Review No.185: That's My Boy

Plot: In 1984, 13 year old Donny Burger has an affair with his teacher which results in her getting arrested and also later having a child. The affair makes Donny a minor celebrity however his relationship with his son, who he names Han Solo, deteriorates over the years and the pair loose contact. In the present day Donny owes loads of money in back taxes and he is advised that the only way to get a large amount of money is to reunite his son with the mother he hasn't seen for years. Donny's son is now calling himself Todd Peterson and is doing well as an accountant while he is about to be married to the beautiful Jamie even though she treats him badly. Donny turns up on the weekend of Todd's wedding, posing as his oldest friend, and soon becomes his Best Man even though Todd realises that with his father around things will get out of control. Inevitably the pair bond over the weekend however with the reunion special looming will Donny tell Todd why he's really there or will he forgo getting the money in order to repair the relationship with his son.

Positives: There are two great cameos in the film with James Caan playing an incredibly violent Irish priest and Susan Sarandon as the older version of Todd's mother. I have to say I also found Vanilla Ice, who is now Donny's best friend, particularly amusing despite the fact he really can't act.

Negatives: This film is just distasteful from beginning to end starting as it does with statutory rape and ending with a couple of incest 'gags' David Caspe's script is truly terrible. Talking of truly terrible Adam Sandler once again portrays an over-the-top comic character by 'doing a voice' and hoping that will be enough to make him funny which it really isn't. I feel that Sandler, certainly when he plays these comedy roles, has now lost the humour he once had in Happy Gilmore and The Wedding Singer so should probably stick to more straight roles such as the one he played in Funny People. Sandler seemingly drags everyone down to his level namely Andy Samberg who as Todd has to play the straight man who is a complete wimp and another character that I failed to care for. Considering this is a comedy film there are very few actual laughs and this was probably the main problem with the film.

Verdict: Unfunny, distasteful with some really bad central performance I would recommend everyone steer clear of That's My Boy however I will at least award Caan and Sarandon for trying to raise the bar and give this 2/10

Review No.132: Detachment

As I'm constantly banging on about genres on this blog, because after all that's the first thing they teach you about in Film Studies, I'm going to have a look at a very specific type of film mainly that of the inspirational teacher. From Goodbye Mr Chips to Freedom Writers via Stand and Deliver and Dangerous Minds these films always see an educator come to a school, usually one where the students can't be bothered, and ends with a case of mutual respect. That's what I thought I was getting from Detachment in which Adrien Brody plays substitute teacher Henry Barthes who comes to teach a class of delinquents in a school which produces the worst figures in the area. As the title suggests though Henry is detached from most of life so swears freely at his pupils and informs them that if they don't want to be in the class then they shouldn't waste his time. Henry's teaching does touch certain students though most notably Betty Kaye's Meredith a rather large girl with a penchant for art photography who is routinely picked on at school and insulted at home. The scenes inside the school also introduce us to teachers all of whom are struggling at their jobs but cope in different ways from James Caan's Mr Seadbolt's pill-popping to Lucy Liu's guidance councillor lashing out at her go-nowhere students we also see the politics of the education system through the eyes of principal Carol played by Marcia Gay Harden. The story though is more about Henry than the school as we see him deal with a childhood trauma and take in a teenage prostitute for no apparent reason. Things come to a head as Henry is about to leave the school and there is a heart-breaking scene before everything is said and done.

Reading around Detachment I found out that the original script didn't include a lot of the in-character interviews that are carried out between director Tony Kaye and Brody. For me these segments were long-winded and were a way out of letting the script provide depth to the character of Henry in addition there are a lot of improvised scenes some that work and others that are little embarrassing to watch. Personally I felt Kaye, who hasn't made a film since the well-received American History X, tries too many different techniques from animation to dimly lit memories to the aforementioned interviews it all seems a bit much. What I would've liked to have scene is more from the school as it it's heart is a very interesting film about school politics and the pressures of being a teacher, as evidenced right from the get-go with interviews by real life educators, however I felt the multiple plot strands involving Henry's personal life got in the way of this. With the exception of Meredith we really didn't get to see a lot of interaction between Henry and his pupils which is a shame as I thought that more could've been made in these classroom scenes. The cast on the whole are great Brody is great in the role of a man who wants to impart knowledge to kids but has become jaded over time due to both his job and his personal life. Harden, Liu and Caan are all brilliant with the latter playing a role very different from the usual stereotypical gangsters he usually portrays while Christina Hendricks also does a good job as a would-be love interest for Henry. There are flashes of what Detachment could've been however I think Kaye tries too many things that just don't add up to a well-made feature film.

Verdict: Some decent performances and flashes of genius don't detract from the fact that Detachment is a bit all over the place however due to the brilliant cast I will award this 6.5/10