Review #46: Jenny's Wedding

Release Date: July 31, 2015
Writer: Mary Agnes Donoghue
Director: Mary Agnes Donoghue

Logline: Jenny Farrell has led an openly gay life - except with her conventional family. When she finally decides to start a family and marry the woman they thought was just her roommate, the small, safe world the Farrells inhabited changes forever. They are left with a simple and difficult choice - either change with it or drown. (IMDb) Comedy, 94 minutes.

Bechdel Test: Passes all 3 tests

Review

After reading this interview with writer/director Mary Agnes Donaghue, I was really looking forward to Jenny’s Wedding. Films centering around LGBT issues are unfortunately scarce and I’m always happy to see people attempting to help bridge that gap. While the effort is valiant, the finished product unfortunately doesn’t quite pay off. With mediocre performances, stiff dialogue and a blatant over usage of that Macklemore song from 2012, Jenny’s Wedding squanders its opportunity to tell an important story that is both needed and wanted in our current age of sequels, remakes and male centered action blockbusters.

This film could have benefited greatly from better chemistry between the two leads. Katherine Heigl’s Jenny and Alexis Bledel’s Kitty are so boring together that it’s easy to see why Jenny’s family had no problem believing they were just roommates. They are the beigest of beige. Too basic to even fit the categorization of basic bitches. Although the film is truly about Jenny and her family, a little more time focused solely on her relationship with Kitty may have produced a deeper level of empathy from the audience.

The combination of on-the-nose dialogue and preachy overtones makes the film seem more like a made for tv movie than an authentic discussion on coming out and being true to yourself. It just feels a little clunky, a little outdated and a little disjointed. When you add all these problems up, they equal a disappointing experience and a mediocre film.

Portrayal of Women: On a positive note, it’s nice to see the women in the film grow into more confident versions of themselves. Jenny escapes her state of fear and learns to stick to her guns. Her mother does the same as she lets go of a lifelong desire to fit into the cookie cutter

stereotype of a perfect family.

And then there is Jenny’s sister, Anne, who is played beautifully by Grace Gummer and is arguably the most interesting character in the film. Trapped in a horrible marriage and an unhappy life, Anne comes to the understanding that the only way to ensure your own happiness is to take action. She is consumed with this idea that happy people don’t have dead grass – something her yard has been plagued with for years. I really wanted to get on board with this, but like the rest of the film, it was too forced to actually be effective. 

Sisterhood Moment: The dynamic between Jenny and Anne is almost worthy of its own film. The implied rocky history seems to be founded on jealousy and mistrust – feelings that are sometimes impossible to avoid between sisters. The moment Jenny asks Anne to be her maid of honour is sincerely sweet and shows that the bond of sisterhood is truly stronger than anything.

Rating: 1 gossiping neighbor with questionable hair choices

IMDb - Jenny's Wedding (5.4)

Wikipedia - Jenny's Wedding

Rotten Tomatoes - Jenny's Wedding  (8%)

Review #40: Life Partners

Release Date: November 6, 2014
Writer: Susanna Fogel, Joni Lefkowitz
Director: Susanna Fogel

Logline: Sasha and Paige's co-dependant friendship is tested as Paige gets serious with a guy for the first time. (Source IMDb) Comedy/Romance, 93min.

Bechdel Test: Passed all three tests

Review

When you think of heartbreak, it’s pretty likely that the first thing that comes to mind is the breakup of a romantic relationship. Although this may be the most talked about kind of heartbreak, it is far from being the only kind. Life Partners tackles the heartbreak that happens when your best friend gets a boyfriend – it’s that impossible frustration of being genuinely happy for your friend but also completely miserable over the fact that they no longer need you as much as they once did.

The film begins by making us all wish that we had a spirit as kindred as Sasha (Leighton Meester) or Paige (Gillian Jacobs).  They’re the kind of friends who completely understand each other – they do hilarious bits in traffic, they watch ANTM together every week and they have each other listed as “husband” and “wife” in their phones.

Then we meet Adam Brody’s character, Tim, and he pretty well ruins everything.  As Paige falls in love with Tim, she gradually starts drifting away from Sasha until all of a sudden they are barely speaking to each other anymore. 

What this film does best is capture the gradual build of poignant moments which signal that the relationship is changing.  Their friendship doesn't suffer due to one problem but rather due to little annoyances that combine into a greater issue that becomes too big to ignore. The scene that sticks with me is one where Sasha tries to engage Paige in a strategy session involving a new girlfriend and text etiquette.  Paige's newfound stableness removes any ability for her to relate to Sasha's frustration as her problems now seem trivial and irrelevant. The short scene perfectly encapsulates the disconnect between the two women but also upholds a balance of camaraderie that helps us fully understand why they remain friends despite their disdain for each other.

Although there’s nothing especially groundbreaking about Life Partners, its enjoyable performances coupled with themes that are bound to resonate with a wide range of audiences make it worth a watch.

PS. I'm on board with anyone that references Tyra Banks' "smize" which is a pretty big factor into why I liked this movie.

Portrayal of Women: Female characters greatly outnumber male characters in this movie which interestingly helps set the overall tone of the movie. Just as we barely see a man onscreen, Sasha has rarely had to deal with a man monopolizing Paige's time. It's a romcom about women whose lives have always been about women but are now being disrupted by a guy.

Paige's main problem is an overbearing need for control while Sasha struggles to gain any kind of management over her own life. Each woman must work through these issues and this in turn adds another layer of relatability to the film. Paige struggles to accept that sometimes life isn't perfect while Sasha comes to grips with the realization that dreams can sometimes change.  Paige is straight and Sasha is a lesbian which also brings different perspectives of sexuality into play. Creating these complex characters with defined problems is what solidifies this movie as one that any woman can watch and connect to.

Sisterhood Moment: Within the first few minutes, the girls say to each other, "I hate everyone except for you." I would say that's pretty well the perfect definition of besties.

Rating: 3 pairs of overalls out of 5

IMDb - Life Partners (6.1)
Wikipedia - Life Partners 
Rotten Tomatoes - Rotten Tomatoes (56%)

Review #22: The Other Woman

Release Date: April 25, 2014
Writer: Melissa Stack
Director: Nick Cassavetes

Logline: After discovering her boyfriend is married, Carly soon meets the wife he's been cheating on. And when yet another affair is discovered, all three women team up to plot mutual revenge on the three-timing SOB.

Bechdel Test: Embarrassingly only passes 2 out of 3 tests.

Review

To get this out of the way: I did not hate this movie. It was perfect for a quiet Saturday morning and I would totally watch again if I stumbled across it playing on TBS. Leslie Mann was great, there was an awesome closet hang out scene and I’m still obsessed with the line “Martha Stewart did prison like a boss.” I'm also ecstatic that a film with 3 female leads is doing well at the box office.

That being said, this film was a disappointment. You would think a movie with three female leads would pass the Bechdel Test with flying colours but The Other Woman only passed 2 of the 3 tests. Not one conversation was about something other than a man. Of course, you could dissect every conversation into individual sentences and give it a pass based on that - but every sentence that was about a random subject was immediately followed by one about a man. In a movie that is being marketed as a female-friendship/woman-empowerment story, that’s not good enough.

I went in thinking that this was going to be my modern day First Wives Club, instead I got a movie about one dimensional women who value personal gain above all else.  When you put the two films in comparison, it’s even more evident how much more The Other Woman could have done.

In The First Wives Club, there are entire scenes where the women never even mention a man.  They talk about things that are truly unique to their own personal journeys outside of their relationships; their careers, fear of aging and their past. They are brutally honest with each other and that vulnerability makes their friendship genuine and real. The movie begins with them together and ends with them together - at its core it’s truly a movie about their relationships with each other.

Kate Upton, Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann
in The Other Woman

The friendships in TOW feel forced and shallow.  It's great that they all hang out and drink together but what else is holding them together besides their common experiences with Nick? The movie begins with them on separate paths and ends with them having separate successes.  One gets a career boost, one gets married, and one gets knocked up by Lady Gaga's boyfriend.  After all this female bonding, they still find their ultimate happiness in men or approval from men.

This film isn’t really a female friendship movie -it’s a typical romcom that happens to have women being friends in it. If you're just looking for a light movie with a ton of physical comedy and way too many boob shots, that's okay. If you're looking for a film that presents complex female characters and genuine friendship between women, look elsewhere. 

