Currently at the Curve, capturing some footage. Need to seriously get this proposal done asap, otherwise this whole thing could potentially be a waste of my time. It would be such a good project to do, seeing as I have so much dates to work with.
Blarg.
Karan.
The opening scene is pure hilarity, something I definitely enjoyed, and were people who have actually been fired recently in real life. The scene was organic, a word I use quite a lot, but this scene was just that- real, with real people. At any point during that establishing scene did it seem scripted to me, it was obvious they were being directed, but not so obvious that it was harmful to the overall polished-ness of the film.
George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a man who travels from state to state firing people from their jobs because their bosses are too afraid to do so.
So up until a little while into the film, he’s leading a sheltered life of solitude and emptiness, but he doesn’t realise this until he meets someone who complements him perfectly.
What I found to be brilliantly astute was the way the air miles were portrayed within this film, as some sort of status symbol. Another thing I admired was how Clooney’s character had a goal that he wanted to reach, it was as if he lived his life simply to achieve this.
The way he spent every aspect of his life so sparingly was admirable, how he was organised, almost as if his life was choreographed. Brilliance, would be the best word to use here, how each scene was crafted with such precision. What do I mean? I’m referring mainly to the scenes where Ryan and Natalie(Anna Kendrick) are together, especially the scene where they both set out for the first time, the flow of that particular scene was clean, it was brilliantly edited, and was when I began to get a good insight into Clooney’s character.
Kendrick was great in this, her character was sheer brilliance, definitely her best role I’ve seen her in. Her cockiness-turned-understanding attitude was a good change of pace, I think she was portrayed as a cocky graduate quite well, and when she found out how damaging life can be, it was heartwarming, when she understood what she was doing was a little unethical and belittling.
Theres not much else I can say without ruining the story, but it was such a good watch, another great from Jason Reitman, the ending was a bittersweet moment for both the audience and Clooney’s character I think, but it was a stirring moment when he had returned to assist with the problems.
Good film, good plot, good acting, witty, quirky dialogue, great cast, great film.
9/10
Karan
Movie reviews, news, rumours
via Up in the Air review.
Despite it not being a ridiculously funny film, it definitely had it’s charms, and it became apparent why it was praised.
I only found myself laughing probably about three times throughout the entire film, and other times a smile creeped out. Just a smile.
The humour was actually funny, but it just really felt way overdone, almost as if it was trying too hard. It was just all sex, drugs and toilet jokes here. Very reminiscent of early Apatow work. Not necessarily bad, it just felt overdone, all too familiar for my taste.
The plot was intriguing to me, the result of last night’s drug and alcohol fuelled romp appearing to be a huge catastrophe was hilarious, seeing what the gang went through trying to figure out what happened was pure hilarity, but like I said before, alot of the gags used were just…okay. When all of these elements were melded together in once bunch, it was just a substandard comedy film, which quite honestly dragged the film down a little.
The cast in The Hangover most definitely were the shining stars of the film, most notably Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis. Cooper I was familiar with from ‘Yes Man’ and ‘Wedding Crashers’, but seeing him in a starring role was definitely something which I agreed with and definitely gave the film a little more credibility. Of course, in saying this, Ed Helms was delightfully amusing, after watching his performance as a regular in the US TV show, ‘The Office’. Galifianakis was a new face for me, prior to the film I wasn’t aware of his existence, and for this I’m disappointed with myself. Zach would most definitely take the ‘most effing funny’ award for his performance in this, and quite frankly, the three time I laughed, it was because of Galifianakis.
I enjoyed the film, it was far from the funniest film I’ve seen, but it had it’s charms, and is why I enjoyed it so much. With plenty of laughs, awkward moments, The Hangover is a straightforward comedy while at the same time quite clever, with it’s intricately intertwined continuity, it was most enjoyable thanks to the starring cast who stole the film.
Despite lack of originality in the comedic department, it deserves the praise it’s been receiving.
8/10
Karan
Movie reviews, news, rumours
via The Hangover review.
