Ricky Stanicky

 

I'm not sure if this movie will be getting a regular theatrical release. It is from Amazon and they are streaming it next wee, so it seems dubious. That's too bad, because one of the joys of a good comedy is bathing in the laughter of the audience surrounding you, and believe me, this film will have lots of laughter to go around. 

If you watch the trailer, you will get the premise, but I know some of my on-line friends have gone trailer free, so for them, here is a brief synopsis. Three friends have invented another friend, that they have used as an excuse for thirty plus years. "Ricky Stanicki" is the kid who brought the fireworks to the wedding, threw the cat in the pool, or conveniently, as they got older, scheduled something opposite a family event they would really like to avoid. They have kept an elaborate "bible" of Ricky's illnesses, rehabs and assorted other excuses, and their families believe Ricky is a real person.. Of course with a comedy, there are exigencies that require over the top solutions, and the guys back themselves into a situation where they have to produce the famous friend.

For years John Cena has been known as a wrester who has taken up acting, but I think it is fair to say now that he is an actor who has taken to comedy. His boisterous persona and physical characteristics have been exploited for laughs in films like, "Blockers",  "Suicide Squad" and "Argylle". This may be his masterpiece. As Rock Hard Rod, an off color singing impersonator, Cena is hysterical as the desperate and sad entertainer in a dive bar/casino in Atlantic City. He encounters the three friends and they decide to hire him to be their unseen friend. Cena was just getting started at being funny, for the rest of the movie, he sells it all. 

Peter Farrelly, along with his brother Bobby, made some of the greatest comedies of the 1990s. In the last few years he has made some more serious films, like the Academy Ward winning "Green Book", and the under appreciated "The Greatest Beer Run Ever". This time he is back in his sweet spot, gross out comedy, and we should be glad to welcome him back to that arena. He is working here with Zac Efron, who was the star of "Beer Run" and recently played a wrestler himself in "The Iron Claw". To top off the top knot cast, William H. Macy has a supporting role as a clueless executive who has some awkward hand gestures. 

If you enjoyed films like "There's Something about Mary" and "The Hangover", you will certainly relate to this project. It is irreverent and heartfelt at the end. Exactly the kind of stuff that those who remember will appreciate. 

The Iron Claw

 

I’ve got to admit that I was not particularly interested in seeing this film. However, there had been some hype about it online, and my daughter was interested, so we went ahead and booked an advance preview screening at the Alamo Drafthouse. The screening was followed by a Q&A session that was broadcast from the New York location of the screening. The director and two of the actors who played the brothers, showed up and answered some questions about making the movie.

If there is a movie out there that has less to interest me I'm not exactly sure what it would be. I was never a fan of wrestling. The generation that came immediately after me seem to be preoccupied with the gargantuan physiques of wrestlers with wild names and outrageous personas. This story is about a set of Brothers who wrestle in the early stages of the wrestling phenomena. Their hard-headed father was a wrestler in the earlier days and he created a league of wrestling in their native Texas. The story is apparently famous in wrestling circles because of the lingering tragedies that surround the family. This film Chronicles most of those tragedies in a dramatic family-centered story that emphasizes the relationship between the brothers.

To say that the story is tragic actually underplays the events that took place. If you are like me, and unfamiliar with what happened, it would be unfair of me to reveal too much. On the other hand if you are a wrestling fan, you probably already know the degree of frustration, disappointment, and overwhelming sadness that make up this Tale. The story of the brothers and the way they became champions in the wrestling world, largely depends on the drive of their father who as a legendary wrestler of a previous era created a move referred to as the Iiron Claw thus the name of the film. The father is played by actor Colt McCanally, with a fierceness and single-mindedness that is frightening. This family clearly loves one another almost unconditionally, with one major exception, they are all expected to fulfill the desires of their father for perfection, especially in the field sports.

