Friday film roundup: Not Much to Write Home About
But then, there’s not a lot to complain about too loudly, either — at least, not much that you wouldn’t expect to complain about. Here’s this week’s film roundup from Past the Popcorn:
The three major mainstream releases this week are just about what you’d expect from summer Hollywood fare. First, Rush Hour 3 serves up politically incorrect, action-packed PG-13 buddy-cop comedy as Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan take the schtick to Paris; Mike Smith finds the film therapy for overdoses of “inside-the-box” thinking. Next, Stardust translates Neil Gaiman’s rather adultish fantasy novel into rather adultish gloss on The Princess Bride; Mike Brunk finds it a bit busy and contrived at times, but competent enough to satisfy PG-13 fantasy fans. And then there’s Daddy Day Camp, which Kathy Bledsoe finds about as satisfying as one might expect given a thin-premised sequel: that is, an experience that leads one to ask, “What was Cuba Gooding, Jr. thinking?”
In smaller releases, Mike Smith finds Live-in Maid to be a pleasing low-budget foreign-language examination of class and friendship, and considers Rocket Science to be a mature (and potentially therapeutic, if troubling) look back on the angst of the high school experience.
Also, Greg Wright talks with actor Patrick Warburton about maintaining balance between work and family in Hollywood.
