My wife and I finally got around to watching it last night, and all I can say is....
What the hell is wrong with everyone who liked this?
It's a downright offensive, absolutely rote, by-the-numbers RomCom wannabe that manages to be neither romantic nor comedic. It's as though someone pitched this as a bizarre mashup between Some Kind of Wonderful and One Crazy Summer, with a dash of Rain Man.
It fits the now-standard formula:
Odd couple, each with dark trauma in their past, comes together through the machinations of family and/or friends. They clash at first, but through a bonding event usually set to music, they become friendly. There's a Bad Thing about to happen, so there's a task/competition they must complete/win in order to save the bar/fraternity/school/family. During the preparations, one of the couple does something selfish and lets down the other. This is, of course, forgiven in time to complete the task at hand, at which point the odd couple professes their love for one another, and everyone lives happily ever after.
You all can think of dozens of movies that fit this formula. I'll add another one.....No shit, this is the exact plot of Weird Al's masterpiece UHF. Think about that....the critic's darling of last year, and the film that won Jennifer Lawrence an Oscar is basically a remake of a Weird Al movie.
On top of all this, it continues the rich tradition of Hollywood treating women like idiots and men like dolts. The main characters (less than 12 hours since I've seen this, and I can't remember a single character's name) spend the entire movie screaming at each other and lying to one another. It's a match made in heaven, right?
Oh, and the Herculean task they must complete? It's doing well enough in a dance competition to cover a ridiculous bet that Mr. Man's father (Bobby De Niro) - who is a bookie- has made with another bookie with the family fortune.
This is an awful movie.
Silver Linings Playbook
Moderators: sgt.null, dANdeLION
Silver Linings Playbook
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
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"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
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"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
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"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
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"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
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Hashi Lebwohl
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Cail, this was a Hollywood-made movie for Hollywood insiders, the same people who give critiques of movies and tell us which movies are bad or good. These same people are the ones who nominate and vote for the movies that win Oscars.
I concur--UHF was a pretty good movie and an even better album.
I concur--UHF was a pretty good movie and an even better album.
The Tank is gone and now so am I.
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DukkhaWaynhim
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Cail, I think you should stop holding back, and just tell us what you really thought about the movie.
No, it wasn't a great movie, but there were moments of funny there. I wouldn't characterize it as a RomCom, though, because I generally find nothing at all redeeming about them, and this movie actually made me laugh a couple of times, from the mental illness in-jokes...that I got because of the time I spent with my (now ex-, TYVM) wife.
dw
No, it wasn't a great movie, but there were moments of funny there. I wouldn't characterize it as a RomCom, though, because I generally find nothing at all redeeming about them, and this movie actually made me laugh a couple of times, from the mental illness in-jokes...that I got because of the time I spent with my (now ex-, TYVM) wife.
dw
"God is real, unless declared integer." - Unknown
So, so wrong.wayfriend wrote:Suplise!Hashi Lebwohl wrote:I concur--UHF was a pretty good movie and an even better album.
But so, so funny.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
_____________
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
_____________
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
_____________
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
_____________