Funny Until It’s Not, Pain & Gain Is An Entertaining Mix Of Humor And Violence!

The Good: Funny, Darkly funny, Decent acting, Interesting characters
The Bad: After a lot of absurdity, it turns very dark and prioritizes action over the humor it started with, Stupidly homophobic
The Basics: A pretty ridiculous caper, Pain & Gain is verbally humorous and a ridiculous situational comedy before turns unsettling and somewhat oppressively dark.


At this point, it takes quite a bit for a preview (trailer) to sell me on a movie. I have seen so many and I’ve seen so many films that it is a rare thing where a trailer intrigues me enough to believe it and convince me that the movie it advertises is actually worth watching. So, I was surprised recently when a Michael Bay film’s trailer actually got me wanting to see it. The movie was Pain & Gain and while it took me a few extra weeks to see it, I was actually excited to see it.

The thing about previews is that they can, at their worst, completely mischaracterize a film. Such is what happened with Pain & Gain, at least from the first trailer. Pain & Gain is presented in its trailers as a somewhat violent, near-action film. As it is, it is far more comedic, though it is darkly comic for most of the film. That is not to say that the movie is not funny, but the humor in it is delivered in wry lines as opposed to more overt slapstick and consistent ridiculousness. What humor there is comes between pretty violent moments and occasionally boring monologues. It only becomes something gruesome and not terribly funny around the hour mark when the humor is replaced with a pretty gruesome near-murder. Still, Pain & Gain is a black comedy, an abduction caper that is entertaining, even if it has characters so stupid, they could only have come from reality. Pain & Gain is loosely based upon a true story.

Opening on June 17, 1995 with the arrest of Daniel Lugo, Daniel espouses his personal philosophy of fitness and self-improvement. Though he is found guilty of his crimes, he is able to secure a job at a local fitness club where he guarantees the owner he can triple the gym’s membership. There he meets Victor Kershaw, an investor who is incredibly proud of his sandwich shop above his other investments and who has had a far easier time of it than Daniel. After attending a seminar by self-help guru Johnny Wu, Daniel decides that he is going to make his American dream come true by robbing Victor blind. He recruits his friend Adrian and soon they recruit Paul Doyle, an ex-con, ex-junkie, to kidnap and rob Victor.

As such things go, their attempt to abduct Victor goes poorly. After a false start and a botched attempt where Paul mixes up the BMW he needs to block in, the guys tazer Victor in broad daylight and manage to abduct him. After weeks of torture, Daniel and his team work Victor over to the point where he signs over all he owns to Daniel. Following that, the guys take Victor out to kill him, but they botch that job and Victor begins to hunt Daniel (with the aid of a retired private eye) for revenge. As Adrian moves on and marries the specialist who diagnosed him as a steroid user, Daniel settles into his new neighborhood and tries to become a good influence. Paul, however, falls back into cocaine and alcohol and tries to lure the guys into a second get-rich caper. Daniel is surprised when Adrian seems like he might be down with a second job.

Pain & Gain is funny mostly because it is a seriously-delivered crime caper populated by the stupidest criminals to hit the big screen in years. Utilizing frequent voiceovers, Pain & Gain has a series of ridiculous circumstances that spin out of control because Daniel is a man who adapts more than he thinks ahead. Daniel is a parody of a businessman for half the movie and a stupid fitness guru the rest of the time. As the events spin out of control, though, Daniel’s strength is in the way he adapts and presents himself with a supreme level of confidence. Still, even as things go bad, he says some of the most ridiculous things. Fortunately, many of the lines are actually funny: “If I learned anything this last year, other than what a notary was . . .”

As one might expect, the characters in Pain & Gain are largely unlikable. This is not a caper with a charismatic protagonist like I Love You, Phillip Morris (reviewed here!). Instead, Pain & Gain illustrates well how enough is never enough and one bad idea often leads to another. Daniel’s plan is ridiculous, but it is complicated by the fact that he enlists a man who falls easily back into his addictions and another who idolizes him and is willing to go along with any bad idea Daniel comes up with.

What makes Pain & Gain worth watching – outside some choice lines that are actually hilarious – is the acting. Dwayne Johnson proves once and for all that he is not just a giant with physical presence and muscles that are scary huge. Instead, he has the ability to be hilarious through deadpan deliveries and the ability to undermine expectations by looking like a terrified little boy when the circumstances call for it. Johnson is very funny as the coked up Paul. He is even funnier as the earnest Jesus freak who struggles with doing the right thing even as he consistently goes in the wrong direction.

Tony Shaloub and Anthony Mackie give great supporting performances as Victor and Adrian. Shaloub trades in his goofy reputation from Monk for a cold and dangerous façade that he pulls off completely. Mackie does the sidekick thing well as Adrian Doorbal opposite Mark Wahlberg’s Daniel Ludo, but he really shines when he is opposite Rebel Wilson, who plays his character’s love interest. Mackie holds himself with dignity most of the film and he is credibly powerful in the scenes where he is physical and hilariously cold in one of the film’s later scenes at a Home Depot.

Mark Wahlberg manages to blend the earnestness of his usual dramatic performance with the goofiness of his usual comedic role. As a result, Daniel Ludo comes across as a weird mix of Dirk Diggler from Boogie Nights (reviewed here!) and his absurd cop from The Other Guys (reviewed here!). Daniel Ludo might not be a likable character, but Mark Wahlberg makes him a watchable one who solidly entertains for the two hours of Pain & Gain.

Ironically, Pain & Gain manages to deliver what Identity Thief (reviewed here!) only promised. It is a solidly entertaining crime caper that has moments that are laugh-out-loud funny and, outside a gruesome middle, is very enjoyable overall.

For other works with Anthony Mackie, please check out my reviews of:
Man On A Ledge
The Adjustment Bureau
The Hurt Locker
Half Nelson
Million Dollar Baby

6/10

For other film reviews, please check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

A Strong Argument Against Sequels: Addams Family Values.

The Good: Effects are decent
The Bad: Poor character development, Mediocre acting, Largely not funny, Banal plot
The Basics: More of the same, Addams Family Values is a lackluster sequel that is utterly unimpressive.


I understand that the early 1990s cinematic renditions of The Addams Family were based on a television series. However, upon watching Addams Family Values, I found myself wondering how the show made it past three episodes. Sadly, by the second film, the Addams Family has pretty much run out of spark and intrigue. In fact, the plot wanders around being a variation on the earlier film The Addams Family (reviewed here!). In Addams Family Values, instead of belaboring whether or not Uncle Fester is the real Uncle Fester, this time Fester is taken from the family by a serial killer who marries him to try to get his fortune.

While the plot might seem like a big difference from the first film, the structure is disturbingly similar. For example, Gomez ends up in jail right around the same time in the film as the Addams Family was locked out of their mansion in the first film. The original aspect in Addams Family Values, a b-plot that has Wednesday and Pugsley, falls flat and is essentially a single non-sequitur joke that is dragged out and repeated for at least half an hour of the ninety-four minute film.

