Rating: «« out of ««««

Running Time: 96 minutes

Director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody have teamed up twice in the past with the films Juno and Young Adult. Their latest, Tully, is a little more subdued but features many of the same hallmarks of their previous collaborations, including quirky characters and a very specific manner of speaking. This character-based comedy/drama is well acted and draws attention to some of the horrible trials mothers go through. Still, it isn’t as memorable as the aforementioned movies.

Marlo (Charlize Theron) is a woman struggling after the birth of her third child. Worn down by the emotional and behavioral problems one of her children is having, a lack of sleep, and feeling distanced from distracted husband Drew (Ron Livingston), the lead feels like her life is breaking apart. When Marlo’s brother (Mark Duplass) offers to hire the family a night nanny, the lead is resistant. However, the idea of a person coming in late to clean up the house, take care of the baby and allow for some rest ends up being too appealing to pass up. And so the young, free-spirited and eccentric Tully (Mackenzie Davis) arrives. While initially crossing some personal boundaries, a deep friendship develops between the two and the employee begins to influence Marlo in unexpected ways.

Cody has a way with dialogue and early sections featuring the stressed out mom include plenty of blunt insults as she attempts to deal with a school-related issue as well as other unfortunate developments. While there are a handful of individual moments involving motherly love, the movie certainly paints a horrific picture of parenthood. Marlo is clearly at her wits end and Theron captures her inner anguish, as even the seemingly simplest of tasks becomes a complete and utter ordeal.

The majority of the film details the relationship between Marlo and Tully. Naturally, the younger night nanny’s arrival allows the protagonist to examine her life and how events have turned out. The two share personal experiences and advice to one another from different stages, eventually moving into some unexpected arenas. Strangely enough, the influence of a nonconformist helps Theron’s character deal more effectively with the various issues in her own life. And as they grow closer and closer, the mother’s life and outlook begin to improve.

While it’s all well handled, the influence of this stranger leads to a slight problem for the film itself. As the relationship progresses, life gets uniformly better, which means that there isn’t a whole lot of conflict in the middle sections of the film. In some cases, one might expect the youngster’s advice to be a little more extreme and perhaps even backfire. There are some experimental steps taken that do raise some questions, but everything improves in a relatively smooth manner and there are very few big tribulations that arise over the middle section of the movie.

Admittedly, everything pays off during the final act, but as this reviewer was watching, he couldn’t help but sense that a significant portion of the film was a bit, well, uneventful and lacking in tension. The finale does make amends for this criticism, yet one can’t forget the feeling of shuffling in one’s seat as the story bogs down a bit over its midsection.

This movie was screened for critics a bit earlier than usual. So, while enjoying it at the time and feeling that it has something to offer, it is also fading away a little quicker than anticipated. Tully is certainly a good effort that features excellent performances and will work well enough for interested parties to enjoy, but don’t expect it to be quite as memorable as hoped for. It just lacks the energy and dynamism of the earlier features from this team.

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By Glenn Kay

For the Sun

Running Time: 160 minutes

Rating: «« out of ««««

Many fans of the Marvel Universe are finally getting, well, half of what they’ve been clamoring for since The Avengers opened in 2012: A showdown between the famous superheroes and their biggest foe. With expectations so high, there certainly must have been a lot of pressure for this film to deliver. Avengers: Infinity War does suffer from an overlong running time and a repetitive structure, yet there’s enough of the film that does work to earn it a pass—but that all depends on how events ultimately play out, since audiences will have to wait another year to see the big finale.

The villain this time out is Thanos (Josh Brolin), an intergalactic giant who has been seeking out the six infinity stones that will grant him God-like powers. After seeing his own home-world wither due to overpopulation, his motivation is to use the magical gems and wipe out half of all life in the universe. Early on, Thanos hunts down the remaining stones in outer space. As he grows even more powerful, the despot sends threatening minions to collect the rocks located on Earth. With the planet and other parts of the galaxy under devastating attack, the Avengers set out to stop the threat.

