LOVE & ROMANCE…”BUY” THE BOOK: Think Like A Man

It takes a little over half the running time, but this over-earnest film adaptation of Steve Harvey’s best-selling relationship primer – Act Lie A Lady Think Like A man actually becomes moderately enjoyable – right at the point where it ceases to be one long, self-important promo for the book (complete with book signing highlights, video commentary from Harvey himself, and scenes of women battling each other for copies the way they would at a half-off brand name clothing sale). At this point, the relationships move appreciably beyond the “mis-matched types squaring off”  and the guys vs girls scenario to something approaching credible human interaction.

Prior to this, audiences have to suffer through Harvey and director Tim Story’s take on boy-meets-girl, complete with a heavy dose of “Harveyisms” – self-coined terms like “sportfish” or We also have to bear the hamming of …. Whose only purpose in the film seems to be to play the

Most credible of all are Taraji Henson and Michael Ealy. Their love amidst the class struggle affair truly resonates naturally, whether  in the aftermath of lovemaking or in the wake of arguments and break-ups.  Romany Malco and Meagan Good also shine as star-crossed opposites – he the confirmed playa, she consigned “good time girl” looking to step up to something serious,  but anxious to avoid justthe type of guy she’s been presented with.

It would hardly be much of a spoiler to state that all the couples find “happily ever after” before the credits roll. The director and writers …. Tie up the loose ends swifter and surer than a sailor in a storm – the ring is presented; the playa confesses true love and the “mama’s boy” (   ) finally cuts the umbilical cord and makes his single-mom hottie the #1 woman in his life.

The producers were clearly intending “Think Like A Man” as the conventional “chick flick” that the guys can also feel a part of. Ideally, the only way the half-serious  filmgoer can survive it is to see it as a watered down war of the sexes  - with likeable salvos from both sides, but no clear winner. 

Two Sides (At Least) of Love: Crazy, Stupid Love & The Hit List

Take a little of Steve Carell's "Office" persona, throw in a contemporary soap opera-type plot, some teen angst, and a little social politics, and you have the basic premise for this mildly entertaining romantic comedy - or more specifically - batch of connected comedic romances.
Cal weaver (Carrell) is hit by a divorce demand from his wife (Julianne Moore), the only woman he has ever been with, after 25 years. She's also admitted to infidelity.The implication is that the shock is seismic, but we don't really see that registered on Cal, who even calmly tells of the incident on their return home. it reaches the ears of their babysitter (who, we soon learn, is nursing an intense crush on Cal) and their precocious 13-year old son who is not shy about voicing his own feelings for the babysitter.

But wait - there's more. After blabbing morosely about his misfortune night after night at the local singles bar, Cal falls under the influence of uber-player Jacob (Ryan Gosling, delivering both the look and feel of the role). After a "What Not To wear"-type makeover and some "fieldwork", Cal is unleashed into the surprisingly welcome arms of Kate (Marisa Tomei), a teacher - and not just any teacher, as the film reveals.

Jacob, for his part, has done the near unthinkable: he has fallen, hard, for Hannah, a budding attorney who has just opted out of her own dead-end relationship. This union too, will have some pretty interesting consequences for Cal.

One is not sure what in this film required two directors, but the pair, John Requa and Glen Ficarra, who previously collaborated on "I Love You, Phillip Morris", working from a script by Dan Fogelman (Tangled) do a fairly commendable job, for the film's middle third, at least, of keeping the varied narrative plates spinning. But farce really isn't their strong suit: the denouement feels clumsy, and that, coupled with the less-than-zippy early build-up mean that "Crazy, Stupid Love" is simply a film that one can neither totally denigrate nor recommend, merely tolerate.    

Joey Lawrence, former child star (as in "former child" and "former star"), clearly seeks redemption with this lighthearted project. Clearly, its not to be found with this role, which casts him opposite (and mostly subservient to) the curvaceous Shirley Brener as an unabashedly self-centred young woman who creates a list of people she wishes were dead (the "List" of the title)  - those persons having committed the cardinal sin of annoying her to varying degrees (#2 makes it onto  the list merely for ignoring her after an 'anti-climactic' sex bout - pardon the pun).

Enter good ol' Joey, as Lyle, bald, chiseled, sharply dressed and driving a Mercedes coupe. Any girl's dream. our heroine falls utterly without suspicion that Lyle's story of being an "independent contractor" has some major holes. Even when her "enemies" (including  seedy local TV weatherman, and even a dog) start dropping like bowling pins, it takes the better part of the film before even a faint bulb goes off in her gorgeously encased brain.

By that time Lyle, he with all the personality of a cardboard sheet, realizes that his cover is blown (we are never convincingly shown his motive for doing her bidding), and what follows is a ridiculous wedding proposal- kidnapping sequence, where the couple ends up in the abandoned canyon which Lyle has transformed into his personal hitman's graveyard.

What happens next is left for viewing, but if you've sat through this much, you're not likely to care. to be fair, director Minh Collin's style is quite engaging, and as stated, Brener is very easy on the eyes - and charismatic. One hopes their respective talents will be put in the service of better cinematic vehicles...and without Joey.      

Whoopi Plays God, Obama Plays Matchmaker: Review Double-Bill

Unfortunately, Whoopi Goldberg playing God, the setting of New Orleans (still in recovery mode, but vibrant), and the addition of Gael Garica Bernal do not quite add up to 'A Little Bit of Heaven'.

The Kate Hudson vehicle is a pleasant enough diversion, but neither the comedy nor the romance have sufficient intensity or zing to really pull the viewer in until almost at the end. Kate plays a successful ad exec and commitment-phobe who is suddenly diagnosed with colon cancer (yes, we'll strive to avoid the cliche). The bearer of this bad news is a "terminally" (okay, we're weak) stiff but ambitious oncologist (Bernal) who's torn between his decidedly unprofessional stirrings for his new patient and his desire to progress in a special advance programme run by an even stiffer senior doctor.

In fairness, Bernal's performance becomes more appreciable once he and Hudson's character become "invovled"  as does that of Kathy Bates, who plays the mom with the victim mentality. And of course, we could not help but mention a few of the other support players: Lucy Punch as the pixieish, "down for whatever co-worker, Romany Malco doing both the token Black (sorry, Whoopi) and token gay male friend roles, and Peter Dinklage (no role is too small for him to blow up) as the "blind date/pick-me-up" recommended by said gay male friend (that encounter is a genuine hoot).

That said, its not a crowning achievement for writer/co-producer Gren Wells or director Nicole Kassell and - most disappointingly - this is a contemporary film set in New Orleans, and there are only two minute scenes involving live music/performance.

They may have been trying to escape formula, but sometimes knowing what you'll get beforehand increases the enjoyment.

Not so the case with the "aspiring" political romantic comedy "The Politics of Love". While the multiple conflicts engendered by the impending election of Barack Obama in 2008 seems fertile ground for the genre, The Politics of Love has all the flavour of an English sausage (apologies to our British friends). Jock-turned-actor Brian White (son of former NFL great Jo Jo White) reps for the Republicans, while straight-from-Bollywood hottie Mallika Sherawat is his bit of "Obama Massala".

The problem? Well, let's let's start with the acting gap. White is competent, and has presence, while the undoubtedly gorgeous Sherawat has all the effective range of my high-school spitballs. Watching them together is almost painful. Thankfully leaven comes in several forms: Anil Raman as the Dem's pothead, ne'er do well younger brother, and Loretta Devine (what hasn't she done?) Trinidad-born Gerry Bednob as her parents who, when they're not fighting, and splitting, and making up, run a restaurant.

The rest is an all-too predictable mish-mash (we're aware of our previous rubric) of movie cliches: bikini car wash, would-be Hooters girls, an obsessed TV news reporter smelling a big story, a manufactured scandal(guess which side is behind it) and so on and so forth.

Its already history of course - Barack wins. And love overcomes all hurts, the "bad guy" gets decked and even Indian and Soul Food learn to live together in harmony. All in one neat little 90-minute package. Yeah, riiiight. Republican Vice-Presidential running mate (and now occasional media gadfly) Sarah Palin inspired some far less insipid and testosterone-raising films than this - they just won't be filed under "family entertainment."

With This Ring, I Thee Con: Just Go With It Movie Trailer Official (HD)

I was quite prepared to dismiss this latest mash-up of comic skits and family-oriented cliches from Adam Sandler, and with good reason. His recent oeuvre (male-bonding exercise Grown-Ups and the "hero dad" outing Bedtime  Stories) were snoozers, and his co-star Jennifer Anniston, well.... let's just say we were halfway rooting for her Bounty Hunter co-star Gerard Butler to keep her locked in the trunk of his car.

But this one defied expectations, partly on the strength of  a great supporting cast, but largely because Sandler and Anniston work surprisingly well together, especially when working at cross-purposes, as they are for the bulk of the movie.

He's a plastic surgeon and a jilted groom who, finding that his wedding ring has made him irresistible to young women, has maintained a charade of being married. When the hot young blonde of the moment (Brooklyn Decker) turns out to be more than a one-night stand, Sandler's character is "forced" to push his married charade beyond the limit which, of course is where Anniston comes in.

She's joined by her two scheming kids from her own failed marriage - played in sparkling fashion by Griffin Gluck and Bailee Madison who, in addition to hitting up "wedding ring boy" for loads of cash (he's already spent a small fortune outfitting his assistant to look like his soon-to-be ex) inveigle him to take them, their mom and the new love for a vacation in Hawaii. Throw in the plastic surgeon's cousin and patient (penile enlargement) and you have the makings of great farce - at least as far as Hollywood envisions it.

Decker tries hard, but in truth you could substitute any current model-actress could have filled her role. More entertaining are Nicole Kidman and singer Dave Matthews as Anniston's bitter high school rival and her husband.

The movie hews to its own title line "Just go with it";so don't expect anything revolutionary or even surprising before the final credits. But you will encounter enough laugh-out loud moments (like the act of doing CPR and the Heimlich manoeuver on a sheep) and enough quality acting to make you fell like you didn't totally waste your time.