Four Weddings And A Funeral: The Funeral Would Be More Fun Than This Charmless Affair

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The film revolves around Charles, Hugh Grant, and his circle of friends as they navigate love and life during a number of social occasions.

This one might be an upset, however this film did nothing for me.

Though I like the other Grant films from this era there was just something about this that didn’t quite work for me. I found the central romance to be clunky and not make a whole lot of sense narratively: having Grant’s character end up with his friend, who clearly has a crush on him, played by Kristen Scott Thomas would have made much more sense and yet they didn’t go with it.

Moreover, unlike Notting Hill I did not find any of the characters particularly likeable or charming. As the film progressed if anything I found myself becoming more and more uninterested in the characters and I cared less about what was happening to them as a result. Likewise the humour here also missed the mark for me, maybe making me laugh once or twice throughout but for the most part it left me cold.

Overall, though for many this is a classic it did nothing for me.

Pros.

Grant

One or two funny jokes

It is watchable

Cons.

The characters aren’t likeable

It is boring

The central romance is flawed

If you enjoyed this review, then please head over to my Patreon to support me, I offer personalized shoutouts, the ability for you to pick what I review next and full access to my Patreon exclusive game reviews. Check it out!

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Together: A Lecture About Covid

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

An on the rocks couple, played by Sharon Horgan and James McAvoy, have to endure lockdown together.

Personally this film wasn’t to my taste. I enjoyed McAvoy and truth be told he was the only reason I stook with it till the end, however even then it was hard to get through. I found this film to be sanctimonious and preachy throughout not only constantly referring to how people should be during the pandemic, but also giving long drawn out to the camera rants about the failings of the Government.

Horgan’s whole character came off as annoying and only proceeded to get worse as the film drew on; she was the main one lecturing the audience. I found the character arcs of both the characters to be incredibly obvious and trite. McAvoy’s character went from someone who didn’t care about other people to someone who breaks down in tears and tells a shop worker they are a ‘hero’, and Horgan’s from a perfect compassionate human being into less so. It was all so obvious.

Finally, a lot of the points being made politically felt shoe horned in and cringe. It felt like those writing the film had a set list of points they wanted to make and that was how they structured the dialogue. Lazy.

Overall, unless you like being talked down to don’t watch this.

Pros.

McAvoy

It has a few funny lines

Cons.

Horgan

The character arcs are obvious

It is preachy

It is cringey

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Lady Of The Manor: Forcing In A To Catch A Predator Scene Derails The Whole Film

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Down and out Hannah, Melanie Lynskey, gets a job giving tours at a manor house. Whilst there she also befriends a ghost, Judy Greer, of one of the dead residents.

In many ways I found this film to be needless. For example there is a big joke at the beginning that Hannah is caught up in a to catch a predator bit and is then a registered sex offender despite not being one. Now my issue with this is firstly why? There is no need for this plot wrinkle, and also that it makes no sense the police wouldn’t have convicted her as they had the wrong person and had no evidence- yet the film says they do.

This film seems to exist separately from any form of logic and often things just happen which make no sense and we the audience are just supposed to go along with it. This wouldn’t be so bad if it were not for the fact of how dumb this film is.

Personally I found most of the characters deeply unlikeable. There is having a flawed character and then there is packing your film with questionable icky characters and asking us to like them. I liked Hannah, I thought that she made several good points about being a woman in modern times, but I also think her behaviour is suspect. She was prepared to perform oral on a man who was clearly out of it, yet we are supposed to like her.

Judy Greer was a lot of fun; she was the stand out of the film for me in a lot of ways.

Overall, this felt very much like a made for TV sort of film and had so many uncomfortable and problematic elements that I lost count.

Pros.

Greer

The feminist messaging

Cons.

The icky questionable characters

None of it makes sense

It feels like an edgy made for TV film

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

National Lampoon Vacation: Stereotypes, Racial Cliches And Female Objectification Aren’t Funny

1/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A family decides to travel cross country for a holiday.

Big disclaimer here, I don’t view the argument of ‘oh things were different in the Eighties, so all of the jokes are somewhat defendable’ as in anyway right. Racism, ableism, sexism and homophobia have never been okay. Yes, if you haven’t guess by now this is going to be a negative review.

I actively found this film to be off putting, not only did I find the jokes cheap and unfunny but also needlessly offensive. It seemed to boil down to a game of how many cliches and stereotypes can I fit into this film on the part of the writer John Hughes- don’t get me started on Hughes. We have African Americans being shown as rough criminals, we have the child who was born without a tongue being a source of amusement and of course every woman is sexualised. It really shows how icky, troublesome and down right callous Hollywood was/ maybe still is.

Chevy Chase is bearable though not in large doses; his character has no likeable traits, and he seems to be written as a dick- which of course becomes grating quickly. The rest of the family are devoid of any kind of personality and you forget about them as soon as the film is over.

Overall, honestly this film is a pain to get through.

Pros.

It is short

Cons.

It is offensive

Chase

It is poorly written

It is not funny

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Here Comes The Boom: I Never Knew It Was So Easy To Be A UFC Fighter, Why Isn’t Everyone Doing It?

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Biology teacher Scott Voss, played by Kevin James, decided to get into cage fighting in order to save the schools musical department.

Honestly, I just put this on because I wanted something easy to zone out to and unwind- in that respect it didn’t disappoint.

Moreover, in terms of Happy Madison fare this isn’t the worst by any means, as though it is dumb and lazy as you would expect it to be, there is also a really strong heart and soul to this film that makes it feelgood even if you don’t particularly like the main character. To that Henry Winkler really shines here, Winkler is the heart and soul of this film and plays the character with such an innocents and sweetness that you can’t help but root for him-sadly he is only a side character.

Kevin James is fine, his character isn’t particularly likeable and is more often than not creepy or nasty to those around him, however he does have his moments. James is clearly playing the character as an everyman sort and that carries, even if the concept doesn’t. A man with no fighting experience couldn’t suddenly become a cage fighter, though why am I looking for logic here?

I was surprised to not see a cameo from any of the Sand Pack, my name for Adam Sandler and his friends, I thought for sure that someone would pop up but no, or maybe I missed it? They didn’t even force in Rob Schneider.

Overall, a watchable if not very funny comedy.

Pros.

Winkler

The heart

It is watchable

Cons.

Kevin James

The leering at Selma Hayek by the camera

The plot holes

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Holy Water/ Hard Times: A Limp Comedy Film

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A group of disaffected Irish men decide to rob a shipment of Viagra and sell it in Amsterdam with the hopes of making enough money to escape their small town existence.

This film was painfully unfunny. I understand that comedy is subjective but not a single joke in this worked for me, most of them felt cheap and desperate- such as a man getting his arse out for the sake of a bit. At times it almost felt like it was trying too hard.

It was nice to see Linda Hamilton appear in this, as she doesn’t appear in anywhere near enough films anymore. Sadly, the quality of the writing she is presented with not only gives the character nothing to work with but ends up reducing her to a cliché. The whole big tough Americans coming to investigate plot point seemed ridiculous, does Ireland not have a wider investigating organisation that would take jurisdiction? Surely they do.

Honestly I think the biggest issue with this film is that it is just plain generic and boring, which is a shame as you can see the actors are trying but ultimately it is all in vain.

Overall, this is not a terrible film, but it is boring.

Pros.

Linda Hamilton

The actors are trying

Cons.

It isn’t funny

It is boring

It is a waste of good talent

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

A Thousand Words: The End Of The Unfunny Eddie Murphy Era

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A fast talking agent, Eddie Murphy, learns the value of words after he discovers that he has bonded with a tree. For each word he says the tree will lose a leaf and when all leaves are gone both will die.

This was one of the finale films of the Murphy era of bad comedy films which was swiftly followed by a short absence from our screens. Personally, I don’t think the film is awful, but nor do I think it is funny. Murphy talking quickly, as he does for the first quarter of the film, is not only unamusing but it is also hard to follow, multiple times I had to go back a few seconds as I didn’t quite catch what was being said. Furthermore, once the big switch up happens and Murphy’s character can no longer talk the film struggles to find its emotional core and can’t nail its message.

That said I found Murphy himself to be one of the saving graces of the film. He didn’t make me laugh but I did find his presence on screen oddly soothing, and I thought he brought a lot of charm to the role and I did care about what happened to his character- small victory for the film there.

Overall, Murphy is trying but it just isn’t enough.

Pros.

Murphy is charming and you do end up caring about his character

It is watchable

Cons.

It isn’t funny

The message is muddled and overly familiar

The emotions don’t quite land

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

The Package: Not For The Fainthearted

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A group of friends go on a camping trip together to celebrate spring break, however once the revelling starts Jeremy, Eduardo Franco, slices off his member- what follows is a desperate struggle to reattach it before he loses it forever.

Though in many ways this film might be base and crude, I found it to be enjoyable and funny and maybe even sweet at times. Not every joke lands, but enough do that you are laughing more often than not, and when you aren’t you’re smiling.

I truly do believe that much like with Blockers Geraldine Viswanathan is the standout of the cast. Viswanathan is quickly proving herself to be one to watch, here she gets a lot of funny lines but also she has quite a nice emotional arc over the course of the film wherein she realises what she deserves out of a relationship and moves onto someone less toxic.

I enjoyed this film as it was a feel good turn the brain off sort of film and in times like these we need as many of them as we can get providing they are good.

Overall, though not every joke lands there is enough here to make this film enjoyable.

Pros.

Viswanathan

A few strong jokes

A feel good ending

The message around toxic relationships

Cons.

A few pacing issues

Not every joke lands

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Old School: Turns Out Todd Phillips Wasn’t Funny Even Before Woke Culture Made Him Quit Comedy

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Three middle aged men decide to relive their youth and go back to their partying days before they had kids- shockingly original I know.

Much like with my Wedding Crashers review where I pointed out how the film liked to make fun and trivialise male rape, I know this one is also going to be controversial. As you can see from my score I did not enjoy this film very much at all, it was charmless and worse still not even slightly funny.

Now before I get into it I just want to say comedy is subjective so what makes me laugh might not be the same for you.

Within the first ten minutes of this film you had a random character busting out the F slur because it was the early noughties so why not right? It is disgusting and clearly just used to be edgy. This film is made by the same man who said you can’t do comedy anymore because everyone is too PC and it shows in nearly every scene. Not only does this film have a particularly strong homophobic undertone, but it also views all of its female characters as either nagging wives or sexual objects and nothing more.

I like Vince Vaughn so I gave the film an extra half a point, but even he can’t save this film. None of the characters are particularly likeable and each ‘comedian’ is doing the worst version of their usual shtick, Ferrell is screaming rather than talking, Wilson is melancholy and broody, and Vaughn is a sleezy party boy- which of those sound likeable? I’ll answer for you, none.

We also get a supporting performance from alleged sexual predator Jeremy Piven, which almost made me turn the film off.

Overall, maybe the reason Todd Phillips stopped doing comedy is because no one finds his sexist, creepy, homophobic jokes funny anymore.

Pros.

Vaughn is trying

Snoop Dogg

Cons.

The jokes

The homophobic comments

It is wildly sexist

None of the characters are likeable

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Vacation Friends: Crashing A Boat Isn’t A Big Deal

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Whilst on holiday in Mexico Marcus, Lil Rel Howery, and Emily, Yvonne Ori, meet a strange eccentric couple, played by John Cena and Meredith Hagner who end up changing their whole outlook on life.

I want to preface this review by saying that though personally I dislike John Cena for saying Taiwan isn’t a country and grovelling to the despotic Chinese government, he is actually funny here. I struggled with it a lot whilst watching, but I managed to put my feelings about Cena to one side and enjoy his performance in the film without reflecting on him as a person. Cena does do comedy really well, and here is no exception he gets a lot of funny lines.

I was pleasantly surprised by this film as I thought it was going to be a silly crude comedy, but in actuality there is a lot of heart, warmth and genuine human emotion to be found here. I found myself becoming sentimental at several scenes, said scenes do not feel forced in but rather organic and well used. I particularly like Cena in this aspect.

I think my issue with this film is that it does not give Ori’ Emily much to do at all and she is just the caricature of the girlfriend/wife stereotype. This is not true for all the female characters in the film as Hagner’s Kyla gets to have a lot of fun and break from traditional gender roles.

Overall, a sweet comedy film boosted by John Cena.

Pros.

Cena

Lil Rel Howery

It is sweet

It is funny

Cons.

Ori’s Emily is given nothing to do

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer