Tag: Aubrey Plaza

Movie Review – ‘Ingrid Goes West’ – Thumbs-Up Emoji

Directed by Matt Spicer
Written by David Branson Smith & Matt Spicer
Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Elizabeth Olsen, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Wyatt Russell, Billy Magnussen, Pom Klementieff
Soundtrack: Jonathan Sadoff and Nick Thorburn

I’ll say this right up front.

I don’t know if this movie works for people over a certain age, and I don’t know if it will hold up five, ten, twenty years down the line, but, for right this second, it’s exactly the dark comedy we need.

Good art often pushes, challenges, and makes people uncomfortable, and that’s exactly what Ingrid Goes West is and does.

The film is a no-holds-barred examination/take-down of Insta-culture, and all that goes with it: “curated” lives, phony relationships, sacrificing what matters for what’s fleeting, the insistence that everything is amazing, avocado toast, etc.  The conceit of the movie is that Ingrid has mental health issues (which are set up and which she acknowledges), but most of what she does is only a half-step removed from what millions of Instagram users do every day, which is the core of the film’s resonance.

(Not that I think social media is inherently evil.  God knows I use it everyday in my personal life and to promote my writing, but every so often you need to hold up a mirror to yourself, which Ingrid provides.)

However, despite the high percentage of social commentary, the movie is still an effective piece of entertainment, mostly working in cringe comedy territory (a la The Office UK), but with enough spoonfuls of sugar along the way to not be completely overwhelming (there’s a subtle running gag about what Ingrid eats which I found quite humorous).

It may not have made me laugh the most of any movie I’ve seen so far this year (I think that honor goes to Spider-Man: Homecoming), and I don’t know that it’s supposed to, given its comedy-drama classification, but Ingrid works in both premise and execution, thanks largely to the handful of performances that really drive it.

Aubrey Plaza in particular jumps into her character in a way I personally have never seen from her before (performance of her career so far?), Elizabeth Olsen (so hot right now) is her usual rock-steady self, O’Shea Jackson, Jr. threatens to steal the movie, Wyatt Russell provides some necessary down-to-earth energy, and Billy Magnussen is an absolute fire-cracker.

Whereas most comedies these days, even ones intended to be taken a little more seriously, often cross the line in terms of suspension of disbelief (which usually doesn’t matter too much, as long as its funny), Ingrid Goes West does a good job of keeping everything fairly reigned in.  There are a couple of small plot holes that I could nitpick if I wanted do (but I don’t really do that here because I don’t really believe in it), but overall the movie never jumps the shark.

Of course, with a film of such quality, I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention writer/director Matt Spicer.  This is a remarkably impressive debut feature, and I hope he can keep up the good work in the future.

So, there you have it.  A dark, dramatic comedy that’s actually funny and makes you think.

Well worth seeing.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Ingrid Goes West opens in select theaters in NY and LA on August 10, presumably followed by an expanded release on August 17.

Movie Review – ‘Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates’ – Love Hurts

Mike_and_Dave_Need_Wedding_Dates

Directed by Jake Szymanski
Written by Andrew Jay Cohen and Brendan O’Brien
Cast: Zac Efron, Adam Devine, Aubrey Plaza, Anna Kendrick, Sugar Lyn Beard, Sam Richardson, Alice Wetterlund, Mary Holland, Stephen Root, Stephanie Faracy, Lavell Crawford, Kumail Nanjiani, Wendy Williams (cameo), Marc Maron (cameo), Jake Johnson (cameo)
Soundtrack: Jeff Cardoni

As one who possesses a degree in History, I’m accustomed to being well-researched and having a greater context for what I write about.

In the case of ‘Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates’, I have to admit, I’m pretty much flying blind.

I can tell you that it’s directed by Jake Szymanski, who directed ‘7 Days in Hell‘ for HBO last year (‘Mike and Dave’ is his feature film directorial debut), and it’s written by Andrew Jay Cohen and Brendan O’Brien, who wrote ‘Neighbors‘ and ‘Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising‘, but none of this means anything to me because I haven’t seen any of those.  Maybe you have, and maybe you know exactly what ‘Mike and Dave’ is going to be already, but I didn’t really know what to expect going in, and I definitely didn’t know if I was even going to laugh.

Shockingly, I have to admit I rather enjoyed it.  As my basic standard for comedies is “Make me laugh”, and ‘Mike and Dave’ made me laugh quite a bit, I have to call it a successful comedy film.

The movie’s premise is based on the experiences of the real-life Mike and Dave Stangle (played by Adam Devine and Zac Efron in the film), who did, in fact, post an ad on Craigslist looking for wedding dates.  In the universe of the movie, however, they end up with Tatiana and Alice (Aubrey Plaza and Anna Kendrick), who turn out to be bigger bro-dawgs than this boys themselves, leading to all sorts of rude, lewd, and crude hijinks.

If I had to sum up the movie in one word, it would be Energetic.  There are never any lulls, it’s very tightly paced, and it clocks in at under a hundred minutes, so it doesn’t overstay its welcome; although, I suspect an uncut version would run closer to two hours, as there are scenes, if not entire plotlines, shown in the trailers that are not in the final cut of the movie (like “bocce ball” and “wake and bake”).  It is also evident based on the trailers (and outtakes shown during the end credits) that ‘Mike and Dave’ is highly reliant on improvisation and proverbial spaghetti throwing, which is fine, it’s a perfectly acceptable technique, just don’t come looking for high art.

All in all, everybody’s pretty much on point with their performances, and, for an R-rated comedy, I was happy ‘Mike and Dave’ wasn’t entirely reliant on gross-out and/or toilet humor, as seems to be the trend with so many marketed comedies these days.  It’s not anywhere near the level of ‘The Nice Guys‘ in terms of overall quality, or ‘POPSTAR‘ in terms of satirical brilliance, but if you just need to get some laughs for ninety minutes (and you’re not easily offended), then ‘Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates’ is perfectly acceptable as a cinematic candy bar.

Rating: ★★★☆☆