Owen Wilson

She’s Funny That Way

Posted on by moviebloke

(USA 2015)

Peter Bogdanovich’s latest has been panned pretty much across the board, and I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s an homage to “screwball” comedies of yore and perhaps Woody Allen; maybe it’s a complete ripoff—I confess that I too thought of Bullets Over Broadway within, oh, fifteen minutes or so. Either way, She’s Funny That Way is actually funny even if it is fluffy. It also boasts strong performances all around, particularly by Jennifer Aniston as a neurotic, on-the-edge therapist.

Is it a film for which any of the actors in it will be remembered? Probably not. But I still enjoyed it.

(Gene Siskel Film Center) B-

http://lionsgatepremiere.com/shesfunnythatway

Inherent Vice

Link posted on by moviebloke

(USA 2015)

Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice is a total stoner flick. It’s loaded with amusing moments and notable actors—Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Maya Rudolph, and Martin Short to name a few—having fun with their parts. It’s an entertaining farce—entertaining only to a point, that is.

Unfortunately, the plot meanders with spurts of energy and dead stops, and ultimately fails to go as far as maybe it hoped. The running time—two and a half hours!—does not help. I found myself underwhelmed, though I certainly didn’t hate it. Inherent Vice lost me before it got to the end. I’ve never read anything by Thomas Pynchon, and I’m in no hurry to after seeing this.

With Joanna Newsom, Katherine Waterston, Jordan Christian Hearn, Taylor Bonin, Jeannie Berlin, Eric Roberts, Serena Scott Thomas, Martin Dew, Michael Kenneth Williams, Hong Chau, Shannon Collis, Christopher Allen Nelson, Benicio Del Toro, Catherine Haena Kim, Jena Malone, Vivienne Khaledi, Yvette Yates, Andrew Simpson

148 minutes
Rated R

(Landmark Century) C-

http://inherentvicemovie.com