You may not know this, but the new film The Hustle is a gender swap remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Starring Rebel Wilson and Anne Hathaway, the movie tells the story of two female con artists who wind up in the same city and discovering that the city may not be big enough for the two of them.

There have been some scathing reviews for this movie.  I may not have found it great, but I did not hate it as much as many of the critics seem to.  Don’t misunderstand me though… this is not a good movie.  It is one of those meh films that have some okay moments but could have been better.

Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson are fine here, but neither really excels with their characters.  Hathaway is the rich and snooty con artist and Wilson is more of the down home girl who uses the same shtick on everybody.  While we get a few flashes of likability with Wilson’s character, there is little to cheer for in Hathaway.  In fact, there is almost zero character development for wither lady, with the little glimpses we get tossed aside at the end for a nonsensical finale.

The story bounces around with Hathaway first trying to get rid of Wilson from her city and then the two ladies going against each other in an attempt to can the wealthy tech guy Thomas (Alex Sharp).  It is during this time frame where Wilson pretends to be blind for a significant part of the film and is fairly offensive while doing it.

Once again, as with last week’s Long Shot, if a film is funny, some, if not most, of its flaws can be ignored.  Unfortunately, there is little humor here and what is funny turns out to be fairly cliched.  Both female leads are passable, but both have given considerably better performances in their careers.  The story is truly a mess and one wonders why we needed this remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in the first place.  Sure it is not as bad as Rotten Tomatoes is suggesting, but it is not near fresh either.

2.6 stars

The new biopic features the story of the young years of EYG Hall of Famer J.R.R. Tolkien and the lead up to his writing of The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

This biopic deals with Tolkien as a youth and how he formed a group of friends at school who would become the basis for the Fellowship from his novels.

I enjoyed watching how these four students came together despite differing backgrounds and class over their shared love for the arts, even though some of them had to hide that love from parents.  The interactions with the foursome was great as you really see how strong a connection these four boys had leading to their lives as young men.

We also get shots of Tolkien during World War I, when many of the images of the horrific battles with dragons and monster and the evil of Sauron would come into view for the author.

There is a love story between Tolkien (played wonderfully by Nicholas Hoult) and Edith (Lily Collins).  The love story was not my favorite part of the movie as it felt more like a distraction from what the movie really was about and that was about how J.R.R. Tolkien wound up creating Middle Earth and all the wild language that goes with it.

In fact, the scenes with Hoult and his professor (Derek Jacobi) were some of the most compelling of the film and I would not have minded more of those.  The scenes in World War I were very moving as well as the Germans were clearly cast as the evil hordes of Mordor.  Some of the CGI here was really well done and beautiful to look at.

I was quite engaged by the film Tolkien and I enjoyed the story it was telling.  While I may not have loved the Edith parts, I thought Lily Collins was very good as Tolkien’s lady love.  The relationship between the four boys that lead to such an inspiration of artistic creativity and a friendship strong enough to survive almost anything is the best part of the movie.

3.7 stars

Rah Rah

Poms had its moments, but there were some problems as well.

Martha (WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME..err sorry), played by Diane Keaton has cancer and is moving into a retirement community to die.  However, once there, she meets a crew of characters of old women who spark that desire for her to don that cheerleading outfit once more.

Yes, that is what I said.

The premise may be ridiculous, but the cast is great.  Diane Keaton brings way more to this plot than you would expect.  Jacki Weaver is the standout of the cast and steals every scene she is in.  Pam Grier shows off her sexy side in a severely under written character.  And, while Alice (played by Cheers’ Rhea Perlman) may have murdered her husband, the movie plays it as a joke so it’s okay.

Every cliche imaginable in this type of underdog movie is in play.  We have the mean, overbearing community leader (Celia Weston) who is out to get the cheerleaders, the young mean girl cheerleaders who bully everyone, the bumbling cop (Bruce McGill) who drives around in the golf cart, the initial attempt to perform only to fail, the break up only to reunite, the son who won’t let his mom join in… I mean, they are all here.

I will say that the ending surprised me and I respected the film for going there.  I had never thought that they would go where they did.

Another problem I had with the film was with Diane Keaton’s character.  When she first moved into the community, she wanted no part of anybody, including her neighbor Jacki Weaver.  She even called Cop Carl on her.  However, I blinked, and suddenly, Jacki and Diane are best buddies and sharing wine with each other.  There seemed to be no reason why suddenly they were BFFs.  It made the first part of the movie feel false.

