BEFORE: Well, since so many crimes were committed in last night's film - larceny, breaking and entering, grand theft auto (2 counts), and that's just for starters. If the opening scenes were set in New Jersey, then minors were brought across state lines without parental consent, and I believe that's a felony. If the opening scenes were set in New York, it's less illegal but still pretty wrong. But that makes for a perfect lead-in to the next chain, which is all about crimes. I'm starting with more heist films, and then I'll get into the heavy stuff.
Jonah Hill from "The Sitter" links easily through "Night at the Museum 2" and "Megamind" to Ben Stiller (last seen in "Along Came Polly").
THE PLOT: When a group of hard working guys find out they've fallen victim to a wealthy business man's Ponzi scheme, they conspire to rob his high-rise residence.
AFTER: Talking about my old career as a P.A. on music videos has put me in a nostalgic mindset, so maybe it's finally time to talk about what happened at NYU film school in 1988, where I butted heads with fellow student Brett Ratner. The way the class was supposed to work was people were assigned to crews of four, and there was a rotation. Each person would serve as a director one day, two days as a crewperson, and one day in the editing suite. So while I was editing, there would still be a three-person crew out in the field making a movie. I crewed for Ratner while he directed (and I use the term loosely, since most of his directing time was spent trying to pick up girls) but when I served as director, he never showed. Not once.
I had to learn how to shoot a student film with just one crew-member, serving as director, cameraman, and sometimes actor all at once. (Sort of like Orson Welles, only without the talent). In hindsight I could have called him out on his absences, or pointed them out to the teacher, but I took the high road to avoid confrontation. Turns out old "Ratfink" was just going through the motions, he had made a successful short film already about former child star Mason Reese, and had work waiting for him in Hollywood. He just needed the diploma, which he essentially just bought.
This wasn't that uncommon at NYU at the time. Hollywood stars like Tom Hulce and Daryl Hannah would take the summer production course to gain some directing experience, and I even had Bianca Jagger (ex-wife of Mick) in my 8mm production class. As far as I know, however, Ms. Jagger showed up when she was supposed to. (The budgets on her students shorts were much, much higher...)
The experience sort of soured me on entitled Hollywood types, and live-action shoots in general. I spent the next two semesters taking animation classes where I could make films by myself, just moving around cut-out pictures of statues from my mythology textbook and making them do funny things (just like Terry Gilliam, only without the talent). If the best revenge is doing well, I proved it by getting out of NYU a year early and going straight to work, where Ratner only had big Hollywood features like "Rush Hour" to fall back on.
Well, I forgive but I don't forget. (Wait, is if the other way around? Turns out I'm terrible at this.) I held out as long as I could. I vowed that no film directed by "Ratface", would appear on this blog, but I had to cave in. This film got good reviews, yet still stirred up some controversy (more on that later) and darn if it didn't fit right in step with films like "Ocean's Eleven".
And I hate to admit it, but it kinda does, though it's the low-rent version, think of it as "Kovacs' Six". It also manages to tap into the zeitgeist of NYC, which was already deep into a recession when the Bernie Madoff scandal broke. All those millions he bilked people out of - pensions, their retirement plans, all gone. What would people be willing to do to get their money back, or to get their revenge on the man who stole it?
The theme for the week, stretching back to "Zookeeper", I think, appears to be things going wrong in a madcap way, but still turning out OK. From buying zoos to rescuing raccoons to screwing up undercover operations, there's been a lot of fail around here lately, but unexpected successes too. As you might expect, the would-be thieves in tonight's film make an awful lot of mistakes, but they learn from them, adapt, change the plan on the fly, and find an unexpected way to succeed.
It's funny, I watched an episode of "Celebrity Apprentice" just before watching this film, in which Trump Tower plays a prominent role, along with another New York City fixture, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. When's the best time to rob someplace? When everyone is either somewhere else, or distracted by something. The screenplay is really solid, for the most part.
I was really hoping this would be a bad film, or I could sink it with nitpick points, but I was entertained, even laughed out loud a few times. And the heist part of it all came together, maybe a little bit too well but I'm not sure I can deduct for that. And yes, there are plenty of points to nit, but I can't do it without giving away key elements of the plot. Anyone who's studied high-school chemistry at all (or has seen "The Italian Job") should spot the biggest mistake right away.
As for that controversy, one actor spoke out against this film for poking fun at kids with asthma, who are already deeply at risk for being bullied. You might also remember that Ratner was supposed to direct the Academy Awards telecast last year, but was caught on tape telling an audience that "rehearsal is for fags". He lost the gig, apologized and was forced to do some pro bono work, and I was happy that somebody besides me got to see him for who he is - a completely insensitive person who doesn't think about how his actions or words affect others.
It's rather fitting that this film depicts its villain in much the same way - someone who has a ton of money, doesn't play by the rules, and takes advantage of the "working stiffs" around him. Maybe the film turned out OK because that's a subject that the director knows very well.
Also starring Alan Alda (last seen in "The Four Seasons), Eddie Murphy (last heard in "Shrek Forever After"), Matthew Broderick (last seen in "Biloxi Blues"), Casey Affleck (last heard in "Paranorman"), Tea Leoni (last seen in "Bad Boys"), Judd Hirsch (last seen in "The Muppets"), Michael Peña (last seen in "Battle Los Angeles"), Gabourey Sidibe, with cameos from Zeljko Ivanek, Heavy D, Matt Lauer.
RATING: A very reluctant 7 out of 10 parade floats
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