Hizzoner is in rare form this week, folks. He surprised himself by liking the latest Apatow widget off the conveyor belt:
Forgetting
Sarah Marshall
Surprisingly, I enjoyed
this film, albeit grudgingly. It is filled with low-brow, buffoonish and
slapstick humor which appeals to the child in most of us, but a work of art it
is not.
The plot is simple and
direct. Peter (Jason Segel, who wrote the script) composes music for a
television crime show starring his girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell).
When Sarah tells Peter that she is leaving him for another guy, Peter goes into
a state of depression and decides to take a Hawaiian vacation. Would you
believe that he not only ends up in the same hotel where Sarah and her new
English boyfriend, Aldous (Russell Brand), are staying, but he is booked in an
adjacent room?
During his vacation, Peter
meets and has an affair with a hotel employee, Rachel (Mila Kunis). Along the
way, slapstick scenes include his half-brother, Brian (Bill Hader), a surfing
instructor, Chuck (Paul Rudd), and a restaurant employee, Matthes (Jonah Hill),
who wants to write rock music.
How it all ends and who
ends up with whom will only be known to you if you decide to see this limited
soap opera. I questioned why I enjoyed this picture containing lewd scenes and
coarse dialogue and came to the conclusion that there is a little low brow in
most of us; hopefully, not too much. I believe you will enjoy the movie as
well.
The cast was totally unknown
to me, but one of my movie companions recognized a number of the actors from
television programs. They all played their parts superbly, with Russell Brand
being the best in the flick and the one with the best one-liners. None were
required to elicit anything from the audience but laughter, which is not always
an easy assignment.
HS said: "Sarah
Marshall" is one of the funniest movies I've seen in years. It is
a great feeling to laugh without forcing yourself, and this movie gives you a
chance to do that. Of course, it's ridiculous, but that's part of
the show. In jokes, animals talk. You know they really can't, but that
doesn't stop you from enjoying the joke. The Hawaiian scenery is lovely,
the young actors are enthusiastic. The Brit rocker is great, the lead actor,
Jason Segel, who wrote the original screenplay, is endearing, both before and
after his towel drops. The women are suitably kindly or tough as the occasion
requires. The best line begins, "You broke my heart…," but
that's all you'll get from me. See if you pick up on it. Enjoy.
Heh: "There is a little low brow in
most of us." Koch is so wise! But he had no patience for Mamet's chop-socky.
Redbelt
Three words describe this
David Mamet film: awful, awful, and awful. Of the movies that opened this
week, it rivaled "Iron Man," starring Robert Downey, Jr., for
attention. Since I usually find flicks featuring comic-book-type superheroes
disappointing, I decided to see "Redbelt." I'm a reasonably
intelligent person, but I did not understand the plot or subplots of this
ridiculous picture.
The lead character, Mike
(Chiwetel Ejiofor), teaches the Japanese martial art of Jujutsu at a Los Angeles martial arts academy
which he runs with his wife, Sondra (Alice Braga). Other characters include
Mike's student, Joe (Max Martini), a Hollywood actor looking for thrills,
Chet (Tim Allen), his wife, Zena (Rebecca Pidgeon), and businessmen Jerry (Joe
Mantegna) and Marty (Ricky Jay).
Mike, a man of high moral
character, is troubled by personal and financial problems. When a stranger
enters the gym and shoots out the window, the action begins. Only one person in
my party, HG, understood the underlying connection of the disparate parts, which
he said was a "Salute to Honor Above All."
When deciding to see this
film, I was taken in by the Times critic, Manohla Dargis, who wrote: "In
Redbelt, David Mamet has taken a sturdy B-movie conceit – a good
man versus the bad world, plus blood – tricked it out with his rhythms,
his corrosive words and misanthropy, and come up with a satisfying,
unexpectedly involving B-movie that owes as much to old Hollywood as to Greek
tragedy."
If you like martial arts
films, rent or see a Kung Fu picture, which usually has an understandable plot
and an excellent display of the Chinese martial arts. You'll enjoy it
more than this Mamet movie.
