Review of Idlewild (2006) by Jennifer A — 30 Dec 2006

[b]Devil Wears Prada - 7/10[/b].

Director - David Frankel.

Starring - Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci, & Adrian Grenier.

This hugely popular adaption of Lauren Weisberger's best-selling novel stars Anne Hathaway as "Andy" Sachs, a recent college graduate hoping to land a writing gig. Andy's job hunt lands her at "Runway", the most prestigious fashion rag in the US. By chance the fashion challenged Andy gets an interview with "Runway" editor Miranda Priestly, played wickedly by Meryl Streep. Andy lands the job as Miranda's personal assistant, which tests the patience of both women while Andy transforms in unexpected ways.

While the film is often too formulaic and predictable, afterall it's geared towards a mainstream audience, it mostly succeeds due to the undeniable presence of Meryl Streep. Although best known for her serious dramatic work, Streep is also a very good comedy actress. No fiftysomething actress can carry a film quite like she does, and she's so fun to watch that it's easy to disregard some of the safe paths this film takes. Hathaway does a nice job as well, and her physical transformation is quite amazing. However aside from Streep, the scene stealer in [i]Prada [/i]is Stanley Tucci in a delightfully funny role. It's not going to blow your mind or change the world, but [i]Prada [/i]is one of those rare mainstream Hollywood comedies that actually made me laugh.

[b]Little Miss Sunshine - 8/10[/b].

Director - Jonathan Drayton & Valerie Faris.

Starring - Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Abigail Breslin, Alan Arkin & Paul Dano.

This surprise indie hit takes a look at an eccentric and dysfunctional family. 7 year old Olive (Abigail Breslin) is the anti-Jon Benet, a bespectacled and rather plain young girl who is fascinated by beauty pageants. When there is an opening in the "Little Miss Sunshine" pageant, her family decides to support her dream by taking a long road trip in a broken down VW van. Father Richard (Greg Kinnear) is a motivational speaker with a grand plan for success, despite not finding any. Mother Sheryl (Toni Collette) is skeptical, but tries to stay optimistic and keep the family together. Olive's brother Dwayne (Paul Dano) hates everyone and takes a vow of silence. Grandpa (Alan Arkin) snorts cocaine and curses nonstop while uncle Frank (Steve Carell) is scholar who survived a suicide attempt after his male lover left him. Mixed together well and you have one zany family and lots of laughs. The film has a few dark moments but never becomes mean spirited. We laugh, we sympathize and we learn to love all of these wonderful characters. Toni Collette and young Abigail Breslin especially deserve recognition for their performances. I adored this film and it most certainly will land very high on my list of Top films from 2006.

[b]Idlewild - 6/10[/b].

Director - Bryan Barber.

Starring - Andre Benjamin, Antwan Andre Patton, Terrence Howard, Paula Patton, Faizon Love, Ben Vereen, Ving Rhames.

Since I'm a fan of OutKast I decided this film was worth checking out. To be honest my expectations were not very high, but this was surprisingly an enertaining and watchable film. The story bumps and grinds at times but the music is terrific as is the camera work. Lots of nice cameos and Terrence Howard is fun to watch in a supporting role. Of course the music is great and the OutKast guys are fairly competent actors. Okay this wasn't [i]Chicago [/i]by any stretch, but it's certainly passable.

[b]Snakes on a Plane - 2/10[/b].

Director - David R. Ellis.

Starring - Samuel L. Jackson,.

Okay I watched the film with a silly name and all the internet buzz. What was I expecting? A lot of snakes? Check. A lot of action? Check. Okay that's about all I got from this film. What I was really expecting was almost an action spoof. The entire premise of hundreds of poisonous snakes being smuggled onto an airplane to attack passengers and bring it down is pretty silly. So I was expecting colorful characters, clever dialogue and lots of fun. Unfortunately the funny action-packed spoof I was expecting turned into nothing more than a B-Rate action film. Most of the characters redundant stereotypes. Most of the dialogue too serious and unfunny. Most of the acting just downright dreadful. Maybe I was expecting the Samuel L. Jackson of [i]Pulp Fiction,[/i] but the writers were obviously nowhere near as clever as he only had one funny line. Nathan Phillips is just horrible in this film. The guy can't act. And poor Juliana Margulies. She deserves better. Anyway this film was a hit in the theaters and will be a hit on DVD. Surprisingly it actually got acceptable reviews. What were they thinking?