#36 Wall Street II: Money Never Sleeps
Oliver Stone is a director who has been known for taking chances throughout his career. Oftentimes he takes controversy head-on, whether it be the gonzo stylized violence of Natural Born Killers, having Josh Brolin portray the president that still happened to be in office in W., and of course the "always to soon to question" topic of the Kennedy Assassination in JFK. Themes of politics, violence and greed are often at the forefront of his films. Which is why I was surprised that the Wall Street sequel was lacking in cojones.
I get the impression that the movie was meant to act somewhat as a time capsule, ie, how did people in the middle of the storm react to the financial crash? And I also get that it would be kind of a thrill for viewers and young businessmen who worshipped Gordon Gekko's every move to see Michael Douglas reprise the role. I have to admit, when he got released from prison and received his 1980s "cell phone" as part of his belongings, it was pretty funny.
Thing is, no one wants to watch Gordon Gekko as a broken man. That's not the purpose he serves. He's a souless entertainer, a caricature. When he befriends Shia LaBouf as a way to reconnect with his daughter, you see the gears start to turn and his need to get her back in his life. Daughter (played by Carey Mulligan) is not interested, but Shia still wants him as a mentor, now that his old boss (Frank Langella) is dead after watching his company free-fall. With LaBouf getting promising offers from the smarmy Josh Brolin, he needs someone to help him navigate the shark-tank atmosphere of the New York financial world. Gekko agrees to work with him, and it proves to be--just as girlfriend Carey Mulligan predicted--a mistake.
Pros: Good outfits, awesome LaBouf v. Brolin crotch-rocket race scene, good hubris displayed by Mr. Langella, lifestyles of the rich and famous. Cons: Not enough time spent on the actual market crash, hokey ending, and a held-back Michael Douglas/Gordon Gekko.
#35Get Him to the Greek
Russell Brand nabs Katy Perry and a spin-off movie renewing his Forgetting Sarah Marshall character in the span of months. Well done, sir.
I was under the impression Jonah Hill would come back as his Marshall character as well, the obsessed and socially inept resort waiter who admits his love for Aldous Snow (Brand) with the classic line "I just went from six to midnight" as he watches him perform. Instead, Hill plays a record exec that his boss (P. Diddy) tasks with somehow bringing the erratic, drugged-out frontman from England to L.A. to play the Greek Theater. He has 72 hours. Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?
Aldous Snow has just destroyed his band's reputation--so Diddy and co have put the show together to re-hab his career. Snow doesn't think he's done anything wrong to effect the future of Infant Sorrow; he thinks that "African Child" (complete with a hilarious video) is ingenious, while one magazine calls it "the worst thing to happen to Africa since apartheid." He doesn't see the need to go stateside--instead, he coerces Jonah Hill's character to get blackout drunk and make bad decisions. Eventually, Hill gets him to not only agree to the performance at the Greek but also open up about himself, which Brand actually does with the melancholy sincerity of someone who has actually been through the Aldous Snow lifestyle.
From the UK to the Greek Theater, dozens of mishaps occur, ranging from disgusting (Hill agreeing to smuggle heroin in his butt for Snow, Hill vomiting all over everything when he takes Snow's drugs to keep him sober) to hilarious (Snow forgetting the words to "African Child" on the today show and performing "The Clap" instead, Hill smoking some sort of drug concoction known as a "Geoffrey"). Aldous Snow's path to redemption is a sloppy one, but it's good gross fun if you're in the mood.
#34 How Do You Know
All hail the return of Reese Witherspoon! I first saw Reese's acting chops in 1996's Freeway, when she was just 20 years old. It was a bizarre retelling of Little Red Riding Hood set in Los Angeles, starring her as the heroine and Kiefer Sutherland as the disfigured wolf-esque villain. She is an ultimate badass as she prepares to clash with him, at one point fashioning a shiv out of a toothbrush!
In How Do You Know, her character is significantly less badass, but that's okay. She's an Olympic caliber softball player who puts motivational post-it notes all over her apartment and lives out the athlete's credo. When she ends up getting cut unexpectedly, every part of her life becomes up for re-evaluation. As she's mulling over her fling with Washington Nationals pitcher Owen Wilson (he has pink velour Nationals sweatsuits at the ready for co-ed sleepovers!), she ends up going on the worst date of all time with Paul Rudd, who plays a businessman amidst professional crisis. But something about him sticks, and thus the How Do You Know-ing begins as she tries to make decisions about her life.
Reese Witherspoon does a great job as always, Paul Rudd does his "American Hugh Grant" befuddled schtick, and Owen Wilson has some good moments (when he reads aloud "When you left, I was so mad-I broke a lamp," as his speech to Witherspoon, it's just classic). Director James Brooks does good work making his film feel sincere--none of us really know, we just have to give it our best guess.
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