A Wrinkle in Time

First Hit:  I love the concepts in the film but the execution was generally very poor.

I wanted to like this film more than I did.  Almost from the beginning, there was something not quite right about this film. When Mr. Murry (Chris Pine) is teaching his daughter Meg (Storm Reid) about how vibrations can affect sand on a flat plate, there was a clunky sense to their interaction.

There was little sense or buildup as to why her peers were giving her a hard time. We slowly find out that she misses her dad, who disappeared some 4 years earlier. He just disappeared and the kids made fun of her because of this? Didn’t make sense and didn’t stick with me, given Meg’s attitude and personality on the screen.

Her adopted brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) is a genius and pushes the envelope at their mutual school. He calls people out on their stupidity and Meg has to break up the fight.

Regardless, Charles Wallace believes that their father slipped through a wrinkle in time and traveled to another galaxy (I interpreted this as a different dimension). He finally convinces Meg that something like this happened and introduces her to Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon) who is a quirky and a renegade spiritual human presence and form of light.

Meg and Charles Wallace are join by a classmate Calvin (Levi Miller), who says he got “a call” to join them. He struggles at home because his father beats him even though he’s a great student. This part of the film is poorly done and doesn’t work well.

The three kids meet up in Meg’s backyard and Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling) and Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey) take them through a wrinkle in time and end up on a new planet (new dimension).

The place is made of light as are the three Mrs. However, when they fly on Mrs. Whatsit’s back and encounter The It (the dark forces), the light bearers say that the kids might not find Mr. Murry.

The concepts of light and dark are great to express in written form and in film, but here the direction and substance of this story fails to make this journey compelling.

Pine was good as the scientist first guy, setting aside his family for the sake of science. Gugu Mbatha-Raw was good as Mrs. Murry, there was a sweet genuineness to her. Reid was very strong as Meg. Her passion and intelligence came through. McCabe was excellent as young Charles Wallace. He did a great job of being a smart kid and one that was taken over by the dark side (The It). Witherspoon was funny as Mrs. Whatsit. She brought humor but her character was also inconsistent. How can you be new as a light being and run out of energy so quickly. Kaling was OK as a seer, but I just didn’t buy the role. Winfrey was Winfrey. The extra-large size physical presence might have been more about inflating that it was Oprah than the role. It made little sense and adding the stiff gown she was fit into made her performance stiff. Miller was OK, but I struggled as to why he was part of the journey, the case wasn’t well made. Jennifer Lee and Jeff Stockwell wrote a mediocre script when it could have been great. Ava DuVernay’s direction was poor. But some of this is based on the poorly created script. However, I think she could have made better choices about the story’s direction and how it was constructed.

Overall:  This film falls flat when it comes to telling a strong story, but it does have a strong point to make if the audience sees through the uneven film.

Hot Pursuit

First Hit:  Mediocre story, partially slapstick, occasionally good out-loud laughs, but in the end it just wasn’t enough.

The set-up is that Officer Connor (Reese Witherspoon) grew up admiring her police officer father. She always wanted to be a cop. But with an embarrassing incident early in her career, she finds herself down in the evidence room. She gets a call to assist moving a drug informer and his wife to Dallas to testify against the head of a drug cartel.

The wife Daniella Riva (Sofia Vergara), is an opposite type person from Conner, her protector. The rest of the film is about putting them in instances where their differences are expounded. From the type of underwear to how they talk, their body styles, height and age.

The quips by the news organizations about their age and height were funny as was some of the dialogue on the bus they found themselves riding. However, the same bus scene had a shooting sequence when they were driving the bus that I found awkward and poorly designed.

This was the way of the whole film, poorly crafted scenes mixed with funny scenes (like her Cooper changing clothes in the sporting goods store).

Witherspoon was, at times, amazingly engaged and funny, like her very fast talking after being covered by cocaine powder. At other times it didn’t work and the scripting and acting felt tried. Vergara was really funny when she was talking about her shoes and what she can and cannot do. But I also found her restricted by the storyline. David Feeney and John Quaintance wrote an uneven script, which the director Anne Fletcher failed to remedy.

Overall:  Although amusing at times, the outtakes at the end showed how fun and funny this film could have been.

Wild

First Hit:  The story is compelling and I’m not sure it was reflected in its full glory here. Reese Witherspoon plays Cheryl Strayed, a woman who was lost in her life and found herself again by hiking the Pacific Coast Trail (PCT).

The opening scene is great as it shows Cheryl tossing a boot over a cliff after the other one gets clumsily shoved off the cliff edge while she is pulling off a toenail. It shows her naivety in this hiking endeavor along with her quick tempered anger and easily accessed frustration.

This scene fully represents who she is at that moment. It is a great scene. It is unfortunate that not all the following scenes measure up as well. This isn’t to say there aren’t good to great scenes in the film, there are and they just don’t stand up to this opening scene.

Having hiked a lot when I was younger as part of our family backpacking vacations into the high sierras, I enjoyed the scenes of the mountains, meadows, and trails. We learn why she is on the trail through flashbacks which are like thought bubbles, brought up by music, conversation, or situations.

These flashbacks are OK, however they didn’t give me enough context as to why she became a drug addict, slept with everyone in sight, and tried to destroy her life. There was more to the story and it wasn’t here.

Witherspoon was very strong as Cheryl however I think the way the story was told and directed was the weak point of this film. Laura Dern was really engaging and full as Cheryl’s mom. Gabby Hoffman as Cheryl’s friend Aimee was very good. I liked her repulsion of Cheryl’s lifestyle when they were having dinner at the diner. Thomas Sadoski as Cheryl’s ex-husband Paul was also very strong as the man who loved Cheryl through thick and thin. Nick Hornby wrote the script which was very reflective of Cheryl’s book. Jean-Marc Vallee directed this film and this is where I think that this film falters a bit. There is a lot to digest from this book/script and it's a good attempt – not great.

Overall:  I did enjoy the film but I wasn’t satisfied that it told the story deeply enough.

Mud

First Hit:  A well-crafted film with excellent performances.

Where “To the Wonder” tried to show love and didn’t speak about love, “Mud” evoked a story around what love can drive people to do or not do.

This film evoked the feeling of Arkansas, the difference between town people and river folk, and how love can confuse young and old alike. We’ve got two young boys Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and his close friend Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) finding a boat in a tree. It got there through one of the horrific storms that come through the south.

While exploring their new found treasure, they run into Mud (Matthew McConaughey) who has commandeered the boat for his own purposes. Listening to him talk you get a sense that he skirts the truth while embracing wives tales and superstitions when they serve his purpose. He convinces the boys he’s there to meet his love Juniper (Reese Witherspoon) whom he’s loved his whole life.

He’s also hiding out because he killed one of Juniper’s boyfriends for hitting her. Now the boyfriend’s family and police are after him for revenge. Ellis has an idealistic view of love and it is congruent with the devotion Mud has for Juniper. However his mom Mary Lee (Sarah Paulson) and dad, Senior (Ray McKinnon), are talking divorce and Ellis sees his life falling apart. He’s a strong willed kid and when he stops a guy from pushing a girl he likes by hitting him, he becomes enamored and hopes she like him. He and Mud connect in this way.

This film is not fast paced and, at times, I wanted it to make it go faster, but then I exhaled and let the film continue its elegant unfolding.

Sheridan was sublime by evoking strength, compassion and mindfulness. He was extraordinary. Lofland was equally superb and as a friend to Sheridan he was perfect. I would be surprised if I learned they are not real life friends as well. McConaughey was amazing. As his recent films have shown, he’s really choosing parts that work for him and that he can bring good things to the director of the film. Witherspoon is great in this role because it reminded me of the intensity and power of her early “Freeway” role. I loved her in that film and can still feel the intense scenes with Kiefer Sutherland. Paulson is really good and I loved her presence in the film as the woman struggling and needing to change her life. McKinnon is good, especially as the film moved on. Sam Shepard (as Tom Blankenship) is strong as Mud’s closest friend and surrogate dad. Michael Shannon (as Galen), Neckbone's uncle and caretaker was really good and it was good to see him in this role. Joe Don Baker has a minor and pivotal role as the father of the man Mud killed. Jeff Nichols wrote and directed this film with patience and a great eye for bringing out the south.

Overall:  Although slow at times – it was well worth it.

This Means War

First Hit: Parts of this were enjoyable but mostly it was a highly improbable mindless piece of fluff.

At the beginning of the film I questioned that the disparate parts would come together and give us a film worth watching.

Reese Witherspoon plays Lauren a woman who has an old boyfriend whom she caught cheating on her. There are two awkward scenes where she runs into her old boyfriend; both of these scenes were not required for the film.

Lauren is head of some consumer protection agency and her character loves her job. She has a friend Trish (Chelsea Handler) who is happily married and really wanting Lauren to find a lover so she posts her name and picture on a dating website.

Two CIA operatives FDR Foster and Tuck (played by Chris Pine and Tom Hardy respectively) live an incorrect and improbable wealthy lifestyle for being government agents.

Their opening scene has them doing some amazing fighting and gun slinging. Tuck responds to Lauren’s website post but then she leaves the date and runs into FDR who tries (unknowingly that she just spent time with his partner Tuck) to pick her up. Tuck and FDR find out they both want to date the same girl so now we, the audience, have the film’s premise.

The boys want to stay best friends and working partners but they both want the same girl. The film attempts to test their friendship, technology, Lauren’s resolve and love. The part that works is some of the comedy.

I enjoyed Lauren’s face as Tuck took out the entire paintball war. I thought that FDR was effectively embarrassed as his grandmother shared his youthful problem with wetting his pants.

Witherspoon is her usual lighthearted character but this film isn’t going to further her career. Pine is a good pretty boy and he did show some depth. Hardy seemed the most comfortable in his role and when he gut punched the karate instructor it was perfect. Handler was one of the more interesting characters as she kept pushing the film along. Timothy Dowling and Simon Kinberg wrote this somewhat mindless script. McG (Joseph McGinty Nichol) directed this and maybe if he owned his full name he might make a fully integrated film.

Overall:  Although enjoyable this film is forgettable within a half hour after walking out of the theater.