Bad Teacher - 22nd October 2013

So after last week's mini break, we are back here at TNiFN Towers to watch yet another Tuesday Night is Film Night film. Did you know, with tonight's film, that makes our grand total of cinematic sensations (or otherwise) to a grand total of 177?

Yes indeed, we are coming up to our 4th anniversary! So look out for a big celebration then. Or not as the case may be.

Anyhoo, to tonight's film and it's a bit of a comedy tonight, from 2011 it is;

Bad Teacher

Let us get straight into the plot here, no shilly shallying!

Cameron Diaz stars as teacher extraordinaire Elizabeth Halsey. I say extraordinaire, she is downright lazy and has no real interest in teaching at her school. However, she wants to get a boob job, (stay with it), but since getting ditched by her rich boyfriend, there's no way that she can pay for that! So her only real option is to stick with the teaching or try to cook up some money making schemes.

OK, the plot seems to be a little weak, but it's a comedy and to be fair it was very funny.

Back to the plot. Elizabeth teaches at John Adams Middle School, which seems to be a right mix of goofy teachers and kids! The love interest for Miss Halsey comes in the form of dishy teacher Scott Delacorte, played by the equally dashing (apparently) Justin Timberlake. However, gym teacher Russell Gettis (Jason Segal) also plays a hand. And rounding off this quadrumvirate of educators is Amy Squirrel, played the extremely funny Lucy Punch. Squirrel is a fantastic character, very funny in a quirky way and provides Elizabeth with some competition for the rights to be close to Mr Delacorte.

So, it is not an overtly complicated scenario, Elizabeth's vanity demands a boob job and she will do what she can to get the money to achieve this. However, the easiest way to get the cash is to win the bonus offered for the best test results in the State tests, but this means teaching, which is not something that Miss Halsey relishes, but it is a means to an end.

So, in this respect, and not trying to give too much away, Bad Teacher is a bit of a feelgood movie. Which is always nice, but don't let that fool you, oh no, the swearing in this film certainly makes up for the cutesie dialogue! Which is also a good thing, it provides a perfect comedic juxtaposition between soft, gentle comedy, with well placed and well delivered verbal filth!

There are some great performances from the leading four actors, but there is also a great supporting cast which really make this film fun to watch, particularly Lynn, played by Phyllis Smith (who was also in Butter). This character provides a perfect foil for the brash Miss Halsey, as Lynn is quiet and unassuming, which makes for some great scenes.

I think this is what really sums up Bad Teacher for us, it's the interplay with the characters, the differing outlooks from them, the opposites and the contradictions that make it so funny. You expect one thing, but get another. Extremely funny film, not one to be taken seriously at all, just sit back relax and enjoy.

So, in summation, a very funny, very watchable film. Great characters, a nice easy story line and some brilliant scenes. Cameron Diaz is at her beautiful best and Lucy Punch is perfect as the goody two shoes Miss Squirrel. We really enjoyed Bad Teacher.

TNiFN Rating 73%

Wonder Boys - 8th October 2013

Tuesday Night is Film Night continues into October with a comedy drama from 2000;

Wonder Boys

First things first, let us take a small pirouette around the cast of this film and hey, why not do it with bullet points? Why not indeed.

• Michael Douglas plays English professor and writer Grady Tripp
• Tobey Maguire plays James Leer, a troubled but brilliant student of Prof. Tripp.
• Robert Downey Jr weighs in as the demanding and voracious editor and literary agent Terry Crabtree.
• Frances McDormand plays Sara Gaskell, love interest to Prof. Tripp and Dean at their university.
• And finally in this mini roundup of the main characters, Richard Thomas plays Walter Gaskell, husband to Sarah and boss to Prof. Tripp. (Who some of you may remember as John Boy Walton, from The Waltons).

It would normally be at this juncture that the blog would turn to the plot of the film and start chronicling the storyline, but there hangs a bit of an issue, a problemette if you will. After 30 minutes of this 107 minute slog, there was no real plot, no real story and no real cohesion between one piece of dialogue and the next. Some information was presented in a narrative from the central character; Prof. Grady Tripp, as if he were proffering his story from his own book (which was probably true). However, it did not get much better in the remaining 77 minutes.

In a effort to outline a bit of the story let us say that the thinly veiled plot encompasses the following threads; Grady Tripp's wife leaves him. Tripp is struggling with a new book. His editor Crabtree fly's in to take a look, with a view to publication. Tripp is in a relationship with his boss's wife. An introverted student of Prof. Tripp is a prolific and gifted writer. A jacket worn by Marilyn Monroe makes an appearance and is subsequently stolen.

And someone shoots a dog.

And this all happens over a disastrous weekend.

That really is about it. Some positive notes; the acting was marginally better than OK. There were some funny moments. I know this for a fact as I counted them on the fingers of one hand.

What else to say about the film? It's based on the 1995 novel, of the same name, by Michael Chabon. Having not read the book, I cannot comment as to whether it is better than the film, but it would be hard pressed to be any worse.

Reading some of the reviews on Amazon, it seems our view is in the minority and some people enjoyed this film, one reviewer states;

".... if you are looking for an intelligent, quirky comedy then you will be delighted and dazzled by this little gem."

I would counter this with; in our opinion it was awful. It seemed to be a disjointed, ramshackle affair, where a thin, weak and insipid plot was bolstered only by some talented actors doing their jobs properly.

I would quite enjoy an intelligent, quirky comedy / drama, but this was not one of them.

As for the all important scores;

TNiFN Rating 40%

The Adjustment Bureau - 1st October 2013

Tuesday Night is Film Night rolls into October with;

The Adjustment Bureau

Oh lordy lordy! Where to start with this film? I'm not sure that any dalliances here to provide a detailed synopsis, or even a basic one will do this story justice. It's totally out of left field and is one of those weird fantasy fiction films, with it's feet firmly planted in reality, that you can never be sure if you love it, hate it, or just tolerate its reverie.

OK, let me give the normal spiel about the origin and plot-line of the film; The Adjustment Bureau is based upon the short story by Philip K. Dick (Adjustment Team) which introduces us to David Norris, played by Matt Damon, who is a young New York congressman running for Senate. However a few twists in his campaign trail lead him to lose out to his rival, but are these twists; life dealing David a bad hand, fate or some other forces at play?

At this point, we meet the love interest in this fantasy, romantic, thriller; Elise Sellas played by the delightful Emily Blunt. David clearly falls head over heels in love with Elise, with a "love at first sight" moment, but again is this chance meeting fate or a chance to adjust the destiny of these two characters?

It transpires that it is the latter. We learn this, when an "adjustment" fails to occur and the "plan" for David Norris is again twisted by true fate, rather than planned adjustment.

Confused? I thought you would be, but stick with it. Although in reality it would be better to watch the film and see for yourself what I am struggling to put into words!

Anyway, after an adjustment failure, it is deemed necessary for David to meet the Adjustment Bureau who turn out to be an agency working for The Chairman. Now, the film leaves you to make your own mind up who The Chairman is, some may draw the conclusion that he / she is God and the Adjustment Agents are angels, that is certainly alluded to, but in fairness to the screenwriters this is not confirmed and you can judge for yourself. The point being; this is the fantasy part of this thriller, where this agency is tasked with continually making adjustments to the lives of the mere mortals of earth, to ensure that they continue down the path that was destined for them. Some deviation is allowed for some decisions that are made, but these do not include what route one's life takes or what doors may open for you. And it is pertinent to note the mention doors there, as the Bureau's agents travel through doors to stay one step ahead of their assigned cases. The doors are normal doors, but their exits are not where one would expect them to be, i.e you can enter a door in one location, but you exit in another. Oh and you will need a hat!

Even more confused?

Yes, all the Bureau's agents wear hats, it's the way that The Chairman limits movement for them! I did say you need to watch the film to understand.

Back to the plot. So, David Norris the up and coming politician has his route to the White House planned. This is the path his life should lead. However, a second chance meeting with Elise, after the failed adjustment, changes this and this is when he learns of the Adjustment Bureau. They tell him all about their plans for his plan and he needs to maintain this secret for fear of being erased. However Norris being the tough cookie as he is, he is not going to take this lying down and thus begins the search for Elise despite of the Bureau's warnings.

There is a lot more to the film than the above, but this should give you some idea of the story and it isn't as absurd as it may sound. At first we did start to wonder what we had left ourselves in for, but it was well worth sticking with, as the fantasy story-line was underpinned with a firm grounding in reality and if you can accept that life will always take twists and turns based on fate, then perhaps you can allow a little credence to a creative and original tale of life adjustments made by men wearing hats.

It's difficult to pigeon hole The Adjustment Bureau into any one genre. It was certainly a thriller, as there were moments that made us gasp with surprise, but it was also a feelgood movie, as although the adjustments were meant to keep Elise and David apart, his sheer determination had to win out and for all that commitment it was clearly a romance as well.

So hopefully this will have intrigued you enough to perhaps seek the film out and make you own mind up, we certainly enjoyed it. As for the all important TNiFN rating...............

At this point, I feel I need to raise the issue of the scores, we normally have 3 scores, which are a value out of 10 and then an average is taken. Some say that averaging may bias the scores, thus not reflecting a true value. Perhaps we should score a total out of 30. I'm not so sure, but I take on board the suggestion. So this week I am going to take the total score and produce a percentage result, thus providing a rating based on the scores which would not matter on the numbers of viewers scoring, whilst still adding a higher degree of granularity above and beyond that of a mark out of 10.

Has the rating system confused you more than tonight's film?

TNiFN Rating 73%