Horrible Bosses 2

With the comedy genre maybe more than any other successful genre, I think the sequel can be a dangerous thing. What was funny about the first one? Can that success and formula be duplicated? Are things tweaked too much or not enough? I'm looking at you Hangover trilogy. Would anyone be truly sad if that series had ended after the first flick? Nope, it's a classic. So what about this follow-up? Let's see where 2014's Horrible Bosses 2 stands.

After avoiding the debacle that was trying to kill their bosses at work, Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day) have moved onto bigger and better things. In fact, the trio of friends have gone into business together, developing a shower product that seems ready to take off on the market. They just need a buyer, and they seem to have found one in Bert Hanson (Christoph Waltz), a powerful executive with a catalog featuring an open spot for their product. Well, he did. He takes advantage of these business novices and leaves them high and dry, stealing their product right out from under them. They've invested all their money into the business, and now they are just days away from the company and their product being foreclosed on. What to do? The three wannabe crooks head back to a life of crime. No, it's not murder this time around. They're going to kidnap Hanson's son and get enough money to pay off their loan with the ransom. What could possibly go wrong?

Released back in 2011, Horrible Bosses was a solid, funny comedy with a cool premise and a fun cast. I gave it 3 stars but still can't quite put my finger on it. The first movie was really funny but missing that special something. I'll be giving this 2014 sequel the same rating -- 3 stars -- but it's better. From director Sean Anders, 'Bosses 2' feels more comfortable in its own skin. It's a funny premise again where just about everything that can go wrong will go wrong. But here's the guts of it. I laughed a lot at this one. I laughed out loud. I laughed a lot more than I did with the original. I still struggle to review comedies at times, but this one's easy. I was entertained throughout and a goofy premise and fun cast provides some great laughs. And in sequel mode, it tries something different, not necessarily going for status quo. Yes, kidnapping is different than murder, and that's what I'm counting as different. Deal with it.

This one's pretty simple. Do you like Bateman, Sudeikis and Day? Do you like them working together? If you answered 'Yes,' then you're safe. If you answered 'No,' then this might not be the movie for you. Their on-screen chemistry is easy and funny and does a good job showing three friends who have been friends forever. They've got a rhythm when they talk, inside jokes like Dale insisting he always sits in the middle of the backseat ("I always sit in the middle!") and a history that's far before anything we see in either movie. Bateman is the quiet, usually frustrated leader, Sudeikis the kinda off the wall sidekick, and Day (to quote It's Always Sunny) is the wildcard. You just have to go along with things. Forced to take drastic measures, this trio of friends decides kidnapping (or 'kidnaping' maybe) is their best option. Let's do this!

The rest of the cast is excellent as well, bringing back some familiar faces while introducing some fresh blood. Waltz is underused as the money-minded, calculating businessman so the best addition to the cast is his son, Rex, played to perfection by Chris Pine. One of the big rising stars in Hollywood, Pine just brings this crazy, frenetic energy to the part, especially when he takes the lead in his own kidnapping. His chemistry with the kidnapping trio is perfect throughout, especially their scene planning how to pull it off. Returning from the original are Jennifer Aniston as Dale's former boss, a sex addict who takes a keen interest in what Dale and Co. are up to, Jamie Foxx as "Motherf****r" Jones, the trio's criminal muse, and Kevin Spacey as Nick's former boss, now locked up but still offering advice to the bumbling crooks. Cool to see those three back for more shenanigans.

The humor at times is pretty dirty, and a handful of times the seeming improvisation tries too hard. They're going for a big laugh, and it just isn't there, especially when the three friends throw their voices to call with ransom demands. For the most part though, the dead on arrival laughs are over pretty quickly, getting back to the goofy fun. I liked the whole movie a lot, but felt like it really hit its stride in the last hour when Pine's Rex gets involved with the kidnapping plot. Their brainstorming session is a great montage, and when we see how their plan is supposed to work....well, we know it won't. The actual kidnapping and ransom drop is dumb and fun and goofy. Stay tuned through the early parts of the credits too for some good laughs as we see all the flubs during filming.

Definitely worth seeking out. Fun cast, very funny sequel.

