The Nut Job

I remember very clearly seeing the trailer for 2014's The Nut Job. I remember laughing out loud -- in a good way -- at the premise, so ridiculous sounding it had to be a spoof trailer, right? Right?!? But no, it wasn't. This was an animated heist movie....with animals. How could that not work? It just has to work on basically all levels. It just has to!!!

In the small city of Oakton, a beautiful little park with plenty of trees and creeks and rolling hills sits in the middle of the downtown area. All the animals that live there are prepping for a fast-approaching winter, the group led by Raccoon (voice of Liam Neeson) who's doing his best to help organize all the available food. A rebellious squirrel, Surly (voice of Will Arnett), is working on his own though to store up for winter, even finding a nut store near the park that will keep him fat and full all winter. Now, he's just got to find a way in without being caught. Raccoon catches wind of his plan and sends two brave squirrels, Grayson (Brendan Fraser) and Andie (Katherine Heigl), after Surly to see what he's up to. There's more to it though. A lot more. Something is going on inside the nut store that none of them had planned on.

Here we sit again. I feel absolutely ridiculous writing a plot description for an animated movie. At that, an animated movie about squirrels, mice, rats, groundhogs, a mole, and a power-hungry raccoon joining forces to rob a nut store. At the same time, that premise alone gets some points. This 2014 animated flick was backed by South Korean studios and did pretty well in theaters, earning over $76 million this winter, director Peter Lepeniotis' movie more than earning back its budget. I mildly liked it, but I wanted to love it. There are some laughs but not enough, and the story is lacking something. Maybe Pixar has just ruined things for everyone with all their unique, original, innovative ideas.

What does work? I loved the visual. Though it's never dealt with directly, 'Job' has the look of the 1950s as if the story took place in a little American town. It reminded me of so many classic Looney Tunes cartoons that I grew up watching. What exactly do Surly and Co. stumble into while trying to rob the nut store? They find themselves working around a gangster, King (voice of Stephen Lang), and his cronies trying to rob a nearby bank by tunneling in. That premise reminded me of several Looney Tunes adventures, Bugs Bunny working against some dimwitted gangsters doing their best James Cagney impersonations. While the animation has that crisp, clear look we've come to expect out of modern animated movies -- thanks again, Pixar -- there is also that throwback feel to the animation. It's colorful and detailed right down to the background and characters. It all adds up to a nice animated package.

What doesn't work? I came away disappointed with the voice work here. Will Arnett does his best as Surly the squirrel, but there aren't too many animated movies out there where the main character is so unsympathetic. He's mean, kinda a bully, and generally not very likable. Surly has his moments -- most with his mute sidekick, a mouse -- but I didn't like the character. Heigl is okay as Andie, the squirrel love interest. Fraser hams it up as the overly heroic and slightly nuts Grayson, but I didn't even realize it was Fraser, requiring a look-up. Neeson is cool because it's freaking Liam Neeson voicing an evil raccoon. The rest of the nut job heist crew include Precious (Maya Rudolph), a pug who teams up with Surly, Mole (comedian Jeff Dunham), the blind, dimwitted mole, Jimmy (Gabriel Iglesias), Johnny (Joe Pingue) and Jamie (Annick Obonsawin), a trio of groundhogs. It sounds cute, but in the end, it's just sorta meh.

So in the end, I think the idea is far better than the execution here. I really, really liked the premise, but as the story developed, it never really grabbed me and pulled me in. The potential was certainly there, but 'Job' doesn't pay off unfortunately. And let me tell you, I wanted it to pay off. It's a heist movie with animals for goodness sake!!! That has to be awesome, right?!?

That said, there is a quasi-saving grace in the finale. I wonder if the studio behind 'Job' has a hand in the studio behind musical artist Psy, known for his unbelievably catchy dance song Gagnam Style. Listen HERE. One of my favorite early scenes has Surly and his sidekick, Mouse, dancing in celebration to Psy's song. It's not the Gagnam Style dance, but it's funny. Very funny. The highlight for me was in the end credits, an animated Psy dancing as the credits roll, all the characters -- both humans and animals -- dancing along with him. It's gimmicky, a tad forced, pretty ridiculous, and it is FUNNY. It works, simple as that. Watch it HERE. Yeah, I'm a cheap date. It doesn't take much to entertain me.

The Nut Job (2014): **/****

Public Enemies

In the age of the gangsters, the 1930s in Depression-era America, one name stands out above the rest. Sure, there's Pretty Boy Floyd, the Barkers, Baby Face Nelson, Machine Gun Kelly, Alvin Karpis, even Bonnie and Clyde. But the name John Dillinger stands out, Public Enemy No. 1, a gangster, bank robber and possible killer who rose to notoriety in the early 1930s. I reviewed this movie from 2009 that works as a quasi-biography, but rewatched it recently and updated the review. Here were go with 2009's Public Enemies.

