Saturday, May 21, 2011

Everything Must Go (**1/2)

EVERYTHING MUST GO
Written for the Screen and Directed by Dan Rush

**1/2

Will Ferrell has taken only a precious few ventures into dramatic territory, but Everything Must Go certainly counts amongst his darkest characters. There are no traces of Ron Burgundy or Ricky Bobby here, but instead the portrait of a drowning man. We are told that this film is based on a short story by Raymond Carver, but we've seen through various examples that Carver's brilliant but dry and internalized style rarely translate to visual medium of cinema. Everything Must Go shares a lot of the issues that those other films possess, but it does have a rather pleasing performance from its lead star and several other sweet moments.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Bridesmaids (***)

BRIDESMAIDS
Directed by Paul Feig

***

It seems like Kristen Wiig has been the funniest lady in the room for the last few years. Whether it be her consistently brilliant work on Saturday Night Live or her four minutes of pure comedic bliss in the 2007 film Knocked Up, she's always been able to be a stand-out, even when surrounded by comedy's heavy hitters. In Bridesmaids - a screenplay she co-wrote with fellow comedic actress Annie Mumolo - Wiig is finally given the opportunity to stand front and center and carry her own film. It's hard to come out of the film saying anything particularly negative about her, with her spot-on timing and overall likability on full display.