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Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)
Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)
1992 | Comedy, Sci-Fi, Romance
5
5.8 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Characters – Nick Halloway is a fast-talking businessman that has been getting away with slacking through his job for years now, after another session on the drinks, he looks to skive off, only to get caught in the middle of an experiment which turns him invisible, Nick must figure out who he can trust to help him after the CIA look to hunt him down to use him for their own benefit. He isn’t the most interesting character, he doesn’t come off as funny as it seems he should be either. Alice is the new woman that comes into Nick’s life, she is the one he turns to for help as she is prepared to listen to his story over most other people. David Jenkins is the man hunting down Nick, he is a CIA agent that will do whatever it takes to add to the security of the country, seeing Nick as the next generation of secret agent.

Performances – Chevy Chase does feel slightly mis-cast in this role, he doesn’t seem to handle the comedy on the level it is meant to be coming from his character. Daryl Hannah does all she needs to as the love interest, she doesn’t need to do much either. Sam Neill is highlight of the performances with just how he handles the evil agent.

Story – The story follows a man that gets turn invisible in a mysterious event, seeing him being chased down by the government while he tries to figure out how to get out of his situation. This is an interesting spin on the invisible man story, it does try to make the story a comedy which is where the story falls short, because it is an unlikable character that gets turn invisible rather than somebody whose experiment going wrong. Nick doesn’t just anything to help himself, which disappoints, it does feel kind of cheesy and by the end you will feel like not everything is answered.

Comedy/Sci-Fi – The comedy misses more often than hitting, it just doesn’t seem smooth. The sci-fi elements don’t get bought to the front with incident happening and that being it.

Settings – The film is set in San Francisco which does always make for a solid back drop for any movie.

Special Effects – The effects in the film do feel great for the time with certain moments, the make-up shot is the highlight because of camera angle.


Scene of the Movie – Let’s try make up.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The comedy.

Final Thoughts – This is a comedy that does miss a lot of the jokes and ends up feeling flatter than it should have been.

 

Overall: Disappointing comedy.
  
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Finch (2021)
Finch (2021)
2021 | Drama, Sci-Fi
9
7.3 (4 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Very Effective
There are times when there is a “Perfect Storm” of film material, performance, mood, style and execution of said material and the headspace that I am in when I sit down to view the movie that elevates a film viewing experience above the norm.

Such was my experience when I sat down and watched the Tom Hanks Post-Apocalyptic film FINCH on AppleTV+. On paper, it looks like a run-of-the-mill “last few survivors on Earth struggle to remain alive” film, but - in my experience - it was much better than that.

Starring Tom Hanks as loner scientist Finch, who is scraping by in the remains of St. Louis with a dog and 2 robot helpers - robots of his own creation. When conditions in St. Louis worsen, Finch must pack up (with his 3 companions in tow) and head to a place where he thinks that life might be better - San Francisco.

Pretty standard “road movie” stuff, right? But in the hands of an Actor like Hanks, Emmy Winning GAME OF THRONES Director Miguel Sapochnik, a script by Craig Luck and Ivor Powell that digs into the humanity of Finch (and the situation) and some top-notch Computer animation of the Robots (especially “Jeff” voiced by Caleb Landry Jones), this film elevates itself above the norm.

There are not too many actors who could hold the attention of an audience for 2 hours speaking with 2 robots and a dog, but Hanks manages to do this - and do this very well. He brings his basic decency to the fore and makes us root for him from the start.

The surprise for me was the voice work of Caleb Landry Jones (GET OUT) who matches Hanks beat for beat and brings the same level of decency to his character. It is a testament to Jones’ work in a Motion Capture suit - and the “mo-cap” (Supervised by Scott Stokdyk) that makes the audience see and feel emotions on the face of the robot that just aren’t there. It’s that good.

Director Sapochnik really moves the film at the correct pace as he stops for the humanity, but doesn’t dwell on it too long - and, thus, avoids making the film too sentimental and mawkish. It is a delicate balancing act that this film walks very well.

Probably the biggest movie-going surprise of the year for me. A film that, at this point, will end up in my Top 10 of 2021.

Yes, I am as surprised as you are by this.

Letter Grade: A

9 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
  
Four Christmases (2008)
Four Christmases (2008)
2008 | Comedy
5
6.0 (4 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Christmas, for most of the population who celebrate it, is about gathering with family, taking the opportunity to reunite with loved ones and share in the spirit of the holiday. Most of us do this with great anticipation. But not Brad and Kate, an intensely committed couple, played by Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon, who would rather be anywhere but near their respective families at Christmas. So much so, they invent elaborate excuses every year that keep them away.And because it’s always for a good cause, they’re granted a pass by their relatives. This year, they’ll be busy volunteering to inoculate children in some remote third-world country. In actuality, they’ll be vacationing on some tropical island. But the San Francisco fog works against them this Christmas, and they’re captured on camera by a news crew at the airport dealing with the cancelation of their flight, and, of course, there’s no getting away now.

So, why don’t Brad and Kate want to spend Christmas with their families? Well, mainly it’s because they’re products of broken marriages and each of them have two homes to visit. Hence, the title. Brad’s family consists of a bitter old man, played by Robert Duvall and two brothers (Jon Favreau and Tim McGraw) who are amateur cage fighters who take great delight in torturing their attorney brother. His uncoventional mother, a quirky Sissy Spacek, is remarried and Brad has yet to come to terms with a stepfather he knows all too well. Kate’s mother, played by Mary Steenburgen, has found religion and a not-so-angelic devotion to the pastor of her church, while her sister, an earnest Kristin Chenoweth, just can’t say enough about the joys of childbearing.

Brad and Kate, who airily dismiss the idea of marriage and the notion of children, are content to just focus on each other, spicing up their relationship with some sexy role-playing, dance lessons and exotic vacations. But on one Christmas day, traveling from one parent’s home to another, they face their fears four times and discover more and more about each other with each visit. She didn’t know his name wasn’t really Brad. He didn’t know she went to fat camp. She doesn’t know how to give good clues in Taboo. He is inflexible in changing the rules of their relationship. Suddenly, the happily unmarried couple doesn’t feel so happily unmarried.

The movie is good for a few laughs, mainly at the expense of Vince Vaughn’s Brad. I’ve always been a big fan of Vince Vaughn’s rapid-fire stream of consciousness delivery and he certainly has his moments. While it seems like he carries the movie for the most part, Reese isn’t without her chances to shine. Unfortunately, the opportunities are few and far between. Even with it’s stellar cast, the phrase “lighthearted comedy” feels a little generous. It is definitely light, but doesn’t have much heart.