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Stuck in Love (2012)
Stuck in Love (2012)
Occasionally a love story that is not a “chick flick”, but looks like one, will fall through the cracks. Stuck in Love looked like one of those stories. The movie falls through the cracks because people assume it is a “chick flick” and they dismiss it immediately. I almost did the same thing because I’m not a fan of “chick flicks.” I’m not a fan of
“chick flicks” because well, I’m not a chick.
“Chick flicks” are so prevalent in the movie world these days that they are like a cancer that has spread. They are everywhere and their whole existence is killing the industry that they thrive on.
Stuck in Love is a dysfunctional drama about a semi-popular author (Greg Kinnear) who finds himself unable to get over his ex-wife (Jennifer Connelly), even after being divorced for more than 2 years. His son and daughter, who are also writers, are having their own struggles with love.
The film was written and directed by Josh Boone and the rest of the noteworthy cast includes Lily Collins, Kristen Bell, Logan Lerman, Nat Wolff, Liana Liberato, Stephen King, and Patrick Schwarzenegger.
I have always enjoyed movies about writers, because I have always wanted to be a writer.
The movie is only slightly formulaic and just a little bit predictable. It is not like “chick flicks” that are completely predictable because they always follow the same formula.
The film is rated-R for language, drug use, sexual situations, and adult drama. The movie is as much a teen drama as it is an adult drama.
There is a lot of language in the film, but that has become reality. You would like to think that people don’t always talk that way, but that is how it really is. We are a society that has become de-sensitized and the absence of language in the movie would have made it less realistic and less practical.
I was a little surprised when watching this movie because I thought it was going to be more about the parents in the story, rather than the kids. When, in fact, the film was just as much about the adults as it was about the kids.
The young actors in the movie did a better job than I anticipated. However,
the presence of Kinnear and Connelly help to make Stuck in Love a quirky, heart warming drama worth watching.
Once again, my dysfunctional childhood was probably the reason why I was drawn to this movie. Maybe it is just because I can relate to the craziness that is going on in the movie and that is why I like it. Growing up as the youngest in a big family, it’s hard to avoid the drama. Maybe that is why the movie seems more real to me, because dysfunction is more honest than perfection. Madness is more entertaining than predictability.
I rate this move a 7.5 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Rent.
If you liked Stuck in Love, then you may also enjoy The Big Wedding (2013), Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011), and The Way, Way Back (2013).
Admission (2013)
Admission (2013)
Paul Rudd has been typecast in the same roles for the majority of his career. When Tina Fey is not on television, she is acting in cheesy romantic comedies. With this in mind, I figured that this movie would be very average, but I thought that I would give it a chance anyway.
The film is about an admissions officer at Princeton (Tina Fey) who is not very fond of children. After finding out that an applicant just might be her son that she gave up for adoption a number of years before, she puts her job in jeopardy trying to help him get accepted.
The movie was directed by Paul Weitz and the rest of the noteworthy cast includes Paul Rudd, Gloria Reuben, Wallace Shawn, Lily Tomlin, Michael Sheen, Nat Wolff, and Travaris Spears.
I would hardly classify Admission as a comedy. It is not even really a dramedy. It is a romantic drama, but mainly just a drama.
It seems like more and more movies these days have been released classified as comedy/romance/drama. It is deceiving because often times these movies are just not very funny or any good at all, i.e. The Guilt Trip (2012) and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012).
These types of movies take actors that are mainly known for their comedy and they try to stretch the parameters of their acting ability by making them do comedy, drama, and romance. The end result is usually a light hearted, dysfunctional concoction of cheesy and cheap humor, a formulaic story, and characters that seem out of place because they are out of their element and in over their heads. Admission is exactly this kind of movie.
I chuckled a few times, I was bored a little bit, and when the movie was over I knew that I would never have to see it again.
Rudd and Fey keep making the same movies and therefore will continue to make the same movies.
Tomlin was charming. Given that she has mainly been acting in television lately, it was nice to see her in a movie again.
This is not even a good “chick flick.” Don’t waste your time on this below average movie.
I rate this movie a 4 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Run.
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