Recently, people have
been letting our old pal Jack Nicholson take the easy way out. Between
his latest effort Anger Management and this film, one wonders if
old age is affecting his ability to choose a good script. Something’s
Gotta Give is truly enjoyable for a mere hour and fifteen minutes,
but after that, we start to take notice of the terrible dialogue and
unfunny script. Now, don’t get me wrong, Something’s Gotta Give
offers its fair share of laughs, but they are few and far between. These
actors know that they want and deserve better material. Ironically, this
movie suffers from the same two problems as Gigli did, but
there’s one difference between the two films—the former was panned by
the press, while this flick is getting rave reviews.
And this is really the
problem. Critics seem to be so star-struck when they see Jack and Diane
light up the screen that they automatically decide to give the movie a
positive review. However, when the two are working with such a dreadful
screenplay, I’d rather see Ben and Jen in their places. The dialogue
tacky, the picture is overly long, and only a few of the jokes succeed
in being more than just amusing. Watching this terrific cast being
force-fed such brain-dead lines in the useless manner of director Nancy
Meyers is actually quite painful. Something’s Gotta Give is a
teen movie wrapped in pretty paper, so the adult crowd will think of it
as a mature comedy. Oh, please. That’s about the last title that comes
to my mind when I ponder its mediocrity.
Something’s Gotta
Give is sweet enough in its intentions to watch on Saturday morning,
but it isn’t a rewarding experience. It’d be a lot easier for me to say
that it is, and conform to the ways of my fellow critics that have, but
I honestly can’t. I’m sorry, Mr. Nicholson. So sorry you made a shitty
film.
I laughed, and I
laughed, and I laughed some more. This doesn’t excuse the disappointing
and formulaic plot from almost ruining the entire movie, however. The
thing about the Farrelly Brothers that I’ve always admired is that
they’re able to craft an inventive and original plotline, even if the
flick that it’s featured in isn’t funny. Sometimes this method doesn’t
help at all, as we all saw in the horrific Dumb and Dumber, but
every once in awhile, it guides one of their films to success. (We
witnessed this special case in There’s Something about Mary,
Me, Myself, and Irene, and, most noticeably, in Shallow Hal).
Stuck on You is much different than their previous works, because
of its conventional plot. But it’s pretty damn funny, and we mustn’t
overlook this. So funny that in fact, it’s actually one of the better
movies in release at this time.
Of course, this will
all change in a week or two, when all of the major Oscar contenders are
released, but for the time being, I’m quite pleased to be able to day
this. Stuck on You is innocent fun. Comedies these days are
lacking the kind-heartedness that this one has. It’s is a PG-13 rated
teen-targeted motion picture without a single fart joke (talk about
remarkable). It has the same dorky, but loveable morals and values as
its fellow comedies, but incorporates them into its context without
being too sappy or anticlimactic, as a result. If the rest of the films
in this genre were to bear the same characteristics as this one, the
whole world would be better off. It’s this type of movie that all of us
moviegoers need, both cheery and delightful.
Most of the film’s
success is not created by the Farrellys, either. Aside from the terrific
idea, they aren’t responsible for any of it at all, actually. Rather,
our two loveable leads, Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear, are the ones who
make Stuck on You the hilarious cinematic event that it is. They
share the screen abnormally well; if they were two no-names, the
audience might actually have believed that they were the conjoined twins
that they play in this movie, in reality. Eva Mendes is also great at
playing her ditzy supporting character, too, fitting the profile in
every way, shape, and form.
If the plot-line had
been less predictably mediocre, Stuck on You may have actually
ranked as one of my favorites films of this year. Let’s hope that the
Farrelly Brother’s next effort is more innovative. I look forward to
seeing it.