Following the abrupt birth of Pubert Addams to Gomez and Morticia Addams, their children Wednesday and Puglsey believe that either Pubert or Pusgley must die (after all, they only need one boy child). Corrected by Gomez, Wednesday and Pugsley just begin repeated attempts to kill the baby with a guillotine, dropping from excessive heights, etc. To help the parents deal with the children, Morticia and Gomez hire Debbie Jellinsky.

Debbie keeps Pubert alive and almost immediately sets her sights on Uncle Fester. Debbie gets rid of Wednesday and Puglsley by telling their parents that they have a secret desire to go to summer camp. Confined to Camp Chippewa, Wednesday develops her first crush, with an asthmatic boy who hates the outdoors as much as she does. Left to her own devices, Debbie begins to woo Fester and she marries him with the intent of killing him and stealing his fortune. When Gomez tries to intervene, he is jailed and the family must rescue him and Fester.

The moment I realized just how bad Addams Family Values was was when I found myself smiling in excitement from Tony Shaloub appearing on screen. Shaloub has a cameo that is essentially a blink-and-you-miss-it role that is of utterly no consequence to the film. Shaloub is trotted out on the heels of David Hyde Pierce, Nathan Lane and (the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine geek in me was excited by) Camille Saviola. When the guest actors in minor roles thrill the viewer more than anything going on in the actual film, the movie is in trouble.

Like its predecessor, Addams Family Values trades on humor that comes from a macabre family interacting with the real, normal world and the jokes that result from (mostly) young people enjoying murder, gore, and pain. The first big problem is that that series of jokes was done to death in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values beats the same joke to an even bloodier pulp. The joke is dead long before this film begins, yet it is reiterated ad nauseum.

Addams Family Values is plagued as well by terrible direction and poor acting. On the acting front, Joan Cusack is entirely hammy as Debbie and not in the moments when it is obvious that is the intent. Similarly, Christina Ricci is unfortunately too frequently out of character as Wednesday. The humorless, morose Wednesday appears too often in Addams Family Values with a smile at the edges of her lips and radiating from her eyes. Sadly, while this makes sense after her character’s first crush, it does not makes sense early in the film.

In a similar fashion, the direction in Addams Family Values is unsettlingly choppy. While the make-up effects are wonderful, the basic editing on the film is . . . for lack of a better term, craptastic. The choppy editing is especially noticeable during the children’s play and the mayhem that follows at the summer camp.

Giving The Whole Ten Yards (reviewed here!) a run for its money as worst sequel of all time, Addams Family Values adds nothing of significance to the franchise and is, ultimately, a disappointment.

For other works with Anjelica Huston, be sure to visit my reviews of:
The Big Year
50/50
The Darjeeling Limited
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Mists Of Avalon
Ever After: A Cinderella Story
A Handful Of Dust
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

2/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

With Sixteen Episodes, Monk Season Three Transforms Into A Show Very Much Worth Watching!

The Good: Natalie!, Interesting cases, Decent character work
The Bad: Somewhat formulaic in the plots.
The Basics: After nine episodes, Monk Season Three transforms when Natalie replaces Sharona and the show gets more overtly funny.


For those who have not read my reviews of Monk Seasons 1 and 2 (reviewed here and here, respectively!), when I started watching Monk in syndication, I came in during the Natalie years. As I have restarted the show on DVD at the beginning, that has led to much kvetching on my part about the role of Sharona in the early seasons of Monk. Fortunately, with Monk Season Three, that abruptly changes as Sharona makes an impromptu departure from the series and is replaced by Natalie.

And the series just gets better! Right around the time of the character switch, the show settled into a more consistent pattern of leaving the killer for the reveal (in the early episodes, viewers see the murder and the murderer and the shows were about how Monk figures out their plans and machinations). With the change from Sharona to Natalie, Monk’s life is effectively shaken up and the series commits to more overt comedy, at least for the remainder of this season.

In the third season of Monk, Monk solves murders in San Francisco related to a series of power outages and a mob boss. He is fired from working in tandem with the police force by a new commissioner (but solves three cases at once anyway) and he tries to exonerate what appears to be a murderous monkey. Monk discovers that Sharona might have given a murderer their inspiration when she takes a creative writing class and after Natalie arrives, he has to solve a murder that appears to have been committed by a dead martial arts star. And when Natalie runs for the school board, Monk must figure out who is shooting at her and why!

In this season, Monk travels a bit more than the prior seasons. Starting with a trip to New York City to get more clues about Trudy’s death, Monk finds himself in Hollywood working on a game show. He is also sent to a cabin in the woods as the subject of a protection detail, which makes him feel less protected when he comes to believe a neighbor is a murderer! And when Stottlemeyer goes to Las Vegas and becomes convinced that he has solved the murder of a wealthy socialite (then forgotten it), he calls Monk to help him prove he is right!

The third season of Monk more effectively integrates actual character changes and elements into it than prior seasons. In the third season, the principle characters are:

Adrian Monk – Still obsessive compulsive and suffering from numerous phobias as a result of his wife’s murder, Monk begins to travel more. He is deeply upset and betrayed when Sharona abruptly remarries her ex- and moves away, leaving him in a lurch. After several early encounters where he has difficulty adapting to the differences between her and Sharona, Monk begins to accept Natalie,

Sharona Flemming – She tries to distance herself from Monk for her own mental health, in the process taking a writing class that drives her into the grips of a very real sense of being crazy. She falls for a mob thug and encourages Monk to use medication (though she does not like the jerk he becomes when he does) before she abruptly departs,

Natalie Teeger – A single mother whose husband was a soldier, she is now raising her daughter, Julie, alone. She tries to teach Julie to be fearless by setting a positive example and running for school board, despite getting threats against her life. She quickly adapts to Monk’s eccentricities, if not his cheapness,

Captain Leland Stottlemeyer – Relying upon Monk more than ever, he is deeply dismayed to learn that he is as smart as Monk when he is blackout drunk (and only then). His relationship with his wife continues to deteriorate, though he tries very hard to placate her by doing things like allowing her to shoot a documentary on how he runs the department. He actually enjoys taking Monk out of the city when Monk has to be secluded,

and Lieutenant Disher – who is little more than a sidekick this season. In fact, outside strengthening his relationship with Sharona shortly before her departure by believing in her when she thinks she is going crazy, he is a nonentity this season. He survives the changeover between Monk’s assistant to live to headline episodes in subsequent seasons.

Because the show has such a formula to it, by the third season, the actors all know their marks. It is in the third season, though, that Tony Shaloub begins to truly shine and the writers and directors seem to open up to making the show a more overt comedy. In “Mr. Monk And The Election,” for example, Monk hilariously saves Natalie from a grenade, which he throws in the refrigerator, then returns to straighten. Between the physical comedy and the comedic recap, scenes like that stand out as laugh-out-loud funny and Tony Shaloub is rightly given praise for bringing his amazing comic sensibility to the role.

