Tag: Comedy

Adventureland:Summer Love

Adventureland is a coming of age comedy drama film directed by Greg Mottola. The plot sees two young fairground workers James (Jessie Eisenberg), and Em (Kristen Stewart, fall in love over one crazy dysfunctional summer.

The chemistry Eisenberg and Stewart have is something else, though Eisenberg has great chemistry with other on-screen ladies like Imogen Poots, nothing compares to him and Stewart. They feel so on the same page, so similar, it’s weird; if they became a couple in real life it would feel like the most natural thing in the world. As a result the romance in this film feels very genuine and believable, which is the most important thing about a rom-com.

The characters in this film also feel very real, they are not just simple caricatures, they’re layered and deep. Though they do bad things from time to time they’re still likable because these mistakes they make are the same mistakes everyone makes; incredibly relatable.

The major downside of this film however is how poorly paced and slow it is. I had never realised this until I watched it again recently but, this film feels a lot longer than an hour and a half, everything in it feels drawn out to the point of boredom. There are big sections of this film that feel dull, however, just as you’re about to turn it off something interesting happens.

Overall, this is a touching sweet film about a very realistic romance which for the most part works, but it is so poorly paced that it makes you want to turn it off and give up many times. I genuinely don’t think there is enough here to be a feature length film, I think this could have worked a lot better as a short film. Crucially it is a mixed bag.

Pros.

The chemistry between Eisenberg and Stewart.

The believable romance.

The supporting characters.

Cons.

It is poorly paced.

It becomes boring after a point.

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Alan Partridge, Alpha Papa: Coming Home To Roost

Alan Partridge Alpha Papa is a comedy film directed by Declan Lowney, as a spinoff to the Alan Partridge tv show. This film depicts a takeover of North Norfolk Digital that leaves Alan (Steven Coogan), and the other disk jockeys in danger of being fired, so Alan being Alan he gets someone else fired to save his own skin. However, that turns out to be a mistake when recently fired Pat (Colm Meaney), shows up with a gun and holds everyone hostage; Alan is of course the face of the following siege.

I am a huge Alan Partridge fan, I have recently got back into watching it, the original series is comedy gold and the series that followed after varied from okay to great. However, this film is defiantly not on the great side of that spectrum, there are a few good moments/laughs, but for the most part it feels overly drawn out and a little needless.

Unlike Life On The Road that tied up David Brent’s character in a post Office world, this film does not end the character of Partridge, rather it acts as a springboard between series. The issue with this is that it makes the film feel unnecessary. It is also no where near as heartfelt as Ricky Gervais’s offering.

There are one or two good jokes that made me laugh, but after a while the hostage situation premise runs out of steam and just isn’t funny anymore. I also think if the villain had been someone who was a bigger part of the Partridge universe then it would have meant more, rather than have it be someone we have never met before. That is not to say that Colm Meaney does a bad job, he is fine but nothing more than that.

Overall, as much as I love Alan Partridge I don’t think this needed to be made. It is fine but most certainly not good.

Pros.

Steve Coogan is as great as always.

Some funny bits.

Cons.

The premise runs out of steam.

Not all the jokes land.

It feels unnecessary

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke     

The Darjeeling Limited: Finding Yourself In A Foreign Land

The Darjeeling Limited is a comedy drama film directed by Wes Anderson. It follows 3 three estranged brothers who come back together to discover themselves and each other on a train trip across India; they search for enlightenment and get hijinks and new perspectives.

I don’t know if I just haven’t seen the right films, but I have never seen the excitement around Wes Anderson and his films. However, that was before I saw this film, I get it now. I loved Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox but that was more because of my attachment to the source material. This was the film that finally got me on the bandwagon.

I really enjoyed this films’ sensibilities and style. I thought in terms of the way it was shot and put together it was a quirky masterclass. I think this film is dripping in style from start to finish and I have never really seen anything else like it. This is really helped out hugely by a killer soundtrack that matches the tone perfectly, drawing out all the eccentric little details.

The performances were all great, they were of course comedic, but they also had such layers to them that which are explored in depth throughout. Each character feels distinct and unique, but they’re also very believable as brothers. It is hard to pick a favourite or say who gave the best performance as I enjoyed them all thoroughly and for different reasons.

