Review: Sean McNamara's 'Spare Parts'

They say there's only something like 7 different stories you can tell when you break it down. If that's true one of the seven has to be the underdog story...actually, even as I type this I realize the obvious David and Goliath. It's undeniably true that there are only a limited number of base stories you can start with, star crossed lovers, prodigal son (or daughter), etc, which is why it always bugs me when people blast movies for being unoriginal, it's all in the details folks. That being said the last thirty years has seen so many "underprivileged or inner-city school kids rise to a level they were told they never could" movies that I can understand why people get peeved at the similarity. The simple fact is that this plot has become a parent genre unto it's own, generally breaking down to one of two sub-genre's, sports themed ala Coach Carter or Glory Road and academic themed like Dangerous Minds, or Lean on Me. Spare Parts falls into the latter category and is based on the true story of a group of students from Carl Hayden High School who, with the help of a substitute teacher (who happened to have a Ph.D), take a minuscule budget and a whole lotta can-do attitude to a underwater robotics competition in 2004 and end up defeating well funded collegiate level teams including the defending champs from M.I.T.. The contemporary edge this film brings is that the students here are all undocumented illegal immigrants which gives us a look into something that most of us hear plenty about but know very little of. It's also worthwhile to mention that Spare Parts is the first film in a media deal struck by George Lopez with Pantelion films which will branch Lionsgate films with Televisa, a huge Mexican media corporation.

Yes, this film is very cliche at times, yes you know what's going to happen (even if you hadn't been aware of the true story beforehand), but does that make this film throwaway or forgettable? Not in the least, while it won't sit among the titans of it's genre like the aforementioned Lean on Me, which is the penultimate movie of this kind in my humble opinion, it delivers the kind of warm fuzzies these films are designed to give without overdoing it. The film, while uplifting, does not go out out of the realm of the real world to do so. All to often films of this nature, most of which are based on a true story, can feel so impossibly sweet that any attachment to the real world is lost, Spare Parts manages to not just keep you in the real world but also give you , what I assume, is a real look inside a world most of us know very little about, the life of a teenager raised in this country but saddled with that illegal tag. The flim walks a tightrope between warming and depressing, undoubtedly what gives it that real feeling I keep alluding to.

It's the humanizing, real world scenarios that help you to understand the plight of these kids, imagine living in a place, seeing all it has to offer, feeling a part of it, then being told that though you are a part of that place for all intents and purposes, technically you are not so there are things you can not do. Immigration is a hot button issue, and there are plenty of arguments that can be made on both sides of the fence, BUT, as with most situations, that all falls on the adults. It's the children who are hit hardest as they A. don't know anything different than the American lifestyle and B. are outside the law through no fault of their own. The student who kicks off the whole thing, Oscar Vazquez (Carlos PenaVega), highlights this so perfectly it hurts. The catalyst for him becoming involved is finding out that his dreams of enlisting in the Army are impossible due to his illegal status. George Lopez, who also produced the film, plays Fredi Cameron, the team's coach/mentor, with the exact right amount of warmth. The rest of the team, Lorenzo, Cristian, and Luis, are all surprisingly well-played given their somewhat limited cumulative acting experience. As the icing on the top of this happy ending cake (get your minds out of the gutter) you have Jamie Lee Curtis who brings some welcome funny as the school's principal.

At the end of the day you are not going to be surprised by anything you see in Spare Parts, but you will get another spoonful of that hope flavored ice cream. Unlike some of the less well thought through films of it's kind this pint of ice cream comes off as just the right amount of sweet, not to rich and definitely not bitter.

3 Out of 5 Guttenbergs

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Review: Ira Sachs' 'Love is Strange' Starring Alfred Molina and John Lithgow

A couple of years ago Blue is the Warmest Color was touted as one of the year's best films and perhaps the best portrayal of a homosexual relationship ever captured on screen. And it was indeed very good, but Ira Sachs' moving drama Keep the Lights On reached emotional depths 'Blue' couldn't touch, and fortunately the film was met with great acclaim on the international and art house circuit. Sachs is at it again with a more overtly topical film in Love is Strange, a heartbreaking and tender look at a gay couple whose lives are torn apart by a simple act of love.

Alfred Molina and John Lithgow are better than they've ever been as George and Ben, who have been together nearly forty years living a simple and comfortable New York existence. When a law passes and they can finally get married they jump at the chance. The film begins on the day they tie the knot and quickly establishes who these two are, and immediately we feel comfortable with them. George prefers to deal with things head on, while Ben is older and thus reserved in his thinking. The ceremony goes off without a hitch, but when George returns to his job as a Catholic school music teacher, the archdiocese fires him because gay marriage conflicts with their beliefs. The "morality clause" he signed apparently doesn't apply to his employers, but that's the honest reality for anyone of the LGBT community working nowadays when one can be fired over sexual preference.

To Sachs' and co-writer Mauricio Zacharias' credit they don't turn Love is Strange into a heavy activist drama full of obvious messages about inequality. Their approach is understated and subtle, a beautiful and tragic look at lovers whose twilight of happiness was ripped away from them. In rapid succession they are forced to sell their cozy little home, pleading with friends and family for a place to stay. George goes to live with young-ish cop friends a floor below, while retiree Ben shacks up with a nephew (Darren Burrows), his wife Kate (Marisa Tomei), and their son Joey (Charlie Tahan) who isn't fond of the arrangement at all.

Tragic though their current predicament may be, what is truly upsetting is watching these two men, who probably never saw a future where they'd be allowed to marry, suddenly forced to be apart. They've been together so long, more than half their lives, that being without the other is devastating. George and Ben are so used to being comfortable in their own little world that being with others can only lead to conflict. George can't connect with his new, partying roommates; while Ben's chattiness and constant presence upsets Kate to no end. There are no big fireworks or shouting matches, Sachs has always preferred a minimum of melodrama and it works to the strength of his cast. Molina and Lithgow give wonderfully lived-in performances, adding unexpected layers that keep unfolding as the story grows more complicated. That
Sachs is able to put so much into a 94 minute film is extraordinary, although he rushes through some of the most touching moments to get there. We never experience much of George and Ben's downward slide after the firing, and a subplot involving Joey's mysterious anger towards the latter doesn't get nearly enough time for the emotional payoff Sachs was hoping for.

Sachs doesn't turn Love is Strange into a raging commentary but he doesn't really have to. By focusing on one deeply intimate story of a marriage tarnished by pain and prejudice Sachs has made the clearest case that all love should be equal.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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Hugh Grant and Marisa Tomei Learn to Love Again in Trailer for Rom-Com 'The Rewrite'

For a good stretch in the '90s and early 2000s you couldn't spit without hitting a new romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant. He was basically the poster boy for the entire genre, but after the $145M-grossing Music and Lyrics in 2007 Grant has been going in a different direction with Cloud Atlas and The Man from UNCLE. Now he's back doing what he knows best in The Rewrite, a comedy that sees Grant romancing Marisa Tomei.

Marking Grant's fourth collaboration with director Marc Lawrence, the film follows an award-winning screenwriter who has hit the skids. Broke, divorced, and in the midst of a midlife crisis, he takes a job teaching a screenwriting course at a small college, which is where he meets and falls in love with a single mom (Tomei) working towards her degree. It's as light and fluffy as you might expect, with Grant showing he can still play the lovable cad when called upon. Honestly, the first thing I thought of while watching the trailer was Josh Radnor's Liberal Arts, which did nothing for me.

Also starring Alison Janney, Bella Heathcote, J.K. Simmons, and Chris Elliott, The Rewrite opens in the UK on October 8th but has yet to secure a US date.