Traylor Howard, who plays Natalie, seems to instantly adapt to the ensemble. She has great on-screen chemistry with Shaloub for witty back and forths and in the few moments the two share where they discuss deeply personal issues, Howard holds her own dramatically with Shaoulb (who plays upset and disturbed extraordinarily well!). Howard plays “nice” very well and after how insensitive Sharona could be, Natalie comes in as a breath of fresh air in many ways.

On DVD, the sixteen episodes of Monk Season Three come with limited featurettes. There is a featurette on Monk and his quirks and another on Natalie, as well as a “Life Before Monk” featurette. These are not extraordinary features, but they are better than nothing. Fortunately, this is a season that is easy enough to recommend based on the strength of the primary programming!

For reviews of other works featuring Ted Levine, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Shutter Island
Memoirs Of A Geisha
Evolution
The Silence Of The Lambs

7/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Why Trekkers Love Galaxy Quest

The Good: Funny, Decent acting, Good concept
The Bad: Predictable plot and character arcs
The Basics: In a clever science fiction comedy, a crew of actors from a science fiction show are impressed by aliens to save their race from a brutal enemy.


As I consider Galaxy Quest, a story Robert Picardo (Star Trek Voyager) told at a Star Trek convention comes to mind. The venerable actor was on stage talking about being on a plane when the in-flight movie was Galaxy Quest. Several people on the plane had recognized him from his work on Star Trek and as he watched, he noticed people on the plane watching him with a generally nervous sense about them. He commented on how when he started laughing and made it clear that he was enjoying the film, the plane began to openly enjoy the movie. It was like the people on the plane who respected Picardo and his work needed his permission to enjoy the parody. Picardo, for his part, enjoyed the film quite a bit; he has quite a good sense of humor (actually, he's one of the funniest people alive today and he was perfectly cast as The Doctor on Star Trek Voyager). The thing is, most Trekkers - which I count myself as - have a sense of humor about our subculture and were thrilled to have a movie that actually includes us (even if in parody).

Years after the cult-classic science fiction show Galaxy Quest is canceled, the actors from the show are finding themselves virtually unemployable as actors and working the convention circuit making money signing autographs and dealing with their fans one on one. The star of the show, Jason Nesmith - who played the captain of the ship - is egocentric and thrives on the celebrity, while his sidekick, the accomplished actor Alexander Dane laments the loss of his legitimate career. When actual aliens arrive to enlist Nesmith in a fight against an oppressive adversary - misinterpreting the old television show broadcasts for historical documents - Nesmith reunites the cast to try to bluff their way through saving the galaxy.

The fundamental problem, of course, is that Nesmith is an actor, not a starship captain, just as Fred Kwan is not an engineer, Tommy is not a pilot and Dane is not actually an alien (though for the convention, he has donned his prosthetic). When it becomes clear that the stakes are life and death, the actors must rise to the occasion and work together to save the galaxy.

There are too few science fiction comedies out there. There are even fewer that are smart science fiction comedies (Dude, Where's My Car? - reviewed here - for example, would fall into the "not smart science fiction" category). Galaxy Quest manages to be a smart science fiction comedy in addition to being a clever commentary on the role of television - specifically shows that have a cult following - in American society and culture. Part of what makes this show work is the concept of how roles like the fictional show Galaxy Quest provide can both make actors and destroy their careers, sprout a loyal and devoted audience and isolate that following from living balanced lives. That's clever and well-executed in this film. It's what we in the subculture "get."

Some Trekkers object to the parody, as most of the fans in Galaxy Quest are overweight, living with their parents and dateless males. Writers David Howard and Robert Gordon call it as they see it and their representation is an accurate parody, the hyperbole of the most visible and disturbing element of the subculture (i.e. it's hard to parody the NASA engineer who was inspired by Star Trek as effectively as the socially-isolated teen whose sole interface with others is the convention experience).

As for the story itself - outside the commentary it seeks to make - Galaxy Quest is solidly entertaining. Nesmith and his crew of actors face the amusing foibles of acclimating to a real ship based on the one they operated for years on their television show. As they experience wonder at stepping on alien worlds and horror at the brutality of the enemy's attacks, the audience finds their fish-out-of-water struggle entertaining.

A lot of it, though, is tied closely with the commentary, though. So, for example, Gwen DeMarco, Jason's quasi-love interest and costar, finds herself feeling useless and angry as her role on the show - and on the ship - was to ask the computer for information. This is a terrible role to play in reality and one that is frequently redundant. Yet, watching her adapt to being the interface on the ship is amusing. Equally amusing is engineer Fred Kwan's easy adaptation to the ship, as if jumping off into outer space and becoming chief engineer of a space vessel happens every day to him.

While the character arcs are largely predictable - Nesmith learns the value of teamwork, Dane discovers the importance of the role he has so long despised - the characters here are intriguing. Nesmith is an entirely self-absorbed egoist and it's refreshing to see how he reacts when faced with reality. After all, how does a man whose career is based on the force of his personality react and survive when real peril presents itself? There's the famous quote to the effect of faking confidence and actual confidence yield the same result and Galaxy Quest seeks to explore that using the foil characters of Nesmith and Dane.

What sells Galaxy Quest to the larger audience is certainly the acting. Tim Allen pulls off the preening egoist Nesmith with amazing efficiency and realism. Allen, as Nesmith, energizes the convention audience when he appears on stage and it is Allen's innate charisma that convinces the movie audience that this is realistic. Allen can work a crowd and in his early scenes as Nesmith, he embodies that type of performer.

Sigourney Weaver, who portrays Gwen, is wonderful as a frustrated actress who lives very much in the real world. Weaver's strength in Galaxy Quest comes from being able to effectively play off Allen and convince the audience of the reality of their love-hate relationship.

Alan Rickman is great as Alexander Dane, though it seems like the role is not a stretch for such a dignified actor. Similarly, Tony Shalhoub (best known for his performance of the quirky detective Monk) is great as the easygoing engineer Kwan. Like Rickman, however, the role does not seem to push the actor into any terribly new territory. Instead, this is a role he makes appear effortless and the enjoyment in watching him perform is for the humor he is able to bring out as a result.

One of my favorite performances in Galaxy Quest comes in the form of Enrico Colantoni's portrayal of the extraterrestrial Mathesar. Colantoni is probably best known to American audiences as the promiscuous photographer Elliot on Just Shoot Me, though he gave an incredible dramatic performance of a mentally retarded son of Andy's sponsor on NYPD Blue for a few episodes in the second season. Colantoni is able to combine the two performances into a humorous, unsettlingly weird presentation of an alien on Earth with Mathesar. He steals the scenes he is in.

All in all, Galaxy Quest is solidly entertaining and genuinely funny, though the humor does not hold up terribly well over multiple (5+) viewings. It's worth your attention and a lot of fun for science fiction fans. Or those who like mocking us.

For other science fiction comedies, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Men In Black III
Paul


7/10

For other film reviews, be sure to check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing of films I have reviewed!

© 2012, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

After Years Of Waiting, I Check Out The Pre-9/11 The Siege And Love It!

The Good: Great acting, Wonderful story and social message, Interesting character dynamics, Educational.
The Bad: No DVD bonus features, Pacing
The Basics: Clever, well-acted and intense, The Siege has Denzel Washington and Tony Shalhoub at the forefront of investigations into terrorist attacks on New York City!


There are few films that have come so highly recommended to me in recent years as The Siege, a film about terrorism in the United States that predates the September 11, 2001 attacks to New York City, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania. It came to me recommended because of my politics and my appreciation of the works of Edward Zwick, who was one of the co-creators of one of my favorite canceled television shows, Once And Again. Given Zwick's adeptness as a writer and director, I had no doubt going into The Siege that I would be entertained at the very least. And given how much I learned during the Bush Administration about international law, counterterrorism methods and intelligence agency turf wars, the only real unfortunate aspect of taking so long to watch The Siege was that a lot of the information was known to me, so it did not have the educational impact I hoped it might have.

Even so, The Siege reminds viewers of the principles upon which the United States was founded and the importance of both civil rights and maintaining national identity based on principles over slogans. Like the two-part Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes "Homefront" (reviewed here!) and "Paradise Lost" (reviewed here!), The Siege explores terrorism in the United States (or an evolved society based upon it) as a hypothetical, with the idea of inherent human rights at the forefront of the plot and character issues. As a result, the essential character conflict throughout The Siege is one between those who stand for freedom versus those who stand by the enforcement of law and social order at all costs.

FBI agent Tony Hubbard is working the streets of New York City dealing with an odd crime with his team when all hell breaks loose. Accompanied by his partner, an Arab American agent named Frank, the FBI works to negotiate for the safe release of a busload of hostages who are suddenly covered in blue paint when the bomb goes off. The weird crime, if it is a crime, is soon mirrored by the abduction of a bus filled with people which is detonated with most of the people inside, as the FBI and media crews watch. Tony and Frank work to piece together who is behind the terrorist attacks and stop the next one.

Unfortunately for the FBI, the terrorist cells which have sprung up in New York City seem to be working for a cause and with the knowledge of some of those within the U.S.'s intelligence community. As Tony and Frank investigate the bombings, they encounter Elise Kraft, an N.S.C. agent who has a vested interest in the case, as she is the handler for a prominent asset, Samir. As well, Tony develops a relationship with Major General William Devereaux, a high ranking army officer who has contempt for the President's soft policy on terrorism and has a history with a Sheik allegedly captured by U.S. forces years before. As the situation in New York City degenerates as the result of more terrorist attacks, Tony races to prevent chaos and insure freedom as Devereaux declares martial law and effectively takes over the City in search of the final terrorist cell.

The Siege reminds the viewers what the last several years seem to have caused many of us to forget: that individuals are responsible for their actions and that groups working against the United States often have surprisingly rational reasons for their actions, even if their methods are surprising and incomprehensible. In the first scene in The Siege, the motivation for virtually everything that comes after is given when Devereaux is part of an operation that captures a Sheik. Of course, the tensions go deeper than that; the Sheik is captured for prior acts of terrorism.

What Edward Zwick does exceptionally well with this film is illustrate how proud Americans - especially the naturalized ones - are of their heritage as Americans. At the same time, he creates a piece that has a density to it and is not likely to give easy or convenient answers. So, just as Frank is an obvious and proud American who is part of the FBI's counterterrorism unit and has a clear love for the principles of the United States, Samir's status as an informant and agent for the terrorist cells keeps his true allegiances murky. And while Frank is tested when his son is inadvertently put in the internment camp, his desire to uphold the principles of the United States never waver. Instead, he is always fighting the good fight and he makes for a great partner for Anthony.

Zwick spends a good amount of time illustrating the fundamental problem with intelligence agencies in the United States with the first half-hour or more of The Siege. As Anthony and Frank hunt for the criminals responsible for the first bus hijacking, they encounter Elise, who works for the NSC. The way the FBI, NSC and military trip over one another becomes a contributing factor to the declaration of martial law in New York City and their inability to share with one another helps the terrorist cells operating in New York City to gain strength.

But largely, what Zwick does best in The Siege is illustrate the importance of defending essential human rights in the United States. The U.S. suffers when we discriminate and profile and the result is an ugly situation that is anything but American. By establishing the multiethnic task force well before the declaration of martial law, Zwick uses The Siege to show how the ideal works and what happens when it becomes corrupted. The wonderful foil for a post-9/11 world is that Zwick illustrates how terrorism can be dealt with without giving into fear. Unfortunately, The Siege seems more like an ominous foreshadowing, a playbook for the U.S. government on how to exploit the fear of the populace, as opposed to rallying against it.

The Siege is also remarkably well-cast and Zwick uses all of the actors in the film extraordinarily well. Bruce Willis gives a strong performances as Devereaux and Willis's best moments are not realized until one reflects upon the film. Anthony references Elise and Devereaux, who has an apparent ax to grind with her, plays the scene cool and later when one of Elise's secrets comes out, Devereaux looks surprisingly cool. Willis deserves a lot of credit for that earlier moment as he makes the payoff later in the film truly work. Similarly, Sami Bouajila (Samir) and Annette Bening (Elise) are wonderful and have great on-screen chemistry which keeps the viewer guessing as to all of the angles their characters are playing.

Denzel Washington leads the cast and from his performance here, it is easy to see how and why he was cast for The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3. Essentially, he is playing the same character in this earlier work, a man who is cool under pressure and fights the good fight day in and day out. Here Washington is utterly convincing as a professional counterterrorist agent and he flawlessly sells the role.

But it is Tony Shalhoub who completely rocks The Siege. From the moment he first appears on screen, Shalhoub is badass. He carries a gun (convincingly!), investigates the crimes and speaks multiple languages flawlessly. For those used to seeing him as Monk or the other hapless sidekick characters he has played, this is a strong departure and he is completely at home in the role of an efficient investigator who is smart, funny and occasionally menacing.

The Siege continues Zwick's tradition of socially smart films with a message that is timely and pro-American. All that truly drags this one down is that it takes a while to get to its point. As well, the DVD was originally released with only the film's trailer. For such an important film, we'd like more in the way of bonus features (the Blu-Ray now has them!). Still, this remains a great film that should be watched by all Americans, if for no other reason than to remind us that fear need not be the only response to horror.

For other works Edward Zwick is associated with, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Dangerous Beauty
Traffic
i am sam
Once And Again - Season 1
Once And Again - Season 2
Love And Other Drugs

9/10

For other film reviews, be sure to check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the films I have reviewed!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

In Its Second Season, Monk Begins To Sway Me!

