Barton Fink (1991)

Turturro's Finest Hour - 4/5

So I saw this film just now called 'Barton Fink'.It is the story of a frustrated writer in Los Angeles desperately looking for inspiration whilst remaining committed to the plight of the common man. The film was headed up by Coen Brothers favourites John Tuturro and John Goodman and can certainly be described as Turturro's finest hour. It is funny but it seems that the Coen Brothers are the only real fans of these two actors. They bring out their brilliance in a way no other director has and since the pair have stopped using these two actors as much as they did their careers seem to have taken a downward spiral. What a shame this is. Turturro's performance in this one is award worthy but what do we see him in now? 'Transofmers' and maybe 'Anger Management' spring to mind but these don't stand up to his earlier work, especially that of the 90s. It seems incredible that after performances such as this Tuturro remains a B list actor who rarely is given the chance of a leading role. Going back to the subject of awards, this one was nominated for three Oscars. Alas, Turturro was not a nominee and instead the nomination was for Best Actor In A Supporting Role. Goodman? Nope. It was for Michael Lerner. How ridiculous.

To a lesser extent the same can be said of John Goodman. The Coen Brothers always manage to bring out a crazy and sometimes psychotic side to Goodman and this can not only be seen in 'Barton Fink' but in the crude character he played in 'The Big Lebowski'. Again, where is he these days? The only name the average movie watcher would recognise here is Steve Buscemi and I feel this is a real shame. I just can't see how other directors have not picked up on the talent of these two.

Anyway back to the film. It is a film based around frustration. We feel Turturro's frustration through his performance and perhaps because the film was based on the true experiences of writers block, during the creation of the film 'Miller's Crossing', of the directorial duo. The film is so effective in showing the pain that they themselves went through and you can feel how genuine it is all the way through. We get another typically Coen Brothers ambiguous ending just like we did with 'A Serious Man' but all in all the film was a brilliant one.

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A Serious Man Review 

Grown Ups (2010)

Straight Up Poor - 2.5/5

So I saw this film called 'Grown Ups' and guess what, it's another typical Adam Sandler film with relatively few genuinely funny moments and a whole load of really very little. Sandler plays a similar character to the one he did in 'Anger Management' as a fairly laid back, normal guy. In this one he is the most successful guy in his group of friends. Surely it has come to the time now where Sandler has literally played all the roles he is capable of playing. Watching this reminded me of the 'A.W.E.S.O.M.-O.' episode of South Park where Cartman comes up with thousands of movie ideas all utilising Adam Sandler. It made me think that this scenario wasn't far off. Maybe the only real difference is that the ideas aren't coming from an 8 year old boy dressed as a robot, although they might as well have been. If you don't know what the hell I'm talking about I'm sorry, but leave a comment if you do.

Back to the film and we see both Chris Rock and Rob Schneider in their worst roles ever. The only think I have ever enjoyed about Rob Schneider's performances are that they are unbelievably strage and full of character. What Dennis Dugan managed to do with 'Grown Ups' however is remove that element completely. What is left, you may ask? Nothing. I don't even know why he was cast in the film, he literally did nothing for it. It pains me to say it, but neither did Chris Rock. He was provided with very little material with which to make us laugh in the script and I would describe it as his least memorable performance.

When I picture the pitch for the making of this film, it seems like the plan was to combine five actors, all who have previously worked successfully with each other, and pretend they are all chums. How is this at all believable? The script was like listening to old friends catching up at a party, laughing wildly as they reminisce about all the fun they used to have. You find yourself bored out of your mind and you end up wondering why they think you will laugh when you don't have a clue what they are talking about. That's what this film was in a nutshell.
Would I recommend it? It's a straight up no.

Youth In Revolt (2009)

Cera does dual personality well - 3.5/5

So I saw this film last night called 'Youth In Revolt'. The reason I had been looking forward to this film was because I thought I would see Michael Cera in playing a bad-boy image much unlike many of his other films. We only saw fleeting glimpses of this persona but it was enough. I enjoyed seeing Cera's dual personality and I think he portrayed the alter ego Francois with flair. I wouldn't have thought Cera would be able to pull off a moustache wearing, cigarette smoking womaniser for one second so it was a nice surprise to see him in a role such as this, even if it was only for a bit. His performance as the intelligent, witty, shy and understated character Nick Twisp also did him justice. This is the type of role we are used to seeing Cera in and I was worried it could become a tad repetitive. However, he manages to bring something new to this role; whether it was the inclusion of a dual personality that allowed him to achieve this.
The actual storyline I thought was slightly off at times, major events seemed to happen while passing us by in a flash. However, it managed to stay coherent and funny throughout. You do find yourself asking a lot of questions throughout the film about how Nick Twisp has escaped the law, but I suppose we are meant to thank the brashness of his alter ego for this. The inclusion of beautiful well animated scenes integrated into the film added an indie touch to the proceedings which I actually liked. Ray Liotta's cameo role, as do many of his smaller roles, left much to be desired however.
I feel as if I may be leaning to much towards male actors in this blog, so lets give a hand to Portia Doubleday's performance in the biggest film of her career so far. She was both charismatic and captivating and it seemed like it was meant for the audience to have the same reaction as Nick Twisp when she broke the news about having a boyfriend at the start of the film. Going back to Michael Cera for a minute; this is the type of audience reaction evoked by Cera's geeky and understated performances. We end up rooting for him. This ultimately led to the ending being just what we expected and hoped for.
Would I recommend it? If you're a fan of 'Juno' you'll love this.