Of course, the film depends on a ton of suspension of disbelief, which is fine.  That does not bother me, but I do wish there was some attempt to ground the film into some reality.  It goes to a crazy level and I have to go with it to follow.  Fortunately, these actresses are good enough to elevate the material.  As I said, especially Jacki Weaver, who I found very fun and original in Poms.

Poms is a perfectly decent movie, if you just want to laugh at some nice actresses trying to be funny.  The story is nothing new and most of the film is predictable.  Still, there is a feeling of friendship among the crew and you get that feeling as an audience member too.  So it has some redeeming qualities.  It is a middle of the road movie.

2.9 stars

Pi-ka, Pi-ka.

Okay, Detective Pikachu was fine.  Thing is… it was not made for me.

This is a movie whose target audience was the Pokemon fans who have grown up with the “Gotta catch’em all” attitude.  Those people who know the difference between Bulbasaur and Charmander.  I have a passing knowledge of Pokemon which is to say, I know Pikachu, Charizard and that duck one.  I know the Weird Al polka song, Polkamon.  Other than that…

That does not mean this is a bad movie.  In fact, I liked it fine.  I just believe that people who know the franchise more would have enjoyed it more.

In Detective Pikachu, Tim (Justice Smith) comes back to Ryme City when he hears that his deadbeat father had died.  He meets up with his father’s Pokemon, Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds) whom he could understand.  To the rest of the world, Pikachu could only say “Pi-ka, pi-ka” but Tim could hear everything he said.  The pair team up to try and discover the truth behind what happened to Tim’s father.

Of course, Pikachu has amnesia, which is one of the laziest contrived plot devices imaginable, and this one, when the truth does come out, makes even less sense.  The whole amnesia angle is a drag on the story.

The best part of the film is easily Ryan Reynolds.  He does a tremendous job of bringing Pikachu to life with his voice work.  He is funny and full of life and his connection with Tim was strong.

The story itself was decent too, as the whole thing had a noir feel to it.   There was a mystery to solve and, although they do not really let the audience play along, it was compelling enough.

Bill Nighy had an important role as one of the leading Pokemon supporters and a huge businessman.  It is always fun to see Ken Watanabe in a movie too.  Unfortunately, most of the movie’s other actors are, let’s say, average.

There is a funny scene with Pokemon Mr. Mime, which, unfortunately, had been spoiled by the trailers.  I think that could have been a laugh out loud moment in the movie if I had not already seen it a few months ago.

I was not much of a fan of the third act overall.  I can’t go into much detail about the parts I disliked without going into spoilers so I’ll just say that the third act had several things that I was not wild about.

Overall, the film was fine.  It was not as great as I had thought it might be, but I did not hate watching it.  Ryan Reynolds is all kinds of charming and is worth the price of admission alone.

3.2 stars

There was some controversy about this film because of the portrayal of serial killer Ted Bundy, by Zac Efron, which was claimed to put the monster in too much of a positive light.  After watching the film on Netflix, I do to understand that criticism.

Yes, Zac Efron played Ted Bundy with a flare.  but that was very much the case for Bundy.  He was a charismatic man who used his good looks and his chemistry with young females to find his victims.  To be honest, that made this portrayal of Bundy all the more frightening because there are times in the film where you believe what he is saying.  His protests of innocence were lies, we know that, but the performance is so likable that you can understand why Bundy was able to do what he did.

And there is no doubt that the man was a manipulative monster.  You see that in the performance here, so, in my opinion, there should be no controversy here.

Zac Efron, however, deserves a ton of credit as this may be the best performance I have seen from him.  In fact, I questioned the ability for Efron to play Ted Bundy, but he does a magnificent job of it.  The relationship between Bundy and the woman he seemed to love, Liz (Lilly Collins) felt like the real deal despite Bundy’s use of it as a cover or a way to look normal.  Liz’s journey of her belief in Ted was a perfect example of the power Bundy had over women.  One wonders how Liz was able to survive all those years as Ted Bundy’s girlfriend.

The secondary cast is solid here with Jim Parsons, Haley Joel Osment, John Malkovich and Kaya Scodelario, but none of them have enough to really stand out.  This is Efron’s film and he is up to the task.

True crime fans will enjoy this biopic as we get to see a side to evil that we normally do not get to see.

3.8 stars

There are going to going to be several films this weekend that are blown out of the water by the second week of the juggernaut known as Avengers: Endgame, which is part of the business.  However, there is one new film opening that deserves so much more than getting snapped out of existence.

