Tammy

So I went into this movie with super low expectations. All I knew about it was that is a Melissa McCarthy vehicle where she goes on some sort of road trip. So I was a little surprised that I didn't find it all that bad. That was then I realised that it was supposed to be a comedy, it was then that I was disappointed.

Tammy (Melissa McCarthy) is a woman who is at a crossroads in her life. She has just found out that her husband is cheating on her and has been fired from her job. Fed up with everything that is going on, she goes on a road trip with her grandmother Pearl (Susan Sarandon), who wants to visit Niagara Falls. Along the way, Tammy meets Bobby (Mark Duplass), who she falls for.

Tammy is a strange movie. It's not a full on laugh out loud comedy (although there are a few laughs), but it is neither a drama. It suffers from severe under-characterisation and you never get close to any of the characters. The story isn't too bad, I can see the concept actually happen, but the situations that Tammy finds herself in are just absurd (and not in the funny way).

This film has a crisis in casting. Whilst the part of Tammy was written for McCarthy (she did write the script after all), some of the main roles are extremely poorly cast. It's hard to believe that Susan Sarandon is McCarthy's grandmother, but even harder to grasp at the idea of Allison Janney being her mother (there is only a decade difference in their ages). Toni Collette and Nat Faxon appear in this movie, although they barely have any lines. The only good choices I could pick out were Kathy Bates and Sandra Oh as a lesbian couple. These two were the sweetest and most likeable characters in the film.

The comedy relies on McCarthy being a foul-mouthed woman, which is really old hat for her (she did it better in both Bridesmaids and The Heat). She has some skill doing slapstick work, but doesn't take advantage of the opportunities and instead attempts to swear her way into some laughs.

Verdict: An alright movie if you've got a lazy afternoon to spare (like I had), but I wouldn't recommend rushing out to see it.

The Company You Keep

This movie is kind of like The Expendables, but instead of washed up action heroes of the 80s, all the actors are classic 70s stars, some of whom you'll recognise and some of whom you won't, and instead of brutal action, it is a complex thriller storyline.

The story focuses on young hotshot reporter for the Albany Sun-Times Ben Shepard (Shia LaBeouf), who after seeing the capture and arrest of a fugitive wanted for a bank robbery in the 70s, Sharon Solarz (Susan Sarandon), follows the story of trying to find the others involved. One of these suspects is James Grant (Robert Redford). Grant, after seeing the capture of Solarz, decides to track down the other person involved in the robbery, so that he can clear his own name.

This leads Grant on a journey through a web of people from his past, all involved in anti-war and anti-government groups in the 70s. Shepard is figuring out some of these connections himself, but hot on Grant's tail is the FBI, led by Agent Cornelius (Terrence Howard). These three people all have their own motivation for finding the third person involved.

I personally have never been a huge fan of Robert Redford. I've seen a few of his films from the 1970s and his last film that he directed as well (2007s Lions For Lambs) and none of his work has ever resonated for me. I found that this film was just motivation for a lot of actors of his generation to come out and play.

There are some good performances in the cameos. Susan Sarandon is haunted by her past actions and needs closure. Julie Christie plays a still psychotic terrorist. The performances from Chris Cooper (American Beauty) and Richard Jenkins (Cabin In The Woods, still one of my favourites that I will get around to reviewing) are stunning. However brief these performances are, there is a resonance that comes through.

The younger generation get a good representation in this film. LaBeouf has come very far from his Transformers days (until another one comes out). His Shepard is a driven reporter who just wants to know the truth, rather than anything else. Brit Marling, who is a relative newcomer, portrays the daughter of one of the officers who initially investigated the robbery. She is only in a few scenes, but she plays them with conviction.

Verdict: Robert Redford has weaved a complex thriller about the past that is decent enough, but could do better.