Surrogates

It's the future and mankind lives an isolated existence, their only interaction is through perfect robotic versions of themselves which they control from home and live their lives through. This revolutionary way of life has become the norm, making homicide and other crimes almost non-existent. When someone is murdered while connected to their surrogate, detective Bruce Willis (I forget the characters name) sets out to discover how and why this unprecedented set of events took place.

Pretty cool and original idea in some ways (society living through surrogate robots) , very unoriginal in others (minds plugged into machines, hello Matrix), in the end it just doesn't quite fulfill its potential. Although the idea of everyone having their brain connected to ultra-realistic, robotic versions of themselves is kind of creepy and makes your mind wander with the possibilities, that wandering leads you to question some of the basic rules that this futuristic society lives with and kind of distracts from the story. Which story feels very much like I, Robot meets The Matrix, although there is some interesting social commentary on how we've become so connected to our phones, computers, ipods, video games and tv's and less connected as human beings. There's some fun action and enough intrigue to keep you into it, but it's nothing too amazing.

** out of 4 - Rentable (PG-13 for language, violence, brief drug and sex scenes)

Couples Retreat

Four couples head off to an exclusive resort designed to bring couples closer together. While one of the couples is there to work on their marriage, the others are there for the sun, sand, and fun, only to find out the therapy part of the package is not optional.

I went into this movie with very low expectations. I figured that I had seen all of the funny parts in the commercial spots and that the rest was just going to be crude and crass filler. I was somewhat surprised that it wasn’t and that I found myself laughing throughout most of the movie. Granted in general this flick was totally forgettable but I have to admit that I was shocked that it was so much better than I had anticipated.

This was Peter Billingsley’s directorial debut—for those of you who don’t know who that is, he was “Ralph” in A Christmas Story. He does a fairly decent job. The actors, all of whom are very funny, play their typical character. Nothing new there. Most of the jokes are predictable but the dialogue, in true Vince Vaughn fashion, was fast, funny and frantic.

Nothing to run out and see but totally fun video pick.

** ½ Rentable

Rated PG-13 (for sexual content and language)

The Invention of Lying

Mark lives in an alternate reality where lying doesn’t exist. Everyone is always honest, and most of the time it’s brutal. In a desperate attempt to save himself he discovers the concept of saying something that “isn’t”. He also seems to be the only person with this ability and quickly lies himself into fame and fortune.

I really liked the concept of this movie and the first half is really clever and very funny. I particularly liked the commercials and advertisements, which are basically CEO’s pleading with the population to continue to buy their product. The second half however, gets really slow and predictable. The twist is funny and while trying not to give anything away, let me just say that I particularly enjoyed the pizza box part.

Overall the movie could have been much better and is totally forgettable. The beginning is much stronger than the plot itself and fizzles out pretty quickly. Not as funny as Liar Liar, another movie about lying. I would say that the inability to lie is much more funny than the inventing of it. Which again is probably why the beginning of this movie is the best part.

** Rentable

Rated PG-13 (for language and sexual content)

Whip It

Bliss is a young high school student that is trapped in her mothers’ world of Texas debutants and beauty pageants. She is entranced by the world of Women’s’ Roller Derby and sets off to try out for the team, even though she is a minor and her parents will never approve.

This was Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut, and wasn’t too shabby. The story itself is predictable enough, but the dialogue is sharp and really funny. I was a tad disappointed by the pacing of the movie. It was unnecessarily slow, and had about two or three tandem story lines that were never fully fleshed out and seemed to slow down the plot even more.

Barrymore was also in the movie, and frankly should have stayed behind the camera. Her character was annoying and distracting. The rest of the cast however does a great job, particularly Kristen Wiig, as fellow roller derbiette and Marcia Gay Harden and Daniel Stern as Bliss’s parents.

This isn’t that great of a movie, it was slow and predictable, but the actors, for the most part, were great and again the dialogue is what makes it worth watching. Nothing to run out and see, but still kind of entertaining.

** ½ Rentable

Rated PG-13 (for language and sexual content)