The Good: Funny, Engaging mysteries, Decent acting
The Bad: Repetitive feel to the plots, I’m still not wild about Sharona.
The Basics: As former detective Adrian Monk continues to work to get back on the San Francisco police force, he helps the detectives there solve murder mysteries.


When my wife and I began watching Monk together, I think I got spoiled. I started with the later seasons and I enjoyed the interactions between Monk and his assistant, Natalie. So, when we went back to watch Monk from the beginning (season 1 is reviewed here!), I found the show to be much rougher and more formulaic than I usually like. Fortunately, with the second season of Monk the show starts heading in the right direction.

While many of the mysteries in the second season of Monk are performed by an obvious villain in the teaser – and the episode details how Monk figures it out, as opposed to leaving the audience wondering who the culprit is – the show still has some of its original form. That also means that Monk continues to get into situations that are awkward that could easily be mitigated if only he – or especially his assistant Sharona – would say, “Monk is obsessive compulsive!” While this might not be a generally satisfactory thing, when Monk begins to freak out at the germs in prison in the season finale, his life is actually in jeopardy and one might think that is a good moment to say something more than “it’s nothing personal” or the like!

In the second season of Monk the cases get a bit more esoteric, but they are often more enjoyable for their cleverness. The season two DVD set features all sixteen episodes and some of them are absolutely fascinating. Monk returns to his late wife’s high school when a teacher’s suicide there makes him suspicious. A completely baffling mystery of how a skydiver drowned midair sends Monk to Mexico as part of an odd revenge story. And a murder at a carnival has an unlikely suspect when Monk’s best suspect for the murderer who was seen fleeing the scene of the crime, has a broken leg!

Stottlemeyer’s relationship with his wife continues to deteriorate and a documentary on the world’s oldest man may be the clue Monk needs when the old man turns up dead. Stottlemeyer proves his love, though, by setting Monk on the case when his wife is in a car accident from a sniper’s shot. A serial killer will strike again if Monk cannot find the connection between the killer’s disparate victims. And Monk must resist the lures of television, when all his other friends give in, when he suspects a popular television actor is a killer.

It is in the second season that Monk’s reclusive brother, Ambrose, is introduced in “Mr. Monk And The Three Pies.” Murder hits home for Monk when Monk’s paperboy is killed and Monk and his friends believe the murder is to keep Monk himself from reading something in the paper. Monk gets a little derivative of The X-Files when Monk and Sharona must impersonate a married couple in “Mr. Monk Gets Married.”

Even in its second season, Monk is very plot-based. The episodes are much more about the cases than any serialization involving the characters. In fact, more than Monk’s occasional quest to get reinstated with the police force, the second season of Monk is dominated, in terms of recurring motifs, by Stottlemeyer’s problems in keeping his marriage together. Stottlemeyer’s wife begins to become more demanding and less appreciative, even when Stottlemeyer bends over backward to try to please her.

The greatest evidence of character development in the second season comes from Sharona. Sharona is much less acerbic toward Monk. While she does not entirely tolerate his eccentricities, in the second season, she seems kinder toward him. Also, Sharona is shown spending more time with her son, Benjy in this season. This allows Bitty Schram to play off someone other than Tony Shaloub and she and her young co-star, Kane Ritchotte seem very organically like family in this season.

All around, the acting in the second season of Monk is pretty wonderful. Tony Shaloub has the role of Adrian Monk down pat by this point and his ability to portray uncomfortable at every little thing truly makes the character work. Ted Levine is also noteworthy as Captain Leland Stottlemeyer. In the second season, he is able to bring more emotional depth to the role than the character had in the first season. Levine plays emotive very well, often with a muted performance that makes it seem like Stottlemeyer is a tortured character who is just waiting to burst. I may have come to tolerate Sharona more in the second season, but watching Levine perform was often what made the show special.

Also, it is worth noting that in the second season of Monk the show and its situations are often more overtly funny than in the first season. While some of the humor is still based on situations that are more painfully awkward, the second season of Monk features much more overt humor in its lines and in the situations. The introduction of Ambrose is memorable for many laugh-out-loud lines.

While “Mr. Monk And The T.V. Star” is highly-self referential, as it involves a devoted fan of a popular television series who loathes changes made to the series, the episode works (just as the second season does) because this is when Monk was, rightly, becoming a phenomenon. While the DVD set is light on bonus features, this is still one that is worth picking up.

For other mysteries, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Psych - Season 4
Carnivale
Veronica Mars

6/10

For other television reviews, be sure to check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

With Its One-Disc Pilot Episode Monk Illustrates A Worthy Detective, And An Unremarkable DVD.

The Good: Good acting, Interesting characters
The Bad: No DVD bonus features, Pretty standard detective plot
The Basics: With the "Premiere Episode" release of Monk, an interesting character is created who walks through all of the conceits of the detective series in his first outing.


All detective shows are essentially the same. There, I've said it and committed the ultimate blasphemy to fans of the mystery genre. Objective viewers or readers - little is changed between mystery books and television shows - may easily acknowledge the truth of that argument, but for fans of the genre, it's enough to make me a pariah. And yet, it is true. The only things that differentiate the calibers of detective stories are the characters involved and the level of case being investigated. In other words, it's the characters that make the series and in detective/mystery series' it's the defining factor of what makes for worthwhile vs. passe entertainment.

What separates NYPD Blue from Law & Order from Kojak from Monk is all in the character work and the level of crimes being committed. With NYPD Blue, we have a team of police detectives who week after week are led by the gruff and damaged Andy Sipowicz on cases that help common people right the wrongs done to them. With Monk, we have Adrian Monk, a brilliant loner suffering from an obsessive-compulsive disorder solving crimes in San Francisco. Presented as a no-frills DVD, the pilot episode of Monk, “Monk: The Premiere Episode" is another in a collection of DVDs that seem to be all about luring in a new audience using inexpensive DVDs.

Adrian Monk, obsessed with whether or not the oven has been turned off back at home, is consulting on a murder investigation of a young woman when there is an assassination attempt made on the campaigning mayor. Killed in the crossfire is a bodyguard and when Monk notices some similarities in the higher profile case, he is brought in to consult on the slaying of the mayor's bodyguard. Encouraged by his nurse, Sharona, who is frustrated by how much time and attention handling Monk demands of her Monk begins pursuing his own leads that connect the murdered woman and the dead bodyguard, potentially implicating the mayor, his opponent, his wife and virtually every member of his staff!

Along the way, Adrian Monk is thrust into circumstances that make him uncomfortable and expose his social awkwardness. Meeting with the mayor's wife, he encounters a school full of young children which is basically a hell on earth for the germaphobe. He knocks over a strategic map with hundreds of color-coded pins only to be able to replace all of them exactly based on the single glance he had at the board prior to knocking it over. And, because this is a pilot episode where the purpose is to establish as much in the way of characterization as possible, he ends up on a pole, paralyzed by a fear of heights.

