The Switch

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: An aging woman (Jennifer Aniston) decides she's not going to wait for love to have a baby, she's going to get a sperm donor. Then, in a drunken stupor, her best friend, who happens to be a guy, (Jason Bateman) switches the donors sperm for his own, and 7 years later starts to realize that her kid is his kid.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum, Thomas Robinson, Juliette Lewis, Caroline Dhavernas, Jason Jones, Bryce Robinson

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. Despite the ridiculous premise, the moments that lead to each implausible beat make a lot of sense.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: I had a couple of good ones, because I like to laugh at children.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: A much less cool fact about me is I tend to cry at children, too.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: First movie about a woman who decides to get pregnant on her own, since The Back-up Plan. Hey, it's been 4 months, we were due for another one, right?

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Jeff Goldblum is the stand out, and also plays the perfect best-friend. He is just the right combination of caring and giving you the space to make your own mistakes. The little boy, Thomas Robinson, is pretty impressive, too.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: For some reason, the directing in this movie feels kind of self-conscious to me. It's like they're trying really hard to do something special, but no matter how hard they try, their work refuses to go beyond run of the mill.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The hardest thing to get past (besides the premise) is Jason Bateman's character, who you feel empathetic toward, but you never really like as a love interest. You almost don't want him to end up with the girl because you know that in the long run, he would be a major drain on her life. My favorite thing about the script, though, is how you see Jennifer Aniston fall for her son, as any mother would, and the more she grows to like all of Jason Bateman's unlikeable characteristics in her own son, the more you can buy that she might grow to appreciate them in the man who spawned him.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-switch/31199/trailers

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Brothers

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: When a Marine (Tobey Maguire) goes to war and dies, his brother (Jake Gyllenhaal) takes over his role as husband to his wife (Natalie Portman). There's only one problem with their new arrangement: the Marine is still alive.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Bailee Madison, Taylor Geare, Sam Shepard, Mare Winningham, Patrick Flueger, Clifton Collins Jr., Carey Mulligan, Omid Abtahi, Ethan Suplee, Jenny Wade

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. This is a really poignant and empathetic concept, as well as a visceral depiction of post-war trauma, but it could have been doubly hard hitting if the relationship between the wife and the brother had gone further, and they didn't show us that the Marine wasn't really dead.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Jake Gyllenhaal's character is pretty witty, even in the most absurd of circumstances, and an elephant has big ears.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: If you do, it will also be because an elephant has big ears, which is really obvious to a person who is in any way mentally stable.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Tobey Maguire obviously took this role with awards consideration in mind, and while his "work" is visible (maybe even a little too visible), he gets acted out of the water by 10-year-old, Bailee Madison. That's who I would love to see get an acting nomination.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Jake Gyllenhaal was more interesting than I remembered him being as an actor. But the parts that really make you think, in this one, are the supporting roles. Bailee Madison, as mentioned above, cries repeatedly and believably on cue. Taylor Geare, who's young enough to still have most of her baby teeth, looks and acts like a leading lady in the making. Jenny Wade, with only one small scene, makes a valuable impression on the family and on the film. And Patrick Flueger, whom I know but have never seen act before, does such believable work as a prisoner of war, that I was sucked into his performance to the point of actually forgetting that I knew him. And if you've ever watched anyone you know do any acting, you know that's really saying something.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Jim Sheridan is an old pro, but if I hadn't known it was his work, I wouldn't have had any way of knowing that this director had more than a couple of films under his belt. Nothing in the directing stands out as being particularly outstanding. Although I was impressed with the entire cast and crew for braving so many freezing cold looking scenes outdoors in the snow... unless those scenes were shot on a sound-stage, in which case Sheridan did a very convincing job of selling the desolate winter.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: I wish they had gone the distance with the power of the premise, and led us to believe that the Marine was dead, so that when he returned, it would have been a surprised twist that we, the audience, could have been as confused and confounded by as the characters were supposed to be. We would have been emotionally involved in the characters' inner conflict on a much more profound level if they had. And I know we need to see what happened to the Marine in Afghanistan, but they could have found other ways to do it later in the film, after the reveal-- like in a flashback. Admittedly, I'm not a huge fan of flashbacks, and they're hard to get past studio executives, but if ever there was an appropriate time for one, this was it.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/brothers/31198/trailers

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Ballast

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: When a man (Michael J. Smith Sr.) loses his brother to suicide, the teenage boy who has been robbing him for drug money (JimMyron Ross) moves in next door, and their relationship grows in new and unexpected ways.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Michael J. Smith Sr., JimMyron Ross, Tarra Riggs, Johnny McPhail

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. To the sophisticated movie goer this methodical and subtle arthouse film will be seen as a rare gem. But it's not for the short of attention span or those who don't have the patience to chip all the carbon off a diamond in the rough.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Only if you're incredibly sick and twisted. And I mean in that serial killer way.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Maybe afterwards, when you go home and think about how messed up life is for poor people in this country... And, not to be a downer, but the way things are going, we'll probably all be living like these folks soon enough, so it might do you good to see this film so as to mentally prepare yourself for what's to come.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: At Sundance it won Directing and Cinematography, and was nominated for the Grand Jury Award.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: This group of non-professionals brings an authenticity that is often missing from professional actors' performance. There is no glitz, no glamor, just a few meaningless people saying so much, with so little.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Blatantly independent, but really interesting. Little, subtle, visual touches all throughout, make this teency-tiny little film a shining example of how to tell stories without using words.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Itttttt iiiiiiiis reallllllllllly sllllllllllowwwww pppppppaced. And don't expect a self-explanatory ending. You will need to think about what the ending means, or if it means anything at all.

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