Movie Review--People Like Us

My sister, Beth, and I like to go to the movies on a Friday or Saturday afternoon (like I did in my childhood years).  Lately it has been difficult to find something that wasn’t animated, based on a comic book character, or rated R.  Last Friday, we took a chance and went to see People Like Us at the Wynsong Theater in the RiverWoods shopping area of Orem.

It begins with Sam (Chris Pine) arguing with his boss which was not an auspicious beginning.  Sam, it seems, is a super salesman in a “bartering” company.  He is an aggressive salesman who thinks he has closed a big deal for which he will be highly rewarded (he wasn’t).  When he returns home to his fiancée, Hannah (Olivia Wilde), he learns that she received a telephone call with the bad news that his father, Jerry Harper, has died.  Sam reacts unemotionally and tells Hannah that he wasn’t close to his father, a recording executive, who was very involved with his career. 

After a ruse by Sam to miss their flight to Los Angeles, they finally find another flight but miss his father’s funeral.  Lillian (Michelle Pfeiffer), his mother, sits on a row by herself waiting for her only child, Sam.  When Sam and Hannah arrive at the house, his mom hugs him and slaps his face, but warmly welcomes Hannah.  Later he finds out that he has inherited his father’s huge record collection which is quite valuable.

Now the story starts to unfold.  His dad’s lawyer summons Sam to his office where he gives him a shaving kit with his father's initials on it.  Inside he finds $150,000 cash money and a note for him to deliver it to a person named Frankie (Elizabeth Banks). He tracks her down at an AA meeting where she discloses (sarcastically) to the group that her father, Jerry Harper, has just died. 
 
Sam realizes that his father had another family that he apparently abandoned. This is a secret that changes all their lives. When he finds out his half-sister is raising an 11-year-old troubled son, Josh (Michael Hall D’Addario), he decides to stay in L.A. and get to know them. The relationship between Frankie and Sam is misunderstood by Frankie when Sam is slow to disclose their familial relationship.  When his secret is disclosed the result is anger. The rest of the movie is about evolving relationships with Sam and his mother, with Sam and Hannah, and with Sam, Frankie and Josh.

Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Hall D’Addario are all outstanding and well cast in their roles.  The story unfolds naturally highlighting unexpected difficulties that affect individual lives and families.  I was surprised that DreamWorks SKG was partially involved in making this movie.  I don’t expect it will make a lot of money or be in theaters very long.  I will say it was an enjoyable time in a cool theater on an extremely hot July afternoon in Utah.

Movie Review--The Lucky One

 Thanks Letty, for asking me to go to the movie with you.  It was fun to eat out and and make an attempt at a “night life” even though it was still light when we headed home after it was over.  You are a good friend.

Movie Review—The Lucky One
This movie was adapted from a book written in 2008 by Nicholas Sparks.  Several of his numerous books have been made into movies including the following:  The Last Song; Dear John; Nights in Rodanthe; The Notebook; A Walk to Remember; and Message in a Bottle.

The Lucky One begins with war scenes in Iraq.  Logan Thibault, a Marine, is serving his third tour of duty.  During a raid many in his platoon are killed along with other soldiers who were there.  The next day he is standing next to a building and sees something white stuck in a weed about 10 or 15 feet away and walks over to pick it up.  It’s a picture of a girl with the message on the back, “keep safe x.” At that moment the place where he was just standing is hit by mortar and those who were still there are killed.  Because of that picture, he was saved.  Later, he shows the picture to some of the survivors in the area, but is unable to find the owner.  He is saved once more when the vehicle he is riding in is hit and he is the only survivor.

Zac Efron is Logan Thibault
Taylor Schilling is the girl, Beth Clayton
Blythe Danner is Beth’s grandmother Ellie
Jay R. Ferguson is Beth’s ex Keith Clayton, and a sheriff’s deputy
Riley Thomas Stewart is Beth’s young son, Ben

When Logan returns to Colorado after his release from the service, he goes to live with his sister and her family who have been caring for his dog, Zeus.  Soon he realizes that he has problems with "survivor guilt" from the war.  After finding a landmark on the computer identifying the place where the picture of the girl was taken, he leaves with his dog and walks across the country.  When he arrives in Louisiana he goes to a bar and asks about the girl in the picture.  He is directed to a dog kennel where she lives and works.  She assumes he is there applying for a job she and her grandmother (the owner of the kennel) advertised for, and the grandmother, Ellie, comes in and hires him on the spot.

The rest of the movie is the development of the (at times rocky) relationship of Logan and Beth with the support of Ellie, the grandmother, and Ben, Beth’s young son.  The antagonist is Beth’s ex husband who is abusive to Beth, threatening to take Ben away from her.  He also bullies and belittles Logan for his military service.

Part of the plot of the movie centers around Beth’s unseen brother, Drake, an Army sergeant, killed in Iraq under unknown circumstances.  Logan finally puts the pieces together and is able to give Beth the details of her brother’s heroic death. 

WARNING: Spoiler if you intend to see the movie.

During a storm, Ben runs away from his father and goes to his tree house by a raging river.  Both Keith (Ben’s father) and Logan run to rescue him.  Keith is lost in the water, thus solving all Logan and Beth’s problems with the ex, but Logan is able to save Ben.  For me, the ending is just a little too perfect.  Logan and Beth are in love, Ben is safe, Ellie is happy, and Keith is no longer a problem.  Aw, if life could only work out that well.

Movie Review--"The best exotic Marigold Hotel" for the elderly and beautiful

Last Saturday (the day before Mother's Day) my daughter, Annett, my sister, Beth, and I drove  to 33rd South in Salt Lake to the Century 24 Theater to see the "Marigold Hotel" movie.  The theater was filled with grey hairs, as expected, and we commented that Annett was probably the youngest person there at 51.  She said, although she liked the movie, it was probably most familiar to those in the audience who could relate to the story.

The characters are British, elderly retirees who, because of various financial reasons, find themselves attracted to an advertisement about the Hotel Marigold in India for "the elderly and beautiful."  However, when they arrive after a hazardous journey, they find it is not as they were led to believe.  The characters are forced to either adapt to their new environment or be miserable.  

The cast includes:
Judi Dench is Evelyn, a recently widowed housewife whose house had to be sold to pay her husband's debts.
Maggie Smith is Muriel, an ex-housekeeper who is efficient at running a home and has a talent for bookkeeping.  She also needs a hip replacement with a six month wait in England.  The doctor tells her she can get it in India much sooner.
Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton are Douglas and Jean, a couple who have been married for 39 years.  Douglas is anxious to experience India but Jean spends her time reading in the hotel.  She can't seem to adapt to life in India.
Tom Wilkinson is Graham, a high court judge for many years in England.  He lived in India the first 18 years of his life.  He has punished himself wrongly his whole life for an incident when he was young that he feared ruined the life of a friend.  It didn't.
Two more retirees round out the group.   Ronald Pickup as Norman, a single man looking for a new woman, and Celia Imrie as Madge, a single woman,"not by choice," with several unsuccessful marriages.  She has become the babysitter for her daughter in England and escapes to India in search of fun and adventure.

The movie highlights each character as they evolve and experience India in all the splendor of noise, smells, poverty and people.  The hotel itself is quite shabby and almost uninhabitable. The young owner, Sonny, is so enthusiastic about the possibilities of success that the hotel is also transformed.

The dialog is quite clever and uplifting.  My favorite saying by Sonny goes something like this:  It's not the end until it's over; and if it's not over it's not the end.  I think that is a great philosophy.  Who knows when anything is over or when the end will come?  Muriel helps to resurrect the hotel.  Evelyn, Douglas and Norman find that love can happen at any age.  Jean learns to let go of the past and Madge moves on to her new life of adventure ahead.