Horrible Bosses 2 (2014): ***/****

We're the Millers

It's hard to mess up a good road trip movie, thinking of a bunch anywhere from National Lampoon's Vacation to Little Miss Sunshine and a whole lot in between. Anything can happen on the road, and these movies have surely illustrated that point. It can be difficult to come up with a new twist for a familiar story/genre so kudos to 2013's We're the Millers for trying something unique.

A longtime and still low level pot dealer, David Clark (Jason Sudeikis) is in a bit of a spot. His stash and all the money he owes his dealer have been stolen, and David has no way to pay off his debt. Well, his dealer, Brad Gurdlinger (Ed Helms), has a solution, albeit a dangerous one. Brad has a smidge of marijuana waiting for pick-up south of the border in Mexico, and he'd like David to go pick it up and bring it back. If he does, his debts will be cleared. David agrees, but he knows this plan won't be easy. He too comes up with a solution, hiring three acquaintances to pose as his family so he can get in and out of Mexico without causing a stir and getting caught by the border patrol. It's still a screwball plan, but can "the Millers" somehow pull it off and save David from some serious trouble?

If you hadn't/haven't seen the previews before reading that plot synopsis, I bet you wouldn't have pegged director Rawson Marshall Thurber's flick as a comedy, but that's just what it is. Okay, yeah, it's pretty dark at times, but it is a comedy for sure. It starts off really well, dark but not too dark and blended nicely with a good combination of some lowbrow, physical humor and smarter laughs from a funny script that's all about the line delivery. Early on, I liked it a lot, but as the movie hits the road it gets a little too goofy, a little too rambling. It's never bad but unfortunately it also isn't as good as it could have been. Still, there is enough to recommend, a good but not great comedy with some genuinely funny laughs.

One of my favorite stars from recent Saturday Night Live seasons (he's since left the show), Sudeikis has made a good name for himself over the last couple years in movies like Hall Pass, Horrible Bosses, even a memorable supporting part in rom-com Going the Distance. While it is an ensemble cast, Sudeikis is the star here, and he carries himself well. I've read comparisons to Vince Vaughn, and that's fair. He's best when he's underplaying his part and going for the subtle laughs. As a low-level drug dealer, Sudeikis brings a certain oddball charm, a man-boy who never really grew up (which we see in a very funny appearance from high school buddy Thomas Lennon). It's also not your typical comedic lead, a drug dealer with his back up against the wall who's gotta pull some fast ones over some relative strangers.

As for the Millers, there's a good dynamic among David's fake family. They include Rose (a top-billed Jennifer Aniston), a stripper living in David's apartment building who's got some serious money issues, posing as David's wife, Casey (Emma Roberts), a punk, runaway teenager who basically lives on the streets, and Kenny (Will Poulter), a squirrely teenager who lives in David's building as well, inexperienced in....well, just about everything, especially any sort of interactions with girls. There's an enjoyable dynamic among the quartet, four very different people who find themselves working together with a whole lot on the line. David is getting $100,000 from Brad, promising $30,000 to Rose, $1,000 to Casey and a whole bunch of nothing to naively nice Kenny. Some of the best moments come from their act to pull off the Miller family act, and sometimes they're the quieter moments like David passing out sombreros to really prove the tourist family act.

Filling out the supporting cast is Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn as the Fitzgeralds, the real deal when it comes to American families who keep meeting up with the Millers on the road, Molly Quinn as their daughter who makes a surprising revelation in the Millers' epic RV. Tomer Sisley plays a Mexican drug supplier on David's trail, Matthew Willig his menacing enforcer, One-Eye. Also look for Luis Guzman as an opportunistic Mexican cop while Ken Marino plays the clueless owner of the strip club Rose works at.

Like I usually do with comedies, I'm wary of giving away too much because then I ruin the surprises and laughs that come up along the way. There are plenty of them, but some of those laughs get bogged down in a story that gets a little too family-oriented, a little too sentimental as the fake family becomes a bit of a real family. Good but could have been better. Oh, and Jennifer Aniston performs a striptease so there's that, and that is never a bad thing.

We're the Millers (2013): ** 1/2 /****

Drinking Buddies

I have a theory about movies and the critics who review them. Sometimes I think critics get together as a group, grab some lunch and collectively agree whether or not to give a positive or negative review to a specific film. That's the biggest thing I took away from 2013's Drinking Buddies, currently rocking an 82% from critics (that's good) at Rotten Tomatoes but only a 56% from audiences (strictly mediocre) and 6.2 at IMDB (a "Meh" if there ever was). Which one is it? Critical darling or audience dud?

Working at Revolution Brewery in Chicago, Kate (Olivia Wilde) and Luke (Jake Johnson) are the best of friends. They hang out together, go drinking after work, bust each other almost non-stop about...well, everything and more importantly trust the other one about just about everything. Their friendly(ish) flirting goes on almost non-stop as well, but there's a problem. Both are in relationships, Kate dating Chris (Ron Livingston), who signs promising artists for a record label while Luke is quasi-engaged to Jill (Anna Kendrick) as the couple figures things out for the future. Could anything come of their friendship like the perfectly compatible Kate and Luke deciding they should date and be together? Or will their significant others in their relationships end up being 'the one'?

I don't know if I've ever written a more cliched plot description than that. I remember watching the trailer for this gem at some point late last summer, the thought that maybe it would be good, and then...it just wasn't. If you're looking to save 90 minutes of your life, just watch the trailer. It hits seemingly all the necessary plot points and then ends. Wanna know the catch? That's the entire movie. It doesn't get any better than that. The entire movie is based on the 1990s TV sitcom cliche that Pretty Girl A is meant to be with Quirky but Perfect Guy A. The problem? Pretty Girl A is with Quirky but Not Perfect Guy B. Quirky but Perfect Guy A....yeah, he's all over the place. I didn't like this movie, and I was real close to completely bailing late in the 90-minute flick. For you loyal readers, I stuck with it though.

If I'm going to criticize, I've got to have it all figured out, right? I watched this movie from director and writer Joe Swanberg and couldn't quite put my finger on it. Just about each and every scene had this weird tone to it, an uncomfortable back and forth, silences that are too long for their own good. These are conversations and dialogue that just seem, well, forced. Why is that exactly? The entire movie was improvised. Yes, Swanberg provided a rough outline for his cast to work off of, but nothing definite in terms of actual lines. Instead, the cast just went with it, making up dialogue as they want. You know what? It shows. Beyond any reality of the awkwardness of male/female relationships, there are too many scenes that are just uncomfortable to watch. They're either too short or gone on for too long. There is little to no rhythm from scene to scene, slowing down an already glacial-like pacing.

There is talent here though so there has to be something worth recommending, right? Nope, Swanberg's outlined script making it really hard to be sympathetic with any of the four main characters. We know basically from the start that Kate and Chris aren't going to make it, and that Luke and Jill similarly have some pretty serious issues to deal with if their relationship is going to last. Maybe it is the entire lack of a script -- just that lovely outline -- or just the acting in general, but I didn't like any of the four main characters. Wilde's Kate seems too dumb and goofy for her own good, Johnson's Luke is too nice and equally clueless, Livingston's Chris is just odd, always off a beat or two, and Kendrick's Jill is very twitchy and awkward and uncomfortable. The issues they're dealing with, their emotions and relationship struggles are all pretty real, not some contrived movie relationship issue, but the characters range from dumb to annoying to unpleasant and the story never brings any of it to life.

'Buddies' does take some interesting twists about the halfway point, but by then I was almost completely checked out. It had already dug its grave way too deep by that point. It ends on a disappointing note, not resolving much and leaving too many plates spinning all at one time. And then for a couple other things worth mentioning. Jason Sudeikis is the only other supporting part worth mentioning, Kate's absent-minded boss who tries to avoid work at all costs. Also, the film is set in Chicago, featuring references from everything to Revolution Brewery to random mentions of streets, schools and suburbs in the area. All well and good, right? Yeah, especially for Chicago viewers. It's all a cop-out I tells ya!!!! We never see Chicago in the least. What a city tease, Drinking Buddies, for shame.

A movie about late 20-somethings dealing with the hell that can be life (and set in Chicago) sounded moderately appealing even if the trailer was less than convincing. Nothing comes of it, the lack of a script being the biggest impediment to anything good as a finished product. It's called Drinking Buddies, and that's what we see, four people drinking a lot of beer (and some wine), brooding over their relationships, flirting with their friends, and in general, being pretty annoying. Steer clear, just go to a local bar and people watch. It'll be more entertaining.

Drinking Buddies (2013): */****

Going the Distance

Something has changed in the romantic comedy vein. In the 1990s, stars like Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock starred in cute, funny and worthwhile rom-coms that guys can actually tolerate. Something changed there in the early 2000s where the genre became one shrill, obnoxious movie after another (Guys need not apply). Oddly enough, director Judd Apatow is responsible for another change in the genre. Adult romantic comedies that men and women alike can enjoy, a trend he started with 40-Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. No Apatow connection, another in the same vein is the enjoyable 2010's Going the Distance.

Hours off a breakup with his girlfriend, New Yorker Garrett (Justin Long) is in a bar with two of his friends when he meets Erin (Drew Barrymore). They hit it off immediately, ending up back at Garrett's apartment. But the next morning rather than part after a one-night stand, they exchange numbers and agree to go out again. The young New Yorkers start dating and fall hard for each other, but there's a catch. Erin is heading back to California soon to continue her graduate work at Stanford. Both Erin and Garrett know the pitfalls of a long distance relationship, but they decide they don't want to break up, giving the long distance thing a try. It starts off smoothly enough, but after weeks and months apart, the struggles start to pop up. They still feel strongly for each other, but is it enough to get them through an extended rough patch, especially when Erin is offered a job in San Francisco?

From director Nanette Burstein and screenplay writer Geoff LaTulippe, 'Distance' struggled mightily in theaters during its theatrical run in 2010. It doesn't rewrite the romantic comedy genre -- I imagine that would be tough to do -- but again, I liked it. I didn't rush out to see it or rent it in 2010, but watched it recently and enjoyed it from beginning to end (call it The Girlfriend Effect, seriously though, I did like it). One of the best things going for it is that the story is based in some sort of reality, not movie reality. 'Distance' tries to show some sort of dating reality, of being single, of being married. It is funny but I never got the sense it was trying too hard. These aren't movie boyfriend and girlfriends with all sort of outlandish, out of this world problems. It's just a young couple fresh into a relationship trying to work things out. Pretty crazy, huh? 

Sink or swim moment here for a romantic comedy. Do you like the stars? Are they so annoying you're actively rooting against them? Do you want them to meet a gruesome end? Thankfully, the casting of Barrymore and Long is a winner. Dating at the time the movie was filmed, they have an easygoing, natural chemistry that flows well as the relationship gets deeper and more emotionally connected. Sure, Long's name is Garrett (cool movie name, dude), and he works for a hip record label (are there 6 million record labels out there so all hip movie characters can work at one?), but Long does a good job as a pretty typical single guy on the dating scene. I thought maybe Barrymore was a tad old to play the character but then realized she's 35 and just seems like she's older because she's been acting since the early 1980s. Either way, I liked the duo together.

Really though, the biggest reason I'll recommend this 2010 romantic comedy is the rest of the cast. I liked Barrymore and Long together, but the strength is in the supporting players, especially Charlie Day (of It's Always Sunny) and Jason Sudeikis as Garrett's friends Dan and Box. The duo and the relationship among the friends gives a funnier dimension to the story. Day's Dan has no filter (not by choice, he's just goofy and talkative) and as Garrett's roommate, likes to DJ his hook-ups, listening through the paper thin walls in one of the movie's best running bits. Sudeikis' Box has grown a mustache in hopes of hooking up with a cougar looking to reclaim her younger glory days. While I liked the entire movie, I especially liked scenes with Long, Day and Sudeikis. The script gives them some really funny moments to work with, and they don't disappoint.

Sit back down though, we've also got Christina Applegate as Erin's worrying older sister, Corinne, with comedian Jim Gaffigan especially memorable as her husband. Ron Livingston has a thankless, quick part as Garrett's boss at the record label while Oliver Jackson-Cohen is Erin's dreamy co-worker, a smooth English bartender. Rob Riggle has a good one-scene appearance as a married man who's less than pleased with Garrett's big-time efforts to impress Erin while Leighton Meester plays Garrett's girlfriend in the opening scene.

Romantic comedies can get too goofy, too stupid and as was the case with the recent This Is 40, too self-indulgent. This was an enjoyable, very funny and at times decently smart romantic comedy that benefits from a strong cast. Now, if we could get more romantic comedies like this, then we would be onto something.

Going the Distance (2010): ***/****

Hall Pass

So if TV shows and films have taught us anything -- and I'd like to think they have -- it's that marriage is a hell-like situation from which there is no escape. A couple gets married, and then after years and years, things hit the fan. Everyone wants out. It's one of the oldest, most reliable jokes in comedy so what if there was a quasi-solution to the dull marriage issue? Uh-oh, here we go with 2011's Hall Pass.

With three kids, a solid real estate job and a successful marriage, Rick (Owen Wilson) has quite the life with his wife of 10-plus years, Maggie (Jenna Fischer). The marriage has become a little stagnant though, and on some advice from a friend, Maggie offers something a little out of the box. She offers Rick a 'hall pass,' a week where he doesn't have to be married and can do whatever he wants away from his wife and kids where even cheating is allowed. Rick is suspicious immediately, but he goes along with it. The next day, his best friend Fred (Jason Sudeikis) gets the same offer from his wife, Grace (Christina Applegate). So while Maggie and Grace head up to Maggie's parents in Cape Cod, Rick and Fred prepare to hit the streets as single men. What awaits these two? Can they sow their wild oats?

I can't say I actively avoided this 2011 comedy, but at the same time, I can't say I really wanted to see it either. An HBO subscription winding down has a way of making some movies more watchable, huh? In the end, I didn't love it, but I liked it a lot. From director-team the Farrelly Brothers -- Bobby and Peter -- the humor here is about what you'd expect if you've seen movies like Dumb and Dumber, There's Something About Mary, Stuck on You, Me, Myself and Irene, and Shallow Hall. Oh, you haven't seen those movies? The laughs are pretty raunchy, sometimes downright nasty, and often pretty juvenile. If you're a little squeamish about any number of graphic sex jokes -- including some full-on male genitalia -- with non-stop cursing, this probably isn't the movie for you. Steer clear, give it a wide berth, whatever you want to call it.

Beyond the low brow humor in all their movies, the Farrelly brothers have a knack for creating some surprisingly likable characters. Since the epic success of 2005's Wedding Crashers, Wilson has fallen on some tough times and hasn't had any truly memorable parts. I liked him here though as Rick, kind of an everyman in his mid-to-late 30s with a good job, beautiful wife and kids. That marriage has also become a little stagnant, and there's the story. Seeing Rick go through his week, we actually get a sense of.....gasp....character development! No, it's nothing ground-breaking, but it's an R-rated comedy. Take what you can get. From when he first appeared on Saturday Night Live, I've liked Sudeikis a lot. He has a way of playing not truly despicable characters, but close. A fast-talking motor-mouth with some questionable morals, he's a good pair with Wilson's Rick.

Not all of the laughs here are low-brow sex and bathroom humor (although a majority of it is). What I liked was how the passing days in the week are represented. It's not anything super-stylish, but it is very funny. Each day is introduced via a completely black screen with 'Day 1...2' shown, and the very familiar, very distinct Law and Order dun-dun! played. Day 1 has some huge laughs, Rick and Fred starting slowly -- to put it lightly -- with a big night out at where else? Applebee's of course! It's the freshly-single bachelors' adventures that provided the most laughs. We meet their friends, scene-stealing Stephen Merchant, Larry Joe Campbell, J.B. Smoove, all of them married but without a Hall Pass, they just want to witness Rick and Fred's adventures, living vicariously through them. We see "adventures" to Applebee's, golf courses with special and heavily-weeded-up brownies, lots of eating, nightclubs, gyms, and one special outing to a very tooly club with aging ladies man, Coakley, played by a hilarious, scene-stealing Richard Jenkins.  

