Due Date (2010)

"Due Date" is one of those bawdy comedies that has a lot of laughs and several crude moments.  Robert Downey, Jr. stars as an uptight businessman, Peter, who has a series of mishaps due to a strange character played by Zach Galifianakis.  These mishaps place both of them on the no-fly list, but Peter has to get home to his pregnant wife who will give birth in a few days.  These two opposites end up having to drive across the country together, and along the way they encounter an old friend, played by Jamie Foxx, and a drug dealer, played by Juliette Lewis.  I laughed out loud several times while watching this film.  If you like crude humor and outrageous mishaps, then this film is for you.  I give it 4 out of 5 stars, not because it deserves an Oscar or has the best story, but because the characters made me laugh many times.  It was a very enjoyable comedy.

Loverboy (1989)

I watched "Loverboy," an eighties movie that stars Patrick Dempsey and has cameos by Kirstie Alley and Carrie Fisher.  Like most movies from this genre, the plot is weak and cheesy, but the movie was entertaining and pretty funny.  Patrick Dempsey plays a clueless pizza delivery boy who accidentally becomes a gigalo where the code for the women is to place an order for a pizza with extra anchovies.  He dashes around town meeting many married women, making money so he can go back to college to get back together with his ex.  In the meantime, his parents almost catch on to his actions.  The movie is silly, but overall it was a fun watch.  I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

St. Trinian's (2007)

St. Trinian's is a British comedy featuring Colin Firth and Rupert Everett.  It sounds great, right?  Trust me, it's not.  This has to be Academy Award Winner Colin Firth's worst movie.  The movie centers around a school of misfits who are led by a strange headmistress (who is actually played by a man in the film).  The students are more creepy than funny or empowering.  When the girls find out their school might close and they'd have to go to a real school to learn, quit dressing like hookers, and quit drinking during the day, they plan a heist to raise money and save the school.  There were a few clever twists, and Colin Firth was funny as the education minister, but overall the film was a dud.  I was very disappointed.  Perhaps I am scoring the film too harshly because I am let down by a bad Colin Firth film, but perhaps I am not.  The appearance of Russell Brand and Mischa Barton should have tipped me off as well.  It gets 2 ½ out of 5 stars.

The Six Wives of Henry Lefay (2009)

What can I say about "The Six Wives of Henry Lefay?"  I suppose I only watched it because it was available in my Netflix Instant Queue.  I didn't expect much from this Tim Allen movie about a philanderer who dies and has six wives or exes fighting over the funeral, but it could have been better.  Elisha Cuthbert did a terrible job playing Lefay's only daughter.  The most appalling thing about the film was the main character's lack of remorse about his marrying ways and the fact that he would be sleeping with ex wives and proposing to new women all while still married.  There were some funny moments when the exes were fighting over funeral arrangments and got manipulative, but overall the movie was a flop.  I was very surprised to see Andie MacDowell and S. Epatha Merkerson in such a film, but Jenna Elfman did a great job as one of the crazy exes.  Overall, I'd recommend passing on this movie if you get the chance to watch it.  I'll give it 2 ½ out of 5 stars because it did make me laugh a few times.

Morning Glory (2010)

I was very much looking forward to seeing "Morning Glory" when I saw the previews in the theatres, but I ultimately waited until Netflix sent it to me this week.  I loved this movie!  I thought it would be a really light and fluffy rom com, but it was definitely more of a solid film with only a small side of romance.  The story follows Rachel McAdams as she gets fired from one morning show and then takes over a sinking ship.  The co-anchors on the show are played by Diane Keaton and Harrison Ford, two heavy hitters who brought a lot of spunk to the film.  The movie follows the journey of this young, driven girl and her fight to save a struggling show.  There are many funny moments and a few touching ones as well.  It gets 3 ½ out of 5 stars.

The Ultimate Gift (2006)

"The Ultimate Gift" is a very touching movie based on Jim Stovall's book.  It can definitely be a tear jerker, so don't watch this film without tissues handy.  The movie starts off amusing in the wake of a death of a very wealthy man who decides not to leave his estate to any of his relatives, who have grown up spoiled and greedy.   An estranged grandson finds out that his inheritance is a series of gifts, but no one will tell them what they are.  When his first gift ends up being a month of hard work on a ranch he is ready to call it quits.  Along the journey, he meets a very unique girl played by Abigail Breslin.  She did a terrific job with this character and stole all the scenes she was in.  The movie keeps you guessing about the series of gifts and also warms your heart about the friendships developed by Jason as he continues his journey.  I would strongly recommend this film to anyone.  It gets 4 out of 5 stars.

Persuasion (1995)

I was in a bit of a Jane Austen kick, so I watched "Persuasion" next.  I have the book checked out from the library to read this week.  This is supposed to be Jane Austen's romance story for adults.  The story features a woman who had turned down an engagement eight years prior and then runs into the same man again later.  They try to avoid each other amid all the other romantic couplings occurring around them and then wonder throughout the film if they were meant to be together, and if they could ever get past that disappointment many years earlier.  The film was well done, but I wished that there had been more banter between the two main characters and less about the stories of the other girls in the film who seemed to be much more self-centered.  Overall, the film gets 3 ½ out of 5 stars.  I imagine that I will enjoy the book more because there will probably be more about the romantic story between Anne and the Captain.

Emma (TV) (1996)

I had the opportunity to watch several movies recently since I am at home recuperating.  The first film I selected was the made-for-television version of "Emma."  It stars Kate Beckinsale and is based on Jane Austen's book by the same name.  I am more familiar with the modernized version featured in "Clueless" which is one of my favorite films that I should watch again soon.  The film is a period piece about a girl who fancies herself a matchmaker, but who gets some of the matches wrong and misses out on her own match in the process.  It's an interesting story to watch with lots of banter and twists in the romantic plot.  The film gets 3 ½ out of 5 stars, but is great for a movie produced for television.

Life as We Know It (2010)

"Life as We Know It" is another film that I really wanted to see in the theatre but ultimately didn't see until Netflix mailed it to my house.  Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel star in a film in which they are forced to raise an orphaned baby even though they despise eachother.  It's a stretch, but the film works.  There were lots of sentimental and a couple of humorous moments in the film.  However, I was expecting this to be more of a romantic comedy than a drama going in.  I know that the plot is a bit predictable, but I did enjoy most of the film.    I found Duhamel endearing even though he was supposed to play a womanizer in the film.  Don't expect this to be a laugh-out-loud comedy.  It really is a chick flick and a bit of a tear jerker.  Overall, it gets 3 ½ out of 5 stars.

The Goodbye Girl (1977) (2004)

I just finished watching the remake of Neil Simon's "The Goodbye Girl" starring Patricia Heaton and Jeff Daniels.  It is pretty much an exact replica of the 1977 version of "The Goodbye Girl" that starred Marsha Mason and Richard Dreyfuss.  In both films, the main character Paula gets dumped by her boyfriend and finds out that the ex has leased the apartment to someone else, leaving Paula and her daughter helpless.  The guy who comes to take the apartment is an actor in an off-Broadway show, and in their desperation they end up living together in the same apartment.  Lots of fighting goes on between the two characters throughout the film, but the tension gives way to romance.  It is one of the best and funniest romantic stories ever written.  While both films are enjoyable, I felt like the original version was slightly better.

The 1977 version gets 4 out of 5 stars.

The 2004 version gets 3 ½ out of 5 stars.

The Sure Thing (1985)

Rob Reiner directed "The Sure Thing" featuring John Cusack with cameos by Anthony Edwards, Tim Robbins, and Nicolette Sheridan.  The film is about a guy at an Ivy League school who is in a dry spell whose friend at a college in California tells him to come out for a girl.  He ends up having to make the cross-country trip with an uptight girl from his English class, who is on the way to visit her boyfriend at law school.  The two of them spar on the trip, and there are many funny scenes from the road trip.  The movie was very uplifting and funny.  I can't believe I never saw this film before, since high school / college romantic comedies from the 80s are my absolute favorite!  It definitely ranks as one of the best from that genre.  It gets 3 ½ out of 5 stars.

Fun With Dick and Jane (2005)

I own "Fun With Dick and Jane" and I watched it again last night.  This Judd Apatow's remake of the 1977 film with this update starring Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni.  I'm a big fan of Carrey's more recent films, and I love Tea Leoni in almost everything.  This movie is still relevant today, poking fun at the excesses in our society and how big businesses are greedy machines.  In this film, Dick and Jane work hard and then lose their jobs due to an Enron-like scandal, and then their lives start to crumble.  The funny part starts when they are about to lose their house and they decide to start robbing local stores and banks.  Their capers are hillarious because they are a middle-aged formerly upper middle class married couple reduced to crime.  This movie always makes me laugh, and the end thanks all the real corporate criminals who inspired this film.  I give it 3 ½ out of 5 stars.

The Jane Austen Book Club (2007)

"The Jane Austen Book Club" is a story about a group of five women and one man who meet monthly to read all six of Jane Austen's novels.  While reading the stories, the group realizes that the novels imitate their modern lives.  One woman has been married six times while another has never been married.  There's a mother and daughter pair where the mother has recently become divorced while her daughter struggles with her life as a lesbian.  The fifth woman is unhappily married and struggles with her childhood.  The man is an oddball thrown into the mix, but adds some insight that the women would never have expected.  The cast has a lot of familiar faces, and I enjoyed the film.  My only complaint with the film is the disposable view of marriage and relationships as is evidenced by the characters.  That is very unlike the characters portrayed in Austen's novels.  The movie also inspired me to read some of Jane Austen's books, particularly "Persuasion."  The movie was a great chick flick, but I would still prefer to watch "Pride & Prejudice" or "Sense and Sensibility."  Overall, this film gets 3 ½ out of 5 stars.

You Again (2010)

I was very much looking forward to seeing "You Again" after the previews with Betty White.  However, she really didn't have much of a role in this film.  Instead, you have a story that is just okay.  In this film, a girl who was ridiculed all through high school finds out that her brother is marrying the girl who bullied her for years.  When the families meet up for the first time, it turns out that the mother of the groom and aunt of the bride have a similar history.  Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver were humorous at times throughout the film, but most of the performances fell flat.  I was very uninspired by the film and felt like it should have been more of a comedy and less of a drama.  It gets 3 out of 5 stars because it was entertaining at times, but could have been better.