Keeping the Faith

This is perhaps my favorite Ben Stiller movie. Don't get me wrong, "There's Something About Mary" is a classic and a very fun movie, but I like this one better. Keeping the Faith is a crisp, funny, topical, real story, that most everyone can relate to. Which of the Mary characters do you relate to?

It starts smart and it ends smart. The writing is superb and the acting is not over done like most other Ben Stiller movies. If you are among those who say Stiller can't act, or that he only plays one basic character, watch this movie and let me know what you think. Rabbi Shram is outside his usual tight circle of characters. Zoolander notwithstanding, Stiller usually plays his perception of "Every Man" and sometimes it works. "Meet the Parents" is the best example of that.

But, back to Keeping the Faith. Edward Norton plays a wonderfully comic Catholic Priest who is infatuated with the same girl as Stiller's Rabbi Shram. Yes, there is a joke in there and if you don't think the opening scene is funny, you probably won't like the rest of the movie. It is a perfect set up. Jenna Elfman does some of her best work here as the long time childhood friend of the religious duo who comes back see them as adults. Brilliant - funny - touching.

Anne Bancroft and Eli Wallach play the senior influence on Stiller's character and Milos Forman does the same for Norton's. Great scenes we can all relate to.

Watch this movie with someone you can squeeze.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Perhaps my memory of the first installment of this story has faded, but this movie felt more fun than the first. I liked the first one - enough to watch this one. And I'm glad I did. There were some good lines and some great nods to other films.

Can you spot the tip of the hat to Indiana Jones films, Apollo 13, Top Gun, and others?

Ben Stiller reprises his role as the Night Guard at the museum who alone knows the secret of what happens after closing. Hank Azaria steals the show however, with all three of his characters. Amy Adams is very fun as Amelia Earhart. Robin Williams is back as Teddy Roosevelt as are others. Alain Chabat is great as Napoleon.

Voice talent is interesting too here and includes the Jonas Brothers, Eugene Levy, and Brad Garrett. Surprise!

Watch this movie with someone who has a very good imagination and likes going to museums.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Not quite as fun as the first, but still well worth the watch. More direct poking fun at Disney and just about everything else. Some new voices and some very familiar old ones.

Making it both a prequel and a sequel was a good idea. That gets all of the audience on the same page at the same time. Plus it sets up the rest of the movie. As with the first there are musical bits, slapstick bits, and a few great one-liners. But I cannot pick a personal favorite from among them.

Watch this movie with someone who knows a little bit about dance and it will be a little bit funnier.

Tropic Thunder

Dude, this is a movie pretending to be another movie disguised as a funny movie. I want my 2 hours back. To be totally fair however, I must say this movie had a few bright very funny moments. But not nearly enough.

One of my "good movie" rules is that there has to be at least one character who is likable or believable. This movie had none. Despite a very high-octane cast who clearly had a good time poking fun at themselves and the Hollywood movie machine, the result was not entertaining to me. The most fun I had to pointing out how many other movies and TV show they made fun of. But, there has to be more to a movie than that - for me. Oh, and the Tom Cruise role was gross as it was intended to be. His dance scenes were the best laugh for me.

Yes, this movie has won, and may continue to win, awards. To me, that means industry insiders are at least pretending to be amused with this "travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham". Best Comedy of 2008? Hardly. If the movie audience has lowered it's expectations to this level, I fear for the future of comedy.

Watch this movie if you must, but deny me of the chance later to say I told you so.