Movie Review: Parkland (2013)

Genre: Historical Drama  

Director: Peter Landesman  

Starring: Zac Efron, Marcia Gay Harden, Paul Giamatti, Billy Bob Thornton, Jacki Weaver, James Badge Dale, Ron Livingston, Jeremy Strong  
Running Time: 93 minutes  

Synopsis: The film covers the events of November 22, 1963, when US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, and the immediate aftermath. The multiple perspectives include dressmaker Abraham Zapruder (Paul Giamatti), who inadvertently captured the shooting on his 8mm camera; nurse Doris Nelson (Marcia Gay Harden) and doctor Jim Carrico (Zac Efron), who frantically tried to revive the President at Parkland Hospital; the shooter's brother Robert Oswald Jr. (James Badge Dale) and mother Marguerite (Jacki Weaver); and Agents Sorrels (Billy Bob Thornton) and Hosty (Paul Livingston) of the Secret Service and the FBI respectively.

What Works Well: Steering clear of conspiracy theories, this is a fascinating recreation of famous events from less famous vantage points. Writer and director Peter Landesman allows the well-known incidents (the shooting itself, the swearing-in of Vice President Johnson, the Kennedy funeral service) to play in the background or in the corners of the screen. He is more interested in the peripheral yet essential stories of what happened at the hospital, the sudden imperative to keep Johnson safe, the frantic search for a lab to process the Zapruder film, the emotional impact on Zapruder himself, the guilt and self-questioning consuming the men entrusted with protecting the President, and the unwanted boulder of infamy landing on Robert Oswald's life. Small details, including grandkids in the first few frames of the Zapruder film, skull fragments in the emergency room, and the unceremonial wedging-in of Kennedy's casket into the plane for the flight back to DC, transform grand history to intimate reality.

What Does Not Work As Well: By definition this is an events-driven narrative without a central role (Zapruder and Robert Oswald come closest) and no singular focus.

Key Quote: 

Dallas Police Detective, to Robert Oswald: If I were you, I'd consider changing my name. I'd pray I never needed the help of the Dallas Police Department or the federal government again. I'd pack your things and your wife and those two children of yours, and I'd move as far from here as I could. I'd never come back, even to die. But that's just me.

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Movie Review: A Family Affair (2024)

Genre: Romantic Comedy  

Director: Richard LaGravenese  

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, Joey King, Kathy Bates  
Running Time: 114 minutes  

Synopsis: In Los Angeles, Zara (Joey King) is the assistant to action movie star Chris Cole (Zac Efron), and still lives with her widowed mother Brooke (Nicole Kidman), a published writer. Zara has ambitions to become a producer, and quits her job when she realizes Chris is a terrible boss. A passionate romance ignites between Chris and Brooke, and he hires Zara back as an associate producer. With Brooke starting to fall in love, Zara knows her boss is not kind to women.

What Works Well: Joey King and Kathy Bates (as Brooke's mother-in-law) demonstrate some acting spirit.

What Does Not Work As Well: Shallow and inconsistent characters, a contrived romance, flat writing, languid pacing, sappy music, and very few laughs combine into an instantly forgettable experience. The entire premise revolves around Zara, Chris, and Brooke pairing off into scenes of arguing followed by scenes of reconciling, set on an endless repeat loop. Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron generally embarrass themselves, while director Richard LaGravenese prolongs the agony by somehow pushing the skimpy material towards the two hour mark.

Conclusion: A calamity affair. 



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Movie Review: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)

Genre: Biographical Crime Drama

Director: Joe Berlinger

Starring: Zac Efron, Lily Collins

Running Time: 108 minutes

Synopsis: In Seattle of 1969, college student and single mother Liz Kendall (Lily Collins) falls in love with the charismatic Ted Bundy (Zac Efron), an aspiring law student. They move in together and over the next few years Liz pays scant attention to news reports of women being brutally murdered. She is surprised when Ted is arrested in Utah and charged with aggravated kidnapping. He professes innocence and Liz wants to believe him, but murder charges follow in Colorado then Florida. Ted faces a series of trials and attempts several escapes, as Liz's confidence in the man she loves slowly erodes.

