Turma 94: O Grande Encontro

3 and under are reserved for movies in which the acting is garbage. the acting in this movie is good.

the movie is the problem.

jack black has chops, but they're wasted in this movie. mr. marsden also sells it. the acting isn't what's wrong with this movie. what's wrong is: what? why did we, the audience, just watch this? it was everywhere, all over the place, and had no landing. it just sort of was.

in a few weeks someone will be talking to me about the movie about that guy at the reunion where he got buttf*cked, and i'll say: "Idunno man. Idunno what you're talking about." Then he'll mention Jack Black, and I'll say, "Oh, I think there was a Netflix thing that sucked where he was a salesman of some kind, and that dude from the transgender show who is really popular was his boss." we'll both agree that that's the movie we both saw, then we'll go back to our desks.

the end.

that's where this ends.

The problem with this film is that by now I'm kind of exhausted, straight up tired of watching Jack Black playing a character who spins so much lies, it becomes a tangled web he's woven situation, tired of watching Jack Black's character claiming to be somebody he's not. It was great in "School Of Rock" but then another round in "Gulliver's Travels" and now this. That said, nobody could do this type of lying better than Jack Black.

THE D TRAIN, from writing/directing team Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel, stars Jack Black as a high school reunion committee self appointed leader named Dan Landsman who the audience could figure out instantly, didn't have a great high school experience. He has trouble trying to get his old classmates to come to the reunion and even his own committee thinks he's a loser. When all of a sudden, he watches a commercial featuring one of his graduating classmates, Oliver Lawless, played by the heartthrob James Marsden. Dan (Jack Black) concocts a plan to go to Los Angeles to convince Oliver (Marsden) to attend their reunion so that he could score cool points with the others. But not ever goes smoothly as planned, Dan comes up with a fake deal to try and get his boss to fund his travel but his boss (Jeffrey Tambor) is so eager and excited about the prospect, he decides to tag along.

Some of us liked our high school experience, but for the majority, people would probably say that they're glad to be out of there, life starts in college after all. Jack Black's character represents anybody who wishes they could press the reboot button on their adolescence. His character is not only insecure but feels like nothing else, not even his own son is as important as his pursuit of coolness among his peers. Whereas James Marsden's character profoundly represents people's misconception about show business. People often associate it with glamor, fame and fortune, and to a certain extent, that may be true, but many of the people traveling to L.A. and try their luck, only end up doing small gigs and waiting tables while waiting for their big break at the same time; a big break that may never happen. So these are two very sad individuals who lie to themselves and lie to the people around them. I have to give kudos to Jack Black and James Marsden because there is one particular sequence that you wouldn't see coming, some of you would probably, but it goes to show how professional Black and Marsden are, what they're willing to do and how far they're willing to go for the sake of the story. And that particular scene sets off a chain of events that lead to the climax and self realization. But again, seeing Jack Black in this type of role, is nothing new, but I guess this is his niche, his field of expertise. Overall, I think THE D TRAIN is a dark comedy that doesn't necessarily slap you in the face and tell you to snap out of it, that it was just high school for heaven's sakes, but it does have its own silly way of unburdening yourself from all the lies.

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In all honesty, when I saw that Jack Black and James Marsden had made a movie together I thought: "oh this might be cool", because I like both of them.

But when I read the plot summary: "The head of the high school reunion committee has to persuade the most popular guy in school to join them in the reunion" my expectations fell way down to the floor.

The idea of a high shcool reunion is really not something I would even bother going to due to many different things so it lost me in the relation to the material factor and it just didn't sound like a very good premise for a movie.

And in a sense it isn't, and it didn't pull me in right away but eventually once James Marsden got into the picture it did and became a lot different from what I expected of the movie, it actually became rather moving in the end.

It's a movie that deals with identity, popularity, sexuality and parenthood and it does so in quite an unusual rather non PC way so if you are a prude you might not appreciate some of the events taking place, I however did and thought it was a breath of fresh air.

Another mislabeled movie... So no wonder that people who expected to have mindless fun watching Jack Black in a typical comic role he used to play many times before and James Marsden in a role similar to the ones he played brilliantly in Sex drive or Death at a funeral, got unexpectedly hit with quite dark theme with no many things to laugh at and disappointed. At first, I was disappointed too, but somewhere at the middle I realized that the movie it self is good, that the theme is important and that above mentioned (but all the others too) actors did amazing job. I blame the marketing of this movie, poster, but you too dear IMDb for providing wrong info on a movie category and misleading synopsis. So, in conclusion - as a comedy, this one is quite bad, but as a drama, it's very nicely done.

...Which is odd, to say the least.

If you love film, you'll find something to take from this. If it's just simple entertainment you seek, best look elsewhere.

It's a puzzler - read some of the polarising reviews - in a way, it reminded me of Jim Carrey in 'The Cable Guy'; you don't get what you expect, and that can be a shock to some, and a boon to others.

Interestingly, and unexpectedly, I now think more of Jack Black - mayhap he just hasn't had the right vehicle to stretch his talents fully in, yet.

It's never going to make the pantheon, but it does have some things of merit; not least of which is the ability to make you cringe whilst not looking away. The how-can-it-possibly-be-resolved expectation is uncomfortably high.

I liked it; the discomfort, as it dawns on you, is tremendous and it walks its' line well - not subtle, but hey - I imagine the studio execs having a nightmare trying to decide how to market this. Whether it dawns on you, or slaps you in the face, will depend...

Once you've watched it, just think on that for a minute - because that vapid 'Tries to get reunion together' rubbish just doesn't cover it, does it?

Loved the soundtrack - especially the INXS lyricism - and some of the lines were priceless. (Lawnchairs)

I liked it. I feel the ending was rushed a little, but then, how else to cover bases?