What To Expect When You're Expecting

All Baby Bases Covered

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Rated: PG-13  Crude and sexual content, thematic elements and language
Release Date: May 18, 2012
Runtime:  1 hr 50 mins

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Director: Kirk Jones
Writers: Shauna Cross, Heather Hach, based on the books by Heidi Murkoff
Cast:  Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Chace Crawford, Brooklyn Decker, Ben Falcone, Anna Kendrick, Matthew Morrison, Chris Rock, Dennis Quaid, Amir Talai

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SYNOPSIS: Five loosely interconnected couples struggle through the process of having a baby, each dealing with their own issues.

REVIEW: Kirk Jones, award winning director of Absolut Vodka TV ads and other advertising campaigns, also has made a name for himself with film projects including Everbody's Fine and Waking Ned Devine which he wrote and directed. Now he returned to the pilot's chair to direct a story from Shauna Cross (Whip It) and Heather Hach (Freaky Friday - 2003) based on the Heidi Murkoff books 'What to Expect When You're Expecting'. Do you know what to expect? Let's find out.

What to Expect When You're Expecting focuses on five couples in different situations of trying to have a child. Television fitness trainer Jules (Cameron Diaz, Bad Teacher) goes on a television dancing competition reality show and starts a relationship with dance partner Evan (Matthew Morrison, Glee), resulting in her pregnancy. Baby store owner Wendy (Elizabeth Banks, The Hunger Games) has been trying to conceive a child for two years with husband Gary (Ben Falcone, Bridesmaids), but have been having difficulties until an unexpected evening changes the course of their lives. Competing food truck chefs and former high school daters Marco (Chace Crawford, Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding) and Rosie (Anna Kendrick, 50/50) 'reconnect' one night at an outdoor film showing. Holly (Jennifer Lopez, The Back-up Plan) and husband Alex (Rodrigo Santoro, 300) look to adopt from abroad when Holly is unable to conceive, sparking financial and emotional fears. And finally, Gary's own retired NASCAR champion father Ramsey (Dennis Quaid, Beneath the Darkness) has news that his young beautiful new wife Skyler (Brooklyn Decker, Battleship) is also expecting - twins! As each couple tries to get a handle on the intricacies and obstacles of bringing a baby into the world or into their hearts, their paths cross loosely with the other couples in some fashion.

What to Expect When You're Expecting chronicles the 9-month journeys of five very different couples. Some are married, some are not. Some are in committed relationships, some are just trying to do the right thing by their partner. From Jules and Evan's hectic high-profile, in-the-public-eye reality show schedules, to barely making it financially food truck chefs Rosie and Marco, each couple portrays a partial cross-section of the reality of future parents. Holly and Alex try to do everything to impress the adoption agency, knowing full well that their financial situation will barely cover a new mortgage and a new baby if anything dire were to occur. On the other end of the spectrum, Ramsey and Skyler live a posh existence with a beautiful estate, a golf course in their back yard, and swimming pool complete with an official Jimmy Buffet 'Margaritaville' tiki bar. For them, money is no object and worries seem to shed off their backs like water off a duck. But secure finances do not make for easy times as Jules and Evan struggle to keep their Type-A personalities in check for the sake of the baby. Rich, poor, or middle class, the development and arrival of a child can only be planned so far in advance.

The film advertises as a dramatic comedy, but plays more to the light drama than to the comedy. In fact, the comedic elements come from the characters that fall outside of, but connected to, the five couples. Wendy's employee Janice (Rebel Wilson, Bridesmaids) is quirky and silly, hanging on her boss's every word and wisdom - dumb, naive and strangely lovable - like a automobile wreck. Holly's aquarium boss Kara (Wendi McLendon-Covey, Bridesmaids) is funny when she berates her husband Craig (Thomas Lennon, What's Your Number?) about the pronunciation of their son's name. And the aptly named 'The Dude's Group', which includes several veteran fathers including Vic (Chris Rock, Grown Ups), Gabe (Rob Huebel, The Descendants), Kara's husband Craig, and Patel (Amir Talai, The Pursuit of Happyness). They all meet in the park every Saturday to play with their kids, shoot the breeze, gossip, and observe the first rule of 'The Dude's Group' - no judgement! Kids playing in the dryer or swimming in the toilet bowl? No big deal! Kid eating a cigarette? Stuff happens! Kid falls off the changing table? Didn't happen on my watch! Dodged a bullet on that one! The rest of the cast of characters are too worried about their pregnancies and adoptions to spend too much time with all out humor.

The film is touching to a point, not as funny as it was made out to be in the trailers, and utterly busy. With five unique couple's experiences to contend with, we fill rushed through the delivery of the story. Couples pass by other couples like ships in the foggy night, rarely realizing that the other exists. There is so sadness and much more joy as the bundles of joy are brought home, and relationships strengthen or mend. But there is too much going on to be invested on all of it. Unlike the hit baby daddy comedy Knocked Up or the sweet and endearing Father of the Bride II, What to Expect When You're Expecting dilutes the quality of emotions in favor of quantity. Each actor or actress brings their A-game to their roles, either comedic or dramatic, but there is not enough time for anyone to shine too brightly. Maybe Kirk Jones was trying to make the audience feel disjointed or rushed so we could appreciate what the characters were experiencing in the story themselves. Each of the couples could have had a successful  film all to their own.

What to Expect When You're Expecting is a sometimes sweet, sometimes laborious film, spending too much of its time making sure every method of child birth or child adopting has a voice and is heard over the screaming of the other stories. Pushing all of these individual stories onto the screen at the same time, unfortunately, fails to deliver in the end.

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WORTH:  Matinee or Rental

The Hunger Games

The World Will Be Watching

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Rated: PG-13   Intense violent thematic material and disturbing images - all involving teens.
Release Date: March 23, 2012
Runtime: 2 hrs 22 mins

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Director: Gary Ross
Writers:  Gary Ross, Suzanne Collins, Billy Ray
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Wes Bentley, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland

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SYNOPSIS:  Each year, the Capitol of Panam requires each of its 12 Districts to subject one boy and one girl to compete in the Hunger Games, where the twenty-four Tributes must fight to the death until only one competitor remains.

REVIEW: Gary Ross, writer and director of Pleasantville and Seabiscuit, has proven that he understands the minds of youth and the perils and pitfalls of the competitors of sporting events. Taking the characters from the first book in 'The Hunger Games' trilogy written by Suzanne Collins, Gary Ross, Billy Ray (State of Play), and Suzanne Collins herself bring the inhabitants of Panam (a future ruined North America), its Capitol, its surrounding districts, and the competitors in the annual Hunger Games to life.

In District 12, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence, X-Men: First Class) cares for and hunts for her sister Primrose (Willow Shields, Beyond the Blackboard) and widowed mother, and toys with the notion of leaving the district with her friend Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth, Knowing). As the 74th Annual Hunger Games approaches, representatives from the Capitol headed by Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks,  The Next Three Days) come to the district for the Reaping, the selection of one boy and one girl between the ages of fourteen and seventeen to serve as Tributes for the game. Every family's request for government assistance asked for during the year between games equates to an additional ballot for one of the family's children of age. When Primrose is selected as District 12's female tribute, Katniss volunteers. Also selected from the district as the male tribute is Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island). Together they accompany Effie back to the Capitol to prepare for the Game. Drunkard Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson, Zombieland), tormented winner of the 50th Hunger Games, is selected to mentor and prepare the pair for the televised fight to the death. Joining the District 12 prep team is stylist Cinna (Lenny Kravitz, Precious) and District 12 representative Effie. During training, Katniss and Peeta prove they are not simple poor district trash, and that they may be contestants to contend with. Although there are 24 Tributes in total, the most arrogant and cable competitors are embodied in District 1 tributes Marvel (Jack Quaid), and Glimmer (Leven Rambin, One Tree Hill) and District 2 tributes Cato (Alexander Ludwig, Race to Witch Mountain) and Clove (Isabelle Fuhrman, Orphan), 'Careers' who train their entire youth to compete. Once the games begin, Peeta and Katniss are on their own in a camera-filled, electronically-controlled, forested domed death arena.

Starting with the characters, Jennifer Lawrence ended up being an excellent choice for Katniss. Athletic and strong, the Katniss character still exudes innocent and resistance to the status quo of the Games. Hutcherson plays Peeta with strength and cockiness, until he realized he is really in over his head. Stanley Tucci (Captain America: The First Avenger) and his blue hair add the glitz and glamour as the Hunger Games Master of Ceremony and co-anchorman Caesar Flickerman, seeming like the Ryan Seacrest of a failed dystopian future. While Caesar comes to the screen as the bright shiny face of The Hunger Games, Wes Bentley (Gone) and his orchestrated beard directs a team of producers and technicians to capture every moment of the televised games and, sometimes, change the unscripted event with some additions and nudges of his own. Eiizabeth Banks is nearly unrecognizable as the powdered-face, geisha-painted lipped, Effie. The other stand-outs are Amandia Stenberg as the petite, pint-sized Tribute Rue (Colombiana) and the barely-seen but important Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne. And Donald Sutherland's President Snow, although soft-spoken, carries with him an experience and political and personal agenda that will certainly be explored further in the additional films.

I will be the first to admit that I never heard of Susan Collins trilogy of Scholastic books until The Hunger Game film was announced. And as a true cinest, I did not want to jump on the book reading bandwagon for fear that my movie going experience would be tarnished with ruined story plots and blown surprise reveals. In spite of that admission, I will admit that I did bone up on my Panam universe history just to be prepared for the Hunger Games. Ross, Ray and Collins do successfully recreate the written word from Collins' first Katniss novel into a freshman film that does not lessen the experience for the uninitiated. From the locales to the costumes to the actors and characters, The Hunger Games is something to behold. Maybe a little lengthy and slow for my taste (please do not crucify me, 'Hunger Game' book fans!), I do realize that several secondary characters and scenes from the original book were downplayed in order to keep the most important elements. I also realize that a few scenes were quick and concise to get important story points across to the audience, and to keep the film propelling forward.

With intense scenes like the start of the 74th Hunger Games at the Cornucopia followed by retreats and periods of waiting with Katniss roped onto a high canopy tree limb, the story did have periods that were a little uneven for me. The character development of Katniss and Peeta through the course of the game did help to keep my interest between fights in the last act. Knowing that it was important to focus on Katniss during the games, I did find that Seneca Crane and his televised reality show production got a little forgotten for a time toward the end.

The Hunger Games hype is sweeping across the country as the film opened to a non-sequel box office record breaker for its opening night midnight screenings. Will The Hunger Games replace the Twilight Saga as the next big thing once Breaking Dawn: Part 2 premieres this November? First it was Harry Potter, then Twilight, now The Hunger Games. If the box office is any indication, that very well may be the case.

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WORTH: Matinee and DVD

Man On A Ledge

On The Edge

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Rated: PG-13  Violence and brief strong language
Release Date: January 27, 2012
Runtime: 1 hr 42 min

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Director: Asger Leth

Writers: Pablo F. Fenjves
Cast: Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell, Anthony Mackie, Edward Burns, Ed Harris

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SYNOPSIS: Ex-cop turned escaped con stands on the ledge of a Manhattan hotel claiming his innocence for the crime he was imprisoned. But while a police psychologist tries to talk him off the ledge, his stunt may only be a distraction for a bigger crime.

REVIEW: Asger Leth, director of the documentary Ghosts of Cité Soleil, takes a stab at the mainstream with Sam Worthington (Avatar) and Ed Harris (Appaloosa) with a high stepping suspense thriller from TV movie writer Pablo F. Fenjves (Trophy Wife). Can both writer and director make a successful flick without slipping off the edge? Let's find out.

Cop Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington, The Debt) on a moonlight assignment for real estate mogul David Englander (Ed Harris, National Treasure: Book of Secrets) is accused of stealing Englander's 40 million dollar diamond and sentenced to twenty five years in prison. Even with help from his former partner Mike Ackerman (Anthony Mackie, Real Steel), Nick has run out of appeals. But when his father passes away, he is given opportunity to attend the funeral and takes the opportunity to make a daring break from the guards. Cassidy makes his way to the 21st floor of the Roosevelt Hotel on 45th Street and Madison Avenue, eats a large meal, and steps out onto the building's ledge to wait for the police and media to arrive. Asking specifically for Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks, The Next Three Days) as the negotiator, Cassidy strings the cops and the gathering crowd along while a more calculated plan is set into motion.

From the trailers you might get the idea that Man on a Ledge is similar to Colin Ferrell's Phone Booth, focused on a solitary man in a limited venue trying to affect change. But where Ferrell's film was a psychological thriller where he was placed in stationary peril - a phone booth - at the whim of a calculating psychopathic killer, Sam Worthington becomes the Man on a Ledge by his own volition to clear his name of the crimes he was accused and convicted of. The tension is still present as Nick Cassidy puts his life in jeopardy with the soles of his shoes hanging off the stone ledge.