Long Shot, a political comedy/rom-com, starring Seth Rogan and Charlize Theron is much better than I expected it to be and deserves to do better at the box office than it is, I’m afraid, it is going to do.  It is a touching, very funny fantasy that tells the romance between the Secretary of State and an out of luck journalist admist her campaign to become President of the United States.

i called it a fantasy because some of the things that happen in the story simply are so unrealistic when it comes to politics in this country that you have to suspend your disbelief multiple times.  However, the film is so charming and well written/ acted that those moments did not bother me.

i have never been a huge fan of Seth Rogan, as I have never enjoyed the drug comedy that he seems to excel within.  And, while there is some of that in Long Shot, it is kept at a minimum and are actually quite funny.  Being funny is the cure for most anything.

Both Seth Rogan and Charlize Theron are really strong in this film and they display a surprising amount of chemistry.  If you are talking about an onscreen couple, Rogan and Theron are not necessarily the first pairing you would come up with and yet it works well.  You believe that their relationship is coming from a place of realism, which is quite a feat considering all of the connotations that it might bring with it.

The film is definitely deserving of its R rating as it tends to lean toward more risqué comedy, including one important scene caught on video, that shocked me.  I was shocked that they were blessed to show the scene.  But again, while the comedy, at times, is certainly leaning toward the racy kind, it is always funny, and some jokes can be forgiven if they are funny.

However, there are many other comedic elements here than just the sex and drug parts.  The comedy includes real moments between two characters who feel real despite the unreal setting that they find themselves in.

There are thinly veiled some jokes at the expense of FOX News including a character who, again, clearly seems to be an amalgam of Ruppert Murdock and Roger Ailes.  And the President of the United States is played by Bob Odenkirk (from Better Call Saul) and there are comparisons to be made to President Trump, yet there are not as many jokes directed toward Trump as you might think.  There is even a scene where the ideology of Rogan make him look like the uncooperative one.  It almost is a cry for working across party lines.

Long Shot works on many levels and had me laughing consistently.  Jonathan Levine directed this film, which is right up there with another of my favorite Seth Rogan film (also directed by Levine) 50/50.  This film is great counter programming, and you should really try to squeeze a showing into your weekend schedule around your next viewings of Avengers: Endgame.  That is what I did.

4.3 stars

Don’t worry.  I will not spoil anything that happens in the movie.

I will stick totally to my feelings on what I witnessed tonight.

For 21 previous movies, the Marvel Cinematic Universe had been building to this finale, much like a television series might.  Everything was heading toward Avengers: Endgame.

I cannot imagine any way they could have crafted a better conclusion.

It was joyous.

Some might claim that the first act is slow, but, to me, this is where much of the heavy lifting of the characters takes place and I find that stuff fascinating and fabulous.  The inclusion of character moments and development is what the MCU has been about since that time Tony Stark got tossed in the cave and those moments are every bit as important as the action beats.

The middle act is original and mind bending.  Such a tremendous use of the trope that I am not going to tell you about.

And the third act is, quite possibly, the greatest third act in any super hero movie ever made.  The last hour was filled to the brim with absolutely EVERYTHING I wanted from this movie.  I had tears streaming down my face from the shear joy I was experiencing.

Directors Anthony and Joe Russo delivered their fourth Marvel movie (Winter Soldier, Civil War, and Infinity War preceding this) in the most unbelievable fashion.  They have to take their place among the Mount Rushmore of MCU creators, up there with Kevin Feige.

There were so many brilliant performances in this movie, but I can’t tell you any specific ones because it might spoil something and you really should go into this with as little knowledge as you can.  The trailers were beautifully done.  They spoiled virtually nothing.  Heck, they were remarkably sparse with details.

There were only two things that I would have bet money on happening, and they both happened.  I won’t tell you what they were, but they fit beautifully with the story telling that has been going on for the past 10+ years.

No post credit scene, but there is some sounds at the very end that were familiar.

Some might complain about the 3 hour and 2 minute run time of the film, but I found it perfect.  It flew by and by the end, I so wanted more.

The film has so much packed in it, I think it demands a second viewing (if not multiple viewings) to see everything that is there.  I know I have my ticket for viewing number two tomorrow and I may see it a couple more times before the weekend is out.

There were several moments where I literally cried out in excitement.  A couple of times I pumped my fist.  It was amazing.

I was sick this morning, but I knew that I would not let that stop me from seeing this movie (which I saw in IMAX).  I babied myself through the morning and afternoon and felt okay when I took off for Davenport.  Sitting in my seat, there were moments when I did not feel great physically.  However, I persevered and, by the end, I was feeling better than I had all day.

Avengers: Endgame was mind-blowing.  I will probably have to write a spoiler post at some time about the film just to get it out, but for now, go see Avengers: Endgame.  It is truly an epic.

5 stars