Papa Hemingway in Cuba

First Hit:  A mediocre attempt to share the final days of Hemingway in Cuba while watching his creative demise through alcohol.

I liked the idea and concept of this film but segments, especially with Joely Richardson (as Mary Hemingway), felt as though either the screenplay or the acting was forced and poorly executed.

The idea that Ernest Hemingway (Adrian Sparks) responded to a letter that reporter Ed Myers (Giovanni Ribisi) wrote him resulting in an invitation to Cuba to meet Hemingway was creative. However, there didn’t seem to be enough energy between the two despite the screenplay that wanted Myers feel as though Papa was going to take the role of his own family.

There were scenes that were very engaging between the two, like when Hemingway accused Myers was ratting on him to a mafia guy. Conversely there were numerous scenes where I wondered why Myers was in Cuba.

Scenes of Hemingway taking over conversations to up his ego by telling stories about himself may have been representative to the real Hemingway, however, when Mary started calling him on his self-centered behavior in public the film and acting didn’t engage me as being right or truthful. The general scenes of Cuba were OK, but I think there could have been more to share and Hemingway’s compound, although it may have been representative, was atypical of how Cuban’s live.

Richardson’s Mary Hemingway was uneven because the two different personalities she displayed didn’t seem to fit well. Ribisi’s character was strong and I didn’t buy that he was a writer because we didn’t get snippets of his craft, only praise by other characters. Minka Kelly as Myers’ girlfriend was very good and I enjoyed when she was on the screen. Sparks’ Hemingway was strong and I bought his character flaws and all. Shaun Toub as Hemingway’s long term friend Evan Shipman was very good. I loved his character as the supportive friend. Denne Bart Petitclerc wrote a screenplay that was erratically strong and challenged. Bob Yari’s direction felt uneven.

Overall:  This film was interesting in some ways and mostly to learn more about Hemingway’s later years.

Ted 2

First Hit:  Some very funny laugh out-loud moments along with crude and sophomoric scenes.

This film was much like the first with John (Mark Wahlberg) and Ted (voice by Seth MacFarlane) being best friends, doing drugs (mostly pot), and acting like they are frat brothers.

However, Ted decides that he’s in love and marries Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth). Donny (Giovanni Ribisi) still has a grudge (from the first film) that Ted belongs to John. He decides to hatch a plan to have Ted declared “property” and not a human. The case goes to court.

Along the way, we have lots of cameos including Jay Leno, Liam Neeson, Michael Dorn and Sam Jones in roles that personified characters they’ve played. The crude language was more than required to make it funny but there are lots of humorous situations.

Wahlberg was OK at John but I actually like him better in more serious roles. Barth is perfect as Ted’s wife and made her role work. Ribisi is always great in his slightly perverted role. Amanda Seyfried as Samantha, Teds lawyer, was a great counterpoint. Morgan Freeman playing a civil right attorney Patrick Meighan was a typical role for him and even Ted made fun of his perfect voice. Seth MacFarlane and Alec Sulkin wrote the script, which, for the most part worked. MacFarlane also directed the film.

Overall:  It was funny but film becomes forgettable by the next day.

Selma

First Hit:  Not as engaging as I had hoped.

The Selma, Alabama march was a seminal moment in our nation’s history.

The film follows Martin Luther King (David Oyelowo) through the process, thoughts and actions leading to the successful decision by President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) to push an equal vote for all while King led a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama securing the rights for blacks to vote.

Although I loved the story and remember it fondly, the portrayal of this story was only good at times. I thought there were long moments of waiting and indecision by the director which created a slowness in this film that wasn’t needed.

To set up the issue, the film begins with Annie Lee Cooper (Oprah Winfrey) trying to register to vote. The voter registrar clerk, finds ways to reject Cooper’s form. The point is the unreasonableness of the registrar’s office against blacks.

The film spends a little time with King being at home with his family. Coretta Scott King (Carmen Ejogo) is strong willed, supportive of her husband, and also keeps the family together with her strength. There are a number of historical characters in this film from Andrew Young (Andre Holland), Presidential Advisor Lee White (Giovanni Ribisi) to Gov. George Wallace (Tim Roth) which give a fair amount of context to the story – especially Wallace.