What Works Well: The adaptation of Kendall's book reveals just how blind love can be, and the ability of murderous psychopaths to hide in plain sight. Zac Efron blows past his lightweight screen persona to reveal a cogent dark side, and Lily Collins is steady as a woman struggling against looming truths that threaten to destroy all her conceptions. The 1970s are recreated with convincing brown-dominated wardrobes, hairstyles, and aesthetics.

What Does Not Work As Well: Bundy's victims are abstract afterthoughts (until a list in the credits), and director Joe Berlinger errs on the side of demonstrating a killer's magnetism at the expense of his brutality (expressed in the title, but barely present in the movie). The imbalance buttresses Liz's incredulity, but ignores half the story. In any event, as the film evolves into a courtroom farce with Ted defending himself, Liz fades into the background.

Conclusion: A quiet affirmation of disbelief, but narrative blindspots degrade the drama's impact.



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Movie Review: That Awkward Moment (2014)

A raunchy romantic comedy, That Awkward Moment follows three guys on the relationship rollercoaster. Despite a bright cast, the film sputters.

In New York City, Mike (Michael B. Jordan), Daniel (Miles Teller) and Jason (Zac Efron) are twentysomething best buddies. Daniel and Jason are book cover artists and enjoy commitment-free relationships with women, while Mike is a doctor who seemingly has it all. But his marriage to Vera (Jessica Lucas) suddenly disintegrates when she confesses to an affair and demands a divorce. 

In solidarity Daniel and Jason commit to refraining from entering any serious relationships but both are soon falling in love. Jason meets author Ellie (Imogen Poots) and after a rocky start they evolve into a couple, while Daniel develops feelings for Chelsea (Mackenzie Davis) who is supposed to be just a friend with benefits. Meanwhile Mike is desperately trying to repair his marriage to Vera.

Featuring a talent-rich cast, That Awkward Moment fails to provide material to match. Director Tom Gormican also wrote the script, and he is firmly stuck in bathroom-level humour where body parts and body functions have to be part of every joke. Some of the humour works and a few laughs are generated, but the overdose of repetitive profanity, bro-level ribbing, insults hurled at the end of every sentence and pure immature behaviour is quickly more tiresome than funny.

The title refers to the pivot point in a potential relationship when a woman wants to know what the future holds, a moment of doom for commitment phobes like Jason and Daniel. But here all the romance elements are contrived, and it remains a mystery why women such as Ellie and Chelsea would ever fall for a couple of douchebags like Jason and Daniel, who luxuriate in their aversion to genuine caring.

The sex scenes are plentiful but short and played for giggles, and at least That Awkward Moment aims for equal representation of coupling as a tool useful for both genders to spice up the single life.

The film clocks in at 94 minutes but feels longer. All the expected relationship ups and downs due to miscommunication and mismatched expectations are triplicated, but three times tedious is still tedious.

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Movie Review: 17 Again (2009)

A body transformation high school comedy, 17 Again is a surprisingly breezy exploration of second chances and rediscovering priorities.

In 1989, 17 year old star high school basketball player Mike O'Donnell (Zac Efron) abandons the game of his life to be with his girlfriend Scarlet after she surprises him with news that she's pregnant. Twenty years later, Mike (Matthew Perry) is a jaded and depressed salesman, emotionally ignoring Scarlet (Leslie Mann) and their two teenagers Maggie (Michelle Trachtenberg) and Alex (Sterling Knight). After they separate and Scarlet initiates divorce proceedings, Mike encounters a mysterious spirit guide and finds himself back in his 17 year old body.

Mike re-enrolls in high school with his nerdy and wealthy best friend Ned Gold (Thomas Lennon) helping out by pretending to be his dad. Now in his kids' environment, Mike learns Maggie is being pressured into having sex by school bully Stan (Hunter Parrish), while Alex is the victim of bullying and hesitant to express his basketball skills. Meanwhile Ned sets his eyes on wooing Principal Jane Masterson (Melora Hardin), who has a policy against dating parents. Mike has to try to be a father and reclaim Scarlet's love, all while navigating the hazards of high school.

Perfectly paced at 105 minutes and riding on the energy of a willing cast, 17 Again deftly combines a middle age crisis with a wacky second shot at rebooting a stalled life in an often edgy package. The film is as restless as a high school cafeteria at lunch hour, bustling with multiple intersecting stories of parents, offspring, schoolmates and one dorky but unimaginably rich and randy friend.

