Love the Coopers mixes a little bit of humor with a lot of family tension

Movie:    Love the Coopers

Rating:    PG-13

Grade:   B-

In a Nutshell:    Timed perfectly for the holidays, the talented cast gets slogged down with a sappy and predictable script that mixes a little bit of humor with a lot of family tension.  Even so, did it tug at my heart-strings and successfully elicit tears from my eyes.  Yup.

Uplifting Theme:

·          “You can be the hero of your own life.” – Ruby (the lovely Amanda Seyfried)

·         “Try and be the person you want to become.” - Narrator

Things I liked:

·         The cute Christmas/Santa montage at the beginning will quickly get you in the mood for the holidays.

·         While the movie focuses on Christmas, there are several  shout-outs to Hanukkah.

·         As a film critic, I appreciated the discussion that Ruby and Bucky had about an old Charlie Chaplin film and its inspiring ending.

·         The storybook narrator offers interesting insights.  SPOILER ALERT:  The voice is from our beloved Steve Martin!

·         Diane Keaton is timeless.  And she always looks great in a scarf.

·         One of the character’s names is Bo (played by Maxwell Simkins).  That’s my son’s name!

·         Sam (the loveable John Goodman) plays with words that always evoke laughter from the audience.  He lists the famous Christmas reindeer as “Donner and Blitzen and Rudolph and Nixon” and Santa’s brothers as “Panta, Janta, and Mylanta.”

·         The babies in the Maternity ward of the hospital are all dressed as Santa.  Adorable.

Things I didn’t like:

·          Everyone spends the majority of the film lying to each other, hiding things, and being disappointed in one another.  Funny and unpleasant.

·         The family sings Christmas carols together and it’s Diane Keaton who gets a solo….NOT the talented Amanda Seyfried.  What the heck?  Come on!

·         Madison, the little girl played by Blake Baumgartner, says “You are such a D—k” several times.  NOT adorable.

·         There are a couple of offensive Jesus jokes.  Seriously?  Especially at Christmas time?

·         Blatant product placement annoys me so much.  In this film… McCafe.

·         People often offer each other terrible advice.  For example, Bucky the grandpa tells Hank (Ed Helms) to “go out and get some.”

·         I’ve always thought Olivia Wilde was beautiful, but I really hated her arrogant, condescending, disrespectful, dishonest, slutty character, Eleanor.

·         Sloppy French kissing.  Funny, but gross.

·         Interesting title.  And I'm not even talking about the lack of proper punctuation. If the Coopers had just loved each other better, this film wouldn’t exist.  The Coopers spend the entire film “searching for comfort and a little more joy” this Christmas season.

Funny lines:  

·         “You’re way too cute to be a Republican.  Please tell me you’re not one of those Republicans who believes in Fox News, but not evolution.” – Eleanor (Olivia Wilde)

·         “All we’d have to figure out is how long we’ve been together and what’s your name?” – Eleanor

·         “I don’t think volunteering counts if you just talk about it.” – Joe (Jake Lacy)

·         “Calm down.  Man up and let’s lie to my parents.” – Eleanor

·         “That was the best dinner I’ve ever had in my entire mouth.” – Aunt (June Squibb)

Interesting lines:

·         About the holidays:  “Everyone panics, as if you can schedule happiness.” – Bucky (Alan Arkin)

·         “Perhaps it’s unreasonable to expect married couples to grow at the same rate for 40 years.” – Narrator

·         “You love everybody at arm’s length.  Keep it up and you’ll end up alone.” – Bucky  (Alan Arkin)

·         FOMO = “Fear Of Missing Out.”   Is that the new YOLO?

·         “Isn’t it interesting that we want to run from our families and impress them at the same time?” -  Eleanor

·         “Such a fuss when everything we want is right in front of us.” - Bucky

Tips for Parents:

·        The Coopers are definitely NOT role models for your kids:     Infidelity, flatulence, selfishness, lack of respect and kindness.   The good news is that they finally figure it out by the end of the movie.

·         Some profanity and crudeness.

 .

GREAT Christmas movies:

   

PAN disappoints and bewilders

Movie:    Pan

Rating:  PG, 1 hour 51 minutes

Grade:   C-

In a Nutshell:    Maybe I’m weird, but I’ve never really liked Bobby Driscoll's story of Peter Pan .  I mean, a boy who refuses to grow up?  Don’t we already have enough of those in the world today?  Jealousy among Tinkerbell, Wendy, and the mermaids?...yep, we have enough caddy women in the world too.

And did we really need ANOTHER version of this movie?  This film, however, offers a new backstory that fleshes out the story and provides greater depth to the character motivation as a type of prequel.  Is it worth the retelling?  Meh.

Uplifting Theme:

·         “Sometimes to truly understand how things end, we must understand how they begin.”  - narrator 

       Hope, friendship

         

Things I liked:

·         Levi Miller, who plays Peter Pan,  is absolutely adorable.  Unfortunately, his pacing makes it look like he was told to constantly hurry up!

·         Hugh Jackman as Blackbeard is awesome.  He can do it all.

·         It’s very colorful and imaginative with lots of CGI action for kids.

·         Wow, Amanda Seyfried is playing a mother’s role already?  She is always beautiful and welcome in any role.

·         There is a surprising amount of music. 

·         Cara Delevingne is a beautiful mermaid.  You’ve seen her recently in the mopey teenage angst-ridden Paper Towns , which I hated.  Read my movie review of Paper Towns here.

·         Rooney Mara is a strange casting choice for Tiger Lily, but she's already winning awards for her role in "Carol".

·         There is a decent amount of subtle humor.  More please.

Things I didn’t like:

·         There were some odd religious undertones that I didn’t like.  For example, it was so cliché to have the nuns in the orphanage be cruel, but the surprising parts were the lines that Captain Hook spoke that made him out to be an evil Savior, quoting things like “Come unto me”.

·         It kind of felt like Mad Max in the sky....lots of crazy people and stuff constantly flying around.

·         Garrett Hedlund turns Hook into a kind of Indiana Jones douche bag.  His accent is super annoying.

·         The story line is messy, all over the place, and rushed.
-     Every shot looks manufactured and artificial.
-     Everyone starts singing Nivarna's "Everyone's Got Teen Spirit" for no apparent reason.  What the?

Interesting lines:

·         Are brave, Peter?”  - Blackbeard

“Trying to be.” – Peter

“Are you scared?” – Blackbeard

“Yes.”  - Peter

·         “Have you come to kill me?” – Blackbeard

“I don’t believe in bedtime stories.” – Peter

·         “I lie sometimes.  It’s called being a grown-up.”  - Hook     (What a terrible thing to say.)

Tips for Parents:

·          Little kids won't mind all the nonsense.  Purists of the original Disney version might hate it.
-      Lots of fighting, but nothing too scary.

Want to see other versions of this story?