Pacing of this film was methodically slow and, to me, it made this film much longer (by 20 – 30 minutes) than needed.

Oyelowo was good as King, but I never felt moved by the documented speeches as spoken by David. Wilkinson was good as LBJ, however I’m wondering about the dialogue used to represent him. For some reason it didn’t ring true with the same person who pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Winfrey was solid as Cooper, however in two of the closing still pictures, she seemed to be the focal point by being in the center – seemed a bit egotistical. Ejogo, as Coretta, provided the strongest acting of the bunch. Holland was good as the young Andrew Young. Ribisi was OK as White. Roth was powerful as Wallace. Paul Webb wrote a good script, but needed some trimming. Ava DuVernay directed this film which had pacing problems. However, the look and feel of the time was wonderfully represented.

Overall:  I was disappointed in the result of this film.

Ted

First Hit:  At times funny, crude, stupid, and interesting.

Ted, a CG teddy bear, is alive because he was wished life by a young John (played by Bretton Manley) who was a friendless boy.

Ted becomes famous and is even shown on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. The Carson segment was pieced together really well. As John becomes an adult (played by Mark Wahlberg) at age 35 he’s living a stoner life with Ted. He’s got a clerk job with a rental car agency, gets high with Ted as often as possible and has a great girlfriend Lori (played by Mila Kunis).

One of the things missing from their relationship is an understanding for its existence. I didn’t sense/feel any chemistry between them. The jokes and language were crude almost to the detriment of the film. Some of the jokes went over the head of the normal audience that will see this film (“I went Joan Crawford on him”). 

There aren’t that many people who know of Joan Crawford’s antics on her children. But on the other end, there was a moment where John tries to guess the name of Ted’s girlfriend which was very amusing. The acting with the CG Ted was seamlessly wonderful.

This was the technical and acting high point of the film. The overall question this film tries to resolve is; whether John will grow up enough to be an adult in his relationship with Lori? Or, will his friendship with Ted keep his life stuck as an adolescent?

Wahlberg is great at interacting with the CG Ted. Kunis is mediocre in this somewhat lifeless and pivotal role. Giovanni Ribisi (as Donny) was good as the jealous guy who wanted a Ted for himself. Jessica Barth was very good as Ted’s girlfriend Tami-Lynn. Seth MacFarlane wrote and directed this film (he’s also the voice of Ted). It is obvious that this was a pet project and partially worked and partially didn’t.

Overall:  This film was all over the place and in the end forgettable.

Contraband

First Hit: Although a bit unrealistic, this was an entertaining film.

Mark Wahlberg and Giovanni Ribisi carry this film as Chris Farraday and Tim Briggs respectively.

They are on the opposite sides of society; Briggs a proud punkish nowhere drug dealer while Farraday has cleaned up his act and has gone straight installing home security systems. Briggs gets Farraday’s brother in-law to become a mule for a drug shipment which he has to dump off the back of a ship as it is entering port.

Now owing a lot of money for the drugs and payment, Farraday, decides to assist his dimwitted brother-in-law’s loss by running a shipment of counterfeit money from Panama. However this plan goes wrong in multiple ways and it is up to Farraday to fix it. The danger of course is that if Farraday doesn’t fix the problem his best friend and former business partner will kill his wife and family.

What you say? Yes, Farraday doesn’t know that his supposed best friend is really heading up the operation that set up his brother-in-law and now he’s getting setup himself. However Farraday is the smartest guy in the film and he figures out a way to it all right for himself and his family.

What makes this film entertaining is the interaction between Farraday and his real friends and his shipmates. He’s an everyman with just enough more smarts than the people around him. And when he says to his wife Kate (played by Kate Beckinsale) “trust me, I’ll take care of this” you know he’ll make it right and he does.

Wahlberg is perfect as the everyday hero and guy doing the right thing. Ribisi is fantastic as the slightly twisted thug who can be as vile as any thug could hope to be. Beckinsale is good as the trusting wife. Ben Foster as Sebastian was very good as Wahlberg’s betraying best friend. Aaron Guzikowski wrote a reasonable script from the Icelandic film Reyljavik-Rotterdam. Baltasar Kormakur directed this action film in a fully unexplainable and entertaining way.

Overall: Not a great film by any stretch of the imagination but it is fun to watch.