Jenny's Wedding feels like a social issue pamphlet

Movie:    Jenny's Wedding

PG-13, 1 hour 35 minutes

Grade:   C

In a Nutshell:   Timed perfectly for the recent Supreme Court decision that makes same sex marriage legal in the United States, this movie features the lovely Katherine Heigl as a lesbian who finally comes out to her family who struggle with who she is and what she wants.

Uplifting Theme:

·         “When you meet the right person, you go the distance.  And let me tell you about the distance.  Everybody changes.  If you’re with the right person, and they change, you meet the right person all over again.” – Eddie

Things I liked:

·         I liked the music by Brian Byrne.

·         The movie showed the pain and hurt that occur in families on both sides of this delicate issue. 

-     Gossip Girl: The Complete Series fans will be happy to see Alexis Bledel, although it may disturb some of them to see their favorite fast-talking teen kissing another woman. 

Things I didn’t like:

·     What bugs me is that religious people are always represented as idiots and bigots in most movies.  Sure, they definitely exist, but any other lifestyle, except a religious one, seems to always be considered "enlightened" in Hollywood.  A lot of the people in Jenny’s life really struggle with her newly exposed self.   That doesn’t mean they’re bad people or close-minded. The LGBT community demands tolerance, yet doesn't give any to those who have other values.   Jenny’s mom uses an analogy with a dance.  She explains that she likes dances with steps that she knows and that she simply doesn’t know the steps to this new dance that her daughter has introduced to her family. 

·         I thought Jenny’s sister is kind of a jerk.  In fact, I wouldn't particularly want to spend time with most of the characters in this movie.  They all seemed so self-centered and were more concerned with what their neighbors thought than showing love and support to one another.  There is so much anger and selfishness in Jenny’s family.  They all say terrible things to each other and only think of themselves.

·         If this is supposed to be a romantic comedy, it didn’t succeed at either one.
-    Jenny's sister, Anne, says "Happy people don't have dead grass", referring to not settling for things that don't make you happy.  I get that, but I also have a problem with that self-centered philosophy.  I mean, marriage is tough and there will be times when you want to walk away, but what about the "in sickness and health" part of the vow?  What good is getting married if you're just going to walk away when it gets hard?

Interesting lines:

·         “Being private isn’t the same thing as lying.” – Rose

·         “All you can do is what you do.” – Eddie    (I disagree.  We can always try to be better.)

·         “It’s bad to want her to be unhappy.”  - Eddie

“Why would we want her to be unhappy?” – Rose

“Because we are.” - Eddie

·         “If you spend your life lying to people about who you are, you never get to know who they really are.” – Denny

Tips for Parents:

*    There is some profanity and lesbian kissing.

Skip the Nut Job

Movie Title:  The Nut Job

Grade: C-

   

In a Nutshell:  Skip it.  When stunning animation movies like Frozen are out in the theaters, why would you waste your time or money on this one?  It’s a meager attempt at following the recipe for a successful kids’ movie.  Young kids may be entertained, but parents will either fall asleep or want to stab a fork in their eyes.

Filled with an unlikeable main character, endless capers, dumb gangster goons, an obligatory dance scene and electrocution moment, and lame lines such as “Let’s not get nutty around here”, this Saturday morning cartoon falls way short of being memorable or magical.

Uplifting theme: It’s important to work together.  Teamwork doesn’t have “I” in it.

Things I liked:        Great voice actors include Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Liam Neeson, Katherine Heigl, Maya Rudolph, and even ventriloquist Jeff Dunham.  Unfortunately, none of them had good material to work with, so their talents were underutilized. I thought the red cardinal that Racoon carries around was pretty cute and I liked the 3D popcorn popping effect.

Things I didn’t like:  When the writers couldn’t think of clever jokes they just resorted to lots of farting and burping. The animation itself was simply inferior.  The supporting characters lacked visual distinction or interest.  The scary rat gang looked like ugly stuffed animals.

Funny lines:

• “Is that Bubonic Plague you’re wearing?”  - Surly
• “That’s my cologne, made of tree sap and falcon tears.” - Surly

Inspiring lines:

• Hmmmm….can’t think of any.  Pretty sad, right?

Things to look for:

• Baby squirrel sucking its thumb
• Little bird’s trembling lips when the tree burns

Tips for parents:  See something else.