Movie Review: Never Back Down

 

I apparently have a hot guy theme going on, but that is definitely not the only movies I watch (however, it never hurts). In this movie, Jake Tyler (played by Sean Faris) is the quintessential troubled teen. He has seen his share of tragedy and has taken to lashing out. In the beginning of the movie we see him on the football field tackling any person who comes up against him. His mom then relocates him and his brother to Orlando and he tries to stay on the straight and narrow. He meets the archetypal pretty blonde chick and sticks up for her by answering the professor’s questions on The Iliad (swoon!) for her. She invites him to a party where he gets swindled into fighting the resident badass, Ryan McCarthy (played by Cam Gigandet). He eventually begins training with mixed martial arts leader extraordinaire Jean Roqua (the very large Dijmon Hounsou). It is the basic learn to control what you’ve got story all culminating to one big “beatdown” at the end to prove who the best is. 

 Although mostly predictable, the movie captivated me throughout. I spent the whole movie waiting in anticipation for the inevitable time when the underdog would win. Throw in some really awesome fight scenes, some character development and lots of sweaty, muscular men and you’ve got a good solid two hours worth of a movie. The cinematography fit in well with the vein of the movie, varying slow and rapid camera movements as well as showing what the rib cage probably looked like as a few ribs were knocked loose. I’m all for bloody fights and they captured the slow descent of being knocked out while teeth and bloody spit goes flying quite well. The music was well picked, upbeat and made me want to go run or lift weights (hello, IPod playlist!).  

Jake’s little brother Charlie (played by Wyatt Smith) had some really great lines and added a dynamic that I think Jake’s character really needed. Charlie needed someone to look up to and, for better or worse, it turned out to be Jake. This aspect became much more interesting when lady love Baja (played by Amber Heard) started showing up. “Whatever she did, you have to forgive her!” All twelve year old boys need a big brother to look up to…or look down to when said brother’s girlfriend is in a tiny pair of shorts straddling him behind his closed bedroom door whilst they make out.  Jake’s new friend, Max, (played by Evan Peters and played that goofy kid Seth on Phil of the Future) introduces Jake to the world of mixed martial arts (not wrestling as a certain someone corrected when I was making reference to hot guys wrestling on the ground). Max takes lessons with Jean Roqua, but knows he will never be as good as Jake so he ends up behind his camera most of the time, filming the fights. And driving his badass black Mustang. Max is lovable in that goofy sidekick kind of way and you really start to like him because he stands by Jake when he needs it the most. Jean really tries to make the most out of Jake while trying to brood over his own malcontent. He sleeps at his gym, washes his face in the sink and kicks the living crap out of a punching bag. Dijmon Hounsou is a scary looking guy, but obviously a gentle giant, even though he looks way bigger than 6’2”. Plus, I like that his goatee is half white. 

 Jake’s mom, Margot (played by Leslie Hope), was the stock pissed-off-at-your-son-because-he’s-been-getting-into-fights-at-school-and-I-don’t-know-how-to-handle-it-mom. There were never any parts when I felt she really had tried to do the best for Jake or that she was at one time a warm and loving mother. There was one scene where she gained a bit of redemption, but it was a little strange to me and all in all I really just didn’t like her.  Just let the kid fight already!  And speaking of fighting, we have to touch on Ryan for a second. Let me just say (and I’ve already been made fun of for this) that I keep saying “Jake Ryan” like the guy from Sixteen Candles instead of separating the two: Jake and Ryan. Cam Gigandet is the guy who played Volchek on The O.C. He was the guy from the wrong side of the tracks that Marisa took a liking to. Until he accidentally killed her. Apparently Cam has such ripped arms (and abs…think a step below Brad Pitt in Fight Club) that he is further typecast into the mean guy who beats people up for sport, but he’s really good at that part so it seems to work for him. He should also continue all endeavors where he is shirtless at least 98% of the time.  

To conclude, this movie was exactly how I expected it to be. Good triumphs over evil in the battle of hot guys. The protagonist gets the hot chick. There’s a dj spinning at every type of battle. In all seriousness, though, fight the good fight and you will find success.  

Rating: Four out of Five Beatdown Championships

Movie Review: 21

 

Let me just say, I was excited about this movie to come out. First of all, Jim Sturgess can make an egg shell sandwich great. Then there’s the lure of Vegas, particularly good looking people in Vegas. Add in some card counting and witty dialogue and you’ve got a winner. (Did I mention Jim Sturgess?) I can say I was not disappointed. Jim plays nerdy M.I.T. genius Ben Campbell who geeks out with his friends building robotic cars and not picking up chicks. I heard an interview with the real Ben Campbell about a month ago and he said he thought it was funny a really good looking guy was playing him because, frankly, he’s not all that attractive. He said he would never get a girl that looks like Kate Bosworth (but at least his character does).  

The movie is pretty typical and the trailer does give away a big chunk of the plot. Ben gets picked to be in the secret underground world of smart M.I.T. card counters who go to Vegas and make a ton of money. They split the profits with their leader Mickey (played by Kevin Spacey who always does the slightly creepy older man thing well). Things go awry, Ben starts to lose the things that matter most to him, but is kind of having the most fun he’s ever had in his life. You see the wiles of Vegas begin to draw him in. The team meets up at the strip club to regroup, he buys expensive suits and hooks up with Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth). Cue Lawrence Fishburne (who has always made me feel a bit uneasy) to come in and beat the living daylights out of people for counting cards and beating the house too well. “How do you know he’s doing it?” “Because I’m counting.” In comes the collective gasp from the crowd. We all saw the preview and knew he was counting along. The film doesn’t really touch on how he knows what he knows except that he has a bone to pick with Mickey and that he used to have his own casino. I think there were a lot of characters and a lot of character plots in the movie and, while the movie as a whole was well done, there may have been some pieces that didn’t get fully developed because there just wasn’t the time. This did, however, mean we didn’t have to watch too much of Fisher (played by Jacob Pitts) who was one of the many people in the movie who was setting Ben up to fail. There’s nothing like an ornery, probably rich, kid who goes to Vegas, gets jealous, turns raging drunk and ruins the plan for everyone. [Sidenote: If you recognized Pitts from something, but couldn’t quite place him, he played Sam Jones, the college guy Samantha on Sex and the City sleeps with because they share the same name.]   

I have to give a shout out to Aaron Yoo who played Choi, the goofy kleptomaniac on the team. Although we don’t see too much of him, he did steal (hah, no pun intended) most of the funny lines and looked adorable with his messy faux hawk and his big aviator shades. I know I have a soft spot for cute Asians, but he was pretty funny and had just enough lines to be memorable, yet not annoying. I also need to recognize Josh Gad and Sam Golzari (and by recognize I mean look up their names because I had no idea who they were, although Sam Golzari was in that horrible Mandy Moore movie, American Dreamz) for their roles as Ben’s geeked out robot-building friends. They weren’t all that humorous, but completely nailed the uber-nerd role. I have a slight feeling they fit this mold on a pretty regular basis. Sam’s character, Cam, looked like a typical geeky Jewish guy who had the potential to be fairly cute if he wore some different clothes and didn’t just stare at pretty ladies. There was no hope for Josh’s character, Miles, however, as he shoved Twinkies in his mouth by the pair. Miles seemed like he was trying to tap into his awkward fat guy meets trying to be suave ladies man but just ends up weirding them out, but doesn’t quite hit the mark like Jonah Hill who has already filled this niche.  

The ending was probably one of the best parts (yes, other than the part of the movie when Ben and Jill hooking up overlooking Vegas from the suite atop the Hard Rock Hotel). It tied it all back together, adding in a plot twist a la the Oceans movies, doing a slow rewind to show us the “real story”. Like I said, parts of the movie were a bit contrived and predictable. Lots of it was given away during the trailer, but there were some very sweet and intimate moments as well as some funny lines to catch. Of course the boy and girl get together. It’s a movie and they’re both attractive so it doesn’t disappoint us moviegoers. The moral of the story: things will work out for you even after you get your face beat in with ruby studded dice shaped rings on a big, angry black guy’s fist. Oh, and that Jim Sturgess is just as hot with a black eye as he was throwing strawberries at the wall in Across the Universe.

Rating: Four out of Five Winner Winner Chicken Dinners.