THE GREEN HORNET

Written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg

Directed by Michel Gondry

Starring Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Tom Wilkinson and Christoph Waltz

Britt Reid: That is the balls.

I’ve got to give it up for Seth Rogen. The man has gone from full on geek to perpetual stoner to slimmed down, unexpected superhero in Michel Gondry’s most indisputable attempt to penetrate the mainstream, THE GREEN HORNET, a big budget 3D adaptation of the popular 1930’s radio series. Rogen’s transformation is admirable but ultimately not as successful as it needed to be to irradicate the image of the affable teddy bear character we’ve all come to know, love and get slightly tired of in recent years. Subsequently, THE GREEN HORNET plays like a laid back stoner flick without the actual weed, and Rogen, without the haze of smoke surrounding him, is just not as funny as he is when he’s high. That said, he could have been high throughout the entire production for all I know. It just isn’t written in this time.

Rogen co-wrote the script to THE GREEN HORNET with SUPERBAD co-writer, Evan Goldberg. Under Gondry’s somewhat scattered direction, their screenplay becomes a surprisingly well-woven send-up of many superhero clichés, while remaining reasonably grounded in a realistic place, with the exception of random misplaced bursts of Gondry’s hyperactive imagination. Rogen plays Britt Reid, the only heir to his father’s (Tom Wilkinson) newspaper fortune. Britt lost his mother when he was just a boy and his relationship with his father has always been strained, living in that vastly cast shadow. His life is one party after another until his father dies suddenly. Unable to resolve the public admiration for a man who never seemed to care about him, Britt decides he is going to save the world his way – in a green mask and hat, one bad guy at a time.

Of course, Britt can’t do this alone so he enlists the help of his super genius buddy, Kato (Jay Chou), to be his alter ego, The Green Hornet’s sidekick. He also takes Cameron Diaz into his fold but she just looks confused as to when her career became about playing such superfluous secondary characters the whole time. Together Britt and Kato form something much stronger than your everyday bromance; each of them now orphaned, they actually become brothers. It is their relationship, uneven and influenced by class and status yet still devoted, that makes THE GREEN HORNET so relatable and real, which is a lot to say about a movie where guys can stop time in their mind. This is the age of the every man superhero after all. The trouble with regular guys though is that they are often nowhere near as funny as they think they are.

DVD Review: WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS

Written by Dana Fox
Directed by Tom Vaughan
Starring Ashton Kutcher, Cameron Diaz and Rob Corddry


What happens in Hollywood does not often happen in the real world. Where else but in a Hollywood would any judge find legal justification to sentence two people who got married on a drunken whim in Vegas to six months “hard marriage”? Nowhere, that’s where. However, if you can get past the ludicrous nature of the premise, you’re in for a much lighter sentence. Newlyweds, Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher, are so darn likable that it’s pretty easy to look the other way (even easier when they make the view so pleasing on the eyes).


Kutcher and Diaz may be pretty; insightful though, they are not. The “Jackpot Edition” of this summer hit boasts a ton of extras, including a sit down with Ashton & Cameron, where they impart their infinite wisdom about relationships and just how insanely drunk one has to be to cross that line and marry a total stranger at your lowest moment. There are a number of finished deleted and extended scenes and a bloopers reel that essentially boils down to lots of cussing. But, wait! There’s more! Co-star Rob Corddry goes back to his satirical sketch roots with a purposefully horrible advertisement for legal advice (funny) while awkward cast member, Zach Galifianakis, interviews director Tom Vaughan (painfully unfunny). Ordinarily, I find director commentary on big budget Hollywood productions pretty unnecessary but Vaughan, along with editor, Matt Friedman, are so jovial that it is actually pretty entertaining to hear just how much stock photography they used.

It wouldn’t be Hollywood if Kutcher & Diaz didn’t both realize that the person they married might actually be their perfect match. All that WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS needs is Queen Latifah in some oddly suited, voice of reason role to give it some real kick. Oh wait, there she is.

FILM


DVD

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS

Written by Dana Fox
Directed by Tom Vaughan
Starring Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher, Rob Corddry, Lake Bell and Queen Latifah


Jack Fuller: Did you just make a plan to make a plan?

What happens in Hollywood does not often happen in the real world. Where else but in a Hollywood created world would any judge find legal justification to sentence two people who got married on a drunken whim in Vegas to six months hard marriage in hopes they might learn their lesson? Nowhere, that’s where. However, if you can’t get past the ludicrous nature of the premise, than you’re in for an even harder conviction. Luckily, the newlyweds, Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher, are so darn likable that it’s pretty easy to look the other way (even easier when they make the view so pleasing on the eyes). All that WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS needs is Queen Latifah in some oddly suited, voice of reason role to give it some real kick. Oh wait, there she is.


The main reason Jack and Joy’s marriage doesn’t just disappear quietly is because there is the small matter of the $3 million they won in a slot jackpot just as they had decided that perhaps their lifetime commitment was a tad hasty. If they stay together and show that they really tried to make it work for six months, they split the money evenly. On the other hand, if one can prove that the other didn’t try, quit or cheated, the partner that stuck it out keeps the whole bag. Jack and Joy proceed to some very dirty pool and Diaz and Kutcher are having too much messing with each other for us not to join in. Their performances are fully surface based (he supposedly gave up trying to be somebody out of fear he would become nobody while she apparently works too hard at something she can’t stand doing but you wouldn’t know if they didn’t specifically tell you) but they are each spot on with their comedic timing and physical presence that you’ll find yourself laughing a lot more than you might have expected to.



Another all too typical Hollywood convention anchors WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS. It wouldn’t be Hollywood if Jack and Joy didn’t both realize that the person they married might actually be their perfect match. If only there weren’t all that money keeping them from giving in to their true feelings. Fortunately, in Hollywood, when it comes to love and money, you can have plenty of both.