CYRUS

Written and Directed by Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass

Starring John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei and Catherine Keener

John: I know you’re not supposed to say this but I really like you.  Is it crazy for me to say I want it to work out?

Love is tricky to figure out, to piece together so that it actually works out for all parties involved.  Love is particularly tricky when you’re middle-aged, have been single for seven years, you’re not really so impressive on paper or in person and the object of your affections is in something of an unhealthy relationship with her 22-year-old-son.  Yes, this is what makes love tricky in our modern existence but it is also what makes love oh so rewarding if you manage to get through it.  Furthermore, in this particular case, it makes for the perfect comedic setup for the new Duplass brothers comedy, CYRUS, the summer’s first great indie-comedy.

John C. Reilly makes a fine return to the screen in a more complex, character-based role than he has played in recent memory.  John, which is his name in the film and not a casual form of address for the actor, is seven years divorced and still hanging on to that relationship.  As a result, he doesn’t do much outside of the house and dating is about as foreign a concept to him as a single sit-up must be given the state of his physique.  Without wasting any time on showing us scene after scene to prove what a lonely loser John really is, writers/directors, Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass, introduce John to Molly (Marisa Tomei) at a party his soon-to-be-remarried ex-wife (Catherine Keener) drags him to.  They hit it off instantly which begs the question, what’s wrong with this girl?

As it turns out, she is quite lovely and she and John fall for each just like that.  Just because she’s lovely though doesn’t mean she isn’t hiding plenty of ugly behind your back.  The ugly I’m talking about here is Jonah Hill.  I’m kidding; the actual ugly is the unhealthily close relationship she has with her son, Cyrus, played by the also lovely, Hill.  Seriously, I actually think he’s hilarious.  I’m not sure I wanted to see Hill or Reilly in so many high definition close-ups but it does help you see that they are not so dissimilar.  This might be one good explanation why Cyrus makes it his personal mission to ensure John and Molly do not succeed as a couple despite the fact that they are both so much happier now that they’ve met.

The beauty of CYRUS, and there is a lot of it, is the natural way in which the Duplass brothers bring everything together perfectly.  A sharp, subtle script, in which Cyrus and John battle intelligently instead of declaring war on each other in some farcical sense, is embodied seamlessly by a pitch perfect cast.  Safe for a fairly conventional conclusion, the Dulplass brothers prove that real situations can be shown for the difficult messes they are and still be incredibly funny at the same time.

GET HIM TO THE GREEK

Written and Directed by Nicolas Stoller

Starring Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, Elizabeth Moss and Sean Combs

In director, Nicolas Stoller’s first film, FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL, North American audiences were formally introduced to Russell Brand, a British comedic sensation. Brand played rocker, Aldous Snow, the man responsible for stealing the title character from leading man, Jason Segel. You are supposed to hate this guy considering what he did to our quite lovable protagonist but there is just something about him that keeps you from ever getting there. Maybe it’s the seemingly uncontrollable vulgarity that flows from his mouth every time he opens it or maybe it’s just the way he struts around in his sister’s skinny jeans as if he were some sort of hyper-sexualized chicken. Whatever it is, it works.

It works so well that Stoller decided to focus his second directorial effort, GET HIM TO THE GREEK, with Brand’s Aldous as the central character. Aldous is now completely washed up and off the wagon once again. There is still hope though. Young music biz keener, Aaron Green, has decided to restage a famous concert Aldous once put on at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in order to miraculously awaken a dying music industry and save Aldous’s career. Both are a pretty tall order but anything is possible in the crazy world of rock ‘n’ roll and Stoller is banking on you knowing that in order to buy his movie. Aaron must get Aldous to the Greek on time but somehow, things go awry.

As comedic as Brand and Hill are together (complimented perfectly by refreshing turns from Mad Men's Elizabeth Moss and Diddy himself, Sean Combs), GET HIM TO THE GREEK is far too stepped in convention to be truly raucous. The jokes are crass and definitely funny but Stoller tries too hard to come up with the most outlandish rock star obstacles possible to deter them from their destination. When they’re crazy, it’s crazy. When they have lulls though, so do we. With this kind of set up, you should never want the twosome to get where they’re going. In this case, I wanted them to get there a good day earlier than they were supposed to.

