Ok, last of the summer movie catch up articles.  Make sure you check out Part I & Part II if you missed them, for 12 more mini-reviews, and then you can read Part III right here:

July (Cont.):

Crazy, Stupid, Love. – This movie is as honest a romantic film to come out in a while, anchored by a fantastic performance by Ryan Gosling, but a completely absurd final few scenes keeps it from being great.  Director’s Glenn Ficarra & John Requa have crafted a fast paced, funny, and real look at love from a variety of perspectives.  The film hinges on a few too many contrivances and coincidences in the film but you are able to forgive them, mostly, because the film is so enjoyable.  Whenever Gosling is on the screen you can not look away as he shows off his comedy chops with ease.  Gosling has been one of the young greats for a few years now, but it is nice to see have rock in such a mainstream film.  Steve Carell is quite good as well and does a great job at selling us on his characters transformation.  He works off Gosling, Julianne Moore, and Marissa Tomei equally as well and he provides a nice center.  Emma Stone is incredibly likable as well and makes it easy for someone to fall for her.  In fact, Stone and Gosling’s big scene together works so well that we completely buy into their relationship after only one brief scene, quite the feat.

Likeability is the key here and that is why we buy into this film so easily, all the characters are relatable.  The film has one big scene, which is built on a giant coincidence, would be easier to swallow if it wasn’t for the awful graduation scene that follows.  The scene feels like it is from another movie and it makes you wonder how such a real film turned into such a fantasy image of love.  I am all for leaving people happy, but there is better ways to do it; no need to succumb the film to mushy goop.  Regardless of this, I whole heartedly recommend the film for Gosling’s performance alone; thankfully the majority of the film is worth your time as well.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. is a B

Captain America: The First Avenger – Marvel is 4 for 4 as far as I am concerned in their Avengers set up films, with this summers Thor and Captain America both being great introductions to their respective characters.  This one is the first and only period film from the company and it is a shame that it seems like we won’t get to play in that era again.  Joe Johnston gives the film an adventure film vibe to great affect and harkens an Indian Jones feel on more than one occasion.  Love the scenes with Red Skull and the final battle was pretty enjoyable with its old school vibe.

The best part of the film is actually the opening scenes where our hero Steve Rogers is a scrawny but tried and true model of American patriotism.  From the effects to the character work, everything is top notch and we never doubt that the hunky Chris Evans as the little guy before his procedure.  Stanley Tucci is also extremely prominent in these scenes and he is great as always as our brilliant German scientist in the 40’s.  The cast in general is great, with Hayley Atwell, Dominic Cooper, Tommy Lee Jones, and Hugo Weaving all get their moments to shine.

The biggest drawback to the film is the lack of any big action sequences outside the finale.  The film is full of action scenes but Johnston chooses to show us only brief bits in a montage.  I would rather have seen a couple of those in their entirety instead of a bit from each of the bases they topple; the action does look good though.  The film is a lot of fun to be had and I am intrigued to see Chris Evans in the Avengers interacting with the cockier members of the group against his prideful ways.  Avengers can’t come soon enough.

Captain America: The First Avenger is a B+

August:

The Guard – John Michael McDonagh’s feature debut is quite the comedy which plays its humor black and features a great lead turn by Brendan Gleeson.  This Irish import picks up with a series of drug related crime beginning to unfold in Gleeson’s Boyle’s township he is an officer in and he must work with a F.B.I. agent from the U.S. who is over to try and break the drug ring.  What follows is a series of racist jokes & cultural confusion that is put together at a blistering pace.  Lots of thick accents, so if that sort of stuff throws you, you might want to wait for subtitles at home.

Don Cheadle plays the F.B.I. agent and he has a great report with Gleeson as the too politely as possible go back and forth as they try and get on the same page.  The crime elements of the film are matter of fact and uncomplicated and they use these elements to move the character humor forward.  I do wish we had a bit more from the crime trio though, as more Mark Strong and Liam Cunningham wouldn’t be a bad thing.  All in all, the film is one of the better comedies of the year, as we get another great turn by Gleeson, and I can’t wait to see what McDonagh does next.

The Guard is a B+

The Devil’s Double – Dominic Cooper gives a fantastic performance in the dual lead roles of the film as we follow the life of Latif Yahia who was the body double of Uday Hussein.  The film is stylish and fast paced for the first 2/3 of the film before a forced romance seems to slow things down a bit.  Regardless of that third act blip, the film is a good watch and an interesting look into the elaborate lives of the Hussein’s before they were hiding in bunkers.  Taking place during the days leading up to and beyond the first Iraq/Kuwait conflict, we watch Latif struggle with his role as he watches Uday perform a series of atrocities, mostly around the sexual/physical assault of women.  I didn’t know much about Uday, and I am not sure to what extent this was true, but Latif had to deal with some messed up stuff.

Cooper steals the show here though as he continues to announce himself as a star this year.  The duality of the role allows him to show a broad range and he is capable of handling everything the part throws him.  Lee Tamahori directs here and he has a nice visual eye and keeps things moving along for the most part, I just wonder what happened in those couple of dragging scenes in the later part of the film.  The bit of a twist that happens isn’t really validated I feel earlier in the picture and I wish we would have gotten a bit more of an epilogue to the picture.  Either way, the film is worth your time as it serves as an interesting and little know biopic entry into the life of one of the most notorious family of the modern era.

The Devil’s Double is a B- (p.s. that poster is fucking awesome)

30 Minutes or Less – Rueben Fleischer’s follow up to Zombieland is a fast paced and fun spin on the heist movie that is more about the characters than the silly and contrived plot.  Jesse Eisenberg continues to show off his comedic chops in this smart asshole role and holds his own against the veteran comedians filling the other roles in the film.  Aziz Ansari needs to be in as many things as possible in my life and it is great to finally see him in such a central role in a film.  His Chet is great and enjoyable for his fans and I hope this part helps him find more.  Danny McBride turns in another fine turn doing what McBride does best and he plays off his buddy in the film, Nick Swardson to great effect.  Swardson gets to play a bit less weird and over the top here but still manages to be very funny.  Michael Peña also gets to show off his comedic chops again and turns in another hilarious turn in his brief scenes in the picture.

Fleischer does a great job at getting us to know and care about these characters while integrating interesting action beats and situational humor that play well off the characters’ traits.  He keeps the jokes coming and his cast has no problem keeping up.  The musical selection in the film is also quite affective as well, getting some good laughs from the music cue on more than one occasion; always nice to see that.  30 Minutes or Less is one of the better comedies of the summer and knows not to overstay its welcome coming in a brief 83 minutes, avoiding the dragging out issues that plague a lot of comedies.

30 Minutes or Less is a B

Thanks for reading and be sure to check out Part I & Part II.