There are more than 20 protagonists in this film and that can’t help but be something of a problem—at least Ant-man and Hawkeye are excused from the proceedings or we may have hit a three-hour running time. Sure, the leads have been established in previous features, but that’s still a ridiculous number to juggle. And of course, fans want to see each and every one of them get their moment to shine, in action as well as with other characters. That means there’s an awful lot of jumping around and characters disappearing for significant chunks of time, as well as an excessive amount of action scenes involving the heroes battling alien creatures. The movie does its best to keep things moving and generally succeeds, although this reviewer found it all tiring by the final act.

Some of the interplay between characters being introduced to one another helps to keep things lively. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) each have an opportunity to meet and trade verbal jabs with Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Not all of the film’s dialogue between the heroes scores, but there are several one-liners, particularly the ones early on between Thor and the Guardians, that hit the right comic tone and earn laughs.

These moments are certainly needed to add some levity, because the movie is far bleaker and serious this time out. And there is a definite attempt to make Thanos a foe who will end lives. Over the course of events, things do not go particularly well for the Avengers (parents be warned, the kids may not be happy with what they see). It’s a nice attempt to add more gravitas to the proceedings, although it doesn’t always work. For adults, the concept of altering space and time has already been toyed with in Marvel films, so the grim moments don’t have as big of an emotional impact they might have otherwise. Then again, this may also be due to the fact that when a seismic event occurs, viewers are forced to see the characters react to what is happening about ten times over.

Admittedly, I’m not sure that anything can be done to prevent parts of the film from feeling belabored. People have demanded to see all of these characters in the same story and there’s simply no way to get around the repetition that occurs as a result. However, the action itself is well handled and exciting (at least, it is early on before the fighting becomes too familiar).

Overall, it could have been much worse. For this reviewer, the previous Black Panther, Thor, and Spiderman films were smoother and more consistent, simply because they didn’t have to contend with so many elements. Still, this follow-up works well enough and one should give it credit for its tireless effort. If you’re ready for a darker superhero feature, and are willing to wait a year and fork over another twenty bucks to see the story satisfactorily resolved, then you’ll likely find Avengers: Infinity War compelling.

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By Glenn Kay
For the Sun

Rating: « out of ««««

Running Time: 100 minutes

It has been 18 years since the release of the original Super Troopers, a cult comedy about an eccentric group of Vermont highway patrolmen and their bizarre antics. After many years and a successful IndieGoGo campaign, the Broken Lizard comedy troupe has returned for a follow-up that details the further adventures of these officers. While the events may still speak to fans, for the uninitiated this sequel is a rough ride that elicits few of the necessary laughs to earn a recommendation.

After being removed from service following a disastrous incident some time ago, the title characters have moved on to other pursuits. However, they’re called back to duty when a local governor (Linda Carter) discovers that the US/Canada border has been incorrectly designated. The Highway Patrolmen are tasked with policing the new state area, which happens to include a French-Canadian town filled with citizens now angry to have been annexed by the USA. While trying to befriend the town’s mayor (Rob Lowe) and locals, they uncover a strange smuggling operation involving pills, Cuban cigars, and other illegal goods.

Essentially, the story involves these buddies playing dumb pranks on each other and getting into altercations with the citizens and mounted police. This type of humor may have worked well enough when starring a group of 30-ish-year-old comedians, but it doesn’t play out nearly as effectively now that the stars have hit their mid-century mark. Certain characters deliver horrible puns that would make a grade-schooler groan. There are even references from others in the film about how awful the jokes are but that doesn’t make any of the lines or behavior funny. The juvenile insults and slapstick gags—like knocking over a port-o-potty—are all the more surreal to watch.

There are stereotypes galore on display as well. Yes, the intent may have been crude but lighthearted humor. And one is certain that the film itself was shot a year ago, as many of the gags come across as ill-timed. Trooper Arcot Ramathorn (Jay Chandrasekhar) finds himself popping hormone pills and is made fun of for his emotional outbursts and feminine behavior. There’s an unfortunate Stephen Hawking insult as well. And even the central story of American forces moving into a foreign country and “saving it” with their extreme methods doesn’t play as well in today’s climate. Additionally, the incredibly broad characterizations do little to help matters.

Every once in a while something amusing does occur, but these moments are fleeting. A French-Canadian Mountie (Will Sasso) does have a funny scene riffing with other officers about the films of Danny DeVito. The discussion has nothing to do with anything in the actual plotline, but it does earn a smile. And there are a couple of sporadic comments or sight gags that bring moments of levity here and there. However, this reviewer probably chuckled a half dozen times in total over the entire running time.

Watching this movie is almost like taking a time warp back to the early ‘80s. Some of this material may have earned laughs back then and even modern viewers might forgive some of the off-color material due to attitudes having changed. In this new film, the jokes feel awkward, unfunny and already out of touch. Politically incorrect humor can certainly elicit big cackles, but it has to be clever and delivered with expert timing. Super Troopers 2 is incredibly clumsy in its execution, with its pranks dropped on the heads of audience members with the subtlety and deftness of a bag of hammers.

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By Glenn Kay

For the Sun

The adaptation lacks energy, campy-thrills

Rating: «« out of ««««

Running Time: 107 minutes

It appears that adapting video games to feature film may be one of the trickiest tasks there is. After decades of effort, the results haven’t exactly wowed viewers: Super Mario Brothers, Wing Commander, Tomb Raider, Hitman, Prince of Persia, and Need for Speed being just a few examples. The latest is Rampage, inspired by an arcade game that allowed players to control giant monsters, trash cities and eat civilians who happened to cross their paths. Honestly, that’s not an awful lot of material to base a movie on. So, while the film features a charismatic lead and few inspired moments of lunacy, the results are far from compelling.

The story follows San Diego primate expert Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson), who works at a wildlife sanctuary keeping tabs on a friendly albino gorilla named George. When a space station/science lab crashes, it releases three canisters that land in various parts of the country. Unfortunately for George, he happens to be in one of those locales. As a result, he ingests the contents, a genetic editing formula causing rapid growth and a mean disposition. As the gorilla becomes a danger, US Agent Harvey Russell (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) gets involved, along with genetic engineer Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris). Before long, two other giant beasts arrive, with the genetic trail leading to the sinister Wyden Corporation, run by siblings Claire (Malin Åkerman) and Brett (Jake Lacy).

Johnson is a likable lead who always seems to try his best to entertain audiences. The gorilla George is a CGI creation, yet the actor does all he can to create an onscreen rapport with the animal. It leads to a few low-brow but occasionally effective jokes. And curiously enough, the Davis and George relationship may be the most developed one in the film. As for the action, some early bits involving the creatures devouring prey by popping them into their mouths also result in a chuckle or two. And the climax includes a few impressive effects shots, like one that involves the hero running across a tipped over skyscraper.

Yet there are numerous tonal issues. The dialogue could be sharper and a lot of the one-liners fall flat. Supporting cast member Morgan tries his best to upstage the giant monsters. However, as written, a little of his character’s cowboy shtick goes a long way and his propensity to randomly pop up everywhere comes across as ridiculous. Mix this with onscreen scenes of disaster and devastation, as well as stilted attempts at creating an emotional bond between the lead human and gorilla and you’ve got quite a tonal mess. It actually feels like the movie is constantly hedging its bets. One wishes that the filmmakers had either just gone full out camp or had taken a deadly serious approach.

And sadly, the villains are about as one-note as it gets, leaving the otherwise talented actors very little to work with. They spend most of the movie in an office delivering exposition about their sinister plan. In fact, their sole motivation appears to be financial gain. Frankly, this isn’t a particularly interesting or dramatic dynamic to be working from, resulting in antagonists who ultimately don’t make much of an impression.

To be fair, this isn’t the worst video game adaptation ever made. Kids (or forgiving adults) who just want to watch monsters throw each other around for twenty minutes during the climax or be amused by the film’s sometimes baffling logic might get a chuckle or two out of the experience. However, it’s hardly quality cinema and lacks even the campy B-movie fun-factor that one might hope for. In the end, Rampage isn’t as exciting or frenzied as it should be.

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By Glenn Kay
For the Sun