As soon as I heard about the movie Tropic Thunder, I was excited to see it. I know I’m not alone, as this movie was getting hyped for months before it’s release date. Not only was the plot line interesting, but it also boasted a star-studded cast and was being directed by Ben Stiller (Reality Bites, Zoolander). I got to go opening weekend to see this movie, and although I didn’t walk out of the theater disappointed I wasn’t thrilled either.

The movie started out promising enough, with faux trailers to the “stars” hit movies. There’s action star Tugg Speedman (Stiller) whose star is on the down slope, Eddie Murphy like comedian Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black, Be Kind Rewind), and over the top method actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr., Iron Man). All these stars have come together to make a movie based on a true story of soldiers during the Vietnam War. The stars are whiny though, the director (Steve Coogan, 24 Hour Party People) is overwhelmed, and the whole production is over budget during their first week. The story’s real life inspiration John ‘Four Leaf’ Trayback (Nick Nolte, 48 Hrs.) gives the director the idea to shoot the movie guerilla style by placing cameras around the forest and dropping the actors off in the middle of nowhere with only a map and script and told they must find their way back to the helicopter. Instead of filming the movie, they end up in a real life drug war, which is where most of the jokes come from as they act as if they are still in the movie most of the time.

Downey is really a scene-stealer in this movie. His character has gone though a surgery to dye his skin black, and is never willing to break character as the African American platoon leader. It definitely wouldn’t have worked as well without having Brandon T. Jackson (This Christmas) play the other African American in the platoon who calls him out for his shenanigans – which he does so whenever possible. My personal favorite character was Jay Baruchel (“Undeclared”, Knocked Up) as Kevin Sandusky, the unknown and naïve actor of the group. He’s the only actor of the group that actually went to the boot camp they were all supposed to go to, and he even read the entire script!

From what I’ve heard from other people who have seen this movie, they are shocked by Tom Cruise’s (Vanilla Sky) appearance in the movie. Cruise plays a balding, overweight head of the production company. Mostly all he does is curse and dance throughout the movie. People have been saying this is a great comeback for Cruise, but I disagree. His character was more annoying than the real Cruise! I also found his dancing to be completely unfunny and unnecessary. At the screening I attended there were hardly any laughter at this point, and I even saw some people with very confused looks on their faces (I’m sure my own is included). I much preferred Matthew McConaughey (Sahara) as Speedman’s laid-back agent who fights tooth and nail to get his client TiVO.

Also, another thing I found annoying in this movie was that most of the funnier moments were shown in the trailer. There were still a couple surprise moments of hilarity, but most of them I’d already seen out of context. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy this movie, I did, just not as much as I’d expected to. I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the movie, but about halfway through my interested started to drop. There were still a couple good moments in the second half, but not as many as I expected. In the end, I’d give Tropic Thunder a B-.

I think ‘stoner’ comedies are funny.  I’ve watched the Cheech and Chong movies numerous times (although I probably shouldn’t have seen them at the age I did), and I love Harold and Kumar…but would I love Dale and Saul, the stoner buddies of Pineapple Express? The answer is a resounding YES! Dale and Saul are one of the funniest comedy teams I’ve seen in awhile. 

Dale (Seth Rogen, Knocked Up) is pretty much a loser.  He is a process server, meaning he doesn’t do much of anything.  Mostly he just drives around smoking weed and listening to the radio.  Occasionally he dresses up in costumes to fool people into admitting who they are so he can serve them a subpoena.  After work he hangs out with his 18-year-old, high school girlfriend, and buys weed from Saul (James Franco, Spiderman).  Although Dale doesn’t like Saul at first, he has to be nice to him to get the good weed – like the new blend called the pineapple express.  After buying his weed from Saul, he goes to serve one more client, taking his new blend with him.  While waiting outside he accidentally witnesses a murder by a policewoman (Rosie Perez, White Men Can’t Jump) and the local drug lord (Gary Cole, Office Space).  Stoned and scared he throws his joint out of the car and races to Saul’s.  Paranoia ensues as the two think they will be found.  Turns out that hit men who have been sent by the drug lord really are following them.  For me, this is when the movie really begins.   The audience follows Dale and Saul on their stoned adventure, and it is some funny stuff! 

First I want to give recognition to Danny McBride (The Foot Fist Way).  He plays the middleman between the drug lord and Saul, and he is hilarious!  He takes a shot like a champ, and keeps it going.  I definitely look forward to seeing him in more movies!  Now on to the rest…I am not a James Franco fan.  Normally when I watch him act…well try to act…I just want to smack him, but I actually enjoyed him as Saul.  The only other time I’ve liked Franco was also when he played a stoner, in “Freaks and Geeks.” So I guess that’s the role that works best for him. I already knew that Franco and Rogen would have great chemistry, and it was in full force here.  Rogen plays the loveable loser with ease, and here it is no different.  Surprisingly though, he also shows himself to be a bit of an action star.  This movie had a lot more action than I expected. There were fights, guns, and blood abound.  I was surprised at how much blood was in the movie, not that it was an excessive amount – I just wasn’t expecting it.  Rogen and writing partner Evan Goldberg dabbled in action with their last effort Superbad, but they really dive right into this movie.   

I’ve heard from some other people who have seen this movie that they think it’s more of a ‘guy’s movie.’ I don’t agree though.  I think it just depends on the person, of course, but if you’re a comedy fan I think you’ll enjoy the Pineapple Express.  I’m going to give this one a B+ and you know what…I think I’ll give James Franco another chance. 

Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) is back again to defend his family’s honor by unraveling a new trail of clues. This time it’s his great-grandfather who has come under scrutiny, as it emerges that he is listed in John Wilkes Booth’s diary as a conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

It would be pretty easy to be scathing about this movie if it weren’t for the fact that I don’t think it sets its ambitions that high in the first place. If you’ve watched the first installment of National Treasure you’ll know that everyone involved is looking to make a film that tries nothing more than to be entertaining for a couple of hours. There is no need to engage the brain just hit auto-pilot and let the movie do its thing. So, with that in mind the movie does succeed.

The original treasure hunting gang are back and are as one dimensional as ever. Oddly it’s not as disappointing as it should be because they don’t really need to be anything else. If anything it makes the performances of Jon Voight and Helen Mirren (Ben’s parents) all the more entertaining. It’s like watching them have a mufti day at work where they can just run about enjoying themselves.

The plot is incredibly outlandish and impossible to achieve in real life without Gates being shot as a terrorist on several occasions. As long as you’re able to take that in your stride it really doesn’t matter. The only danger is Cage taking Gates too far over the top to be reigned back in. Thankfully I can only remember that happening once and I was quite pleased to see him quickly arrested.

Let’s face it, if you watched the first one, a lot of what happens here is going to be familiar. It is simply another episode of a mindless action adventure that manages not to offend too much. I don’t think fans of the first movie will be disappointed by this one, if anything I think I might have been more entertained this time around.

You can do a lot worse than spending a couple of hours following the treasure clues with Cage and comapany. Just don’t expect to unearth a masterpiece.

Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) runs a New York nightclub frequented by Russian gangsters. His world is centered around enjoying himself with his girlfriend Amanda (Eva Mendes) in a society of drugs and alcohol. It’s not long before we find out that to facilitate this world he’s distanced himself as much as possible from his family of police officers. When his father, Deputy Chief Bert Grusinsky (Robert Duvall) and his brother Captain Joseph Grusinsky (Mark Wahlberg) start cracking down on the drugs being dealt in the nightclub, Bobby is forced to choose sides.

We Own the Night is one of those solid police movies that tries to rely on straight forward story telling rather leaning on a multitude of action scenes. Unfortunately, the script doesn’t really carry the weight of expectation as only Phoenix’s character gets the chance to display any real complexity. Nobody else gets the same opportunity and it’s a shame because it’s a waste of a good cast. Duval and Wahlberg put in decent performances without being stretched and although Mendes fares a little better, she still doesn’t get the kind of gritty role she could have portrayed.

That’s not to say that the script is poorly written, just a little lacking in tension or gripping drama. When the action scenes do come they are handled superbly well. Director (and writer) James Gray chooses to display a degree of realism rather than resorting to some state-of-the-art fireworks to get our hearts pumping. Even the car chase is a little understated and it makes it all the more compelling to watch.

Phoenix delivers the standout performance in a mumbling, nonchalant kind of way but is undermined by the contrived ending. Once his character is given carte blanche to do whatever he likes and starts wondering around with a shotgun all the realism unravels into a messy ending.

All in all a solid police movie that doesn’t quite engage. It suffers from an undulation of too many lows being overwhelmed by the highs. Still, it’s certainly watchable and a harmless way to spend a couple hours on the sofa.