Get Low (2009)

If you enjoy Depression era backwoods humor, you will most likely love this movie. If you appreciate good storytelling, I'm sure you will include this among your recent favorites. It is actually a movie about storytelling, sort of.

Robert Duvall and Bill Murray are prefect in their roles; a Tennesee hermit with 40-year-old secrets and a recently relocated Chicago hustler. They each have what the other wants and must bend a little to meet in the middle.

Sissy Spacek is dear as a quiet widow who returns to the old home town. Bill Cobbs knows more about Duvall's flawed character than most but is not about selling redemption. Lucas Black is the one who works to bring them all together.

Somewhere along the lines of Oh Brother Where Art Thou, this is a story of forgiveness. Everyone wants it, and everyone has some to give. No spoilers here, but we have to forgive ourselves somewhere down the line.

Watch this with someone who thinks the know all about that crazy old neighbor down the road.

City of Ember

I don't expect anyone over the age of 21 to enjoy this movie. Nor will anyone under the age of about 10. Kids rule in this movie and that is the target audience. Most the a-dults ARE dolts. And there are some critical thin spots in the plot. BUT, for those who see an all-things-are-possible world, this should be an enjoyable story.

In a city built underground to save the human race from some unspecified disaster on the surface, a odd cluster of descendants find themselves having to deal with life support systems which have long outlived their design. It is up to the current generation of teens to save the city and humankind in the process.

Saoirse Ronan and Harry Treadaway play the two heroic teens. Both do an excellent job with fairly weak material. No doubt we'll see more of both in future projects.

Bill Murray and Tim Robbins play two of the adults. Murray is a classic uncaring city bureaucrat and Robins plays the classic uber-nerd-mad-scientist inventor even Rube Goldberg would have been proud of.

There is plenty to laugh at as well as plenty to roll one's eyes at in the movie. But all in all I'm guessing the teen-ish crowd should have fun and find characters they relate to.

Watch this with your favorite teen, either in the room or at a distance so they don't know you are watching.

Get Smart

Is anyone NOT in this movie? What a cast. And what an intentionally goofy movie.

As a kid I was a huge fan of the TV series. I was Maxwell Smart for Halloween a couple years there in the 60's. So, I had very high expectations for this movie. I was not disappointed. It had everything from the TV series plus 100 other things TV never attempted. Like Agent 23 and Agent 86 kissing. Welcome to the 21st century.

Smart's catch phrase "Missed it by thaaaat much" cannot be be applied to this movie. They got it - just right.

This is a very fun, very dumb, very inappropriate movie. If you like the TV series there will be plenty for you to recognize. If you never saw the series, it's a shame. But if you like movies like the Pink Panther series, the Police Academy series, the Naked Gun series, and so on, you will like this movie too.

Watch it with your secret friend.