Part police drama, part heist film, Man on a Ledge breaks up the singular story of Nick Cassidy with flashbacks from his time in prison and his escape from confinement. Also in the mix are Nick's brother Joey (Jamie Bell, The Eagle) and his sassy girlfriend Angie (Genesis Rodriguez). Lydia Mercer, fresh off a failed jumper save of a rookie cop, must face a disapproving squad, fellow negotiator Jack Dougherty (Edward Burns, 27 Dresses) and commander Dante Marcus (Titus Welliver, The Town) as she attempts to bring Cassidy in from the edge. David Englander rules with a iron real estate fist as he deals with zoning committees, investment meetings, and men looking to jump off a building accused of stealing the diamond he so prized. Lastly, a opportunistic reporter Suzie Morales (Kyra Sedgwick, Gamer) distills the play-by-play of the neck-craning events to all who will watch.

Worthington is committed to the role, muttering up enough piercing stares, slipping gasps, and furrowed-brow scowls to work throughout the film. Banks' performance is serviceable, but she just doesn't click with Worthington as well as she does with Edward Burns. Bell and Rodriguez, on the other hand, work and play well together as Joey and Angie argue and weave their way through Nick's master plan. Ed Harris is a worthy adversary as the mogul Englander but doesn't get nearly enough screen time to be effective.

Man on a Ledge aspires to be a lofty suspenseful action drama. The elements are all in place, whether suspended by nylon ropes, perched on the edge of the wind against the side of a building, or smashing gift watches against the wall behind the presenter's head. The problem with an aspiration of a film is that sometimes you lose your footing and tumble over the edge. i look forward, instead, to Sam Worthington Wrath of the Titans. 

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WORTH: Rental

The Next Three Days

What Times Does To A Person

[Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Jason Beghe, Lennie James]

image from sheknows.com

RANT: Returned to the more familiar surroundings of the first matinee of the weekend. Oh such a more peaceful setting as I walk into the empty theater as the first person with the choice of any seat in the house. Of course, more people did arrive, but I could imagine being a millionaire in my own private home movie theater.

SYNOPSIS: A man's life is turned upside down when his wife is alerted and convicted of killing her boss. After three years, he is at his wits end and starts planning a daring breakout.

Paul Haggis takes some writing credits and directs "The Next Three Days" based on the screenplay, "Pour elle" by Fred Cavaye and Guillaume Lemans. The Oscar winning writer and director of "Crash" returns to a higher profile effort after a TV movie, the movie "In the Valley of Elah" in 2007 and the short-lived TV series, "The Black Donnellys".

Russell Crowe stars as John Brennan, a dedicated community college literary teacher, whose life is turned upside down after his wife Lara, played by Elizabeth Banks, is arrested for the homicide of her boss the previously day. The physical evidence is strong enough to convict Lara and put her away in a Pittsburgh lockdown while John tries to overturn her conviction on appeal. As the last appeal runs out, both John and Lara realize that their hopes of her freedom have run out as well. Sure of Lara's innocence and worried of their son Luke's continuing withdrawal and trouble at school, John decides to plan Lara's escape.

Liam Neeson makes a brief cameo as career prison escape artist Damon Pennington to start John on his way, outlining the basics John needs to get Lara out of the urban Pittsburgh lockdown. The rest falls on Brennan to figure out, from finding a criminal to create fake identification papers to creating the distraction to actually spring Lara.

Once Brennan's plan is put into motion, enter Jason Beghe as Detective Quinn, Aisha Hinds as Detective Collero, Lennie James as Lieutenant Nabulsi and Allan Steele as Sergeant Harris. They swing between wondering about Lara's guilt or innocence, and the deciphering of Brennan's plan itself. John leads them on a merry chase, zigging when the police expect a zag. The best part of the film is the cat and mouse between John and the cops.

What will a man do to right a wrong? What lines will he cross or moral codes will he break? Damon Pennington warns Brennan that if he cannot become the man that would leave his son behind or become the man that would kill a guard to keep the plan moving along, don't start. With blinders on for only his wife and son, he may want the plan to work too much. And if that is the case, what of himself will he leave behind?

Worth: Matinee or Netflix

I am also trying out a new rating system shown below based on reader reaction to my somewhat complex monetary rating scale. I will give both ratings and see what kind of reaction I muster. A movie can receive up to 5 popcorn buckets. Why popcorn buckets? Because I am a slave to the thousand + calorie delight! Enjoy!