FUNNY PEOPLE

Written and Directed by Judd Apatow
Starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, Leslie Mann and Eric Bana


Ira: Do you like music?
Daisy: Did you just ask me if I like music? That’s like asking if I like food.

You’ve got your funny, you’ve got your people. And FUNNY PEOPLE, the third film by Judd Apatow, the reigning God of all things supposedly funny at the movies, only has room for one of these things. Which one, you ask. Let’s just that's an awfully big cast he's got there. Apatow has set himself apart in the last few years by making stylish comedies that speak directly to an audience that isn’t often engaged when it comes to comedy. It isn’t slapstick; it isn’t stupid. It is smart comedy with real people who have relatable problems but who don’t mind getting dirty with their humour. A comedian who has joked his way through life and is now facing his own mortality is certainly a real problem, just like a forty-year-old who has yet to lose his virginity or a one night stand that resulted in a pregnancy (Apatow’s two previous features, THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN and KNOCKED UP, respectively) are real problems, but FUNNY PEOPLE forgets to be exactly what got Apatow and all his regulars there in the first place – funny.


Apatow has certainly stepped up his game. In many ways, he didn’t have much of a choice. His name has been built up so high at this stage for all of his producing gigs that when one of his own movies drops, it has to lead by example. Casting Adam Sandler as the aforementioned dying comedian was the perfect start to a project brimming with potential. George is not so much unlike Sandler, at least when it comes to his career. Both started out in standup and both went on to make movie after crappy movie to appease the masses. More importantly, both are now in need of redemption for their regrets. (I can’t imagine Sandler is too proud of YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN; I could be wrong, but that’s doubtful.) The art imitating life doesn’t stop there either with Seth Rogen playing Ira, George’s assistant, as Rogen looks destined to follow in Sandler’s footsteps in Hollywood. While it is clear that both are pushing their dramatic acting abilities in this picture, well, it is also clear that they’re trying so it isn’t exactly a resounding success.


People are funny and Apatow knows this. FUNNY PEOPLE definitely refers to the vast cast of people who are all undeniably funny (Jason Schwartzman and Jonah Hill play their own brand of comedians as Ira’s roommates in a subplot that is essentially useless) but it could just as easily refer to the funny things we do as people. Whether that is Ira cussing out a girl he has yet to even have a date with for sleeping with one of his friends or George naively thinking that he can get back with the girl who got away (and who got married and got herself two kids, all played by Apatow’s real-life family, wife, Leslie Mann, and his two daughters, Maude and Iris Apatow) just because time was running out and sympathy was on his side. Hollywood works that way but life just doesn’t and fortunately, Apatow has earned himself enough clout in Hollywood to play against convention, as long as he isn’t making, “Sad People.” He might as well have made the sad one here though; at least then people would know what they were in for.


There is a scene early on in the film where George makes an impromptu appearance at a comedy club the same day he finds out he is dying. He doesn’t want to tell the audience about it; he just doesn’t know what to do with himself. Understandably, his jokes fall flatter than a flat line, and he pauses while on stage to listen to the sound of the cars on the nearby freeway, audible to everyone inside as no one is laughing. It is a touching moment but it also sums up what it is like to watch FUNNY PEOPLE. There is hilarity surrounding you but the delivery only inspires discomfort and a couple of chuckles. Your heart goes out but you wish your gut was hurting just a little too.

FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL

Written by Jason Segel
Directed by Nicholas Stoller
Starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand, Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd & Bill Hader


The writer/star of FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL, Jason Segel, is the kind of artist who isn’t afraid to let it all hang out there for everyone to see and subsequently appreciate or pick apart. He writes his pain on to the screen and isn’t afraid to get naked on the path to true understanding. In the writer’s world, naked is a fairly obvious metaphor for vulnerability but here it just means nude. And so, as Segal’s penis flaps back and forth against his painfully pale body, moments before Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) breaks up with him, the Judd Apatow movie machine unleashes its latest raw comedy from the mind of the modern male.