I also love the way the story is told, we the audience are drip-fed information in little chunks, never getting more than we need, which allows for a nice sense of vague ambiguity and mystery towards the proceedings without ever bordering on confusing.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this film, it made me a Wes Anderson believer and I will defiantly check out more of his films after this. A joy to watch!

Pros.

Style.

Story.

The performances.

The pitch perfect soundtrack.

Cons.

It might not hit everyone emotionally.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Military Wives: Missing The Note

Military Wives is a based on real life comedy drama film directed by Peter Cattaneo. The film attempts to tell the story of the Military Wives Choir, showing the trials and tribulations the group went through as well as the individual women’s struggles.

Damn, I went into this thinking it would be a quirky comedy and crucially an easy-going good time, and oh my I was wrong. This film is depressing, I don’t know if I just didn’t get the humour of it, but I didn’t think there was a single funny moment in the whole film. However, there was enough sad/depressing moments that I almost had to turn it off and put something else on.

I do believe there is a kernel of a good film somewhere here, however it gets lost through poor execution and weak writing. This film tries to do the whole Fisherman’s Friends thing, by that I mean tell the real-life story of an unlikely band’s rise to fame and play on your emotions. However, where the mushiness in that film felt genuine because you cared about the characters and it is well done, here it just feels too much and comes off as ineffective.

I don’t feel like any of the performances in this film were particularly great, or worth talking about. The only one of note perhaps is Kristen Scott Thomas as Kate, Thomas made the most out of a weak script and is the only actor who is even remotely convincing.

Overall, I think the issue with this film is that it tried to play on the audiences’ emotions, but it failed in the worst way and the only thing it made you feel was depressed. This is also a failure of execution and writing as it is also incredibly obvious and predicatable.

Pros.

Kristen Scott Thomas.

Cons.

It is boring.

It does make you feel anything.

You will leave it feeling depressed.

The performances are weak as hell.

1.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Little Hours: 3 Very Strange Nuns

The Little Hours is a period comedy film directed by Jeff Baena. The plot sees servant Massetto (Dave Franco), go on the run after he sleeps with his master’s wife. In his effort to escape he finds his way to a convent filled with some very untypical nuns. Each nun has their own plans and designs for Massetto, and he has to try and endure it all while pretending to be deaf and mute.

This is not only one of the best comedies I have seen recently but also one of the best films too. I really enjoyed this film’s quirky, manic, off kilter sense of humour it made me laugh a number of times. I thought the comedic standout of the film was defiantly Nick Offerman as Lord Bruno, the cheated-on husband, his scenes with Franco were comedic gold.

I think the best thing this film does is you never really know where it is going, one minute it seems like the nuns just want to use Massetto to aid in their sexual frustration, but then it turns into something altogether more sinister. Sister Fernanda (Aubrey Plaza), and her friend Marta (Jemima Kirke) are witches.

However, rather than feel out of place and like a random twist the reveal of the witches makes sense in the context of early events and helps to make the overall picture of the film far clearer. I also liked the ending of the film where the 3 nuns decide to start their own coven along with Massetto, I think it is yet another cool twist I didn’t see coming. I think the ending as a whole is very well done too.

My one, minor, complaint would be the first 20 minutes are quite slow. Once this film gets going it is great and you can’t look away, but the first 20 minutes and slow and a bit boring and might lead you away from the film; stick with it though.

Overall, a brilliant hidden gem of a film that I highly recommend you watch!

Pros.

The humour.

The twists.

The ending.

The performances from everyone.

Cons.

The beginning is a little slow.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Adventures In Babysitting: One Hell Of A Bad Night

Adventures In Babysitting is a comedy adventure film directed Chris Columbus. The plot sees babysitter Chris (Elisabeth Shue), looking after three kids, however her night soon takes a turn for the extreme when she takes said kids to the city to pick up her friend. From there a series of things go wrong and things go from bad to worse; leading to a comedic misadventure.

Some much of this film rests on the performance given by Shue, if she was bad it would turn out like the god-awful Disney Channel remake, however her performance is in my opinion one of the best of the decade. Shue manages to do kind and compassionate well, you can tell her character cares about the kids, she also manages to be a lot of fun and give you a sense that she is enjoying every single second of being on screen. An example of this would be the blues singing scene, which is a masterpiece in and off itself, plus Shue is actually quite a good singer.