Monk - The Premiere Episode falls into virtually all of the obvious character conceits for establishing a character and a series. Adrian Monk is instantly created as one of the most quirky, brilliant and distinctive detectives since Colombo. He is characterized as suffering from an obsessive compulsive disorder stemming from the unsolved murder of his wife, which instantly raises the intriguing character possibility that at some point, Monk could be cured and lose his distinctive qualities! After all, if all that separates Monk and Monk is the quirky brilliance that comes from a man suffering a debilitating mental illness that makes him unable to live and work with most so-called "normal" people, the open case of his wife's death, with it being the acknowledged trigger to his paralysis, hangs like a shadow over the character and the series. It leaves the viewer - even in this first episode - caught between wanting to see Monk get the closure needed to move on and the secret desire to keep him in his damaged state.

Because in his germ-obsessed, gun-fearing, car-fleeing neurosis, Adrian Monk is an interesting character to watch. He is funny, painfully awkward and it is very easy to watch this premiere episode and get thrilled when the underestimated detective scores a major clue and makes a giant connection because his unique vantage point affords him the ability. Adrian Monk is instantly an interesting character and Monk is a delightful mix of humorous and clever detective work that comes together quite well.

Unfortunately, it comes together in a far-too formulaic way in many respects, no more so than in the relationship between Adrian Monk and his enabling nurse, Sharona Fleming. Sharona is a single mother who finds her life absolutely dominated by caring for Monk and trying to insure that he gets reinstated. In tandem with Monk's therapist, Sharona is the truest pro-Monk force on the show. The problem, then, comes in the form of the conceits that their relationship brings out.

Here in the premiere episode, Adrian tracks down Sharona while she is on a date, angering her to the point where she quits her job as his nurse and assistant. This prompts the mayor and the police captain, Stottlemeyer, to intervene to try to protect Monk from being alone by working to hire her back. The result is a fairly canned sequence that illustrates just how helpless and disabled Monk is on his own without her aid. The problem here is that any perceptive viewer will get all that from the teaser to the episode. As Monk analyzes clues in the very first scene of the episode, he continues to return to the question of whether the oven is truly off at home and it is only Sharona who keeps him focused and redirects him effectively.

In other words, writer Andy Breckman and director Dean Parisot quite effectively show from the beginning what they degenerate into telling later on. It's a disappointing plot and character conceit that serves little purpose other than to flesh out a pilot episode to an hour nineteen minutes instead of the standard forty-three minute "hour" debut. Similarly, late in the episode a scene involving Sharona, Adrian and Sharona's son allows Monk to put together the last clues needed to crack the case in a plot-convenient obviousness that only occurs in films of this sort.

True cinephiles of the mystery/detective genre will note that the scene involving Sharona and her date is compositionally similar to what Chris Carter edited out of The X-Files's pilot episode. The treasured deleted scene to that episode has Scully out on a date to illustrate that she had a life outside the FBI and it seems that Sharona's date scene is trying to make the same point, that she wants to have a life outside of caring for Adrian Monk.

What makes this premiere episode one of the better ones on the market is the quality of the source material. The actors are all doing a pretty impressive job at establishing their characters and the world of Monk. It is a delight to see Gail O'Grady as the mayor's wife, Miranda . O'Grady is known to fans of detective shows as Donna Abandando from NYPD Blue, where she began as an extra and became a regular in the second season due to her overwhelming popularity. O'Grady here is anything but timid or reserved as she was as Abandando, delivering one of the funniest lines in the episode as she watches Monk reinsert pins into the police board.

Bitty Schram, who plays Sharona, makes a distinctive impression from the moment she first appears on screen. She has a very subtle authority to her that makes it very believable that she might be a home health care aid and have the ability to keep Adrian focused. Schram modulates well between the script-demanded compassion and impatience to create a very realistic and vital character.

But it is Tony Shalhoub, who plays Adrian Monk, who is responsible for whether or not the episode sinks or swims. Shalhoub played the chief engineer character in Galaxy Quest and there he had a reserved quality that made for a more subtle form of humor. He seems to call upon some of those same tricks, the shrug, the quiet piercing "what?!" look that he can do with his eyes, but he enhances what we've seen from him before with an even stronger physical presence. Shalhoub contorts his body so that Monk never seems to take up all that much space. Instead, he is focused, compact and walks in a way that gives the sense that he is confined. Shalhoub brings a lot of physical awkwardness to sell the role and he does it admirably.

On DVD, the premiere episode looks and sounds good, but despite the great acting, interesting characters and cripplingly predictable crime-solving plot, it is ultimately impossible for me to recommend this DVD. It's one episode, with no bonus features. I understand the principle of these pilot-episode releases, but do not believe they work. The purpose, of course, is to offer an affordable option for those considering the more expensive full-season DVD boxed set. The problem is, many viewers will watch the first episode, especially of a largely episodic series like this one appears to be, and might even enjoy it but not be intrigued enough by the mere idea that there is more out there. Monk solves a case. Okay, if you buy the DVD season boxed sets that follows, presumably he does it again and again and again. Without even a second episode to illustrate that there is something worthwhile coming up, the viewer has to assume that the repetition is going to be, well, just that. Another episode and a commentary track or featurette might have added some value to this disc that would have made it worthwhile, but as it stands it severely underuses the medium.

For other pilot episode reviews, please be sure to check out my takes on:
“Pilot” - Millennium
“The Cage” - Star Trek
“The First Episode” - Northern Exposure

5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Our Friday Night Tradition Had A Much Rockier Start Than I Would Have Guessed: Monk - Season One

The Good: Interesting cases, Moments of humor, Performances!
The Bad: Narrative style, Unlikable characters, Not as funny as it became.
The Basics: Monk Season One is much more of a detective show than a comedy, which was a bit off-putting to a fan who came to the series late.


Not very long ago, my wife and I started watching Psych together on DVD (season four is reviewed here!). The more we went through the series, the more my wife lamented how much she missed watching Monk. As if the local gods of television heard her, one of our local broadcast channels began playing Monk in syndication on Friday nights. Watching Monk has rapidly become a Friday night tradition for her and I. But here at the outset of my Monk reviews, I must make two confessions. First, I still like Psych better. Second, because we started with episodes where Natalie was Monk’s assistant, I find I like her quite a bit more than Sharona. In fact, I am not a fan of Sharona. As a result, I was not entirely grabbed by the first season of Monk.

In fact, Monk Season One is a debut season that leaves me surprised that the show was ever picked up for anything beyond the first season. Monk falls into a category of television shows that I am not traditionally bowled over by. Like Bones, House, Pushing Daisies and many other shows, Monk is a ridiculously simple concept that has a lot of plot repetition. In this case, the simple concept is “obsessive-compulsive police detective” and the season is largely episodic in nature. As a result, former Detective Adrian Monk does not grow, develop and learn. Instead, he simply experiences the next case and the next one after that. That does not mean it is bad, but as one who likes serialized television and characters who grow and change, formula shows tend not to impress me.

