The Do-over: Sandler At His Most Unlikeable?

The Do-Over is a buddy action comedy film directed by Kevin Barnett. The plot follows Max (Adam Sandler), a man who has recently found out that he has cancer, he then, very fortunately, finds out that there is a drug that can cure cancer on a recently dead doctors I-Pad, he then fakes his and friend’s death, because why not, and then takes over the life of the dead doctor and his friend as a means to find out the cure.

Does that plot sound confusing to you? It should do. I tried my hardest to sum it up for you all in the clearest way I could, but it was hard. It doesn’t help that every word that comes out of Sandler’s characters mouth seems to be a lie, which makes understanding what is going on quite hard.

Netflix era Sandler is near-universally hated, I personally don’t think his Netflix work is as bad as some people say it is, but it does have some woeful moments and bad Sandler performances. The Do-Over is one of those performances, Sandler’s character Max is loathsome, Sandler takes some of his less likeable qualities from his other movies and turns them up to 11 here. If I didn’t know better, I would say he must have thought he was playing the villain. Every single bad thing a person can do Sandler’s Max does and then some; all the while we are supposed to cheer for him.

You know it is a bad state of affairs when Sandler’s Co-Star David Spade vastly upstages him. Spade plays Charlie, Max’s childhood friend who ends up taking over the life of the deceased doctor I mentioned before. Spade himself is a terrible actor and has given many many bad performances, but here he is charming and likeable; more so than Sandler. In a lot of these films that Sandler does he likes to include his real-life friends, they are usually there to support Sandler and take an easy paycheck, they aren’t supposed to upstage him crucially, however, Spade does.

Can I say before I wrap this review up, that this film much like Let’s Be Cops that I reviewed recently features Natasha Leggero, here playing Charlie’s Wife Nikki. Leggero is a hugely talented comedic actress and I am tired of seeing her only getting bit parts in films, she deserves parts that reflect her talents. She is one of the highlights of the film.

Overall this film is not offensively bad, which is my personal measure for Sandler quality, there are a few good jokes here and there and Spade and Leggero are good. My issue with this film that stops me from scoring it higher is the fact Sandler is just so damn unlikeable in it.

Pros.

Spade Is Actually Good.

Leggero Is Great For The Short Amount Of Time She Is On Screen.

There Are Some Laughs.

Cons.

The Plot Makes No Sense At All.

Sandler Is Deeply Unlikeable And Almost Unwatchable.

3/5

Reviewed By Luke

Dragged Across Concrete: A Pulp Fiction Novel Done In 159 Minutes

Dragged Across Concrete is a Neo-noir action thriller film, directed by S. Craig Zahler. The plot revolves around two cops, Brett (Mel Gibson), and Anthony (Vince Vaughn), who are suspended after an excessive force incident. However, for various reasons both men need to make money, so they decide to rob a group of criminals that have robbed a bank.

Craig Zahler is a very strange filmmaker to talk about as his films have a very specific style to them, if you have ever seen any of them you will know what I am talking about, said style can be incredibly polarising. I enjoyed his debut effort Bone Tomahawk but thought that his follow-up Brawl In Cell Block 99 went a little too far for my tastes and veered into vile and uncomfortable viewing. This film, however, seems to hit a sweet spot, it has moments of extreme violence, but these aren’t excessive rather instead well used.

One of my favourite bits from this film is one of those violent moments. Jenifer Carpenter plays Kelly a recent mother who is having separation anxiety as she has to be away from her baby and go back to work, can I just say here that even though her role is under 10 minutes I think this is one of the best performances of Carpenter’s career, once she is back at work she gets caught up in the bank robbery and killed. What makes this worth talking about is the fact that this is incredibly shocking as she is a recognisable actress, and had a big part in Cell Block 99, we don’t expect her to die so suddenly yet she does. This moment actually made me gasp out loud, I am being serious.

The antagonist of the film is also terrific from the moment we are introduced to Lorentz Vogelmann (Thomas Kretschmann), he is menacing. Furthermore, the choice to have him be in a mask for most of the film really adds to the sense of terror. He is the first ‘bad guy’ in a long time that has actually captured my interest.

Gibson and Vaughn are both solid leads and have a good repour, you can easily buy that these two men have been partners for some time. Moreover, the character motivations for the two are well written as well, Vaughn’s Anthony wants to propose to his girlfriend, he dies as he listens to a voicemail of her rejecting him this perfectly captures that gritty sense of reality that this film is going for. Brett, on the other hand, wants to provide a better life for his family, which in a sense he does, and this provides the film it’s happy ending.

