RhapsodyReviews

Review: 'You Should Have Left' is a psychological horror film directed by David Koepp. It follows a middle-aged man (Kevin Bacon), his successful actress wife (Amanda Seyfried), and their young daughter (Avery Tiiu Essex) who book a haunted vacation home in Wales that begins to wear down their sanity. This is a very confusing film and a hard one to review without digging into spoilers, but I will do my best. First thing is that this is not your run of the mill psychologic thriller. This is a movie that takes the idea of 'Groundhog Day' as if written by M. Night Shyamalan, while being in a modern-day version the Amityville Horror house. Now, that may sound good on paper, but it turned into a confusing story on screen. Talking abut the acting, it was okay at best. I am a fan of Kevin Bacon, especial in the 90's and early 2000's with his darker films like 'Death Sentence' and 'Stir of Echoes' which was from the writer and director of this film. But there were times in this movie where he seemed to be holding back. Amanda Seyfried was flat during the film and never expressed any emotions that were necessary for us to feel sympathetic nor angry at her character. Avery Tiiu Essex who plays the couples daughter was actually pretty good in the movie and was the most compelling character hands down. From the very first scene we are routing for her character and at times feel scared for her. Now, there is an age difference between Amanda Seyfried and Kevin Bacon's character. Even though the film did this on purpose, it was still very distracting and the two did not have any chemistry on screen. They feel like a new couple even though they have been together for years and have a young daughter together. But, pushing that to the side, it not the biggest problem in this movie. It's the fact that it's labeled as a horror film and the horror is pushed in the background to focus more on the characters relationship is a weird choice to say the least. Nothing happens horror wise or story structure wise until one hour into this film and it's only 90 minutes long. Overall, it is an interesting concept with poor execution. I'm interested to see what reviews this film gets by both critics and audiences. If you're a fan of Kevin Bacon give this one a try, but don't watch it if you're a fan of their earlier collaboration 'Stir of Echoes' because you will be disappointed, muh like myself. 2.5/5

Review: 'Irresistible' is a political comedy film written and directed by Jon Stewart. It follows a Democratic strategist (Steve Carell) who tries to help a local candidate (Chris Cooper) win an election in a small right-wing town. Honestly, without the cast, this movie may have been a total disaster. Steve Carell, as expected, carries the whole thing to safe harbor. I always loved his mannerisms and expressions, even when some people find them over-the-top or unnecessary. Chris Cooper delivers a phenomenal display as Jack Hastings, the Democrat's candidate and Mackenzie Davis returns to her good performance, by playing the not-that-innocent daughter, Diana Hastings. However, I felt like Rose Byrne was trying too hard, ad it didn't feel as natural as it did with the other actors. I do enjoy het comedic presence is films, this one just felt off to me. From the very beginning until the start of these last few minutes, it's a pretty straightforward political comedy with nothing being remotely unique or ground-breaking. I didn't even chuckle at most of the jokes, and when I did, it was more due to the actor's performance than the joke on itself. Now, the ending was nearly perfect. I won't give anything away, but when the ending of this movie started to get rolling, I was sold, and I thought it was brilliant and ballsy of Jon Stewart. Then they extended it for five extra minutes to try and get some last-minute laughs in and it felt flat. If those extra minutes had been scrapped, I would have loved this ending and it would have made the movie a whole lot better. Overall, it is your run of the mill comedy film, and sometimes the laughs don't hit they their supposed to, but I still had a good time watching it. If you like Steve Carell, you will get enjoyment out of this movie, but if you're a take him or leave him kind of person, I would say not to worry about this one. 3/5

Review: 'Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga' is a musical comedy film directed by David Dobkin. The film follows Icelandic singers Lars Erickssong (Will Farrell) and Sigrit Ericksdóttir (Rachel McAdams) as they are given the chance to represent their country at the Eurovision Song Contest. A movie that has a better soundtrack then it does story, that's this movie. I didn't go into it with the highest of expectations, the trailers didn't get me excited at all, but the star power of Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams was strong enough to get a viewing from me. With me basically watching this movie because of its stars, I was hoping they would be as good as they are in other films, but they are a massive let down in this. Will Ferrell's comedic presence was very flat, and he was not his charismatic self he can be. Rachel McAdams was better to watch her work on screen, but her Icelandic accent was horrid, and it always throws me off when they get an actress that doesn't sing the material with their co-star. Will Ferrell was singing in the film where Rachel McAdams parts to dubbed over by a professional singer. This was also the case with Dan Stevens character, but he was able to provide a better and bigger on-screen presence then the two leads in the film, and that's another problem. This may be yet another film that just wasn't made to be viewed by myself. It is getting very good reviews both critically and by audiences saying it is a good representation of how important Eurovision is. I just don't feel that it was made to be a comedy because it didn't have any jokes that landed to me and they possibly should have had actual Icelandic actors in the film. I will say that the ending of the film was beautiful and had my eyes glued to the screen, but it also feels like it should have been in a different film. Overall, this movie was a miss for me, but am I only one of many reviewers. There are also some sad moments in the film which I love, but they are very subtle, and you will miss them if you don't pay attention. Maybe if you don't go into this movie expecting it to be funny or a typical Will Ferrell film it will come off as a better film. It was better than 'Holmes and Watson', but that's the best thing I can say about this film. 2/5