Movie Reviews: The Breakup, Brokeback Mountain, DaVinci Code

This is an embarrassingly late review of 3 movies that I actually wrote several weeks ago, but forgot to put up. (I put a lot of thought in it too, so I’m sharing anyway.)

The movies:

• The Breakup
• Brokeback Mountain
• The DaVinci Code

I know, this would’ve been interesting about a month ago, right?

Ah well… Perhaps those who are considering renting these movies might still be interested.

And by now, you’ve probably seen ’em yourself… so what did you think?

I’ve seen a number of movies lately — at the movie theater.

These three, in particular, left a lasting impression for one reason or another:

The Break Up

My all-time favorite actors these days are Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston.

I’ve been a fan of Vince Vaughn since Old School (though I actually liked him before that in Psycho, the remake). And Wedding Crashers just sealed the deal for me. His candid, off-the-cuff humor — in the movies and in real life — are hard to match.

Case in point: He was on Jay Leno a few nights ago. Jay commented on the fact that all the kids in his family (3 of them) were given names starting with “V”. He said, yeah… his mom wanted it that way. Even his dad’s name starts with a “V” (Vernon, who also starred in The Break Up, as Howard Meyers). He said his mom would’ve changed her name from Sharon to a name starting with “V” too, if she could.

Then he went on to say:
“It gets even funnier. My parents divorced, and my dad remarried someone who’s name starts with a “V”… It’s Vicky. Yeah, my mom named her too.”

Now Jennifer Aniston… I know, she’s not usually recognized as a great actress. But I truly believe she’s highly underrated as an actor.

It’s a shame that it’s only her “striking physical qualities” (hair, body, smile) that get her any noteworthy attention these days. That and the whole Brad Pitt thing.

She’s as charming as they come. And she adds a lot to a movie in my opinion. For some reason she’s played the lead in a handful of movies recently, but she’s gotten very few accolades for her work.

Hey, if you’re a Jennifer Aniston fan, then you’ve gotta check out Derailed. It’s a sleeper movie from last summer. She’s the star. And it’s one of those movies that catches you off-guard mid-way through it. It’s well worth renting!

Oh yeah about the movie The Break Up…
Despite the fact that I warned Jim that it hadn’t been getting very good ratings, there was no keeping Jim back from a Vince Vaughn movie! As far as he saw it, Jennifer Aniston was just a bonus. He thought, “How could it be bad?”

Well, thanks to the comedic lines — which were few and far between — Jim was content throughout the entire movie. He even laughed out loud a handful of times, the lines were that good. (Or maybe it was just Vince Vaughn’s delivery of those lines… he’s amazing!)

Basically, it’s a chic flick, a slightly heavy chic flick (especially if you’ve lived through a bad break up yourself).

I was most struck by the fact that Vince Vaughn wrote this movie himself! I’m guessing it was largely based on his own experience then. I’m giving this one a B- simply to keep it in people’s minds as a movie worth seeing. I’ve got to do anything I can to help our favorite male actor rise up through the ranks of movie stardom. Plus, I keep thinking if this was his FIRST effort at writing & producing, just imagine what he’ll be like with a few more under his belt?!

P.S. The intro for this movie — where all the star’s names are listed, along with directors, producers, etc — is truly incredible. It’s a classy series of photographs of Vince & Jennifer in their happier times as a couple, before they actually broke up.

Oh, and to all the moviegoers who thought there’d be a happier ending… Vince Vaughn himself has clearly stated in most of the interviews I’ve seen him in: “This movie is about a break-up. It’s not called the-get-back-together.”

Brokeback Mountain

I’m glad I saw it if nothing else than because I now “get it” whenever someone makes a Brokeback Mountain joke.

Recently Ellen Degeneres staged a little “skit” based on the movie. It was short & sweet …and very funny. Had I not seen the movie, I would not have appreciated the humor.

Then, one of the singer-songwriters we saw the other night wrote an entire song loosely based on the movie. It was hilarious!

Oh, and on Bob & Tom, I remember one of the comedians making a reference to Brokeback Mountain around the time of the awards.

Of course these comedic moments are few and far between. And it still means having to sit through 2-plus hours of a movie about two grown men trying to “find themselves” just so you can chuckle at the subsequent jokes which make reference to the movie.

Not to mention these:

• Broke Mac Mountain

(a movie parody)

• Brokeback To The Future (a movie trailer spoof)

The DaVinci Code

Ehhhh… Once again, too much hype.

Bible references or no Bible references…it doesn’t matter to me. I went to this fictional Hollywood movie just for the entertainment value alone. But I couldn’t help but keep asking “Was this one of the parts that everyone finds so controversial?” Then I’d get sidetracked trying to out-think the movie itself.

I definitely want to see the movie again… I’ll rent the DVD when it comes out.

I liked what I saw, but as I said, I spent half the time not focused on the movie itself, but rather on the controversial plot lines and historical references.

This movie deserves a second look.

P.S. I still haven’t read the book.