Overall, this film feels as though S. Craig Zahler has brought a pulpy crime novel to the big screen in the best way. Usually, these sorts of films, especially with a run-time as long as this (159 minutes) start to lose my attention, but this one kept me hooked right the way through to the end. A modern masterpiece in noir cinema. A Must Watch!

Pros.

It Is Genuinely Shocking.

It Is Everything A Pulpy Crime Film Should Be.

It Is Gorey But Doesn’t Over Do It.

Great Leads.

A Career Best For Jennifer Carpenter.

Cons.

None.

5/5

Reviewed By Luke

Special Correspondents: A Crime Against Humanity

Special Correspondents is a satirical comedy film about a journalist (Eric Bana), and his sound guy (Rickey Gervais, who also directs the film), who are supposed to be covering a foreign war, but end up losing their tickets. As such they decide to pretend that they have gone and fake all their coverage from a room above a restaurant.

This film doesn’t know the meaning of subtly. It is the most garish, in your face, forcing itself down your throat film I have ever seen. The characters are all caricatures and are played up to a ridiculous degree. It is clear from the beginning that Eleanor (Vera Farmiga), doesn’t love her husband Ian (Gervais), as she sleeps with Frank (Bana), this would have been enough to set her up as a bad character and one we as the audience are not supposed to like. But No!

The film then does one better and has her trying to profit off her husband’s disappearance and refuse to pay his ransom, which would obviously come out in public but never mind. At this point, the film takes all the subtly and nuance that it could have had and sets it on fire. They make Eleanor almost like a cartoon villain.

The two main guys are themselves just stereotypes Bana is the gruff tough action hero type and Gervais is basically playing a slightly nerdier version of his character from The Office, neither one of them is developed any more than that, the characters actually have no arcs at all. What’s more the one singular good thing about this film is Kelly Macdonald’s Claire. Macdonald is the only person in this whole waste of time movie that seems like she is trying to give a good performance, but she is hamstrung by the fact that she is given little more to do than being seen worrying for the two leads. She has a little B plot that goes nowhere, but essentially, she is just a love interest for Gervais’s character, which is again the most obvious thing in the world.

This film is so bad that you sign off midway through it, you don’t care what happens to any of the characters because the film can’t make you care about them. The confrontation between Ian and his wife that you had hoped would happen since the beginning of the film is handled in the weakest possible way, feeling like one final slap in the face from the film. I have seen some bad films in my time but, this is a special kind of bad. Please stick to in front of the camera stuff Ricky.

Ps. America Ferrera you deserve better than this stinker of a film.

Pros.

Kelly Macdonald.

An Interesting Concept That It Then Wastes.

Cons.

The Characters Have No Arcs.

The Ending Is A Slap To The Face.

It Is The Most Aggressively Average Film You Will See All Year.

1.5/5

Reviewed By Luke

Parasite: A Chain Of Trust Must Never Be Broken

Parasite is a South Korean dark comedy thriller film directed by Bong Joon-Ho. The film revolves around a poor family (The Kim Family), that one by one infiltrate the services of a rich family (The Park Family), to live the high life as well as to benefit financially. The Kim family uses fake documents to pose as well-trained professionals as well as a series of underhanded tactics, which grow in seriousness across the film.

This film is a dark comedy done right. The tone perfectly straddles the line between comedy and tragedy as all good dark comedies should do. There were moments of hilarity such as when Park Dong-ik (Lee Sun-kyun) and Yeon-gyo (Cho Yeo-jeong) are engaging in some sexy role play, which to them involves them being poor and dealing drugs, all the while the actual poor members of the Kim family are all hidden under the table. This scene amused me, but also made me think, it furthers the theme of a class divide which is pivotal to this film. It paints the Kim family and the Park family as drastic opposites, almost different species.

The idea of this class divide is best shown in one of the film’s final scenes when Kim Ke-jeong (Park So-dam), gets stabbed by the crazy guy from the basement, more on that later, and no one seems to care. She has been a good friend to the Park family, or at least she appeared that way, but when the time came they didn’t give her a second thought; yes an argument could be made that they were preoccupied with saving their own son, but they could have still done something.

