Love The Coopers

I love Christmas movies. I've grown up with every single one you can imagine, from conventional ones like Home Alone and The Santa Clause to more adult ones like Scrooged and Bad Santa. Even cheesy ones like Christmas With The Kranks (when you think about it, Tim Allen has been in a lot of them). So when I came to watch Love The Coopers, I thought it was going to be a cheesy one, especially since it stars Diane Keaton. I wasn't expecting a movie about divorce, unemployment, political differences, child abuse, sexuality and, least of all, a magic dog voiced by Steve Martin.

Charlotte Cooper is hoping to bring her large family together for a big happy Christmas. She wants this desperately because it will be the last Christmas she has before her and her husband Sam (John Goodman) get a divorce after forty years of marriage. Everyone of their relatives are living their own troubles. Charlotte's sister Emma (Marisa Tomei) gets arrested for shoplifting, her divorced son Hank (Ed Helms) is having financial troubles, her daughter Eleanor (Olivia Wilde) can't face her mother's disappointment and her father Bucky (Alan Arkin) is struggling to express his love for the much younger Ruby (Amanda Seyfried).

The drama outweighs the comedy heavily in this movie about a supposedly happy time of year. Some of the themes alluded to are quite obvious, such as Sam and Charlotte's divorce and Hank's redundancy, but others, like Ruby's abusive childhood, are a little harder to identify. The most heartbreaking part of the movie comes when Officer Percy (played by a hard faced Anthony Mackie), the officer who arrests Emma, reveals that he could never live up to the expectations of his mother, despite the fact that she is welcoming of his homosexuality.

This film has a lot of weird film techniques that I would not expect in one like this. Whip pans and crash zooms that you'd expect in some Paul Greengrass political thriller are used liberally and with almost every character's situation. I found the use of an extreme close-up on Olivia Wilde but not on the person she was talking to very unnerving, but I suppose that might be a personal taste issue.

As you'd expect from an ensemble film like this, everyone brings their best. The standout performances for me come from Amanda Seyfried, Timothée Chalamet, Anthony Mackie and June Squibb. All of these actors have a small parts, but they all make them their own roles. Especially June Squibb, who doesn't love her? Anthony Mackie is almost unrecognisable without his signature facial hair and Amanda Seyfried brings her character an underlying pain that I didn't even know she could pull off.

Despite all these deep and dark themes, the film does come together nicely at the end. It's definitely one worth watching if you like Christmas movies, but not really too much of a stretch for comedy fans.

Her

I find Spike Jonze to be an amazing conundrum. He can go from directing Academy award winning films (Adaptation) to hanging out with the guys from Jackass (in the movies, he is the old naked lady), which he is one of the creators. Despite the fact that he confuses me, his work has never failed to entertain me. Her is another example of this.

Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) works as a surrogate letter writer, who is picking up his life after splitting from his wife Catherine (Rooney Mara). He decides to purchase a new operating system (a personal assistant in the form of an artificial intelligence). Once he starts it up, it takes on the persona of Samantha (the voice of Scarlett Johansson). Samantha and Theodore begin a relationship, that he is reluctant to tell his friends about, especially his best friend Amy (Amy Adams).

The film takes a very interesting look at the state of modern relationships. Theodore goes on dates with girls and realises that he doesn't want anything serious and is just after sex. Most guys these days are after just that. Once he begins his relationship with Samantha, things become increasingly complicated.

The other theme that is touched on is the idea of the singularity. The singularity is the point in time in which artificial intelligence surpasses that of human intelligence. But rather than portray it as a scary concept like in Terminator, it is seen as a rather peaceful passing.

Indeed, the near future that is shown is not a flashy future with obvious technology changes, but is subtle and efficient. The most glaringly obvious change is the fashion, with ridiculously high-waisted pants and high collared shirts.

Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore convincingly enough that you believe his relationship with Samantha is real. Also, Scarlett Johansson is amazing as Samantha, playing her with a subtlety that doesn't draw attention to her performance. Amy Adams is fantastic as Theodore's closest friend.

Verdict: Jonze crafts an amazing story about love in a future that is believable.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

I'm the kind of guy who loves magic. I can really buy into the illusion (thank you to Gob Bluth for teaching me that), so I was expecting to go into this movie and be blown away with a magical comedy. Don't be fooled. Just because you see Steve Carrell on the poster, don't think, he's funny, I'll go see that. Really think about it, is there something else better showing? Maybe you'd like that more.

This movie is, for the most part, largely unfunny. If it had of been a drama about an older Vegas magician who had to compete with the younger generation of magicians and was forced to return to his roots to find his passion for his craft again, I would definitely go see that. Instead we get a comedic version of just that.

Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carrell) is a 40 year old magician, who has been performing in Vegas for the last decade with his partner Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi). This pair is an obvious reference to the stage magicians Siegfried and Roy (there are multiple references to them throughout the film). Wonderstone's passion for magic has dwindled and he is constantly fighting with Anton when they are offstage. The only thing he uses his act for is sleeping with impressionable young women, rather than entertaining people.

One afternoon, Burt and Anton come across street magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey), as he films an episode of his show Brain Rapist. This is undoubtably a nod to illusionist Criss Angel. Upon seeing this new act, Burt's boss, Doug (James Gandolfini) gets Burt and Anton to come up with a similar sort of life threatening stunt. Anton comes up with the idea of being suspended in plexiglass box for a week.

This act ultimately fails and the two go their separate ways. Burt ends up getting a job entertaining seniors at a retirement village, where he connects with retired magician Rance Holloway (Alan Arkin). Holloway rekindles Burt's love for magic, which is perfect timing because Doug is opening a new hotel and casino, where he is auditioning magicians for the headlining act. Cue predictability.

Steve Carrell has created a very unlikeable character. I wasn't sure if he was supposed to become likeable at the end, but I didn't find him so. I wish I could say more about Steve Buscemi, but he doesn't have a lot of time for character development.

The saving grace of this film are performances by Jim Carrey and Alan Arkin. It was very funny to see Carrey channel the new type of magician that has come about in the last decade. Alan Arkin is also a great comedian, but an actor of his calibre shouldn't be drawn into the likes of this film.

Wonderstone's love interest is wannabe magician Jane (Olivia Wilde). I think I would have found their relationship more believable if it had remained platonic. The chemistry between the two wasn't really working even though Wilde is an actress of incredible range. Likewise, the relationship between Burt and Holloway was lacking, although there was great potential given the two actor's track record with each other (Little Miss Sunshine). One cameo that did make me smile was Jay Mohr as a magician struggling to get shows.

Verdict: Ultimately this comedy failed because of a dodgy plot and the fact that it tried to walk a line between a family comedy and trying to be edgy.