Romantic Comedy

Ever After Review

May 8, 2015 by JD Hansel

Do you know how often I give a movie four and a half stars? I’ve done over 50 movie reviews and I only gave such a rating to two of them … but today you can make that three. To be honest, I probably should have given this rating to a couple other really good movies I’ve reviewed, such as Annie Hall, but I really wanted to save such a high number for the absolute best of the best. For this reason, it is odd that I would choose to give this rating to a film that stars one of my least favorite actors in the lead role. (What, you don’t see why I don’t like Drew Barrymore? I can’t really explain it, but I find her voice pretty annoying, and the roles she plays are often the kind of characters that seem like they were written just to bug me.)

Here’s the thing: that’s pretty much the movie’s only flaw. Everything else, from the story to the dialogue to the performances to the visuals to the music, was done right. The world of the film is enchanting, the characters are delightful, and the story manages to capture all of the best elements of the story upon which it is based, Cinderella, while carefully adjusting what does not hold up. The story of “Cinderella” is a timeless one, which means it does not need an update unless something extra special will be added. Rather than adding anything too terribly brilliant or different, this film adds the basic thing that “Cinderella” lacked – a love story that’s actually a love story. And it’s a good love story at that.

The movie owes much of its success to the main character, and while I think it was the writing that made the character great, Barrymore’s performance was really not bad. The character could have been ruined by someone who lacked talent, but Barrymore’s acting talent allowed for the character to shine through in exactly the way it needed to, making aCinderella that the audience really cares about. It helped that she was doing an accent, but what really helped was the way the dialogue was written. It was done in such a way that the character is strong, smart, independent, and brave, without seeming like an annoying know-it-all. This is a fine example of the type of character I would like to see more often in cinema.

If I may note one other thing, and I do believe this is key, I think it helps to have the writer be the director, or at least have some additional control over the project so his/her vision gets across. Many of the other movie’s I’ve reviewed that I enjoyed the most had Woody Allen as both the writer and the director, or at the very least as both writer and star. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles came very close to getting four and a half stars out of me, and Silver Linings Playbook succeeded in doing so. Both of those had the writer direct as well. Perhaps this is just the wishful thinking of a screenwriting control freak, but I want to see this become common practice.

Sleepless in Seattle Review

February 26, 2015 by JD Hansel

I find this movie to be simply pleasant. There isn’t much about it that is spectacular, but nothing about it is necessarily bad. It has a very nice soundtrack, and not a bad plot, but both of these are shamelessly borrowed from other movies. Still, it makes it sentimental in a way that I think is okay.

The characters are likable enough, and they’re written pretty well. Their motives and desires are pretty understandable and relatable. The one thing that bugs me is that the movie talks enough about destiny, magic, and fate to make the audience accept that these are all working in favor of the protagonist, and we are supposed to like that. This gives the writers “permission” to fill the sucker with Dius ex machina, while also showing faith in destiny to be a very positive thing, with which I personally disagree. This kind of comes across as lazy writing, especially since it’s the writer’s job to make it seem like nothing can possibly work out for the protagonist, and this movie seems to proclaim from the beginning that destiny’s going to ensure that everything works out.

For that reason, and the fact that the plot doesn’t strike me as anything absolutely outstanding, I think the movie is a little weak. However, in its simplicity it manages to be remarkably pleasant, and I see why it’s a classic.

Silver Linings Playbook Review

January 17, 2015 by JD Hansel

(MAJOR SPOILERS)

How does this film get away with so many problems? The main character makes stupid decisions and obsesses over a game in which I have no interest. One of the main turning points is meant to be a surprise, even though it is rather predictable. The movie suddenly shifts point of view in the third act, making the ending confusing. While on the subject of the ending, it’s very cliché, with the male lead running down the streets to make up for the sadness he brought her, and then read her a letter confessing his love for her. Oh, and writers are advised not to overuse profanity as it is generally used for shock value to cover up a lack of genuinely interesting content. So why do I adore this movie?

It all boils down to a great high concept that was executed with strong characters and very effective storytelling.

The “high concept,” also known as the strange attractor, is the basic concept of the film summed up in a sentence or two, which has a unique, compelling intrigue. This film had me with the description on Netflix, which does not always do a good job when it comes to describing the film, since it rarely gives viewers the high concept or log line as it probably should. However, read this one: “After a stint in a mental hospital, Pat moves in with his parents and tries to win back his wife, until he meets a woman who’s as unstable as he is.” So, so, so compelling and intriguing.

However, it only works if the characters are interesting, and I think I was interested in the main character, Pat, right away. I understand exactly what it’s like to obsess over people and things that I should just forget about, and I was totally with him when he woke up his parents to rant about the book he just read. (For me, it’s a bad film, or a mostly great film with a bad ending, that makes me just about scream and punch the wall sometimes.) Somewhere in the middle of the movie, I get kind of tired of him making stupid decisions like going to the Eagles game, and I start to get annoyed with the character from whose perspective I am supposed to be seeing the story, which is a big problem. But, by that point, Tiffany is a big presence in the film, and between the writing and the performance, I found her to be the more interesting character anyway. At the end of the day, she is the character with whom I empathize, and she is the one I want to see happy more than anyone else. This, I think, is why I did not mind it too much when the movie shifted to her perspective – I was more interested in her perspective before the shift occurred.

Now that we are on the subject of story structure, I think that the story is well-built. There were a couple of times when I actually had a hard time figuring out how to interpret what I was seeing or hearing, but I figured it out eventually. Really, it just required thinking a little bit, but I imagine I would not have had this problem had I not watched it in pieces over many nights. One could question whether or not the love story really works well since we do not necessarily see the development of the relationship of the two leads to quite the degree one would expect if we are to believe that they gradually fall in love throughout the movie. Also, if by the end of the film we see everything from Tiffany’s perspective, then I think the dance competition should be of more value to her than it is to Pat’s family, but with the way the story is written, that is not the case. Instead, we know that Tiffany has had an interested in the dance competition, but we do not know just how much it means to her, making the ending of the film a victory for the side characters rather than the girl who has suddenly become the lead. (This would not be an issue had the point of view not changed, which would not have been necessary if the protagonist had been more likable, so I still claim that Pat’s lack of likability mid-way through is the movie’s greatest fault, and even then, it is not a huge one.)

Overall, the story is decent, and the characters are impressive, but what could give the film a special edge? A great soundtrack. The soundtrack to this movie is just awesome. It features some of the most emotional songs ever recorded. The use of “Maria” from West Side Story is oddly perfect, and while they did not go with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s jazz recording of the song, which is my favorite version, I love the fact that they used Dave Brubeck’s cover. I love Dave Brubeck, and his music appears multiple times in the film. Additionally, “Misty” by Johnny Mathis is so gorgeous, and it was also used in the film at just the perfect time. Now let’s talk about the song that the movie features the most, “My Cherie Amour.” This is one of the greatest songs ever recorded, and it has the magical ability to grab listeners and suck them into its sweet sadness, and then drown them in the intense emotion. Such an amazing song, and once again, the movie used it to the perfect effect. Well done, movie.

I must confess that, like the professor who never gives anyone an A, I almost never give movies more than four and a half stars, even if I really like them a lot. This is because I have reserved five stars for my favorite movie of all time, and four and a half for movies that come close. While this movie has some serious flaws, it has the miraculous ability to make me love it anyway. This movie created incredibly close aesthetic distance by the end in a way that reminds me of Play It Again Sam. It moved me emotionally to the point that I was on the edge of my seat at the very end of the film, hoping and praying that everything would work out between the leads, with the horrible fear that the movie made take a turn for the artistic and end on a downer. Then, when they kissed, I finally sat back and let out a sigh of relief. I was so impacted, that I had to go for a walk to ponder it (around midnight) so I had a chance of getting to sleep.

So, while I may really, really regret this, movie, I think I’ll be nice and give you the bonus half a star. Well done.

Amelie Review

August 2, 2014 by JD Hansel

For those of you who’ve never heard of it, Amélie is the 2001 French film that inspired the Travelocity commercials featuring the garden gnome. It’s about a young woman whose life seems rather empty, so she starts trying to do good deeds to make the world a better place. It’s all in French, so you’ll have to watch it with subtitles if you don’t speak that language, and since I never ever watch movies for which I must do that, I was interested in giving it a try. I’m glad that I did, because it was quite an experience.

Naturally, a concept for a film like the concept I described would make one question if the story is any good, but it actually is quite clever. It all builds well and interconnects, keeping the audience interested and providing a satisfying ending. What’s neat about it is its unique and bizarre style, with artistic special effects used throughout in a way that no American comedy would try. If you appreciate very strange and weird comedies, or different approaches to film-making, I think you’ll really like this film. It’s certainly done very well.