Last Vegas

COMEDY

It's Going to Be Legend... Where are we?

7.5 out of 10 | Rental

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Rated: PG-13 Sexual content and language
Release Date: November 1, 2013
Runtime: 1 hour 45 minutes

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Director: Jon Turteltaub
Writers: Dan Fogelman
Cast: Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline, Mary Steenburgen, Jerry Ferrara, Romany Malco, Michael Ealy, Roger Bart

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SYNOPSIS: Three sixty-something friends take a break from their day-to-day lives to throw a bachelor party in Las Vegas for their last remaining single pal.

REVIEW: National Treasure franchise director Jon Turteltaub ditches his favorite actor Nicolas Cage for some more mature A-listers. Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love.) takes a stab at writing a story centered in Las Vegas that doesn't involve losing time and memory.

Billy (Michael Douglas, Haywire), Paddy (Robert De Niro, The Family), Sam (Kevin Kline, The Conspirator) and Archie (Morgan Freeman, Now You See Me) are lifelong friends who grew up on the streets of Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, USA, inseparable and thick as thieves. 58 years later, Billy unexpectedly proposes to his 32-year-old girlfriend at his mentors funeral. Deciding on a Las Vegas wedding, Billy calls his best friends to join him. Archie must lie to his son as to his whereabouts. Sam is given a hall pass from his wife in an effort to bring some life back into their marriage. Paddy goes with his friends, reluctant to leave his empty widowers house and reluctant to let go of the beef he has with Billy. Gambling, dancing, drinking, hot girls, and a lounge singer named Diane (Mary Steenburgen, The Help) make the trip fun... and complicated.

This is not the old man version of The Hangover, even though the location is the same. They do call Las Vegas 'Sin City', and it is appropriate for older men to reflect on the regrets in the sense of their past. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas… But can these older gentlemen learn new lessons from their life experiences to make it worthwhile? Morgan's Archie wants to be the man he once was before the stroke made everyone in his life think he was incapable of doing anything at all. Kline's Sam has lived in a marriage with a wife he loves and is comfortable with, but has lost his passion for life. De Niro's Patty sits in his bathrobe and accepts soup from the neighbor girl like a charity case. And Douglas' Billy lives in extravagant life with a young girlfriend, all in an effort to stave away old age.

Filled with geriatric jokes and based on a formulaic plotline, this Vegas tale does manage to amuse throughout. Billy's relationship with his soon-to-be wife is instantly called into question when he swoons over the lounge singer Diane when the quartet arrive at Binion's Casino. From that point forward you know that the wedding probably will be called off at some point. Will Sam find his mojo with some young hottie that will strengthen his marriage? That I will not reveal. And will De Niro's Paddy bury the hatchet with Billy or will he bury the hatchet in him for what he's done to him and his late wife Sophie.?

Do these men still have it? Every one of these actors is a superstar A-Lister. From The Godfather to Basic Instinct to Glory to Dave, these guys still got it. They may be slowing down a few steps but they can still spin a good yarn that entertains both young and old. They poke fun at themselves and each other when it comes to their age, making the film funny for us. Nobody want to see old dudes getting it on with young women but these guys clean up nice and keep everything is PG as possible.

Coupled with Jerry Ferrara and Romany Malco to give Las Vegas a little younger edge, its still Douglas, De Niro, Freeman and Kline who make sure to have the times of their lives. Getting old is not a laughing matter, but they make us want to see what it may be all about.

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Haywire

Female Domination

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Rated: R  Action violence and language
Release Date: January 20, 2012
Runtime: 1 hr 23 min

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Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writers: Lem Dobbs
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton, Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Gina Carano, Michael Angarano, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender

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SYNOPSIS: In-demand government military contractor Mallory finds herself betrayed by and on the run from her own people during a supposedly routine covert operation.

REVIEW: Steven Soderbergh, director of such films as the Oceans 11 trilogy, Contagion, and The Informant!, returns with a story of a former marine, turned government contractor asset who finds herself on the run from the very agencies that employed her services. Based on a story written by The Score scribe Lem Dobbs, Soderbergh continues in his multi-faceted, multi-hued filmmaking tradition.

Former Marine turned black ops covert contracter asset Mallory (Gina Carano, Blood and Bone) carries out wetwork or rescue support for her contractor boss Kenneth (Ewan McGregor, The Men Who Stare At Goats). After a routine rescue operation as a four man team, including first-time contractor asset Aaron (Channing Tatum, The Eagle), in the recovery of a Korean journalist Jiang (Anthony Brandon Wong, Crooked Business) for CIA agents Coblenz (Michael Douglas, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps) and Rodrigo (Antonio Banderas, Puss in Boots), Mallory finds herself betrayed on a new mission when partnered with MI6 British Intelligence agent Paul (Michael Fassbender, X-Men: First Class). Mallory, now on the run from the authorities and government agencies, fights her way to finding the source of her 'burn notice'.

