You Again

Posted on February 9, 2011 at 3:59 pm

Cute people getting mired in a cute situation? Good. Cute situation getting mired in unimaginative slapstick? Not so much. This is yet another one of those movies about characters who have clearly never watched a romantic comedy. If they had, they would know that: trying to break up a loved one’s wedding two days before it is scheduled is not a great idea (“My Best Friend’s Wedding,” “Made of Honor,” etc.). You only embarrass yourself by showing embarrassing footage of the bride at the rehearsal dinner (“27 Dresses”). Wandering off by yourself on a visit to the prospective in-laws often results in getting wet and ruining property (“Father of the Bride”). Taking a wedding-related movie down to a PG instead of a PG-13 is usually a sign that the studio does not have much confidence in it (“Bride Wars”) because the script is weak. The characters in this movie are the only ones on earth who haven’t been there, seen that.

It is a cute situation. Marni (Kristen with an “e” Bell) is a smooth, capable, professional woman who is proud of triumphing over her teenage years as an ugly duckling, constantly abused by the mean girls led by head cheerleader J.J. (Odette Yustman). Her comfort during those years was her golden boy brother Will. Now Will is getting married to none other than Joanna, formerly known as J.J. The calm, professional Marni instantly reverts to a cowering mess, and then things really get complicated. It turns out Joanna’s only family is her aunt Mona (Sigourney Weaver), who is none other than the former BFF-turned WFF of Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis), mother of the groom — and of course of Marni as well. Add to the mix a wedding planner (Kristin with an “i” Chenoweth), the bride’s ex-beau, a wise-cracking granny (Betty White, of course), a dance-off, a fluffy dog, and a dad who eats his meals blindfolded (okay, that one I didn’t see coming), and you have pieces that never quite work.  

Just to see the glass as half-full for a moment, I’ll point out that this movie does not have a big but highly touchy client who gets caught up in the chaos or a child to spout out-of-the-mouths-of-babes wisdom.  There are no funny clergy.  There are a couple of genuinely welcome surprise cameos.  Weaver and Curtis do their best to elevate the material and sometimes succeed.  

On the glass half-empty side, there is an icky dentures joke.  Serious injuries are dismissed as blithely as are serious infractions of trust and good judgment.  It is under-written, running out of steam — and ideas — long before it is over.  Ultimately, there’s too much com and not enough rom.  

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Comedy Romance

Sigourney Weaver on Appearing in ‘Wall?E’

Posted on November 18, 2008 at 9:00 am

In this interview from Disney, Sigourney Weaver talks about appearing as the voice of the space ship computer in WALL?E and about strong roles for women and flying a plane:
QUESTION: Is it because you are so crazy about Wall?E that you have done press promotion for the film?
SIGOURNEY WEAVER: It is! I admire how Pixar have done the film and how detailed it is. I have seen it twice so far. Very few places are like Pixar where the story is still king and no detail is spared to make it as rich as possible. I am thrilled for all of us Earthlings that we get to have a movie like Wall?E because I think we need it. And it is so entertaining and touching. wall-e-poster1-big.jpg
QUESTION: So since you are such a Pixar fan, you would presumably have done this for no money?
SIGOURNEY WEAVER: I was absolutely delighted, I was a stalwart fan, very enthusiastic of Pixar. I was delighted, even when I found out why I was cast, which was not for my talent but because I was in Alien. (jokes) It’s funny because I was sent a little film of WALL•E, who’s so endearing, and the script. The ship’s computer has a limited number of lines, but then I met Andrew and I said all of the robot entities, all of the electronic entities in this movie have so much character and so much heart. Being a computer I also think that I start as the voice of this rather evil corporation that’s gotten us into this mess, but by the end I too want to go back to Earth and find out what a hoe down is. So it was a wonderful world to enter, even as a computer, and I really, thoroughly enjoyed it. They also really let you play around, and I told Andrew I wanted to have an arc as my character, levels etc, he was very indulgent and we had a very good time.
QUESTION: What do you think about the film?
SIGOURNEY WEAVER: I think it’s a perfect movie, actually. To me a movie that succeeds, at its best is a movie that’s about much more than just the characters in it, which this certainly is, from the first second. What I admire so much is that it has this totally endearing, captivating story, adventure and romance. But within such a striking context, to show Earth as it might be if we don’t take care of it, and to not pull their punches. That’s how the movie starts, I just have so much admiration for the way they’ve taken this on, and how they’ve gone for it. That’s why it’s such a pleasure to talk about, there’s nothing negative you can say about this picture.

(more…)

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Interview
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