The film wisely does not dwell on Mike's shock at finding himself in a teenaged body, and avoids the tired body fluid jokes. Instead writer Jason Filardi and director Burr Steers find good laughs in high-risk areas, where a dad now has to witness at close quarters the burgeoning sexuality of his daughter while fending off the aggressive advances of her classmates, and a middle-aged husband who looks like a 17 year old has to romance his skeptical wife.

17 Again refreshingly does not immediately telegraph where it wants to go, and Mike is left without instructions on how to reassemble his life. His high school redux could be about seizing the opportunity to become a basketball star, understanding the pressures faced by his kids, learning what it means to be a parent, or making amends to his wife, but succeeding at anything will not be easy with the mind of a jaded adult and the body of a hunky teen.

The film rides on Zac Efron's shoulders and he delivers a winning performance, channeling with some devious cunning the spirit of a frustrated middle aged man solving his destiny puzzle. Efron handles a couple of soapbox scenes with aplomb. Leslie Mann brings her brand of laidback sarcasm to the role of Scarlet, first quite tired of her husband's defeatism them mystified by the attractive young man hovering around her.

17 Again is teen-oriented humour that refreshingly also works for adults. The body may be jumbled, but the entertainment is smooth.

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Movie Review: Neighbors (2014)

A raunchy comedy, Neighbors features a few nice touches about growing up, but is an otherwise juvenile exercise in party excess.

Married couple Mac and Kelly (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne) are proud new parents of a young infant and have just purchased their first dream home in an idyllic quiet neighbourhood. They are stunned when within days, the house immediately adjacent is purchased by a rowdy fraternity, with college bros Terry (Zac Efron) and Pete (Dave Franco) in charge.

The loud parties start soon thereafter. Mac and Kelly initially try to play it cool and befriend the frat boys, but they are soon at their wits' end, and break a promise they made to Terry by calling the police. With Terry determined to create his own legend as a party monster, this triggers an all-out tit-for-tat war between the neighbours for the duration of the college semester.

Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne (playing up an Australian accent) share a smooth chemistry as the in-synch parents slowly adjusting to adulthood responsibilities but still determined to hold on to the hipness of youth. The scenes between them are easily the highlights of Neighbors, but unfortunately the film is less about the couple and more about the war of high jinx and wild antics with the rowdy frat boys.

And over at the frat house, director Nicholas Stoller does eventually include a few scenes with Terry and Pete questioning what the future holds once college ends, and challenging the ethos of all parties all the time. But these interludes are distractions, and the film is mostly about all the parties, all the time.

The script by Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O'Brien is determined to cram in as much drug and alcohol fuelled craziness as possible within 97 minutes, and the film descends into a grey haze of sameness. In the meantime, all the other members of the fraternity remain stock sex-obsessed and barely defined characters.

The better moments involve the college dean played by Lisa Kudrow, who harbours a dry and pragmatic approach to her job of keeping fraternities in line, measured by media headlines. Mac and Kelly's attempts at maintaining a sex life in the presence of a curious baby, noisy neighbours and frequent episodes of extreme drunkenness also hit the funny mark.

Unexpected Neighbors disrupt the suburbs, always with a lot of noise but not quite enough wit.

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Movie Review: The Greatest Showman (2017)

A biographical musical, The Greatest Showman celebrates the life of circus impresario P.T. Barnum.

The son of a tailor and orphaned at a young age, Barnum dreams big and falls in love early with Charity, the daughter of his father's aristocratic client. They stay in touch through her school years, then Barnum (Hugh Jackman) and Charity (Michelle Williams) get married, settle in New York City and have two daughters. When he is laid off from an accounting job at shipping company he risks everything to open a museum of wax figures and stuffed animals.

Business is slow, and his daughters encourage Barnum to add more living things and sensations. He recruits freaks and outcasts, and the museum becomes a big hit but also draws protests and scorn from critic James Bennett (Paul Sparks). Barnum convinces respected playwright Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron) to join him as a junior partner to help attract a more high brow audience. On a trip to London Barnum recruits Swedish singing sensation  Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson) for a grand tour of the United States. He starts rubbing shoulders with society's elites, but also drift away from Charity.