In the typical Soderbergh style, the story is laid out in a linear fashion starting in the middle with loop after loop of flashbacks filling in the story as the audience needs to be informed. Starting at a roadside diner on a snowy day, Mallory walked from the woods across the street into the warmth of the restaurant for a cup of hot tea and a break from running. Sitting in a corner booth with the fashion style of Aeon Flux, she decompresses until fellow contract asset Aaron arrives to bring her back in. The first of many superbly choreographed brutal, raw, efficient, and elegant fight scenes ensues. The waitress and another diner patron, Scott (Michael Angarano, Red State) try to assist but Mallory handles Aaron all by herself. Fleeing the diner with Scott in Scott's car, Mallory fills him in on what she knows in the hopes that he can get that information to her father (Bill Paxton, Frailty) in case something happens to her.

As Mallory tells Scott of her exploits around the world in places like Barcalona and Dublin, Soderbergh keeps the audience straight with differing hair styles for Mallory and different hues and tonal qualities for each location. Barcalona is filled with warmth and sepia tones. Dublin is colder and threaded in cool shades of blue and gray. Sometimes the audience may feel like Scott, trying desperately to keep the facts and names straight and recite them back to Mallory in an intelligence fashion, but the cast of main characters is small, focused, and explained in the end.

Feeling like a cold war era film, Soderbergh uses music that dates the movie back to a more romanticized era of the spy game while keeping the story itself grounded in the present. I am not sure that the choice of music suits the film to the best degree while we watch the operatives breach a town house with the best modern weaponry that government money can buy, but the sound is consistent throughout.

Gina Carano is no stranger to athleticism, fighting or action. As the 'American Gladiator' Crush, she can dish out as much punishment as she can take. The fight and chase scenes play to her strengths as a physical strong woman. As Mallory, when she is relegated to being Paul's arm candy undercover wife, we see Mallory's discomfort to being idle and tension to be let loose. The only downsize of the fight scenes was the speed-up of the film to make the action look quicker and more brutal. At times, the change in physical speed distracted more than added to the scene.

Some have said that the film is simply an endless chase scene. They would be correct since Mallory is on the run from beginning to end. But Soderbergh adds in enough plot, story flashbacks and intrigue to flesh out the story from being just a mindless action flick. Mallory is a strong and capable character, fighting her way through the self-promotion and self-preservation of the people in charge. The problem may be that maybe the villains in the film aren't as capable as she is.

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WORTH: Matinee or Rental

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Time, Money and Frailty

[Shia LaBeouf, Michael Douglas, Josh Brolin, Carey Mulligan]

image from moviefone.com

RANT: The boys from work and I finally got a chance to get to the movie house to see the "Wall Street" sequel. There were a couple of other groups of people in the audience. You know what I hate? I hate it when you are watching a movie, and an old lady who is hard of hearing needs to explain an obvious plot point. The rest of us know that the viewing of an ultrasound reinforces the fact that someone was earlier announced to be pregnant. You would think that the older set would have more movie decorum.

SYNOPSIS: Gordon Gekko, released from prison after a 8 year stint, tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter Winnie. Her boyfriend Jake, reeling from the collapse of the investment bank he was employed and the suicide of his mentor, looks to get even with those he believes to be responsible.

Oliver Stone returns to direct the sequel of his 1987 "Wall Street". Written by Allan Loeb and Stephen Schiff, Michael Douglas returns as Gordon Gekko, the Wall Street inside trader who finishes serving 8 years in federal prison and emerges to the fanfare of no one. Almost 8 years later, Gekko is on the speaking circuit and peddling his new book. Enter Jake Moore (Shia LaBeouf), a Wall Street trader trying to look for the next "bubble" with fusion energy development and dating Gordon Gekko's daughter Winnie.

When rumors start about the stability of Moore's investment house at the start of the Wall Street collapse, Moore's mentor Louis Zabel (Frank Langella) loses control of the investment bank to Bretton James' (Josh Brolin) firm, and eventually commits suicide. As Jake tries to make sense of how his job has become obsolete and how Zabel could end it all, he attends a seminar with speaker Gordon Gekko. Confronting Gekko afterward, they begin a barter system where Gekko tries to reassert himself into his daughter's life in exchange for Gekko providing Moore pointers and inside information against the man he feels responsible for the downfall of his career.

I could go on and on about the plot points of the film, but the real star of the movie, aside from Gekko, is the subject matter. So relevant to the current economic climate, the issues of the recession runs deep. "Wall Street" brings to light how fragile and fluid our futures are, based on the speculations of a chosen few. Jake tells Winnie in the middle of the film that Americans are sold and believe the fairy tale, but want the truth. With the oh-so-real collapse of the US and world economies, the bursting of the housing market bubble, and the general knowledge that what used to work when it came to the financial markets doesn't work anymore, we face a uncertain future and the next generations face an even more uncertain future.

Oliver Stone weaves the return and fate of Gekko with the breed of a new generation of Wall Streeters in the image of Jake Moore. He exposes the integration of investment banks, the US Treasury, and massive bailouts. He uses the music and style of the original film with the sequel, showing us that no matter the decade greed is always greed, excess is always excess, and the best intentions usually have the most severe consequences.

Worth: Matinee

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!