I join CTV Atlantic anchor Todd Battis to talk about the dark comedy “The Roses,” the relationship farce “Splitsville,” the gritty crime drama “Caught Stealing” and the rebirth of “The Toxic Avenger.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I joined CTV NewsChannel anchor Roger Peterson to have a look at new movies coming to theatres including the dark comedy “The Roses,” the relationship farce “Splitsville” and the gritty crime drama “Caught Stealing.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make the bed! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the dark comedy “The Roses,” the relationship farce “Splitsville” and the gritty crime drama “Caught Stealing.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: A screwball take on the rom com, “Spiltsville” begins when Ashley (Adria Arjona) blindsids her husband, the good-natured Carey (Kyle Marvin), by asking for a divorce. Looking for support, the heartbroken Carey turns to his best friend Paul (Michael Angelo Covino) and his wife Julie (Dakota Johnson), a move that inadvertently turns all their relationships upside down.
CAST: Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, Marvin, Covino, Nicholas Braun, David Castañeda, O-T Fagbenle, Charlie Gillespie, and Simon Webster. Directed by Michael Angelo Covino.
REVIEW: “Splitsville” uses a fiercely funny look at modern relationships as a vehicle for a close-up examination of self-discovery and acceptance.
Married for fourteen months, Ashley (Adria Arjona) and Carey’s (Kyle Marvin) marriage crumbled in just ten tumultuous minutes. She is a podcaster and life coach who says things like, “If it isn’t said, it can’t be put to bed,” he’s a laid-back guy with a penchant for Dad jokes— Still wanna go to the beach house? Are you shore?—who dreams of starting a family.
She’s looking for excitement, he’s booking pottery classes for them.
On the way to a beach house owned by their rich friends Paul (Michael Angelo Covino) and Julie (Dakota Johnson), they inadvertently cause a car accident, an event that prompts Ashley to admit that she’s been having affairs and no longer wants to be married.
At the beach house Paul and Julie offer up a mix of condolences, jabs—“You married a life coach, what did you expect?”—and a startling confession. The secret to their seemingly perfect union, they say, is an open relationship.
Over the next several years, bonds are tested as the four main characters discover the enduring nature of love and relationships, even when they go wrong.
If Neil Simon wrote about love in the 2000s, he might have come up with something like “Splitsville.” It’s silly and sophisticated, unafraid of male nudity but willing to seriously contemplate messy relationships with a mix of heartbreak and humor.
One sequence, an extended fight between Carey and Paul, is hilarious, but at its heart it’s fueled by raw, unchecked emotion, the consequences of jealousy and insecurity. It’s absurd, and knee slappingly funny, but it also hits the heart.
“Splisville” is a comedy, and often a farcical one, but underneath its comedy veneer is a carefully observed look at desire vs. romance.
“Suze,” a new film featuring “Tiny Beautiful Things” star Michaela Watkins, and now playing in theatres, is an empty nest dramedy about a mother who takes an unusual path to combat the loneliness she feels when her daughter leaves town for university.
After discovering her husband cheating with their golf pro, Suze (Watkins) is once again confronted by abandonment when daughter Brooke (Sara Waisglass) announces she is moving to Montreal to attend McGill University. Although she is assured by a colleague that she’ll find time for herself in her daughter’s absence—“You’re finally free!”—she instead feels alone and adrift. “I am terrified of losing her,” she says.
And she’s not the only one.
Brooke’s heart-broken, Spicoli-wannabe ex-boyfriend Gage (Charles Gillespie), who plays guitar in a band called The Emotional Morons, falls to pieces and lands in the hospital. “It hurts in places I didn’t even know could hurt,” he says.
Gage’s father (Aaron Ashmore) isn’t available to help him recuperate, so Suze reluctantly allows him to stay with her for a couple weeks. “It’s kinda funny Suze,” Gage says, “how we both got left by the same person.”
Over time, they work through their heartbreak, finding strength in other’s company as they really get to know one another.
“Suze” is a never-judge-a-book-by-its-cover story, with a few laughs, some earned heartfelt moments and heaps of compassion. The daughter is a McGuffin, more a plot device to put the odd couple story in motion than anything else. The important and appealing part of the story is the relationship between Suze and Gage, everything else is set dressing.
There is a great chemistry between Watkins and Gillespie.
Suze moves from mistrustful to maternal as Gage’s innocent, natural charm becomes obvious, but Watkins avoids sentimentality in her approach to the burgeoning relationship. She has an edge, born of anger, experience and frustration that can be heartfelt, dramatic or comedic depending on the situation.
Gillespie brings the off-kilter energy of a guy who has been misunderstood his entire life. His performance is a winning mix of guilelessness and charisma, one that easily could have been a caricature but emerges fully formed.
What binds them both is their natural approach to kindness and compassion.
The key to “Suze’s” success is the way it presents a platonic relationship based on mutual respect and how they give one another a reason to embrace the battle scars that formed them, and move ahead toward happiness.
