AUDIO: Hear Tim’s review of the film with Tom Barnard on “The KQ Morning Show.” Segment begins 2 minutes in.
“Adrift” (PG-13)
Just in time for hurricane season, Hollywood is reminding movie fans over the peril ahead in “Adrift,” an action adventure melded with a love story based on a harrowing true story from 35 years ago.
Shailene Woodley and Sam Clafin star as Tami Oldham and Richard Sharp, a free-spirited engaged couple who take on a job to navigate a yacht from Tahiti to San Diego as a way to fund their own worldwide sailing aspirations. Their trek takes a disastrous turn, however, when they encounter a rare Pacific hurricane, which ravages their vessel, leaving it sailing adrift with no help in sight.
“Adrift,” while thrilling at times is not necessarily a thriller … there’s no adverting sharks or the like, just the cruel reality of being left with little food and water that becomes the danger, and the disastrous effects that can result from it. Instead, “Adrift” is more of a love story as the film hops back and forth with lots of flashbacks (perhaps too many for its own good), telling how the couple met and the events leading up to the devastating storm.
“Adrift” is just over an hour and a half but it feels longer than that, because, you must remember, there’s an undeniable feeling of hopelessness that comes along with a damaged boat floating aimlessly with nothing but the sight of the ocean around it. Thankfully, Woodley and Clafin both turn in admirable performances to keep the film afloat, along with an inspiring coda detailing the plight of the real-life couple.
Lammometer: 7 (out of 10)
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
Click video above to see Tim’s review of ‘Solo’ with Adrienne Broaddus on KARE 11.
“Solo: A Star Wars Story” (PG-13)
While it doesn’t measure up the greatness of the original “Star Wars” trilogy or even the most recent “Star Wars” films since 2015 (including the first spinoff film “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”), there’s still plenty to like with “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” an entertaining look at the early years of Han Solo, the character Harrison Ford made an instant cultural icon in 1977.
Alden Ehrenreich plays the young Han, a would-be space pilot who gets his famous last name as he signs up for duty with Galactic Empire as a way of getting out a precarious situation that involves his equally ambitious love, Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke). Unfortunately, the scheme results in the two being separated, with Han going on to serve the Empire in battle while Qi’ra’s fate remains unknown.
It’s on the battlefield where the astute Han meets Beckett (the always great Woody Harrelson) and Val (Thandie Newton), realizing that they are really just a pair of schemers using the uniforms of the Empire to plot a heist, with the riches set to go to pay off a debt to a nefarious gangster. Befriending a Wookie named Chewbacca (Joonas Suotano) in the direst of circumstances, the new pair convinces Beckett and Val to let them join the heist. But when the robbery doesn’t completely go off as planned, Han gets his first big taste of being a wanted man, the first step to becoming the notorious smuggler fans met in the first “Star Wars” film in 1977.
AUDIO: Hear Tim’s review of “Solo” with Tom Barnard on “The KQ Morning Show” (segment begins 2:30 in)
Fans have been dwelling on two key aspects of the production over the past year: the first being the shocking firing of original co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller over “creative differences,” and naturally, the gargantuan task of 28-year-old actor Alden Ehrenreich living in the shadow of Ford’s looming performance.
But it doesn’t take long after begins to realize that all the fears fans have are for naught, considering the supremely talented Ron Howard took over the reigns as the director and Ehrenreich, instead of trying to impersonate Ford, remarkably makes the character his own. Can Ford ever be replaced or for that matter, does Ehrenreich have the same of sort of charisma as his predecessor? Absolutely not; but considering that River Phoenix once made believers of fans with his spectacular turn as young Indy in the dazzling opening of “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” Ehrenreich proves that it is possible to capture the posturing and essence of a character, which is really how Han Solo existed — on paper –before “Star Wars” creator George Lucas serendipitously cast Ford in the space opera’s first film 41 years ago. Much in the same way, Donald Glover seems to capture the essence of Billy Dee Willliams’ Lando Calrissian, without really feeling like he’s doing an impersonation. Like Ehrenreich, he’s bring his own sort of swagger to make the character his own.
While “Solo: A Star Wars” story is far from perfect, it’s still a lot of fun to watch, particularly as co-screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan (who made his “Star Wars” writing debut as co-scribe on “The Empire Strikes Back”) fully realizes Solo’s backstory that extends from such tales told in passing in the original trilogy like “The Kessel Run” and how Han won the Millennium Falcon (“fair and square!”) from Lando. Quite a few dots are connected, in fact, and luckily for the production, they come together in such a way that the stories don’t feel contrived.
On the flip side, perhaps the biggest issue with “Solo” is the tone, which doesn’t seem to quite match the first eight films in the original saga or “Rogue One,” which chronicled the events that led up to the beginning of the 1977’s “A New Hope.” Among the misses are Lando’s droid L3-37 (voice of Phoebe Waller-Bridge), which, while an entertaining character, doesn’t fit the MO of the other droids we’ve met in the saga so far. Instead, the droid’s sardonic delivery feels like something tailor-made to appeal to the millennial crowd, and as such, is most likely a contribution of Kasdan’s son, Jonathan, who co-wrote the script. There are other tonal and fundamental inconsistencies in the film beside that, but because of the secretive nature of some of the characters, they are too big to reveal here.
While “Solo: A Star Wars Story” fits the bill, it will be interesting to see how far Lucasfilm decides to go with one-off tales without spreading the tales of the original saga too thin. “Solo” is a movie that deserved a backstory – and luckily it’s still a “Star Wars Story” worth watching despite all the drama that enveloped it during filming.
