Change Your Image
Whitetd12000
Reviews
Ladybugs (1992)
Dangerfield's foray into the teen comedy market
Rodney Dangerfield had at this point become known for playing sympathetic losers who go to outrageous lengths to climb the ladder of success. Here he is Chester Lee, a salesman with an understanding fiancée and a typical apathetic stepson. While trying to get a promotion, he somehow gets himself into coaching his bosses' championship soccer team, The Ladybugs. He accepts, merely on hearing the team's legacy. He soon finds out that all but one of the players is new to the team and know even less than he does. He then enlists the help of his stepson, a gifted soccer player, having him pose as a girl. The film is funny enough, as Dangerfield's wit carries it through. The b plot of the stepson's crush, who is also the bosses daughter,r is thrown in for teen appeal. This movie does not pretend to be anything more than a harmless farce, and is all the better for it.
Click (2006)
Not bad, but far from great
Adam Sandler is one of those actors that people either really love or can't stand. His knack for playing surprisingly intelligent fools has won him a dedicated fan base. His movies were never meant to be high art, and so he did not take himself seriously, and made no apologies for it. In recent years, his characters have taken a subtle shift from likable, nitwit to everyman. This change signaled a shift in the type of movies he makes. His want for more substance results in a final product that is more mediocre than he perhaps intended. Which is not to say that this movie is bad. Sandler's Michael is likable. His love for his wife and children is apparent. He wants the absolute best for his family but he hates inconvenience, and so thinks that all of his problems would disappear if only he got promoted. Enter Morty, who gives him a special universal remote, which Michael uses to fast-forward through the difficult parts of his life. As a result,his marriage falls apart, his relationships with his son and daughter become tumultuous, and his health begins to deteriorate. Though he has money, nothing in his life is fulfilling. This culminates in an overdone climax wherein the melodrama factor is almost suffocating. Overall, the film is an average critique on the true way to happiness, hampered only by Sandler's overly clichéd execution.
The Color of Friendship (2000)
Family movie with a little something extra
Based on a true story, The Color Of Friendship centers on Piper Dellums, the daughter of Congressman Ron Dellums and her experience hosting a Caucasian South African girl in 1977. The film is unlike most children's TV movies (and most DCOMS of the decade) due to the high educational value. The film showcases the very real effects of South African apartheid and its influence on attitudes towards racism in South Africa in contrast to the relative freedoms of the US. Mari, through her worldviews, sees African Americans as second class, clashing with the Dellums, who no doubt still feel the emotional scars of racism. Tension eventually gives way to friendship and the realization that racism is not only useless but immoral. Overall,the movie succeeds in its goals to foster understanding and race relation in a way that is not heavy-handed or preachy.
100 Girls (2000)
Unconventional teen comedy that tries to be more than it is.
100 Girls tells the story of Matthew, a nerdy College student who has a sexual encounter in an elevator during a blackout and spends copious amounts of time trying to figure out her identity. What sets 100 Girls apart from other teen comedies is the dialogue- centric scenes which add a level of intelligence to the characters and also help move the story along. However, this also proves to be disadvantageous, as the film's characters fit every conceivable stereotype. Matt is the awkward nerd. His roommate Rod is a misogynistic dimwit who spends hours putting weights on his penis whilst degrading and depersonalizing women. Matt enlists the help of former high school acquaintance Wendy, the stereotypical cute girl next door. His and Rod's Women's Studies professor, Ms. Stern is hairy-arm-pitted man-hater. Patty is the hyper-sexual slut and her boyfriend Crick,the hyper- masculine sexual abuser. Dora is the "ugly" girl unaware of her beauty. Other characters include Cynthia, the blonde knockout and Arlene, the competitive "tomboy". Matt later attempts to dress in drag as Francesca and discovers that as such, he is able to communicate more effectively with women. This, in turn, bolsters his confidence and culminates in a speech in front of the girls dorm, where he realizes he can have any girl he wants. In summary, while this film tries to pass itself off as a critique of gender relations, it is in actuality a slightly more intelligent variant of the sex romp. If you enjoy unconventionality, this film is worth a watch.
It's Pat: The Movie (1994)
Bad but not awful
It's Pat is one of those movies that will have you thinking "This can't be as bad as everyone says", due to it's cult status. Rest assured, the film is bad, but it is a far cry from being one of the worst films ever. The main problem is that the film has no direction. It spends 75 minutes shifting between being a farce and character comedy,failing to be both. In order to function as a character comedy, the lead must be likable, which Pat is anything but. He/she is boorish, rude, insensitive and downright unpleasant. Even if the character is written this way on purpose (which I suspect), there is little else to find interesting, save for a few mediocre jokes, which are not funny enough for this film to function as a farce. That being said, the actors do well with what they are given, but overall the movie's lack in direction or character development and mediocre jokes are its downfall.
A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story (1992)
An over-sensationaized account of a dysfunctional marriage
This is the story of the real life Betty and her descent into madness, culminating in the murder of her ex-husband and his new, much younger wife. Betty Broderick, a loving mother and dutiful wife, is emotionally shattered when her workaholic husband Dan leaves her for his personal assistant, Linda. After viewing this movie, one is inevitably led to the actual story of the Broderick marriage. Taking both accounts into consideration, one finds that in an effort to attract viewers, the movie glosses over rather important information. The focus of the movie is not on the troubled marriage, but rather Betty Broderick's psychotic behavior. As a result, Betty is written in a rather unsympathetic light. Also, the audience never actually sees Dan physically cheat on Betty with Linda, although he is perhaps emotionally unfaithful. This makes Betty's confrontation seem almost uncalled for. Dan had actually been cheating on Betty on many occasions. As the movie goes on, Dan is more attentive with his children and new bride Linda while Betty's behavior becomes more and more irrational, turning Dan into an almost sympathetic character. In actuality, the Broderick marriage had been emotionally toxic with both partners feeding off of one another, something that is only hinted at in the movie. While movie is powerfully acted, with exceptional performances from Meredith Baxter and Stephen Collins, the audience doesn't quite get an accurate portrayal of the events.