30 | November | 2019 | Movie Reviews 101

Director: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly

Writer: Ed Decter, John J Strauss, Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly (Screenplay)

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, Ben Stiller, Lee Evans, Chris Elliott, Lin Shaye, Jeffrey Tambor, Markie Post, Keith David

Plot: A man gets a chance to meet up with his dream girl from high school, even though his date with her back then was a complete disaster.

Tagline – Warning: The guys who did ‘Dumb & Dumber’ and ‘Kingpin’ bring you a love story.

Runtime: 1 Hour 59 Minutes

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Laugh Out Loud Comedy

Story: There’s Something About Mary starts back in high school Ted (Stiller) is an outsider at school with a giant crush on the school beauty Mary (Diaz), he is lucky enough to get asked to the prom which only ends in disaster after an accident.

13 years later Ted still wants to know about Mary, he hires a private investigator Healy (Dillon) to find out about her, only for him to fall for her and he tries to get her using all the secrets he has learnt from spying on her, which drives Ted down to Florida to try and win her heart first.

Thoughts on There’s Something About Mary

Characters – Mary is the beauty woman that the guys are all attracted too, she is good-hearted helping the community including her brother, she however can’t settle on the right guy, attracting the wrongs one too often. Ted is the high school student that suffers an unfortunate accident on prom night, he never got over not knowing about Mary and sets out to learn about her 13-years later, he continues to have accidents in life, but is an honest guy. The nice twist on these two characters is that, Mary is the big sports fan while Ted doesn’t seem that interested in sports. Healy is the private investigator that is hired to learn about Mary, he falls for her and uses the information he has learnt to try and win her heart. Tucker is a friend of Mary’s that also loves her and will do anything to stop the guys dating her.

Performances – Cameron Diaz was the perfect choice for this role she has the looks which was important, but she shows us all that she has the comedic timing too. Matt Dillon as a creepy investigator works great too, this plays into his strengths in the comedy genre too, while Ben Stiller shows us just how good he is at playing to loveable loser figure, apart from his terrible fake crying. The supporting cast get their laughs too, which works well throughout the film.

Story – The story follows multiply men that fall for Mary, they are going to try different plans to win her heart and certain ideas do work. This doesn’t paint the intelligent doctor figure of Mary very well, but we tend to focus on the guys plans over her decisions. Ted is the nice guy that mostly wants to make sure she is doing well in life only to become part of her life again, while others turn to lies to play into her favourite traits. For a comedy this story works very well, it will give you the laughs along the way even if the characters for the most part are turned into desperate people that will lie to get a woman.

Comedy/Romance – The comedy in this film gets laughs throughout the film, certain people will be offended by certain material though. The romance shows how people will fall in love and how far people will go for love.

Settings – Most of the film is set around Florida, which gives us the sun filled background to make this easy on the eyes.

Scene of the Movie – Learning the truth.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The depiction of mentally handicapped people.

Final Thoughts – This is a funny comedy that does make us laugh more often than not, we have great performances from the whole cast and you will be happy to watch this again.

Overall: Enjoyable comedy.

Rating

Director: Frank Peluso

Writer: Frank Peluso (Screenplay)

Starring: Michael Biehn, Ryan Carnes, Kenzie Dalton, Owen Burke, Rick Salomon, Christian Madsen, Michael Madsen

Plot: When their father is murdered, three brothers descend upon an Oregon mountain river to spread his ashes. After they arrive, one of their children goes missing. One of the brothers was himself abducted 30 years ago when they visited this same river, but he has blocked the incident out of his mind. Only by unlocking the mysteries inside his subconscious, will they be able find the child.

Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Thriller That Lacks Intensity

Story: Red Handed starts with a Pagan ritual that was once famous in the local area in the 12^th century, one with real horrors. We see Lou (Michael Madsen) a car mechanic in the town now, he has three children Gus (Carnes), Pete (Burke) and Duffy (Christen Madsen) with his own relationship with his brothers Reynolds (Biehn) and Dale (Salomon) being distant.

When Lou gets murdered by his brother, the brothers return to the town for the first time in years to spread his ashes. This trip brings back the memories of the three’s childhood, where one of them once went missing, following the traditions of the area, which might have a reason for their father’s death.

Thoughts on Red Handed

Characters – Reynolds is the brother of Lou, he is older and has always remained closer to the family traditions. Duffy is the son that is closest to his father, he has his own family even if there are a few problems in his marriage, he is reluctant to sees his brothers, but must work with them over the weekend. Pete is the eldest of the brothers, he likes the quiet of the world unlike the other too, as well as having a trauma from his past which he doesn’t like to open up about. Lou is their father who has always tried to keep them close, but just like him with his brothers, has seen them becoming distant. We do have three brothers that have become distant, which sees them reuniting having issues between them.

Performances – We do have two big names in this film with Michael Biehn and Michael Madsen who are here to show the experience the film needs, while the younger cast, where Christian Madsen, Owen Burke and Ryan Carnes all work well in the dysfunctional siblings.

Story – The story here follows three brothers that come together for their father’s funeral only to find themselves in the middle of a pagan community that their father didn’t want to be part off. This is a story that can be split into two, the brothers coming together shows that life can push family’s apart and coming back together can help problems be talked through, this is all great. When we look at the other side of the story we are dealing with pagan followers which is more about them planning in the background without getting into the true depths of the ritual.

Thriller – The film tries to keep us guessing on what will be happening next, but we never get the intensity we could get with the pagan style movie.

Settings – The film keeps us in the small backcountry homes, which are near historic important locations, which does help keep everything contained.

Scene of the Movie – Brothers together again, touching moment between the brothers.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Most of the Pagan side didn’t feel like it was important enough.

Final Thoughts – This is a thriller that doesn’t hit the heights it could, the serious relationship between brothers is the highlight, while the pagan side almost feels tagged on.

Overall: Thriller without Intensity.