BARE BONES: CYRUS (2010)

CYRUS (2010)

John (John C. Reilly) has been divorced for seven years and finally meets a beautiful, single woman named Molly (Marisa Tomei). The only thing standing in the way of true romance, though, is Molly’s uncomfortably close relationship with her clingy and extremely jealous son Cyrus (Jonah Hill).

Cyrus is written and directed by Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass and is a very enjoyable indie comedy/drama for a number of reasons. It’s original, it’s funny and it also borders on brilliant in portraying those uncomfortable situations that occur when things aren’t quite right and we don’t know how to deal with them. Most of all, it’s the performances that make this so worth watching. Marisa Tomei once again proves she is a remarkable actress who deserves her every award and nomination she’s achieved. It is, though, John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill who really surprise us with strong performances as two very dysfunctional people. Reilly and Hill show they can really act when given strong material and aren’t reduced to comic sidekicks and supporting characters like they usually are. Both handle their roles with layered performances and their scenes together bristle with emotion and energy, as the two characters fight for dominance in what turns into a sort of twisted love triangle. If you like offbeat indie films this is a real treat.

-MonsterZero NJ

BARE BONES: SAUSAGE PARTY

SAUSAGE PARTY (2016)

Animated comedy for adults has a group of foods, led by hot dog Frank (Seth Rogen), slowly discovering that being purchased is not a ticket to paradise, but a trip to a horrible fate.

Directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tieman, from a screenplay by no less than four writers, Sausage Party can actually be a funny movie at times. Sure it has the sense of humor of a horny 13 year-old boy, but there is a lot of cleverness and wit, too and that helps make it work. It also has the audacity to “go there” and giddily tries to offend everybody equally. Add to that a really talented vocal cast, including Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Edward Norton, Bill Hader, Jonah Hill and James Franco, to name a few. Even at 88 minutes it is a tad too long and it starts to wear out it’s welcome about 10 minutes, or so, before it actually ends, but there are some genuine laughs and some very clever bits. Who can hate a movie whose villain is a douche (Nick Kroll)…literally an actual douche.

-MonsterZero NJ

BARE BONES: 22 JUMP STREET and RAGNAROK

22 JUMP STREET (2014)

21 Jump Street turned out to be a hilariously fun surprise with Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum teaming up as Schmidt and Jenko, two misfit cops who get sent back to high school on an undercover assignment, a la the 80s TV show. Not only did Tatum show a gift for comedy but, the two really had a great chemistry and the flick was really funny. Two years later we are back for a sequel that this time finds the duo going to college to investigate a new drug that has already cost one student their life. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are back too and while this flick is not nearly as fresh and funny as the first film, it is still entertaining and their are still plenty of laughs. Hill and Tatum continue to be a really tight comic team and the fun they are having together translates to the screen and gets us through some of the more stale bits and more tired jokes. Overall, I was entertained by this second entry, in what appears to be a franchise in the making, but, the recently announced third installment is going to need some freshening up to keep us in our seats for more.

RAGNAROK (2014)

Heard some good buzz about this Norwegian monster movie but, those annoyed at Godzilla’s lack of screen time will really be frustrated with this one. Family style film finds a Norwegian archeologist (Pal Sverre Valheim Hagen) taking his kids and colleagues to Finnmark to a no-man’s-land of former Soviet territory to find evidence of the whereabouts of a lost Viking tribe. Instead he finds the horrifying truth of the reason for their disappearance in the form of a massive serpent that lives within a lake. Written by John Kare Raake and directed by Mikkel Braenne Sandermose, the film is well made but, takes over an hour for our CGI creature to appear and then it’s further appearances are briefer than Gareth Edwards Godzilla. In between we get a lot of Raiders of the Lost Ark cliche’s Norwegian style and while it isn’t boring, when all is said and done, not a lot happens and what does is nothing we haven’t seen before. An OK flick to pass the time and the Viking lore was an interesting angle but, too familiar and uneventful to be memorable.