Movie Review: “Snatched”

Starring
Amy Schumer, Goldie Hawn, Wanda Sykes, Joan Cusack, Tom Bateman, Ike Barinholtz, Christopher Meloni
Director
Jonathan Levine

“Snatched” is very light on its feet. Even at 90 minutes, director Jonathan Levine’s comedy can wear thin, but it’s not without some kind-hearted laughs. Plus, as mother and daughter, Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn are able to keep the comedy afloat even when it struggles to find momentum.

Emily (Schumer) is a little dissatisfied with her life. After losing her job and getting dumped by her boyfriend, all she has to look forward to is a vacation for two in Ecuador that she was meant to take with her ex. After a funny and relatable exchange with her mother Linda (Hawn) over her single relationship status on Facebook, Emily pays her a visit, which Linda thinks she only does when she wants something. They both love each other but have grown distant since Emily left home. After all her friends turn down the trip, however, Emily asks her mom to come along. Linda is happy to stay at the resort and read her book while her daughter parties with James (Tom Bateman), who she met at a bar earlier that day, but when James takes Linda and Emily out for an adventure, the mother and daughter get kidnapped. They manage to escape, but trouble continues to chase them throughout the jungle.

The film begins with a misleading text that makes us assume Emily and Linda are about to go on an insane adventure, but it never gets as crazy or as funny as one would hope with Schumer and Hawn on the run from criminals. In fact, the R-rated comedy often plays it safe, sometimes feeling more like a PG-13 film, although Emily and her mom’s South American adventure goes to some genuine places.

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Movie Review: “Going in Style”

Starring
Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin, Ann-Margret, Joey King, Matt Dillon, John Ortiz, Christopher Lloyd
Director
Zach Braff

Zach Braff must be desperate for work; it’s the only logical reason why he would agree to direct a remake of 1979’s “Going in Style,” a movie so unmemorable that most people have never even heard of it. It’s completely out of character for a filmmaker like Braff, whose first two features (“Garden State” and “Wish I Was Here”) were such deeply personal pieces of work that it’s very surprising to see him slumming it as a director-for-hire. Then again, he probably couldn’t resist the opportunity to work alongside three Hollywood legends, and it’s hard to blame him, because the casting of Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Alan Arkin is pretty much the only thing that this movie has going for it.

The actors play a trio of lifelong friends and former co-workers who have just been informed that their pension fund at the local steel factory is being dissolved, leaving the already financially-strapped retirees in a tough spot. Without a pension to pay his mortgage, Joe (Caine) is at risk of losing the home that he shares with his daughter and grandchild to bank foreclosure, and Willie (Freeman) is in desperate need of a kidney transplant that his insurance won’t cover. The curmudgeonly Albert (Arkin), meanwhile, has practically given up on life already, despite the romantic advances of peppy supermarket clerk Annie (Ann-Margaret). But when Joe witnesses a bank robbery in progress and gets the idea to pull a heist of his own, he convinces Willie and Albert to help him rob the bank that’s responsible for screwing them over.

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Movie Review: “T2 Trainspotting”

Starring
Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner, Robert Carlyle, Anjela Nedyalkova, Kelly Macdonald
Director
Danny Boyle

Let’s set aside, for the moment, the fact that “T2 Trainspotting” is one of the most unnecessary sequels the world has ever seen. Instead, let’s discuss my pitch for what that sequel would look like:

Sick Boy and Begbie find Renton and spend the entire film beating him to death. Roll credits.

As it turns out, that is not far off from the reality. “T2 Trainspotting” is the culmination of a lifetime of bad decisions and the influence that they have on a person even when they know it’s time to make better ones. If “Trainspotting” was equal parts tragic and upbeat, “T2” is mostly pathetic, capped by a long-overdue dose of karma. That it still manages to be entertaining despite looking, sounding and feeling exactly like the original film is to the great credit of director Danny Boyle, with slightly less credit to screenwriter John Hodge for reasons which will soon become apparent.

Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) returns to his childhood home of Edinburgh for the first time after stealing £16,000 from his junkie friends 20 years earlier. Life for those friends, sadly, is more of the same. His former bestie Simon “Sick Boy” Williamson (Jonny Lee Miller) is working extortion schemes with the help of pretty Bulgarian Veronika (Anjela Nedyalkova), while Daniel “Spud” Murphy (Ewen Bremner), having recently lost his job, is attempting suicide via overdose when Mark visits and subsequently saves him, much to Spud’s chagrin.

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Movie Review: “Table 19”

Starring
Anna Kendrick, Wyatt Russell, June Squibb, Craig Robinson, Lisa Kudrow, Stephen Merchant, Tony Revolori
Director
Jeffrey Blitz

Many movies have been made about weddings both joyous and disastrous, but very few actually get them right, and Jeffrey Blitz’s indie dramedy, “Table 19,” is not one of them. A top-to-bottom misfire that feels like it was made by people who have never been to a real wedding in their lives, the film relies on the same tired clichés that you only see in the movies. As a result, “Table 19” reaches sitcom levels of absurdity at times and is almost completely devoid of any characters that behave like real people. It’s also a relatively uneventful and humorless affair, although one that’s made somewhat watchable by the casting of Anna Kendrick in the lead role.

The actress stars as Eloise McGarry, a recently single millennial who steps down as her best friend’s maid of honor after being dumped by the best man and brother of the bride, Teddy (Wyatt Russell), via text message. Refusing to let the breakup stand in the way of her attending the wedding reception as a regular guest, Eloise arrives to discover that she’s been seated at the “randoms” table in the back of the ballroom with a group of social misfits, including the bride’s childhood nanny Jo (June Squibb), married diner owners Jerry and Bina Kepp (Craig Robinson and Lisa Kudrow), oddball cousin Walter (Stephen Merchant) and horny teenager Rezno (Tony Revolori). While Eloise isn’t comfortable having complete strangers poke around in her personal business, as the night progresses and secrets are revealed, she forms an unlikely friendship with her tablemates.

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Movie Review: “Get Out”

Starring
Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford
Director
Jordan Peele

Jordan Peele’s first foray behind the camera as a director is funny, thrilling and often frightening. The writer-director balances an array of tones, bringing them together seamlessly in a movie with a lot to offer. “Get Out” is a film that works on many levels. It’s a surprisingly thoughtful and relevant thriller with plenty of ideas to go along with the scares and laughs.

The problem with writing about “Get Out” is that many of its strengths lie in the third act, where questions are answered and storylines are paid off in satisfying and unexpected ways. But part of the appeal of Peele’s debut is that it’s hardly predictable. When Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) goes to spend the weekend with his white girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) and her parents, it’s not easy to predict everything that’s about to happen. Her parents, Dean (Bradley Whitford) and Missy Armitage (Catherine Keener), aren’t always welcoming, which is likely why Rose didn’t tell them that her new boyfriend was black. But while Chris is willing to forgive Dean’s racially insensitive remarks, as the weekend progresses, he stumbles upon a terrifying discovery that puts his life in danger.

Peele’s vision for a thriller doesn’t involve characters making terrible decisions to move the story along. Chris and his best friend Rod (the terrific LilRel Howery) are sometimes even a few steps ahead of the antagonists. Though Rod isn’t present for the horrors that take place at the Armitage home, he’s worried about his friend, checking in on him every once in a while to make sure he’s okay. When he realizes everything is far from all right, he makes the right call, like Chris often does in the movie.

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