Review No.175: What to Expect When You're Expecting

If you have been reading all of the reviews that I've been writing throughout the day then you're a stronger person than me but thankfully this is the last and ironically it is also the least. The big trend at the moment in romantic comedy films is to pack them as full as stars as is conceivably possible to make-up for the fact they are neither romantic nor comedic with prime offenders being New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day. Adding to that list is What to Expect When You're Expecting whose title is based on the popular pregnancy guide and whose script looks to have been drawn on the back of a fag packet. The story focuses on five different couples, all of whom are somewhat interconnected, and who are all expecting babies in one way or another. First we meet Cameron Diaz as weight-loss guru Jules who appears on a Dancing with the Stars like show and starts a relationship with her professional Even played by Glee's Matthew Morrison with her hilariously discovering her pregnancy after throwing up in their winner's trophy. As their relationship is in its infancy they struggle to cope as they're both strong characters and a big argument ensues over whether or not they should circumcise their son which is an issue which soon goes global. One of Jules' former clients Gary is also expecting a baby with baby store owner Wendy, played by Elizabeth Banks, with the pair finally conceiving after trying for absolutely ages so when Gary's former racing driver dad played by the brilliant Dennis Quaid reveals that he and his trophy wife Skyler are having twins it comes as a blow to the couple. Skyler's cousin Rosie, played by Anna Kendrick, meanwhile has a one-night stand with a former high school acquaintance and food vendor rival Marco which obviously leads to her getting pregnant and the pair having to become a couple instantly. Finally Wendy's go to photographer Holly, played by J'Lo, is planning to adopt a baby from Africa along with her husband Alex who isn't as sure that he wants a child in the house so she sends him off to be with a group of fathers led by Chris Rock's incredibly vocal Vic. The basic message of Kirk Jones' film is that life's hard and sometime's we don't get everything we want but as long as we both have each other then life is good. 

As there's five different stories here I thought there'd be different types of couples but two of our pairs are happily married while another have been dating for a while. While the situations involving Lopez and Kendrick are at least a bit different what with the adoption and the one-night stand I would've thought that a film set in 2012 would at least have some alternative views. For example What to Expect purports the myth that a parent needs a mother and a father but why couldn't there have been a single mother or at least a gay couple? I'm guessing the answer to this question is that this film wants to be as traditional as possible and despite the women in this film being presented as strong and independent there doesn't seem to be one character who thinks they'd be better off without a man with the case in point here being Rosie's story as instead of deciding that she wants to raise the child on her own she instantly gets the baby's father in so the pair can become a couple. As this was a comedy I was expecting some clever material but instead what I got was a long line of vomiting, urination, fat jokes and generally tired gags about what happens when you get pregnant. The funniest performers of the piece for me are Dennis Quaid as Gary's ultra-competitive father and Rebel Wilson as Wendy's shop assistant who has some brilliant asides while Chris Rock seems to be in a completely different film as he tries out some new stand-up material in his 'dad's group'. While I was watching I thought some of these individual stories would be good on their own especially Rosie and Marco's tale which I thought didn't have enough time dedicated to it despite the fact that Anna Kendrick is possibly the most talented of the five central actresses. I thought the script as well could've delved more into Holly's struggle with the adoption process but as it was she and Alex managed to get a baby fairly easily after just one home visit! The story that annoyed me the most was that of Jules and Evan which seemed to exist mainly to get a load of cameos in from Megan Mullaly, Whitney from The Hills and our own Cheryl Cole. Personally I would've expect more from Kirk Jones, who directed one of my favourite films in Waking Ned, but here it seems he's sold out directing 'comedy' sequences that I felt would be above him and overall there's not much praise I can lavish on the film other than to complement a couple of the performers. 

Verdict: A horrible mess of a film with far too much going on and too many cast members doing it for the money while Kendrick, Quaid and Rebel Wilson did at least bring something to the picture I personally didn't find it funny or original enough to award it more than 3.5/10

Review No.57: Man on a Ledge

Every now and then you get a film that does exactly what it says on the tin and in Man on a Ledge we see Sam Worthington's escaped con Nick Cassidy jump onto the ledge of New York's Roosevelt Hotel apparently ready to commit suicide. Nick's request is that Elizabeth Banks'  negotiator Lydia Mercer be the person to try and talk him down however she is currently on leave after the last person she tried to talk down ended up jumping. The police seemingly have little idea why Nick is doing this other than he wants to end his life as he has nothing left to live for following his last appeal being denied despite the fact that he claims that he didn't steal the diamond that he was accused of taking. The diamond in question belonged to Ed Harris' David Englander a slimy businessman who may have one or more of the city's policemen in his pocket. There is also another plot involving Nick's brother, played by Jamie Bell, however to reveal that would be to give away half of the film so for now if you want to know the whole story then watch it.

