Love and Other Drugs stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Jamie, a budding pharmaceutical salesman, and Anne Hathaway as Maggie, the forward and no-strings-attached girl he falls for. Gyllenhaal and Hathaway have great screen chemistry and are fun to watch. The supporting cast provides many of the laughs (most coming from Josh Gad, playing Gyllenhaal’s younger brother), and the film’s dramatic twists shed new light on the rather unconventional relationship between Maggie and Jamie. Unfortunately, Love and Other Drugs never quite knows how to transition between humor and drama, resulting in a tonally obscure movie that confuses more than enlightens. Read the full review here.
Dwayne Johnson and Billy Bob Thornton star in Faster, an action-packed revenge thriller. Johnson returns to form as the stoic and ruthless “Driver” out to get revenge for his brother’s brutal murder. Thornton plays the greasy, drugged-out “Cop” that is hunting him. While Johnson’s one-dimensional character formed a wonderful McGuffin for the film’s other plots to swirl around, his change of heart and the movie’s attempt at character development killed an otherwise interesting convention. Add to that a superfluous third storyline involving an obsessive assassin and you have a solid action movie that starts to spin out of control towards the end. Read the full review here.
Burlesque marks Cher’s return to the big screen as well as singer Christina Aguilera’s feature-film debut. A movie musical about a small town girl (Aguilera) who tries to make it big in L.A. at a local nightclub owned by a feisty ex-dancer (Cher), Burlesque has all the necessary ingredients for a holiday musical extravaganza. Unfortunately, Aguilera’s unwatchable acting skills, a string of lackluster song and dance numbers, and a plot pulled almost word-for-word from 2000’s Coyote Ugly, leaves Burlesque with not much going for it. Aside from stellar performances from veteran actors Cher, Stanley Tucci and Alan Cumming, Burlesque fails to impress on almost every level. Read the full review here.
Tangled is the 50th full-length animated feature film for Disney, and the last one to feature a fairy tale princess story. Telling the tale of Rapunzel, the movie features the voice work of Mandy Moore (Rapunzel), Zachary Levi (Flynn Ryder) and Donna Murphy (Mother Gothel). Tangled combines exquisite animation with classic Disney storytelling, evoking beloved Disney films like Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. Add to this a wonderfully complex villain, some humorous sidekicks, and Alan Menken’s memorable songs and you have a Disney masterpiece sure to become a classic. Read the full review here.
Read the full reviews for Love and Other Drugs, Faster, Burlesque and Tangled at Pop Goes the Culture. Share it, tweet it, leave a comment!
Have a wonderful holiday weekend!