Whip It - 012610

Ellen Page plays a retro kid whose mother insists on enrolling her in beauty pageants. Ellen hates them but goes along with it because she doesn't want to deal with the conflict. Then she accidentally discovers roller derby. That's right, roller derby is still in existence. For the first time in her life, she's able to do something she enjoys and since it's a contact sport she gets a little tougher in the process.

This movie is a not much new teen movie. It's almost custom made for Ellen Page and is very similar to most of her other characters. I like her but it would be nice to see her branch out a little bit. The uniqueness of this story is the situation. Most of us know roller derby is pretty dumb but beyond that I didn't know anything about it. This movie makes it look fun both to watch and play. It rather excellently walks the line of picking on the people that are involved without really pointing and laughing at them.

The characters are very enjoyable. The father, the Home Alone crook who wasn't Joe Pesci, is goofy at times but not an idiot and while he is a bit hen-pecked he rebels in creative ways. The mother is, frankly, what you'd imagine young Marie Barone being like. You really don't like her despite the movie's numerous attempts for you to do so. Arrested Development fans will be more than happy to see Maybe on screen again and she does an excellent job of playing Ellen's best friend whose life is going down hill but catches herself before it's too late. The weakest point is the typical boyfriend character. You don't like him at all and not just because he's a jerk. He really has no point in existing. He's not tied to the story for any reason beyond making it more of a coming of age story.

The best parts though all involve the roller derby girls. All of them are unique but still similar characters. Most are nuts but normal enough to where you would want to befriend them. The team coach in particular is a highlight because he takes the game seriously enough for it to be funny but not serious enough to be sad.

For a first time behind camera, Drew Barrymore does a great job of making a witty, nicely paced comedy with enough heart to make it worth watching. Final grade: B+. You'll end up seeing it a lot because you'll watch it, then you'll make a couple of your friends watch it then you'll buy it next year on impulse and you'll watch it a few times after that.

Surrogates - 012610

Bruce Willis plays a cop(again) named Tom Greer living in a future society that is basically Matrix-light. Most of the population sits in chairs plugged into machines but they're given robots that they control and live life through. On the surface, as usual, the world seems utopian, but it has it's problems. People live through their robots and thus don't actually live their lives. Two surrogate robots are attacked one night and destroyed but this time, their operators are killed at the same time. This puts Bruce Willis on the first murder case in years which leads to a web of political intrigue. And it gets harder when Tom's surrogate is destroyed, forcing him to continue the case as a destructible human.

The movie has a new premise in that it borrows ideas from other sources, Matrix, I-Robot etc., and pops out their illegitimate child. I'm usually not one to be capable of figuring out the deeper meaning of films but this one made it blatantly obvious by basically telling you. The whole thing is about drug addiction. People live through only their robots because not doing so is hard and doing so is easy. You can't get hurt, nothing is real, and there are no consequences when you're living as a surrogate. Tom's wife even insists on only using her surrogate because she doesn't have to deal with the pain of losing their son.

The movie's main problem is depth. It's strictly a surface movie and not very good at being that. Even the deeper meaning of drug addiction is brought right to the surface. The action sequences are okay but nothing special. Most of the movie is very predictable and you can guess what'll happen from the beginning. The kill everyone diabolical plot at the end is very old school Bondish and that's something you really shouldn't try and emulate unless you go all out with being campy. The ending sequence is kind of cool to see and you find yourself trying to imagine a better movie going with it.

Final grade is a solid C. You won't regret watching it but you'll be fine with never seeing it again.

The Boys Are Back - 012610

The movie opens with Clive Owen driving down a beach as onlookers stare at him and call him crazy and insane. You, the viewer, have no idea why until the camera pulls back to reveal his eight year old son sitting on the hood of the jeep. The entire movie follows one of a parent's greatest fears: what if my spouse dies? Owen plays Joe Warr a truly loving father but because of his job he isn't home very much. His wife develops cancer and dies within six months leaving him with this son, Artie, whom he really doesn't know very well. As he gets closer to him he begins to feel guilty about his lack of contact with his fifteen year-old son from his first marriage, Harry, and we move into a summer with both boys at his house and his attempts to connect with them as well as get used to life without his beloved Katy.

Sweet is how I would describe this movie, but not in a bad way. Clive Owen is one of my favorite actors and he creates an excellent character here. You only see him cry about his wife's death once and very briefly but at the same time you know he's grieving. Even when he loses his temper you still like the guy because the movie does a great job of getting you to feel for the guy. The sons are both very good actors and work well for the story: Artie bringing out the father in Joe and Harry bringing out the mentor. One unique story choice is the introduction of another woman. This is nothing new, but the father doesn't get into a romantic relationship with her. You can see it happening after this portion of the story is over but for now she's only a friend that Joe can turn to for help. The movie also makes an interesting artistic choice of having Joe talk to Katy frequently. Not so unusual but they have the actress with him. It sounds a bit strange but it really works as a method of showing how Joe mentally works out his mental dilemmas as well as letting us see the relationship they had when she was alive.

The greatest weakness here is pacing. The movie moves(ha) slowly. The annoying thing is the individual scenes are paced well and you don't want any of them cut but you find yourself wishing the story would hurry up and start. The real plot doesn't start until Harry arrives and that's not until around the halfway mark. A lot of things are really cliche as well. While the lack of romance was unique, the new woman arriving is expected before you stick in the disc. In a nod to teen films a party develops at the house that gets completely out of hand. There's the over protective grandmother, and the usual expected tantrums but Joe's approach to parenting is new and kind of refreshing from Hollywood, home of wussy parenting. No, there are no spankings but the house rule of fighting has to be consensual is something every boy wanted growing up.

All in all this movie gets a B minus. It's not bad by any means but it's not great. You would definitely buy it if you saw it in a bargain bin but you wouldn't be looking for it.