MOVIE 43 - myriad stars modicum shine

The idea for this movie was simple. Lots of outrageous short films placed side by side with a pseudo underpinning narrative thread. Some bits are better than others but one thing you can sure bet on is raunch raunch raunch.

I do enjoy a raunchy comedy once in a while but I will still always prefer a clever one much like Bridesmaids. Movie 43 is similar in vain to what Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez did with Grindhouse except in reverse. Instead of high octane medium length action films spliced with absurd commercials crafted by all sorts of different directors, this film pursued high raunch short length comedies spliced with few commercials directed by a random pool of wackos. 

Dennis Quaid walks into Greg Kinnear's movie pitch office and begins to deliver his first film idea, complete with silly commercials. Since the first short entails Hugh Jackman escorting Kate Winslet on a blind date with a conspicuous scrotum on his neck, Kinnear rightly, wants to throw Quaid out of his office. Quaid pulls a gun and multiple bizarre mini-farces result. The best being the truth or dare episode between Halle Berry and Stephen Merchant. I'm aware of the utter hatred heaped at this movie, especially by Richard Roeper, whose review has gone viral. I won't say the film doesn't deserve the harsh criticism but it's not quite as awful as these people would have you believe. It's really offensive but has some clever parts too.

The problem with this type of comedy is that in pushing-the-envelope style offensiveness you rarely hit upon something actually hilarious, instead you initiate the gag reflex or the just plain stunned reaction. You want to laugh but feel uncomfortable or bad or dumb for doing so. If you have to think about laughing you probably won't—it should be a burst of spontaneity which you can analyze for worthy content later. Like the end credits state—dedicated to anyone who has ever had a dirty thought. I get that but given the talent at your disposal I still hoped for better, smarter comedy in place of the cheap, quick and easy gratuitousness.   

Recommended Viewing: Kentucky Fried Movie - Amazon Women On The Moon - Airplane

              Bob Scale: The Critic: 4.5   -   The Fan: 6.0

             MetaCritic: 15

 Rotten Tomatoes: 5

                    IMDB: 5.4

LES MISÉRABLES - a never ending aria

Tom Hooper's Les Misérables was a musical treat but a hard film to enjoy and therefore sit through. A handful of lines are spoken—nearly the entire movie is sung solo. I mentioned in an earlier review that I thought Anna Karenina would have fared better as a tragic musical, I felt just the opposite for this film adaptation. 

I think I would have loved this movie if it would have been either fully dramatic live action or just part musical but as a nonstop melodious stage play it could not capture me. I felt kept at a distance, like the characters lived in fantasy world that I could not connect to. Most will remember the superb rendition in the late 90's starring Liam Neeson as Jean Valjean or perhaps the other seven in existence—maybe we didn't need another version like those...

I imagine those that adore the Broadway play may like this film as pure escapist delight. I will give honorable mention to at least one scene. Anne Hathaway nearly made me burst into tears as I viewed in wowed silence, her powerful soliloquy, delivered in a one shot master stoke of raw, emotive, self realized suffering and utter destitution. It showcased, for me, the power of lyrical song and strong emotion which, heretofore, had yielded nothing but a pleasant apathy. 

Les Misérables, Victor Hugo's perennial classic, has continued to enrapture audiences since its publication in 1862. As well it should. At once, an awesome story of revenge, love, redemption and forgiveness. I just can't believe that this new version was the best way to share those motifs with us. It was very well made and designed but somehow the spirit was lost in the artifice. Bode thee better in thee times immemorial and thee times yet to come. 

Recommended Viewing: Les Misérables (1998) - Les Misérables (1934) - The Hunchback... (1939)

              Bob Scale: The Critic: 7.5   -   The Fan: 6.4

             MetaCritic: 64

 Rotten Tomatoes: 72

                    IMDB: 8.2