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The Family Man Review

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Time for a classic Christmas switcheroo film. Whenever a character is given a glimpse of a What If scenario you have to wonder if this other life is better or not. I’m sure everyone’s thought of What Ifs at some point or another. I still remember how if I had rolled another way I would have likely won the Super Smash Bros national. Now that would have been absolutely insane. Back to the movie though, it’s a fun enough adventure even if it feels like the lead can’t catch a break.

The movie opens with Jack and Kate having a tearful goodbye as Jack has to go abroad to accept his promotion. Kate warns him not to go since she thinks Jack won’t return. He promises that he will be back though and we jump ahead a few years. Jack is now one of the richest people on the planet and is about to engineer the biggest merger in history. Unfortunately he did not go back to Kate so he is now single. Jack’s living it up though and seems to be as happy as can be. His life is borderline perfect or at least it feels that way. He has everything that he could ever want and is happily single. He doesn’t even think about the road not travelled. Well, one day he stops a hold up that was in progress with some quick thinking. The potential shooter, a guy named Cash tells Jack that he went too far when Jack casually tries to get Cash some help and talks about how his current life is perfect.

Cash curses Jack into another dimension, the dimension of what if. In this world, Jack ended up going back to Kate. They’re now fairly poor as they live in a house where they still have over 100 payments to make. Jack works at a tire shop now and is very unhappy. He wants to go back to his real life but there seems to be no way to do so. With no prior memories of this current life, Jack keeps getting himself into trouble. Can he make it back to his standard timeline or is this game over for him as a rich CEO?

In a lot of these What Ifs, the character goes to the other world because they wanted to. They made a wish on a crystal ball or talked about their issues with Santa. This film is an interesting reverse of the usual scenario as Jack absolutely did not want to leave his current status. He was quite happy with how things had gone and it’s really Cash who claims that Jack would be happier this way. Of course you figure Jack will give in by the end but it almost feels like he was being punished for helping Cash out and doing the right thing. Not exactly the big reward you would have expected for nearly saving the day.

There are a lot of fun moments here and the Family Man makes for a fun comedy. The writing is strong and while not every joke will land, there’s a lot to enjoy here. The script is definitely on point and the opening 10 minutes with Jack in the original timeline may be the highlight here. It’s just nice to see him really going over the top with how much or a “Profits first” guy he is. Thing is, he’s not even a super unreasonable boss. He’s paying everyone for their time and securing a big deal. He even says they can have a party, just once the merger is in effect.

Jack seems like the kind of boss you would like to have. He may not give you all the vacation time you would want but he does the toughest jobs himself. He’s the one who actually goes out to meet up with the execs and secure the deals. Jack really put in a lot of effort so I can see why he would be upset at having to lose all of that. He definitely made a mistake in ditching Kate like that, he probably should have called her over. That could have been the ideal timeline.

That said, I just don’t think Cash was correct about Jack not being happy with his life deep down or anything like that. Jack was clearly having a blast, there’s no way you can tell me he was sad or anything like that. He just got the biggest deal in history and enjoyed where he was. He even has a good working relationship with his subordinates and peers. Usually in these films one of the messages is that you can’t be happy if you’re single but that was a big myth and Jack really busted it here.

So in this other world, you can understand why he is upset because it does feel like a downgrade. He has a family now but has lost years of work and effort. Put it this way, it’s easier to find someone and start a family than it is to become rich again. If Jack really wanted someone, I’m sure he could probably have done that. Where the film goes a bit far in stopping him is when Jack ends up finding a path that will let him be rich again while also keeping his family. It’s sounding good until Kate tells him this is a bad idea and he has to decline that deal. It’s a shame because that would have been the best of both worlds. I’m sure Cash would have stopped him either way but it was a good effort.

Jack isn’t the nicest guy though and so a lot of the time you will feel worse for Kate and the kids. Jack could have done better to take this all in stride. Even if the situation wasn’t fair for him, it’s not like they had anything to do with it. Kate’s a nice heroine who does her best to support Jack at all times. I think she could have handled the end better with him trying to get rich again but he didn’t really think it through very well either. The whole sending the kids off to private school was definitely not the way you open that conversation.

The movie’s romance would be the weakest part which is what keeps the film from being a little higher. I was glad Jack at least turned down the side affair, that would have been too much to come back from. When he was single he had a lot of affairs which are definitely the weaker moments for his character. I still wouldn’t use that to show that he’s unhappy though, that’s just something you see all the rich characters do to flaunt their power. So long as they aren’t cheating on someone, it’s not nearly as big a deal.

I could also do without the kids to be honest as they usually seem to be here to guilt trip Jack. Also, the kid let him down with not telling him about the anniversary gift in time. That’s a really big thing not to mention and it nearly put Jack in the dog house. If you’re going to remember one thing, that would be the event to remember since the others just don’t matter in comparison.

Overall, you’ll have a good time with The Family Man. It’s a fun film that manages to cover quite a lot by the time that it’s over. The long length is good here because you get to really see both of his lives. The supporting cast is good too like Jack’s best friend in the new world. He really did his best to try and help Jack out through the tough patches. You always want to have a friend like that because he was both loyal and dependable. Without him Jack would have certainly gone down the wrong road. It’s not perfect but it’s a fun adventure. I definitely had fun with it and it’s certainly the kind of feel good film that succeeds in its efforts. You’ll leave with a positive spirit even if you may feel like his old life was still the best one. It’s hard to turn down being a CEO after all and I still stand by the fact that he seemed to be a rather good/fair boss.

Overall 6/10

The Nine Kittens of Christmas Review

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Hallmark returns with another big Christmas title. This one’s even a sequel to one of their earlier Christmas titles which is pretty neat. You definitely don’t see sequels like that very often. I don’t think it quite takes down the original but it’s fun to see the characters again. It’s hard to buy into them breaking up the way that they did but I suppose the film wanted to get some drama in somehow.

The movie starts off with Marilee getting ready to take a trip back home. She moves away after breaking up with Zachary and found a new man to love. In fact they are quite close to being married but he is unable to make it for this vacation and we find out this is not the first time they had to have a change of plans. Marilee breaks off their relationship and goes back home by herself. It’s all going well until she runs into her ex: Zachary. It turns out that he never rebounded with anyone once she left so maybe Marilee can get him once more. Will the two be together for Christmas and is there any reason we should think this will last this time?

Now the movie is a solid one as you’d expect with Hallmark titles but the romance has to be one of the weakest ones. Because the main characters have already broken up once you just feel a bit more jaded this time around. Clearly Marilee moved on quickly since she was getting ready to marry someone. Rebounds will always weaken a romance for me because you just have a lot of doubts here. You know that this wasn’t the first pick so it doesn’t feel as genuine. As the romance plays a big part in the film here, you can see how that hurts the movie a bit. You know where it is going from the start but you’re just not able to get on board.

The reasons for why Marilee and Zachary are kept rather vague too. It seems like Zachary was not ready for the big changes that Marilee wanted and so they drifted apart. It doesn’t seem like either one tried very hard to get the other back either. Ah well, at least both of them have found success on their own. Marilee became quite accomplished in her field of pet care and Zachary is next in line to be the chief. Both of them stuck to their guns and have done rather well.

Marilee’s a good main character who always wants to help people out. She’ll go the extra mile to ensure that the animals are well taken care of and won’t back down. Zachary’s a nice guy who can’t leave a kitten in need and is also super humble so he’s not sure if he’s ready to be a big boss. Both characters are solid even if a bit one dimensional so they work well in leading the movie. Then you have the current fire chief Sam who has really done a good job all these years. It’s clear that he has done well by the community and so it’s about time he lets himself retire.

The movie goes by really quick so the pacing is on point. I guess it just feels a bit emptier compared to some of the others. There really isn’t a big ordeal to overcome or any real big obstacles. There’s no rival, barely even any misunderstandings. I suppose the focus here is just on seeing the two get back together but otherwise it feels a bit more uneventful. This realization hits you a lot harder once the film is over though so during it you should be good. We get some Christmas music and all which is always a good thing.

At the end of the day there isn’t really anything bad about the film which is always important. It’s just a fun Christmas film to get you into the festive spirit. You can probably watch this at any time but doing it around Christmas will end up boosting the experience a bit. The kittens are nice enough as well. I’m definitely way more of a dog person so seeing a bunch of puppies around would have been cool but the kittens help get the characters back together which is important. Without them the heroes would not have made nearly as much ground considering how easy it is to push them apart.

Low key I have to give the heroine’s friends some credit here. Initially when they aren’t sure if Zachary would be a good match right now, they have Marilee’s back at all times. Whether it’s awkwardly asking if she wants to shop with them as a way to get away from Zachary or just standing by her, it was nice to see the loyalty here. It’s always good to have quality friends at the ready and Marilee’s friends were good.

Overall, There isn’t a ton to talk about in this film. It really doesn’t have a big plot or anything like that, it’s just a fun Christmas story with a lot of drama and some romance. I didn’t buy into the romance angle but beyond that the movie is strong on all sides so I’d recommend giving it a watch. There may not be a whole lot to discuss but you’ll have a good time and that’s the important thing in the end. Now that we have one sequel, hopefully they make a second so we can just turn this into a full trilogy.

Overall 7/10

Grumpier Old Men Review

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It’s time to look at the big sequel! Grumpier Old Men really picks up where the last one left off. In a lot of ways I would say it’s just like the original and has the same strengths and weaknesses. As to which film was better, well I would say the first has the slight edge for me. It’s just better in each area and yes even the romance is better than in this film. I’m afraid that is the weakness of the title yet again.

The movie starts with John and Max still having their friendly competitions although I would say they’re on better terms than usual. Their kids are getting ready to be married and so things couldn’t be better. Unfortunately their lives take a twist when the owner of the bait shop dies and Maria moves in. She has decided that the area will be a restaurant instead and Max doesn’t like that. He decides that he will do whatever it takes to ensure her business is not a success. He will sabotage it at every turn until she surrenders. John is willing to help him on this so for once you’ve got both characters teaming up against a new antagonist.

I would say one of the big issues here is that the film has absolutely no idea what it is doing. The whole main plot with Maria deciding to open a restaurant instead of the bait shop was a solid premise. We could now have a good battle with the heroes uniting to take her on yet the movie moves on from this premise early on into a series of unrelated events that don’t really connect much. By the end we do get one fake out involving a wedding but there just isn’t a lot of focus to the movie and it squanders all of its potential.

That’s why the opening scenes are the best ones with the heroes pulling pranks on Maria. It made for a nice montage and again, it was just nice to see some unity between them. They united to fight a common enemy and Maria seemed like someone who would fight back rather well. That could have been the premise for the entire film but unfortunately Maria gives up almost immediately when nobody goes to her restaurant on opening day. I have to assume this was due to John and Max’s interference unless they were right and people wouldn’t travel here to eat.

So Maria tries to seduce Max which doesn’t work but Ariel says she’ll help out. Okay so we have a new plot premise here. A 2 on 2 battle with John and Max fighting Maria and Ariel. That could be a lot of fun and Ariel knows them really well so you can see how there could be a lot of back and forth here. A bit different from the first premise but it could absolutely work. Only Ariel is a non factor after this scene. Her only contribution is to tell John to go over and apologize or else. She even kicks him out of the house in the meantime.

So John heads on over and is promptly defeated so maybe under Ariel’s orders John will be forced to team up with Maria to stop Max? This premise might even make the most amount of sense since it gives us an excuse to have the two characters fighting again. There’s a lot of mileage there but the film doesn’t go with this either. Instead it’s at this point where the film gets more dramatic and we find out that Maria likes Max just like how he likes her. From there the battle is completely over. The restaurant is almost never brought up again and we transition to more about the kids’ romance plot and the characters getting to know each other.

Or as I call it, the plot ends here. They foiled Maria (Since she relents about the bait) and her plans so the movie ended here. The issue is that it was too soon so that’s why the rest of the story elements are brought in. It’s a shame too since all it does is drag Jacob and Melanie back down. So from the last film she agreed to rebound with Jacob and he was thrilled since he always had a crush on her. Well, the marriage is super close but at the last second Melanie gets cold feet and wants to push it back while Jacob starts hurling insults in a moment of weakness. Just like that, the wedding is off. The plot point is so meaningless that this is reversed very quickly.

The two characters just aren’t likable though and if their romance is already failing then I don’t see it lasting past the winter. As mentioned, the main romance is also really bad though. You mean to tell me that Maria genuinely fell for the guy who was going out of his way to sabotage her career and humiliate her? Keep in mind that she put all of her money into this venture so she could easily turn out to be bankrupt before long. I don’t care if Max was rocking an 8 pack, she is not going to fall for him under this scenario.

At least for the bar scene she was trying to manipulate him but it wasn’t real yet. After that somehow she did fall for him and the whole romance plot is a mess. Then for a “comedic” subplot we have her mother falling for John’s father and the whole thing will make you cringe. That guy’s one of the worst characters and I don’t know why this film decided to give him more of a role. It definitely wasn’t worth it I can tell you that much. Any scene with him and Maria’s mother was just brutal.

The film can also be a bit obnoxious with the fanservice. The whole scene with Maria at the bar was painful and certainly didn’t contribute to the story as a whole. The writing can still be good with the banter even if the script isn’t always great. The characters certainly have a bit of a one track mind most of the time with how desperate they are. It’s a good thing Maria doesn’t mind with how loudly Max was singing about her during the boat scene. The jaded part of you will almost think she was desperate for Max because of how he sabotaged her business and she needs to stay afloat somehow. This will apparently be her 6th marriage which is a whole lot of relationships in her past. Another reason why I have my doubts about this romance working.

Take away the romance and Maria’s a good character. I just wish we could have stayed with her being the antagonist because that would have been way more interesting. She seemed tough enough to hold her own and that would have just made for a really engaging plot. Meanwhile Ariel really disappears from the movie for the most part so don’t expect a lot out of her. John and Max are the same as ever. They bicker a whole lot and have their usual battles but not as much as in the first film. Their kind of dialogue is still similar and is the catchiest part of the film. It really wouldn’t be the same without their battles.

Overall, I thought the film took some different turns from how it appeared to be going at the beginning. As a result the second half of the film can feel completely aimless at times. I’ll give the movie credit for the wedding twist near the end but otherwise I just couldn’t give this film a whole lot of props. At the same time, it was entertaining and really ended in a flash so it got more things right than wrong. If you enjoyed the first film you ought to enjoy this one and vice versa. If we ever get a remake though, it should keep the “Vs” premise from start to finish.

Overall 6/10

Grumpy Old Men Review

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With a title like this you can immediately tell what the film’s going to be like and that’s a credit to the title. No misdirects here, the film is as advertised. I’d say it works well enough, I like the banter between the two characters and their never ending fights. The weakest part of the film is definitely the romantic angle though. We have the triangle with the main characters fighting over the new girl in town as well as a romance between their kids. Both romances really only serve to undercut the solid comedy.

The movie starts by introducing us to John and Max. Both of them are older in years and have remained single. John is close to defaulting on his house though as the IRS gets closer and closer every day. Still, how can you hope to dodge those guys forever right? Then Max just enjoys his day to day life with some fishing but out of nowhere they get a neighbor named Ariel. She seems to be quite the free spirit and in this dead neighborhood of senior citizens the characters are all excited. Mainly John and Max who each decide to claim her. Who will win this rivalry once and for all?

Lets start with the positives here. The rivalry between John and Max is fun. For the most part you don’t feel like they ever take things too far aside from one moment when Max nearly causes John to drown. For the most part their pranks are just to annoy each other and they tend to succeed at that. It’s kind of nice to think about two neighbors that have been fighting with each other for over 60 years. At the very least it gives them a constant in their life since every day they know they have to be ready to win. They’ll still have each other’s backs at times though.

From the two characters I would lean on Max being my favorite. He’s just a bit of a tougher character who doesn’t beat around the bush. He doesn’t back down easy and even gets the IRS guy at one point. For John, well he tries his best as well but you feel like Max usually wins both the verbal and physical fights. Max even moves quicker when it counts although ultimately you can see John being the nicer guy. He’ll be the bigger man and walk away from a fight much sooner than Max would.

As for Ariel, well it does feel like she is leading on both characters to an extent. Now she just likes having fun which is fair to say except I don’t think that accounts for some things like the snowmobile rides with Max right after John dumped her and just seemingly trying to make him jealous. That’s why you aren’t rooting for either character in the romance since in the end it doesn’t feel all that genuine. If Ariel went with Max it would feel like a rebound. Meanwhile John was willing to break up with her to make Max feel better which to me makes it feel like their romance was never all that strong. It’s a lose-lose situation. Ariel also feels a lot younger than the main two characters although it could easily just be that she takes much better care of herself.

Both guys also just look really bad in their pursuit of her. Right from the start all they can think of it getting with her. They barely seem to see her as a person and just purely as a trophy. That’s the way the rest of the town seems to feel as well aside from the town owner. That’s definitely not a credit to the town as a whole. Then you have the other romance which is even worse. Max’s kid Jacob likes Melanie, he has ever since second grade. She admits that she would mess with him by leaving the windows open which already seems petty but now that she is prepping for a divorce, Jacob knows its his time to be the quick rebound.

The issue is that the old guy (Forget his name) returns real quick and Melanie is willing to have him over immediately. So Jacob is left in the cold again but once the guy leaves, she is willing to be with Jacob. That’s almost the definition of a rebound. Jacob only got a chance because the other guy was getting drunk and was not dependable. Jacob shouldn’t feel too thrilled about that because now he will always know that he was not the first pick. He’s the second string player coming off the bench because the lead got injured. That’s not a good foundation for a proper romance and I always have my doubts about this working out.

So I didn’t care much for either romance plot. The romance is also a rather big part of the story so it’s hard to say that you should ignore it entirely as well. To do that would be to skip most of the film. That said, it definitely does lower the score by a point. Additionally while the writing can be fun for the banter and all, I wouldn’t say it’s always great. There are definitely enough lines that will make you shake your head that keep me from calling it a top tier title or anything like that either. It’s good enough to give you some smiles and keep the movie moving at a good pace. That’s enough for this to be a good movie, it feels like something is always happening here.

Overall, Grumpy Old Men is a film that is probably better than it would be if it was remade in the modern day. I’ve seen trailers for similar kinds of films that always look pretty bad. At the very least this one seems classy most of the time which is the important thing. It’s a rather light hearted film with some good characters and that’s really all you can ask for. If the premise sounds entertaining then I think you will like it. After all, a good deal of the film depends on how entertaining you find the banter to be between the two characters and fortunately that is the strongest part of the film. I will have the review of the sequel up fairly soon as well to compare if it is able to keep the same level of energy.

Overall 6/10

A Kiss Before Christmas Review

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The Hallmark channel has always had a great record when it comes to churning out solid Christmas films. This one is no different and makes for a good experience from start to finish. The film has good pacing, writing, and just ends on the right note. If anything the only element this film lacked was more Christmas snacks since the films usually give that quite the spotlight. Maybe next time and either way as long as the story is good that’s more of a bonus anyway.

The movie introduces us to Ethan who has always done things the right way while he watches his colleague Doyle take shortcuts at every opportunity. Ethan has always been proud of who he is, but lately he feels like he made the wrong choice by being a good person. He’s been stuck in the same job for 10 years while Doyle continues to move up and Ethan’s house is even super beat up. The last straw is when he makes a deal with a nearby newsstand owner instead of chasing her off the property. Now his promotion may be in jeopardy. In a moment of weakness Ethan makes a wish to go back to the moment in time when he first made the good guy move and instead to make the wrong one. Well Santa decides to humor him and so Ethan wakes up in this new world. In this world Ethan is super rich and is even the co-owner of the company. Ethan’s convinced that his life is now perfect and this shows that he made the right call all along. Is he right though?

Of course it’s nice to be rich but since Ethan met his wife on the elevator since he skipped the first one, this new timeline means they never met. That also means he never adopted the two kids and they are still at the orphanage currently. So Ethan’s new status came at a big price. Of course the moral here is to do the right thing and he should go back to his family. It’s a good moral although I almost feel like Ethan could have had his cake and ate it too in the end.

So in this film Ethan is unable to go back to the main timeline until he lives this period out through Christmas and discovers what he is lacking. At that point he will lose his memories of the old life although he keeps his new personality based on what we see. During the course of the movie he is able to win over his wife Joyce once again to the point where they are going out. So if he stays in this world he can still end up marrying her only this time he is rich and she got the degree that she wanted.

In this timeline her mother seemingly never got injured either. So the only loss here is that the kids are adopted by someone else already although their parents are clearly good people so at least there’s that. They still have a good life ahead of them and now Ethan can use his newfound money and power to make the city a better place. It’s a rather tempting offer to stay in the new world and enjoy it. Ethan will also get his memories of the new timeline back presumably which should help him not have to bluff everything anymore. He would have lost around 13 years of events from his family life though and he can’t get those back.

So it’s an interesting idea but of course it makes sense why he would want to go back. It also makes for a fun ending as we’ll see if everyone believes in his new story or if they think he just went crazy or was having a dream. All of those options are fairly reasonable since believing in a magic Santa would be tough. Also, he will have a more difficult time proving it since in the new world he could at least mention things he shouldn’t know. In this world though? Not really an easily solution like that.

Ethan was a fun character throughout. He did a good job of being a leader and really made everyone around him better. Then you have Joyce who was good in both continuities. As a lawyer she did a good job standing up for the youth center and ultimately pushing through until she could claim victory. Rona was the big boss in the original dimension and she’s a nice character. Ultimately she became really successful on her own and while she may have overlooked some dealings beneath her, she was someone who would look out for the little guy. She really came in clutch during the climax of the film since the heroes were nearly defeated. That said, it was a big mistake on Ethan’s part to forget that he was rich in this world.

Finally you have Doyle who serves as the main villain in this film. He’s an absolutely ruthless business man who will cut any corners and pressure anyone if it means that he gets his way. In a way Doyle seemed to even have more power than Ethan despite being co-owners. It was fun seeing Ethan pull a fast one on him during their TV appearance though. I was glad Doyle didn’t get off too easy here since he really did cause a lot of damage and destruction the whole time.

Of course we get some fun Christmas songs here as well. The soundtrack is on point and there’s also a lot of nice scenery. It makes for a very pleasant watch. The writing is good like you would expect and the movie really flies on by. Ethan has to overcome his own issues by the end of the film but you never feel like any character goes too far. The closest the film goes to having pointless drama is when Doyle nearly tricks Joyce into turning on Ethan. Fortunately that didn’t work but if it had that would have felt like a bit much because there’s no reason to trust Doyle at this point.

Overall, A Kiss Before Christmas is definitely a solid movie. It’s definitely a fun one to watch as you get close to Christmas. I have to say that Santa didn’t seem very heroic in this film though. At one point he starts messing with Ethan’s mind even before the Christmas deadline has appeared. That felt like he was hitting way below the belt since that’s not supposed to have happened to soon. Fortunately his attempt did not work but the characters should definitely be careful around him.

Overall 7/10

American Made Review

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This review is of the edited TV-14 version of the film below. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version may be more negative

American Made is an interesting film about trying to play all of the sides for as long as you can. Ultimately this will pretty much always lead to ruin so the movie’s really about seeing how far he can go with this. The film is based on a true story but loose enough where I figure I’ll still do a review here. It would have definitely been something if all of this had really happened.

The movie starts off by showing us that Barry is already in the illegal business of smuggling cigars to people while on his flights. This catches the CIA’s attention and they remind him that stealing and smuggling is okay as long as it’s for the good guys. They will pay him poorly to smuggle a lot of things for them. Barry accepts although it’s not like he has much of a choice. When he arrives at the gang hideout with the items, they convince him to start smuggling for them. Why not right? Then the DEA wants a piece of the action and before you know it Barry is working for all of the good guys and bad guys. It’s going to be rather difficult to get out of this predicament.

Barry’s a charismatic guy and that’s really how he has lasted so long in this rough business. as always it is a matter of time before someone catches you when you’re cutting corners and committing crimes but he would have been caught sooner if he wasn’t so smooth. At the end of the day he just really wants to be rich and doesn’t even hide the money all that well. When he starts raking in the cash there is so much money that it’s flooding the house, the family gets a super big house, a pool, etc. Barry likes to live large and in charge that’s for sure.

He’s a fun lead even if he isn’t heroic. That’s good since a film like this really needs a good lead as otherwise you would run the risk of this guy not being sympathetic at all or just rooting for him to get taken down already. As it stands, you’re invested in what is going on here. The cast is rather small though. I mean there are quite a lot of side characters but for the main ones it is relatively self contained. You’ve for Barry’s wife Lucy who isn’t really thrilled at all the secrecy initially. It’s not like Barry told her about his new job at the CIA so when he just vanishes like that it isn’t easy on her.

