This Weekend at the Box Office: “Think Like a Man” Beats “Hunger Games”

Posted on April 23, 2012 at 1:15 pm

“The Hunger Games” is no longer the #1 movie in America. After four weeks on top, there’s a new champion, the ensemble romantic comedy “Think Like a Man,” inspired by Steve Harvey’s best-selling book, which made a robust $33 million, exceeding expectations. Further examination of the numbers shows just how strong that showing is. According to Box Office Mojo:

The movie’s $16,377 per-theater average is third-highest for a nationwide release so far this year behind The Hunger Games ($36,871) and The Lorax ($18,830) and significantly above huge hits like The Vow, Safe House and 21 Jump Street. Its opening was also better than nearly all comparable titles, including all Tyler Perry movies except Madea Goes to Jail ($41 million). Finally, it topped 2009’s Obsessed ($28.6 million) to become Screen Gems’ highest opener ever targeting African-American audiences (overall, it’s their second-best opening ever behind The Vow).

This should be a message to Hollywood that audiences want to see more of “Think Like a Man’s” outstanding cast in lead roles and not just snappy sidekicks and supporting characters, including Romany Malco, Gabrielle Union, Regina Hall, Meagan Goode, Taraji P. Henson, and Michael Ealy. Those who enjoyed Kevin Hart’s performance should be sure to listen to his thoughtful and very funny interview on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast (note: very strong and explicit language).

“The Lucky One” also did very well at the box office, with $22.8 million, the second-best opening for a Nicolas Sparks film. Both films got very high marks from the people who saw it, so a strong showing over the next few weeks is likely, even with some competition from the first warm-weather blockbuster, “The Avengers,” opening next week. It was good to see “Chimpanzee” become the highest first week nature documentary ever, especially because Disney made contributions for every ticket sold to the Jane Goodall Institute.

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This Week at the Box Office

The Lucky One

Posted on April 19, 2012 at 6:31 pm

Director Scott Hicks pours enough syrup over this film to supply an IHOP. Every shot of the golden sunlight on the Louisiana bayou or the perfectly tousled angelic curls of the perfectly precocious angelic boy or the perfect smile of the beautiful kennel owner and substitute teacher played by Taylor Schilling or the perfect muscles of the beautiful former Marine who seems to be channeling “as you wish” Westley from “The Princess Bride” all but drips with syrupy sweetness. Then there is the aural candy of the many pop songs on the soundtrack. This is outdone by the storyline, which matches the sugar content of the visuals with a synthetic and coincidence-heavy plot. But that doesn’t mean it it not a pleasant movie-watching experience in a greeting card commercial sort of way.

It helps that Zac Efron and Schilling are talented and attractive performers with good chemistry. Efron plays Logan, a Marine on his third tour who finds a picture of a beautiful girl half-buried in the sand. It becomes his lucky talisman. When he finds himself back at home, not sure who he is or where he belongs without his team and traumatized by loss, he decides to find the girl in the picture and thank her. He walks from Colorado to Louisiana with his dog, Zeus. Instead of telling her why he is there, he ends up working for her, helping to care for the dogs and also looking very handsome as he lifts things and fixes things. Schilling is Beth, who lives with her grandmother (Blythe Danner) and her 7-year-old son Ben (Riley Thomas Stewart), a violinist and chess whiz. Beth’s ex-husband Keith (Jay R. Ferguson) is a bully of a cop who is volatile, possessive, and jealous. As Logan and Beth are more drawn to one another, Keith threatens to sue for custody of Ben to keep him away from them.

“The questions are complicated but the answers are simple,” Logan says when Beth challenges him to quote his favorite philosopher. “Voltaire?” she asks. “Dr. Seuss,” he answers. Logan, who has accepted a job cleaning up after dogs because it is “peaceful” may understand that simple does not mean superficial better than Nicholas Sparks, author of the book and director Hicks, who seem determined to keep things safely formulaic.

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Contest: Nicholas Sparks’ The Lucky One

Posted on April 17, 2012 at 3:47 pm

In honor of this week’s release of “The Lucky One,” I am giving away a copy of the Nicholas Sparks novel it is based on. Zac Efron stars as a U.S. Marine who finds a photograph of a beautiful woman. It becomes a talisman for him and he feels that it keeps him safe. When he comes back to the United States, he goes in search of her and when he meets her he is too emotional to tell her why he is there. If you’d like to read the book — which conveniently comes with its own little package of tissues — send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with “Lucky One” in the subject line and tell me your favorite Nicholas Sparks movie. Don’t forget your address. (U.S. addresses only) I’ll pick a winner at random on April 21. Good luck!

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Books Contests and Giveaways

Opening This Week: Three Movies Based on Best-Sellers and a DisneyNature Documentary About Chimps

Posted on April 16, 2012 at 8:00 am

A sheltered Christian student finds himself at a notoriously free-thinking college, women learn to play the game of romance a man’s way, and a former Marine finds the woman whose photograph was his lucky talisman in this week’s feature films, all based on best-selling books. Also opening this week is DisneyNature’s latest “how do they get that footage?” documentary, the story of an orphaned chimp named Oscar.

The Lucky One, by Nicholas Sparks, is the story of U.S. Marine Logan Thibault, who finds a photograph of a smiling young woman buried in the dirt during his tour of duty in Iraq. He experiences a sudden streak of luck — winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat. Only his best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good fortune: the photograph — his lucky charm. When he returns home, he seeks out the woman in the picture. Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling, and Blythe Danner star in the movie, directed by Scott Hicks.

Stand-up comic and talk radio stat Steve Harvey is the author of the best-selling advice book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment. Like He’s Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys, it has been turned into an ensemble romantic comedy featuring a dozen talented performers. Come to think of it, the advice is both books is pretty much the same, too — the better treatment you insist on, the better you will be treated. Perhaps the next movie on this theme will be based on Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies.” This movie’s title: “Think Like a Man.”

Donald Miller’s book Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality a series of essays about his evolving thoughts on faith and grace. It has been turned into a film about a young man from an evangelical community in Texas whose non-believer (and jazz music fan) father sends him to study at Reed College in Portland, Oregon.

And Disney’s fourth Earth Day release is “Chimpanzee,” with a contribution going to Jane Goodall’s institute for every ticket bought this weekend.

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Opening This Week

“The Lucky One” — Behind the Scenes

Posted on April 11, 2012 at 8:00 am

Zac Efron stars in “The Lucky One,” opening April 20.