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| Courtesy of Warner Bros. |
(Rated PG-13 for sexual material, drug content and partying.)
The cast: Melissa McCarthy, Molly Gordon, Gillian Jacobs, Adria Arjona and Jessie Ennis.
What it’s about: After her husband suddenly asks for a divorce, longtime housewife Deanna (McCarthy) decides to start a new life by completing her final year of college, which she gave up to get married and start a family. What sounds like a solid plan doesn’t go over well with her daughter (Gordon), who attends the same school. After a rocky start, Deanna ends up fitting in pretty well, impressing her daughter and her friends (Jacobs, Arjona and Ennis). Ultimately, she discovers her true self while also engaging in plenty of extracurricular activities.
The good: No matter the quality of the material, you can’t accuse McCarthy of coasting. She commits to her roles no matter what. Sometimes, that results in home runs like Bridesmaids, The Heat or Spy. Other times, you get Life of the Party, which contains snippets of the much better movie it could’ve been – mostly when McCarthy plays Deanna as a believable person who understands how to function in the real world.
These moments result in engaging, genuinely funny scenes, especially a sequence at an ’80s-themed party or when she interacts with compelling cast members like Jacobs (as a student getting a late start because she spent eight years in a coma), Heidi Gardner (as Deanna’s weird goth roommate) and Maya Rudolph (as Deanna’s best friend). The biggest problem is those characters are so much more bizarre and interesting that I’d rather watch a movie about them instead.
I must also admit I was pleasantly surprised by a fun reveal that delighted the audience in my screening. I’m usually pretty good about guessing where a story is going, but this particular development got me.
The not-so-good: Basically everything else. The story careens from one ludicrous plot point to another, primarily because Deanna suddenly jettisons any semblance of logic or reason. I lost count of how many times she turns into a human cartoon for the sake of a laugh, or finds an excuse to launch into minutes of unnecessary improv. I’m sure my colleague sitting next to me got frustrated with how many times I sighed and exclaimed, “that’s not how college works!”
I’m not looking for documentary-style realism in a goofy comedy, but it seems like McCarthy (who co-wrote the screenplay with her husband/director Ben Falcone) would at least understand that tuition is due at the beginning of a semester. That fact alone negates the crisis that pops up in the third act.
As someone who interacts with college kids on a daily basis, I got a big unintended laugh from a cameo near the end of the film. The characters scheme to raise money by spreading a rumor that a certain pop star will perform at their party, which leads to hundreds of college students showing up in hopes of seeing her. When my colleague asked what was so funny, I replied, “those kids are way too young to know who she is, much less pay money to see her.”
Grade: C-
RBG
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| Courtesy of Magnolia |
(Rated PG for some thematic elements and language. Now playing in limited release and expands further on May 18.)
The cast: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Gloria Steinem, Bill Clinton and Orrin Hatch.
What it’s about: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has developed a staggering legal record over the course of her life. However, in recent years, she has also become a surprising pop culture phenomenon. This compelling documentary from directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West explores both aspects of the 84-year-old’s career and legacy.
The good: As someone who has long admired Ginsburg, but didn’t know much about her early career or personal life, RBG was a revelation for me. The info included in this brief-yet-rich documentary probably won’t teach history and political science buffs anything they don’t already know, but it’s a solid entry point for general audiences and novices.
Any one of Ginsburg’s staggering accomplishments would’ve been a career topper for many people, but she racked them up left and right. She also went on to become a pop culture icon, revered by younger generations of women who refused to lower their voices or be considered second-class citizens.
The film is also quick to point out that – even in this age of toxic partisanship – Ginsburg is respected by figures on both sides of the aisle, including Orrin Hatch and the late Antonin Scalia, who she considered one of her best friends. If that’s not enough, her hilarious and endearing reactions to her appearances in pop culture are worth the price of admission by themselves.
Ginsburg, possessing a quiet speaking voice and dry sense of humor, practically guffaws when she sees Kate McKinnon’s brilliant impersonation of her on SNL. She also matter-of-factly explains to a group of young students why her nickname “The Notorious RBG” makes sense, considering everything she has in common with rapper The Notorious B.I.G. – and she isn’t joking.
The not-so-good: At just over 90 minutes, RBG barely scratches the surface of Ginsburg’s long, astonishing life. Often, right when I was getting interested in a specific case she argued or a surprising element of her personal life, the film would jump to something else. Her many accomplishments and vast experience is worthy of a mini-series instead of a brief hagiography.
Grade: A-
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| Courtesy of Disney |
(Rated PG-13 for prolonged sequences of action violence, and a brief rude gesture. Available to purchase May 15.)
The cast: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o and Martin Freeman.
What it’s about: Picking up shortly after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Prince T’Challa (Boseman) travels back to his nation of Wakanda to assume the mantle of king after his father was killed in a terrorist attack. Not everyone is happy that he is the new leader, including Erik Killmonger (Jordan, incredible as always), a mysterious outsider who comes to Wakanda holding a grudge and claiming he has a right to challenge the throne.
The good: In Black Panther, visionary director Ryan Coogler (who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole) has created a stirring saga filled with political intrigue and family dynamics that are downright Shakespearean. He shatters the notion than Marvel thinks of its movies as product rather than narratives with their own personalities and points of view. There’s no assembly line filmmaking here.
Black Panther is an intensely personal story and the most explicitly political movie the studio has ever made. There’s so much awesomeness throughout the rest of the film’s 134-minute running time that it’s easy to overlook the occasional speed bumps.
Boseman is strong as the stoic T’Challa, but the best performances come from the actors around him. Wright is a scene-stealer, infusing the movie with joy and energy any time she’s on screen. Freeman and Andy Serkis, reprising his role as the villainous Ulysses Klaue, are also good. They provide welcome comic relief of the dry and scenery-chewing variety, respectively.
However, most people will leave the theater talking about how amazing Jordan is. He’s the best kind of bad guy – his motives are understandable and you could almost root for him under different circumstances. You won’t be able to take your eyes off the man whenever he’s onscreen.
The not-so-good: There’s a ton of clunky exposition right away, threatening to derail narrative momentum before it can take hold. Then, the story abruptly shifts to Oakland, Calif. in the early 1990s. Eventually, Coogler reveals the devastating reason (made even more poignant by Sterling K. Brown’s brief but emotionally resonant performance), but many viewers might be scratching their heads until that happens.
Special features: Introduction and commentary from director Ryan Coogler, six featurettes, deleted scenes, gag reel, and a sneak peek of Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Grade: A-
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