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Films

This week's films 4 June

Vincent Camilleri 04 June 2010 15:43

Cop Out

Cast: Bruce Willis Jimmy Monroe

Tracy Morgan Paul Hodges

Sean William Scott Dave

Michelle Trachtenberg Ava

Directed by Kevin Smith

Running time 110 minutes

Kevin Smith’s film follows the well travelled road of buddy cop comedy action movies. The odd couple of the day are Jimmy (Bruce Willis) and his African-American partner Paul (Tracy Morgan) who have been working together in the New York Police department for nine years. Keeping in line with the clichéd rules of the genre Jimmy and Paul have to deal with ex-wives, family problems and, of course, the drug dealers and petty thieves that inhabit their Brooklyn beat. Jimmy is adamant to pay for the wedding of his daughter Ava (Michelle Trachtenberg) himself and would not be humiliated by his ex-wife’s second husband’s offer to foot the bill. Paul is becoming paranoid about his wife cheating on him and comes up with the weirdest idea to keep a track on her moves.

To raise money for his daughter’s wedding, Jimmy is trading in a very rare and expensive collector’s baseball card but this is stolen by Dave (Sean William Scott) who also steals Paul’s favourite gun. The chase to retrieve the card and Paul’s tracking of his wife’s movements take the two officers through a series of bizarre situations involving, drug deals, a brutal Mexican drug lord, offshore bank accounts and a beautiful woman who does not speak a word of English found hidden in a car boot.

Former independent director Kevin Smith peppers his first big studio production with some well staged car chases and shoot outs, a big leap from his traditional provocative and controversial themes he treated in films like Dogma and Zack and Mini Make a Porno. In a promo video interview Bruce Willis, who once more plays a hard boiled cop, described the atmosphere on the film set as hilarious and was full of praise for his co-stars Tracy Morgan and Sean William Scott. He said that their participation was an added value to the film’s comedy element.

Hot Tub Time Machine

Cast:

John Cusack Adam

Rob Corddry Lou

Craig Robinson Nick

Clark Duke Jacob

Directed by Steve Pink

Running time 99 minutes

Turning back the hands of time must have crossed everybody’s mind one time or another. We think about this either to correct some past mistaken decisions or to relive old, happy memories. Unfortunately, time travel, back or forward is something that exists only in sci fi literature or film; from the classic The Time Machine to the successful Back to the Future trilogy. Steve Pink’s film follows the second, much lighter path.

Adam (John Cusack), Lou (Rob Corddry) and Nick (Craig Robinson) are three old time friends in their mid forties, each with a chip, of different weight, on his shoulder. Adam arrives home to find notes spread all over the place written by his live-in girl friend brutally informing him that she had just left him. Nick, is married and is frustrated with his job as a pet groomer when he could have been a successful singer. Lou is divorced, an alcoholic and a very dangerous loose cannon. To get a break from their collective, depressive boredom, the friends decide to spend some time together at a ski resort where they had spent great fun days in their younger years. Jacob (Clark Duke), a 20 year old geek addicted to video games who lives with his uncle Adam is taken along in spite of Lou’s strong objections.

They get the shock of their lives when they find the place dilapidated and semi deserted but their hotel is decent and equipped with an open air hot tub. After a bout of heavy drinking, the impulse to jump in the tub is simply irresistible. This tub is the time machine that takes them back to 1986 when Ronald Reagan was US president and Sapandau Ballet was in the hit charts with True. The group’s journey back in time gives them a chance to relive happy memories and also to discover where and how they could have done better. This includes Jacob, who, although he was not even born at the time we get to know how he was conceived and by whom. This is probably the funniest and the best segment of the script.

The film visits the different circumstances that drove the characters to take right or wrong decisions, in Jacob’s case he was the result of uncalculated decisions. The mood of the eighties in fashion, manner of speaking, attitude and the music is well presented and the funny turbulence experienced by the characters in their time journey is well captured. Unfortunately, physical and scatological humour still finds its way into Hollywood’s mainstream comedy and this film makes room for a few revolting scenes that it could have easily done without.

Films released by KRS Film Distributors Ltd

Top Ten Films in Malta: 26 - 30 May 2010

PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME
SEX AND THE CITY 2
ROBIN HOOD
IRON MAN 2
XRAR
THE LAST SONG
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
THE BOUNTY HUNTER
NANNY MCPHEE AND THE BIG BANG
ALICE IN WONDERLAND

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