The Ace Black Movie Blog

Showing posts with label Leslie Bibb. Show all posts

Saturday, 6 December 2025

Movie Review: About My Father (2023)

Genre: Comedy

Director: Laura Terruso

Starring: Robert De Niro, Sebastian Maniscalco, Leslie Bibb, Kim Cattrall

Running Time: 89 minutes

Synopsis: In Chicago, Sebastian (Sebastian Maniscalco) grew up close to his father Salvo (Robert De Niro), a humble but proud hairstylist and immigrant from Sicily. Now Sebastian has fallen love with Ellie (Leslie Bibb), who comes from a wealthy WASPy family. Father and son are both invited to stay at the luxurious estate of Ellie's parents (Kim Cattrall and David Rasche) for the July 4th weekend. Sebastian plans to propose, but Salvo resents his son drifting away from his Italian heritage, and a culture clash ensues.

What Works Well: Loosely based on the life experiences of comedian and co-writer/co-star Sebastian Maniscalco, this comedy benefits most from Robert De Niro's grizzled presence. He runs through the gamut of facial expressions to convey disdain for the haughty world of the rich and his son's decision to shuffle away from his roots. Elsewhere, the comedy is sometimes amiable enough to generate a few laughs.

What Does Not Work As Well: The over-narrated and over-gesticulated material is predictable and unfortunately sometimes quite dumb, trying but failing to squeeze juice out of exhausted and simplistic us-versus-them themes. Ellie and her parents are blank vanilla characters, and for a grown man Salvo's uncouth behaviour (making a scene at a restaurant, dismissing tennis as an activity, serving a beloved pet for dinner, improvising a haircut) often blows past funny and towards idiotic.

Key Quote:

Salvo: I just hope nothing gets stolen this weekend because these people love to blame the immigrants.

All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.

Sunday, 27 April 2025

Movie Review: Running With The Devil (2019)

Genre: Crime Thriller

Director: Jason Cabell

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Laurence Fishburne, Leslie Bibb, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg

Running Time: 100 minutes

Synopsis: A Vancouver-based crime boss (Barry Pepper) complains to his Seattle-based supplier (Nicolas Cage) that recent cocaine shipments have been tampered with. The supplier takes a break from his day job as a cook and embarks on a trip to trace a shipment from a farmer's field in Colombia, through Mexico, and into the United States. The Cook's associate "the Man" (Laurence Fishburne) has slipped from middle-man to addict, contaminating the drugs and aiming to go into business on his own. His sidekick (Adam Goldberg) is picked up by an FBI agent (Leslie Bibb), and she is soon on the trail of the Cook and the Man.

What Works Well: Writer and director Jason Cabell invests in an informational follow-the-dots structure where one drug shipment is the centre of attention. From a farmer in Colombia to various mules and scuzzy middle-men navigating border crossings, the drugs change hands and gain in value, fueling an international industry. Meanwhile, victims of the tainted supply drop dead in the suburbs and alleyways of Seattle and Vancouver. Without stretching, Nicolas Cage and Laurence add a gloss of acting talent.

What Does Not Work As Well: The product is the story, and the people are afterthoughts. The intentional absence of names and the incessant jumping between sub-stories ensure none of the characters register as anything other than designated roles, resulting in dry soullessness. The choppy episodes include some incomprehensible distractions (including a few bewildering ambushes), and a couple of late-in-the-day twists are both implausible and unimpressive.

Key Quote:

The Cook (to his wife): The are some...administrative issues I have to attend to.

All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.

Tuesday, 21 June 2022

Movie Review: Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

An action thriller, Law Abiding Citizen poses tough questions about the justice system then wades into a murky puddle of muddled loyalties.

In Philadelphia, government employee Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) witnesses the murder of his wife and daughter in a violent home invasion by criminals Ames and Darby. The assailants are arrested and charged; Ames is sentenced to death, but as a result of a plea bargain approved by prosecuting attorney Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx), Darby escapes with nothing more than a five year prison sentence.

Ten years later, Ames suffers a painful death in a botched execution by lethal injection. Darby is kidnaped and tortured to death by Clyde, who then surrenders. Nick and his boss District Attorney Jonas Cantrell (Bruce McGill) try to extract a confession, but Clyde is just starting an elaborate revenge plot targeting Nick and the entire flawed justice system.

Half of an entertaining vigilante thriller, Law Abiding Citizen starts with a bang. Director F. Gary Gray and writer Kurt Wimmer create an unflinching nightmare as, in short order, Clyde loses everything then suffers again at the hands of a misfiring judicial process. The 10-year zip forward is effective, and the uncompromising revenge extracted upon the home invaders sets up what should have been a hard-hitting second half.

But towards the middle of the film Gray loses control. Law Abiding Citizen stalls in a series of increasingly far-fetched murders and atrocities veering well away from any rational vendetta. Clyde psychologically drifts from likeable victim seeking elaborate but morally justified revenge towards a mayhem-loving psychopath, while an awkward and ultimately unsuccessful U-turn attempts to place Nick at the plot's sympathetic centre. The unsatisfying climax short-changes both men and challenges time and space logic.

Despite the notable fade, many memorable moments are on offer, including a gotcha courtroom meltdown, a bloody jail cell episode, and a dangerous phone call in a judge's office. Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx contribute plenty of presence without needing to stretch. They are well supported by Leslie Bibb as an up-and-coming prosecutor, Regina Hall as Nick's wife, and Viola Davis as a Mayor increasingly concerned by the explosion of violence in her city.

Law Abiding Citizen is first a man with a plan, then pain without gain.

All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.

Tuesday, 8 December 2020

Movie Review: The Babysitter (2017)

A faux-horror gory comedy, The Babysitter aims at a limited number of targets but hits most of them.

12-year-old Cole (Judah Lewis) should really be too old for a babysitter, but he suffers from anxieties and bullying. At least his babysitter is the super cool and super hot Bee (Samara Weaving), who treats him well and knows how to have fun. Cole's parents (Leslie Bibb and Ken Marino) escape for a romantic getaway and leave Cole in Bee's care.

After a day of fun activities Cole is determined to uncover what his babysitter is up to once he goes to sleep. He wakes himself up in the middle of the night and finds much more than he bargained for: Bee is the leader of a devil worshipping cult, now gathered in his house for a gory human sacrifice. Cole has to overcome his anxieties to fight for the right to retain most of his blood.

A self-aware laugh riot enjoying a bizarre premise, The Babysitter catches a snarky groove and just rides. Even when daggers are sunk into skulls (they are), bullets fly (they do) and jugulars are pierced (ouch), director McG is fully in tune with Brian Duffield's playfully witty script. This is blood-spurting horror generating fountains of laughs, designed for younger teens (just about) to enjoy along with their older siblings, who may be more attentive to the few moments of sexual titillation.

The zesty first half establishes the characters and plonks Cole into his predicament. The second half settles down to a series of one-on-one duels and loses some bite. Along the way the obvious lessons crawl from under the bed in the form of stomping childhood fears as an adulthood rite of passage. To stay alive Cole will have to escape from a window, hide with spiders, climb onto a dilapidating treehouse, outsmart his assailants and overcome his fear of driving - all before dawn. This kid will not worry about too many anxieties after this night.

A delight for movie fans, The Babysitter is littered with references to other movies featuring underdogs facing overwhelming odds, from Billy Jack to The Warriors passing through Lord Of The Rings, plus knowing nods to horror movie classics Carrie, Alien, Predator, Seven, and Friday The 13th. Duffield even finds an unlikely echo for The Godfather, Part II.

The performances are all played with the straightforward earnestness of horror movie villains and prey, young Judah Lewis comfortably occupying the eye of the storm. Samara Weaving finds the right balance between alluring and dangerous, while her devil-worshipping crew of stereotypes includes Bella Thorne (the self-obsessed vacuous cheerleader), Andrew Bachelor (hilarious as the wise-cracking Black dude) and Robbie Amell (the why shirtless? jock). Emily Alyn Lind is the girl-next-door potential-girlfriend-to-be just waiting for Cole to burst out of his anxiety shell.

The Babysitter wants to be clever, funny and mindless, and achieves all three.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.

Wednesday, 18 November 2020

Movie Review: The Lost Husband (2020)

A bland drama and tepid romance, The Lost Husband tries to milk a story from disinterested goats.

In Texas, Libby (Leslie Bibb) has lost her husband to a car crash and her house to financial insolvency. She can no longer tolerate living with her insufferable mother Marsha (Sharon Lawrence), so relocates along with her kids Abby and Tank to the rural farm of kindly aunt Jean (Nora Dunn).

The kids quickly settle into a new routine, although Abby tangles with a bully at school. Jean puts Libby to work on the farm, learning from gruff but handsome farmhand O'Connor (Josh Duhamel). Libby also meets Jean's boyfriend Russ and his granddaughter Sunshine, who dabbles in fortunetelling and communicating with the dead. Just as Libby is starting to enjoy her new life, secrets from the past emerge.

Functioning close to the level of saccharine Hallmark Channel movies, The Lost Husband ambles around the picturesque Texas countryside looking for a purpose. Director Vicky Wight throws in frequent shots of beautiful sunsets and cute farm animals (goats, cows, and a rooster), because precious little else is going on to maintain attention.

The romance between Libby and O'Connor catches a single spark in a barn dance scene, but otherwise he disappears for long stretches. The school bullying story is a routine and unnecessary distraction. The triangle of tension between Libby, her mother Marsha and aunt Jean is unbalanced, Marsha's portrayal as the wicked witch of Texas leaving no room for nuance. Jean's relationship with Russ (who is black) appears inserted to burnish interracial credentials, while Sunshine, with all her intrusive questions, bursts in from another movie.

Leslie Bibb never gets a handle on Libby, neither as a mother suffering from loss nor as a farmhand-in-the-making, while Josh Duhamel is too comfortable as the tough but kind man-around-the-farm. The final act introduces a revelation about Libby's childhood that is much less dramatic than the film wants it to be. The husband is lost early, as is the rest of the plot.