There are parts of this film where it veers into strange and crazy ideas, these are the best bits. As the film escalates it gets more and more manic, the world becomes unstable, with some films especially films that are supposed to be realistic like this one, venturing into this kind of territory can be disastrous, but in Parasites case it works really well; it thrives in the chaos.

Overall, this is a very entertaining film it had great moments of tension and comedy and it even managed to make me think. The ending even had a tear in my eye. A beautiful film.

Pros.

A Perfect Dark Comedy.

Great Performances.

A Superb Ending.

Embracing The Crazy.

Cons.

Maybe A Little Too Long.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Raid: An Action Movie Masterpiece

‘The Raid’ is an Indonesian Action Film, written edited and directed by Gareth Evans. The plot follows a highly trained group of police officers who try and infiltrate a tower block owned and controlled by a ruthless drug lord. Amongst these officers we have Rama (Iko Uwais), who is our main character, Rama has gone to the tower block to try and convince his brother Andi (Donny Alamsyah), to come home.

‘The Raid’ is a beautiful film for a lot of reasons, but for me the main one would be the fight choreography. The fight choreography on display here is some of the best I have ever seen. The fights look brutal and real, you can feel the pain and exhaustion coursing through the performances. There is a hallway fight sequence that is better than anything I have ever seen before, said sequence sees Rama take on a large group of gangsters and with sheer force of will takes them all out; this isn’t like fake looking action movies like ‘the Transporter’ where the enemies attack one at a time, no here it is much more hardcore and realistic.

It makes sense now after seeing this why the ‘John Wick’ series hired the actors from ‘The Raid’ for the third film in that series, because they are incredibly impressive. The Wick series is the only other current Western action film that I would say is on par with this film in terms of its fight sequences.

The plot of ‘The Raid’ is also wonderfully complex as nothing is how it appears to be. Other than main character Rama, who is our moral compass throughout the film, the other characters flirt between the side of good and the side of bad, giving the film an excellent sense of moral ambiguity. This is shown through Rama’s brother Andi who saves Rama’s life, but decides to stay behind at the end and take over the tower block and be the next gang leader.

Overall, I think this is a must watch for everyone not just die-hard action fans, it is so beautifully done that is marvellous to behold. ‘The Raid’ has become prolific within action cinema and has gone on to influence a lot of films in the genre and I believe for a good reason: this film is fantastic and deserves to be seen!

Pros.

The Acting.

The Fight Choreography.

Maintaining The Balance Between Brutal But Not Overly So.

The Moral Ambiguity.

Making Character You Care About.

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Uncut Gems: Sandler’s Standout

‘Uncut Gems’ is a crime thriller film directed by the Safdie brothers. The plot revolves around a jeweler called Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) who due to his gambling addiction get in debt over his head to a loan shark and has to rely on a precious gemstone to pay off his debts.

This film has more in common with a tragedy than anything else, things always seem to go from bad to worse for Howard and though he is a despicable character in a lot of ways you still want to see him win- even if it is just once. As the film progress, Howard becomes a pathetically sympathetic character and you can’t help but root for him; this makes the abrupt and depressing ending both heart-breaking and unexpected.

‘Uncut Gems’ is a testament to Sandler as an actor. Yes, he is often the butt of the joke, but this film proves that when he is trying and has something good to work with, he can deliver a magnificent performance. Sandler loses himself in the role and other than one moment with a brief crass joke, that didn’t fit the tone, I viewed him as the character rather than Adam Sandler the actor playing a character.

Some sequences in this film possess a hypnotic dreamlike quality to them, which feels like something from a Nicolas Winding Refn film, whenever we get a sequence like this we are in for a treat. These sequences add a sense of very light fantasy to what is otherwise a deeply gritty film; they hint at a higher mythology.

The greatest asset of this film is its ability to create tension which it uses often and to great effect. There are some scenes where you will be on the edge of your seat, to use that rather trite bit of hyperbole. You will feel yourself tighten up as you know something bad is about to happen it is just a matter of what and when.

Overall, this film is a triumph of filmmaking, it is a damn shame it wasn’t nominated for anything at the Oscars as this film is truly deserving. Hopefully, this film will convince Adam Sandler to dedicate more of his time to serious film project rather than films where he talks about poo; admittedly these can be good look at ‘Big Daddy’, but they are also typecasting him as an actor. I think this film should be seen as it is a joy to watch- prepare to cry at the end though.

Pros.

