Thursday, June 5, 2008

The Heartbreak Kid and Untraceable.

The Heartbreak Kid is a Farrelly Brothers comedy from October 2007. It's a remake of the Neil Simon-scripted 1972 Heartbreak Kid starring Charles Grodin and Cybill Shepherd. In the 90's, the Farrellys made three of the best comedies in movie history. But after that, they decided to only make garbage. So for this movie, they took Neil Simon's script, filled it with moronic charicatures, and added plenty of mindless gags mined from such reliable humor deposits as Foul-Mouthed Old People and Things That Are Gross.

The movie certainly wasn't all bad. Jerry Stiller was wonderful, despite his shocking! language. Carlos Mencia was funny, despite his not being funny anywhere else. And I loved the characterization of Malin Akerman's character as a frustratingly know-nothing know-it-all. But there wasn't enough of that kind of inventiveness to justify the movie's existence. I don't know why people feel they have to remake perfectly good movies without any kind of worthwhile fresh take on the material. The 1972 Heartbreak Kid in particular was a masterpiece, and the remake does everything worse. Its biggest crime, however, is ignoring the plot elements that made the original so interesting. In the original, Charles Grodin's character is completely unlike any leading man. There comes a point when the audience really starts wondering about the choices he makes. In the remake, they basically just have Ben Stiller as the straight man, everything he does seems rational, and everyone around him is crazy. So this movie does nothing new OR old with the story. It just kinda dicks around for two hours.

Untraceable is a thriller from January 2008 about an FBI unit that investigates Internet-related crimes. Diane Lane leads a cast of characters up against a villain who is UNTRACEABLE! The best part about this movie is that all the characters are constantly making stupid decisions (worse than Grodin). It's like they didn't even realize they were in a spooky thriller. I tried shouting advice at them during every scene, but it was no use.

At times, the movie is a teensy bit heavy handed with its social commentary, but I daresay it's all warranted. I like that it had something to say, and I love that it's a bullshit Internet-related thriller with a cool cast (Walmart should do a two-pack with Sandra Bullock's The Net). So if you like that, rent Untraceable. If you like disturbing imagery, rent either Untraceable or The Heartbreak Kid 2007. If you like great comedies, rent The Heartbreak Kid 1972. And if you like Sandra Bullock or Diane Lane, rent anything with them in it.

Ooh! Another good two-pack would be Unfaithful and Untraceable, both starring Diane Lane.

Cheers,
Diego

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