Review of The Darwin Awards (2007) by Jennifer A — 26 Aug 2007

So funny I forgot to laugh.....or something. Reviews of Blades of Glory, Wild Hogs, Darwin Awards, Gray Matters and Live Free or Die.

[b]Blades of Glory (2007) - 2.4/10[/b].

Director - Will Speck.

Starring - Will Ferrell, Jon Heder, Craig T. Nelson, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Jenna Fischer.

Good god this movie sucked. I'll admit I'm not much of a Will Ferrell fan although I did like [i]Stranger Than Fiction[/i]. This "satire" or I should say foray into silliness, is more similar to Taladega Nights, but it's not even in that overrated comedy's league. It's just brutally stupid and unfunny. Ferrell and Heder play rival male figure skaters who "tie" for the gold medal, which leads to a brawl and the subsequent banning of both in competitive ice skating. Through a loophole, the two emerge as "partners" a few years later, the first male pair in the history of the sport. You get a lot of homoeroticism, lame crotch jokes, and your usual Ferrell schtick. Whatever.

[b]Wild Hogs (2007) - 3.2/10[/b].

Director - Walter Becker.

Starring - Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence, William H. Macy, Ray Liotta, Marisa Tomei, Jill Hennessey, MC Gainey.

Four middle-aged guys hit the road on their hogs.....mmm motorcycles in this tepid comedy. The premise is good. I mean you could shoot for Easy Rider meets Sideways, but instead they aim low, really low. We are talking National Lampoon low. Yep that's where they got the director. Stale slapstick and a ridiculous sub-plot involving a "real" motorcycle gang led by Ray Liotta dooms this ridiculous film.

[b]Darwin Awards (2006) - 4.5/10[/b].

Director - Finn Taylor.

Starring - Joseph Fiennes, Winona Ryder, Wilmer Valderrama, Tim Blake Nelson, Chris Penn, David Arquette, Juliette Lewis, Lukas Haas, Judah Friedlander, Julianna Margulies & Metallica.

Great idea for a film, but serious problems with it's execution. The premise? The Darwin Awards are given to people who die in the most ridiculous ways. Enter Winona Ryder and Jospeh Fiennes, who work as insurance claims adjusters investigating odd accidents. Wilmer Valderrama, a documentary filmmaker, is along for the ride. Along the way they investigate a series of mishaps, each one more bizarre than the last. Granted all of the mishaps are downright silly. And some are even pretty funny. The problem is they are not pieced together well, and the subplot involving the serial killer is a total distraction. Too bad because this film had some potential.

[b]Gray Matters (2007) - 3.5/10[/b].

Director - Sue Kramer.

Starring - Heather Graham, Tom Cavanaugh, Bridget Moynahan, Sissy Spacek, Molly Shannon, Alan Cummings, Rachel Shelley.

How could they screw this up so badly? The premise is great. Brother and sister (Tom Cavanaugh & Heather Graham) fall for the same girl (Bridget Moynahan). Unfortunately it feels like a TV sitcom. It desperately wants to reach a mainstream audience while championing the difficulty of coming out at the same time, and it never really succeeds at either. Heather Graham looks fabulous, and quite frankly her and Bridget Moynahan would make a great couple, but this film played it too safe IMO. The director totally wasted Sissy Spacek and Molly Shannon, and she had to dress up Alan Cummings in drag to get him in a lesbian bar. Did I mention the appearance by Gloria Gaynor? Well I did survive this film, but it should have been so much better.

[b]Live Free Or Die (2007) 4.4/10[/b].

Director - Andy Robin.

Starring - Aaron Stanford, Paul Schneider, Zooey Deschanel, Michael Rapaport, Judah Friedlander, Kevin Dunn.

An indie slacker comedy about a bungling small-town criminal and his equally feeble buddy. A few laughs, but it pretty much meanders aimlessly as slackers tend to do.