Fun is the word I would use to describe this film, a lot of films are funny or charming, but only a few are fun. This film almost seems like an expertly crafted series of skits that are each great and then stitched together to form one hell of a film. This can be seen with the often-hilarious pop culture themed homages, by favourite was The Warriors esque scene on the train.

Another thing I will give this film credit for is that the child actors are actually tolerable in this film. Normally when a film has child actors, hell even teens, they are annoying, they don’t perform well, they’re distracting, and you can understand why Hollywood gets 30-year olds to pretend to be teens in films. However, Brad (Keith Coogan), Daryl (Antony Rapp) and especially Sara (Maia Brewton), are not only good, but crucially loveable, you warm to them over the course of the film and by the end, you realise that you have enjoyed the time you have spent with these characters.

My one critique of the film would be that some of the humour feels dated and a little out of touch with our modern sensibilities, however on the sliding scale of 80’s offensiveness this film is pretty mild, so that shouldn’t put you off!

Overall, an 80’s classic for a good reason, effortlessly charming and watchable and a guaranteed good time for all!

Pros.

It is fun.

The homages and references.

Elisabeth Shue.

The child stars are actually tolerable.

Cons.

Some of the humour has aged poorly.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is a musical comedy mockumentary film directed by Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone. The film follows the rise and fall of pop star Conner4Real (Andy Samberg), who use to be part of a successful boyband, before deciding to go solo after a disagreement with one of his former band mates. This film makes a joke out of the rise of musical biopics and documentary films as well as the artists themselves. Conner4Real could easily be Justin Bieber or Harry Styles.

This film is hilarious and made me laugh a number of times. I love The Lonely Island and this film is basically one long music video by them, I think Andy Samberg is one of the best current comedians and this film proves it through and through.

It is also surprisingly sweet, the moment when Connor and his friends reunite and smoke a bunch of weed can’t help but make you cheer. You end up caring about the characters so much you just want them all to be friends in the end; also when Connor’s pet dies it is heart-breaking. This film is surprisingly emotional and heartfelt at times.

The musical numbers in this film are also great, the songs are funny but also surprisingly good, if you like the music of the Lonely Island then you will love the songs in this film; they’re just as catchy and just as well made as their other songs.

There are also quite a lot of surprise cameos in this film that are actually great. As this film is done in the style of a mockumentary a lot of these cameos come in the form of famous celebrates talking to the camera about this made up band. Seal is probably the best of these cameos and his scene when he fights with the wolves if comedy gold.

Overall, this is one of the best comedy films I have seen in a while and though it doesn’t always make you laugh, it keeps a smile on your face throughout.

Pros.

It is hilarious.

It is surprisingly heartfelt.

The music is great.

Andy Samberg and the others are great.

The cameos are terrific as well.

Cons.

None

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Sixteen Candles: Sickening, Wrong And Showing The Worst Of Hollywood!

Sixteen Candles is a comedy romance film by John Hughes. The plot follows ignored looked down upon teenager Samantha (Molly Ringwald), who tries to get the boy of her dreams to see her for who she really is and fall in love with her. This is one of the Brat Pack films of the 1980’s.

Before I get into this review, I just want to say don’t watch this film! It promotes harmful stereotypes every chance it gets, it encourages date rape and makes a joke out of it, even going so far as to say that it is okay because she thought she enjoyed it the next morning, it is wrong. As some people have said to me it is dumb to compare an 80s film to modern standards and that apparently there is nothing wrong with a film joking about taboo subject matter, to those people I say how is rape of a drunk barely conscious girl something to joke about? It is not PC to say that the jokes are in bad taste to say the least, it is just the truth, they’re deeply offensive and if John Hughes was still alive, I think he would have apologised for this film.

The messages of this film are rancid, the main girl gets with her dream guy at the end of the film and we are supposed to be happy about this, why should we be? The boy of her dreams blatantly didn’t care about his previous girlfriend, not only is he abusive towards her, but he also allows a group of guys to rape her when she is drunk, which again is played for laughs. So with that in mind, Samantha getting with him at the end of the film, is a sad ending, because it means she will have a terrible time and a horrible life.

This is most certainly the worst of Hughes’ films, some of his other films have issues with them such a racism and stereotyping, but none are as bad or as harmful as this film. It is sickening and the fact that it ever got made makes me lose faith in humanity. I hated it!

Pros.

Not a one.

Cons.

It has horrible messages.

It makes light of abuse and rape.

It plays a rape scene for laughs.

It normalises rape culture.

It is racist through and through as well.

0/5

Reviewed by Luke

Coffee & Kareem: Give This Film The Chair

Coffee and Kareem is an action comedy directed by Michael Dowse. The plot sees disgraced, demoted police officer James Coffee (Ed Helms), become targeted by a recently escaped gangster as well as a corrupt police force. He goes on the run with his girlfriend’s teenage son Kareem (Terrence Little Gardenhigh): together they must stay alive and bring the guilty to justice.

This is a mess of a film, the tone of the film is family friendly, there is a large empathises placed on the relationship between Coffee and Kareem, however the humour of the film is r rated. The two don’t go together well if anything they clash horribly; it feels weirdly at war with itself.

The humour, or lack thereof, is proof of everything wrong with this film. The humour is not funny in anyway, it is painfully unfunny at best and cringey and awkward at worst. The worst offender here is Taraji P. Henson, she plays Kareem’s mother and Coffee’s girlfriend, her character is a stereotype and every time she is on screen, you’re begging her to just go away, as each line she delivers is worst than the last. The same can be said for Betty Gilpin who plays one of Coffee’s fellow police officers, she is so much more capable than this and deserves better than this.

This film tries at every turn to prove how relevant it is by constantly spouting current world events or politics. The film seems to think that this is funny, but it really isn’t, whenever the film excretes one of these lines it takes you out of the film and makes you cringe; this film will feel incredibly dated in just a few months.

More than anything else this film makes me lose any respect I ever had for Ed Helms. It is clear at this point that he is not even trying anymore, he is just taking lazy role after lazy role just for the money. He has long since stopped being funny and really should stop appearing in comedy films, as his presences indicates a bad film.

Overall, this film is the worst of the worst, it proves everything wrong with the Netflix greenlight process, and personally I think this is a career low for Ed Helms.

Pros.

It isn’t offensive.

Cons.

It is boring.

It tries too hard to be relevant.

It is not funny.

Ed Helms is terrible.

Why was this made?

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Angus,Thongs and Perfect Snogging: The Teenage Experience?

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging is a British teen rom-com directed by Gurinder Chadha, based on the novel series by Louise Rennison.  The plot follows the life of Georgia Nicolson (Georgia Groome), as she tries to get a boyfriend and plan her 15th birthday party, plenty of hijinks and misunderstandings happen along the way.

This is by no means a terrible film, it is watchable enough, though I did have a large amount of problems with the film and some of its themes and messages. Firstly 14 seems a bit young for a lot of the things these kids seem to be into, to illustrate my point, there is similar subject matter in seminal British comedy series The Inbetweeners and the characters in that are much older. I suppose the counter argument to my point would be that it isn’t as sexual as The Inbetweeners and that is true they mention intimate aspects, but not sex itself, though it is still slightly uncomfortable seeing them come out of the mouth of a 14-year-old.

Moreover, the film makes getting a partner seem like a life or death issue which I understand for some teens at that age it is, but these teens seem focused on it to an unhealthy degree. Also the way they go about getting boyfriends and the whole world these young kids seem to be in revolves around very questionable morality, like it goes beyond selfish at times to boys and girls manipulating each other to further their own aims, which is realistic in some senses I suppose, but it feels jarring when you consider what kind of film this is.

To that end, the film’s ending is as picturesque as you would expect, Georgia gets the guy, the mean girl who was cheated on and dumped at a moment’s notice is defeated and Georgia’s parents are staying together; it is all tied up in a neat little bow. To me, this happy ending doesn’t mesh with the rest of the film, towards the end of the film, Georgia is called out on a lot of the nastier things she has done and then is forced to live with the consequences of it, this is I think is good, this works. As such I think a sombre and more meditative ending would have been a better fit, conveying the films message that she has matured and risen above her childish behaviour rather than rewarding it, as it does.

Overall, this tries to be a YA film with a message, but it ends up being crushed under the weight of it’s flawed morals and feels almost a bit creepy at times.

Pros.

Some of the more grown up approaches to love.

The stuff with her parents.

Cons.

If they had been aged up by a year or two it would be less icky.

It is cliched.

The film seems to be two very different tones/messages that fundamentally don’t work together and clash badly.

2/5.

Reviewed by Luke