96 - What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

Connection To STEP BROTHERS - John C. Reilly and Mary Steenburgen.

So what is eating Gilbert Grape? A lot really... a dangerously obese mother who hasn't left the house in years, a brother with severe learning difficulties (who is about to turn 18 and wasn't expected to live past 10) and stuck as the "responsible" one in his family in a dead end town.

I should flashback a bit to when I first saw this, in my teen years while I was still at school, before seeing this I used to make jokes about a friends overweight mother - while his mother wasn't as heavy was the mother here - I guess the film told me not just people on their size, so there you go ladies and gentlemen films can make a difference.

How would I rate Gilbert Grape though? Well to me it's a well made films with some great characters but perhaps tries a little bit hard at times to pour it on and can be a bit obvious when trying to get you to feel the emotion it wants.

I'll talk about the two performances first that most people will take from this movie, firstly Leonardo DiCaprio as Gilbert's young brother Arnie - the aforementioned brother steals focus anytime he is on screen and proving you can go full retard (Tropic Thunder reference if you didn't know) if the performance is this good, he captures what Gilbert does say early in the film in his narration in "that some days you want to kill him" - giving you a really good overall feeling about what it would be like if you was caring for Arnie.

The other performance is Darlene Cates as the mother, who really was housebound for years and I think it was a talk show appearence that caught the eye of director Lasse Hallstrom in casting her, as a non-actor she does really well, to be a couple of her lines reading her awkward - but Hallstrom, whoever should have been the ones ironing them out - the films best emotional moment for me was when Arnie gets arrested for climbing the water tower one to many times and she lives the house for the first time.

The rest of the cast are pretty cool, Juliette Lewis perhaps gets the most underwritten character but works great with what she's got, John C. Reilly whose obsessed with a burger franchise coming to town and Crispin Glover as a mortuary assistant (perfect casting) are good as Gilbert's friends. Johnny Depp does carry the movie though, he is our avatar and don't think the movie would work quite as well.

Overall a very good film, that's it's main weaknesses might only bother me but this is little with a great cast who are all endlessly watchable.

95 - Step Brothers

Connection To ANCHORMAN 2 - Will Ferrell and Adam McKay (ending the three film adventure for now).

By now (films like Stranger Than Fiction aside among others) Will Ferrell (like Adam Sandler) as settled into what works for him as far as audiences go, he's usually either man-child or buffoon (or both), Step Brothers is arguably him at his most man-childeness (yeah I inverted a word to suit my needs), I mean he acts like a child (as does John C. Reilly) and it's not the fact that they still live at home is that even in their 40s they want and have zero of the responsibility  Ferrell and Reilly co-starring together had already proved an enjoyable thing (Talladega Nights) and the pair as rivals then friends are enjoyable to watch however which way play off of each other.

Like all the Will Ferrell-Adam McKay films (the third in a row covered here) the plot is slight and is an excuse to do gags, which depending on your tolerance of Ferrell is going to factor in how much you will enjoy this movie. Ferrell and Reilly starting off as antagonists before coming friends (or allies or lovers depending on film) is actually quite common in his work when you think about it - Blades Of Glory (two rivals end up teaming up), Anchorman (Veronica and Ron start at each others throats), The Other Guys (cops who don't like each other end up with respect and friendship) are a few that come to mind.

The funniest bits for me juvenile as they are including a ballsack on a drum kit and an attempt by the brothers to turn their beds into bunk heads that doesn't go too well.

Overall, it's important to say this if you love or like Will Ferrell then you are going to like this, hate him: don't waste your time and tut through it.

68 - We're No Angels

Connection To THE BIG WEDDING - Robert De Niro, wasting him on two lesser films I suppose.

I do remember that I saw We're No Angels when I was little, I remember the video cover, us renting it, even it been on, but honestly there is no memory of it, it's something I've always being meaning to revisit and not have left it I guess almost 25 year-ish

When I was little I obviously had no idea of flops and I kind of wish I didn't go through the period of reading reviews that would decide everything I watched, because it really is a better thing sometimes into a film quite blind other then little things like actors etc, you'll be surprised at how many films you'll enjoy then read up afterwards - you mean I wasn't supposed to like that.

Watching this in 2014, it's hard to believe this was at the time a rare venture in comedy for De Niro, considering it seems like every other film he does now is one and he is paired with the similarly serious Sean Penn (who at least had an iconic role in a comedy - Fast Times At Ridgemont High - by then), but I don't know something tells me I'm not exactly going to be watching a rip-roaring comedy when I start We're No Angels.

It's not bad but for a comedy it's rarely funny - which is one of the things you want most from a comedy, but oddly as long as the film is enjoyable it's not a total deal breaker - it certainly should be better though for the talents involved behind the camera (directed Neil Jordan and written by motherfucking David Mamet) and in the front. It mostly feels like there is more tension in whether they will get caught out then the humour.

The female lead is Demi Moore - so It's got 80's Demi Moore since this came out in 1989 - I don't know I tend to not find her as attractive once it's the 90's - she was cuter to me (see also One Crazy Summer, No Small Affair).

Overall, this film feels like a watch once unless I totally don't remember it in another nearly 25 years then it will get seen again, you can't fault the actors or anything but it's missing a spark for me.

Last note - today film-wise ends up being a disappointing day as nothing was that brilliant.