Posts Tagged ‘Chris Geere’

KINDA PREGNANT: 2 STARS. “raunchy material at odds with heartfelt aspects.”

SYNOPSIS: In “Kinda Pregnant,” a new rom com now streaming on Netflix, Amy Schumer plays a woman who, when her hopes of settling down and starting a family are upended, fakes a pregnancy and falls for the man of her dreams. “The belly is fake,” reads the movie’s tagline. “The struggle is real.”

CAST: Amy Schumer, Jillian Bell, Will Forte, Damon Wayans Jr., Brianne Howey, Chris Geere, Alex Moffat. Directed by Tyler Spindel.

REVIEW: “Kinda Pregnant” is kinda funny, with laughs sprinkled throughout, but it works best when it shelves the outrageous stuff in favor of more heartfelt material.

In the movie’s early minutes of seven-year-old Lainy (Jayne Sowers) tells her best friend Kate (Julianna Layne), “being a mom is the best thing a human being can do.”

Cut to modern day. Lainy, now played by Amy Schumer, is a schoolteacher, still best friends with Kate (Jillian Bell) and still obsessed with starting a family when she is hit with a double whammy. Kate gets pregnant after her boyfriend Dave (Damon Wayans Jr.) drops a bomb on her, leaving her feeling that love is a lie.

Jealous of Kate’s pregnancy and despondent over Dave, Lainy, in true screwball comedy form, shoplifts a fake baby bump and discovers that when people think she’s pregnant they’re nicer to her.

Cue the misunderstandings and mayhem.

Those familiar with Schumer’s work will find a great deal of shared territory between her stand-up and “Kinda Pregnant.” Bold, unapologetic and relatable, Schumer’s stand-up is personal, a beguiling mix of social commentary, self-deprecation and gender politics.

Many of those themes are present here.

The movie, like her stand-up and her award-winning TV show “Inside Amy Schumer,” deals with body image, societal expectations placed on pregnant women, insecurities, the intricacies of friendship and the blossoming of real human connection, but the keenly observed insights of her stand up are blunted here, mostly reduced to broad generalizations and rude and crude punchlines.

But don’t get me wrong, some of the raunchy stuff works— South African-New Zealander comic Urzila Carlson is outrageous and funny, and Brianne Howey as the overbearing Megan, who says, “Kindness is my favorite hobby,” raises a few laughs—but it seems at odds with the more heartfelt aspects of the story.

“Kinda Pregnant’s” clichéd message of learning to love oneself before seeking it elsewhere comes a bit too late, long after our love for the movie has gone.

POKÉMON: DETECTIVE PIKACHU: 1 ½ STARS. “the cutest crime noir film ever made.”

Someone you know spends far too much time playing the adventure videogame “Detective Pikachu.” The enormously popular Nintendo game is a time waster of epic proportions, eating up minutes faster than old school Pac Man gobbling up Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde. Now a live action movie, “Pokémon: Detective Pikachu” starring Ryan Reynolds as the title character, a little yellow rodent-like creature with soulful eyes, vies for your time at the movies.

Set on the day-glo neon streets of Ryme City, “a celebration of the harmony between humans and Pokémon,” the movie begins with the disappearance of police detective Harry Goodman at the hands of a ruthless Pokémon.

Looking to get to the bottom of the case Harry’s insurance salesman son Tim (Justice Smith) joins with his dad’s Pokémon partner, the wise-cracking but amnesiac Detective Pikachu (Reynolds). The two have a connection that goes beyond words… sort of. Only Tim can understand what the little pocket monster is saying. “People try and talk to me all the time and all they can hear is ‘Pike, pika.’” They’re a natural fit. One can talk to humans, the other to Pokémon. “If you want to find your Pops we’re gonna need each other.” With the aid of investigative journalist Lucy Stevens (Kathryn Newton) they uncover a criminal conspiracy that threatens Ryme City’s human/ Pokémon harmony.

The worldwide popularity of Pokémon pretty much guarantees an audience for “Pokémon: Detective Pikachu” but it’s hard for me to imagine anyone who hasn’t spent hours whiling away the time with the game to enjoy this as much as already established fans. It is probably the cutest crime noir film ever made but it’s also a slog that should be a lot more fun. Not even Reynolds’s trademarked way with a one-liner can liven up this convoluted script.

“Pokémon: Detective Pikachu” feels like a retro kid’s flick. Echoes of “Gremlins,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and even “Howard the Duck” reverberate throughout, but with an emphasis on spectacle rather than charm and story.