who would you cast in a film about an aging man who pathetically still tries to nail everything in a skirt no matter the relation to himself or loved ones? c'mon, can't be too difficult.
michael douglas playing this role was a little ( lotta ) too on point."solitary man" is a natural progression after his infamous sex trilogy- "fatal attraction", "disclosure", and "basic instinct". it's the epilogue as it were. there is even one scene in which he bangs a girl up against a wall ala he and jeanne tripplehorn in "basic instinct", although there is no sex in an elevator or on office equipment.
what those 3 earlier films had going for them is young hot people in believable hook ups. what this films has is a high squirm factor- in capital letters SQUIRM- and i hate captial letters!! my brain was screaming SQUIRM and at one point i actually said "no!" out loud in the theater- me who shushes noisy chewers!!
danny devito plays a college buddy who's still willing to take him in when he's out on the streets and my favorite performance was mary louse-parker as the rich society maven who exacts her pound of flesh when she's crossed. writer and co director brian koppelman neatly gives this characterless character an event to excuse his behavior so that sappy exwife susan sarandon takes him back- but life just aint that sweet and ass holes this big just don't land so softly after crapping on so many people for so many years.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
please give ( or counting my blessings)
i enjoy opportunities on tv or movies to recognize streets or shops i've visited on trips to manhattan, blessedly this gave me something to do while watching writer/director nicole holofener's slice of life film, "please give".
catherine keener, oliver platt, amanda peet, drag along catherine's younger sister elizabeth, rebecca hall and ann morgan guilbert (formerly millie helper on the dick van dyke show and yetta rosenberg on the nanny) on this long, slow death march towards pointless. along with sight seeing, i spent a lot of time wondering if rebecca hall is related to scarlett johanson- the resemblence was distracting- blessing number two.
this is a film ( i can't call it a story ) that follows a group of people who interact because an old lady(guilbert) who's attended to by two grand daughters (hall and peet) living next to a couple(older keener and platt) with a daughter (keener the younger) is on death's door. when the grandmother dies the couple will knock out the adjoining wall of the two apartments to enlarge their own. this death watch fits right in with the couples chosen profession- selling vintage furniture bought from the heirs of the newly deceased. these ghouls live and breathe death, so it's no surprise when the wife starts showing symptoms of deep, deep depression. the surprise would have been if she was ever anything else but.
the third blessing of this morbid movie was the discovery that ann morgan guilbert ( i like her) is still alive and kicking which is ironic as hers is the only character who actually dies. this film begs the questions- who green lighted this turkey? was is really the best project vying for funding? i have to believe it wasn't and that there is some twisted reason i blessedly will never know why people put so much effort into something so unworthy.
catherine keener, oliver platt, amanda peet, drag along catherine's younger sister elizabeth, rebecca hall and ann morgan guilbert (formerly millie helper on the dick van dyke show and yetta rosenberg on the nanny) on this long, slow death march towards pointless. along with sight seeing, i spent a lot of time wondering if rebecca hall is related to scarlett johanson- the resemblence was distracting- blessing number two.
this is a film ( i can't call it a story ) that follows a group of people who interact because an old lady(guilbert) who's attended to by two grand daughters (hall and peet) living next to a couple(older keener and platt) with a daughter (keener the younger) is on death's door. when the grandmother dies the couple will knock out the adjoining wall of the two apartments to enlarge their own. this death watch fits right in with the couples chosen profession- selling vintage furniture bought from the heirs of the newly deceased. these ghouls live and breathe death, so it's no surprise when the wife starts showing symptoms of deep, deep depression. the surprise would have been if she was ever anything else but.
the third blessing of this morbid movie was the discovery that ann morgan guilbert ( i like her) is still alive and kicking which is ironic as hers is the only character who actually dies. this film begs the questions- who green lighted this turkey? was is really the best project vying for funding? i have to believe it wasn't and that there is some twisted reason i blessedly will never know why people put so much effort into something so unworthy.
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