Directed by Michael Gracey (with an assist from James Mangold, credited as Executive Producer), The Greatest Showman took eight years to make it to the screen but arrived just in time to unabashedly reaffirm diversity's value at a time of social division. While the story is loosely inspired by Barnum's life, the real message is that every person is a treasure, in whatever shape, size, or colour.

The circus world as a whole and Barnum's shows in particular may very well have exploited people who are different. The film skates over the questionable profit motives and instead embraces the opportunity for the outcasts of society to step forward and enjoy the spotlight. The film's feel-good energy stemming from the spirit of the underdog is irresistible.

As for Barnum's story, this is a conventional arc about a man trying to fill the gaping hole in his soul caused by childhood poverty, and stretching beyond what is necessary. Barnum's talent is such that he is successful at whatever he does, but he will need to learn that not all accomplishments equate to increased happiness.

Gracey deserves credit for delivering a relatively content-rich musical without bloat, as The Greatest Showman clocks in at a very reasonable 105 minutes. The musical numbers are surprisingly good, well-timed and short. A Million Dreams, The Other Side and showstopper This Is Me are delivered with joyous conviction, the singing powerful and the choreography simple but effective. In terms of pure artistry, the duet Rewrite The Stars allows Efron and Zendaya (playing Carlyle's potential lover, her skin colour a scandal for his social circle) to literally soar.

The performances are more about enthusiasm than craft, and Jackman does not disappoint with a  high energy portrayal of Barnum fueled by eternal optimism. Williams plays along, less convincing in the singing numbers but credible as the family anchor. Efron and Zendaya offer athletic support.

Uncomplicated, honest and well produced, The Greatest Showman may not be an accurate history lesson but it is an exuberant shout in favour of a society enriched by unique individuality.

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Movie Review: Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016)

A raunchy comedy, Mike And Dave Needs Wedding Dates celebrates girls and boys gone wild by offering a few laughs and plenty of improvisation. However, the overall quality is marginal.

Brothers Mike (Adam DeVine) and Dave (Zac Efron) run a liquor distribution business but are better known for regularly wrecking family events with their wild partying antics. With the destination wedding of their sister Jeanie (Stephanie Beard) to Eric (Sam Richardson) coming up in Hawaii, the brothers are warned by their parents that they each need to bring a nice girl as a date to keep their behaviour in check. They advertise on social media and soon their quest for two nice girls goes viral.

Best friends and roommates Alice (Anna Kendrick) and Tatiana (Aubrey Plaza) are party animals and the furthest thing from nice girls, with Alice also an emotional wreck after being abandoned at the altar. But spotting an opportunity for a free vacation they scrub themselves down, adopt wholesome personas, plot a seemingly accidental meeting with Mike and Dave, and are soon picked to be the wedding dates. The foursome arrive in Hawaii, and predicably they are unable to control their natural tendencies to cause havoc at every turn.

Directed by Jake Szymanski and very loosely based on real events, Mike And Dave Needs Wedding Dates is a foul-mouthed anything-goes comedy for adults, celebrating grown-ups who prefer to avoid grown-up responsibilities. The good news is that the film generally avoids jokes about body odour, farts and other secretions, and the girls and guys enjoys balanced amounts of debauchery and irresponsibility. The film is an equal opportunity outlet for bad behaviour, with Alice and Tatiana summarily rejecting any judgment of their lifestyle, least of all from fellow losers like Mike and Dave.

The bad news is that the humour is more miss than hit, there is too much obvious improvisation, plenty of over-acting, and not enough plot, even for a comedy obvious in its intentions to just go looking for the next rude punchline. Scenes are dragged out beyond their best-by date, the editing falling victim to the improvised dialogue where no one is sure where the next joke will come from - or if it's coming at all.

Once Mike, Dave and their dates arrive in Hawaii after the first 20 minutes, very little actually happens other than set-pieces intended to derail Jeanie and Eric's big day. Some of these are quite funny, including Jeanie receiving a spectacularly erotic massage and Tatiana tangling with the lesbian cousin of the brothers. But a drug-induced interlude featuring Jeanie and Alice is less successful, and the awakening of the foursome to the consequences of all their antics is contrived in the extreme.

Mike And Dave Needs Wedding Dates delivers on its minimal promise with a few solid laughs, but the film never rises beyond its predictable stature as an easy to forget time-passer.

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