jonnyhavey

A literal story about man versus beast turns into an inner struggle of a group of Alaskan plane crash survivors as they evaluate the importance of life with mere days left to live. Ottway (Liam Neeson, The A-Team) leads the group through the impossible struggles of the wilderness in attempt to avoid being slaughtered by the majestic relentless beauty of an immense wolfpack hunting them day and night. This is familiar territory for Ottway whose occupation consists of protecting people from the magical creature, however, there can be only one Alpha.

The Good: The film's spiritual journey connects with the audience matched with contemporary dialogue and paired with Liam Neeson's badass head-to-head fights with wolves in the Alaskan Panarama results in a pulse pounding transcendent ride.

The Bad: The first act begins in an ambiguous fashion and only really develops the backstories of three characters. This still tends to work for the film, however, one or two fully functional character arcs may have boosted the film to perfection.

Director Jesse Peretz's ("The Ex") short filmography has failed to impress audiences until his latest film "Our Idiot Brother". Why did this film turn everything around for him? Is this because of the tier one female casting including Elizabeth Banks ("The Next Three Days"), Zooey Deschanel ("500 Days of Summer"), Rashida Jones (NBC's "Parks and Recreation"), Emily Mortinmer ("Shutter Island") and Kathryn Hahn ("How Do You Know")? Partially, but more importantly Paul Rudd's charming and subtly brilliant performance brings the film out of the first act's chaotic slump into a hilarious stride. Ned (Rudd) is a stereotypical hippie who works on an earthy farm with his soon to be ex-girlfriend, Janet (Hahn) until a police officer comes up to him and tricks him into selling him weed. This lands Ned straight in prison and when he is released he is houseless, jobless and friendless, but not family-less. Ned turns to his three sisters Miranda (Banks), Natalie (Deschanel) and Liz (Mortimer) for a place to stay while he works to get back to the only creature in the world he needs; his dog, Willie Nelson. Ned becomes an easily-targeted scapegoat in his family with his nonchalant loving ways causing his sisters to blame him for all of their problems. Between Miranda's news story and best friend (Adam Scott, NBC's "Parks and Recreation") troubles, Natalie's relationship mishaps with her girlfriend Cindy (Jones) and Liz's marriage to Dylan (Steve Coogan, "The Other Guys") loosing flare; Ned has a lot of denunciation coming his way.

This offbeat comedy relies on three things to rally itself from its rocky start to its emotion-provoking climax. First, as things begin coming together Banks, Deschanel, Jones, Mortinmer and Hahn are able to turn their lightly comedic performance into a dramatified very well acted self-indulgence. Second, the kookiness of the film pays off in its second act as a literary pattern is established. However, the most important thing the film relies on is Paul Rudd's best and most unique performance to date. Rudd's charm has been highly praised, but I would like to give kudos to his realistic angry outburst that should warrant him a best actor in a comedy nomination somewhere.

Besides the opening scene establishing Paul Rudd's character, the first thirty minutes of the film are an oddly assembled mess. However, the biggest issue is not that the plot-structure is off-center, it is that nothing transpires that aids in the overall storytelling. Then after the triumph of the second half of the film, the ending fails to be thought provoking and instead becomes monotonously cliché. Yes it is a cute ending, but it is completely disconnected from the quirky comedy that comes before it taking away from the film's message. Lastly, the whininess of the sisters can become very annoying even if it is important to the story.

Idiosyncratic comedy mixed with Paul Rudd's idealistic charm and a big name cast; lift "Our Idiot Brother" out of its early plunge making it a very oddly funny movie. However, in order to fully enjoy it you have to work to get something out of it and focus on Rudd's performance.

Director Rupert Wyatt ("The Escapist") proves there is always time for firsts by successfully producing a movie of epic proportions and creating the best "Planet of the Apes" film since the original. By taking a different and innovative route Wyatt has saved the once dying franchise making it better than ever. Wyatt generates a completely new origins story in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", however, Wyatt still needed one last thing; an actor that could flawlessly personify an ape's transformation. Consequently, Andy Serkis ("The Lord of the Rings") is Wyatt's ace and casting James Franco ("127 Hours") didn't hurt one bit. Will Rodman (Franco) is a scientist looking for a cure for his father, Charles (John Lithgow, Showtime's "Dexter"), whose Alzheimer's is progressing. To do so, Will gives a dose of his drug to a chimpanzee who shows heightened intelligence. However, when Will presents his findings, an event leads to the shutdown of his project. When told to kill a baby chimp found in the lab, he sneaks it home naming it Caesar (Serkis). Will secretly continues to perfect a cure for his father, while taking care of Caesar with the help of his father and animal doctor Caroline Aranha (Freida Pinto, "Slumdog Millionaire"), who almost immediately becomes Will's girl friend. Serkis inevitably steals the show as the film goes through a cycle of drama, action, and Armageddon. He allows Caesar to become more than just a symbol against animal oppression, he becomes a symbol of freedom.

The film has everything an apocalyptic movie needs. To start its plot may have a few minor holes, but the intense drama oriented storyline centered on humanity and personal development is enthralling. This build up culminates in the best action sequence of the year mixing amazing visual effects technology and the raw power of animals. With this being said, James Franco and John Lithgow are superb in their respective roles, but the acting does not stop there. Andy Serkis is the only person that could do the character of Caesar justice proving Serkis's genius and foreshadowing an Oscar nomination in the coming months.

The biggest issues in this film can be attributed to script writing and specifically dialogue. The screenplay has a couple of minor plot holes, but they do not detract much from the story. However, the dialogue is horridly juvenile in sequences and is even worse when actors like Tom Felton ("Harry Potter") are in the spotlight. Then there is the character of Caroline (Freida), whose existence in the film is pointless beyond helping Caesar at the beginning and dating Will. Why do films disregard casting beyond its stars? Ultimately, this is the best apocalypse film I have seen since "I Am Legend" and is a showcase to the future of acting. While Andy Serkis embodies Smeagol/Gollum, he is undistinguishable from Caesar making them one in the same.