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Flash Movie Review: Pacific Rim: Uprising
I MIGHT BE THE ONLY one who thinks this way, but I would never name a child after their parent. There are some people who will say it is a blessing to name the baby with the same name as the parent; but I feel it is a crapshoot, especially when the males are given the same name with the addition of Jr. If I focus let us say on political figures in history, you could make the argument the same name worked for President John Adams and his son President John Quincy Adams; you would be correct in this case. But let me ask you, how do you think having the last name as their father affected the children of Joseph Stalin and Benito Mussolini? Maybe when their fathers were in power things were good, but I am guessing it did not last long. Now for Margaret Truman she led a successful life as a singer and author, where her last name did not hinder her career; if nothing else it probably helped since she wrote a number of works on United States’ First Ladies and Families. THIS IS WHY I AM not a fan of naming children after their parents because they usually are never judged on their own merits. The same could be said for siblings who attend the same school. If the older of the 2 siblings was the perfect student, the younger one will have a lot to live up to if they wind up having the same teacher. I remember two brothers in school who suffered from that very thing; one was considered the sweet, kind one and the other was thought of as a troublemaker. Each of us is always getting judged one way or another; I do not think having the same name helps a person reach their true potential. Sure it can open some doors for the individual but it can also slam the door in their face. When I find out a successful person I admire is related to a famous person I have to give them credit for striking out on their own. Look at the actress Mariska Hargitay; how many of you know her mother was Jayne Mansfield? Mariska wanted to make it on her own; kudos to her. One of the main characters did not want to be compared to his father; you should see what he did instead in this action, adventure science fiction film. JAKE PENTECOST, PLAYED BY JOHN Boyega (Star Wars franchise, Detroit), could never live up to his father’s achievement in helping to save Earth. So Jake chose a completely different life; however, his life took a turn when he met the homeless girl Namani, played by relative newcomer Cailee Spaeny. With Scott Eastwood (Suicide Squad, The Longest Ride) as Nate Lambert, Burn Gorman (Crimson Peak, The Dark Knight Rises) as Dr. Hermann Gottlieb and Charlie Day (Fist Fight, Horrible Bosses franchise) as Dr. Newton Geiszler; I suppose if you have not seen the 1st movie you may get something out of this one. However I have to tell you I enjoyed the first film and I did not find this current one entertaining. The script was basic with cheap lines of dialog. There was nothing exciting or tense in the story; by the end of the movie I almost wished things would have ended differently to put a stop to this film spawning a sequel. If pressed I guess I could say the special effects were decent in a Transformers type of way. One could say I am judging this picture to the 1st one but that is not the case. Standing on its own 2 feet this film did not capture my interest; in fact, it only stole some time away from me.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: 7 Days in Entebbe
THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT get better with age and there are others that get worse. I am a big fan of leftovers because I have found some foods taste better to me the next day. This may gross some of you out but I love cold pizza on the 2nd day as much as when I originally ordered it. Not being an alcohol drinker I have heard some wines and liquors taste better the longer they sit. When it comes to shoes I definitely feel they get better with age; my feet are much happier in an old pair of sneakers than a brand new, store bought pair. Having watched people around me go through the aging process I feel I can say some of them got softer with age. What I mean is they lost some of their intensity and rigidity. Things that used to annoy them do not have the same effect as they have grown older. On the other hand there are some folk who have become less accepting or maybe I should say less open to new experiences. They want things in a particular order with no deviation, becoming more argumentative if things are not to their liking. ALONG THESE SAME LINES I have noticed that the feelings of love and hate have altered through the years. Love for all intents and purposes has stayed steady through the years. Sure there are more ways to show one’s love these days, but overall it pretty much has stayed intact in its pureness. Hate to me has become more of a hungry beast that wants to devour things whole. Years ago when two people broke off their relationship they stopped seeing each other. Yes there may have been yelling and name calling; but eventually the participants moved on with their lives. Now we have people becoming stalkers and killers when their love goes unanswered. Hatred to me has become more volatile where groups of people form over a common hate towards some other group. The things I see on the news are hard to comprehend sometimes. People being poisoned as they walk down the street, vehicles exploding in highly populated areas, beheadings being recorded; there is only so much one can see before they get depressed by it all. You would think with the way technology has helped advance society there would be a way