FRIENDS WITH KIDS

FRIENDS WITH KIDS
Written and Directed by Jennifer Westfeldt
Starring Jennifer Westfeldt, Adam Scott, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O’Dowd, Ed Burns and Megan Fox

I don’t know if you’ve heard this one before but indulge me a moment. Couples, no matter how much chemistry they have, be that physical or emotional, will inevitably crumble to pieces when they bring kids into their lives. For years now, love and intimacy have been seen as the killers of freedom and individuality. Now, its time for babies to step in and bring their special brand of devastation to the cornerstone of American society known as marriage. Enter new comedy, FRIENDS WITH KIDS, from first time director, Jennifer Westfeldt, to either capitalize on or continue to perpetuate this modern notion.

FRIENDS WITH KIDS is a sharp, savvy comedy, set in what seems like the only place this story could take place, New York City. Two perfectly plutonic friends, played by the charmingly neurotic Westfeldt and the just plain charming, Adam Scott, decide to have a baby together when they see how their friends’ relationships have deteriorated after having them. They both want kids but they don’t want the disaster that comes with having them. Just look at their examples! To their right, they have Jon Hamm and Kristen Wiig. They used to have sex constantly but post-baby, they can barely look at each other. To their left, Maya Rudolph and Chris O’Dowd are drowning in diapers and despair. Can Westfeldt and Scott avoid the baby bomb that killed their friends? Though obvious counterpoints to play off of, this miniature BRIDESMAIDS reunion ensemble brings humanity to these characters, allowing them to be more real than they would have been in lesser hands. It may never get uproarious but Westfeldt provides her laughs with enough insight and heart to make them matter.

I know plenty of people who subscribe to this “Baby = Bad” theory and are putting off children specifically out of fear for what hell they will bring. That being said, I know just as many people who have children and who have become stronger families as a result. The truth of it is, and please keep in mind this is a truth spoken by someone who neither has children nor is in any position to have them anytime in the near future, that having children is difficult. It will place a strain on your relationship that may cause irreparable damage if you aren’t careful. If you survive the initial stress though, the strength derived from the experience is invaluable. And even though FRIENDS WITH KIDS is ripe with easy devices and tricks, Westfeldt (who incidentally wrote and starred in one one my favourite indies, KISSING JESSICA STEIN) is a clever enough writer to understand that even cliches have enough nuances of their own that separate them from the pack. From the way she takes care of her characters, you can tell this film is her baby.

032. Bridesmaids

032. (26 Jan) /Bridesmaids/ (2011, Paul Feig) 59



Watching Bridesmaids back knowing its screenplay is Oscar-nominated makes it apparent just how weak the writing is. Exposition and transitions could scarcely be clumsier. The film is funny regardless and there's some genuinely good dialogue in the scenes between Wiig and O'Dowd, but it's a bizarre Oscar nominee when they usually look toward strongly structured comedies like In Bruges. The McCarthy nomination is less objectionable than I initially thought, though it is indefensible.

BRIDESMAIDS

Written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo

Directed by Paul Feig

Starring Kriten Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Chris O'Dowd and Jon Hamm

Megan: You're your problem and you're also your solution.

For years now, the boys have been yukking it up at the movies for our enjoyment and they have been doing it as crassly as humanly possible. These male bonding pictures have relegated the girls to the background as nagging wives, naïve love interests and/or sexual throwaway characters. Well, not anymore. In BRIDESMAIDS, Kristen Wiig and her gaggle of gal pals kick the buddy genre hard in the nuts to prove that anything the boys can do, they can do better, and more often than not, in more gross a fashion. Girls being girls though, they are sure to bring a little heart to the table too.

Wiig, a co-writer on the project, is Annie, a single girl who is not at the best juncture in her life. Her bakery business fell flat; she has to live with the most irksome roommates imaginable (Matt Lucas and Rebel Wilson); and she has seemingly lost all faith that her prince will one day come, accepting instead to fall into the bed of man with whom she clearly has no future (Jon Hamm). Now, while she can certainly do worst than Hamm as far as friends with benefits go, her declining stock hits a new low when her oldest friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph, herself an old friend from Saturday Night Live), announces her engagement. Ordinarily this would be a joyous occasion but when you’re aging and single and your oldest partner in crime is leaving you to fend for yourself in the desolate desert that is dating, news like that takes on much grander implications.

Annie proceeds to buckle and break down amidst the pressure of putting together the perfect bridal parties and the prospect of losing her best friend to the other side. Fortunately, Wiig negotiates a meltdown like no other and she does so in BRIDSEMAIDS with great care, allowing viewers to truly see how complex a person can get the longer they are subjected to the games single people play. Of course, she is also backed up by a hilarious ensemble, most notably Rose Byrne as a classic “frenemy” and Melissa McCarthy as a big girl who isn’t afraid to cry (or take a dump in a sink for that matter). And while I was mildly disappointed to see the film affirm that true happiness cannot be achieved on one’s own, I was too busy laughing hysterically to care.

PAUL

Written by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost

Directed by Greg Mattola

Starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig

and Seth Rogen

Graeme Willy (at Comic-Con): I love it here. It feels right.

It has never been cool to be a nerd, but if the nerd community has proven anything in recent years, it is that they are a force to be reckoned with. They will band together when necessary to attend giant conventions where they can spend hundreds of dollars on autographs or they will rally thousands of signatures to ensure that their favorite television programs, no matter how obscure, stay on the air. And as their collective power has increased, the more they find themselves represented in the mainstream media, naturally allowing the masses to love them for their endearing social ineptitude. This newfound love of all things geeky is what makes movies like Greg Mattola’s new alien film, PAUL, possible and, boy oh boy, does it ever geek it up hardcore.

PAUL opens on a lone farm house in a large, empty field. Windmills start to turn frantically as a rocking chair rocks back and forth on a porch front. Before long, flashing lights fill the sky and a dog barks at the moon. This is quintessential aliens from outer space cinema and the kitch-tastic intro tells us right away that we will be both delighting in, and sending up, all that we have come to know about alien invader movies. As an added bonus though, stars and writers, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, (the former previously penned the hilarious SHAUN OF THE DEAD and HOT FUZZ), provide us with a rather touching look at the loneliness and insecurity that might accompany men who have never known anything other than their obsessions and each other. This is certainly no small feat considering their co-star is a little green guy voiced by Seth Rogen. The threesome embark on a road trip through a horribly unforgiving middle-America, in an attempt to get the little guy home – he had phoned in earlier – and run into a number of peculiar characters, from an actual man in black (Jason Bateman) to a religious zealot (Kristin Wiig). Ideas about God, the universe and space genitalia are exchanged en route.

Fortunately, geeky humour works for all – the geeks who get the inside jokes and everybody else who can just laugh at how incredibly geeky everything is. PAUL may be occasionally predictable or transparent but Mattola is sure to infuse this buddy movie with as much heart and sincerity as is possible, given the subject matter. His work may seem extreme at times (SUPERBAD anyone?) but it is also always relatable and genuine. While he has his audience distracted with the enjoyment they derive from immersing themselves in nerd culture, whether that inspires superiority in one viewer or solace for another, he manages to sneak something in that no one would see coming and that is humanity. Who knew that meeting an alien from another planet could make you feel more like you belong on this one?