It's 1933 in Crown Point, Indiana and John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) has been caught and is just being brought to prison, or so his guards think. Instead, the notorious bank robber has arranged a breakout, a group from his gang busting out with him. With his gang back together again, Dillinger goes on a spree, robbing banks all over Chicago and into Indiana and Wisconsin. The gangster feels the noose tighten around his neck, his notoriety forcing the government's hand in bringing him to justice. The Bureau of Investigation (the FBI) is in its infancy, J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) placing a young but capable agent, Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), in charge of bringing Dillinger to justice. Using all the technology available to them, Purvis and his agents do everything they can to capture Dillinger, but can the notorious bank robber continue his crime spree?

This 2009 crime thriller is based off a book of the same name, Public Enemies, by author Bryan Burrough. It's a great read, non-fiction at its best. Burrough's book covers a ton of ground about one of the more violent, turbulent times in American history. The 1930s were the time of the gangster, killers, bank robbers and thieves working on a grand scale with a trail of fast cars, money and riches and dead bodies. Almost every single one of them died bloody and violent. It was a bloody, violent, fascinating time in American history. Originally thought of as a miniseries, Burroughs turned his research into a book. With so many people, places and incidents, the film version was condensed to John Dillinger vs. Melvin Purvis. It's a wise choice because Burroughs' novel as is would have been overwhelming.  

We meet other people, but this is Johnny Depp's movie as he brings John Dillinger to life. A sympathetic character? No, not quite. It is on the other hand a fascinating character to watch. The people who met him during his crime reign of terror, a lot of witnesses said he was charming, likable and friendly. One of the biggest movie stars around, Depp is the best thing going in this movie, making Dillinger a human being, not just a historical name. Depp's Dillinger seems to know the life he's chosen necessitates a live-fast, live-hard mentality. Knowledge of the historical facts or not, you just know Dillinger is leading a doomed life. Sooner or later, his luck will run out. It's really the only character here given any sort of development or characterization too, John given a love interest in Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard), a coat check girl from a poor background who falls hard for the gangster, as does he for her. Depp and Cotillard have a believable, real chemistry, giving the story that necessary human element.

Who best to direct a high-arcing crime thriller? How about a director with movies like Heat, Thief, Last of the Mohicans and The Inside to his name? Michael Mann takes the helm here for this style-heavy period piece.  'Enemies' was filmed on location in Chicago and around the Midwest where much of the story actually took place. Chicago serving as a backdrop for a story is never a bad thing, giving an air of authenticity here. The suits, the hats, the gentleman gangsters, the cars, it all adds up a to a more than worthy time capsule to 1930s Depression-era America. If there's a fault, Mann is too interested in the style, not the substance. He shot with a digital format, giving those scenes an odd, fuzzy look. The editing is fast and hard -- almost schizophrenic -- to the point the movement is hard to follow. Replace some of that aggressive style which doesn't necessarily work with some more story and characterization, and then we're talking.

Depp's movie, no doubt, but in star power, Christian Bale isn't far behind. It's just star power though. Bale is a really good actor, but he's given little to do here. The real-life Melvin Purvis was a bit of a dunce, the movie choosing not to delve too much into that angle. Bale is okay, but it's a necessary, workmanlike part, nothing more. Crudup does a good job with his quick scenes as Hoover, a glorified cameo. As for Dillinger's gang, look for Jason Clarke, Stephen Dorff, David Wenham and another violent gangster, Stephen Graham as maniacal Baby Face Nelson. Stephen Lang is memorable as a Texas lawman, Charles Winstead, brought in to help Purvis, Rory Cochrane playing one of his fellow Chicago FBI agents. There's also quick parts for Channing Tatum, Carey Mulligan and Giovanni Ribisi, and in the case of Tatum and Mulligan, don't blink or you'll miss them. There's plenty of other appearances that probably deserve some attention, but they're not around long enough to mention.

That's one of the weaknesses in Mann's film. Condensing Burroughs' book and doing so with just one focus -- Dillinger -- is still a daunting task. I think it tries to accomplish too much. A year-plus of story, countless speaking roles, and a whole lot of history. Depp is excellent, that's not in question. The action is very exciting, especially the infamous Little Bohemia shootout. Mann does action and does it well. The heavy, automatic machine guns, the B.A.R.s, the heavy pistols, these are guns that pack a punch so there's something visceral and adrenaline-pumping in the action scenes. Something is missing though. It's cool, but the movie doesn't have a ton of heart. The last 30 minutes are the movie at its best, Purvis and the FBI closing in on Dillinger. One what-if scene has Dillinger walking into the Dillinger Squad office, surreal and cool. The same for Dillinger's death, a stylish, cool scene aided by Elliot Goldenthal's musical score.

A good movie but with some serious flaws. It could have been a classic, and maybe with a miniseries it would have been. Still, Johnny Depp is cooler than you.

Public Enemies (2009): ** 1/2 /****
Rewrite of July 2009 review

Avatar

When I first heard about James Cameron's Avatar, I can honestly say I wasn't interested in the least.  Sure, I saw Titanic twice in theaters while in grammar school, but this new project he'd been working on for years held little appeal to me.  The story sounded weak at best, and the attraction of some new technology did little to impress me.  It got worse when the movie actually hit theaters and was a huge success, lots of friends and family saying I'd love it, just go see it.  Well, that sealed the deal. I wasn't going to watch it. Most of a year later, I caved, getting it from Netflix this week.  Final result? Good but not great movie, one that's definitely not one of the greatest movies ever made regardless of how many bajillion dollars it made in theaters.

Going in with as open a mind as possible, I wanted to give Avatar a fair shot...even if that voice deep down inside wanted me to hate it.  I couldn't help it.  I saw all this craze last winter and thought it was ridiculous how much fans got into it.  I read stories that some fans were even going through variations of depression and withdrawals since they couldn't visit the fictional planet of Pandora where the story takes place.  It just all added up.  It was Harry Potter, Twilight, and any number of other popular series in pop culture rolled into one.  Still, I buckled down and tried to enjoy it, and overall, I did.  But that doesn't mean there weren't flaws along the way, major flaws.

Sometime in the future, a paraplegic Marine, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), is sent to the far-off planet of Pandora in place of his recently deceased twin brother. On Pandora, a corporation is struggling with how to handle the indigenous population, the Na'vi, a humanoid race of creatures, who sit on a hugely lucrative element needed back home called unobtanium.  Through an extensive, expensive scientific process, Jake can become a Na'vi as an avatar, looking like them and eventually living with them.  His superior, Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), wants to learn about the Na'vi and their culture and way of life, but Jake receives pressure from the corporation's head (Giovanni Ribisi) and the head of security (Stephen Lang). Living among them, Jake begins to become one of them, even falling in love with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and is torn between his duty as a former soldier with his desire to do what's right.  A fight is coming, and Jake's right in the middle.

Props to Cameron right off the bat because he basically invented a new form of technology to film this movie, taking existing motion capture software and making it ridiculously better.  The whole movie is basically CGI (which I despise), but it's so good, so perfectly handled, that you don't even process that you are watching anything completed by a computer.  If you can convince me CGI is a good thing, you've done your work.  Point to Mr. Cameron.  The movie is beyond gorgeous.

That's by far the strongest aspect of the movie, the first 90 minutes or so as Jake explores Pandora and all it has to offer.  The storyline is similar to Dances With Wolves -- except in the future and in space -- so we see Jake learn how the Na'vi live from day to day in the jungles of Pandora with all its plant life and vegetation and various sorts of wildlife, some friendlier than others.  The sequences that blow you away are phenomenal, like Jake flying through the suspended mountains that hang in mid-air, the exploration of the immense tree the Na'vi live in, and many more.  It's all new to Jake as he takes advantage of his new legs, and it's all new to us as we see the ins and outs of this idyllic planet somewhere in the galaxy.

One of the rising stars in Hollywood, Sam Worthington is an ideal choice in the lead to play marine Jake Sully.  He's been in Terminator Salvation and Clash of the Titans, but he's still a new face here in Avatar.  He needs to be a new face because if you've seen this guy/character in various other roles, it loses some of the appeal, the wonderment as Jake transforms into something else. Saldana is the equally strong-willed Neytiri who fights Jake but comes to love him.  The technology that makes Saldana into a Na'vi is obviously something special, but credit to her for not getting lost along the way as she makes Neytiri a very strong female character.  Weaver and Ribisi are solid in supporting parts, Lang is hamming it up for all he's worth as the evil security head, and also look out for Michelle Rodriguez, Wes Studi, and Joel Moore in supporting parts.

Now for the disappointing part of Avatar.  With a budget of over $300 million, Cameron apparently didn't spend much on a well thought out, well written finished script.  The dialogue is embarrassingly bad at times with some lines that made me cringe hearing them and more so now just thinking of them.  I mentioned earlier the story is similar to Dances With Wolves.  That's not true.  It is Dances With Wolves with the Na'vi filling in for the Sioux and evil white men filling in for...oh, wait...that one is the same.  Cameron clearly went to town on the special effects, and good for him because they're amazing, but at 162-minutes the movie feels incredibly long in parts and could have been tightened up or at least been better utilized.

The finale is a combination of all this good and bad as Lang and Co. launch an all-out offensive on the Na'vi and their villages.  It is an inspiring sequence full of scope and a truly epic feel that is also limited by a heavy-handed ending that I hoped wouldn't be there.  SPOILERS For awhile, it looks like the Na'vi are going to lose only to have a naturalistic, spiritual ending of the Pandoran ecosystem work together to fight off the intruders.  SPOILERS It of course leaves the door open for a possible Avatar 2 -- God help us -- but doesn't ring true at all.  But that's the movie.  Lots of good and lots of bad, but in the end the amazing technology wins out.

Avatar <---trailer (2009): ***/****

The Men Who Stare at Goats

A movie that starts with a title card stating "More of this is true than you would believe" sends alarms off in my head, especially when it's a comedy.  To me it seems like a warning that what you are about to see is ridiculous, pretty stupid, and a cop out that if it does feel stupid, well too bad because it happened.  But because of the talent involved in 2009's The Men Who Stare at Goats I was willing to look past any issues I might have had going in. 

Certain movies need very little to pull viewers in.  It can be a star, the story, the director, anything really that catches someone's eye.  For me it was the scene in the trailer where Clooney literally stares a goat to death.  The look on his face, the music, the ridiculously awesome mustache, how could this not be a funny movie?  And really, any dark, quirky comedy in the veins of a Cohen brothers movie certainly has an appeal.  'Goats' has all that darkness, all that quirkiness you would expect.  But at a certain point in this recent comedy, it just stops being funny.  Go figure.

Working for a paper in Ann Arbor, Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) interviews a soldier who claims to be a member of a top secret Army mission from the 1980s that turned soldiers into psychic soldiers. Bob thinks the man is crazy, and moves on, only to have his wife leave him and send him into a tailspin.  He heads to Kuwait to prove he isn't a coward and there runs into Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), a man also associated with this bizarre, top-secret mission that turned soldiers into as Lyn puts it 'Jedi warriors.'  Bob doesn't know what to make of this news but tags along with Lyn in hopes of trying to figure it all out.  Could it really happen though? Could Lyn be a psychic soldier, a Jedi warrior?

What works so well in answering that question is that director Grant Heslov chooses not to answer the question.  Are all these soldiers absolutely nuts, just off the wall crazy?  Or is there the slimmest chance that maybe, just maybe, it's all real?  The humor here is a good mix of physical comedy -- Stephen Lang as an Army general running at a wall believing he'll run through it only to smash into it -- and the more subtle variety, like Clooney trying to convince McGregor that his hypnosis will help them when really he's physically attacking someone.  There are some laugh out loud moments and early on, I was loving this movie.

There is a somewhat disjointed feel to the comedy because there's almost 3 different segments to the movie.  One, Bob and Lyn meeting and driving across Kuwait and Iraq running into all sorts of problems.  Some really funny moments there.  Two, Lyn's flashbacks of the process to become a Jedi Warrior in a school run by Colonel Bill Django, played by Jeff Bridges as a hippie, Army version of the Dude. And third, there's the last half hour as past and present collide in the middle of the Iraqi desert in a finale that just doesn't work and completely derails the movie.  With some off the wall humor, a ridiculous conclusion seems almost necessary, but the ending just doesn't work here.  It's trying too hard to be funny and comes up empty.

On the other hand, if a feature length movie of Bridges' Col. Django and his teaching techniques was ever made, count me in.  A Vietnam vet, Django requests time to study alternative forms of combat and ends up becoming a hippie who believes he can get soldiers to use their minds and powers to prevent war, not fight war.  Watching Bridges teach his students his tactics and techniques are definitely the high points of the movie.  Throw in Kevin Spacey as an a-hole student trying to one-up everyone around him, and you've got a good mix.  Clooney is always good doing comedy because he commits himself so far into the material, and McGregor is a good straight man the whole.  He's basically the viewer, questioning 'Really? This is serious?'

A good half-comedy if that makes any sense.  Here's my thinking; stop watching the movie after Bob and Lyn drive over an IED in the middle of the desert.  It goes downhill from there fast.  Now trying to sum it all up, I'm realizing how stupid this movie really was.  'Goats' is a very stupid movie with moments of brilliance; Clooney 'cloud bursting,' Django's school, and basically anything with Stephen Lang.  Know what you're getting into watching this movie, and maybe you'll like it more than I did.

The Men Who Stare at Goats <----trailer (2009): **/****