This particular male is Peter Bretter (Segel), a slob who can barely pick up after himself but somehow manages to maintain a serious relationship with a gorgeous actress girlfriend and holds down a job as a composer for schlock television. He’s not unattractive nor without his charms but he does raise the question as to how he ever managed to get himself this well positioned. He also has no trouble at all finding numerous beautiful women to help him take his mind off Sarah. And while forgetting Sarah Marshall proves much more complicated than Peter had hoped - it doesn’t help that they have found themselves both at the same Hawaiian resort – he can at least have the last laugh by vilifying her as a horrible human being before the credits role. Without giving too much away, he will have the option, as the sympathetic character, to walk away happy but Sarah, as the heartbreaker, has been doomed since Hester Prynne was sent to prison with that darn scarlet letter across her chest.


If I were Apatow, I would be a little tired of hearing my name being attached to all of these projects. If anything, he should make sure to have a firmer hand in the process in the future. FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL is not without the hilarity and genuine character development that his past productions have captured so poignantly but its bizarre subplots and many rushed moments make it somewhat forgettable.

SUPERBAD

Written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
Directed by Greg Mottola


Evan: I’m just sick of all the amateur stuff. If I’m paying top dollar, I want a little production value. Y’know, some editing, transitions, some music.

Seth: Well, I’m sorry, Evan, that the Coen brothers don’t direct the porn that I watch. They’re hard to get a hold of.

Ah, to be young and free. It was a simpler time when the pursuit of booze and babes was enough to drive a young man right through to adulthood. Alright, so this wasn’t my personal youth experience but it is the premise of director Greg Mottola’s SUPERBAD, a new breed of teenage sex comedy. Here, partying and getting naked with girls are exposed as a thinly veiled act of desperation to prove how grown up one is. The kids are speeding down a hill, screaming their excitement to the sky, but can see that they are also getting closer and closer to everything they’re afraid of, waiting for them at the bottom. Before they know it, high school will be over and Seth and Evan (Jonah Hill and Michael Cera), best friends since they were five, will find themselves going in separate directions to different colleges. While one raucous night finds them trying to score alcohol to impress the girls they each want to get with, it is what they learn about each other, their futures and themselves that will end up defining the night they thought would simply be the night they got some.


Whether Seth and Evan are trying on pants and debating what exactly is “too tight” or discussing the injustices of men having to hide their erections in shame from the rest of the world while buying drinks at the corner store, they are always hilarious. You could put these two in practically any scenario and the laughs would flow. They are drastically different but compliment each perfectly. Seth is loud and foul. Nearly every thought that comes out of his mouth is about sex and he is completely oblivious to the world around him. Meanwhile, Evan is mild mannered and meekly composed. He is constantly muttering sarcastic quips that most don’t hear and is acutely aware of his surroundings. The two are inseparable but one gets the impression their friendship is based more on its history than what they have in common. One thing they do have in common though is awkwardness. While one covers up his insecurity with obnoxious remarks and the other barely hides it at all, they both have each other to be themselves with. The beauty of their performances lies in the conveyance of the recently rising knowledge that the friendship that makes them feel safe is also now the friendship that is stopping them from going any further.


Written by KNOCKED UP star, Seth Rogen and long time friend, Evan Goldberg, SUPERBAD is at times genius in its subtlety. This is no easy feat considering how outrageous it is most of the time. Loosely basing Seth and Evan on themselves (sorry fellas but the names give it away), they manage to pinpoint the moment these boys become aware of their co-dependence. The two characters are so well drawn that you never want them to leave the screen. Only they do to make room for a third friend, Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). Fogell is somehow even more socially retarded than Seth and Evan and is himself a funny enough secondary character despite his entire existence being based on one-off joke that is given away in the preview (McLovin!). It is the direction his character takes the film in that is an unnecessary distraction. Fogell/McLovin spends his night riding around in the back of a police cruiser with two of the worst police officers ever to walk the beat (played by Rogen and Bill Hader, whom I would sooner never see on film again). The cops are such screw-ups that all they do is make every scenario they’re in worse than it was before they got there. With most of their humour falling flat and not coming close to measuring up to Seth and Evan, they have a similar effect on the film itself. Filler is rarely fun and here it exposes the writers’ insecurity regarding their own abilities.


