As Good As It Gets

Absolutely brilliant

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This movie is fun for everyone. It has some guy stuff with Tripp hanging out with his buddies, plus the relationship stuff for the ladies. The story has a few twists although it may not have been 100% logical. Good performances from the cast, however one scene with Terry Bradshaw I could do without. Photography and background scenery is excellent. Glad I ignored the critical reviews, those writers obviously need a sense of humour transplant. It's a light rom-com well worth watching.

It has always been a mystery to me as to why Matthew McConaughey is such a big deal to a lot of people. He is not that good an actor and he is not really that physically attractive (I'm a woman). His performance and his looks are generally very average, and actually below average in this particular movie. One word: massively overrated.The movie itself is quite poor, too. Not funny in the least. And complete lack of chemistry between the 2 leading characters is very obvious. So this attempted "romantic comedy" fails on both fronts - it's not really romantic and not really a comedy.Sarah Jessica Parker is just playing Sex and the City's Carrie Bradshaw all along (the facial expressions, the gestures, the very character), as that seems to be the only character she is capable of portraying. In fact, it just felt like an impossibly long Sex and the City episode, not a stand-alone movie.Honestly, I don't think they could've found an actress that was LESS suitable for the role of Paula than SJP...Zooey Deschanel was kind of cute in this movie and, surprisingly enough, her performance was semi-tolerable (compared to the leads at least), although I usually consider her a horrible actress. The age gap between her and SJP was painfully obvious, and the fact that they had nothing in common and were forced to act as friends/roommates, made the movie all the more awkward to watch.It goes without saying that the plot is predictable to the point of nausea. Lazy writing, banal storyline, bad acting, boring characters, and general lack of realism and entertainment value make this movie almost impossible to sit through.Not one I would recommend to anyone...

I was home one night and planned on watching the immortal classic The Shop Around The Corner for the 20th time on TCM. I decided that the 21st time was even too many times for me. So I decided to give this film a try because I saw Bradley Cooper was in it and I thought he was quite good in The Elephant Man on stage, The Silver Lining Playbook and American Hustle. I could not believe how horrible this film is. I am embarrassed that I live in a world where folks liked this. The script was stupid. The acting, particularly Bradley Cooper, Zooey Deschanel and Jason Bartha were painfully bad. I kept on watching it because Terry Bradshaw and Kathy Bates actually were terrific and the NY Mets had already won their game. The Shop Around the Corner is a great romantic comedy. Failure to Launch is as we say in NYC, shtick dreck. Go to the Urban Dictionary and look up the expression.

Failure to Launch (2006)Another decent but sometimes strained interference with love film. I can think of two more classic recent ones, "Hitch" and "Heartbreaker," and this doesn't rise to those modest heights.The impressive star of the two leads is the lesser name, charming and gorgeous Matthew McConaughey, who is not just believable but also compelling (which is something different). Across from him is the Sex and the City mega-star, Sarah Jessica Parker, who is good, and who does the job as a would-be pretend girlfriend who really does fall in love. Or not. You'll see.The whole hook is an obvious one--first the woman is hired to make the man fall enough in love with him that he'll finally move out of his parents house. Then she'll collect her fee and boogie. But no, we know from the get-go, as with any screwball comedy, that the two leads are destined to be together. But when one learns the other's secret, what true love there was goes on the rocks. This is exactly what the other two films (above) did, and I'm sure it's a burgeoning new genre.What drags it down a bit are the side plots and side characters. Many of these are good or even terrific one way or another, but it's all patched together and a little lightweight and thin. The best of these is Parker's roommate, played with Oscar-worthy dreariness by Zooey Deschanel (who also appeared in "(500) Days of Summer"). But the sideshows of the mockingbird, the biting dolphin, and even the baroque arrangement with the t.v. monitors in the final scenes are all a little clunky. Good on paper, maybe, but in the end you have to make yourself enjoy the best of it all, which will make you laugh and have fun.