he must have come from the Jungle (George of the Jungle?). George finds the remains of the genetic container and gets sprayed with it. He becomes a huge mutant albino gorilla.

Geneticist Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris) arrives to help Davis with George’s intense growth. She was the main scientist at Engyne who help develop the substance. The owners of Engyne are Claire Wyden (Malin Åkerman) and her brother Brett (Jake Lacy). They have developed the serum to sell on the black market. Kate attempted to blow the whistle, but Claire and Brett had her arrested and ruined her life. But now she wants to help Davis control how George is taking over. But George escapes.

George does not get far when he is taken by a big Government agency. This group is lead by Agent Russell (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who takes Davis, Kate and a sedate George into custody. They are taken in a large cargo plane but when George wakes up; he does not like his flight and takes down the entire plane. Agent Russell is saved by Davis and Kate. Then he finds there are two other mutated monster sized animals, a wolf and a crocodile. These two killing creatures are en route to Chicago, same as George. George and the other two monster-sized creatures are being controlled remotely by Engyne, led there by the Claire and her idiot brother. She wants to prove how effective her serum would be to create fighting machines. So what better way to display your wares by getting them to destroy a major city!

But Davis and Kate are on the scene and come in to save the day. With some logistical help from Agent Russell, they are able to communicate with George and calm him down. But with two other mean and vicious monsters on the loose, there are still buildings to be destroyed and lives to be threatened.

Dwayne Johnson gets a chance to play his ‘Rock-ish’ self again. He is one part human and one part giant unbreakable super guy. There is nothing that he cannot do and nothing that does not bend to his will. Except for the three big monsters. He does have his hands full with that. Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays a super bureaucrat who can get things done and never passes up a chance to serve up some snark. He plays this character with a great over-the-top attitude. This movie could be much better just concentrating in these two actors playing off each other. Now that would be great.

“Rampage” could be a bit hit, if you can ignore all of the bad science and all the utter destruction of a big city. When Hollywood finally gives up on the idea of a perfect video-game movie adaptation, then perhaps we could see a movie with Dwayne Johnson and a co-star Jeffrey Dean Morgan as – whatever, it would just be fun!

Until then: “It’s Game Over, Man!”

Aardvark Movie Review

April 12, 2018 (updated April 13, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

This is the story of an unstable man named Josh Norman, played by Zachary Quinto. He’s plagued with hallucinations of his brother, Craig (Hamm), who mistreated him when they were younger… or so Josh thinks. Craig, now a famous actor who Josh believes is morphing into other people, mocking and following him, actually takes care of Josh by sending him money, money that always purchases drugs for Josh that a therapist prescribes but doesn’t necessarily get Josh the true help he needs. What he needs is family and to be seen and loved; to know he’s seen and loved. I had many problems with this film, first of which is that with the amount of talent working on it, these actors should have been used better. They were great, don’t get me wrong, but the film they’re in leads you on a road to nowhere.

It opens on an owl watching an aardvark. Okay. That’s a metaphor for brothers Craig and Josh and you’re curious but, more to the point, it starts with such promise, however, by the time you’re halfway through Aardvark, you realize it isn’t going anywhere and your original thought of giving up on it fifteen minutes ago, should have been listened to. I assumed, by looking at the cast, that this was going to be quite good. I generally do approve of everything Hamm, Quinto and Jenny Slate, (who plays Emily, a therapist Josh starts going to) work on. I can’t say that’s the case with this movie. I had hoped it would be a hit, especially for Slate, as I respect her work so much that I’d like to see her continue to get larger roles but this movie might have been the one for her to skip… for them all to skip.

Enjoying the tone of the film in the beginning, you do like the characters and build a relationship with them but, unfortunately, the narrative between Emily and her patient becomes strained and consequently hard to believe. Director Brian Shoaf creates reasons for you to like Emily and then gives you all the reasons why you shouldn’t trust her and therefore, the story of Josh being unhinged falls apart to a degree.
Emily and Craig meet and she starts to speak on behalf of Craig to Josh and vice versa but she also falls for Craig. Maybe Josh just needs a new doctor? Eventually, you can’t help but wonder if the paranoid man is being gaslighted by everyone around him. Not that this would be remotely possible but is everyone around him in on it? His rich brother could be paying people to make him crazy.
The thought will cross your mind as the muddied script doesn’t get to the point until you’ve already checked out. Even when he meets Hannah (Vand) you wonder if this person really exists. That can be vaguely intriguing as he truly is under the impression his brother can transform himself to be anybody he wants but when the storyline provides you with hope, it then tears everything back down, trying to be a crafty love story but falling short of leading you to believe it’ll win you over in the end.

Perhaps this would have been better with some time to focus on which genre the script wanted to truly be. It’s frustrating as an audience member watching the filmmaker searching for the true voice of the film. The director needed to lead us. It isn’t good if he’s conflicted and this film was all over the place.

*Opens Exclusively at Harkins Shea 14

Category: Reviews