The Couch Potato Report
April 3rd, 2004
In the Couch Potato Report This Week there is Jack & Diane, Brother Bear, a house of sand and fog and a panic room you’ll want to spend time in.
When I see a movie after everyone else has seen it and loved it, after every critic has given it a positive review, and after it has been hyped to death, I usually am left wanting more.
I am usually wondering what the big deal is. MR. HOLLAND’S OPUS was one such film and so was ABOUT SCHMIDT.
It is by pure coincidence that Jack Nicholson starred in that letter release and he now stars in another film I just don’t see what all the hype was about.
Nicholson stars in the adult romantic comedy SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE along with the one and only Diane Keaton.
Nicholson plays a man who only dates women under 30 and is shocked to find he can fall in love with someone his own age. Keaton is the mother of Jack’s girlfriend.
As long as Nicholson and Keaton are on screen discussing their would-only-happen-in-a-movie forced living conditions or discovering their mutual desires, I did get and completely enjoyed SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE. But when it strayed from Nicholson and Keaton together I just didn’t see what all the hype was about.
To it’s credit the film is charming and entertaining, but its too long and it keeps finding reasons to bring the Jack & Diane together, and then split them up.
They’re terrific together but they spend way too much of the movie apart.
What happens in the film when the two leads are apart is not nearly as good as when they’re together.
SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE is undeniably funny, and Diane Keaton is superb in it, but it’s far from perfect.
I do recommend it because I like the fact that it’s an adult romantic comedy, made by adults for adults. SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE is also worth seeing for the times when Jack & Diane are acting together, and because the supporting cast that includes Frances McDormand, Keanu Reeves, Amanda Peet and Jon Favreau are all terrific.
Just heed Public Enemy’s warning and “Don’t believe the hype.”
When the Disney animated movie BROTHER BEAR was released in theatres last November it would have loved to have some of the hype given to SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE.
Instead, this coming of age movie about a boy who becomes a man by becoming a bear, quietly became an Academy Award nominee as one of the Best Animated Films of 2003. It wasn’t nearly as good as the other two nominees, FINDING NEMO and THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE, but it is good enough to deserve the nomination.
After he kills a bear, a young hunter in prehistoric North America is turned into a bear himself and hunted by his own brother.
But no matter what the story is, how good the animation is, or anything else about BROTHER BEAR that is worth mentioning, the main reason to see this movie is because of a comedic moose duo.
Rick Moranis and Doug Thomas voice the moose in their McKenzie brothers personas from SCTV and STRANGE BREW, my favourite movie of all time.
They are why I enjoyed BROTHER BEAR, but the traditional hand-drawn animation is also very good. Your kids might not love it as much as FINDING NEMO, but just tell them to “Take Off, eh!”
The final new release in this week’s Couch Potato Report is the superb HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG.
Jennifer Connelly followed up her Academy Award winning performance in A BEAUTIFUL MIND with this dark, slow moving story about how small mistakes can have disastrous consequences.
After losing her house for failing to pay a tax she never should have been charged in the first place Connelly is a woman who vows to get her house back by any means necessary.
Connelly’s sad performance combines perfectly with Oscar winner Ben Kingsley’s tense work making HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG a compelling psychological drama that you shouldn’t miss.
You also shouldn’t miss the new 3-disc Special Edition of David Fincher’s film PANIC ROOM, especially if you are a fan of the film.
In this film from a few years back, Jodie Foster plays a New York divorcÈe who is forced to lock herself and her daughter in an impenetrable “panic room” when thieves enter her home.
Unfortunately this trio of tenacious burglars want what’s in the panic room’s safe.
From making of documentaries, to fly-on-the-wall footage and commentaries this new three-disc special edition of PANIC ROOM is a virtual film school that raises the bar on explaining everything that goes into the making of a movie.
When it first came out I only liked the film because Jodie Foster is my all-time favourite actress. After watching this new Special Edition of PANIC ROOM I like it because the film itself is great and the special features are incredible.
SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE, BROTHER BEAR, HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG and the SPECIAL EDITION of PANIC ROOM are available right now at your favourite local video store.
COMING NEXT WEEK IN THE COUCH POTATO REPORT
THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS is the not entirely satisfying third and final chapter in THE MATRIX trilogy.
In the remake of CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt are parents trying to raise 12 kids and manage their careers.
And
IN LIVING COLOUR: SEASON ONE is a 3 disc set that has the complete first season of the TV series that starred Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans.
I’ll have more on those releases in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next week on The Couch!
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