Every once in a while Hollywood manages to make a movie that is so astoundingly bad it makes one wonder if there is any sanity left in the world. I mean, really, when so much money is riding on the success of a motion picture you would think the producers would make sure there is at least a basic quality to it. But sometimes brain-lock takes hold when there is nothing else to explain it.
The latest example of this phenomenon is the movie, “Just Go With It.” If you haven’t heard of it, consider yourself lucky. If you have, please don’t waste your time watching it. It certainly might qualify as one of the ten worst films of all-time.
The premise is naturally far-fetched but we’ve all seen worse. A young doctor discovers that his bride-to-be is only marrying him for his money so he cancels the wedding and heads for the nearest bar to drown his sorrows.
He meets a gorgeous woman who feels sorry for him and leads him to discover that his status as the jilted spouse gets him all the women he craves. He goes along with this ruse for 20 years until he meets a young “supermodel” who he thinks is the real deal.
Unfortunately, she discovers his “wedding ring” and chaos ensues because she can’t believe he is not married. So he tells her he’s getting divorced and uses his medical assistant as his fake soon-to-be ex-wife. If you think this plot is starting to break down, it is.
From there it only gets dumber and dumber. If there is one constant in the movie it’s that none of the characters are believable or likable.
There are even two kids who deserve spankings for being both spoiled brats and bad actors. And the “humor” is so sophomoric and contrived that even Mad Magazine wouldn’t be able to satire it.
The “supermodel” is Brooklyn Decker who in real-life is a supermodel. This was her screen debut, but it would be unfair to classify her as simply a bad actress. She had plenty of company including seasoned veterans Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston.
If there is one person to blame (besides the director) for this “disaster” flick it would have to be Sandler. He coproduced it so he has to take the bulk of the responsibility. He always plays the same type of character no matter what the film.
It worked in “Spanglish” and “Happy Gilmore,” but not in “Grown Ups” or this pile of manure. Sandler is proof that acting and producing are not always a good mix.
Fortunately, turkeys such as “Just Go With It” are not necessarily the norm. Hollywood is still capable of producing some outstanding films. We have two recent additions at the library that are Oscar-worthy.
Ironically both deal with the economic downturn and its effects on ordinary people. The first one is “Up in the Air” with George Clooney. It is nothing short of superb.
Clooney stars as someone who works for a company hired by other firms to let their employees know they are being laid off because they don’t have the guts to do it themselves. His company also offers outreach services to these suddenly unemployed workers.
Clooney’s job requires a thick skin because he is often verbally abused by his audience.
It also requires he travel all the time, a routine he has come to relish. The drawback is that he really has no personallife or time to develop one. He doesn’t seem to mind until circumstances force him to re-evaluate his life.
The movie is a wonderful case study of someone facing a mid-life crisis. It also includes an incredible twist that keeps it from becoming your typical formulaic movie. It’s a feel-good film but not in the usual sense.
The second flick is a more recent release and even more intense. “The Company Men” has an all-star cast including Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones and Kevin Costner. It deals directly with the Great Recession and how men who seem to have it made in life suddenly have it all taken from them.
How they react to the sudden loss of money and selfesteem is thought provoking. It shows how cold-hearted corporations can be when it comes to the bottom line.
There is real human suffering that occurs when corporate profits take a hit. It’s an extremely powerful and wellacted film.
It’s a good thing that Hollywood is still churning out movies the quality of “Up in the Air” and “The Company Men.” If “Just Go With It” represented the future of the industry then we may all be relegated to reality TV for our entertainment.
Book Notes
August 25, 2011
Book Notes: Two Oscar-worthy movies to watch
- Book Notes
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- Greenberg faced a tough path much like Jackie Robinson Jackie Robinson blazed the trail for the integration of baseball in 1947. He had to deal with racial taunts, segregated facilities and fellow players that didn’t want to be on the same field with an African American.
- E-readers come in handy when traveling I recently took a trip to California and it was the perfect time to make use of my e-reader. While I'm still devoted to actual books, I must admit that traveling with a thin, lightweight computerized device beats dragging along one or two bulky hard copy titles. The only issue is finding the right e-books to take on the airplane
- Book covers much more than caddies and golf St Andrews in Scotland is famous as the birthplace of golf. Every few years the "old course" hosts the British Open so all television viewers are reminded that the place is hallowed ground.
- Memoir reflects on 'roller-coaster life and career' Apparently, the third time wasn't the charm. The way Reynolds described him, the third husband was worse than the first two combined and that's saying a lot. Eddie Fisher literally walked away from Reynolds and their two infant children to chase a sex goddess. At least he got his just desserts when Elizabeth Taylor tossed him aside for Richard Burton.
- 'Who's on Worst?' reveals the ugly in baseball The Baseball Hall of Fame celebrates the greatest players, managers and owners from our national pastime. Any of us who have watched Major League baseball have inevitably seen some of these immortals practicing their craft. But we have also likely witnessed a sample of their opposite brethren, players who shouldn't have been in the Major Leagues. Has there ever been a definitive source that "celebrates" the non-accomplishments of the worst that Major League baseball has to offer?
- Book takes readers on path for equal rights One of the most troubling aspects of our history is race relations. It takes a long time to achieve true equality in a society when the heritage of one ethnic group is slavery and Jim Crow laws. Even today African Americans are more likely to be stereotyped as athletes than doctors, lawyers or entrepreneurs. The path to a "color-blind" nation is still a work in progress.
- Piazza wasn't considered much of a prospect for the majors It's probably going to be a quiet few days in Cooperstown when Hall of Fame weekend rolls around this summer. The baseball writers did not elect anybody this year despite some heavyweight candidates. The problem was that at least three of the poster boys for the steroids era, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa, were on the ballot for the first time. The writers were clearly making a statement when nobody got elected.
- Who would have thought e-books would be so popular? When I was in library school 25 years ago, a future concept was presented that seemed absurd at the time. It was the notion you could read books on a small computerized device about the size of a pocketbook.
- 2012 was a year of great films, future favorites The year 2012 was a blockbuster year for great films. Several of the movies up for Best Picture would have been runaway favorites almost any other time. They will make for easy pickings for the library when they become available on DVD.
- Blockbusters are not the only movies worth watching Hollywood makes enough movies that there are always a few that you don't hear about until they are on DVD. Sometimes they are simply horrible films that end their theater run quickly, but often they are "diamonds in the rough" that made their mark at film festivals.
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