Before a pile-on of comments begins, watching Monk at the beginning, there are some serious problems with the show. The first is that the show is not funny. While Adrian Monk is quirky, he often comes across as insensitive or just mean and Sharona comes across as a terrible healthcare worker. While Monk is certainly demanding, Sharona does not seem well-suited to the job of being sympathetic. Instead, she pushes Monk and Monk seems more belligerent than emotionally damaged.

As well, the formulaic nature of the episodes in the first season of Monk works against the show as well. Each episode of Monk is a murder mystery but in the first season, the perpetrator of the crime is usually revealed in the episode’s teaser. As a result, the mysteries are more about how Monk figures out how the killer murdered their victim, as opposed to who actually did the crime. This works (when it does) when the viewer cares about the protagonist, but because so many of the characters are uninteresting or unlikable, it is hard to care about the process by which Monk solves a case. Throughout the first season, I found myself screaming at the television, “Tell – insert name here – Monk suffers from OCD!” So many problems and misunderstandings in the first season could have been avoided simply by having Sharona tell people that (usually when she hands Monk a wipe after he shakes someone’s hand).

In the first season of Monk, former detective Adrian Monk is brought in to help the San Francisco Police Department, under Captain Leland Stottlemeyer, solve the murder of a mayoral candidate’s bodyguard. When a psychic finds a dead body in a car, Monk and Sharona are called in, as they are when the loathsome Dale The Whale commissions a murder from his bed. Stottlemeyer calls on Monk when one of his friends is accused of murder and Monk seems right at home when he is committed to an asylum after blacking out and entering Trudy’s (his murdered wife) old house.

Other cases have Monk matching wits with a murderer whose alibi is that he was running a heavily-monitored race and one where a billionaire seems to get his thrills by mugging people for show when he gets shot himself! A normal vacation with Sharona and her son turns into an investigation when Sharona’s son, Benji witnesses a murder. Monk also matches wits with a killer who uses an earthquake to try to get away with murder, saves Willie Nelson from jail and tries to solve a murder while on his first airplane flight!

The first season of Monk establishes the characters, but it does not develop them very well at all. For instance, almost nothing is known about Lieutenant Disher after the first season. He is Stottlemeyer’s right hand, but he does not seem particularly insightful, intelligent or even competent. While he is young, it seems odd that he would have risen to the rank of lieutenant without illustrating some initiative and intelligence of his own. Instead, he does what Stottlemeyer tells him and he usually just pals around as a recurring support character. Even Stottlemeyer lacks a strong sense of presence in the first season. He does not have an absolute trust for Monk and he does not have any distinct traits that make him interesting to watch. Even the fact that Sharona has a child seems only thrown in to enhance her otherwise un-noteworthy character.

To be fair, Tony Shaloub is excellent as Monk, even in the beginning. He seems to have a grasp on balancing a character who is both incredibly intelligent and essentially crippled from his psychological issues. Shaloub plays Monk a serious and troublingly deficient in the first season, as opposed to funny. So, for example, when Shaloub faces off against Alan Arkin’s Dale Biederbeck, the episode has a sinister undertone. Shaloub plays Monk as consistently on edge in the episode and that level of performance makes the first season bearable, if not wonderful.

On DVD, Monk Season one comes with minimal bonus features. There are a few commentary tracks and featurettes on the making of the show and season recaps, but nothing one cannot live without. Monk is clearly a show that got better (much better!) with age, but I’d opt for skipping the first season and picking the show up when it gets more refined.

For other shows that have somewhat formulaic natures, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Wonderfalls
Blackadder
Boston Legal

5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

A Few Amusing Moments, But Largely Men In Black II Tries Too Hard!

The Good: A few amusing moments, Generally decent special effects, Moments of character
The Bad: Repeats a lot from the original, Clunky supporting performances.
The Basics: A disappointing sequel, Men In Black II tries to hit too many of the same notes as the original and falls flat.


Recently, I had the opportunity to return to my film reviewer’s roots by reviewing Men In Black (reviewed here!), a film I first saw for one of my first film review assignments. After more than a decade, I saw Men In Black and I was afforded the opportunity to consider that I may have been too harsh on it back in my college days. I have a feeling, however, now that I have seen Men In Black II, it will be quite a bit longer (if ever) before I come to believe I am being too harsh on my review of it. Men In Black II includes many aspects of a sequel which people generally use to cut down sequels in general. The work is derivative, unsurprising and tries unsuccessfully to recapture the greatness of the original. In the case of Men In Black II, the film does so with a few moments of character growth or decent acting, but far too often ends up recreating the reversals that made the original film as interesting as it was.

Men In Black II, like the first film, is based upon a graphic novel series and it is worth noting that I have not read any of the graphic novels in this series. As a result, this is a rather pure review of Men In Black II, a science fiction comedy film which underwhelms in the final analysis.

Five years after Agent Jay began working for the Men In Black, he has found it difficult to work for any extended time with a single partner. After wiping the memory of his latest partner, T, following an incident with an alien in the subway system, Jay begins pining for human contact. In this case, it takes the form of Laura, a waitress who believes in both extraterrestrials and the Men In Black. She witnesses her boss being killed and Jay decides not to wipe her memory clean. This comes as Earth is invaded by Serleena, an alien searching for The Light, a mystical item which she believes is hidden on Earth, despite claims that it was shipped off-world to preserve Earth’s neutrality in intergalactic affairs. The claim comes from Zed and the records kept by Kay. Needing to know the veracity of those claims, Jay goes in search of the former M.I.B. operative.

After an extended trip with Frank the dog, Jay finds Kevin Brown working at the Post Office and he convinces him to join him to get de-neuralized and recover the memories Jay took from him. When Serleena attacks the Men In Black headquarters, Jay and Kay are forced to rely on a black market (Jeebs!) memory restoration device that does not restore all of Kay’s memories immediately. With the clock ticking, Jay and Kay try to hunt for the truth about the Light and save the Earth and life across the galaxy.

Men In Black II has moments of humor, but even some of that is repeated from the first film. Jay’s commentary on ethnicity continues, but in nowhere near as flippant a way as it was presented in the first film. As well, it helps viewers to have seen the first film, to truly appreciate the character struggle of Kevin Brown and Kay. Attentive viewers will note only a single line explains Laurel’s (Linda Fiorentino’s) lack of appearance, but with Rosario Dawson filling essentially the same niche, Men In Black II actually works better than the original on the “romantic subplot” front.

