Review of Aloha (2015) by Jack G — 26 Aug 2015

This movie isn't necessarily that bad, when looked at as a whole. It's got a perfectly solid cast. I've never been one of these people that, if a film is shit, or below average, as this one was, would also lump in the cast as being terrible as well.

Of course, there's cases where the cast is also terrible. I remember Al Pacino being the only good thing about Jack and Jill and he still got a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Performance. Really, dipshits? I won't sit here and tell you that Jack and Jill was any good, in fact it was probably one of the worst movies of this decade, but I'll recognize good when and where I see it.

If a cast is solid, then it does not matter how shitty the rest of the film is, at least they did a good job. And that is, honestly, perhaps the only complimentary thing I can say about Aloha. It's not that the film is poorly made or anything, though I could only really call it adequate at best, it's just that this is a contradiction in the form of a film.

It's a film that seemingly has a lot going, in terms of characters, narrative, etc, during its 100+ minute running time, but it's also one that seems like there's absolutely nothing going on.

Nothing interesting ever really seems to happen in spite of the film trying to convince us otherwise. And that is, probably, Aloha's biggest drawback. It's just way too boring to warrant any type of recommendation.

The characters aren't interesting and neither are the situations that they find themselves in. This just seemed to struggle with its identity. Does it wanna be a rom-com? Does it wanna be a self-serious and sentimental drama? Does it wanna be a character study about what made Gilcrest as cynical as he is? It has no idea what it wants to be, so it just throws all these elements at the wall and they were hopeful that something would stick.

Sadly, however, there's nothing much about this film that sticks. I think the only thing about the film that really works, and it's only one scene near the end anyway, is the tease that Brian might actually be the father of one of his ex's children.

This leads to a real poignant scene at the end. It's not like they do much with this 'Brian is the father' story, but I still liked it. As I mentioned, the cast is pretty good. Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone have good chemistry and they would make a good couple if you were truly invested in them as characters.

You're never really given a reason to want these two to find themselves together at the end of the film. Bradley and Emma are both attractive people, but that's not reason enough to care about their budding romance.

I think the film has some funny moments near the end. Nothing hilarious, but there's some funny stuff here. But, with that out of the way, this film is really boring and needlessly sentimental at worst.

At best, it's probably a decent showcase for some pretty talented actors. And I do mean decent, it's not like there's anything here that you positively must see. It's not like the cast can save the film from its own dullness and lack of focus.

I could've spent my time watching something better, but at least this wasn't an absolute disaster. Not particularly recommended, however.