Little Fockers

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Part 3 of the Meet the Parents franchise introduces the idea of passing the head-of-family baton, as Jack Byrnes' (Robert De Niro) health is threatened, and he takes it upon himself to figure out if Greg/Gaylord Focker (Ben Stiller) has what it takes to be the new GodFocker.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Owen Wilson, Teri Polo, Jessica Alba, Blythe Danner, Dustin Hoffman, Barbara Streisand, Daisy Tahan, Colin Baiocchi, Laura Dern, Kevin Hart, Tom McCarthy, Harvey Keitel

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. The best thing I can say about this movie is that it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. So, if you're into this series, definitely give it a whirl.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: I imagine that if you are into this series, you'll laugh at just about anything.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: I imagine that if you are into this series, you're looking for an easy laugh because your real life is making you cry just about as much as you can handle.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Ensemble cast most likely to get my mother to see a movie that she would never have any interest in seeing. Award goes to De Niro, Hoffman, and Streisand, for making up a cast list that might fool the undiscerning eye into thinking this will be a serious movie for grown ups.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: The only thing Ben Stiller's character has in common with the guy he played in the first Meet the Parents is his face. The character, who used to be insecure and concerned about pleasing, is suddenly confident and in control. But I'm not sure you're allowed to change your characters in ways that real humans are incapable of changing, just because 10 years have gone by since the first movie. Do the filmmakers think we've forgotten what he's supposed to be like? If anything, it's they who have forgotten-- about the advent of DVD, and repeats of old movies on TV, which make it possible for us to have seen the original as recently as this morning. Owen Wilson's character, has also gone through a complete metamorphosis since the first movie. Which is mostly surprising because Owen Wilson really only has one character in his toolbox.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Considering Paul Weitz's amazing track record casting unknown, young actors in such movies as American Pie and About a Boy, I would've expected him to find more interesting kids to play the little Fockers.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The premise is thin, forced and played out, but within that, the writers manage keep it moving and even insert a few laughable jokes here and there... The funniest of which is the complete character shifts for Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. Well, at least Robert De Niro is still the same one note guy!

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Little Fockers Trailer

Back To Top

Adventureland

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: After graduating from college, James Bennan (Jesse Eisenberg) discovers that his parents can no longer afford to send him on vacation to Europe, and instead he’s going to have to get a summer job at Adventureland, running games and giving out stuffed toys to the winners.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Martin Starr, Matt Bush, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Paige Howard, Dan Bittner, Margarita Levieva, Wendie Malick, Jack Gilpin, Michael Zegen, Mary Birdsong, Josh Pais

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. What they’re selling as a comedy from the director of Superbad is actually a coming of age drama about a boy falling in love and smoking dope at work—but not in a funny way, like on That 70’s Show. It takes place in 1987, and is obviously a semi-autobiographical trip down memory lane for writer-director Greg Mattola, but the angst that he must have felt that summer, does not translate in a visceral way to the audience, so aside from the soundtrack—which includes everything 1987, from David Bowie to The Cure to Husker Du—this film won’t feel nearly as nostalgic for anyone who wasn’t actually one of Mattola’s co-workers that fateful—or maybe average-- summer.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Not nearly as much as you expect it to. But then again, Kristen Wiig has about 3 good minutes of screen time, so that at least guarantees 2 ½ minutes of laughter. What I’m saying is that everything she does is funny.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: More like, wanna eat a pot cookie and then a huge plate of pasta, while discussing your future with your parents.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: : I’m gonna give Kristen Stewart the award for Most Interchangeable Performance by an Actress. If she had shot her pouty and brooding performance up against a blue screen, they could easily use it for the sequel to Twilight.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig are hardly in it enough. But Martin Starr (who played the guy growing out his beard in Knocked Up) is a good character with an original voice.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: There are some parts where the movie drags and it could’ve been paced up in editing, because as you can tell from this sentence, a thing can get boring very fast, even when it’s only dragging on for a minute here or there, and it feels like too much because it’s still going, and you don’t really care anymore, because you’ve checked out and you’re thinking about something else now, like your high school sweetheart, or what you’d like to eat as soon as you’re not reading this sentence, or something that you like, or maybe that you don’t like, wow, I could do this forever, but I think you would all stop reading my reviews if I don’t just stop now.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The biggest problem is that there is no driving force pulling you through the movie. You only casually know what the main characters want, in the big picture. They have personal problems they’re all dealing with, none of which are truly dealt with or resolved, and yet the story has very little conflict, and hardly any obstacles standing in anyone’s way. But again, on a nostalgia level, it’s vaguely satisfying.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/adventureland/30988/trailers

Back To Top