May 23, 2003

It’s Bad News, Great News, Good News Friday for Universal at The Hot Button…

The bad news is that Bruce Almighty is the first major disappointment of the summer season.   Unlike Tim Shadyac’s first “adult” movie with Jim Carrey -  Liar, Liar - Bruce Almighty offers almost nothing for anyone who is not thrilled just to spend a couple of hours watching Carrey cut up.  Both films were the ultimate in high concept.  A lawyer can’t stop himself from telling the truth, destroying and then saving his life… with Jim Carrey as the lawyer.  Killer.  And the execution was near perfect.  Here you have a man who doesn’t appreciate what he has in life gets imbued with the powers of God for a couple of weeks and after going wild learns the value of being alive, making him a better man… with Jim Carrey as the guy. 

I’d buy it.  Even after seeing Bruce Almighty, I would buy that pitch and make it again.  Because it just doesn’t work this time out.   A cousin of Brewster’s Millions, the sky is the limit.  But what if this was the pitch… the guy gets to have God’s powers, but he has to stay in Buffalo.  With due respect to the land of rising slush, I’d rather not have God’s powers if it meant I had to use them in Buffalo.  (Well… but you get the idea.)

There are the freaky problems, like, “I am making a Jim Carrey movie, but I’m going to do really horrible mattes of Niagra Falls instead of actually shooting there for a week.”  Horrible mattes!  Shocking, really.

But the core trouble is in what I already wrote.  If you had all the power of God, would you even think about increasing your girlfriend’s breast size by a cup size?  Would you use your powers to sleep with your girlfriend?  Would you try to get them to give you a job anchoring the local news in Buffalo? 

But it is also the basic things.  You have seen the dog gag in the commercials.  The set-up for the joke has Carrey carrying the dog outside while the dog continues to urinate.   A funny physical gag in concept.  But  would anyone really pick up their dog and run out the door with the dog peeing all over the place?  Of course not.  And while some may suggest I am over thinking it, that is the core of comedy.  There must be some degree of believability.  Even Ace Ventura had a weird reality, no matter how far out. 

Also, there is the problem that Jim Carrey is the only one with anything to do in this film.  Stephen Carell, from The Daily Show, gets to perform a funny bit.  But that’s about it.  Morgan Freeman sleepwalks through the film, though he does get the biggest laugh, even if it takes the audience a beat to get that it is a joke at all.  Jennifer Aniston has more to do in any given episode of  Friends.  Lisa Ann Walter and Catherine Bell were apparently hired so the crew would have some busty babes to ogle, because both have thankless roles.  Phillip Baker Hall cashes a check. 

This is not a painfully bad movie.  But it is a true “I saw everything I needed to see in the trailer” movie.  Carrey in close-up is a hoot a few times.  It’s like watching him on Leno. 

GREAT NEWS:  2 Fast 2 Furious is the movie that The Fast & The Furious dreamt of being.  It could be critically deconstructed and I’m sure it will be… but if you don’t like this kind of movie, trust me, you won’t like this one either.  But if you are looking for a fast, funny, well shot, visually kitschy summer thrill ride, you’ll want to catch 2 Fast 2 Furious. 

John Singleton does his best non-hood work as a director here.  This movie is a series of major set pieces that doesn’t feel like a bunch of strung-together major set pieces.  It feels like an old-fashioned Smokey & The Bandit romp with all the high-tech thrills of a CG world.  One thing I can rarely say about chase movies – and it is usually the reason why people think of certain chase films as great – is that you can follow the chases.  You have a sense of the space, where all of the cars are and what danger may lurk. 

Tyrese is the big story here, along with Singleton’s stylizations.  This guy is a star.   It’s that simple.  Paul Walker is still a very handsome, very likeable cardboard cutout.  Tyrese wins the day in shots even when he is in the background.  And unlike Vin Diesel, he is not a walking caricature.  He is the key to the movie because they have written him so that he can play against expectations, but in a realistic way.  As a result, he is the character you look to in the film for the truth.   

The movie was enough fun that even the obviously political/marketing decisions were fun… the Asian grrrrl racer, the black guy who knows everything like Huggy Bear would, the stupid angry cop who is played by the guy who would have been the charismatic villain of the piece a decade ago, the big dumb bodyguards who always lose the fight… they are all there.  But somehow, they are all fine.  Thom Barry’s Agent Bilkis, one of the few holdovers from the first film, is the classic older senior cop from 70s TV, but he is so likeable, you are happy every time he shows up.

What the movie really comes down to is the racing and Singleton has really delivered.  He might use a little too much CG and not enough overhead shots to establish space in the opening race, but after that, it is win-win-win-win-win.  You could pick out flaws, like why the extreme driving is necessary when only added complications make the extreme driving necessary.  But who cares?!?!?!  It is not a Michael Mann movie.  It is a romp.  And it is a whole lot of fun.

The original opened at $40 million and went on to gross $145 million domestically.  There was a certain phenomenology to the event.   And I don’t know if that’s still in play.  What I do know is that this is a much better movie and if traditional sequel rules apply, it will beat the original in the end. 

GOOD NEWS:  Bruce Almighty is going to open big and do good business no matter what I think of its problems. 

WEEKEND PREVIEW:  The Matrix Reloaded passes $200 million.  Bruce Almighty opens big.  The In-Laws disappears.  Just another weekend in paradise.

WEEKEND GUESSTIMATES

1. The Matrix Reloaded - 3603 venues – n/a- $60 million
2. Bruce Almighty – 3482 venues – new - $43 million
3. Daddy Day Care - 3472 venues – n/a - $14 million
4. X2: X-Men United - 3067 venues – n/a - $12 million
5. The In-Laws - 2652 venues – new - $10.7 million
6. Down with Love - 2117 venues – n/a - $5.2 million
7. Lizzie McGuire - 2118 venues – n/a - $3.8 million
8. Identity - 1590 venues – n/a - $2.6  million
9. Holes - 1762 venues – n/a - $2.4 million
10. Anger Management - 1809 venues – n/a - $2.1 million

READER OF THE DAY:  Next week, we will – finally, look at the ideas that so many have sent in about the future of The Matrix.  But now, MOTHER MARY writes: “David, what are we who love film to do? There's not a thing at the local cineplex for adults who love film to watch this summer. There's not even an overblown mega picture I care to see. My problem, I'm female. I love good film. I won't go see megabucks ultra violent special effects film out of principle.  No Xmen for me. No Matrix redux. No, no, no. It's the principle of the thing. I'll catch them on cable someday. Maybe.

So, today, out of desperation, I went to the local cineplex at noon and bought a ticket to A Mighty Wind. Ok, I didn't actually buy a ticket, I had a pass from my aborted attempt to watch The Good Thief last week [projector problems that began an hour into the film. The end of which I will catch on cable someday]  Anyway, there I sat. Not bad... the lead ins to the story, back stories to their stories...you understand, right?  It was amusing, it was well written. There were good actors, clever improvisation..... I was becoming enchanted.... but.... I was the only person in the theater. No one else was smiling. No one else was chuckling at the references to the 60's folksy era. No one else saw the irony or understood the jokes.  I was utterly alone with the film.

At other times of the year, audiences would be there, to enjoy. But during the summer blockbuster frenzy, the other audience feels unwelcome in the cineplex. They assume there's nothing of interest to them. It's insidious, without an obvious cure.

I watched the trailers.... I think I might enjoy the film with Kate Hudson that opens sometime this summer. With Luke whatshisname? Or maybe even Finding Nemo. See, I love animated animal films....gentle, humanistic…

What I'm really looking forward to is Seabiscuit. I read the book. I adore Chris Cooper beyond reason.  But I haven't seen one preview. Not one trailer. Is it really opening this summer? Or am I on a goose chase? Doesn't anyone know how to market a movie to an adult audience?
 

And NIVEL KNIEVEL writes:  “Hey David, howzitgoin'? Long time reader, first time poster. I could care less about what's going on with Larry W. and his troubles, mainly because of all MY troubles. The general rule with most people and artists is that as long as your art is good, you have no problems with me. Take Michael Jackson. Despite all the years of oddities and drastic changes, the one thing that made me stop being an MJ fan, even temporarily, was him releasing a bad album. But that's another story. When the Wachowski Brothers chose to stay out of the spotlight, and let their art speak for itself, the press took this way too personally. Then again, they lost potential millions in interviews. BUT WHO CARES? The same things are always asked in interviews, the same responses, the same song-and-dance, which insults both interviewer and interviewee. "Why did you make this film?" "Because you should go see it." "Thank you." And now this marital strife. If this came out two years ago, nobody would care. I'd bet you yourself wouldn't even write about it. No matter how freaky Larry W. is, he still has the right to live his life. The press just needs to grow up, and stop spreading spite. And people need to mind their business. Pure and simple. Is that so hard to do nowadays?”

E ME. What’s your movie weekend looking like?  Have a great holiday.  Throw a shrimp on the Bar-B for me!  See you back here on Tuesday. 

"There Are No Matrix Pieces"
What Would Neo Do ..||||...Character Arcs (spoilers)
Review.. |||..Spoilers .

PHYSICIAN HEAL THYSELF
The New Yorker & The Matrix Reloaded ......