Mother's Day (Jennifer Aniston)

(Amazon UK link)

Another new (to us) film is ‘Mother’s Day’ which we bought for 50 pence in the UK this summer. It was made in 2016 and we had not heard of it; but three of the main actors are well-known: Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, and Kate Hudson. 

The first few scenes introduce a lot of different people, and I found myself somewhat bewildered for the first twenty minutes or so. It wasn’t clear who, if anyone, was the ‘main’ character, nor what the plot was about. It was evidently all pointing towards a celebration of the US holiday ‘Mother’s Day’ (which is in May) and that turns out to be the tentative thread connecting the various groups.

Jennifer Aniston is excellent as Sandy, a woman with two sons. She is divorced from Henry, but they’re still quite amicable… until she learns that he’s married a much younger woman. And this younger woman is surprisingly good with their sons. Her jealousy and anger are sometimes a tad exaggerated, but this film isn't intended to be taken too seriously. 

Marley and Me (Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson)

(Amazon UK link)

We’re enjoying a spate of re-watching DVDs we last saw six or seven years ago, some of which we had entirely forgotten. Last night we decided on the 2008 film ‘Marley and Me’, which promised to be ‘warm, funny and deeply moving’ according to the front of the box. We first saw this in 2014, and while I had a memory of a rather sad ending, neither of us had any recall of the story, or the characters.

The film features a young married couple called John (Owen Wilson) and Jenny Grogan (Jennifer Aniston). The chemistry between them is excellent, starting with a few shots right after their wedding, where we learn that Jenny is an organised, scheduled kind of person who sees her future life in a series of steps. John, by contrast, is quite laid back. Both of them work as writers for different newspapers, although it’s quickly evident that Jenny is being featured rather more than John is.

But John’s time comes when he’s offered a temporary slot with a personal column, and discovers he has quite a gift for this kind of thing. He’s a bit concerned that Jenny is getting broody… so he decides to buy her a dog for her birthday. Marley is a delightful, loving puppy… but very mischievous. He chews everything he finds, knocks people over, and is generally rambunctious and exhausting. And he keeps growing…

The story follows the Grogan family over the next twelve years or so, with some heartbreak, some major stresses and a great deal of happiness as the longed-for babies arrive and start to grow up. Marley is protective and loving of the children, but continues causing havoc wherever he goes. There are many amusing scenes which made us  laugh aloud: in particular one where he tries to jump out of a car window and almost succeeds…

But although there’s a lot of slapstick, there’s also some poignancy. Marley shows himself to be aware of people being upset, and despite his many faults - his family consider him the worst dog in the world - he’s very loving. We’re not ‘dog people’ but we found some parts quite moving, particularly the end. It’s foreshadowed a few times, and beautifully done, but could be upsetting to sensitive folk.

The rating is PG which is a tad surprising as there are quite a few innuendoes, a dog humping furniture, and a couple of scenes where, while nothing explicit is shown, it’s clear what is going on. There’s also a brief scene describing some violence relating to a neighbour, with a petrified, sobbing teenager; I’m not sure why that scene is in the film as it doesn’t seem to have any significance other than to prod John to consider moving.

The language is relatively mild although there are some profanities; but the scene at the end could be very upsetting to children with pets. I wouldn’t personally recommend this to anyone below the age of about twelve, and even then it would depend on the teenager in question.

However, from our point of view it was a great film, well made with a clever script and great acting. We very much appreciated the fact that John and Jenny were committed to each other long-term, despite several arguments and stressful periods in their marriage. It’s a positive message, one that is all too often absent in modern films.

There are a lot of extras on our DVD; we didn’t watch all of them, but were very interested to learn that there were 22 different dogs who played Marley, and to see some of the performances from the perspective of the dog trainers. Some of the deleted scenes added to the story, too and we weren’t entirely sure why they weren’t included, other than to cut the running time.

Definitely recommended for adults and teens if you like a somewhat different kind of character-based film, which was apparently based on a real life reporter and his dog, and if you don’t mind some very poignant scenes as well as the humour.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's DVD Reviews

Bruce Almighty (Jim Carrey)

(Amazon UK link)

It was over twelve years since we first saw ‘Bruce Almighty’. Although we remembered the gist of the plot, we had forgotten most of the detail and humour. So we decided it would make a light evening’s viewing…

Jim Carrey stars as Bruce, a TV reporter who is sent to all kinds of strange locations. He is excellent at interviewing, and making stories out of bizarre situations. But what he really wants is to be a news anchor. He has a beautiful and loving girlfriend (Jennifer Aniston) but they have been having some arguments… and he feels that everything is going wrong.

One day it seems that life is going from bad to worse, and Bruce complains loudly to God. He doesn’t expect a literal answer, but God turns up, in the form of Morgan Freeman. What’s more, God says that he wants a break, so Bruce can take over, since he is convinced he can do the job better.

It’s a surreal and unusual storyline, but it works extremely well. Jim Carrey’s timing is superb, and, accepting the premise of the plot, he is entirely believable as an ambitious, somewhat selfish young man suddenly endowed with the powers to do just about anything.

There’s a lot of humour in the film, much of it involving Bruce and Grace’s dog and its eventual house-training. And, it has to be said, a fair bit of schadenfreude. But it’s also quite thought-provoking. Bruce discovers that answering everyone’s prayers positively can lead to a great deal of discontent. He learns that the world operates according to laws that shouldn’t be broken. And he realises that the one thing that cannot be commanded is love.

The rating is 12, which seems about right; there’s some profanity, though it’s not extreme. There are some passionate scenes of intimacy, although mostly implied rather than with any overt detail. There’s a lot of discussion of sexuality too, and some quite intense scenes. However as it all involves adults, it’s unlikely to be of any interest to children or younger teenagers. I don’t think I’d show it to anyone aged under about fifteen.

Overall, we enjoyed this film very much. Some people might find it rather blasphemous, but it’s done in such a positive way, and with Bruce realising how difficult it is to be God even in one small town, that I thought it well worth seeing. Certainly it’s different from the average rom-com.

Recommended.

Review copyright 2019 Sue's DVD Reviews

She's the One (Edward Burns, Mike McGlone)

(Amazon UK link)

From time to time I browse the recommendations on Amazon, wondering what new books or DVDs might be recommended. In one such exploration, they suggested I might like this film: it’s twenty years old but I hadn’t previously heard of it. Reviews were mixed, but I quite like some of the actors mentioned, so I put it on my wishlist and was given it for Christmas.

‘She’s the One’ is about two Italian-American brothers called Micky (Edward Burns) and Francis (Mike McGlone). Their father is likeable but quite controlling, and this has led to them veering in different directions career-wise. Micky, who is mostly quite laid-back, is a taxi driver in New York, while Francis has become a high-flying and materialistic businessman.

We soon learn that Francis is married to an attractive woman (Jennifer Aniston) but has mostly lost interest in her. This is apparently because he spends so much time working, even taking his computer to bed. Micky is not married. He was once engaged, but walked out on his fiancee after he found her in a compromising position with someone else…

To say more would be a spoiler in a film that’s rather low on plot anyway. The two main subplots (a new romance for Micky, and the reason why Francis rejects his wife’s advances) are so bizarre in their detail that they provide the main interest. I’m glad we didn’t read the back of the DVD case, as it gives the entire plot in a couple of sentences.

We were a bit bemused at first, as unlikely events start rolling out. Mickey seems like a likeable person, although as we gradually discover, he and his brother have a love-hate relationship that involves a lot of jealousies and rivalry. Francis, however, is one of the most unpleasant, self-centred characters I can recall seeing on a film of this kind. He does not seem to have any redeeming features; he even chain smokes.

Cameron Diaz plays another extremely selfish and unpleasant character, one who made me cringe in almost every scene involving her. Chemistry is lacking between the various couples, and to have two out of the five principles dislikable made it a strange film to watch.

On the plus side, the pace of the film is good; it’s just over an hour and a half long, and it doesn’t flag. There are some amusing lines too, several that made us smile and one or two that made us chuckle. The ending is positive and encouraging, at least as far as one of the storylines goes.

The amount of bad language and innuendo is excessive in my view and in most cases unnecessary, other than to give this a 15 rating (R in the United States) despite minimal violence and no overt sexuality or nudity. I can’t imagine it would appeal to anyone under the age of 15 anyway.

As a commentary on modern society (or, at any rate, the society of the mid-1990s when this was produced) it's a bit depressing, but perhaps the conclusion makes up for it.

Review copyright 2017 Sue's DVD Reviews

Along Came Polly (Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston)

(Amazon UK link)

We were staying with relatives for a few days, and they suggested watching a DVD one evening. We had not heard of this one, but it was a new arrival in the household and we hoped that it would make an undemanding, possibly amusing watch for ninety minutes or so.

‘Along came Polly’ stars Ben Stiller as a rather uptight risk assessor called Reuben. It opens, as the titles are showing, with scenes from his wedding day to the ‘perfect’ Lisa, a girl he has wooed gradually over four years. The film proper starts when they are on the beach on the first day of their honeymoon… and disaster, for Reuben, ensues.

Confused and hurt he returns home and is persuaded by his close friend Sandy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to go to a social event, where he bumps into Polly (Jennifer Aniston), someone he has not seen since junior high school. He takes this as a sign that he should perhaps move on and start dating again, but he is very nervous indeed…

Polly turns out to be Reuben’s polar opposite, a free spirit who lives a bohemian life, and who likes to take all kinds of risks. Alongside their growing relationship Reuben is trying to evaluate whether or not his company should ensure a wealthy businessman who spends his leisure time taking as many dangerous risk as possible.

Most of the humour is mild slapstick, with some rather uncomfortable bathroom scenes that I didn’t find amusing at all. I also really didn’t like the way that Polly’s elderly ferret kept bumping into things. But still, the chemistry is good between the two principals, and there’s some nice scripting. The film moves at a good pace, and if the ending is somewhat predictable, it’s satisfactory.

As a story about opposites attracting, it’s perhaps caricatured; most of the minor characters and subplots are strongly so. Nonetheless it gives rise to some interesting questions about how far it makes sense to avoid risks, and what commitment means.

The film is rated 12 (PG-13 in the US), presumably for bedroom scenes and implications, and a bit of rear-view nudity. There's minor violence a couple of times too, but I don't recall any 'strong' language, which is quite refreshing for a film made this century. Unlikely to be of any interest to children, other than perhaps the unpleasant bathroom scenes.

A pleasant evening’s light viewing, but not a film I’d necessarily want to see again.

Review copyright 2017 Sue's DVD Reviews

Marley and Me (Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston)

(Amazon UK link)

We saw this film in a charity shop for a couple of pounds, and thought it looked worth buying; we decided to watch it last night, wanting something light and undemanding.

'Marley and Me' is exactly that. There's no great plot in this film; essentially it's the story of a young couple (Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston) who adopt puppy, who quickly turns into a rumbunctuous dog. Meanwhile, they go through some stressful times in their marriage as their family grows and they have to make important decisions about their careers.

And yet it's a very engaging story that captivated us from the start. The chemistry between the two main actors is strong, and the dog Marley an absolute delight. We're not 'dog people' - and even less inclined to be so after watching this! - but there are some very funny moments as well as some sad scenes, which are beautifully done. Had we been dog owners, we would probably have cried at the end; I admit only to feeling a tear or two pricking my eyelids.

Overall, I appreciated a story featuring a family who genuinely care for each other, who have good rapport and who stick together despite often difficult circumstances. Marley undoubtedly provided most of the humour (and some of the tension between his family) but it was essentially a story of growing love and loyalty between all the family members.

There's almost no bad language and no on-screen violence; however, there's one violent off-stage scene, several innuendoes and the beginnings of bedroom scenes. There is also more than one scene showing the dog 'humping' someone or something. There's nothing overt and no obvious nudity, but parents should take note of the "PG" rating - if you don't want a small child asking awkward questions, it might be worth avoiding. Having said that, under-12s would probably find it a bit dull, other than the Marley scenes. A sensitive dog-loving child could find the ending very traumatic.

There are lots of extras, which we thought well worth seeing. They include some great deleted scenes, some dog-training demonstrations, and much more.

Recommended if you want a light film that promotes positive family values.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews

Bruce Almighty (starring Jim Carrey)

(Amazon UK link)

I expect that the film 'Bruce Almighty' ended up on our shelves due to a special offer, or perhaps a recommendation, or maybe both. Anyway, we decided to watch it as a family, with some friends who were staying, on Valentine's Day...

It's an interesting idea, different from the usual rom-com style that I tend to choose by default. In this story, Bruce (Jim Carrey) who is a TV reporter has been complaining about his life, and about God, despite being reasonably popular and having some good friends. But it seems as if everything is going on, and he moans just a little too much...

So God appears in human form (played, brilliantly, by Morgan Freeman) and says he'll take a break, and that Bruce can take over as God for a week to see if he can do the job better.

At first disbelieving, Bruce discovers that he does indeed have divine powers, which he can use to do pretty much anything he wishes...

We thought it was well made, and quite thought-provoking too. At first excited, then overwhelmed, then determined to do things efficiently, Bruce implements some of what he feels 'should' happen in the world, only to discover the wider implications... and, unsurprisingly, chaos ensues.

Some of this is a bit silly, but parts of it were amusing and it certainly made its point. On the whole we thought it well worth seeing. The 12 rating (PG-13 in the US) is due to some bad language, some mild sexual content, and some rather crude humour at times.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews