The Locusts (1997)

Synopsis

Title: The Locusts (1997)

Genre: Drama

Rating: R

Running Time: 125 Minutes

Director: John Patrick Kelley

Main Actors: Kate Capshaw, Vince Vaughn, Jeremy Davies, Ashley Judd, Paul Rudd

Plot: A young drifter, Clay Hewitt, wanders onto a ranch run by a bossy widow named Delilah Potts. Clay asks for a job on the ranch and discovers Delilah and her son have deep problems. Also released under the title A Secret Sin, The Locusts marked the feature debut of writer and director John Patrick Kelley

My Take

I don’t have much to say about this movie. It is not terrible, but there are few redeeming qualities about the film at the same time. Ashley Judd looks good and Vince Vaughn does a good job with his part. You might remember Jeremy Davies (Flyboy) from Saving Private Ryan. He’s become known for playing the role of a victimized and conflicted young man and he did a decent job. Kate Capeshaw played her role as b*tch well. Smoking was so prevalent in the movie that it became part of the storyline; it was annoying to me. Nothing stood out to me as being great or really even good for that matter. I won’t give anything away and I won’t go into why it is, but I will say that the ending was simply awful. I felt depressed for after the movie in part because of the story and in part because I wasted two hours of my life watching the film.

What About Vince?

Vince Vaughn had a starring role and did a good job. He plays the drifter who was looking for work and found it at a ranch. He befriends the son of the widow at the ranch and much of the movie is about their relationship. He does a good job playing the cool and concerned friend. He has past problems of his own and does a decent job showing emotion, although I don’t think anyone will call that his strong suit as far as acting is concerned. I liked Vince in this movie, but his performance was not so great that I’d say you need to watch the movie for his performance.

Should You Watch???

Umm… I guess you should watch if you think Ashley Judd is hot and that is good enough for you. I guess you should watch if you are doing a movie month on Vince Vaughn. I guess you should watch if your cable goes out, you have nothing else to do, you have two hours to waste, and an extra two hours of sleep doesn’t entice you. In all other instances, I’d say you don’t want to watch this movie.

Popcorn Rating

Plain Popcorn

Checking Out (1989)

Synopsis

Title: Checking out (1989)

Genre: Comedy

Rating: R

Running Time: 95 Minutes

Director: David Leland

Main Actors: Jeff Daniels, Melanie Mayron, Michael Tucker, Kathleen York, Ann Magnuson

Plot: Jeff Daniels stars as Ray Macklin who is deathly scared of illness and mortality after seeing his friend die from a heart attack.

My Take

I caught this movie playing on cable because I saw Jeff Daniels was starring in a comedy. The only other comedy Jeff Daniels was in that I have seen was Dumb and Dumber and I loved that movie, so I thought I’d give this one a try. There were a couple funny moments, most within the first couple minutes, but for the most part it was not real good. In fact, it was more like Dumb and Dumberer than it was Dumb and Dumber. Jeff Daniels definitely needs Jim Carey.

Should You Watch???

This movie is a goofy-funny movie but not extremely goofy. If you like those types of movies, you might like this movie, but I don’t think this movie is very good even for a goofy movie. They could have very easily made this movie PG-13 by avoiding a couple words and maybe a scene or two, which I think would help, because I think the teen crowd might like it more than the adult crowd might. This movie is obscure for a reason. You will be just fine if you never see this film.

Popcorn Rating

Plain Popcorn

Caddyshack II (1988)

Synopsis

Title: Caddyshack II (1988)

Genre: Comedy

Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 99 Minutes

Director: Allan Arkush

Main Actors: Jackie Mason, Dyan Cannon, Robert Stack, Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid

The Plot: This sequel to the popular 1980 comedy Caddyshack gives you more of the same country club humor. Blue collar workers meet upper-class snobs on the golf course.

My Take

I found Caddyshack II to be a watchable movie, but not one that I would feel I had to watch. I didn’t think it was quite as crude as the original Caddyshack, but it was more of the same kind of jokes. Chevy Chase is one of the funniest actors if not the funniest actor ever in my opinion. He is great comedic entertainment in this movie but his character has a limited role unfortunately. The acting was ok and the plot was decent enough, but I just never really got interested. Much like Necessary Roughness (although it was not nearly as corny as that movie), the comedy in Caddyshack II was slap-stick. The jokes just don’t seem quite as funny now as they surly did when this was first made.

Should You Watch???

If you have seen the first Caddyshack and were a fan of that movie, you should like the sequel. Some may be disappointed that Rodney Dangerfield and Bill Murry did not return, but I honestly don't think they would have made much of a difference in this movie. I noticed several plot lines that Happy Gilmore (a movie I very much like) would later mimic. Although I wouldn’t say Caddyshack II was a great movie (I might even say it's not good), it is watchable and will have it’s funny moments. Chevy Chase is one of the funniest actors of all time and he will make you laugh in this movie. Randy Quaid does a pretty good job as the maniac lawyer, but the movie is just not that good when all is said and done. Watch it if you are in a slap-happy mood.

Popcorn Rating

Plain Popcorn

License to Wed (2007)

Synopsis

Title: License to Wed

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Comedy

Running Time: 91 minutes

Director: Ken Kwapis

Main Actors: Robin Williams, Mandy Moore, John Krasinski, Christine Taylor, Josh Flitter

The Plot: A young engaged couple who thought they were happily in love start to wonder as they struggle through Reverend Frank’s marriage preparation class.

My Take

The plot was promising, but License to Wed has got to be considered a disappointment. When I saw previews for this movie I thought it had potential to be good, but I wasn’t sold. I was particularly interested in the plot because I am engaged to be married and have started marriage preparation. I realize this is a comedy, but it was overly cheesy and not very funny. Robin Williams is a much better when he isn’t trying to be funny if you ask me. I found him to be extremely annoying, which was the idea for the character but not to that extent. Mandy Moore is not a good actress. I was interested to see John Krasinski in a movie since I know him as Jim in The Office. He was good but not great. Many of the characters in The Office had small parts in this movie, which was probably the lone bright spot. The guy who plays Kevin in The Office (Brian Baumgartner) was hilarious in his limited screen time and probably should have had a bigger role if the goal of this movie was to make people laugh.

Should You Watch???

Watch it if you want to see some characters from The Office in a movie. Don’t expect a good comedy. You could pass on this movie and not really miss anything except for a couple funny scenes provided by Brian Baumgartner.

Popcorn Rating

Plain Popcorn