July 21: Friends with Kids

"Two best friends decide to have a child together while keeping their relationship platonic, so they can avoid the toll kids can take on romantic relationships."

Directed by: Jennifer Westfeldt, Rated: R, 107 minutes

Friends with Kids, or the "Bridesmaids Reunion", fails to be anything special or original. It takes a rather ridiculous idea and stretches it across 107 minutes in some remarkably unfathomable way. It tries so hard to be an honest look at relationships, marriage, and having kids, but after all is said and done, it cops out for the cheesy romantic-comedy ending we've all seen billions of times before. Everything about the movie feels forced, and the random injections of over-the-top raunchy comedy are completely out of place. Friends with Kids cannot figure out what it wants to be and tries too hard to be everything it's not. Very few of the characters are even likable, and while Adam Scott does an amazing job in one of his first leading roles, the rest of the (usually talented) cast are just strung along for the ride. For instance, Kristen Wiig has about six minutes of screen time, and for most of those scenes, she doesn't even speak. She's there because she'll draw in fans of Bridesmaids but really her character could be played by any random woman. 

Like Judy Greer, for instance, who has the most chick-flick appearances in cinematic history. 

The story of Friends with Kids is just that. Two best friends, Jason (Adam Scott) and Julie (Jennifer Westfeldt), decide that they should just have a kid to get it out of the way so there's none of the nonsense when they meet the one they actually want to love. It's a ridiculously shallow idea and the fact an entire movie is dedicated to the notion is really frustrating. It's hard to tell if Westfeldt (who wrote and directed the film) was trying to be quirky or different as she put the film into fruition, or if she really has no idea what makes a great story. Of course, there are hundreds of reasons why this entire process would go wrong, and while the film touches upon them, most of it gets swept under the rug. Friends with Kids introduces just enough conflict after the kid is born so that the film's conclusion doesn't seem as big of a cop-out as it really is. 

Similar to every Katherine Heigl movie ever made. 

Friends with Kids also features John Hamm, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'Dowd, Edward Burns, and the very out of place Megan Fox. Yes, the Transformers "mega-babe" finds herself in a very important role in this movie and adds absolutely nothing to the entire picture. As previously mentioned, very little of this supporting cast gets the moments to shine as they deserve, and throughout the entire movie, you can't help but wonder about the talent wasted. It is, however, Adam Scott who steals the show. From his days on Party Down to his now recurring character on Parks and Recreations, Adam Scott has continued to prove he has the talent to move onto bigger and better things. Unfortunately for Scott, Friends with Kids is not the leading man feature debut he deserves and it's a damn shame. His counter-part, Westfeldt, completely fails to balance out the charm and wit of Scott and is actually the biggest reason the film is such a failure. She is incredibly unlikable as an actress and as a writer/director and cannot keep up with anyone else in her movie. For instance, if you check out the blooper reel, you can see how out of place she is as a co-star and a filmmaker. 

She's also not the most attractive lady, looking a little too "pulled back" around the edges. 

Friends with Kids is not worth the time it feels it deserves, and is incredibly mundane and tedious. There is very little in the film that proves worthwhile and sitting through the movie grows more and more frustrating. Even after putting up with the entirety of the thing, it's ending is such a cop out of epic proportions that you can't help but feel the previous 100 minutes was wasted. The film is neither funny nor charming and any sense of realism it tries to evoke gets pissed out the window the moment the movie starts. Jennifer Westfeldt has shown the world that her ability to craft any kind of worthwhile film is nearly nonexistent. Friends with Kids may be her directorial debut (she's written two prior films), but one can only hope that this will be her last. 

The Good: 

Adam Scott tries his hardest to shine in a film that refuses to give him a chance

The Bad:

a script so bland and so boring that attempts to be some raunchy and romantic comedy but turns into a series of events that happen to a bunch of incredibly unlikable people

The Ugly:

Jennifer Westfeldt abusing the power of knowing people and putting together a movie that is unworthy of any of their talents (yes, even Megan Fox's)

Overall: 2.5/10

Trailer:

June 6: The Day the Earth Stood Still

"A remake of the 1951 classic sci-fi film about an alien visitor and his giant robot counterpart who visit Earth."

The Day the Earth Stood Still is a ridiculous movie and very unnecessary. The original film is a classic and its themes fit well with the beginning of The Cold War. Plus, the hokey, cheesy special effects of the past really played second fiddle to the actual plot, unlike this remake. The special effects in this 2008 re-dud attempt to distract from little story there is, and while they do look pretty, it doesn't make the the film anything special. Throwing in a straight-faced completely emotionless Keanu Reeves does not help one bit. The only "emotion" in the film is Jennifer Connelly's struggles at being a step mom to baby the spawn of the fresh prince, Jaden Smith and even then, it's absolutely forced and completely out of place. I'm sorry, but come the end of the world, the smallest concern should be the dynamic of a broken family. 

But I guess when Hollywood "royalty" is in a film, it has to be relevant. 

The story follows an alien named Klaatu (Reeves) who comes to earth in an attempt to save mankind from itself. He represents multiple alien civilizations that have looked down on our planet and have come to the conclusion that we have become too dangerous not only for ourselves, but for the universe.  It is Klaatu's mission to see if mankind has the ability to change from its violent ways and learn to exist in a peaceful society. Arriving with Klaatu is a giant, organic robot thing (Gort in the original), that wields apocalyptic powers of destruction. After the character building and the "villian" introduction, the story really goes nowhere. Connelly's character, Helen attempts to be the voice of reason for the human race and begs Klaatu to save the planet. I am not lying when literally nothing of importance happens after Klaatu's arrival. It's shocking how the filmmakers thought they had an actual story on their hands as the second half of the film does nothing but display some very good special effects.

As well as starring one of the world's greatest special effects himself. 

The Day the Earth Stood Still does nothing for the sci-fi genre. I actually blame this film as being a large reason we haven't seen more big-budget sci-fi blockbusters in the last few years. Yes, it's that bad. Instead of being anything exciting or game changing it's just dark, depressing, and dead on arrival. There is no emotion to this "epic" and a plot that doesn't help the fact. I would definitely not recommend this film nor would I have recommended it being made to begin with. The original is great and is a classic for a reason. It's surprising that a sci-fi film made in 1951 can still be 10x better than a movie that came out in 2008. Hollywood, that shows you that every damn thing from your past doesn't need to resurface as a shiny new remake. Let the past be that.. the past, and let us look back at these classics without having a bad taste in our mouths from what comes out today. 

The Good:

special effects that are pretty good at times, but are a little over-the-top in other parts

The Bad:

Keanu Reeves giving his least-emotion filled performance of his career... which is saying A LOT

The Ugly:

absolutely no plot or depth to anything that goes on in the film and really makes you care less about the future of the planet 

Overall: 3.2/10

Trailer: