Click the audio player below for Tim Lammers’ reviews of “xXx: The Return of Xander Cage” and “The Founder” on “The KQ Morning Show” with Tom Barnard.
Click the video player below for Tim Lammers’ reviews of “xXx: The Return of Xander Cage” and “The Founder” on “KARE 11 News at 11” with Adrienne Broadus.
Click the audio player below for Tim Lammers’ reviews of “Patriots Day” and “Live by Night” on “The KQ Morning Show” with Tom Barnard.
“The Accountant” (R)
Despite its fascinating subject matter, the new Ben Affleck crime thriller “The Accountant,” for the lack of better words, just doesn’t add up. Convoluted and contrived — if not completely outlandish at times — the film has a fine share of outrageously entertaining moments to make it worthwhile. Ultimately, the film feels like an amalgam of Affleck’s buddy Matt Damon’s roles in “Good Will Hunting” and “Jason Bourne,” even though its far inferior to the former and superior to the latter.
Affleck stars as Christian Wolff, one of the aliases he assumes as an accountant to un-cook the books of the worst criminals in the world, including terrorists, cartels and mobs. Cool, calm and collected, Christian, a man with high-functioning autism, is a math savant, which is why he was brought on board by a multi-billion-dollar robotics firm to find how $65 million went missing.
Quickly defying the firm’s expectations, Christian discovers the books were being cooked, which leads to the sudden deaths of some of the corporation’s top executives. But the assassins don’t want to stop there. They want the company’s accountant, Dana (Anna Kendrick), dead, too, as well as Christian.
Unbeknownst to his would-be assassins, Christian was forced by his father into violent training as a super-soldier of sorts as a young child to prepare him to combat the cruelties of the world. His lethal skills are coming in handier than ever protect himself from and he’s willing to use whatever means necessary to protect himself and Dana from a dogged assassin (Jon Bernthal) who ruthlessly dispatches everyone connected in the wrong way to his high-profile clients.
Affleck, for as much he is assailed as an actor (in such roles as Batman), is actually pretty good in “The Accountant.” He by no means rises to the level of the autistic character Dustin Hoffman won an Oscar for playing in “Rain Man,” but he brings enough subtlety and when the film needs it – physical dominance – to make the role engaging. Underplaying the role most of the time, Affleck and director Gavin O’Connor (“Warrior”) find unexpected opportunities for laughs in many different places.
Also new on Direct Conversations.com — Interview: Tim Burton, “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”
Treating Christian’s autism as an indifference with other people as opposed to a disability, “The Accountant” naturally shows how those living with the mysterious brain disorder can and will find a way to thrive in society. Of course, Christian’s ultimate actions as a mercenary of sorts are extreme, and like the mathematical equations he’s trying to figure out, the plot of the “The Accountant” is far too complex to sort out in the film’s 2-hour, 8-minute frame.
Complete with examinations of Christian’s past – as well a subplot involving a veteran U.S. Treasury officer’s (J.K. Simmons) hunt for the math genius – “The Accountant” is simply too confusing to figure out, that is, until, an obligatory flashback scenes conveniently ties up the loose ends you’ve been grasping to have tied up for the duration of the movie.
In the end, “The Accountant” is the sort of movie you’ll want to like, and if you’re willing to take the preposterous plot at face value, you’ll emerge from it at least half-satisfied. If only more thought would have gone into the examination of Christian’s autism and how it shaped him as an adult and less into the film’s action scenes, “The Accountant” would have ranked much-higher on the numbers scale. The film has a couple great twists, which will have you questioning afterward how you didn’t see them coming.
Lammometer: 6.5 (out of 10)
Listen to Tim’s review of “The Girl on the Train” on the “KQ Morning Show” with Tom Barnard below, starting at 11 minutes in.
“The Girl on the Train” (R)
Emily Blunt gives the best performance of her career with “The Girl on the Train,” a bumpy adaptation of Paula Hawkins’ best-selling crime novel of the same name.
Though it’s stacked with an excellent cast and a capable director with Tate Taylor (“The Help”), “The Girl” – about a severe alcoholic who suffers a blackout during a violent episode that leaves a woman (Haley Bennett) dead – hobbles along because of its non-linear storyline that hampers the narrative.
Click banner to learn how to buy!
Basically a whodunit thriller with a number of potential murder suspects, Taylor can’t muster enough of a shield to keep the real killer’s identity a secret for too long. With the air let out of the balloon so soon, “The Girl on the Train” turns from a suspenseful tale into more a waiting game, until the film catches up to the time it’s ready to make the big reveal.
Comparatively, “The Girl on the Train” is not nearly as good as the similarly-plotted “Gone Girl,” which at least in cinematic form, is far superior. That’s not to say this “Girl” is a bad movie – Blunt’s Oscar-caliber performance alone elevates it far above that designation.
Lammometer: 6.5 (out of 10)
Listen to Tim’s review of “The Girl on the Train” on the “KQ Morning Show” with Tom Barnard and Michele Tafoya below.
“Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” (PG-13) 3 stars
Director Zack Snyder creates an exciting template for the long anticipated “Justice League” movie with “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” which finally pits DC Comics’ two most iconic superheroes against each other on the big screen. The film picks up 18 months in the aftermath of General Zod’s attack on Metropolis, where, as we find out, involved a personal loss for Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck). Unlike others who look upon Superman (Henry Cavill) as a savior, Wayne perceives the alien from Krypton a threat to humanity, and he devises a plan to suits up as Batman to stop him.
The introduction of other members of the Justice League are sensible, especially the stunning Gal Gadot as Diana Prince and the butt-kicking Wonder Woman. The casting is terrific all around, including the return of Amy Adams as Lois Lane and Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, and the introduction of Jeremy Irons as Bruce Wayne’s caretaker, Alfred, and Jesse Eisenberg — who’s great as the sniveling, off-kilter Lex Luthor.
Snyder squeezes a lot of material into the 2 hour, 33 minute frame of “Batman v Superman,” including some huge plot developments that you won’t see coming. It’s not a perfect movie: the ending feels drawn out and the special effects in the third act get to be a bit exhausting, but overall the movie is a rousing, crowd-pleasing experience that’s made for fans and not highbrow critics.
“My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” (PG-13) 3 stars
It’s taken 14 years, but Nia Vardalos and John Corbett are back with another look at the delightfully eccentric Portokalos family in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2,” a heartfelt and funny follow-up to the surprise blockbuster original. The story picks up 17 years after the events of the first “Greek Wedding,” where Toula (Vardalos) and Ian (Corbett) are fretting over the decision of where their 17-year-old daughter, Paris (Elena Kampouris) will be going to college.
Exhausted already over the day-to-day happenings, Toula’s life becomes even more complicated when a huge family faux pas involving her dad and mom, Gus (Michael Constantine) and Maria (Lainie Kazan), is revealed. The film has several moments of inspired humor, and other moments that feel familiar, but overall, if you loved the first film, you’ll embrace this second invitation to a “Greek Wedding” whole-heartedly.
If you look over Academy Award-winning actor Jeremy Irons’ immense body of work, it shouldn’t take long to realize that no genre is beneath the legendary screen veteran. He’s done it all, from biographical films like the recent Jesse Owens biopic “Race” and of course, “Reversal of Fortune” (which earned him his Best Actor Oscar); to voicing the menacing Scar in the animated Disney film classic “The Lion King” and a role in the upcoming big-screen adaptation of the hit video game “Assassin’s Creed.”
Yet for all Irons has accomplished in his four-plus decades in the entertainment business, he’s never done any work in the superhero genre — that is, until he took on the iconic role as Bruce Wayne’s lifelong caretaker, Alfred, in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” The interesting thing, Irons said in a recent phone conversation from London, is that he’s never gone out of his way to see superhero films.
“I haven’t watched a lot of them — maybe only if I ran across them on television. I saw ‘Man of Steel’ and enjoyed that, and saw ‘Batman’ with Jack Nicholson as the Joker,” Irons said. “But having a chance to play in one is quite different, especially since this was multi-layered. The characters (in ‘Batman v Superman’) really have three-dimensional qualities.”
Opening in theaters and on IMAX screens Thursday night, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” finds two of DC Comics superheroes, Superman (Henry Cavill) and Batman (Ben Affleck) at odds when the Dark Knight fears the Man of Steel man be more of a threat to humanity than a hero as his actions appear to go unchecked. Alfred stands to be the only voice of reason for the tormented Bruce, who is so blinded with rage over Superman that he doesn’t realize another threat is emerging with maniacal industrialist Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg).
Directed by Zack Snyder, and written by Chris Terrio and David Goyer, “Batman v Superman” also stars Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Diane Lane as Martha Kent and Laurence Fishburne as Perry White.
“Batman v Superman” paints a portrait of Alfred who is decidedly different that anything we’ve seen before in live-action form. Much more than a butler and longtime caretaker of the orphaned Bruce, Alfred, as we discover, is an experienced tactician with military skills — which becomes vital in the preparation of Batman’s armory and the operation of his vehicles and weaponry when the Dark Knight faces a formidable threat.
Irons said his take on Alfred was partly informed by an experience he had with a former neighbor of his who happened to be one of the richest men in the world: John Paul Getty. The people working for him may have seemed like they were doing mundane jobs for the billionaire, but looks, as Irons found out, were quite deceiving.
“I remember arriving at his estate with my wife and the gates were opened by two gentlemen, and then I drove and parked by the house, where there was another gentleman who took my car,” Irons recalled. “Then once we went into the foyer, another gentleman took our coats and then there was another, standing with a tray of champagne.”
Later that evening, Irons said he learned that all the employees he encountered were once members of the British SAS: “They were Special Forces, so everybody, from his valet to his gardener, were all people who could turn into a very defensive force if they had to.”
“John Paul Getty, of course, had a bad experience from his children being kidnapped, so I thought, ‘Well, wouldn’t Mr. and Mrs. Wayne do the same thing for Bruce?'” Irons said. “They may call Alfred ‘the butler’ or they may call him ‘the guardian,’ ‘the mechanic’ or whatever. He’s a man who can do all those things, but behind the scenes he has a myriad of talents he could use, depending on the situation. That was very interesting to me. It was a really fascinating quality of the character that I could run with.”
Irons also noted that Alfred is different in this Batman tale because Bruce is in different state of mind than we’ve ever seen him before on the big screen because he’s targeting Superman. Being Bruce’s only voice of reason, Alfred may be the only person who can stop him from making a terrible mistake in facing off against the Man of Steel.
“I think one of the strengths of this movie is that Chris Terrio has written some scenes for Bruce and Alfred where you see Bruce tussling with his conscience and tussling with his morality,” Irons said. “I hope that you can see that these two people have spent a lot of time together over many years and that they’re interdependent in a strange way. Even though Bruce is Batman and the employer, he still needs Alfred’s support.”
Irons said he emerged from “Batman v Superman” a huge fan of Snyder, who was completely graceful under the pressure of his enormous responsibility as the architect of the film.
“I was in awe watching him and just knew how much was in his head. There’s a lot in every director’s head, but when you’re doing a movie of this scale, a director like Zack is carrying a massive weight,” Irons said. “Yet, when he was working with us on set, none of that showed. He was just there for us in that scene we were doing. He would just throw out ideas and jokes, and made me feel very much at ease. That’s important when a movie that’s been rolling four or five months and you come in and do your little bit. It’s a great talent for a director can pull you in and make you feel like you’re the most important person there.”