Actor Zac Efron, who has been famous for playing more comedic parts in the last few years, is the second oldest son and the one that the story focuses on most closely. Obviously Effron took the story seriously, because he has sculpted a body that looks like it could belong to a wrestler who has single-mindedly pursued physical exceptionalism. His character, Kevin, is probably the most gifted of the brothers in the ring, but he struggles to create a persona that will draw in the kinds of Challengers that will raise him to the next level. He never seems to resent his father, even when he passed over, buy a younger brother who has had less success in the ring but who manages to create the kind of personality that succeeds in the new wrestling world.

This is a straightforward family drama, which is directed in a very traditional manner,eschewing any fancy camera tricks, editing, or special effects. The most technically complicated elements of the film come in recreating the era, in particular the “Sportatorium” that was the center of the family's wrestling conglomerate. The ranch is the homestead of the family and is also rendered in a fairly accurate manner, representing the most traditional aspects of this family. The mother in the family is played by actress Maura Tierney, and she is portrayed as slightly detached from the wrestling elements but deeply involved in her children. She does however defer both to her husband and to the brothers themselves, suggesting at one point that the problems that they are sometimes faced with have to be resolved between them and she should be left out of it.

I hope the film succeeds with the audience and that it brings some attention to both Efron and McCanally when it comes to the awards season. Both actors are first rates in their performances. Unfortunately, in spite of the drama that is presented in the film, I was largely unmoved by the story myself. This probably has more to do with my detachment from the wrestling culture than any indifference to the things that happen in this family. The stakes just seem less compelling to me because I'm on the outside. There does seem to be a genuine connection between the brothers as portrayed by the actors in the film, but the family seems somewhat self-destructive in the choices that they're all making, so my indifference is tempered a bit by my frustration at some of their behaviors.

Fans of wrestling on the other hand are likely to embrace this movie and be happy that this story is being more widely told. I don't think that the film will make any converts to the entertainment venues that feature wrestling, but I have a better understanding of why people might like this sport as a result of the film. Some of the characters that are on the periphery of the story I had heard of to some degree, for example Ric Flair and the Iron Sheik are names that are familiar cultural points even for those of us who are not wrapped up in headlocks and body slams. The story of this family, although well-known in wrestling circles, will probably move those who are not familiar with the story, but not in the same way.

The Greatest Beer Run Ever Video Review

This is the video review for the film. It is also located on the KAMAD Vlog. 

The Greatest Showman

I'm of the opinion that Hugh Jackman should do a musical on an annual basis and that it ought to be released at Christmas time. Those pieces just fit together. Everyone has their own Christmas traditions, one of ours has been a visit to a movie theater on Christmas Day.  If you are interested, here is a link to my Letterboxd List of Christmas Movies.As it turns out, there is a Hugh Jackman musical and a Zac Efron musical on the list as well. Even for a subject as grim as Les Misérables, the fact that it is a musical makes it feel more holiday appropriate.

This film is an original musical, supposedly based on the life of P.T. Barnum. Barnum did have a Museum of Oddities, and was married to a woman named charity, and did tour the singer Jenny Lind as an attraction after discovering her in Europe. Everything else is made up out of whole cloth. For dramatic purposes, the screen writers and director have gone the old school Hollywood fashion and tacked pieces of Barnum's history onto a story that they want to tell which has little to do with the biographical subject. That's OK, but Barnum had a very interesting life and was a significant public figure of the American scene in the nineteenth century. On the other hand, a hip hop musical probably needs some romantic stories to hang onto and a little social justice subtext seems to fit with the personality of the film.

First time director Michael Gracey, shows his roots as a visual effects guy, as he shoots segments of the background in slow motion and has the main figures operating at live speed. There are so many beautiful moments that it sometimes feels like a visit to the eye candy store and maybe we over indulge a little. Still, the modern dance numbers and elaborate aerial ballet look fantastic and when combined with the show stopping mood of each segment, it does feel like a series of crescendos. The dances are staged in clever ways when the ensemble is performing, you can see the contemporary influences easily. When the story focuses on a single performer at a time, the mood is a little more traditional although the songs never are.

