Need for Speed

First Hit:  The cars were cool and fun to watch.

The story line was lackluster – except for the excitement Monarch (Michael Keaton) brought with his fervor for promoting his annual race. How we get there to this race is supposed to be a dramatic story that we’re interested in.

But, most of the acting and scenes are simply a bunch of clichés strung together. Small town guy Toby Marshall (Aaron Paul) who comes from a racing family is going to lose the garage his father left him because... . And that question is left open and unanswered.

He probably put himself in this predicament because it appears to the audience he likes hanging with his friends working only on stuff he likes to work on - race cars. And because of this the business is going under with no real effort to change his business model. So they do a Hail-Mary pass by fixing a rare Carol Shelby car that was never finished and owned by Dino (Dominic Cooper).

The plot twist is that this arch enemy (who also stole his girlfriend) is the person offering him this opportunity. Interesting thing is that they created the illusion that this was an unfinished Carroll Shelby car which we know couldn’t have a body because Shelby died many, many years ago. But because Ford is promoting their new 50 year old Mustang model in the film this is the draw.

Yup, we got a new Mustang body on a Carol Shelby chassis and engine designs. He fixes up the Mustang, gets pulled into a street race and loses his best friend in the process. For revenge he gets into the cross country street race that involves "winner takes all" (cars that is). The race is orchestrated by Monarch.

The cars: A Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, Koenigsegg Agera R, Bugatti Veyron Super Sports, Saleen S7, GTA Spano, and a McLaren P1. Of course the hero wins and gets basically nothing because the cars get destroyed in the film, but all’s right with the world because he settles a debt, and gets a new girlfriend Julia (Imogen Poots).

The cars were the stars – loved seeing them and wanted to drive them all. Paul was OK as the quiet type hero who does his talking through driving. Cooper was good as the guy who didn’t care much about how his actions hurt people. Keaton was great – the guy still brings so much energy to every role his does. My favorite today is still is role as Beetlejuice. Poots was really enjoyable and I enjoyed her role as it progressed in the film. George Gatins wrote a predictable script. Scott Waugh directed this and I thought it might have been better with less police interference and more open-street driving to see each car’s ability to perform because it was all about the cars.

Overall:  Just wanted more cars and less people.

In Secret

First Hit:  Premise was pretty good but the execution was below fair.

A sexually repressed Therese (Elizabeth Olsen) who was trapped into a marriage with Camille (Tom Felton) by Camille’s mother Madame Raquin (Jessica Lange) finds herself sexually attracted to Laurent (Oscar Isaac) who is the Raquin’s family friend.

While living in Paris, Laurent and Therese begin an affair by his sneaking up the back way to where Therese, Camille, and Madame Raquin live. And there is where the film's script didn't work well. I found it odd that people could yell up and down the stairs to each other to communicate but the noise the Laurent and Therese would make while making love was not heard by anyone in the house or shop below.

The couple wants to spend all their time together so they come up with a plan to kill Camille. The opportunity presents itself when they are rowing on a lake. Camille doesn’t know how to swim and when Laurent hits him in the head with a paddle – he dies. The guilt ridden couple begins to implode with their feelings and guilt ridden angst.

Lange was strong as the controlling mother who manipulated the people around her. Olsen was good as the sexually repressed woman looking for a life far different than the one she finds herself in. Felton was very good as the sickly repressed son. Isaac was OK as the love interest but just didn’t think he possessed the character that made the story work. Charlie Stratton wrote a lifeless screen play, which was made worse by Stratton’s own direction.

Overall:  This film started with a few moments of promise but faded into boredom and writer and director self-absorption.

3 Days to Kill

First Hit:  Parts were really funny; some were really unrealistic, but overall it was entertaining.

Does the CIA really have agents that act and look like a hooker that drive around in an Audi R8 sports cars? I doubt it. But here the head agent Vivi Delay (Amber Heard) charged with killing “The Wolf” (Richard Sammel) gets to do this and more.

The plot is a bit convoluted with “The Albino” (Tomas Lemarquis) and some other characters who work for The Wolf while he’s trying to sell a dirty bomb. To get the job done Vivi hires Ethan Renner (Kevin Costner) who is a veteran at killing people for the agency. He’s grizzled yet he’s got a soft spot for his daughter Zoey (Hailee Steinfeld) whom he hasn’t seen since she was a small child.

Each year he contacts her on her birthday but that’s it. He’s fighting what he thinks is a cold but discovers he’s got cancer and only has a few months to live. With this news he wants to spend more time with his daughter and wife Christine (Connie Nielsen). Both are reluctant to have him back in their lives while Christine makes him promise to quit doing jobs for the Agency. But Vivi hooks him in by offering him a unclassified drug that might extend his life a bit.

The funniest part was when he and Vivi are trying to decide which guy in the room is The Wolf’s accountant.

Costner is fun, craggily, physical and smooth. I enjoy watching him use his experience in these parts to make them work for the audience and story. Heard is quirky and electric as the agent. Steinfeld is very good as the daughter who is trying to figure out if she cares, why she cares, and how to express her mixed emotions. Nielsen is very good as Costner’s estranged wife. Adi Hasak and Luc Besson wrote an unbelievable script but in the end it worked. McG (Joseph McGinty Nichol) directed this and cannot figure out what impels him to use “McG” as his name, when the film pretty good – don’t we want to know his name?

Overall:  I was entertained throughout this implausible story.

Robocop

First Hit:  A good remake – this had more humanness.

Remakes are generally not as good as the original(s). This remake is clearly better. Mostly the characters are more clearly defined, the acting is better and the production value is far better. But what they really did was the adding humanness to Robocop.

Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) is hurt by a car bomb and there is little left of him. Raymond Sellars (Michael Keaton) owns a company that is pushing to make drones and robots the way crime is fought and dealt with in the US. Although these drones are used in the rest of the world, there is strong resistance in the US (Congress) to having drones manage our crime.

Dr. Dennett Norton (Gary Oldman) has an idea of combining a human (partial) and robotics to help make this transition. They choose Alex and using only his lungs, face, one arm, and brain, he builds robotics around him. Alex becomes a success after tinkering with his dopamine to make his more aggressive and less feeling oriented. His wife Clara (Abbie Cornish) and their son David (John Paul Ruttan) are distressed as they see their husband/father become less human and fight to see him.

Kinnaman was very good at being human, Robocop with some humanness, and Robocop with less humanness. Keaton was great to see again and as always he always seems to be on the edge of sanity – his mind is so quick. Oldman was very good as the doctor walking a fine line of integrity and doing things just for the money. Cornish was OK as the stressed wife who wanted her human, caring husband back. Joshua Zetumer and Edward Neumeier wrote a good script but it was the direction by Jose Padilha to use his actors to make this film work.

Overall: Someone finally got this film right – enjoyable.

The Wolf of Wall Street

First Hit:  Although 3 hours long, it was entertaining and intense.

I happened to watch “Goodfellas” the morning before I saw Wolf. The similarities are that Martin Scorsese used a group of wild characters and shows them acting the same way when confronted with diverse situations. Drugs and illegal actions are also key elements in both films.

From a visual perspective, both films use family situations, groups, couples and single moments to build the story visually. What I didn’t like about Wolf was the illegal actions of the characters actions. Yes in "Goodfellas" they did illegal things, and they were expected to. The focus on selling unsuspecting people on making a quick buck (their own greed) because you are good at selling people, just didn’t sit well with me.

The film uses a number of voice overs which I don't normally like but it did add to the story as time got a bit mixed up. Because it is based on a true story, the pervasive use of drugs and alcohol as fuel to their lifestyle and trading was disconcerting.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Jordan Belfort who just wanted to be rich, real rich. He discovers that drugs, womanizing, and money mix well delivering what he wanted. I’m not sure whether the film reflected the shallowness of the person and people in his firm or if the film was just shallow. Regardless, the scene of him on his boat speaking with the FBI was excellent while the scene of him discussing how to throw midgets at targets in the office, wasn’t.

DiCaprio was strong and made the script work and believable. Jonah Hill as Belfort’s sidekick was, at times over the top and not interesting, while at other times good. Matthew McConaughey in a small role as Mark Hanna was very good. Rob Reiner as Jordan’s dad Max was very good and I enjoyed his presence in the film. Margot Robbie (playing Naomi Lapaglia) as Belfort’s second wife was very good. Not only very attractive to look at, she created a sense of reality in the film. Terence Winter wrote an extensive script from Belfort’s book. Scorsese was able to reign in Belfort’s lifestyle and present it on film.

Overall:  This is a very good film, maybe in the same category as Goodfellas, but is it great and inventive  like Goodfellas was of its time? I don't think so.