The Direction.

The More Dreamlike Sequences.

Sandler.

The Great Sense Of Tension.

The Heart-Breaking Ending.

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Let’s Be Cops: Rush Hour’s Lazy Cousin

‘Let’s Be Cops’ is a buddy cop, action, comedy film focusing on two men Ryan (Jake Johnson), and Justin (Damon Wayans Jr), who decide they want to be cops. They don’t, however, want to do it the proper way, so instead, they buy police costumes and even a police car online and pretend.

I remember watching this film when it came out in cinemas and thinking it was genuinely funny, although when I watched this film far more recently, I can’t say I felt the same. Maybe my sense of humour has changed in the years since this has been released? I say this because all the jokes that made me laugh out loud originally are no longer funny to me.

Other than the waterboarding scene, which remains amusing, the rest of the humour fell flat for me. It is as though the film is going for the lowest common denominator and can’t be bothered aspiring beyond that. It has great moments of comedy like the waterboarding scene and, Natasha Leggero as Annie is always funny: but overall these are only a few moments here and there, the film as a whole feels flat.

Johnson and Wayans are both serviceable, but never really go beyond that. I am a fan of Johnson’s style of comedy I liked him in ‘New Girl’, but his performance in this lacks any kind of heart; he is simply playing, a selfish asshole. Outside of Leggero the rest of the supporting cast is wasted they might be there to set up a Joke, or to be the object of desire for one of the characters, but nothing more than that. The film ‘Keanu’ with Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key does a similar thing to this film, but rather than fake police officers they fake being drug dealers; the key difference is that ‘Keanu’ does it well and explores the characters.

Maybe I have changed, but this film feels lazy to me. A zero effort comedy film that pales in comparison to other buddy cop films like ‘Rush Hour’ or, ‘Lethal Weapon’. The premise has promise and could be done well, look at Keanu, but it feels like everyone here is phoning it in.

Overall this film has moments very few and far between, but overall it is the definition of lazy and a missed opportunity; that I thought was funny when I was 16.

Pros.
Natasha Leggero.
It Has Some Comedic Moments.

Cons.
It Feels Lazy.
The Comedy Mostly Falls Flat.
It Feels Very Of Its Time.

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Bad Santa 2: Santa Is Back In Town

‘Bad Santa 2′ is a Christmas black comedy, crime film. The plot this time around follows on from that of the first film, after an undetermined amount of time, Willie, (Billy Bob Thornton), is back at the end of his rope, quite literally, and the thing that saves him is getting a call from his old friend Marcus, (Tony Cox), offering him a chance to make 2 million dollars. The job this time around sees the pair stealing from a charity, what’s more seasonally wholesome than that, which is run by Diane, (Christina Hendricks) and her Husband Regent, (Ryan Hansen). The pair are also joined on this job by Willie’s mother Sunny, (Kathy Bates), who has a strained, to say the least relationship with her son.

This film isn’t as good as the first film, don’t get me wrong I still like it, but like many other needless belated sequels this film doesn’t ever really justify its existence, Moreover, though the new characters provide for some good laughs, Hendricks’ especially, they water the film down to a degree; spreading it too thin.

The carrying over relationships from the first film are expanded upon here, Willie and Marcus are still warring brothers this time around both being there for one another and, also prepared to double-cross the other at every turn. Marcus gets his own subplot this time around about him trying to sleep with security guard Gina, (Jenny Zigrino), which makes for interesting viewing and, a few good humorous scenes. Also, Thurman, (Brett Kelly), returns he is now grown up and, seemingly unable to live his own life; literally moving halfway across the country to find Willie and, then proceeding to live at a homeless shelter because Willie won’t put him up. The ending of this film gives us a nice happy resolution for the pair as Willie basically adopts him and, finally sees Thurman as family; which is sweet.

In terms of the newer characters, not a whole lot is done with them, Kathy Bates is mostly wasted, she gives a little bit of colour to Willie’s earlier life and, then in a twist everyone saw coming ends up being the real villain of the film. Hendricks, on the other hand, is charming and, funny as a wife in a loveless marriage who starts sleeping with Willie on the side, if they did a third film which it looks like they won’t, but if they did it would be nice to see her return.

Overall this film is still the same charming, black-hearted, Christmas comedy film that the first one was, but maybe to a lesser degree. The newer characters seem short-changed but, the returning characters get satisfying resolutions.

