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Movie Reviews From A Family Perspective
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titles released after July 2005.
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Ratatouille
Run, Fatboy, Run
Rush Hour 3
RV
Patton
Oswalt, Brian Dennehy, Brad Garrett, Janeane Garofalo, Ian Holm, Peter
O'Toole, John Ratzenberger. Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios.
Adventure, Animation, Comedy. Written by Emily Cook, Kathy Greenberg, Jan
Pinkava. Directed by Brad Bird and Jan Pinkava. Opens 6/29/07
REVIEW: Pixar Animation Studios is difficult to beat. The artists and business associates seem to represent the same fun-loving spirit once found at Warner Bros., when all those Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck cartoons were obviously made to make themselves laugh. Ratatouille displays that same inventiveness and whimsy. The short that comes before it is hysterical and the main feature is witty, involving and tops in animation.
For me, there's just one drawback. The film is about a rat with human characteristics, a rat who wants to become a chef. A rat who moves about a restaurant - touching food. Well, we accepted Mickey Mouse, why not Remy the rat, right? Sorry, but my sensibilities wouldn't take me that far. We live in a politically correct atmosphere where people are labeled with the word "phobic" if you show signs of dislike for sin. So we writers have to be very careful how we express our displeasure with abnormality. But come on, this is a rat - in a restaurant! Touching food!!
By the time Remy let all his tail-baring pals inside the restaurant kitchen, most of my colleagues were just as nauseated as I. I kept thinking, this is a strange concept. Of course, Charlotte's Web made us feel for a pig and a spider. That story was full of symbolism, a parable about finding worth in those different than yourself. But that was only one pig. And one spider. Not hundreds of rodents invading where we eat. Sometimes, a spider is more than a spider. But a rat is always a rat. A disgusting rat.
There are positive messages contained in the storyline and the filmmaking is top drawer, but for me the concept is, dare I say it again, disgusting. That said, I think today's film-going kids are so used to disgusting imagery that this probably won't be upsetting. We're becoming more accepting, evidently, even of rats.
G (seeing a rat in her restaurant, an old lady starts banging away at it with her shotgun; it is an amusing scene, with the house getting shot to pieces, but very little ones might be frightened by the loud shots and the action; people are always trying to kill the rat, imagine that; wine is served all the time; after all, it's epicurean feasts and it's France; at one point, a character is tricked into getting drunk; it is played for laughs and furthers the plot).
Running Time: approx. 1 hr. 30 min.
Intended Audience: Family.
Five years ago Dennis (Simon Pegg) was at the altar about to marry Libby (Thandie Newton), his pregnant fiancée. He got cold feet and ran for the hills and he’s been going in circles ever since. When Dennis discovers Libby’s hooked up with go-getter Whit (Hank Azaria), he realizes it’s now or never. He enters a marathon to show he’s more than a quitter. Dennis knows this is his only hope to be more than a running joke.
REVIEW: The film is a hit and miss, mostly because of its star, Simon Pegg (The Good Night, Hot Fuzz). Mr. Pegg can be both funny and sincere, but like most of his contemporaries, he often resorts to crudity for the sake of a cheap laugh (example: a huge blister on the bottom of his foot is popped, the pus spraying out, covering the face of his horrified friend). And that’s the film’s main drawback – it all too often settles for the cheap joke rather than witty comedy of manners.
Mind you, Simon Pegg is talented. But the sensibilities of both filmmakers and film-goers has changed since the invention of the cinema. As a society, we’re grown so accustomed to crude movie humor that we don’t seem to realize or mind that it’s the easiest way to get a laugh. It’s lazy, but evidently acceptable.
Read the content of Run Fat Boy Run. If the content sounds a trifle uncouth, then try renting the following DVD Alternatives, each about ne’er-do-wells trying to better themselves: The Court Jester with Danny Kaye, or Peter Seller’s A Shot in the Dark, the second of his Inspector Clouseau comedies, considered his best of the Pink Panther series. Caution: A Shot in the Dark has a few adult situations not suitable for children, but handled with enough discretion for adults.
Run, Fat Boy, Run is rated PG-13 (several crude sexual remarks and many coarse visuals such as a man with jock itch scratching himself in public; a man teaching his son to make rude sounds; a couple of obscene jesters, including one from a kid; blister popping; six or so obscenities; two profane uses of God’s name – by the film’s villain; some slapstick and a comical fight scene; it is implied that a couple is sleeping together, but no graphic sexual situations; backside male nudity – in several scenes, played for laughs; a couple of raw sexual conversations; several characters smoke and drink throughout, but the lead character finally manages to take responsibility for maintaining a proper diet and caring for the maintenance of his physical shape).
Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan. New Line. Action/comedy. Written
by Jeff Nathanson. Directed by Brett Ratner.
FILM SYNOPSIS: This time around, the two odd-couple detectives travel to Paris to battle a Chinese organized-crime family. Comic insults, car chases and martial arts battles ensue.
REVIEW: After a summer load of “three-quels” I’m convinced that the majority of moviegoers are no longer looking for new and inventive, just familiar and formulaic. By now no one is going to see this franchise looking for story, or even character development. They just want to see another coupling of Tucker and Chan. Well, the Abbott and Costello of the martial arts genre have returned. Chan looks older and Tucker thicker, but everything else remains the same: super thin plot, comic buddy formula, and crude and profane language mixed with death-defying stunts. Implausible, even silly.
PG-13 (there are some crude remarks, mostly of a sexual nature
sprinkled throughout;
around 10 uses of the s-word and several minor expletives; a scene involving
the interrogation of a French speaking criminal includes a nun, Tucker and
the bad guy using crude or offensive name-calling; it is a funny scene, but
be warned, it does get foul; Tucker profanes God’s name twice and in
a moment of fear burst out a comic rant that includes a near blasphemous remark;
the film is loaded with high octane car chases, gun battles and martial arts
beatings; there is a lightness to the production that suggests the action is
cartoonish and not to be taken seriously; that said, most films aimed at the
summer audience have included the same excessive material over and over; there
is also one jolting car explosion; there is one sexual situation, but the film
is loaded with sexuality, including women is various stages of undress and
the heroes leering at them;
no nudity, but we do see a line of dancers from behind dressed in little more
than thong bikinis; several sexual innuendos and conversations about sexual
activity).
Running Time: 85 min.
Intended Audience: Older teens and above.
Cast:
Robin Williams, Jeff Daniels, Cheryl Hines, Kristin Chenoweth, Joanna “Jojo” Levesque,
Josh Hutcherson. Sony Pictures/Columbia. Family adventure/comedy. Written
by Geoff Rodkey. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Opens 4/28/06
A workaholic executive persuades his wife and kids to give up their Hawaiian vacation for some “family bonding” on a cross-country RV trip. Havoc ensues as they deal with cramped traveling quarters, teen angst and a bizarre family of fellow campers.
Chevy Chase nearly destroyed the family vacation genre with his National Lampoon series. Besides becoming more lame-brained with each sequel, each of those films was so full of sexual innuendo and crudity that parents found they couldn’t take their children to see them. Why make a family film you can’t take the family to? Now, we all know, Robin Williams is no stranger to coarseness, but in this film the toilet humor is used more as observational humor than in your face excess. (Four people in a recreational vehicle containing only one bathroom, well, that’s going to lead to poop parody.)
The poop humor must be addressed, for fecal farce is certainly a staple to the film’s comic energy, the main joke surrounding the visual gag of a backed-up septic tank. Also, there is the affectionate name given the ugly coach by the family (I won’t say it here, but it rhymes with “bird.”) The kids in the audience, including many an adolescent husband, found these offerings amusing.
Bodily functions aside, there are two elements that raise this family flick above most – Robin Williams and Barry Sonnenfeld. Williams is a combination of bonafide comic genius and fine film actor. And director Sonnenfeld, a former director of photography, has helmed several funny films including The Addams Family, Get Shorty, and Men in Black. Both have had failures, to be sure, but RV is not one of them. With just the right balance of thoughtful wit, juvenile slapstick and sincere family bonding, RV is silly for sure, but oh so funny.
Video alternative or addition, depending on your willingness to accept some crude sight gags: Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation. James Stewart takes the family to the beach for the summer in this new to DVD comedy classic. Made in 1963, today’s teens may have difficulty relating to their counterparts, but Stewart is hysterical. And unlike today’s comedies, Mr. Stewart’s film lacks any toilet humor.
PG (There is a great deal of humor revolving around human waste. A few minor expletives, but other than one SOB and one b-word, the filmmakers avoid harsh language. The expression “Oh my god” is said several times, but no other misuse of God’s name or Christ’s. There are several slapstick situations, but no real hostile behavior. I caught two crude sexual innuendoes that will most likely go over the heads of the youngest audience members. Brief scene with social drinking. There’s a lot of teen attitude, but eventually the family is drawn together. Lessons are taught about not judging a book by its cover and the importance of family).
Running
Time: 90 min.
Intended Audience: Family
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