Game Night (2018)
DIRECTOR: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein
CAST: Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler, Billy Magnussen, Sharon Horgan, Lamorne Morris, Kylie Bunbury, Jesse Plemons
REVIEW:
For those seeking a comedy of a little darker, more twisted variety than a fluffy rom com, Game Night might deliver the goods, or at least enough of them to justify its hour and forty minute existence. Co-directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who previously wrote Horrible Bosses and the Vacation reboot, and screenwriter Mark Perez keep the twists and turns coming rapid-fire and have the good sense to not get bogged down by the thin dramatic/sentimental tissue. Game Night might not be a “great” comedy, but it’s an entertaining dark screwball entry with an often witty, occasionally twisted sense of humor. Continue reading
Lone Star State of Mind (2002)
DIRECTOR: David Semel
CAST: Joshua Jackson, Jaime King, Matthew Davis, D.J. Qualls, Ryan Hurst, John Mellencamp, Thomas Haden Church
REVIEW:
If one happens to stumble across the fairly obscure Lone Star State of Mind, they might not find a lost great film, but an amiable comedy that serves up enough slapstick, twists and turns, and quirkiness to make for a diverting hour and a half, even if it might not linger long in the memory. Continue reading
Heartbreakers (2001)
DIRECTOR: David Mirkin
CAST: Sigourney Weaver, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Gene Hackman, Ray Liotta, Jason Lee
REVIEW:
Despite a little star power in its cast, Heartbreakers doesn’t really rise above television sitcom level, but it’s an entertaining enough diversion that serves up enough laughs to be enjoyable, at least until its overlong runtime and dragged-out third act starts to wear out its modest welcome. Continue reading
Ruthless People (1986)
DIRECTOR: David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams
CAST: Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater, Anita Morris, Bill Pullman
REVIEW:
Ruthless People, a product of the Zucker/Zucker/Abrahams directing triumvirate behind Top Secret, Airplane, and The Naked Gun, and screenwriter Dale Launer, is a deliciously twisted and screwball little black comedy that serves up enough twists and turns to maintain a high entertainment level through a slim 90 minute runtime that doesn’t outstay its welcome. Fans of the previous Zucker/Abrahams works shouldn’t be disappointed with what they’ve wrought here. Continue reading
The Sting (1973)
DIRECTOR: George Roy Hill
CAST: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning
REVIEW:
The Sting is a sort of grandfather of movies like Ocean’s Eleven; a slick glossy piece of entertainment with a twisty-turny crime caper plot and populated by some popular and photogenic movie stars getting back together and having some fun. Reuniting co-stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford and director George Roy Hill from 1969’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and written by screenwriter David S. Ward, inspired by real-life cons perpetrated by brothers Fred and Charley Gondorff and documented by David Maurer in his 1940 book The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Men, The Sting is an entertaining and enjoyable cinematic exercise that goes on its tangled way with slick assurance and panache, serving up plenty of “keep you guessing” twists and turns and reveals along the way.
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