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 bullet ballet of “Ballerina,” fishy thriller “Dangerous Animals” and the horror comedy “I Don’t Understand You.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the bullet ballet of “Ballerina,” fishy thriller “Dangerous Animals,” the horror comedy “I Don’t Understand You,” the animated “Predator: Killer of Killers” and the exorcism flick “The Ritual.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “I Don’t Understand You,” a new horror-comedy now playing in theatres, Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells play Dom and Cole, a wealthy American couple whose tenth anniversary trip to Italy devolves into chaos when they get lost on the way to a fancy restaurant located in a rural farm. “I thought we would die here,” Cole says. “Alone in a rental car.” Complicating an already complicated situation, their surrogate (Amanda Seyfried) goes into early labor and asks them to return from their trip earlier than planned.
CAST: Nick Kroll, Andrew Rannells, Morgan Spector, Eleonora Romandini and Amanda Seyfried. Written and directed by David Joseph Craig and Brian Crano.
REVIEW: Mean spirited, but often very funny, “I Don’t Understand You” mixes deadpan humor with buckets of blood in a story of a vacation gone horribly wrong.
Loosely based on the real-life vacations-gone-wild and adoption fraud experiences of writer/directors David Joseph Craig and Brian Crano, the movie is a farcical mix-and-match of misunderstandings and murder that still manages to find time for tenderness.
That comes courtesy of Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells, who, when they aren’t accidentally killing the locals, have great chemistry and the lived-in feel of a real couple. That both are also masters of the throw-away, funny comment is an added bonus as they humorously remark on the increasingly chaotic goings on.
As funny as the leads are, the movie struggles to reconcile adoption anxiety and mayhem. The story’s adoption fraud angle is left mostly unexplored, serving primarily as a McGuffin for the mayhem in Italy. As a result, “I Don’t Understand You” has some tonal problems, but its commitment to outrageous fun trumps whatever wonky feeling is left behind by the script.
By Richard Crouse – Metro Canada
In its first hour, the new film Permission looks and feels a lot like a traditional romantic comedy — but this is a trick, says actress Rebecca Hall.
“When we first started out making this (director Brian Crano) said, ‘I want this to look like a classic rom-com from the ’90s. Lots of backdrops from Manhattan. Lots of completely gorgeous-looking apartments that, inexplicably, these people are living in. Everyone is beautiful. Everything is beautiful,” explains Hall.
And just when you think you’re on cosy ground, “the rug is pulled out from under you. You feel gut-punched.”
In the film, Will, played by Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens, and Anna (Hall) have been sweethearts since high school. Now, on the cusp of her 30th birthday he’s about to pop the question. First though she drunkenly proposes they sleep around a bit. Not break up, but get some life experience before they settle down. At first they encourage one another in a bit of harmless fun but as their polyamorous relationships start to deepen, uncomfortable realities are revealed.
“Over the years we’ve all had conversations about relationships and where they were heading,” Hall says. “Brian noticed a general trend that happened somewhere around the ages of 27 to 30-something, where people who had been in shockingly monogamous, stable relationships either got married or broke up. This was something he was interested in because so many of his friends were children of divorce or had complex attitudes toward monogamy. Some were fundamentally monogamous while others were exploring other options.”
Permission’s final third contains the film’s most essential truths. In a dramatic shift in tone from the first hour, the harsh realisms of this arrangement appear.
“The thing we were interested in weren’t the moral rights or wrongs, if there are any, of having an open relationship,” she says. “It was more about these two people who are stuck, who have not allowed each other growth because they have been together for so long and have not had the level of communication in the relationship that is necessary. The film is really about giving ourselves permission to question a relationship that is basically good. It sounds like a nothing statement but no matter how sophisticated and evolved and progressive we have all become there is still this strange pressure to do the right thing. If the relationship is good you stay in it because if you leave it you might be mean or a failure.”
The film takes a thoughtful and mature approach to its story, asking: How far can you stray, even with permission?
“Brian and I used to play a little game,” Hall says, “where we would try and think of films and stories where women have sexual agency but aren’t kooky, crazy people who end up being psychopaths or pixie dream girl stereotypes. It was difficult to come up with. The construction of Anna was really someone who is working out what that means. She is going to discover what sexual agency means for her. She is going to own it and be empowered by it. I think that is a really important message to put out there right now.”
Recently CNN reported on a study that claimed cuckolding can be positive for some couples. Their reporting of it was roundly mocked on line, with one twitter user dubbing CNN the “Cuckolding News Network” while another called it, “a brilliant idea for strengthening your relationship in time for Valentine’s Day!” Validity of the study aside, “Permission,” a new movie starring Rebecca Hall, explores the same territory.
Will (Dan Stevens) and Anna (Hall) have been sweethearts since high school. Now, on the cusp of her thirtieth birthday he’s about to pop the question. First though she drunkenly proposes they sleep around a bit. Not break up, but get some life experience before they settle down. At first they encourage one another in a bit of harmless fun but as their polyamorous relationships start to deepen uncomfortable realities are revealed.
Director-writer Brian Crano takes a thoughtful and mature approach to the material but his delivery of it feels scattershot. The first hour has an effervescence to it that disappears as the various story threads wrap up. In the beginning it feels sexy and dangerous but as Anna’s relationship with musician Dane (Francois Arnaud) and Will’s fling with divorcée Lydia (Gina Gershon) heat up questions arise. How far can you stray even with permission?
The final third contains the film’s most essential truths. In a dramatic shift in tone from the first hour, the harsh realisms of this arrangement appear. Also effective is a subplot about Anna’s brother Hale (David Joseph Craig), his boyfriend Reece (Morgan Spector) and their desire (or not) to have a baby. It is heartfelt and could definitely been given more screen time.
“Permission” is easily more interesting than CNN’s treatment of the same material. Although uneven it is an interesting look at the responsibilities that come with adult relationships.
