2 Guns

First Hit:  From a tongue-in-cheek point of view, watching Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg work together was really fun.

The problem with this film is the script. There are just a few to many twists and turns to make this really hold together well.

However, the interaction between the two actors was wonderful. It seemed as though they probably had a gas working together. They were great in their characters as unidentified agents of the government.

Trench (Washington) is an undercover DEA agent who is attempting to set-up the arrest of Papi Greco (Edward James Olmos) a major cocaine dealer. Stigman (Wahlberg) is with a Navy investigative unit that is trying to recover money that was taken from a crime.

Together they decide to rob a bank for different unspoken reasons. What they end up doing is stealing a bank full of money put there by the CIA. Now the CIA area agent headed by Earl (Bill Paxton) who is a cruel man prone to using Russian roulette as a way to get people to talk. One of the lures to draw Trench deeper into the fray was his part-time lover Deb (Paula Patton).

So what the film tries to sort out is why the Navy, CIA, DEA and a drug cartel are fighting about $43.125 million dollars and how a friendship grew.

Washington is his usual strong centered intelligent character. Wahlberg is goofy bold in his approach to life and the mission. Paxton is excellent as the thuggish CIA lead. Olmos did a very good job of being the drug kingpin who needed to be taken down a notch. Patton was OK in her minor and pivotal role. Blake Masters wrote the convoluted screen play with enough comedy to redeem his effort. Baltasar Kormakur directed this team of top-notch actors and made it hold together by expanding the personality of the characters and using his actors well.

Overall:  This was an amusing film but any other two actors in the lead and this film fails.

Passion

First Hit:  Poorly acted, mindlessly conceived, torturous, and a waste of time.

As a take off on a better acted “Love Crime” with Kristin Scott Thomas and Ludivine Sagnier, there are many films about protégés and assistants transforming into their bosses and then turning the tides on them. What would make this one different?

Here Christine (Rachel McAdams) as a high level executive just didn’t work. She wasn’t believable in her role in any way shape for form. The way she talked about budgets and demanding certain work be done in a short period time was more of a laugh than anything else. There is no way her threat to do their work for them was believable.

The conflict in the story is that she takes credit for Isabelle’s (Noomi Rapace) work and then humiliates her in front of the whole staff. The extra wrinkle in this film is that Isabelle’s assistant Dani (played by Karoline Herfurth) is in love with Isabelle and does what she can to help her get through the problems and eventual murder of Christine.

The story adds a male wrinkle by having Dirk (Paul Anderson), who works for Isabelle as well, being blackmailed by Isabelle for stealing money from the company. Her payment is his availability to her for sexual reasons.

This film becomes more torturous because there is a supposed twin of Isabelle’s, who is dead, non-existent or out to seek revenge.

McAdams was totally unbelievable as a senior executive; however she was great as someone who can work an audience. Rapace did what she can in her role but I’m not sure it was one that fit her. Herfurth was the best of the bunch and felt her engaged in this role. Anderson was simply drama and not interesting in this role. Brian De Palma and Natalie Carter wrote the script. I couldn’t tell whether it was a poor script or bad acting or directing that made this film almost unwatchable. De Palma directed this film and needless to say it was no “Scarface” or “Carrie”.

Overall:  Almost unwatchable and wouldn’t suggest anyone trying.

R.I.P.D.

First Hit:  Just didn’t work.

Nick (Ryan Reynolds) is in love with his wife.

He’s a Boston Police Detective and gets tempted to steal some gold they find on a drug bust. He confronts his partner Hayes (Kevin Bacon) about the “rightness” of this. Hayes doesn’t want Nick to turn in the gold so he shoots his partner. Nick dies but ends up with other dead law enforcement officers who are living in this “other sort of world”.

In charge of this group of these dead officers is Proctor (Mary-Louise Parker). Why does this group of R.I.P.D. officers exist? To fight crime of people who really haven’t died and who attempt to make havoc on the world as it is.

Nick gets assigned to a new partner named Roy (Jeff Bridges) who has such a forced accent that it is nauseating. He was wronged just like Nick so there are here to work together to fight the undead. What makes it even worse is that people in the real world see Nick as a old Asian man and Roy as a voluptuous blond.

This story is such a reach and then to add that Hayes is one of these characters who are collecting enough gold to reign havoc on the world is simply an out-of-bounds reach. It is a stupid story although amusing at times.

Bridges is mediocre in this role and his accent is horrible. Bacon is the most amusing and interesting character in the film – his darkness prevails. Reynolds is stuck between a rock and hard place in this role and my guess he wishes he never took it. Parker is the best part of the film; her tongue in cheek approach was fun. Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi wrote this mindless script and Robert Schwentke directed it, and I’m not sure why.

Overall:  A couple of laughs but overall a real waste of talented actors.

Red 2

First Hit:  Tongue in cheek fun, watchable and entertaining.

During the cold war Bailey (Anthony Hopkins) created a nuclear device, which was hidden in the Kremlin. He is also the only one alive that may know where the device was hidden.

The issue is that he's been lock up in a semi-insane asylum/prison. A team of retired black-ops people is reunited get him released and track down this bomb and return it to the US. This team, led by Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), is cobbled together and includes an aging Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) and Victoria (Helen Mirren).

In a tangential way the team also includes Han Cho Bai (Byung-hun Lee) and Frank’s wife Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker). Frank is in love with Sarah and spends a lot of film time trying to protect her. However, Sarah is up for adventure, and is quirky enough in character to make her role very fun.

Trying to subvert the team is Katja (Catherine Zeta-Jones) who wants the bomb as well. What everyone doesn’t know is that Baily is not crazy, just a man on a mission to make right a wrong he thought was done to him.

The actors here appear to have had fun in their roles and there is always a sense that there was a slight wink and an nod as they did their scenes together.

Hopkins is the most brilliant in his role as he switches from off his rocker to singularly focused to right a personal wrong. Willis is always a bit tongue in cheek and here he’s in his swim lane. Malkovich is great as the sidekick that is always one hair away from being off his rocker. Mirren is fabulous as the unsuspecting older refined woman that has a "take no prisoners attitude". Parker is sublime as the quirky wife looking for adventure in her life and marriage. Zeta-Jones hams it up and is in her glory. Lee is really good as the guy who switches sides for just a moment to gets what he wants. Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber wrote a fun and entertaining script. Dean Parisot married the actors and script in a way that made all this work well. 

Overall:  This is a fun film but don’t look for everything to hold together, it wasn’t meant to.

The Heat

First Hit:  There are a few really funny moments, a large number of suppose-to-be funny moments, and also attempts to create a heart felt story.

The story around this film is that we have two friendless women, competent; law-enforcement officers that have to work together to both heal themselves and capture a major drug lord. 

The humor, for the most part is not subtle. It is gross humor with a lot of swearing and doing stupid things. The two women are different and approach work differently. Agent Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) is a pariah in her FBI division because she is incredibly competent, intelligent and shows up the other men in her squad by closing cases with a lack of humility.

She is also a lonely woman and borrows a neighbor's cat to keep her company. On the other hand, Mullins (Melissa McCarthy) is a lonely, overweight, hard charging bullying Boston cop. She intimidates everyone in the entire squad house. Nobody crosses her and nobody does something she doesn’t want done. The unfortunate part of her character is that it seemed very unrealistic and one of the things that put me off on her character.

Her methods were unprofessional; she intimidates with bullying tactics both her perpetrators, other police staff as well as anyone who crosses her for any reason. Her family doesn’t like her because she busted her brother for drugs and sent to him to prison. The humor is not subtle and although some of the scenes are funny, the humor is based more on overt brashness, bullying and swearing.

It wasn't intelligent humor. For the tenderness, each character has their own sadness which they see they can heal with this partnership. On this end, the film is good but not exceptional.

Bullock is the better of the two characters; rather I liked watching her and what she brought to the role. Sandra portrays a tightly controlled character with humor better than most actors and here she shines again. McCarthy is not someone I enjoy watching (see my previous reviews of her). Her bullying personality, which see appears to use in many roles, is tiring and I would like to see her in a role that expands who she is and in a more heartfelt way. Marlon Wayans as Bullock’s FBI support is very good and I felt grounded when he was on the screen. Katie Dippold wrote an OK script. I felt thought, that this film wanted to be serious, heartfelt and funny but didn’t do a good job of balancing these storylines. Paul Feig directed this film and also directed “Bridesmaids” which I found un-watchable and this film suffered from a lot of the same sort of humor that I don’t find funny. However, the two young teen girls sitting in front of me couldn’t stop giggling at the gross action humor.

Overall:  The film was OK, funny at times, and probably worth watching through Netflix or on video.