Portrayal of Women: It’s hard to understand why TOW failed so miserably in establishing really great female characters when FWC did exactly that more than 15 years ago with a similar premise.  Where is the progress in our romantic comedies?

We basically don’t know anything about the women in TOW except for what their relationship to Mark is.  Sure, Carly (Diaz) is a lawyer but did she struggle to get her job, does she like it, is she good at it? Kate (Mann) says she gave up her life for Mark, what does that look like? Did she have a career, did she have ambitions, what does she even do every day?  All we know about Amber is that she looks pretty not bad in a bikini. Enlightening.

They fit into the same basic stereotypes that the women of FWC did - ambitious bitch, brainless beauty, and spazzy nice girl.  Unfortunately, they don't transcend these stereotypes like the women of FWC did. Instead they play right into them until they are magically "fixed" at the end.

One thing that did really bother me is the stupidity of both Mann and Upton's characters.  The only character that gets to be smart is Diaz', and of course, her brains leave no capacity to be anything other than a bitch.  I don't want to laugh at girls being stupid anymore and I don't want to be expected to assume smart girls are bitchy either.

Sisterhood Moment: That drunken closet scene was pretty killer.  Nothing says "let's be besties" more than wine induced hair braiding.

First Wives Club

Rating: 2 mission impossible theme songs and half a great dane

I will leave you with the suggestion to check out The First Wives Club, if you haven't before.  This closing shot has more heart than The Other Woman's entire plot could even hope to have (click here).

IMDb - The Other Woman (6.5)
Wikipedia - The Other Woman
Rotten Tomatoes - The Other Woman (25%)

Review #19: What's Your Number?

Release Date: September 30th, 2011
Writer: Gabrielle Allan, Jennifer Crittenden
Director: Mark Mylod

Logline: A woman looks back at the past twenty men she's had relationships with in her life and wonders if one of them might be her one true love. (Source IMDb)
Romantic Comedy, 106 min.
Bechdel Test: Passed all three tests.

Review

I actually kind of like this movie. What's Your Number? is a romantic comedy about a woman, Ally, who tries to track down all her previous romantic partners to avoiding raising her "number".

One of the biggest failings of RomComs in recent years, is that they have to be bland to be relatable, and if the lead is female then she needs to take everything in her life super seriously. The saving grace here is that Anna Faris is such a talented comedian that she makes everything funnier and genuine. She's an actress who isn't afraid of finding the faults in a character and exploiting them for comedy.

The very important topic being tackled by this movie is how many sexual partners is too many? Ok, it doesn't actually discuss the topic in any critical or serious way, but it does present a good role model. There seems to be an intention of expressing that it doesn't matter how many sexual partners a man or a woman has had, that it doesn't imply something about their morals or characters it's just how people live their life. The conflict comes from the fact that Ally feels overwhelming social pressure, particularly from her girlfriends and family, to settle down and change her ways. There are some conflicting messages here, because the driving force in this movie is that she gets slut-shamed, and when (obvious spoiler) she settles down at the end it's to be with one person monogamously. The intention, I think, was meant to be more progressive and liberating. Ally is not troubled, or full of regret. She seems to have the same frustrations with relationships that we all have. Colin the "decent guy" says no one should care what someones "number" is, and that's the message they are trying to push. Sometimes it's like movies are made to be entertaining and fun and not to teach america a lesson about their judgements of women in society.

Lets go back to me liking this film. One of my favorite parts about What's Your Number? is the terrific cast. Chris Evans gets to flex his acting muscles instead of just his muscles muscles. I mean, he doesn't exactly throw down like Daniel Day Lewis, but he isn't the stiff bore that his role could easily be interpreted as. Okay, it's not a great acting job but boy is he handsome. Joel McHale is a douchebag, and show's off his butt. Everyone loves butts. Ari Graynor is super underrated. Eliza Coupe has some great lines. Cue the "awws" because this is role #2 for Anna Faris and her husband Chris Pratt. I am particularly fond of the endless number of cameo's by fantastic actors playing Ally's former lovers.