So this is the story of how Seth Rogen is both his best friend and worst enemy at the same time. Alongside Goldberg, the two have stated publicly how they never want to grow up. While that gives them a particular insight into the pivotal crossroads Seth and Evan, the characters, find themselves at, it also makes SUPERBAD, a movie about maturity which is meant to be immature at times, less mature than it actually should be. For the most part, SUPERBAD is surprisingly mature, while still maintaining its youthful glow. Seems to me that Seth and Evan, the writers, could stand to learn a thing a two about evolution from the characters they created in their own image. Growing up isn’t all that bad and it can still be freackin’ hilarious.

KNOCKED UP

Written and Directed by Judd Apatow


Pete: Isn’t it weird when you have a kid and all your dreams go out the window?

Judd Apatow is something of a contemporary creative hero. He is a man who works within a rigid system and delivers consistently hilarious fare that manages to remain oddly honest and revealing. The director of THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN returns this summer with KNOCKED UP, a comedy about dealing with the unexpected that lives up to all its expectations. After one night of drunken, messy sex, Alison and Ben (Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen) find themselves in a situation many have found themselves in before, pregnant. Alison is fresh from a promotion while Ben is busy doing nothing at all. Neither expected to see the other ever again, much less raise a child together. This is horrible timing for both of them but both must learn that nothing makes two people grow up faster than having a baby. And what do two grown-ups do when faced with a less than ideal scenario like this one? Why they give up on looking for love and force a relationship to form between each other for the sake of their child and in the interest of being responsible human beings. The idea that they could actually be successful is hilarious enough in itself.

Apatow sets us up from the start. We meet Ben in the middle of a stoned back yard boxing match of enormous proportions. Moments later, we meet Alison waking to her alarm so that she can prepare for her responsible day as a functional member of society. They meet each other in a bar later that day. Alison is there to celebrate her promotion and Ben is there to drink. Alison is young and vibrant; Ben is a pudgy stoner. He is not without charm but social hierarchies would keep him way out of her league. And so KNOCKED UP begins its journey into the male fantasy. In this fantasy, a male nobody can get with a female somebody with absolutely no explanation that would give it any sort of rational sense. Without it though, there would be no premise to develop. Further to this, Alison decides that she and Ben should do their best to be together. This successful woman who already has a supportive family that could help her through her pregnancy and raise the child suddenly sees no chance of finding her own happiness and learns to settle.


Are you laughing yet? C’mon, this is funny stuff. The funniest thing about KNOCKED UP is that it actually is funny. Heigl and Rogen both turn in fantastic performances that will certainly leave audiences wanting even more of them. They are also surrounded by a number of supporting players who may be one-sided but make the most of their limited depth. On Alison’s side, Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd play Alison’s sister and her husband. They too found themselves unexpectedly pregnant when they were younger and decided to take a shot at happiness together. Only, all these years later, he makes excuses to be out of the house to clear his head and she doesn’t trust that he’s being faithful. On Ben’s side, he’s got a pack of stoner buddies (Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill and Martin Starr) who help him keep it real. They also stop him from becoming the man he needs to be if he’s going to be a good father. Where Apatow’s talent steps in is in making all of this symbolism apparent without being the least bit obvious or overwrought. The entire cast is clearly having a blast with their characters and with each other, making it impossible not to laugh along with them. There are also more pop culture references than you can shake a “Gilmore Girls” series finale at.


Despite all their chemistry though, Heigl and Rogen never fully convince me that they have actually fallen in love. Sure they each learn a thing or two about themselves and how to be better to each other but in the end, Apatow does more damage than good. One walks away from KNOCKED UP thinking that a baby can bring people together or save a relationship. One also walks away thinking that to grow up means to leave your dreams and frivolity behind you, to settle in to a potential life of boredom and disappointment. Finally, and fortunately for all involved, one also walks away from KNOCKED UP laughing one’s ass off and not caring one bit about convention and the dangers that stem from it.