people could learn to embrace each other’s differences instead of using them to fuel their hatred. Though the story in this dramatic, crime thriller took place in the 1970s it could easily have taken place today. LOOKING FOR A WAY TO achieve their mutual goals a group of radicals hatch a creative plan involving an airplane. To the individuals who would be affected by their plan, it meant they would have to come up with something just as creative if they wanted to save lives. Inspired by true events this film starred Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl, A United Kingdom) as Brigitte Kuhlmann, Daniel Bruhl (The Zookeeper’s Wife, Rush) as Wilfried Bose, Eddie Marsan (Happy-Go-Lucky, 21 Grams) as Shimon Peres and Lior Ashkenazi (Footnote, Walk on Water) as Yitzhak Rabin. The story was an intense one and for it to succeed it needed a solid script, but that did not happen. The cast was certainly capable to handle it but I found the script uneven; there were some riveting scenes but then others fell flat. I actually did not like the way the movie ended with the 2 story lines. Maybe if there was more back story to the characters I would have gotten more into this film; however, what I watched only made me sad on many levels.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Gringo
THOUGH I WOULD LIKE EVERYONE to act in an honest and ethical way, I am sure there is a lot that goes on in the business world that would shock me. Not just big corporations, I am sure it trickles down to small shop owners. I have a couple of friends who ran a medical practice and I used to get surprised by the things they told me they encountered during the average work day. Drug salespeople were constantly dropping in hoping to catch a quick meeting with the doctor. If they could not meet on their first attempt, some would try to bring in lunch for the staff. I assume they were hoping they could entice the doctor to meet them over a meal. There was one salesperson who would stock their cabinet with trial size packages of the drug they were representing; however, they always either pushed back their competitor’s product to the back of the shelf or even took some of it away. Through my friends’ years at the medical practice I was astounded by the amount of free products the drug reps would try to leave at the office. I had to wonder if the drug company eliminated the free trial size portions would they lower the prices of their drugs. THE PAST WEEK A FORMER pharmaceutical executive was sentenced to prison for fraud. I think the verdict is just since he broke the law; but this is the same person who raised the price of a life-saving drug from $13.50 a pill to $750.00. Now I am all for everyone making a profit but gouging the public is simply wrong. The percentage of that price increase covers the price of inflation for centuries. Granted having the product billed as a lifesaver makes it worse, but I would feel the same way if a company increased the price of their bread by some exorbitant price. The difference is they would never do it because one can always buy a loaf of bread from a different company. People in business who only think of themselves and are willing to sacrifice the consumer to get ahead are no different in my opinion to those malicious email attachments seeking your bank information. And as a side note the latest statistics show those emails increased by 300% in the last quarter of 2017. Despite the crooked and unethical things I have mentioned, I was shocked by what I saw in this action crime comedy. WANTING TO BE THE FIRST to come to market with a brand new drug medical executive Richard Rusk, played by Joel Edgerton (Red Sparrow, The Great Gatsby), was willing to do anything to succeed. This would put his employees in a precarious predicament. With Charlize Theron (Atomic Blonde, Mad Max: Fury Road) as Elaine Markinson, David Oyelowo (A United Kingdom, Queen of Katwe) as Harold Soyinka, Thandie Newton (Crash, 2012) as Bonnie Soyinka and Amanda Seyfried (Dear John, Mamma Mia!) as Sunny; I felt the cast choices were way better than the roles they were given to play. The script started out promising to me but as time went on I thought the addition of multiple story lines and the under developed characters bogged it down. I actually do not recall anything funny in this film. Instead I thought the story was a generic version of several “chase” films I have seen before. Even with the acting I felt Charlize was the most authentic; I can only assume David wanted to do something totally different, but it did not work for me. This movie has to make one wonder if all involved producing it were sampling the drug that was coming to market in this story.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: A Wrinkle in Time
AS I LISTENED TO THE description of the show I became more horrified by the changes in the story. It was one of my favorite stories when I was a child. The changes I was hearing did not make any sense to me and I could not understand why anyone would want to tamper with a classic story. That is not just my opinion; the story has survived as they say the test of time, bringing joy to millions. The story has been turned into several films, theater productions and ice skating shows; yet for the most part the essence of it remained the same. Imagine how you would feel if you were going to see something that you were familiar with only to discover it was nothing like you remembered. For me it is like going to a favorite restaurant for a specific dish only to find out, after they brought it to your table, that the cooks changed it. Yes I know there is a possibility I could love it even more; but the chances the new dish will not satisfy my taste buds seem to always run higher. SO LET ME TELL YOU about the book today’s movie is based on. It was required reading when I was in school. I enjoyed the story so much that I read the book twice. It has been years since I thought about the story; but I remember anytime I was invited to a kid’s party I would always first consider buying this book as a gift. There were times I found out the child already had a copy of the book which in an odd way pleased me. I felt like this family, whether I was related to them or not, gets it; they understand the story is truly special and may also know the book was awarded the Newbery Medal. For those of you not familiar, the Newbery Medal is a literary award given to the author; think of it as the Oscars of children literature. As you may imagine I was looking forward to seeing this movie version of one of my favorite books. Let me also say I am aware I may not remember everything about the story but I do know how it made me feel and this adventure fantasy caused me to experience different feelings. FOUR YEARS AFTER HER FATHER disappeared from home Meg, played by Storm Reid (12 Years a Slave, Sleight), was visited by three beings who knew where her father had gone. With Oprah Winfrey (Selma, The Color Purple) as Mrs. Which, Reese Witherspoon (Home Again, Walk the Line) as Mrs. Whatsit, Mindy Kaling (No Strings Attached, The Office-TV) as Mrs. Who and Levi Miller (Pan, Red Dog: True Blue) as Calvin; I enjoyed the visuals in this picture. What I did not enjoy was pretty much everything else in this movie. I was actually annoyed with the direction; it seemed at least 50% of the scenes were shot in close-up. The script was so poorly written that almost all the characters were drab and lifeless. For such a story the writers and director needed to hit the viewers with deep emotional scenes, making the negative forces something we would fear. Instead I sat in my seat being bored and depressed with how wrong this movie got the story. Even the acting, except for a couple of actors, was bland and uninspiring. Now I will say if you have never read the book, you might find something you like about this movie. For me I plan on re-reading the story so I can forget about what I saw in this film.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Restless
IT MAY START WITH THAT first “thwack” of a flyswatter against an insect where a child gets desensitized to the concept of death. To a baby or young child a bug may only be perceived as a toy; the idea of life and death is not something a young mind can wrap itself around. I even remember classmates who would hold a magnifying glass above an insect, directing the light of the sun down to burn the bug. To my fellow classmates it was simply a game they played. There were never any protests or condemnations by other students against this practice. It was not until we graduated to a higher grade level; I think it was around the 6th or 7th grade before a student would report a classmate for torturing an animal. This may shock you but we had a classmate who was known for setting fire to cats. I do not know how he caught them but I always wondered if he tortured and killed any other types of animals. To have such a disregard for life I assumed he must have been getting abused by someone. IT IS NOT UNTIL ONE is faced with a life threatening experience before they truly can appreciate their life. Recently I was talking with someone who had dealt with a deadly health issue. We talked and compared the issues we both had during our individual crisis. It was funny but we each told our loved ones we did not want any words of encouragement like “it will be okay.” During my medical scare I told everyone not to respond to any of the updates I would be sending them. Here is the thing though; everyone handles life and death issues differently. Some people are trained to never talk about death so when someone is facing a life threatening illness they stay away from the patient. Most people I think are trained to look at death as a sad experience. Yes it is sad that person will not be around anymore; but I feel death should be looked at as a celebration of life. Since death is a certainty in each of our lives, the idea of spending time dreading it taking place does not make much sense to me. I will say however there are only 2 things I hope will happen when it is my time to die: that my death does not make the news as part of a tragic event and I have a smile on my face as I die happy. FROM A CHANCE MEETING STRANGERS Annabel and Enoch, played by Mia Wasikowska (Crimson Peak, The Kids are All Right) and Henry Hopper (The Color of Time, The Fly Room), discover they have something in common: Death. This film festival nominated dramatic romance also starred Ryo Kase (Letters from Iwo Jima, Beyond Outrage) as Hiroshi Takahashi, Schuyler Fisk (Orange Country, The Best of Me) as Elizabeth and Jane Adams (Poltergeist, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) as Mabel. I thought Mia shined in this movie; her acting was soft and subtle. The story piqued my interest because it was based on a curious idea. However as the story moved forward I started to lose interest. The script was somewhat confusing to me to the point I wasn’t sure if what I was watching had some important symbolism or was a metaphor for a particular issue. I really wished the writers would have delved more into Mia’s character, developing it fuller. She was the focal point as far as I was concerned; the other characters were secondary in my opinion. Sadly this DVD really never came alive for me.
1 ¾ stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: The Commuter
WHAT I AM ABOUT TO tell you is not written in any rule books. It is observational, helpful guidelines I have made over the years while riding trains in different cities. There is something about trains that has always attracted me. They are not as fast as planes but sitting back and literally seeing the countryside pass by is a thrill for me. I remember on one vacation a friend had told me to make sure I sat on the left side of the train car for a better view on a scenic train ride through the mountains and they were absolutely right. This train was geared more towards tourists so all the train cars were clean inside and out. On public transportation systems I have sat in seats where the windows were smeared with something I preferred not knowing what it could be; so make a note to yourself, you never want to lean your head against the window even if you should happen to doze off. When you are sitting in a train car where there is an agitated passenger talking nonsense it is best to exit the train car and go to another one. IF YOU ARE CURIOUS to learn about the local cuisine of a new city, I suggest you never sit next to a passenger who is eating. Chances are you will have crumbs or liquids spilled on you; it is best to sit across from the person if you want to ask about the food balanced on their lap. I have walked onto some train cars where there was such a strong stench of stale food that I immediately turned around and found a different car. On one trip I was sitting in my seat trying to listen to the conductor calling out each train stop. After some time I found the conductor to ask him how much longer to the stop I needed. They looked at me with concern as they told me I missed my stop and I better stay with him for the rest of the trip, until he could put me on another train to take me back to where I needed to belong. It was an odd exchange at the time but I soon realized what the conductor was implying as the neighborhood we were traveling through was changing. From what I have told you now, do you want to take a chance by riding on the train in this dramatic, crime drama? BY RIDING THE SAME train to work every day Michael MacCauley, played Liam Neeson (Run All Night, The Grey), was familiar with most of the passengers in his train car. However when the stranger Joanna, played by Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air, Orphan), sat next to him she struck up a conversation that would change his life. Along with Liam and Vera the cast included Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring franchise, The Phantom of the Opera) as Alex Murphy, Sam Neill (Tommy’s Honour, The Piano) as Captain Hawthorne and Jonathan Banks (Gremlins, Breaking Bed) as Walt. As this passenger train rolled down the tracks the story and script got loonier and loonier. Liam played the exact same character he has portrayed in most of his recent films. The beginning of the story interested me but soon scenes were becoming farfetched and not making much sense. I did not connect to any of the characters. In a way this film was a cross between Liam’s Taken film franchise with Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. One would have been better off to have taken a different train all together.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Insidious: The Last Key
IN THEORY I THOUGHT my idea would work. With the variety of items I needed to purchase as gifts for the holidays, I thought it made sense to go to one of those massive shopping centers. There was one within driving distance from my house; so picking a cloudy day, I drove out to the shopping center only to discover there were a lot of other people who had the same idea as mine. After some time driving up and down the aisles of parked cars, I found a space in the outer reaches or a better description would be, in the frozen tundra. Making my way to the indoor shopping center, I had a loose game plan on how I should navigate through the maze of stores that were on multiple levels. Once inside the warmth in temperature greeted me like a long lost relative. WITH MY MENTAL LIST of people who I needed to buy gifts for in my head, I maneuvered into the continuous stream of shoppers ahead of me. I felt like a worker ant falling into step. Almost every store I passed had some kind of sign stating a sale; with the amount of people everywhere one would have thought the stores were giving away stuff for dirt cheap. I went into one store and navigated my way to the department where I had to buy 1 of the needed gifts. Surprisingly the whole process was relatively painless, so I was able to move on to the next item rather quickly. However my luck quickly ran out at the next place. This store had unique items that were made exclusively for them and unfortunately they did not have in stock the one item I needed. Moving on I made my way to another store on a different level, hoping I could regain my shopping mojo. Sadly it was another strikeout; they had what I needed but not in the right color. When I left that store I had to stop for a moment to reorganize my list, thinking of other items I could get to replace what I initially wanted to buy as gifts. Not sure what I needed I found myself aimlessly wandering in and out of a bunch of stores, getting propelled forward by the ever present stream of shuffling shoppers. I soon came to the realization I had no idea where I was going or why I was there. Lo and behold I felt the same way about this latest installment of this horror mystery franchise. ELISE RAINIER, PLAYED BY Lin Shaye (There’s Something About Mary, Dead End), was used to hearing and seeing spirits. But she wasn’t prepared for what was waiting for her at the home she grew up in. With Leigh Whannell (Saw franchise, Cooties) as Specs, Angus Sampson (Winchester, Mad Max: Fury Road) as Tucker, Kirk Acevedo (The Thin Red Line, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) as Ted Garza and Josh Stewart (The Dark Knight Rises, Interstellar) as Gerald Rainier; I could not tell you where this thriller fits into the time frame for the entire series. There were a few spooky scenes but out of the 4 films, this one was the least suspenseful. However I can tell you the humor on display was a relief since it forced the viewer to have some kind of an emotional response. I felt the script was listless and uninspiring; I did not feel a connection to any of the characters, though I liked Lin’s performance. Maybe it is time for the movie studio to regift this franchise and get it out of their hands.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Pitch Perfect 3
SOMETIMES OUR DREAMS DO not come true or at least not the way we had hoped they would. I have mentioned in previous reviews I feel dreams are a vital part of a person’s life; in my opinion, they are the oasis in the voyage of our lives. Just recently a friend was telling me the next 3 months were going to be intense for him at his workplace. He needed to dangle something in front of himself to strive towards (like that carrot in front of a horse thing), to get through his grueling work schedule, so he was planning a trip in April. I listened as he told me how he will think about exotic locations he wants to visit while crunching data for reports. I saw it as a pressure valve thing where he needed to take his mind off of the tedious and monotonous motions of his day. Let us face it who can sit in a sterile work cubicle every day, doing the same thing over and over, without letting your mind at some point drift to something more pleasurable? ANOTHER AVENUE WHERE OUR dreams may come into play is when we encounter people who were with us during the birth of a particular dream. These individuals represent validation that our dreams were a real thing that we wanted to achieve at some point in time. Think about the friends you had during high school and college, where you would all talk about what you wanted to do after you were done with school. I remember bumping into a former classmate who recalled my interest in photography; they asked me if I pursued photography as a career. As the two of us started to talk about the past I saw images in my mind of me spending every weekend in the darkroom, developing the past week’s worth of photographs. I dreamed of being a photojournalist back then, remembering the amount of photos I would take in hopes of submitting some of them to news organizations. After meeting that former classmate my dream of being a photographer came back to life for a short time. I found my camera up on a shelf in the closet, so I started taking photographs again to see how it would feel. The feeling only lasted a short time but it did feel good. A similar thing happened to the friends in this musical comedy sequel. DISENCHANTED AND DISILLUSIONED WITH the life they were now leading the former Bellas singing group got back together to audition for an overseas USO tour. Being chosen meant each of the members could leave their life behind and start over with a new one; however one had to be careful what they wished for. Starring Anna Kendrick (The Accountant, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates) as Beca, Rebel Wilson (How to be Single, Bridesmaids) as Fat Amy, Brittany Snow (Hairspray, Prom Night) as Chloe and Anna Camp (The Help, True Blood-TV) as Aubrey; this 3rd installment quickly went from a cute to silly story. I thought the script was awful and missed the opportunity to relive the original film’s charm. There seemed to be less singing and an increase in lame comedy bits that bored me. It was a shame the producers decided to make this sequel that dragged down any fun memories one might have had with the former films. And with the different story lines that were thrown into this picture all I have to say is this 3rd one was not the charm; instead it was off key.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Wonder Wheel
WITHIN OUR DAILY LIVES there may be times where you experience something annoying. The stubbing of a toe, the occasional splinter or the dreaded paper cut; in the scheme of things I would consider these events irritating, nothing life threatening. For me getting stopped at a railroad crossing for a freight train or an ill informed employee waiting on me at a store are big irritants. I know I should not devote energy to negative feelings but it is hard to overcome years of acting this way. It used to be if something irritated me I would allow it to leech out into other feelings, being ticked off while walking around with a dark cloud over my head. I can still remember seeing other people experiencing something annoying and not letting it bother them; you might know, letting it roll off their back. Oh no, that used to not be an option for me. THE REASON I AM mentioning this is because a friend of mine just told me about the type of week they recently had and I noticed something interesting. All within one week his refrigerator broke, the microwave oven he ordered was delivered in the wrong size, his dentist told him he would need a root canal, the home laptop computer crashed and he got stuck in his winter jacket when the zipper broke up by his neck. What I found interesting was his reaction to all of these things; he was only slightly annoyed, laughing off the jacket incident as comical. Separately I sort of can see where each of these things might not illicit s strong negative reaction since they all were completely out of his control. While he was telling me all of this I realized I was getting anxious and annoyed for him. What was that about?! Having multiple annoying occurrences evidently affects me even if they have nothing to do with me. I know it is a process that will take time, to learn about letting go of this “small stuff;” however, when it comes to this drama written and directed by Woody Allen (Blue Jasmine, Café Society) I simply am not capable yet of not being annoyed. WITH MONEY BEING TIGHT and her son randomly starting fires all over the place it took Ginny, played by Kate Winslet (The Mountain Between Us, The Dressmaker), everything she had to keep things together. The surprise visit of her husband’s daughter Carolina, played by Juno Temple (Killer Joe, Maleficent), who was wanted by the mob could be the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Including Jim Belushi (Red Heat, According to Jim-TV) as Humpty and Justin Timberlake (The Social Network, Runner Runner) as Mickey, I thought this was Jim’s best performances. His character seemed the most real to me; everyone else seemed more like a caricature. Visually I enjoyed this film with its story being set in Coney Island, but the script was so similar to other stories that I have seen in other movies. For me the story dragged at times and maybe her character was supposed to be irritating but I have to tell you I did not care for Kate’s role; she was annoying to me. Overall I felt this picture was stale; it did not offer anything new as far as I could see. Maybe tomorrow I will get a handle on not allowing myself to get irritated, but for right now this film annoyed me.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Daddy’s Home 2
ONE IS EITHER BORN INTO the role or is trained by default to be the neutral party aka buffer zone between conflicted family members and/or friends. It takes a particular temperament to handle groups of people who have opposing opinions; a person needs to be calm, sensitive, thoughtful and most importantly strong enough to never offer an opinion. Even in the face of an evil, belligerent person; one needs to maintain a serene exterior, even if they are thinking the extreme thinking friend or family member is hateful or bigoted. If the social event is being held in a large space chances are there will be less drama and little policing of the opposing combatants. However if the meeting place (feel free to replace meeting place with the word arena) is a small space such as a restaurant booth or a person’s dining room, then things could be trickier to maintain some semblance of peace. THROUGH THE YEARS I have been exposed to various events and locations where I was able to witness the buffer zone person in action. I am actually familiar with the dynamics of an occasion where 2 people are not seeing things eye to eye. It can be quite stressful for the other people around. There was a party I attended where such a scenario took place and I agree it was a challenge trying to stay neutral with both sides while each one of them was making their case to me that they were right. The thing I find interesting is when this type of behavior plays out during a special occasion such as a holiday or birthday. Wouldn’t you think in respect to the person celebrating or the special significance to the gathering people could put their differences aside? I do not know if it is an ego thing, a stubborn thing or lack of confidence that makes a person act out in public in such a way. If you are interested there are several examples of people acting ridiculous in this comedy film. TIRED OF DIVIDING THEIR children’s time up during the holiday between each of them Dads Brad and Dusty, played by Will Ferrell (The House, The Campaign) and Mark Wahlberg (Patriots Day, The Gambler), came up with a brilliant idea; to spend the Christmas holiday together. The idea would have been perfect if not for the visit of the grandfathers. With John Lithgow (Miss Sloane, Betriz at Dinner) as Don, Linda Cardellini (Grandma’s Boy, Avengers: Age of Ultron) as Sara and John Cena (Trainwreck, The Marine) as Roger; this sequel for the most part followed the same formula as the original movie. I found the script was predictable and some of the humor had a negative edge to it. If you happened to see the trailers you pretty much saw what the whole film was going to consist of: physical comedy mixed with stereotypical acting. Some of the scenes rang somewhat true to the point I could appreciate what the writers were trying to convey; but, there were times I thought the story was diving into a ridiculous slapstick form of comedy. Having seen the first movie, I did not find much being offered with this picture in the way of new, fresh ideas. Maybe those of you who are in a similar situation as the characters in this picture will enjoy this film. For me I could not be positive or even neutral in my review of this formulaic written movie.
1 ¾ stars
moviejoltz 