For all the ditzy dumb moments, I really love this movie. There's family and friends, there's drama, there's super sweet fantasy dates, it's a nice piece of feel good fluff. Sure, it might be predictable, and desperate for jokes, and probably should have been edited down, but this is a nice little romance film. There is something endearing about the vulnerability of friendship as opposed to just dating all the time. Instead of going to fancy restaurants, Ally and Colin visit the local Deli. Plus, you know you want to watch a movie that uses "He recognized my vagina!" as a major plot point.

Portrayal of Women: There was a good range of Ally being laid back, her sister being uptight, their friends being a good variety of women. The biggest eyeroll I think I've ever experienced when watching a movie, however occurs when Ally tries to google her ex's. In a montage. With upbeat pop music. While she speaks out loud, drinking wine. Apparently she's also never used a computer before! Teehee. EDIT THIS SHIT OUT, MOVIES. GOD. Girls can use computers, and we stalk all our ex's so don't pretend that its some revelation.

Sisterhood Moment: A few years later, Kristen Wiig stole the opening scene of What's Your Number? for the opening scene in Bridesmaids. In both, our leading lady is sleeping with a douchebag, and they sneak out of bed in the morning to put on makeup. They are both an inspiration to us all.

Rating: All of Chris Evans arm muscles. All of them. Sigh.

IMDb - What's Your Number (6.0)
Wikipedia - What's Your Number
Rotten Tomatoes - What's Your Number (23%)

Review #3: Heartburn

Heartburn

Release Date: July 25, 1986
Writer: Nora Ephron
Director: Mike Nichols

Logline: An autobiographical look at the breakup of Ephron's marriage to Carl "All the President's Men" Bernstein that was also a best-selling novel. (Source: IMDb) Comedy/Drama, 108min

Bechdel Test: Passed all three tests.

Review

This film embodies one of my favourite Nora Ephron quotes, "Don't be frightened, you can always change your mind."  

Rachel (Meryl Streep) doesn't want to get married, then she gets married. She doesn't want to have kids, then she has two.  She wants to be with Mark (Jack Nicholson) forever, then she leaves Mark forever.

Even though the movie is about Rachel and Mark's marriage, it's really about Rachel changing her mind and figuring out what is best for her. She isn't indecisive in a flaky way,  she just doesn't allow circumstances to trap her in places she doesn't want to be.  By allowing herself to change her mind, she has the freedom to live  life the way she wants to. It may not be her ideal life, but it's the best she can do with what she's given.

There are some wonderful moments in the film that are very "Ephron" - lots of cooking and self deprecating jokes - but overall, it's very slow.  Although I loved Streep's performance, I never felt overly invested in Rachel and Mark's relationship.  At one point, Rachel says, "I love our life. I love how it just goes along." That's sort of how this movie feels, it just sort of goes along. 

I wasn't really happy with this movie as a whole but I very much appreciated it's depiction of a working woman navigating marriage, motherhood, and divorce.  There is really smart and fun dialogue but it is unfortunately bogged down by a lack of chemistry between the leads.

The scene with Streep and Nicholson trying to think of songs with the word "baby" in them bumps this up from a 2/5 to a 3/5 - it's adorable.

Portrayal of Women: I love Rachel because she's full of contradictions. She's caring but also catty. She's funny but also a downer.  She's likeable but also annoying.

There are couple times we see that Rachel can be a real push over - in one scene she reassures the man holding her at gunpoint that it's quite "alright" when he takes her wedding ring. The fact that she breaks the traditional theme of "standing by your man" despite her history of passiveness is a real sign of growth and strength.

Even though her most important relationship is with her husband and children, she also has a lot of female friends who are an important part of her life.

Sisterhood moment:  There's a classic "girls talking about boy troubles" moment where Rachel and Julie discuss how much easier their lives would be if only their husbands would die in a tragic plane crash.

"I imagine the plane crash, the funeral, what I'd wear to the funeral, flirting at the funeral, how soon I could start dating after the funeral."

Rating: 3/5

PS Let's be honest, Meryl is on a whole other level than the rest of us - she's unbelievable. There's a scene where her hair is a disaster and she looks like a hot mess. It's nice for us mere mortals to see that even the great Meryl can have an off day. I am eternally grateful for this insight, bad hair days will be forever changed.

IMDb - Heartburn (6.0)
Wikipedia - Heartburn
Rotten Tomatoes - Heartburn (46%)