Sadly, too much of the film seems like it is trying too hard. The initial encounter with Jay and T in the subway feels largely like it is trying to make a big entrance to rival the scope of the final conflict from the first film. Similarly, the physical comedy with Jay being tossed around in scenes is viewed with a “ho-hum” response because we have seen it before. The insult to injury comes, though, in the form of Frank the dog. Frank had a brief role in Men In Black and he accompanies Jay as a wisecracking sidekick that guts the first half of the movie. Frank was amusing for moments in the first film, but his extended stay on screen results in this film in a long stretch of truly humorless jokes and special effects sequences that are anything but special.

Once Tommy Lee Jones returns to the film, Men In Black II picks back up, but even then, the viewer is accosted by appearances from Johnny Knoxville, whose only other cinematic work I have seen in Jackass Number Two (reviewed here!). Knoxville tries for physical comedy as a two-headed alien living on Earth and helping Serleena, but his performances are just uncomfortably manic. While his brand of physical comedy might make him seem ideal for a graphic-novel-made-film, he just does not fit in with the caliber of the rest of the cast. That cast is led by Tommy Lee Jones and he does a predictably excellent job of reprising the role of Kay.

In fact, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones do a decent job of re-establishing the chemistry they had on-screen, with Jones doing more than just acting as Smith’s straightman on this outing. In fact, fans of Tommy Lee Jones might actually enjoy the way he is able to crack wise on his own in this film and he captivates the viewer’s attention. Still, the film works best when he and Smith are playing off one another and they do have successful chemistry for that.

On DVD, Men In Black II features a commentary track which is marginally interesting. Many of the technical details of making the film are similar to what was revealed in the first film’s commentary track. Similarly, the second disc features the usual featurettes on special effects, with multi-angle scene deconstruction. There is a music video for the far less memorable theme song to this movie as well as an alternate ending and blooper reel. None of this makes the actual film better.

In short, despite the announced Men In Black III, Men In Black II may safely be skipped.

For other works which blend science fiction and comedy, please check out my reviews of:
“A Piece Of The Action”
“The Outrageous Okona”
Zombieland

4.5/10

For other film reviews, visit my index page, which is updated daily!

© 2011, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



| | |

Men In Black Wins Serious Credit For Originality And Plays Well Even Now!

The Good: Funny, Decent special effects, Character arcs, Story is fun and well-developed, DVD bonus features.
The Bad: Somewhat predictable.
The Basics: Funny and smartly using a diverse cast, Men In Black helps to cement the science fiction comedy in the collective unconscious!


For me, it is always fun to return to origins. So, for example, the very first big assignment I ever had reviewing was for my college newspaper when I pulled the assignment for the summer movie preview issue. I spent the day watching three movies back to back - Con Air, Men In Black, and Batman And Robin - and then reviewed them for the summer issue of the paper. It was exciting for me, but the day dragged and it has taken me until now to rewatch any of those movies. Recently, I took in Men In Black with my wife, as she has it in her permanent collection. I think, perhaps, I was a little too harsh on it when I reviewed it the first time back in college.

Men In Black is a rare science fiction comedy. And while there are plenty of science fiction movies that are funny, oftentimes they are not deliberately funny, they are laughed at more than laughed with. In fact, outside Men In Black, arguably the most successful science fiction comedies are Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (reviewed here!) and Galaxy Quest. Men In Black, however, did not seek to appeal to the niche audience, instead trying to hit the summer blockbuster audience and it was part of Will Smith's ascent to a-lister. In fact, this was probably the movie that finally cemented him as part of Hollywood's a-list, though he was not quite there when the movie was released, as evidenced by the fact that he is billed below Tommy Lee Jones for the credits.

The Earth has been invaded by aliens, not the least of which is a crazed alien trying to leave his designated visitation spot on Earth. When his ship crashes, agents Kay and D are sent in to clean up the mess and make sure Immigration forgets the incident ever happened. They are, as they always are, successful, though the mission leaves Kay without a partner. The incident is the first in a series of events which send known extraterrestrials living on Earth scurrying for the stars. This has a lot to do with the crash landing of a Bug who has taken the body of a human, Edgar, and whose presence on Earth is in pursuit of a galaxy hidden from an intergalactic war.

It is into this situation that a New York City cop, James Edwards, stumbles. Recruited by Kay when one of his perps flees in a most fantastic way and is connected to getting alien weaponry, James is enlisted into the Men In Black, a covert government agency which is responsible for keeping the truth about aliens quiet on Earth. Renamed Jay, James helps Kay find out the truth about the bug and hunt down Edgar. But soon, a menace from outer space threatens to destroy the world if they do not stop Edgar and recover the hidden galaxy quicker!

Men In Black is, first and foremost, a fun film. The premise is smart and original and it is executed with a panache that is not common. Will Smith plays with his sense of comedic timing and is benefited by a script which plays to his ironic voice. In fact, one of Smith’s most memorable lines and deliveries has to be when – as James – he lands on a tour bus and informs the people there “It just be raining black people in New York.” The script is filled with clever one-liners like that and the original set-up with Immigration finding themselves in possession of a real alien is instantly disarming.

As well, Men In Black is just smart enough not to push the romantic subplot between Jay and the coroner, Laurel, into cliché territory. The result is a buddy comedy that is very close to perfection. In fact, I checked my notes from my viewing over a decade ago and I noted in the theater that some of the effects were shaky. However, watching the movie on DVD on my HDTV, the effects seemed just fine.

And Men In Black has character development, even if it is somewhat predictable. Kay is an aging officer who has the experience, but has been pining for the love he left behind in order to become an effective agent of the Men In Black. So, while Kay has the experience, Jay has the energy and the pairing seems to be headed in a very specific direction. The film works because it is enjoyable in getting there, but it is not surprising and in that regard is somewhat less original than the set-up (much like situational comedies that use the same plots, but a different setting than we’ve seen before).

Men In Black also rocks because its supporting cast is exceptional. Supported by actors like Linda Fiorentino, Carel Struycken, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Rip Torn, Men In Black is a comedic success because it uses so many different talents so very well. In fact, Tony Shalhoub is only in the movie briefly, but he has a very memorable role as a pawn merchant Jack Jeebs. Even the usual problematic acting sources shine in the film, in this case the use of a dog whose role is clever and funny.

But Men In Black hinges upon the performances of Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith. Together, Jones and Smith shine and they have great on-screen chemistry which makes them a wonderful comedic pair. Jones has the depth and dry delivery to make the extraordinary seem plausible and Smith has the reactions and emotional range to make the film seem like it is still in touch with reality enough to make the viewer buy the premise. The banter between Jones and Smith alone is worth the price of admission.

On DVD, Men In Black comes loaded with bonus features. In addition to a commentary track which is as funny as the film, there are deleted scenes and informative featurettes. Most of the featurettes focus on special effects – puppeteering and computer-generated effects – but they are informative as well as entertaining.

For a film as short as Men In Black is, it certainly leaves and impression and anyone looking for a fantastic buddy comedy with a science fiction twist is likely to enjoy this film.

For other science fiction comedies, please check out my reviews of of:
Land Of The Lost
Year One
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

7.5/10

For other film reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |