A Simple Favor

Not so simple. 

In this new thriller, Mommy blogger Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) becomes an unlikely friend to the mysterious Emily (Blake Lively), and offers to pick up her son for a play date after school. It's a simple favor that becomes a complicated problem when Emily goes missing. Oh yeah, it's also a comedy.

Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) directs this mystery with a balance of humor and suspense, which is often a deadly formula. For most of the film, all this works; Kendrick and Lively kill each line. When they are on screen together, Kendrick puts a perfectly punctuated spark in each word of dialogue and Lively bounces back at her with either a well-timed snap or a curious inflection that adds fire to the mystery.

It's not a perfect film. Halfway through, the plot gets as ridiculous as Lively's sexpot business outfits, but this duo was perfectly cast. Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett couldn't pull off this light touch in  Ocean's 8 earlier this year. With Ocean's, I think we all suspected the actresses were above the absurd material and wasting their time. This cast, including Henry Goldman, is perfectly cast for a good time. A Simple Favor simply delivers on that raunchy fun, popcorn thriller we've been waiting for.

In a nutshell: Forgettable but fun. Kendrick and Lively are to die for.

Award potential: None.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.

Mile 22

Not sure where Mile 22 is going.

Director Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg, both of action thriller Lone Survivor, team up for their fourth film together. Wahlberg stars as James Silva, a CIA, Bourne-wannabe with a few ticks of his own. A large portion of the “plot” centers around a 22-mile transport in a film that has as much difficulty moving forward as its characters in that journey.

This doesn’t mean the film isn’t a pleasure in parts. There are a lot of expertly crafted suspense scenes and two lean-forward action scenes (featuring Iko Uwais) strung together. However, the finale (no spoilers here) choses to set up a franchise versus telling a solid story, which seems like a little grenade thrown at the viewer.

In a nutshell: Not unwatchable, and fun in parts, but not worth the sequel it clearly hopes for.

Award potential: None.

The ten buck review: Not worth the same ten bucks spent on Mission Impossible.

Juliet Naked

I’m a big fan.

In Juliet Naked, Duncan (Chris O’Dowd) is an obsessive superfan of faded, alt-rock musician Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke) who has disappeared from public eye. But this story is about someone who is not a fan — his girlfriend Annie (Rose Byrne), who finds Crowe.

Director Jesse Peretz (Girls) took that premise and assembled a charming film full of wit, and stripped of dumb rom com stunts and jokes. 

I enjoyed being in their world for 98 delightful minutes. I give the rest of the credit to Byrne (Bridesmaids) who nails every line.

In a nutshell: This low-key, romantic comedy sings.

Award potential: Charming but too forgettable for award conversation.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.

Crazy Rich Asians

It's crazy good.
 
We've seen this story dozens of times. Rich boy (Henry Golding) meets common girl (Constance Wu Wu), and the families come between them — but we've never seen it like this: Big, lush displays of crazy big scenes — with an all Asian cast.

Although I've seen the novel covers lined up in the hands of sunbathers at my pool all summer (and the summer before), I confess that I have not read the book series. I do know that it was important enough for Netflix to battle Warner Bros for the rights to this franchise. 

Producers and director John Chu (Step Up 2, 3 and Now You See Me 2,3) ultimately passed on the larger Netflix payday, presumably to bring it to the big screen not the small. It's the first all-Asian ensemble onscreen since The Joy Luck Club 25 years ago. And boy, they delivered a cinematic experience that the novel's fans and newcomers will marvel at. Every penny of the $30 million budget is seen on screen.

To be clear, this is a feel good, chick lit', rom com with relatable girls in fab clothes and guys with shirts half open or off. However, the material is elevated more than say, Pretty Woman or something starring Kate Hudson. The cast is stellar. Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Tomorrow Never Dies) lights up the screen as the boy's mother, and summer-it girl Awkwafina (Ocean's 8),as the girl's bestie, provides big smiles. Both will be on supporting casts lists until Oscar nom time.
 
This is a huge film for summer movie lovers looking for a romance, and a big win for representation. It's going to be crazy big.
 
In a nutshell: You'd be crazy to miss this in the theater.

Award potential: This Golden Globe-friendly fare could go all the way to Oscar. Watch out Black Panther, this may be the new lighthearted movie with a diversity story ready to fill that tenth prime Best Picture slot. Yeoh is a contender for Best Supporting Actress nominations and Awkwafina should do well at the Golden Globes and film offers.

The ten buck review: Worth ten billion bucks. OK, ten bucks.

Crazy Rich Asians opens Wednesday August 12, 2018.

Mission Impossible: Fallout

A solid run. With Fallout, MI has now bested Bond as a more consistent action spy franchise and is clearly outrunning Matt Damon's self-destructing Bourne series. I'm no Tom Cruise fan, but this is his perfect gig. In a cgi-mad world, it's especially riveting to know that the over-the-top stunts involved the 56-year old Cruise, who famously never uses a stunt man. The jaw-dropping scenes, and there are many, are better on screen for it.
 

The supporting cast is strong. Ving Rhames and (an under-used) Simon Pegg return. Angela Basset joins. As does a mustached Henry Cavil (Man of Steel). Although Cavill fights often with convincing dialogue and sentences strung together, his fight scenes hit high marks. The bathroom brawl was one of the best action scenes in the series. Or maybe it was the chase through the streets of Paris. Or maybe one of a dozen others in this non-stop flick.
 
All this plus co-stars Belfast, Berlin, Paris, London and Kashmir. This series is going to run a long time.
 
In a nutshell: Accept this mission.

Award potential: Expect some technical nominations.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.

Three Identical Strangers

"It's uncanny.”

If you are a little older than I, you may have seen the 1980’s newspaper articles or photos in People magazine about three identical twins from New York who were separated at birth and found each other in their twenties. I missed this global sensation at the time, so of course I found this documentary on their lives engrossing — times three.

But there’s more. And I’m not telling. Three Identical Strangers is a lean-forward documentary that opens, closes, reopens and potentially closes the book on nature versus nurture. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

In a nutshell: You’ll experience every emotion while watching this documentary; it's one of the best films of the year.

Award potential: It’s a shoo-in for Best Film Documentary, which should make this the first film Madonna appeared in to be nominated in a major category, courtesy of a cameo from Desperately Seeking Susan. 

The ten buck review: Double your pleasure. Triple your pleasure. Worth ten bucks 

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Small rewards.

I’ll keep this review, er, short. Ant-Man and the Wasp held a tiny, minuscule bit of attention and provided a few laughs while watching, but no one is going to remember this movie by the time they get to the car. 

In a nutshell: The dumbest Marvel plot ever, but Paul Rudd makes it all worthwhile as a two-hour retreat from the summer heat.

Award potential: None.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.