Pros.
Hendricks.
Tieing Up The Character Arcs From The First Film.
Still Hilarious.
Still Has A Strong Heart.

Cons.
The Newer Characters Are Mostly Short Changed.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Bad Santa: Santa Claus Is Drunk Driving To Town.

‘Bad Santa’ is a Christmas Black Comedy film revolving around Willie, (Billy Bob Thornton), a depressed alcoholic, who stopped giving a damn about anything a long time ago; every year him and, his friend Marcus, (Tony Cox), poses as a Santa and, Elf duo all in the effort to rob blind the mall they’re working at that year.

‘Bad Santa’ is the perfect film for people who don’t like Christmas, I know that term is thrown around a lot, but it is really true here; Willie is the embodiment of everyone who have ever given up on life and, simply said F it. Thornton plays the role with real charm too, never does his performance become grating or, annoying instead Willie is very likeable and, as the film goes along and, you learn more about him you root for him even more. There is also a sad vulnerability to Willie and, Thornton manages to capture this perfectly as you can see on a deep level how damaged he is and, this helps us the audience empathise with him.

Another thing this film does really well is forging relationships and, then making you care about them. Willie and, Marcus are a good example of this they argue a lot and, Marcus even betrays Willie at one point, but you know deep down they are family; the second film even says as much. The banter between Thornton and Cox is also incredibly strong making for a lot of great laughs and memorable scenes.
The real heart of this film is the relationship between Willie and, a little boy called Thurman, (Brett Kelly), who meets “Santa” at the mall and, takes a shine to him letting him come and stay at his house. The reason this relationship is so endearing is that you can see over time Willie grow to care about Thurman, even going so far as to basically adopt him in the second film, and it suggests that there might still be hope for Willie to find happiness after all which gives the audience a warm feeling inside.

Overall this film succeeds in every respect, it is funny and, the humour never falls flat, it has real heart, the relationship between Willie and Thurman especially in the film’s third act can’t help but, bring a tear to your eye and, as a Christmas film as this film more than any others made me feel festive; reminding me of the reason for the season.

Pros.
Thornton is Excellent.
The Humor Is Fantastic.
The Relationship between Willie and, Thurman is endearing.
It succeeds as an Anti-Christmas film.
Cons.
The Humor might be a little blue for some.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Layer Cake: James Bond Use To Deal Drugs

‘Layer Cake’ is a British Crime film, focusing on the exploits of London based criminal XXXX, (Daniel Craig), as he tries to leave the drug business. This is the first film directed by Matthew Vaughn, of Kingman fame, and serves as one of Daniel Craig’s breakout roles.

The plot of the film is nothing new, drug dealer wants to retire, but then finds out he is too valuable to the boss; so said boss is decidedly not in favour of letting him go. The subplots of the film revolve around XXXX trying to stop a Serbian hitman from killing him and, his colleagues after a drug deal goes bad and, XXXX trying to find a girl who has gone missing. The culmination of all of these plots coming together make for an incredibly interesting watch, gripping through and, through. However, at times the plot does become a little messy, I think one of the subplots could have been dropped and, the film would still be incredibly engaging.

The style that has made Vaughn so famous is on full display in this his debut film, the editing and, cinematography of the film feel very Guy Ritchie esque, but lovingly like a homage to a contemporary rather than a blatant copy. Also to my joy, this film steers well away from a lot of the pacing and, plot issues that plague some of Ritchie’s work, especially in something like Revolver.

Another thing that makes this film so good is it’s leading man Craig is charming and charismatic throughout, he carries this film. There are moments in this film that are reminiscent of his later role as Bond, literally shot for shot the same; you can see where the Bond filmmakers looked to when they were casting. Outside of this year’s Knives Out this might be Craig’s finest performance to date, this is definitely a star-making turn for him.

‘Layer Cake’ is one of the best, and to an extent one of the last, big-budget, British gangster films, the genre that gave birth to such films as Lockstock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and The Business to name but a few. It is true to say that they don’t make films like this anymore, they’re very off their time, the late 90s early 2000s and, it is a shame that we don’t get these sort of films anymore. However, more recent films like Legend have carried on this tradition to a lesser degree, and are still excellent, speaking of Tom Hardy he is also in this film, albeit briefly.

Overall this is a superb film, a must-watch, and proof that Vaughn and, Craig are incredibly talented; I can’t recommend this film enough.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke