Joe is back with another update from the frozen slopes of Park City.
I saw four movies yesterday, and generally enjoyed them.
First was the documentary Catfish, which was really good. I won’t spoil the plot — it had some surprising twists — but it’s definitely worth seeing when it comes out.
Next up was Hesher, which I was a little disappointed with. It was good, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt did a good job in it, but I thought the character development was lacking. None of the characters really developed much past who they are in the beginning of the film. Rainn Wilson played the grieving father, and that’s all he really was throughout the movie. I thought there might be a comedic side to the character with that casting choice, but it never materialized. The main character was played by Devin Brochu, who did a really good job. Overall, it wasn’t bad, but I was expecting more.
The next movie was Please Give with Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt. The whole movie had a very Woody Allen feel, since it kind of dealt with New Yorkers and their neuroses. The title comes from the face that Keener plays an estate buyer who is constantly guilting about buying things from grieving families. In addition, she and her husband have bought the apartment next to theirs and are waiting for the little old lady who lives there to die so they can add on to their place. She deals with her guilt by over-giving to charity. It kind of had the look of a dark comedy, but ended up having some comedic elements, but not really in a dark way. The ending was a little flat, but the movie was pretty good.
The last movie I saw yesterday was The Company Men, which had a great cast. Ben Affleck was excellent as the lead character who gets laid off from his job. The movie was a little formulaic, but overall probably my favorite of yesterday. Although I don’t know how many people will rush out to see a movie about corporate downsizing right now.
I’ve already seen one movie this morning, called happythankyoumoreplease. It was written by, directed by, and starred Josh Radnor (Ted Mosby on How I Met Your Mother). It’s about youngish New Yorkers dealing with love and friendship. I thought some of the plot was unbelievable, but overall it was a really good effort for Radnor’s first movie.
I’ll bee seeing three more movies today: Get Low, Cyrus, and Jack Goes Boating.
Two movies I’m not scheduled to see but I’m going to try and work in because I’m hearing such good buzz are Douchebag and Homewrecker.
