This column is dedicated to the folks who frequently tell me they love reading about movies, but can’t remember the last time they went to a theater. Here are a few recent high-profile releases available at Redbox, along with some brief thoughts on each.
The Founder
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| Courtesy of The Weinstein Company |
(Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.)
The cast: Michael Keaton, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch, Linda Cardellini, Patrick Wilson, B.J. Novak and Laura Dern.
What it’s about: The story of Ray Kroc (Keaton), a traveling salesman whose chance encounter with the McDonald brothers (Offerman and Lynch) transforms the fast food industry and turns him into a billionaire. Kroc’s determination is admirable at first, but ultimately his ruthlessness and thirst for power destroys the lives of almost everyone who crosses his path.
The good: I can’t believe Keaton, one of my favorite actors, didn’t get an Oscar nomination for his work here. It’s some of the best he’s ever done. While the ensemble cast is stellar – Offerman and Lynch in particular – there’s no question The Founder is essentially a one-man show.
Keaton’s boundless charisma anchors his bold performance, making it impossible to stop watching Kroc’s rise to the top, even as he grows more villainous along the way. He doesn’t care that his character isn’t likeable; he knows the guy is so fascinating you’ll want to know what happens next.
Robert Siegel’s screenplay and John Lee Hancock’s direction are workmanlike, focused on telling an interesting story well rather than distract from Keaton’s performance with unnecessary affectations. They know Kroc, and his embodiment of the American Dream’s dark side, is the best special effect they have.
The not-so-good: The Founder is a paint-by-numbers biopic, so you’re not going to find any narrative surprises. Plus, you’ll feel so disgusted by Kroc’s monstrous transformation that you’ll probably want to take a shower when it’s over.
Grade: B+
Passengers
(Rated PG-13 for sexuality, nudity and action/peril.)
The cast: Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Sheen and Laurence Fishburne.
What it’s about: Jim Preston (Pratt) is a passenger on a spaceship traveling to a distant planet 120 years away. After his hibernation pod malfunctions, Preston is horrified to discover he woke up 90 years too early and the mistake is irreversible. He believes he’s doomed to a life of loneliness in the vast, cold reaches of space, but a spoilery development results in a fellow passenger named Aurora (Lawrence) waking up as well. Soon, the two of them begin a steamy love affair, but it’s cut short when the ship begins to fail. They must repair the damage before 5,000 other travelers suffer the same fate.
The good: The first act is virtually flawless, the visual effects are often jaw-dropping, and the central performances from Pratt and Lawrence are strong. But none of that is enough to save Passengers from one of the most morally reprehensible, wrongheaded narrative choices in recent memory.
The not-so-good: I can’t get into specifics without revealing a spoiler, but Preston does something that makes him a villain while the movie tries to maintain he’s still the hero. Rather than the romantic leading man that director Morten Tyldum wants him to be, Pratt’s character is actually a creepy voyeur who puts his own selfish desires above the sanity and well-being of others.
I’m baffled that some viewers consider Passengers a love story. I guess it is, if you consider Stockholm syndrome to be swoon-worthy. A colleague of mine, Collider.com’s Matt Goldberg, nailed it when he said this is a horror movie that thinks it’s a romance. I’m curious how people would respond to the film if Preston was played by Steve Buscemi instead of Pratt.
Grade: D+
Sing
(Rated PG for some rude humor and mild peril.)
The cast: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly, Taron Egerton and Tori Kelly.
What it’s about: Buster Moon (McConaughey) is a scheming koala who dreams of running a successful theater, but a run of bad luck means he’s on the verge of losing everything. He decides to risk it all on one final idea: an American Idol-style singing competition. Several contestants rise to the top, all under the mistaken impression they’ve got a shot at $100,000. There’s a stressed-out pig housewife (Witherspoon); a shy teenage elephant (Kelly); a punk rock porcupine (Johansson); a young gorilla (Egerton) looking to flee a life of crime; and a crooning con artist mouse (MacFarlane). As opening night approaches, they all begin to realize there are more important things than money and winning.