Lammometer: 7 (out of 10)
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
Twice as crazy, twice as funny and overall twice as entertaining as the insanely entertaining first film, Deadpool 2 is double the fun of the original 2016 blockbuster — and 20 times more daring than any superhero movie out there. Even with the monstrous weight of expectations on his shoulders, Ryan Reynolds has unleashed the beast of Rob Liefeld’s eccentric Marvel comic book character and not only does he smash those expectations, he’s created what is easily one of the best movies of 2018.
“Deadpool 2” begins with Reynolds’ Deadpool/Wade Wilson skewering Hugh Jackman’s Logan/Wolverine, his far more serious, R-rated counterpart in Twentieth Century Fox’s decidedly more graphic Marvel movie universe. Jackman and Logan are merely the first targets, however, of Deadpool’s offbeat, take-no-prisoners humor, as he savages all-things pop culture and topical during his latest superhero mission – to save a young and rebellious mutant, Russell (Julian Dennison) from the crosshairs of Nathan Summers/Cable (Josh Brolin), a time-traveling mutant who comes back from the future, hell-bent on eliminating him.
AUDIO: Listen to Tim’s review of “Deadpool 2” on “The KQ Morning Show” with Tom Barnard (segment begins 1:30 in).
Loaded with one-liners, political incorrectness and self-aware humor, Deadpool is laugh-out-loud hilarious throughout, as Reynolds injects his quick wit into almost every turn. The great thing is, Reynolds realizes he’s a team player, allowing for returning characters like Blind Al (Leslie Uggams), Weasel (T.J. Miller), Colossus (voice of Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Breanna Hildebrand), as well as new characters Cable and the lucky mutant Domino (Zazie Beetz) time to shine. It’s a perfect marriage of madness made complete by the return of Morena Baccarin as Wade’s true love Vanessa, whose presence looms over the film even though her role is of the smaller, supporting variety this time around.
Naturally, the film has a couple of end credits sequences, so anxious moviegoers are urged to sit patiently as the scenes unfold. The last end credits scene, which obviously won’t be revealed here so not to spoil the fun, may in fact be the best stinger ever to grace a superhero movie. Yes, it’s that brilliant, as is the entire movie to precede it.
Lammometer: 9.5 (out of 10)
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
Melissa McCarthy brings plenty of life, love and laughs to “Life of the Party,” a feel-good comedy that marks her best collaboration yet with husband, co-writer and director Ben Falcone. Instead of going for the same bawdy, obnoxious comedy route that doomed their 2014 comedy “Tammy” and hampered their slightly-improved 2016 effort “The Boss,” the comedy star and her close collaborator opted for a softer and sweeter approach with the PG-13-rated “Life of the Party,” and as a result, the duo has finally found a winning combination.
McCarthy stars as Deanna, a sickly sweet-as-pie mom who is suddenly kicked to the curb by her longtime husband, Dan (Matt Walsh) immediately after they drop their daughter, Maddie (Molly Gordon) off for her senior year at college. Left with no home since Dan on the sly put the house in his name thanks to his new lover, a crafty real-estate mogul (Julie Bowen), Deanna is inspired to finish out the final year of college she never got around since she was pregnant with Maddie. So, in a bit of symmetry, Deanna returns to he alma mater where Maddie is now a senior and discovers times have changed quite a bit in the 20 years since she left the school to become a homemaker.
AUDIO: Tim reviews “Life of the Party” with Tom Barnard on “The KQ Morning Show” (segment begins 2:30 in).
While “Life of the Party” gets off to a slow start as McCarthy goes through the paces of a cheesy, out-of-touch mother who has an accent reminiscent of Frances McDormand’s Marge in “Fargo,” things quickly pick up when she engages in the fish-out-of-water antics that go with being a non-traditional 40-something student trying to fit in with a bunch of modern-day academics. Whether she’s well, partying, or having a romantic liaison with a much younger man, McCarthy’s natural gift for comedy kicks in, and she raises the game of her co-stars (including Gillian Jacobs – who is wonderful as a clueless student who returns to school after spending eight years in a coma – former Disney Channel star Debby Ryan playing against type and Luke Benward as Deanna’s new boy-toy).
McCarthy’s at her absolute best, though, in her laugh-out-loud hilarious scenes opposite her “Bridesmaids” alum Maya Rudolph (who plays Deanna’s best friend), as the pair’s naturally comedic yin and yang take “Life of the Party” to a whole new level. Quite simply, McCarthy and Rudolph need to work together more often – on second thought, make that every single project they sign up for. Watching them together is high comedy at its very best.
While “Life of the Party” isn’t nearly as polished as McCarthy’s films with director Paul Feig (“Bridesmaids,” “The Heat” and “Spy”), the film is a big step forward from what she and Falcone have done in the past. By going the PG-13 route (there’s not one F-bomb to be had in the entire film), McCarthy gets to show off the sort of sweet side that made her so lovable in her brilliant supporting turns in “Bridesmaids” and the Bill Murray comedy “St. Vincent.” That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with the bawdy humor and all the F-bombs her characters have slung around in her previous films, it’s just after so many times, McCarthy has put herself in danger of being typecast in the same sort of role.
Thankfully, McCarthy avoids that trap with “Life of the Party,” giving her career, ironically, new life and as a result, the relatable heart this film needed to succeed.
Lammometer: 7 (out of 10)
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
