Jack and I really liked this story of Sam, who learns he has a half-sister Frankie after their father Jerry dies, and realizes that whatever complaints he had about his dad's non-parenting don't compare to Frankie's not knowing him at all. The directing debut of co-writer Alex Kurtzman is based on his own similar story, although Kurtzman knew about his father's other family and met his own half-sister quite by accident, which is slightly different from way it works in this movie. Kurtzman and his writing partner Roberto Orci co-wrote, among others, Mission: Impossible III (2006), two Transformers movies which we didn't see, Cowboys & Aliens, and were nominated for a Writers Guild Award for Star Trek. This time around they share credit with first-time screenwriter Jody Lambert, Kurtzman's college friend and son of songwriter Dennis Lambert (We Built This City), who was the inspiration for Jerry.
Chris Pine (last in these pages in Unstoppable) adds to his good resumé with the role of Sam, a guy on the brink who manages to salvage his humanity despite his rage over his father's abandonment. Michelle Pfeiffer's (after I covered her in Chéri she was in Dark Shadows) performance as Sam's mother Lillian is terrific--I was extremely moved by her first scene and every one after that. Elizabeth Banks (most recently in Our Idiot Brother) is also showing some muscle with her portrayal of single mother Frankie. One to watch is Michael Hall D'Addario, whom we loved as Frankie's troubled son Josh (when you see the way he drums on the crab shell you won't be surprised to know he is a drummer offscreen). Olivia Wilde (took a hiatus from House M.D. to shoot Cowboys & Aliens last year) is fine as Sam's girlfriend and Mark Duplass (last in Darling Companion and more to come) makes an appearance as Frankie's shy neighbor as does Jon Favreau (covered in Iron Man 2) as Sam's hard-ass boss. Jack wondered if the colorful character's at Jerry's funeral are real musicians--we don't know.
Production designer Ida Random deserves another Oscar nomination (after Rain Man (1988); she also designed The Big Chill (1983), Irreconcilable Differences (1984), Silverado (1985), About Last Night... (1986), The War of the Roses (1989), Defending Your Life (1991), Spanglish (2004), and No Strings Attached, to name my favorites) for, at the very least, Jerry's fabulous man-cave-in-an-attic, filled with music memorabilia and eclectic articles. I've looked in vain for stills but haven't turned up any. I also enjoyed the classic Hollywood, West Hollywood, and Laurel Canyon locations.
Speaking of music, I jotted down the list of bands Sam gives to Josh to educate him: Joy Division, Buzzcocks, Clash, Television, and Gang of Four, just because I'm not all that familiar with that genre. I don't remember how many songs were actually listed at the end of the credits when we saw it Wednesday, but the lovely score is by A.R. Rahman (127 Hours, and two Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire) and features an original song he wrote and performed with Liz Phair. You can listen to a 5 minute soundtrack compilation on youtube or clips from each track on the soundtrack CD on amazon.
Reviewers haven't been kind--on rottentomatoes the average is only 55% (certified rotten), but audiences rate it 70% and last weekend it was 11th at the box office in its third week of release. Still in first run theatres, though it seems to be sharing screens with bigger blockbusters, it's worth your time and we recommend it.
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