In one scene she even throws away all the food he brought home. It’s an emotional moment of course but I always feel bad when that much food is tossed aside. It had to be a lot of work to get that and you can’t let good food go to waste like that right? I dunno, I thought the food could have at least been saved. Otherwise Lucy takes it all in stride once Barry actually explains things. She cracks a bit near the end with the jewelry but lasted well for most of the journey.

Her brother JB is one of the most annoying characters in the film though. He’s just here to complain and get a free lunch. He doesn’t contribute at all and makes the worst decisions possible. You definitely know he’s doomed by the end as he starts creating a lot of scenes and even attempts some blackmail. Game over JB, that’s the match.

Barry’s boss Schafer was fun though. He may seem rather slippery and untrustworthy but from the start you get the feeling that he will act as if he has no knowledge of Barry if things go sideways. I would say it’s one of those things that is just understood. Naturally he also gets to take the credit so Schafer really has it easy here. At the end of the day he never has to go into the field or take any of the risks. All he has to do is claim the spoils at the end. It’s a really good setup.

As for the two main weapon/drug dealers who worked with Barry, they seemed nice enough. Of course you never quite forget that they are villains. It’s one of those things where they don’t act overtly evil but just knowing what they are doing shows that they aren’t exactly the good guys here. That pretty much wraps up the cast, it’s a fun group of characters I’d say. Definitely couldn’t consider any of them to be weak ones.

Another good aspect of the film is that the movie balances the humor and serious moments rather well. There are quite a few scenes that should at least have you crack a smile. Barry coming prepared with the Baseball bat after being robbed the first time was definitely a solid scene. Even when things aren’t going well for Barry there’s always a humorous undertone surrounding the movie. It was executed quite well and the movie already had good pacing as it was. Throw in the solid writing and a film that could have easily been more on the dull side ended up being a lot more interesting.

Overall, American Made was better than I expected it to be. I wouldn’t say it had any serious weak points to it. It’s not like I would say the movie is great or anything but there wasn’t a point during the experience when I was bored. It just passes on by rather quickly and you should be satisfied at the end of it. I think in some ways the movie could have gone a little more all out with how crazy it could be if it wasn’t trying to be based off of a true story though. The ending was rather intense though and it does seem like the gang has a whole lot of influence. Even the whole thing with the courts felt like it was rigged for Barry to fail.

Overall 7/10

Joker Review

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This review is of the edited TV-14 version of the film below. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version may be more negative

Making a movie with the villain as the main character is always a rather tricky thing to try and accomplish. You either go the route of trying to make the villain sympathetic so you can root for him or you go all in on just making him evil. It’s such a tough balance that it’s usually not even worth making the attempt. With the Joker of all characters you already know him as one of the most evil villains in the Batman series so this is certainly a very different portrayal. Ultimately it doesn’t work as the film just seems to be a never ending story of bad things happening to everyone.

The movie starts by introducing us to the Joker who is an aspiring comedian. Currently he works as a clowns but it’s a rough city and things don’t work out from the start. His sign is stolen and then he’s beaten up in an alley. The job threatens to fire him for losing the sign and then Joker makes the big mistake of taking a gun to a children’s hospital by mistake. It does come in handy when he is attacked on the subway as he murders the three attackers but now his life is in a tailspin. He begins to learn things about his origin that he never knew and funding is cut off for social services so he no longer has pills to keep his laughing condition in check. Now it’s time for him to become a full villain and take down the city.

Right away I can tell you the film’s biggest weakness is how hopeless it all is. The movie is really just about how bad a place Gotham is. Bad things happen to Joker and everyone else at pretty much all moments in the film. Joker, Thomas Wayne, Murray, Randall, Penny, two random detectives, everyone gets a bad hand in the film. There’s no one who walks away from this with a really happy ending except for Sophie and even then I wouldn’t say it’s super happy either since she’s probably going to have to move or may just feel terrified for a while assuming she made it out of the film.

Joker starts off as a sympathetic character since he is trying hard to be a comedian but it never works out for him. People mock him and his laughing condition makes it hard to hold a conversation at times since it can get triggered at any time. The first two people he murdered were certainly in self defense so I wouldn’t hold those against him at all. You definitely need to fight back in such a scenario and if anything it would have been nice if he had gotten up to defend the lady rather than the situation ultimately happening because he stayed back. The third guy who ran away is definitely more on the iffy side since he was no longer a threat and was running away. It makes sense to bump him off in case he could ID Joker later on but at that point it’s more to protect his own skin.

The rest of the murders in this film are completely on Joker and show how deranged he is. Joker definitely had a complete decent into being a psychotic villain by the end. You know it’s coming the whole time since this is a film about the Joker but the issue with having a villain who is so unrelentingly evil as the lead is that there is nobody to root for. If you look at some of the best villains out there like Eren Yeager, Light Yagami, Venom, or Thanos, they worked well as leads or co-leads because their goals at least made a lot of sense. In a way Light and Thanos even had good goals of saving people in a broad sense but went the wrong way about trying to improve the world and as such became complete villains.

You’re rooting for them to be stopped but at least you understand why they are doing all of this. With Joker he pretty much admits that he is just seeking out revenge against everyone who has wronged him and is just enjoys the insanity of it all. You’re not rooting for him to win at all here and his scenes can just be painful to watch. Ultimately while he blames all of the other characters for everything, some moments are his fault as well like bringing the gun to the hospital and letting Murray rile him up. The guy was clearly mocking him so Joker could have either decided not to go or to use that opportunity to prove himself anyway rather than trying to become a symbol and start a movement even if he claimed that is not what he wanted to do.

Joker was just an awful lead here and I don’t see this Joker being one of the better versions even down the road. I much prefer the classic Joker origin where he was a random bank robber who fell into the acid and became Joker. He just went from villain to super villain rather than it being Gotham which broke him down and sped up his descent into madness. As for the other characters, well Randall is a mean colleague who makes fun of his co-workers height and is generally a rather toxic person. He is quick to lie and manipulate others. You know he’s not going to make it out of this the instant that he appears.

Then you have Murray who loves making jokes at other people’s expense. He has created a whole career out of it. Joker was even a big fan of his until the jokes began to be about him. Again this is where Joker loses more sympathy points because of course he doesn’t mind others getting mocked but when it’s about him then it’s a whole lot different. Next on the list of characters is Thomas Wayne who wants to be mayor but has a complete disconnect with the people of Gotham.

I have to assume that he is planning to buy the election because otherwise he is doing absolutely nothing to win new votes. He makes fun of these guys and calls them clowns as well as goes out of his way to antagonize them at every corner. The movie presents him as a rather arrogant man who is so full of himself that he doesn’t see what’s right in front of him. I forgot we were going to squeeze in the origin here so that was unexpected. This version of Thomas appears quite unsympathetic compared to most but of course as we’re only seeing some instances from Joker’s perspective here, it’s likely not the full story.

Joker’s mother Penny also gets a decent sized role. Like Joker she has her own issues which seem to due with memory loss at first but later on we see that she is also quite crazy. Joker doesn’t see the complete irony of trying to get revenge on her later on since she likely doesn’t even remember the past and seems to believe her own delusions here. Also, she is completely powerless when they have their final confrontation and it’s got to be the worst scene in the movie. Her backstory is really gritty of course as the film continues to pile on.

The only decent character in the whole movie outside of quick cameos is Sophie. She’s Joker’s neighbor and they have a brief meeting in the elevator where she tries to be friendly but Joker doesn’t talk back at all. I guess he was worried about the laughing starting up so he kept his distance but she gave him the benefit of the doubt on a second occasion when she noticed him following her. Considering we’re in Gotham that’s a scary feeling but she didn’t immediately call the cops or get people to beat him up. She really did her best and so I’m glad she at least made it out of this. I would have interpreted her as losing her life to be honest but I remember it was a huge deal when the film came out and the director or writer had to come out and confirm she was okay. I don’t see the point of having the ambulance whizz by after the scene though. It’s only purpose is to hint at that but I’m guessing they may want her around for the sequel if we get one.

Either way it’s a good decision because the film is mainly about Joker getting revenge on everyone and she would not be deserving of that considering that she was in his corner. Not as often as he thought given how his delusions work but in her real scenes she was on point. There’s not much to say about effects as this is a more down to Earth film but I did enjoy the jingle from the game show that Murray’s on. It had a catchy beat and the happy tone really made for a great contrast to the rest of the depressing scenes.

Otherwise, prepare for the film to really drag on. There’s no real happy scenes here as the film sets the tone early. From the kids beating Joker up in the intro to the asylum in the end, there is never a scene for you to smile. There’s always something bad happening or about to happen. It’s almost impressive how unrelenting the film is with this approach as you would expect things to start working out even for a little while before the next fall but that’s really never the case. The closest is when Joker’s act starts to succeed and then this is taken away in the next scene.

The film keeps trying to balance whether it’s Gotham that turned an innocent person into the world’s greatest criminal or if he was just unstable and psychotic from the start. It’s hard to say since we’ve just got a small picture into his life but by the end it seems to be leaning towards the latter. His excessive punishment towards everyone who wronged him backs that up at least even if the crime was a long time ago. The city didn’t help of course as Gotham will be Gotham and keeps on sinking. I don’t even see how the custody angle would have worked out after everything in the file to be honest. If there is a Metropolis in this continuity then you should definitely try to get out. Being homeless in Metropolis is likely better than trying to survive in Gotham.

Overall, Joker is really an awful movie that’s extremely mean spirited. This is exactly the kind of scenario you try to avoid when doing a film based on a villain. In fact, this can be the poster film for what I’m talking about when I say how risky it is. You end up having a main character you can’t root for and so you’re rooting for him to be taken down already but since the film is about this villain, you know that’s not happening until the very end if you’re lucky. We see that the Joker is evil throughout but with no real goals or big ideas. He has an awful speech at the end where he blames society and this and that, but at the end of the day it’s all excuses on his part. This was just the origin for Batman’s villain but unfortunately in a world where they are unlikely to do battle. There were no silver linings I could find in this film so I’d definitely say to skip this one.

Overall 0/10

Phone Booth Review

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This review is of the edited TV-14 version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

Phone Booth definitely works as a solid cautionary tale on why your best chance to escape a possible hostage situation is to make a dash for it immediately as opposed to sticking around and finding out what is going to happen. It’s an interesting concept to be sure and works as a unique one but it is very difficult to pull this off for a whole movie. It does begin to drag on after a point and the script is definitely the weakest part of the movie. Good idea but the execution could have used some work.

The movie starts by introducing us to Stu. He’s a very selfish publicist who’s a bit of a loudmouth and tends to just get by on charisma. He’s fairly good at his job by lying to everyone imaginable but of course it isn’t a very honorable way to conduct business. It’s a very effective way to introduce Stu though because immediately you do understand what kind of character he is. Well, he heads to the phone booth to make a call to the girl he is trying to cheat with but then receives a second call from a mysterious man who claims that he will shoot Stu if he leaves the phone booth. He even shoots a toy robot outside to prove his point. This guy apparently has a thing for exposing criminals and this time he wants to take Stu down. Stu’s only way out of this is to reveal his dark secrets to all of his loved ones but will this sniper keep his end of the bargain?

Now, Stu’s best chance here was definitely to dash out as soon as the call got dangerous. I’ve said this in the past but with any hostage situation like being held at gun point or something, the longer you stay there, the greater your odds of death are. At first Stu thinks the whole thing is a joke so he doesn’t care much but I don’t think you should even bother listening to a call like this if you aren’t expecting it. Just hang up and walk away. Still, at this point he doesn’t realize there’s danger so it’s not a big thing. Once the guy starts making threats, talking about Stu’s wife and such, then it’s time to get out of there. Dash out, call the wife and then call the cops. Even once the guy claims he has a sniper gun you should run away.

Lets fast forward to when the guy proves he has a gun. Okay now you have two choices. You can stay in the phone booth and listen to his orders or dash out. I like my odds with dashing out because the guy only will be able to get one shot off before you can get out of view. Additionally, the benefit of this plan is that you have the initiative. He doesn’t know when you will run out, only you do. This guy would have to be incredibly skilled to land a shot when you’re running like that. Just call his bluff and make a move. Worst case, you die.

Here’s why the other option isn’t good. Say you stay in the phone booth. Well, now the sniper has the advantage because he can shoot you at any time and it would be too late to run off. Additionally, your banking on the fact that this guy will actually let you go once you fulfill his orders. Keep in mind that this guy is already crazy enough to have you in a hostage situation so that might not be a very trust worthy guy you’re dealing with. Anyone that insane can’t really be taken at their word.

It’s finally too late to really make much of a move once the police show up. By this point the ball is really in the sniper’s court since if Stu makes any kind of move he will likely be gunned down on the spot. It’s why I say you have to do something because your inaction will eventually close up every opportunity that’s around. That’s exactly what ended up happening to Stu here.

The film establishes Stu as a fairly unlikable guy but at the same time you’ll certainly feel bad for him anyway since this is a rather brutal situation to be in. He even brings up a valid point a bunch of times about how the sniper’s other victims all seemed to have rather large crimes that hurt a bunch of people while his seem rather small in comparison. Stu was really in the wrong place at the wrong time for this random judge/jury/executioner to show up. At least the truth is out in the open now and Stu will likely be a nicer person in the future. I don’t think he’ll be quite so mean to the pizza man next time which was quite uncalled for.

Meanwhile the Sniper is one of those villains who is completely insane and evil but tries to mask it as if he is doing something good. He takes down criminals or people with bad morals and takes them down himself but not before threatening and blackmailing them first. This all crumbles when he also takes down two completely innocent people during the movie. It ultimately exposes the guy for what he is, just another murderer with an axe to grind. He certainly thoughts things through quite a bit so you can tell that he is the obsessive type.

The cast is really small though. Outside of the sniper and Stu, you have the two girls and the main cop. Pamela is the girl Stu was trying to have an affair with. To her credit she didn’t know he was married and had no way of knowing so I would consider her blameless in this case. She also had her own life aside from Stu and was doing well for herself. Then you have Stu’s wife Kelly who is also oblivious to this and really just got matched with the wrong guy. She takes it all in stride as best she can considering what a crazy scenario this is so she gets credit there as well.

Ramey was a very good police officer and I was glad he was able to pick up on the clues without being obvious about it. He was certainly Stu’s best ally in this whole adventure. Ramey was dedicated and never gave up as he tried to make sense of all this even when Stu was forced into acting rather awful towards him. It’s fair to say that he was easily the best character here.

So you have an interesting scenario and some solid characters here but man is the writing weak. I know this is New York so they want every character to sound like a classic sailor swearing all over the place but there’s so many air shots all over the place that you’ll think this is a horror movie. I haven’t seen such a weak script since your average slasher type film. It really makes you miss the more eloquent speech patterns from the older films. Now those really knew how to have a good exchange of dialogue. You could elevate the whole film by having the characters talk a lot smarter.

As it is, we did have some good mind games like when the sniper tries to talk Stu into answering the phone or reaching for the gun at the top of the box. In both cases Stu called him out on it and the Sniper temporarily backed off. Usually the lead falls for everything so I was glad Stu was at least putting up some kind of resistance. Not a whole lot mind you but the mind games is what you need to keep this scenario interesting for as long as possible.

Honestly if you clean up the script that would immediately have a noticeable effect on the film. It’s distractingly bad so that could even turn this into a good film. You definitely don’t have to have the phone booth by a strip shop either and could just have it next to a pizza place. The location shouldn’t matter in terms of getting someone who will cause trouble since that could be anywhere near NYC and then you focus more on the mind games instead of some of the opening scenes which really didn’t contribute to anything.

Overall, How much you enjoy Phone Booth will really come down to whether or not the film can remain interesting to you for the entirety of its run. It’s a fun concept but the weak script ends up hurting it. It can also be annoying to see how Stu handles the situation although that seems to be the norm for characters in this situation. I just feel like complying with these guys never works because the orders don’t end. Only time I can get on board with doing so is if they have another hostage in play. I would say you can ultimately give this film a skip and lets see if another film tries out a similar concept eventually. We do get a twist in the film as if this is a horror title so make sure you stick around for that. It’ll definitely give you something to think about as the film ends.

Overall 4/10

King Kong vs Godzilla Review

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It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen this film. Definitely a long time from the past and it’s interesting to see the scenes I remember and the ones that are more foreign. One big change for me is that the fight is a whole lot shorter than I remembered. They don’t really meet up until near the end although the fight is certainly worth the wait.

So the movie starts with a TV head wanting his crew to do something to make the channel more interesting. The idea he comes up with is to have the crew find some kind of monster to put on the air. There are rumors of a giant monster on a remote island that has come up with some special berries that are like alcohol. The crew heads there and manages to secure their safety by offering cigarettes to the natives. It’s a strategy that works well enough but not what should they do? Grabbing this Kaiju will be difficult. Then you have the sobering fact that Godzilla has risen from his icy grave and demands vengeance. With humanity in the balance, these two creatures will ultimately end up facing off against each other. The only question is…who will win?

Naturally even if it is a small part of the film, the actual battle is definitely the big topic here. King Kong and Godzilla are both big icons after all. So I’ve always been on Team Godzilla, he just seems more powerful to me and has more options. The Atomic Breath is hard to overlook after all. In a fair fight Godzilla should win 10 times out of 10 so the question is, how can King Kong put up a fight?

Well, the film went about it in an interesting way. First odd, Godzilla got a new weakness for this movie which is that he isn’t very good against electricity. Then you have the fact that King Kong is powered up by it and a lightning storm shows up out of nowhere and lands several direct hits on him. Prior to this happening, Godzilla did end up crushing Kong in the fight. Only after the power up took effect did King Kong start to take the edge which led us to the famous final scene. Godzilla can breath underwater and usually fight there rather well so you’ll definitely have some big questions but I think we have to take the ending at face value here so there was a true winner.

All told, I would still bet my money on Godzilla and it’s hard not to root for him when you see the inevitable comeback beginning from King Kong. That said, the fight itself is satisfying. Another good thing about this film is it wastes very little time in having Godzilla show himself. He appears pretty much right away in the film which is a bit rare for any G title. Usually you’d expect him in the second half or almost the climax depending on the film. Here it seemed like the opening 15 minutes or so.

The pacing is on point and the film really breezes by. While the human plot may always feel like filler until you get to the Kaiju action, you should have some good laughs with the characters. The main duo have a classic setup where one of the characters is a comic relief guy while the other is the no nonsense leader. Both of them get humbled by King Kong at least once during the movie though. They have a lot of fun banter the whole time. The humans can be a bit exaggerated to an extent but it works out well for fun moments.

This was the English dub version I saw and it’s fair to say that the movie is part comedy. It’s a very light hearted creature feature film from start to finish. There are also quite a lot of reporter scenes where people just talk to you from the TV station. You have to really enjoy the dialogue or those parts can definitely end up being a bit slow. Fortunately they were definitely really solid to me. The style of writing and dialogue is just fun.

The special effects are on point. The suits look good and the fight was also good as mentioned earlier. Godzilla lands a super speed kick at one point that was sped up in a way which seemed surreal but also worked to great effect. If the film has any weakness, it’s that you may have a hard time remembering the character names since you are waiting for the creatures the whole time. The humans are fun but still feel like filler since you just want the monster battles. I didn’t remember any of the names by the end although granted, the cast isn’t very large. You have the main duo and then a bunch of supporting characters.

There’s not as much of a soundtrack as you might expect from your typical Godzilla movie though. You do have the iconic Godzilla roar which will have to do though and King Kong’s island always has its unique beats. Of course, the soundtrack will differ greatly depending on which version you watch so keep that in mind. This review is specifically for the dub version which is important since a review of the subbed version could be quite different based on how many changes there are. Unless it’s basically a different film I don’t really go back and review separate versions so you’d have to check that out on your own. I would recommend the English dub though as it’s so much fun.

Overall, There isn’t a whole lot more to say about the film due in part to how short it is. It’s a movie that really breezes by and should keep you grinning at all the effective comedic moments. Close your eyes and the movie is over in a snap. You’ll have a hard time finding a better Godzilla movie from the classic era though. I’d consider this to be one of the strongest of the Showa films and I’ve always loved a good crossover. This one is no different. If you haven’t watched the movie yet then you definitely need to change that. You don’t want to miss out on the Kaiju battles.

Overall 7/10

Easy Living Review

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When you’re a Football player, life isn’t always going to be easy. That’s true for just about any occupation to be honest but Pete is about to learn that the hard way in this film. It’s a fun drama with a lot of good dialogue and quality characters. It’d held back a little by Pete himself who continues to make the wrong choices throughout the movie. I’d also have liked to have seen some more Football scenes since the highlights were always fun, but in the end you will have a good time here.

The movie starts with Pete finishing up another game but one of his friends has to finally leave for good. Unfortunately he just isn’t able to compete with the other Football players anymore and as a result there was no way to stay in the game. Technically there is one team that may have considered him, but the guy decided to head out. Then Pete finds out that he has a dangerous heart condition and continuing to play in the league could destroy him.

The easy answer here would be to retire but the problem is that Pete is married to Liza, a lady who only likes him if he’s rich and strong. Unfortunately Pete doesn’t yet realize how toxic this relationship is and has to try and keep this a secret. It has the adverse effect of also impacting his performance on the field since he can’t exert himself the way that he used to. Will he be able to bluff his way through the rest of the season or will he have to break the news to her?

If you aren’t able to tell your wife something as serious as a medical condition then odds are that the relationship isn’t a good one. The dynamic between the two seems to already have been rather strained before the film started as she no longer went to his road games and they didn’t see each other a whole lot. This just served to make all of that a lot worse. The film certainly paints a very negative picture of Liza as she is shown to be petty and also not very smart with the deal she made to get her company bigger. It should have been clear from the start that she was being used but Liza didn’t realize that until it was too late. She mainly serves as an obstacle in this film.

I can’t say that Pete is blameless though. At one point he has a brief affair with Anne, one of the people working for the football team. While it doesn’t go too far, it went far enough where he did cheat on Liza. As bad as things were between them, he would have needed to get a divorce before doing that to keep things on the up and up. He was also quite rough at the end with Liza which just made him look unlikable. We’ve gone from one unhealthy relationship to another one and it just seems like Pete is not going to be a very happy guy.

Even if you ignore the scenes with ANne and Liza, I thought he was rather petty and rude to his best friend Tim. Apparently they’ve been close for a while and Pete even helped Tim get a job. Only now that Tim would be the boss and Pete the subordinate, Pete doesn’t like this whole setup. If he was only content being at the top then maybe they weren’t quite as good friends as it would seem.

Tim was solid though and a standup guy from start to finish. It was gracious of him to offer Pete a spot in the first place. He’s someone who repays his debts and there was nothing even remotely malicious in his offer. He was just trying to do his old pal a favor which was the right thing to do there. I enjoyed the coach as well who really could not figure out what was going on with Pete. He did his best to try and spur the guy on regardless but if you don’t know there’s a heart issue at play then it’s likely next to impossible to figure that out just from watching. Especially with Pete’s attitude you would just figure he was intentionally not playing so well.

So while a lot of the characters were not very likable, I would say this was a quality cast as the writing was just that sharp. The dialogue is often very snappy and the sarcastic comebacks/passive aggressive statements quickly let you know what kind of characters these were. Almost everyone here was ultimately looking out for themselves. Even someone like Anne was ultimately trying to get together with a married man so no matter how many grand speeches she gave, she wasn’t in the clear either.

As mentioned earlier, the main weakness here aside from it being hard to root for anybody was that we didn’t get enough Football. Now in a film like this it is true that Football was likely more of an instrument for the plot as opposed to actually being the focus but even so I would have liked to have seen more of the actual games. Football is a blast to watch after all and surely you could spare the time to include around 10 minutes scattered throughout the film right? It would help to also show us exactly how badly Pete was playing. We get the gist of it from the scoreboard but this would be more effective.

Overall, Easy Living may depict a cast of rather unlikable fellows but the film’s technicals are on point. The writing is sharp and the pacing is good so it never really drags on. It is the kind of film that would have been over a whole lot sooner if Pete was able to just talk to Liza since he could have even broken things off sooner. It was not to be though and while it may be annoying to see Pete push everyone away the whole time, the attempts show you how much of the team cared about him. Ultimately none of them were blaming him for his lackluster performances and potentially keeping them out of the playoffs. Maybe the other players were the real heroes after all.

Overall 6/10