The good: The biggest selling point here is the phenomenal cast. McConaughey had a great 2016 as a voice actor between this and the far superior Kubo and the Two Strings (which is now on Netflix – prepare to have your heart ripped out). The other standout is Egerton, so strong in Kingsman: The Secret Service, instilling surprising pathos (and a killer singing voice) into a juvenile delinquent gorilla. There’s also a stunning number of catchy pop songs that span several decades. The last 20 minutes are fun, rousing entertainment.
The not-so-good: Why the heck is this movie almost two hours long? I popped in the DVD expecting to be done in 90 minutes, only to discover the third act was just beginning. I can’t imagine young viewers have the attention span to withstand such a leisurely-paced flick. Also, there are far too many subplots for such a thin story; perhaps focusing on fewer characters could’ve strengthened the narrative while also shrinking the running time.
Grade: B-
Passengers
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| Courtesy of Sony |
(Rated PG-13 for sexuality, nudity and action/peril.)
The cast: Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Sheen and Laurence Fishburne.
What it’s about: Jim Preston (Pratt) is a passenger on a spaceship traveling to a distant planet 120 years away. After his hibernation pod malfunctions, Preston is horrified to discover he woke up 90 years too early and the mistake is irreversible. He believes he’s doomed to a life of loneliness in the vast, cold reaches of space, but a spoilery development results in a fellow passenger named Aurora (Lawrence) waking up as well. Soon, the two of them begin a steamy love affair, but it’s cut short when the ship begins to fail. They must repair the damage before 5,000 other travelers suffer the same fate.
The good: The first act is virtually flawless, the visual effects are often jaw-dropping, and the central performances from Pratt and Lawrence are strong. But none of that is enough to save Passengers from one of the most morally reprehensible, wrongheaded narrative choices in recent memory.
The not-so-good: I can’t get into specifics without revealing a spoiler, but Preston does something that makes him a villain while the movie tries to maintain he’s still the hero. Rather than the romantic leading man that director Morten Tyldum wants him to be, Pratt’s character is actually a creepy voyeur who puts his own selfish desires above the sanity and well-being of others.
I’m baffled that some viewers consider Passengers a love story. I guess it is, if you consider Stockholm syndrome to be swoon-worthy. A colleague of mine, Collider.com’s Matt Goldberg, nailed it when he said this is a horror movie that thinks it’s a romance. I’m curious how people would respond to the film if Preston was played by Steve Buscemi instead of Pratt.
Grade: D+
Sing
 |
| Courtesy of Universal |
(Rated PG for some rude humor and mild peril.)
The cast: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly, Taron Egerton and Tori Kelly.
What it’s about: Buster Moon (McConaughey) is a scheming koala who dreams of running a successful theater, but a run of bad luck means he’s on the verge of losing everything. He decides to risk it all on one final idea: an American Idol-style singing competition. Several contestants rise to the top, all under the mistaken impression they’ve got a shot at $100,000. There’s a stressed-out pig housewife (Witherspoon); a shy teenage elephant (Kelly); a punk rock porcupine (Johansson); a young gorilla (Egerton) looking to flee a life of crime; and a crooning con artist mouse (MacFarlane). As opening night approaches, they all begin to realize there are more important things than money and winning.
The good: The biggest selling point here is the phenomenal cast. McConaughey had a great 2016 as a voice actor between this and the far superior Kubo and the Two Strings (which is now on Netflix – prepare to have your heart ripped out). The other standout is Egerton, so strong in Kingsman: The Secret Service, instilling surprising pathos (and a killer singing voice) into a juvenile delinquent gorilla. There’s also a stunning number of catchy pop songs that span several decades. The last 20 minutes are fun, rousing entertainment.
The not-so-good: Why the heck is this movie almost two hours long? I popped in the DVD expecting to be done in 90 minutes, only to discover the third act was just beginning. I can’t imagine young viewers have the attention span to withstand such a leisurely-paced flick. Also, there are far too many subplots for such a thin story; perhaps focusing on fewer characters could’ve strengthened the narrative while also shrinking the running time.
Grade: B-
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