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Trailer for Ira Sachs' 'Love is Strange' Starring Alfred Molina and John Lithgow

Ira Sachs has built his career exploring complicated relationships in films such as Forty Shades of Blue, the Sirk-ian dramedy Married Life, and the heartwrenching gay drama, Keep the Lights On. It was that last film that really caught my attention, and was as good if not better than Blue is the Warmest Color. Sachs' latest, Love is Strange, debuted at Sundance and is already being hailed as one of the year's best, largely due to the performances by screen vets Alfred Molina and John Lithgow.

The story follows Ben and George, a gay couple who have been together for ages and jump at the opportunity to get married when it finally arrives. But their happiness is short-lived when the church George works with learns of their union and fires him. With no means of support, they are forced to separate and move to temporary housing. Ben decides to stay with a nephew in Brooklyn, while George moves in with neighbors. Neither situation is ideal and puts a strain on an already complicated situation.

Also starring Maris Tomei and Charlie Tahan, Love is Strange opens August 22nd.


LOVE IS STRANGE (2014) Official HD Trailer Premiere by NewTrailers BOS

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Marisa Tomei to romance Hugh Grant in Marc Lawrence's untitled comedy

Long one of the most likable actresses around, Marisa Tomei has far too often been overlooked as a credible leading lady. Never was quite sure why, but part of me thinks she's always been held back by the undeserved surprise Oscar she won for My Cousin Vinny all those years. She's improved greatly in the years since, but has mostly been relegated to shining in supporting roles.

The Wrap reports she'll be tackling the female lead opposite Hugh Grant in his upcoming romantic comedy, to be directed by Marc Lawrence. We first learned about the project last month, marking the fourth collaboration between Lawrence and Grant, with all of their previous flicks as box office hits. The untitled film follows a washed up award-winning screenwriter who's forced to take a job teaching at a small East Coast college, where he's fortunate enough to meet and fall in love with a single mom played by Tomei.

Sounds potentially horrible, but it has to be better than where we'll see Tomei next. She'll co-star with Bette Midler and Billy Crystal in the family comedy, Parental Guidance, which opens next month. 

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New 'Parental Guidance' trailer with Billy Crystal and Bette Midler

"Grandpa tells lots of jokes....that you won't get."  They should put that as the marketing motif for Parental Guidance, an old and tired comedy that looked bad when the first trailer emerged a couple of months ago, and somehow looks like it aged about ten years since.

Who needs all those pesky Oscar contenders next month? Sometimes you just want to get away and watch somebody getting hit in the groin by a child. Or getting sprayed with water....again in the groin. The film stars Billy Crystal and Bette Midler as grandparents who discover their old school ways of parenting may no longer work when they're asked to take care of their daughter's three kids. Marisa Tomei, Bailee Madison, and Tom Everett Scott co-star.

Parental Guidance opens on Christmas Day, where it'll go head-to-head with Django Unchained. There's a pretty good chance families will gather around to see this so don't be surprised if it debuts strong before burning out quickly. I'm afraid if it does too well it may turn into the next Meet the Parents-style franchise. Check out the trailer below....

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New trailer for 'Parental Guidance' with Billy Crystal and Bette Midler

Y'know, if this were 1988 then Parental Guidance would be the most talked about movie of the fall season. Why, it stars two long-in-the-tooth comedic heavyweights like Billy Crystal and Bette Midler, and the premise is light and airy enough that families can go to it without fear of having their brains taxed all that much or seeing anything more vulgar than the occasional baseball bat to the groin.

But this is 2012 and Parental Guidance just looks really old and terribly unfunny. It's basically the cinematic equivalent of Crystal's fossilized hosting performance at the Oscars earlier this year. The film stars Crystal and Midler as old fashioned grandparents who agree to babysit their daughter's kids, and of course they can't quite keep up with how things have changed in modern times. Everybody involved deserves better than this, including Marisa Tomei as their daughter and Bailee Madison(Brothers) as the oldest grand kid.

Parental Guidance is directed by Andy Fickman and opens against Django Unchained on Christmas Day. Which one will you be taking your family to?

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The Lincoln Lawyer, starring Matthew McConaughey

Slick Los Angeles lawyer Mickey Haller(Matthew McConaughey) has the city in the palm of his hand. A high powered defense attorney happy to count the dregs of society as his primary client pool, Haller is the type of lawyer people point to when they say they hate lawyers. He's loose with the rules, quick on the uptake, and even quicker to negotiate a plea deal for a client. If he wasn't so successful you'd all him an ambulance chaser. The District Attorneys curse his name while falling to his charms and courtroom prowess. Oh, and did I fail to mention that his office is a chauffeured Lincoln Town Car, escorting him to his meetings throughout the city? Homeboy has it made.

Haller's not a complete jerk, he's just a guy with a plan. Part of that plan is taking care of his daughter and ex-wife(Marisa  Tomei), who works for the DA. If he's going to do that he needs a really big case. He finds it when socialite prettyboy Louis Roulet(Ryan Phillippe) requests him specifically as his counsel. Roulet has been thrown behind bars, charged with rape and attempted murder. Roulet forcefully demands right from the start that there'll be no deals this time. It's straight innocent, no jail time. Period.  It becomes clear very quickly that this case is one giant legal snake pit.  The victim is a prostitute, which should score Roulet some points with the jury. But then there's Rolet's caginess. He just can't quite get his story straight, and the DA is far too confident. Something isn't adding up, and the secrets being withheld could have consequences far beyond a simple courtroom verdict. 


Matthew McConaughey is an actor who irritates the crap outta me. Not because he's particularly bad in anything specific, but because so much of his potential has gone to waste mugging for the camera opposite Kate Hudson in bad rom-coms. As we saw when he played another cunning lawyer in A Time To Kill, he can be a fantastic dramatic actor when given material worth his time. McConaughey nails a role that could have become very cliche very quickly. We've all seen the story of the defense attorney at odds with his profession, which is basically letting creeps back out on the street. It's a role that seems tailor made for the actor, both calling for his good looks and charismatic personality, which again works just as well in reverse when the full weight of his burden starts to take it's toll.  Quite simply this is the best McConaughey has been in years, possibly ever.

I think in a lot of ways McConaughey is an actor who performs to the level of his supporting cast. I would look again to his two best performance in my opinion: A Time To Kill, and Contact opposite Jodie Foster. Here he gets to work with the great William H. Macy, a guy who has never had a dishonest emotion on screen ever. He gets to play Haller's private investigator sidekick, a wild haired neurotic helping dig into Roulet's questionable social life. Tomei is as sexy and solid as ever, even though her character isn't given a whole lot to do. It took Phillippe some time to work his way into the arrogant elitist role, but eventually he fits into it perfectly. The surprise was Josh Lucas as Haller's prosecutorial opponent. It's crazy to think that at one point both Lucas and McConaughey were very similar actors with career paths headed in the same direction(remember Stealth? Blah.). Now the two couldnt be more different, and it's personified by the extreme differences in their characters. I could've used a bit more of Katherine Moenig(The L Word), and Michael Pena(The Lucky Ones) is absolutely wasted. Both are extremely good in throw away roles.

Relatively unknown director Brad Furman has shown a marked improvement since his first(and only other) theatrical film, the low budget heist flick, The Take. He has a knack for the gritty, concrete side of Los Angeles, like he's stealing a page from David Ayer or Antoine Fuqua. The musical score is a bumpin' ode to 90s hip hop gems from Erick Sermon to Gangstarr(a fitting tribute to the fallen Guru). The beats bounce the story along in perfect sync with Furman's upbeat visual style. The real surprise is how well he also keeps the courtroom drama intriguing. Those have a tendency to become very stagnant.

As the twists continue to mount, my worry was that the story would start to unravel. It isn't long before the body counts start to rise and characters begin to reveal their true selves. Fortunately the script by John Romano never piles on more surprises than is necessary, keeping the majority of the focus on Haller's moral dilemma. Can Haller maintain his already shaky faith in the justice system when the system is crashing down around him?

Adapted from the work of crime novelist Michael Connelly, The Lincoln Lawyer is the type of movie we just don't get much of anymore. A legal thriller that's smart, mysterious, and will keep you on your toes from beginning to the very end. Here's hoping this is the start of a trend.

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Cyrus

At first the combination seems like a contradiction. Jay and Mark Duplass's low key, mostly improvised talky style some in the indie world have come to call "mumblecore", combined with the decidedly mainstream Jonah Hill and John C. Reilly. Cyrus is their most ambitious film yet, and a departure from the genre they've made (in)famous. With their most recognizable cast to date comes higher expectations, and the possibility of straining the comedy in order to appease the fans of Hill and Reilly, who have become used to seeing them in over the top roles. Fortunately, Cyrus never goes down that path, instead finding comedic gold out of the real emotions of its flawed characters.

It's easy to forget since we've seen him lately as Dewey Cox or in Step Brothers opposite Will Ferrell, but the first two films I remember seeing John C. Reilly in were Hard Eight and Boogie Nights. He built his career on quirky character pieces, so in a sense it's almost like he's going back to his roots. Here he plays John, a lonely sad sack who's been divorced from his ex-wife(every film's ex-wife Catherine Keener) for years. Yet he's still friends with her and relies on her despite the fact she's about to get married to another guy. John's a nice enough guy. He doesn't seem to have a mean bone in his body. A little desperate for attention, looking for somebody to love him again and fearing that nobody ever will. Dragged to a party in order to meet some new friends, preferably of the female persuasion, John gets hammered and his emotions begin to spill out. His honesty catches the ear of Molly(Marisa Tomei), a gorgeous woman who's looking for someone to be true with her, too.

There relationship is a whirlwind, and the energy of newfound love is in the air. Molly seems to be holding back something, though. John can't quite put his finger on what it could be that's standing in their way. Then he discovers it: Molly has a son, Cyrus(Jonah Hill). Not just any son. He gives whole new meaning to the term "momma's boy". At 21 years old, Cyrus is creepy as hell and more than a little overprotective of Molly. It's a totally symbiotic relationship. He depends on her for everything, while she encourages his dependency at every turn.  John's insertion into their life screws up their dynamic, which Cyrus perceives as a threat.

What follows could've devolved into Step Brothers-like open warfare, but instead the shenanigans are much more subtle. It starts with something subtle, like stealing John's shoes. Then it slowly snowballs into emotional manipulation that threatens to ruin John and Molly's happiness. After so many years of despair, John isn't about to stand by and watch his chance at love be trampled by a spoiled overgrown kid.

This has been an interesting year for Jonah Hill. Usually the comedic focal point of every film he, with both this and Get Him to the Greek he's taking on a diferent path. In Greek he plays a distant second fiddle to Russel Brand's crazy rocker, Aldous Snow. In Cyrus, we get our first real glimpse at Hill playing a character with many emotional layers. Cyrus could've easily been a cartoonish "bad seed", but Hill shows surprising depth by making him a character we actually feel a little sorry for. He's not evil, or doing what he's doing out of hatred, but because he sees everything he's ever known falling apart. It's easily the best Hill has ever been. You expect multi-faceted performances like that out of Reilly, and he delivers again in spades. The best part is how Reilly makes tiny changes to John's demeanor. His transformation from shy coward to fiercely determined protector occurs so naturally. Has there ever been a time where Marisa Tomei wasn't absolutely beautiful? Has she ever played a character that you didn't want to wrap your arms around and protect?

If you're expecting far out hijinks, Cyrus isn't going to be your cup of tea. The Duplass's don't do slapstick. At least not yet. That doesn't mean their aren't plenty of big laughs. If you haven't seen any of their previous films, consider Cyrus the best place to start.

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