I was surprised by some of the routes 'Pass' takes in the second half. It's not just about Rick and Fred out on the prowl. Instead, we see that Maggie and Grace might also be taking advantage of the Hall Pass too. A little darker than anticipated? Yep, you bet. I also noticed that Fischer looks freakishly tan, like alarmingly so. Just saying. Nicky Whelan is good -- and very nice to look at -- as Leigh, a barista who Rick plans to use his one-time Hall Pass on, and she certainly seems interested right back at him. Mostly though, I enjoyed watching the gents' weekly pass go to waste in all sorts of interesting fashions. Does it go anywhere near as planned? Nope, but as the week nears it's end, both "bachelors" have a chance to cheat. Very funny though, and I liked it throughout. Call it low expectations going in, but I liked it far more than I thought I would.

Hall Pass (2011): ***/****

Horrible Bosses

For the lucky ones among us, work ain't so bad. It's tolerable and even enjoyable at times. But who at some point in their adult life hasn't had one of those God awful, truly horrific bosses that make you want to rip your own ears off? If you don't qualify there, congratulations to you. Turning that fantasy of killing your boss into a feature length comedy -- this past summer's Horrible Bosses -- has never been so funny.

Friends since high school, Dale (Charlie Day), Nick (Jason Bateman) and Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) are all in some rather difficult situations at work in one way or another. With the economy in the tank though, they can't up and quit their jobs, much less tell their bosses off like they'd rather do. Drinking together one night, the three joke about killing their bosses, solving each others' problem with three nice, little murders. Okay, maybe it isn't a joke as all three decide this is their best alternative. With some help from a streetwise ex-con, Motherf**ker Jones (Jamie Foxx), who provides some "murder advice," the three friends go about planning some murders.

There's no way a comedic Strangers on a Train should work, but wouldn't you know it? It does. Murdering your boss(es) doesn't exactly sound like a bucket of laughs, but director Seth Gordon handles it in the right fashion. It isn't a drama with some comedic moments or even a dark comedy with some sinister laughs. This is down and out stupid funny movie with no pretensions of being anything else. Three long-time friends with no criminal background/experience in any way murdering their bosses? Bumbling their way through some 'recon' and 'intel'? The results are surprisingly hilarious with a very funny script from three different screenwriters (I'm too lazy to type and link all three names. Besides, do you care?)

Now onto the bosses, three roles that the actors are clearly having some fun with. The biggest part goes to Kevin Spacey as Harken, Bateman's manipulative tool of a boss with an ego the size of a blimp. Nobody does pretentious and smarmy like Spacey, having a ball playing a ridiculous over the cop comedic part. Jennifer Aniston gets to sex it up as Dale's boss, Dr. Julia, a dentist who takes every opportunity to sexually harass a recently engaged Dale. It doesn't seem so bad as his friends say. Aniston plays against type in a raunchier role than usual, and yeah, she looks phenomenal. Just saying.... And last there's an unrecognizable Colin Farrell as Pellitt, Kurt's cocaine-snorting freak of a boss. He's underused, but what's there is very funny. 

As a long-time fan of FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, I love Charlie Day's work as Charlie Kelly, the illiterate, generally clueless and all-around goof who can't mange to do anything right. Playing Dale here, he's by far the funniest of the three friends. Goofy at times to the point of crazy, Day shows that same talent he has in Sunny, if a little lighter and not as sinister. The same for Sudeikis who seems destined for bigger and better things than Saturday Night Live. The only misfire is Bateman who seems to be sleepwalking at times. He has some funny lines -- his exchange about street racing with a Prius is classic -- but he doesn't look too interested.

Along with Foxx in a scene-stealing part as MotherF'er Jones, the cast features a couple other small but worthwhile parts. Look for Donald Sutherland, Bob Newhart, Julie Bowen, comedian Ron White, and Ioan Gruffudd in small but extremely effective bit parts.

Something is missing from all the zaniness that I can't quite put my finger on. The movie is funny with some great one-liners coming out of a ridiculously preposterous predicament, but is it too goofy at times? They never seem to really take serious what's going on. Eh, maybe they don't need to. It's funny.

Horrible Bosses <---trailer (2011): ***/****