Aside from the over-stuffed cast, the movie has a tendency of copping out whenever a dramatic plot point could develop into something truly poignant. That’s fine if it wants to be a straight out comedy, but unfortunately most of the jokes fall flat too. The audience at the screening I attended was almost completely silent and at one point, there was an audible gasp of shock/disgust at what was supposed to be a “funny” moment. The only time I really laughed was whenever Rebel Wilson appeared on screen. The Australian comedian/actress (she was also one of Kristen Wiig’s roommates in Bridesmaids) was the best thing about the movie, and hers was just a supporting role.

I’m not sure exactly what target market this movie is going for exactly — pregnant 30-something women I guess. But I suspect even they won’t be amused or moved, unless the pregnancy hormones are raging. Skip this one.

The Five-Year Engagement picks up where most rom-coms leave off — with the proposal. Tom (Jason Segel) pops the question to Violet (Emily Blunt) exactly a year after they meet at a New Year’s Eve party. But it doesn’t go exactly as planned. Tom plans to surprise her with a ring on the deck of the restaurant where he works. But Violet objects so much to making a stop on their way to a party that Tom pulls over the car and confesses the whole plan. And thus begins their long and winding trip to the altar. But is their story engaging enough to make it worth a trip to the theater?

Jason Segal and Emily Blunt are likeable and fun as the engaged couple and at first it seems like everything is going to go off without a hitch. But what fun would that be? Things get derailed at first when Violet gets an offer to work on her doctorate at the University of Michigan. The problem with that is they live in San Francisco and Tom is an up-and-comer in the city’s culinary scene. But Tom decides to put his career on hold and go to Ann Arbor with Violet. She thrives there but he never seems to find his way. Instead, he ends up working at Zingerman’s Deli and hanging out with another bored faculty spouse  (well-played by the talented Chris Parnell) who knits ill-fitting sweaters and teaches Tom to hunt.

As the months tick by, the pressure mounts for them to set a date as grandparents start dying and Violet’s sister (Alison Brie) ends up taking the expressway to married life after she gets knocked up by Tom’s loutish friend (Chris Pratt) at Tom and Violet’s engagement party. But as Tom grows unhappier and Violet grows closer to her faculty adviser, the couple seems like they are headed anywhere but marriage. Tom’s downward spiral makes for some good laughs and Violet’s co-workers at the University are an amusing bunch. But there comes a point when you want to say, “oh just break up already!” The movie could have used some judicious editing to tighten things up a little bit.

So yes it’s worth the trip to the theater if you’re in the mood for a rom-com or if you’re a big Jason Segel and/or Emily Blunt fan. It’s got some good laughs and some honest emotional moments. It’s definitely chick flick territory. But if you’re the impatient type you might find yourself looking at your watch wondering when the hell they’re just going to figure it out.

21 Jump Street stars the oft-schlubby (Oscar-nominated turn in Moneyball not withstanding) Jonah Hill and the oft-hunky-romantic-drama lead Channing Tatum (The Vow, Dear John) as two under-achieving cops who are sent back to high school to find out who’s supplying and dealing a dangerous new synthetic drug to kids. That’s really all you need to know.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Emily Blunt (The Young Victoria, The Devil Wears Prada) plays Harriet, a British public relations executive who is given carte blanche to help a wealthy sheik realize his dream of bringing salmon fishing to the desert. She turns to the UK’s leading fisheries expert, Dr. Alfred Jones (Ewan McGregor) for help, but he finds the entire project completely absurd. So does the British government – until the Prime Minister’s press secretary (played by Kristin Scott Thomas) decides that the salmon project is just what the government needs to divert attention from another Middle East ‘project’ that isn’t going so well – the war in Afghanistan.

As the eccentric sheik eventually points out, the project isn’t just about fish. And neither is the movie. It’s about politics, diplomacy, cultural divides, and the hint of romance between the optimistic Harriet and the skeptical Dr. Jones.

The film has its flaws. The Sheik’s character (played by Amr Waked) is all over the place. One minute, he’s a cartoonish stereotype, and the next he’s a complex and sympathetic man on a mission – to bring peace, water, and lots of salmon to the people of Yemen.

But despite the occasional unevenness of character and tone, Salmon Fishing offers up a nice mix of drama, humor, sarcasm, cynicism, and inspiration. Hey, anything is possible – as long as you’ve got enough money, resources… and faith!

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen isn’t terribly deep or dark, which is probably why I liked it (and why I’m a Mainstream rather than an Arty Chick). It’s beautifully shot, well-acted, and well-paced (not too surprising, coming from the director of Chocolat and the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Slumdog Millionaire). And most important, it’ll leave you smiling – and perhaps wondering where Yemen is on the map. Look it up. I did.

This Means War

Chris Pine (Star Trek, Unstoppable) and Tom Hardy (Inception,Warrior) play CIA agents whose brotherly bond is tested when they fall for the same girl, played by chick-flick veteran Reese Witherspoon (Water for Elephants, Legally Blonde, Sweet Home Alabama). She, in turn, falls for both of them – unaware that they know each other and are using the tools of their trade to surveil and sabotage her romantic encounters.

As Lauren struggles to pick one guy over the other, her best friend – played by Chelsea Handler (for all intents and purposes, as herself) – offers a myriad of crude, crass and comical advice. The love triangle turns dangerous for everybody when a bad guy with a grudge against FDR (Pine) and Tuck (Hardy) tracks them down to Los Angeles, where the obligatory gunfight and car chase ensues. Thus, the action-adventure part.

The plot is thin. The acting is shallow. And I don’t really buy Witherspoon’s character ending up with either of these guys. But what can I say? I still kinda liked it. Chalk it up to the post-Oscar-nom February Fluff Factor. And the eye candy.

Joyful Noise

The two women rarely see eye-to-eye, and it gets even worse when G.G’s rebellious grandson Randy (Jeremy Jordan) comes to town and sets his romantic sights on Vi’s “good girl” daughter Olivia (Kiki Palmer).

Ultimately, everyone must work together to achieve harmony if they are to have a prayer of winning the prestigious Joyful Noise national church choir competition in Los Angeles. The whole town is counting on them. Can they do it?

If you have a little faith in Hollywood endings, you probably know the answer.

Charlize Theron plays Mavis Gary, a divorced 37-year old author of young adult novels whose book series is coming to an end. She is a hot mess, and not in a good way. She sits around her Minneapolis high-rise apartment watching reality TV, binges on booze and fast-food, hooks up with random guys and looks down on pretty much everyone. In the midst of her emotional breakdown, Mavis decides to return to the small Minnesota lake town where she grew up. It’s a desperate attempt to revisit her glory days as the prom queen who dated the hottest jock in school, Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson). And speaking of that jock, she also intends to seduce him and get him back, even though he’s married with a newborn baby.

Once she gets there, she checks into a hotel to avoid seeing her parents and heads straight for a bar. She ends up sitting next to a former classmate she doesn’t recognize until she see his crutches and realizes he’s the “hate-crime guy” — who was beaten by a bunch of jocks back in high school and left crippled for life. Together Mavis and “hate-crime guy,” whose name is Matt, form an unlkely alliance — the pretty girl and the geek — a couple of emotionally stunted wrecks. It’s their relationship that is at the core of this movie.

Most of the outright laughs in Young Adult come courtesy of Matt who is played by comedian turned actor Patton Oswalt. He turns in an excellent performance. But it’s Theron who is truly outstanding as the high school mean girl who never got over being mean. She plays Mavis without flinching, without giving you even a hint of something to find remotely likable in the character. She totally embraces the role and I hope she gets some recognition for it this awards season.

All the same elements are here that made the first one such a fun romp – the women (Noomi Rapace, Kelly Reilly, Rachel McAdams) who are lovely but peripheral, the Guy Ritchie-style fight scenes, the witty banter, the delightfully designed Victorian sets and clothes, and the most satisfying part of this franchise, the buddy relationship. Downey and Law really do have wonderful chemistry, which makes this kind of silly flick totally entertaining, even if it has a few scripting holes and you don’t ever get to know the girl that comes along for most of the ride. You don’t even notice that it clocks in at 129 minutes.

This time around the story centers on Professor Moriarty’s plan to start a World War and become a rich man by cornering the munitions market. He and Sherlock have a few scenes together where they play mind games with one another, and a few where they attempt to kill one another, and while the fate of the world lies in the balance, they even play a nice game of chess. And just to keep Holmes on his toes and out of his hair, Moriarty goes after Watson and his new bride, on the train to Brighton for their honeymoon, which of course brings Watson right back into the thick of the story, as the two of them race to stop the villainous Professor from destroying Western civilization.

This is the kind of movie where the story isn’t really all that important. It is all about Holmes and Watson having a ripping good time. As usual, the über-talented Downey goes all out, one minute fighting with a parkour-adept Cossack, the next showing up in another silly disguise (his urban camouflage is particularly fun), and later dancing with his perfectly sane sidekick Watson. It is this infectious sense of intelligent whimsy that will keep this series going. There are also some very funny scenes with Holmes’s brother Mycroft played by the hilarious Stephen Fry. [But if there was one thing I would ask of Guy Ritchie for the next one, could you please let Holmes shave? Downey is scruffy throughout and, as the minutes go by, more and more beaten and bruised. I'd just love to see that face in its beautiful, pure state for a scene or two before the brass knuckles come out.]

I’d recommend this one to anyone who liked the first Sherlock Holmes. It the same winning formula and I can see many more to come. It would be great for a date night movie, too. Cute guys for the chicks and lots of fight scenes for the roosters. Something for everyone.

Garry Marshall is brilliant. He made a mildly entertaining movie with an A-List cast and a name that virtually guarantees it a place in holiday rerun history. [New Year’s Eve] is like Crash-light. Really, really, really light. It follows a bunch of folks whose lives intersect in various ways as they [embrace, reject, and reflect on all that is New Year’s Eve as the ball is about to drop in New York City].

The cast is a virtual who’s who of stars from the big and small screen – including [Hillary Swank, Robert De Niro, Sarah Jessica Parker, Josh Duhamel, rocker Jon Bon Jovi, Halle Berry, Katherine Heigl, Zac Efron, Michelle Pfeifer], Jessica Biel, Ashton Kutcher, Lea Michele, Hector Elizondo… Need I go on?

There’s no real way to review the storyline without giving too much away. All I can say is the movie is enjoyable enough, if not particularly deep. Director Garry Marshall knows how to deliver a solid mainstream chick flick. And as a fellow Northwestern alum, it’s always fun to spot his quick nod to our alma mater – in this case [if there was one, I somehow missed it!]. It’s also worth sticking around for the end credits. Among the outtakes – a fun, little salute to [Valentine’s Day].

Watching [New Year’s Eve] is like watching a special, star-studded edition of The Love Boat. If that floats your boat, then go and enjoy.

There ya have it. A re-purposed review that matches a re-purposed premise that – if it does well enough at the box office – will surely spark yet another entry into the star-studded holiday “franchise”. Place your bets now for Christmas Day, Hanukkah Nights, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Columbus Day…

The Sitter

The Sitter is an okay movie, but it may suffer from an identity crisis. On the surface, it looks to appeal to The Hangover Two and Pineapple Express crowd. But deep down – it wants to be a chick flick.  So chances are, it won’t fully click with any particular demographic. One thing it did do, however, was make me nostalgic for the original Adventures in Babysitting. If you haven’t seen that one, rent it. Or wait for The Sitter to come out on DVD and enjoy one very trippy double-feature.

The Sitter is only 80 minutes long, but feels longer. So you may want to save 10 bucks and watch the trailer instead: