War Dogs- Movie Review

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Bradley Cooper, Comedy, Drama, Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, Summer movies, Todd Phillips, War Dogs

Following in the footsteps of The Big Short and The Wolf of Wall Street, War Dogs is another attempt to make a fast, funny, and relevant political satire. While it may not reach the satirical depth of the previously mentioned films, War Dogs benefits from the charismatic performances from its two leads, who understand that a movie like this can be both hilarious, touching, and terrifying at the same time. Although it borrows stylistically from De Palma and Scorsese amongst others, Todd Phillips creates a surprisingly complex portrayal of the modern arms market, and leaves some moments for genuine emotion between characters.

David (Miles Teller) is a young man living in Miami, struggling through a variety of jobs to support his wife and daughter. After reuniting with Effraim (Jonah Hill), a friend from junior high school, David is exposed to the mysterious world of military contracts, leading the two to join forces to distribute the world’s most dangerous weapons to the most lethal forces. But as they rise to the top of the U.S. Military’s suppliers, the operations become at risk as enemies are forged, and rules are broken.

Teller and Hill are fantastic here; they’re serious actors playing serious roles, yet they know when to play something for laughs. While Teller actually succeeds in creating a relatable character despite doing despicable things, it’s equally impressive how Hill can be a morally treacherous character, yet still win our affection. It’s the charisma that these two actors add to the film that makes it so entertaining, and the character investment in many ways sparks the crazy journey.

The film’s comedy is largely based in absurdism and a wealth of creative dialogue, and Phillips’s efficient directing style makes up for the somewhat familiar story. While it may not divulge in the ethics of the industry as well as it could have, there’s a subtlety in which it approaches the satire, mainly through the intriguing effects of these guys’ operations. War Dogs is often hilarious, occasionally thought provoking, yet always entertaining, and it’s continuous watchability makes it endearing, and a welcome surprise at that. Grade: -A

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Insurgent- Movie Review

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Action, Ansel Elgort, Insurgent, Jai Courtney, Kate Winslet, Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Theo James

Insurgent is a near-miss of a film; its characters and plot lines have potential to tell an interesting story, but suffers from its poor writing and pandering to an adolecent audience. There are some interesting scenes and good performances, but the film eventually feels convoluted and melodramatic. Insurgent is a film with undeniable positives and strong action sequences and performances, but the script fails to energize the project or bring it anything original. The film isn’t an unbearably terrible film, just a bland one that offers little more than the expected. Grade: C

For my full review, check out About.com: http://kidstvmovies.about.com/od/The-Divergent-Series-Insurgent/fl/The-Divergent-Series-Insurgent-Teen-Review.htm

Whiplash- Movie Review

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Damien Chazelle, Drama, J.K. Simmons, Miles Teller, Whiplash

         Whiplash tells a classic story of the pursuit of art, but is told in a unique way of a teacher student relationship and set in the world of music. While Damien Chazelle’s film may not be on everybody’s radar, it is one of the most moving, inspirational, terrifying, and proactive movies of the year.

Chazell does a great job at building up tension throughout the film, which is best showcased in its thrilling score. The film’s soundtrack feels almost like a character in of itself, and constantly represents the plight of the struggling artist. Of course, the scenes in which music is actually played are completely exhilarating as the actors push themselves to their limits. The reality of these scenes are at points brutal, but it all works due to the film’s fantastic lead performances.

Whiplash features some of the year’s best performances in Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons. Both actors have previously flourished only in comedic roles, but here are pushed to give deeper and realistic performances. Teller is perfectly cast as the young, hopeful musician who’s willing to put in the work, and certainly gives the best work of his entire career. As the film slowly builds its tension toward its exhilarating finale, Teller is pushed as an actor, and as a character given an obsessive desire to succeed that eventually threatens his relationships and future.

Matching Teller perfectly is the terrifying, hilarious, and strangely inspiring performance by J.K. Simmons. Simmons delivers such a powerful aura onscreen that at points is incredibly terrifying and completely despicable, but as the film continues his character’s motivations become clearer and clearer. This starts a beautiful clash between Simmons and Teller; Simmons has a disturbingly negative outward persona that slowly gets more relatable, while Teller plays a good intentioned young man who slowly begins to emulate his teacher. Simmons also delivers a career best here and should be considered a lock for an Academy Award nomination (if not win) for Best Supporting Actor.

The brilliantly crafted story is a universal one of the pursuit of art and how far an artist goes to achieve personal achievement. This story is brilliantly set within the world of jazz music, which gives the perfect setting for intense sequences of competition and commitment. A brilliant choice by Chazelle is to have songs performed by the ensemble played several times; getting to see these pieced performed more than once allows the developments of the characters to grow and to evolve.

Whiplash is an utterly brilliant piece of filmmaking that not only tells a universal story but also features some of the most brilliantly composed characters featured in any film this year. The intense sequences of musical performance are not only some of the most intensely directed and brilliantly shots scenes of the year, but they progress the progress of two stellar characters that will long be remembered for cinemagoers everywhere. Grade: A