Jackman and Efron are joined by several performers who stand out. Zendaya is an actress/dancer who was recently seen in "Spider Man Homecoming". She actually performs the acrobatics in the film and as the love interest and face of victimization from racism in the last century, she makes a solid impression. Keala Settle is a singer with some stage experience, but her voice and demeanor as the bearded lady in Barnum's show, belie any masculinity and show the toughness that a woman and a so-called freak would need to have. Michelle Williams is always solid and her part here was enhanced with some singing and dancing that seems to extend her range even more. Rebecca Ferguson plays the song bird Jenny Linn, and although her singing voice is dubbed, her performance on stage will make you a believer as it did the audiences in the film.

So the movie looks amazing, the music is inspiring, the story is mostly nonsense but the heart of the film is what matters. Hugh Jackman for years has wanted to do a film featuring P.T. Barnum as a character. He seems to have put his heart into this movie and it shows. Modern Audiences would certainly flock to this if it were a stage show and was performed on Broadway. Movie audiences on the other hand are more fickle and less likely to embrace this until it has an established reputation. Expect this to be a widely loved cult film among cinema fans in about five years. As for me, although it is apocryphal that P.T. Barnum said "there is a sucker born every minute", I'm with the newspaper man from "The Man who Shot Liberty Vallance", "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." I'm a sucker for musicals and show business stories, so I can say I loved this piece of catnip and I hope you will go out and see it.

Baywatch

This is clearly an attempt to emulate the success of previous big screen adaptions of TV material like "21 Jump Street" and mix some love that fans have for the original with an irreverent sense of raunchy humor. For the most part I'm afraid that it fails. While there are moments that spark laughter, they are usually connected to our expectations and not to anything original. I suppose that if you spend enough time with a penis and scrotum on screen, being handled uncomfortably by an actor. and others are enjoying the discomfort, then there will be a smile or two. Uncomfortable humor works because all of us are seeking a way to manage the discomfort without being too obvious, and a laugh is a good way to do that.

This is the kind of movie that teenagers should probably love, because the humor is raunchy and the characters are outrageous. The problem is that most teens won't appreciate the "Baywatch"  context and adults that remember the show will be turned off by the vomit, erection and body fluid jokes. Having never seen a single episode of the TV show myself, I still had a sense of what we are supposed to be relating to because the original "Baywatch" was a cultural phenomena that everyone had heard of. I get the slow-motion jokes and the long shots of pecs and asses. It is a beach aesthetic that draws people to the concept in the first place. So why the screenwriters spend so much time on issues that are not connected to what is happening on the beach is curious. The bad guys in the story are so cartoonish as to be annoying. What is supposed to come off as a parody like an Austin Powers film, feels like an incomplete film or a different movie entirely.

I am a fan of Dwayne Johnson. I think the guy has great charisma and a good sense of self. That said, this is maybe his least effective outing in a while. His dialogue is so overloaded with double ententres and mocking pop culture references that they don't usually get a chance to hit. His Mitch never calls the new guy played by Zac Efron by his characters name. He uses a whole series of boy band, pop star and movie or TV references to diminish his new partner. The problem is that there is a new one every twelve seconds and the sting of the previous joke gets buried under the next one which is not quite as funny. The pacing of the movie is all over the place. Scenes that should be quick and too the point get belabored and the ideas that should get more set up are just tossed away. A five minute gag about a guy with his junk stuck in a beach chair is the turning point, after that everything goes soft and that scene happens early on.

When the titles came out of the water like a technicolor tidal wave, behind our hero as he strides out of the water with a guy in his arms, I was ready to give this movie a hearty endorsement. But it doesn't take long to get out of that mood. Even though there are funny bits of business and satire in the story, the movies tone is just not consistently humorous enough. We are being delivered the jokes through a redemption plot that is too  long and repeats the same points multiple times. Then the film turns into a chase film with comedic overtones, until the punchline turns out to be a fistfight that results in no movement of the story forward.

I've already spent more time on this than it deserves. The movie is a stiff that will disappoint your expectations, if you had any, and surprise you not one bit. There is a generous use of loud hip hop music and the dialogue is frequently punctuated with the "F" word. If that sounds like it is for you, maybe you can enjoy this more than I did. Nothing that happens here makes me long for a sequel or to catch up with the original series. It just sits there and afterwards you have to question what brought you in in the first place.