Buffalo's This Week in Movies, September 22, 2009; Adam, The Informant and Jennifer's Body
Posted: Sep 22, 2009ADAM
He’s not as slow as Karl Childers, more in line with Dustin Hoffman in Rainman. Hugh Dancy’s Adam Raki is an adult with Apergers Syndrome, a type of autism. When he befriends a new tenant in his apartment building, (Rose Byrne as Beth Buchwald) the sparks begin to fly between them. Sadly, his condition eventually prevents them from being together, but the time they spend together has a profound effect on Adam, helping him grow outside the confines of his mental box.
Both Dancy and Byrne turn in outstanding performances, and the script is both educational and entertaining. These are the kinds of films that win Oscars, and none would deserve it more than Adam. Five Stars.
THE INFORMANT
Matt Damon breaks his own mold as Mark Whitacre in this tale, based on a true story of a greedy corporate worker who tries to frame his own company to help him steal millions. He even goes so far as to “cooperate” with the FBI in an investigation of his company, wearing a wire and ratting them out to Scott Bakula, who does a fine job as FBI Special Agent Brian Shepherd. It’s almost hard to keep up with the domino effect of his lies, even for him and his ever supportive wife, Ginger. (Melanie Lynskey).
The Informant is played for laughs, and there are plenty. Damon’s mind runs nonstop. and his thoughts about everything from corn to other mudane things are told in voice overs. Pretty hilarious at times.
Damon gained 30 pounds, donned a bald wig and a rug and stretched far outside of his comfort zone on this one. And it shows in the end, a fun movie. Like playing a game of Twister with the funniest liar in the world. Four Stars.
JENNIFER’S BODY
Megan Fox is hot. I mean, as a Hollywood property. Well, the other way too. Her cover story in Rolling Stone this week has some pretty smoking pictures of the 23 year old that many are calling the next Angelia Jolie.
In Jennifer’ Body, Fox gets to do something she didn’t get to do much of in the Transformer flicks. She gets to act. And she’s actually good. Her dark comedy is spot on. Equally good is her BFF “Needy,” played well by Amanda Seyfried.
When an up and coming indie band called Low Shoulder plays the bar in their tiny town, things smell fishy from the outset. And when Needy lies to the band that Jennifer is a virgin, they kidnap her as the bar burns to the ground and haul her out into the woods to sacrifice her to Satan. As the knife is about to be plunged into her chest, the band guy says, “Sorry, but do you know how hard it is for an idie band to make it these days?”
Well, being that she is not a virgin, she returns to life a full fledged, demon possessed hottie who begins feeding on boys at school.
This movie has a lot of that same dark comedy I loved in films like The Faculty and to a lesser extent, last week’s Sorority Row.
J. K. Simmons has been popping up all over lately, and here he plays the good intentioned professor Mr Wroblewski. I actually didn’t recognize the normally bald actor with his curly wig. Simmons is always great, even in a cameo role this small.
Buckets of blood and tons of laughs. Oh, and Megan Fox too. Four Stars.
Keep it Real. Keep it Southern.
Buffalo
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gongsi028 says...
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sandybluesky says...
I absolutely loved Adam. They should win the Oscar.
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