Tag Archives: Adam Scott

Black Mass

If you’ve seen the ads on TV, in print and on the web for Black Mass, you’ve seen Johnny Depp’s latest look. When he appears on the movie screen, with his blue/green eyes, thinning hair and bad front tooth, even if you’ve seen the ads, it’s still a stunning transformation.

Depp gives a mighty performance as James “Whitey” Bulger, a real-life notorious Boston criminal who committed numerous murders, many in a particularly violent manner, along with lesser felonies. For Depp, the role redeems him after several recent misfires. Award nominations will be forthcoming.

But Black Mass is more than just Depp. Director Scott Cooper deftly relates a complex narrative in two hours. The brooding soundtrack by Tom Holkenborg (AKA Junkie XL) complements perfectly the dark story and its gloomy look. The tight script is by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth from the book by Boston Globe reporters Dick Lehr and Gerald O’Neill.

(Side note: Is it always cloudy in Boston? Based on this film, Mystic River, The Departed, The Town and others, it seems that the city is constantly under overcast skies.)

The story is told in flashbacks, framed by investigator interviews with Bulger lieutenants Steve Flemmi (Rory Cochrane) and Kevin Weeks (Jesse Plemons). In 1975, Bulger is a small-time hood. Soon, he forms an “alliance” with FBI agent and fellow “Southie” John Connolly (Joel Edgerton). They trade information. The deal helps the FBI take down Mafia interests in Boston, but also opens up those crime areas to Bulger and his cohorts.

The cast includes Benedict Cumberbatch as Whitey’s brother Billy Bulger, an elected official who somehow escapes being directly connected to his brother’s treachery. Dakota (Fifty Shades of Gray) Johnson plays Bulger’s girlfriend Lindsey, who is mother of Whitey Bulger’s son. The FBI crew includes Kevin Bacon, Adam Scott and David Harbour. Corey Stoll is a take charge U.S. attorney who is baffled by the FBI’s coddling of Bulger.

Black Mass has already generated controversy in Boston. Family members of those killed by Bulger are upset that the movie shows his humanity. This week, Depp said of the character: “There’s a man who loves. There’s a man who cries. There’s a lot to the man.” (Yes, and John Wayne Gacy gave great clown shows for the kids.)

Just as there are many sides to Whitey Bulger, there are many aspects of Black Mass beyond its central character. Depp is excellent. So is the rest of the movie.

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Hot Tub Time Machine 2

 

Let’s time-travel ahead 5 years to this 2020 vision: It’s 3:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. After a night on the town, you’re winding down by flipping through cable channels. Most are running infomercials for weight loss supplements, Bowflexes, etc. But, alas, Comedy Central has a movie!

It is Hot Tub Time Machine 2, which you have never seen. In a manner similar to that of a morbidly curious person staring at a horrible car crash, you are transfixed by the film’s awfulness. When a commercial comes on, you travel back in time by rewinding your live DVR and rewatching the previous 10 or so minutes to confirm that you actually saw what you thought you saw.

This film is unfunny and not at all entertaining. The story, of course, is absurd and hardly worth mentioning. But that was not a surprise. The shocker was the appropriate absolute silence from the preview audience in response to much of the movie’s script. Low comedy is okay; unfunny low comedy is a bore.

Hot Tub Time Machine 2 is a movie that, for me, stirred one particular emotion: pity. For the cast and crew whose names will be forever linked to this stinker via IMDB. Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Adam Scott, Jason Jones and Chevy Chase have all done worthwhile work, but HTTM2 is a shameful mess. Clark Duke is a lesser-known actor but he, too, like the aforementioned men, should’ve known better.

(Should you watch the above red band trailer, you’ll note that it says “This Christmas.” Apparently, somebody knew better than waste valuable holiday theater screens on this turkey.)

Okay, back to your future: On that late Saturday/early Sunday in 2020, you finally come to your senses and flip from Hot Tub Time Machine 2 to that Bowflex ad. And you are a happier person for having done so.

 

 

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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Strong enough for a man, yet gentle enough for a woman, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty almost feels like a chick flick. But it’s not a chick flick. Let’s just say this PG-rated film is light entertainment. You can take your mom (or even your grandma) to see this film and be assured she will walk out happy.

Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) is a shy, wimpy guy with an amazing fantasy life. That fantasy life is depicted hilariously in several episodes in the first half of the film. The director of the film, also named Ben Stiller, changes direction in midstream and takes Mitty into outlandish adventures in his real life. (Okay, his on-screen real life.)

Cheryl Melhoff (Kristen Wiig) is Mitty’s co-worker and romantic interest. She’s involved in Mitty fantasies, as is Mitty’s jerky new boss Ted Hendricks (Adam Scott at his smarmiest). Walter’s mom (Shirley MacLaine) provides her son with support and important guidance. MacLaine, as usual, is excellent and provides another reason to take your mom to this movie.

Maybe the best supporting player is Patton Oswalt as an online dating counselor, whose work as an unseen voice in TSLOWM is as strong as his brief onscreen scene.

Mitty is a photo editor for Life magazine, which is preparing to publish its last issue. Photographer Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn) sends Mitty a photo for the cover of that final issue, but Mitty can’t locate the pic anywhere within the package.

The quest to find that photo takes Mitty on a trek to exotic locales, where he does things he’s never imagined. Okay, he has imagined being part of outrageous events, but never thought he’d actually live them.

Stiller is charming as the nerdy nebbish. His adventures, both real and imagined, are fun to watch. Credit goes to director Stiller for giving us a film that looks good and leaves us with a feel good, upbeat ending. Wiig also brings wholesome charm to her role, which is more substantial that the caricature she plays in the current Anchorman film.

To make a solidly entertaining PG-rated movie for a grownup audience is rarely attempted in today’s world of edgy filmmaking and even more rarely achieved. Congrats to Ben Stiller the director and Ben Stiller the actor for delivering a movie that’s fun to watch without all the dirty business.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is sweet and cute. If you can handle that kind of thing, don’t miss it. And take you mother.

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