2013 Films: #44-42

#44 The Internship

I'll get it out of the way right now: we do not have Google Crashers on our hands here, no matter how much we wish it were. The once dynamic Vaughn and Wilson duo have played the schtick about as far as they can take it. Billy (Vaughn) and Nick (Wilson) are watch salesmen who can't quite adapt to the new way of the world and find themselves out of a job. Then they turn on their Vaughn and Wilson charm, talking their way into a renowned internship in silicon valley, where they will compete against a whole bunch of college kids.

There were funny parts, and I've always loved a comedy-driven competition (the quidditch match was particularly solid). But man, I couldn't believe how many stereotypes they managed to pack into 2 hours! The Indian boss with the Indian accent? The Asian computer programming whizzes? The "team of rejects" that Wilson and Vaughn end up on that features an angry loner, a Mindy Kaling-lite party girl, and nerds with social anxieties? The team that has to overcome their differences and work together toward the ultimate goal?

Of course. Seen it a million times. Usually it's less borderline offensive.

#43 Admission

The first post-Oscars movie I saw in 2013 was Admission. Tina Fey stars as Portia Nathan, an unbearably uptight admissions counselor at Princeton University. You've certainly seen this formula before: protagonist finds self loosening up because of someone's freewheeling influence, protagonist has to learn life lessons along the way, etc. The freewheeling influence, in this case, comes in the form of everyone's favorite cute dopey schlub, Paul Rudd, playing her ex-college classmate John Pressman, and acting in the exact same way that Paul Rudd always does. Pressman runs an alternative high school and has a couple of kids--one in particular--that he is pitching to the admissions team. The student, Jeremiah (Nat Wolff), is one of those classic Will Hunting types- lousy grades, lots of smarts. He's unconventional in another way too, but I won't spoil it.

Admission certainly wasn't bad. But like A.C.O.D. a few slots ago, it's a lot of talent that could be better utilized, including Wallace "Never bet against a Sicilian when death is on the line!" Shawn as Fey's boss and Lily Tomlin as Fey's wacky mother. In terms of meet-cute, girl-can't-stand-boy-at-first territory, it does not veer too far off the road. And how many times is Rudd going to play the same character? Worth renting if you're in the mood for something cute and predictable.

#42 What Maisie Knew

When the Henry James novel What Maisie Knew was published in 1897, it was considered revolutionary. The book is written from the perspective of a young girl shuttled between her mother and father and treated more as a chess piece than a human being. Divorce and marital strife was kind of a new thing back then, and coupled with the child narrator aspect, we had the late 19th century controversial equivalent of Kanye charging at TMZ photographers.

Flash forward to the present. Maisie (Onata Aprile) tiptoes in her jammies out of her bedroom to watch her parents Susanna (Julianne Moore) and Beale (Steve Coogan) spar. Susanna is a touring rock star, and Beale is an art dealer. We as the viewer begin at the end and get to see, through Maisie's eyes, the dissolution of the marriage. Both Beale and Susanna are terrible in their own right, and as such, immediately take on younger lovers. Susanna's is hunky male model Lincoln (True Blood's Alexander Skarsgaard) and Beale begins sleeping with Margo the nanny (Joanna Vanderham). Maisie is constantly, even at times literally, being pulled in different directions by the people that are supposed to be her caretakers in order to get the last word. As Beale and Susanna become more and more absentee and non-redeemable, the young ones kind of find themselves taking over as the de facto parents.

This movie is tough to watch. You feel terrible for the little girl. That said, aspects of it are very well made. It's shot in a style that feels like you're seeing it through a child's eyes. By that, I mean that the lenses are set up in a way that lets light flood in which makes it sometimes feel like everything is new and exciting. Also, the performances are good and fairly believable, despite how much you are forced to dislike basically everybody. If the characters weren't so one-dimensional, we would have had a better project on our hands.

Til next time, amigos-

Mulhern