Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

Good Boys

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“Good Boys” is the story of three friends, Max, Lucas and Thor, who are going into sixth grade and trying to figure out how to kiss girls so that Max can have success at his first kissing party.  They decide to use Max’s dad’s drone to observe some neighbor girls.  Max has been strongly warned not to touch it.  And….you know what’s going to happen! The rest of the movie has the three boys making some extremely bad descisons; which include skipping school, drinking beer, locking a policeman in a store, wrecking the drone, and beating up some Frat boys.  There is a hilarious sequence involving Stephen Merchant and a “CPR doll.”  The boys ( Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams and Brady Noon) are likable and amazingly believable as sixth graders trying to navigate the beginnings of puberty. As someone who has been teaching middle school for 32 years, I found the performances surprisingly realistic.  There is also a timely message about how you can be friends with people who may have different interests than you do.  I was prepared to think this was a dumb movie, but I ended up laughing throughout and actually enjoyed myself.

Where’d you Go, Bernadette?

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I never read the novel that this movie is based on, and after seeing the movie, I really don’t want to.  “Where’d You Go Bernadette” is billed as a comedy/mystery/drama; but it really wasn’t funny, the drama was more like drama queen and the mystery wasn’t really a mystery.  It was all quite contrived, and I actually found it quite boring.   Bernadette is an architect who at first was considered a wunderkind, but who hasn’t worked in twenty years – mainly because  she had a failure and she can’t get over it.  Through a series of events (I think these were supposed to be funny), Bernadette is seen to be mentaly unstable and her husband considers having her committed.  There is a ridiculous FBI agent and investigation that really don’t add a thing to the story. When she learns of all this, through a psychologist/FBI ‘intervention,’ Bernadette disappears.  However, the audience, and even her family, knows where she is.  So there is no mystery there.  Despite this, Cate Blanchett gives it as good a try as she can as Bernadette, but the character is kind of annoying and really not very believable. Even more annoying is Kristen Wiig’s turn as the most obnoxious social climbing, controlling, PC, helicopter mom and neighbor as you’d ever hate to know. I can’t recommend this, and I am sure you can find better things to watch.

Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw

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I have never seen any of the Fast and Furious movies so I really have nothing to compare this movie to.  Still, it’s not hard to guess that this is your typical summer  popcorn movie fluff.  That isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  Sometimes all you want in a movie is predictable action, a few chuckles and a happy ending.  And this has action by the bucketful and plenty of humorous interplay between the stars, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Stratham. They talk smack about each other while defending the world against Idris Elba, who is a cyber enhanced anarchist who wants to release a deadly virus to weed out the sick and the weak.  They are ably assisted by Vanessa Kirby as Jason’s tough as nails sister. It is all rather silly, but fun too.  I suppose if you want to be mindlessly entertained, you should look no further, but why not give it a try?

Once Upon a Time…..In Hollywood

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Wow! Another great movie from quirky writer/director Quentin Tarantino.  ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ takes place in 1969 Los Angles, which is changing from the apple pie, Ozzie and Harriet world of the 1950’s to the era of Woodstock and hippies.  In the middle of this wave of change is TV cowboy star Rick Dalton, played by Leonardo DiCaprio in one of the best performances of his career.  Dalton is confused by these changes, which see his appeal and marketability shrink.  But even though he is reduced to starring in Spaghetti Westerns, he is still committed to his career and gives each performance his all, including all the booze he can manage.  He is helped out by his stunt double/gofer/friend Cliff Booth, played of course by Brad Pitt in another career highlight performance.  The writing for these two characters is so crisp and Tarantino really fleshes them out in such a way that by the end of the movie, you not only like them, but feel like you really know them.  Since the Sharon Tate murder plays a big part of the story, it is helpful to read a little bit about if you are not familiar with Charles Manson or his followers.  Everything that you love about Quentin Tarantino movies can be found here:  witty dialogue, character development, multiple story lines, revisionist history, and a plethora of supporting/cameo appearances.  The one big hallmark of Tarantino that you won’t find though is excessive, gory violence.  Don’t get me wrong, there is violence in this movie, but it is more restrained than in any of his past movies.  I also loved how 1969 was recreated.  The small details are spot on, even down to the way Taco Bell looked when I got my first job there selling tacos and burritos.  If you are looking for a quirky, thought-provoking movie with Oscar caliber writing and performances, this is the movie for you!! Just remember, it’s “once upon a time…in Hollywood.”

The Art of Self-Defense

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This movie got fair reviews and features Jesse Eisenberg, so I thought, “Why not?”  Eisenberg plays Casey, a very mild-mannered bookkeeper. He is afraid of other men, and is ridiculed and bullied.  Eventually, he is brutally mugged.  Terrified now of everything, he thinks about buying a gun, but ends up joining a karate studio hoping to learn some self-defense strategies and the courage to stand up for himself.  As Jesse becomes more adept and confident, the movie becomes darker and darker.  He is advanced to the next color belt, seemingly before he is ready, and then invited to attend surprisingly brutal  night classes.  The overall premise of the movie was quite interesting; but the plot development was slow, and it took soooooooo long to get to the real nub of what was going on.  It became predictable, and I was able to guess the main plot twists, so I wasn’t surprised.  A few of the supporting characters stand out, especially the enigmatic Sensei of the karate school played by Alessandro Nivola.  I can’t recommend this one; however, you might like it if you love quirky movies.  I usually do, but this one was just too slow for me.