When In Rome

Starring:  Kristin Bell, Josh Duhamel
Romantic Comedy, 2010 (Rated PG 13)

Kristen Bell stars as Beth, an unlucky in love workaholic curator at a New York Museum.  Her younger sister meets an Italian man and plans a wedding in Italy all in two weeks causing this all about business gal to head to the romantic city of Rome where she promptly ignores the scenery and clutches her cell phone to try to call work.  She meets Nick at the wedding and starts to feel a little hopeful but when even he appears to be a disappointment she drunkenly stumbles into the fountain and cynically plucks out 5 coins.  If love really does exist it certainly doesn't come from a fountain.  Next thing she knows she is being pursued by 5 smitten suitors including Nick.  Will she finally get the man of her dreams and her happy ending or is he just under a spell?

• This movie was cute and entertaining.  It followed a lot of the typical cliches that many romantic comedies do but there is a reason for that.  We like it!
• There were very funny moments throughout and it really was a fun and funny story line.
• Who knew when we saw Kristen Bell in Veronica Mars so many years ago that she would turn out to be such a wonderful comedic actress.

3 STARS

The Greatest

Starring:  Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, Carey Mulligan, Aaron Johnson
Drama, 2009 (Rated R)

Bennett Brewer (Johnson) is smart and young with his whole life ahead of him.  He looses his life in a tragic car accident.  As his family struggles to recover from this tragedy Rose (Mulligan) shows up on their door step pregnant with Bennett's baby.  Bennett's mother Grace (Sarandon) seems to be having the most difficult time accepting the loss of her son and has a very negative reaction to Rose's presence.  Can this fragmented family pull themselves together and welcome this new gift of life or will they totally buckle under the pain of grief and miss out on the very thing that should bring them together?

• My mom and I walked into blockbuster, took one look at this and agreed we wanted to see it even though we had never heard a thing about it.  I saw Carey Mulligan in An Education and could tell right away that she is one of those actresses who will likely rarely ever have a bad movie so I had a feeling it would be good.  Turns out, it was even better then I expected.
• Mulligan did a great job playing the role of Rose.  Smart, pretty, spunky.  She was likable from the very beginning and it actually made sense that Bennett admired her from afar and never got the courage to speak until the last day of school.
• This is a love story but I didn't really anticipate that it would be.  I love the way the story of Rose and Bennett evolves throughout the story line.  We can guess, but don't find out the nature of their relationship right away.  With a series of flashbacks we finally get the whole story by the end and it's not what you might think.  Great script.  Great storyline and concept.
• Sarandon and Brosnan of course were excellent.  There was a lot of emotion and drama and every actor delivered it well.
• There isn't anything I didn't love about this one.

5 STARS

Dear John

Starring:  Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried
Romance, 2010 (Rated PG 13)

John (Tatum) is a young Soldier home on leave when he meets Savannah (Seyfried) who is home from college for the summer just by chance on the beach.  They strike up a conversation and a very smitten John asks her out on a date.  So begins an intense yet very short lived romance.  When it's time for John to leave they decide that they will stay together and Savannah will wait for him to finish his military service.  They exchange letters back and forth to stay in contact and keep their love alive.  Can a two week love affair survive a one year military deployment?  They certainly give it their best shot but find out that sometimes love isn't enough.

• This was such an intense heart felt movie.  I immediately felt the chemistry between Savannah and John. 
• Tatum is such a good looking guy.  My, oh my!  And it's good to see that not only does he look good and can dance as we have seen him do in his other dance centered films but he can really act and carry a movie too.
• Amanda Seyfried is just a delight in this movie-and I don't normally even use that word!  She is so sweet, pretty, and kind hearted.  She plays that kind of role perfectly and that character comes shining through her blue doe eyes.
• This movie pulled on my heart strings.  I know what it's like to love, miss and worry about a deployed soldier and the pain that it brings.  But even if you don't.  Even if you just have a soft spot for love then this is the movie for you.
• Love is a tenuous thing.  Not only does it takes two people but timing is key and sometimes timing really is everything.

5 STARS

Crazy On The Outside

Starring:  Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Ray Liotta
Comedy, 2010 (Rated PG 13)

Tim Allen plays Tommy who is fresh out of prison and looking to make a new start that does not involve crime.  He moves in with his pathological lying yet extremely caring sister, reports to his probation officer, and gets a job in a fast food joint.  Trouble tries to find him by way of his old buddy Gray (Liotta) and he does a good job of resisting until he becomes frustrated when his cagey past continues to follow him and ruins his fledgling romance with his attractive probation officer.  Can he stay on the straight, narrow and continue the struggle to play it straight or will the lure and the money of his old way of life call him back.

• I'd never heard of this one but it was pretty funny from start to finish.  Tim Allen is great as a not so rough and tough ex con and Sigourney Weaver does a great job playing the role of his protective tough yet sensitive older sister.
• There are funny moments throughout the film and it leans toward a somewhat cliche story line but it's a light hearted comedy so not only did I expect that but it was done well enough that I also enjoyed it.

3 STARS

The Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans

Starring:  Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer
Drama, Rated R (2009)

Terence (Cage) is a police officer who injures himself on the job and partakes in a pill popping, drug dependent, corrupt lifestyle in which he crosses all kinds of lines and stops as nothing to keep up his habit.

• This is indeed the story of a bad Lieutenant.  A very bad Lieutenant indeed.  This guy was dirty and had no qualms about breaking any and every rule in the book.
• From the very beginning you can already tell that this cop is a loose cannon but we see so little of him before his injury that it isnt' clear to me if he was always so corrupt and dirty or if the onset of his injury steered him in that direction.
• He and his "girlfriend" Frankie (Mendes) share some kind of strange co dependent relationship involving the sharing of drugs and a suspect way of keeping up their lifestyle.
• It was interesting to see a metamorphosis of sorts occur in Frankie and equally sad to see that it does not appear that Terence intends to follow suit. 
• If this were a cliche fairy tale movie he and Frankie would end up happily ever after but life unlike movies often is not a fairy tale and this story tells us so.
• Nicolas Cage was amazing of course.  He played the role of this deranged out of control Lieutenant to perfection.  I have always been a huge fan and he did not disappoint.

4 Stars