Film Review: The Secret Life of Pets

Animals run amok in wild, messy, manic children’s film.

Oh, the pet shenanigans!
Oh, the pet shenanigans!

I don’t really know what the point of The Secret Life of Pets was, but I know that children will love the film. The simple Toy Story-esque premise of ‘what do x do while people are gone’ (in this case where are pets) is amusing for the first five to ten minutes of the film, but it quickly spins out of control. The story devolves into an adventure featuring an assortment of animal varieties, of few of which are very rarely legally allowed as pets. The aforementioned adventure is wonderfully animated and truly manic, but the gimmicky premise fades fast and the rest is a hyperactive mess with lots of humorous bits and not a lot of heart. Not like any children will care, though, since they’ll be fully satiated by the maniacally laughing psycho bunny, voiced by Kevin Hart.

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Film Review: Central Intelligence

The Rock and Kevin Hart are having so much fun — it’s infectious.

Super secret action plan from The Rock to Kevin Hart.
Super secret action plan from The Rock to Kevin Hart.

There are more holes in the plot of Central Intelligence than there are in an average kitchen sponge, but it doesn’t matter. The action scenes are poorly shot, but it doesn’t matter. The character arcs are flatter than plywood, but it doesn’t matter. What matters the most is that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kevin Hart are having a blast acting in the fast-paced, ridiculous buddy crime comedy, Central Intelligence, and their exuberance is infectious, making this film a satisfying viewing experience.

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Film Review: Top Five

Rock in top form with Top Five

Rosario Dawson’s Chelsea and Chris Rock’s Andre get to know each other.

With Top Five, Chris Rock gives us his first directing/writing/acting trifecta since 2007’s relatively unknown I Think I Love my Wife. Top Five should fare better, as it has something for everyone; it combines the raunchy humor of today’s most popular comedies with more cerebral humor. If the Farrelly Brothers had directed Birdman, the result might look something like Top Five. While the result often feels a bit disjointed, the film always succeeds in eliciting laughs.

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Film Review: About Last Night

About this remake: Fresh humor balances romantic comedy clichés

Michael Ealy's Danny watches the game while Joy Bryant's Debbie watches him in About Last Night.
Michael Ealy’s Danny watches the game while Joy Bryant’s Debbie watches him in About Last Night.

Hollywood is big on remakes these days; this week alone, three updates of 1980s movies have opened (RoboCop on Wednesday, and Endless Love and About Last Night today). Whether there is a lack of decent original screenplays right now, or whether aging Gen X studio execs are nostalgic for the stories of their formative days is hard to say, but the phenomenon does beg the question of whether these remakes need to be made at all, and, more importantly, whether they are any good in their own right. The new About Last Night is a particularly special case, since it is not only a remake of a film, but is also a remake of a film based on a play, which makes the new version especially far removed from its source material. Does that matter?  Fortunately, in this case, not so much. Director Steven Pink, who apparently has a fondness for the 1980s (he directed the very funny ’80s time travel movie Hot Tub Time Machine) has tweaked the material enough to make his new version modern, fresh, and very funny. Continue reading “Film Review: About Last Night”