However do I think you should watch it? I would say yes if you enjoy a good predictable thriller with a few interesting moments and an intriguing narrative. I don't think this was ever going to be a brilliant thriller however it keeps you interested throughout and I have to say I was never bored. Sam Worthington is well-used here as the focus is never solely on him and he gets to shout a lot which is what he is good at. Thankfully Elizabeth Banks and Jamie Bell both deliver fine performances to create characters that you do connect with while Ed Harris is also well-cast as the villain. There are some big names that are wasted here namely Ed Burns as Lydia's colleague and Kyra Sedgwick as an on the site news reporter. This is a film I could imagine watching on the TV on a rainy Saturday afternoon as it just has that feel about it. Overall I don't think this is going to stick in my mind a couple of months from now but I can't say I wasn't entertained while watching it.

Verdict: An interesting yet not wholly original thriller that you could probably wait to watch till it comes out on DVD 6/10

Review No.50: The Hunger Games

So here we are the quarter-of-the-way mark to my 200 films and the 50th review is also one of the most anticipated films of the year in the largely hyped The Hunger Games. Though I'd heard some hype about it I wasn't aware that this film had been based on the first of a series of books that were popular among the same crowd who were into the better known Harry Potter and Twilight franchises. My companion to this screening was reluctant to accompany me as he feared another HP/Twilight type film and these are both franchises that he'd manage to escape for the most part. Though I'm yet to get his feedback he never seemed visibly bored throughout the film which I also found captivating especially the second half. For people like me who were unfamiliar with the stories The Hunger Games is set in a dystopian future where America is split into districts with those with the higher numbers being the most deprived. Following an uprising against the establishment every year each district is asked to offer up a boy and a girl aged between 12 and 18 as a tribute to compete in the annual Hunger Games an event which sees them try to kill each other off with only one surviving as the victor. The film's first half introduces us to our heroine Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence, a girl who is a great hunter and who volunteers herself as Disrict 12's tribute as a replacement for her sister. The build-up to the games sees Katniss and male tribute Peeta journey to the capital along with eccentric escort Effie and Haymitch Abernathy the only District 12 tribute to ever win the games. While at the capital both Katniss and Peeta compete to impress the rich and influential and hope to gain sponsorship which will help them during the games with Katniss being ear-marked as one of the favourites. The film's second half is its strongest as we enter the games and Katniss has to use her wilderness expertise to survive while also befriending a young District 11 girl named Rue and also trying to save Peeta who recently expressed his true feelings for her.

Obviously The Hunger Games shares a lot of similarities with Battle Royale however the theme main theme here is survival and friendship rather than all out brutality although that is represented by District 2 nutjob Cato. What I mostly enjoyed about The Hunger Games was the contradciton between the wildly colourful and camp captial which is inhabited by strange rich types and the sparse wilderness of the games itself. Central to the film is the performance from Jennifer Lawrence who I've long admired since I first saw her as Kim Basinger's daughter in the underrated The Burning Plain she brings both a strength and vulnerability to Katniss which are both qualities this character needs to express. I think what I liked best was the fact that she never actively sought out violence and she only killed during the games when provoked by others. I have to say I cared less about Peeta as Josh Hutcherson was never a strong presence and therefore the romance between him and Katniss lacked credibility there were also some unintentionally hilarious segments where Peeta had to camouflage himself while in the games. While we're on cast members the campness of the film is reflected through Stanley Tucci as the horribly sugary TV host who treats the killing of young children as nothing more than part of a gameshow while the almost unrecognisable Elizabeth Banks was also fun as Effie Trinkett. It was Woody Harrelson who stole the show for me as Haymitch who was initially presented as a drunk but gradually became attached to both Peeta and Katniss and tried to aide their survival as much as possible. I thought the production design was great and James Newton Howard's score was also haunting and used to full effect during the scenes with no dialogue. At times I found that the plot dragged a little but I don't think there was enough appeal for me as there would be a fan of this franchise. But overall there was enough to keep me occupied and the film's final frame set up the sequel which is presumably on the way after the brilliant opening weekend The Hunger Games as enjoyed. I'm not yet sure what my friend thought of the film but suffice to say I myself was pleasantly surprised.

Verdict: While I'm not the target market for the film thanks to Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson and the production design I found myself drawn into the world of The Hunger Games and enjoyed myself enough to give this a 8/10