BEFORE: First trivia night of 2011, and the event was located in the East Village - so I took a walk through my old stomping grounds around NYU. It's strange to look around a neighborhood I lived in from 1986 to 1989 and realize that my favorite pizza place is now a falafel shop, that restaurant I once met a date at is now (shudder...) a Starbucks. The comic shop on St. Mark's is still the same, in fact I think they're still trying to sell the same faded comics I saw in their shop over a decade ago...
After trivia we went out to Crif Dogs, a little place that makes deep-fried dogs wrapped in bacon, topped with things like avocado and sour cream...yum! And the place has a secret bar only accessible by a "Get Smart"-style phone booth. We had fun watching dozens of people try to get in (they probably saw the bar profiled on the Food Network) but they were almost all turned away, I guess they didn't have reservations. It's not a secret bar if everyone knows about it, people...
THE PLOT: Jerry Fletcher has conspiracy theories for everything, from aliens to political assassinations. One of his theories finds itself to be accurate - but which one? Some dangerous people want him dead and the only person he trusts is that woman he loves but does not know.
AFTER: Happy birthday to Mel Gibson, born January 3, 1956 (and last seen in "Lethal Weapon 4"). My first Birthday SHOUT-out of the year, and a controversial choice... Did someone ever take clips from his movies, like the ones here where he's spouting nonsensical theories about world politics, and mix them up with his drunken cell phone rants, to see if anyone can tell the difference? At the age of 55, he's close to transitioning from crazy drunk boyfriend to the sort of old man who yells at kids (and Jews) to stay off of his lawn.
Unfortunately I think I'd find that more entertaining than this movie - the pieces might have been all there, but they just didn't come together for me. The "Geronimo" reference didn't seem to make sense - heck, almost everything didn't make much sense, even the parts that were supposed to.
Far-fetched, too - a few too many coincidences to make the plot appear even close to plausible. And then there was some kind of explanation as to WHY the crazy cab-driver is the way he is - but I didn't really understand it. I sort of liked him better when he was just your average NYC crazy cab-driver.
Maybe I'm just burned out on crazy government agency plots after watching last year's spy-films marathon. But the group here is some kind of ex-CIA splinter group that all the other spy groups steer clear of? Can't all of our country's secret spy organizations learn to work together or at least get on the same page?
NITPICK POINT: At a key moment in the film, a character gets a cell phone call while standing on a NYC subway platform. Cell phones have NEVER worked while underground or on the subway - and thank God, because it's the only place I can get away from overhearing yappy people having annoying, pointless conversations. (not mine, of course - all of my cell phone calls are essential and quite entertaining...)
Also starring Julia Roberts (last seen in "Charlie Wilson's War") and Patrick Stewart (last seen in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine")
RATING: 3 out of 10 combination locks
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