Three very different 2016 comedies that kick off “7 reviews in 7 minutes” day…
A Hologram for the King…A movie I loved because of the very things that may alienate some viewers: it’s quiet and non-flashy and the best moments happen so subtly that you may miss what really makes them work. Tom Hanks has been in something of a “real-life hero” rut with “Bridge of Spies,” “Captain Phillips,” “Sully,” etc. and here he plays an older, more fearful version of the (fictional) everyman heroes that launched him to stardom decades ago. In “Hologram,” he’s an aging salesman scared to death that he won’t make a big sale in Saudia Arabia—where the movie is set, making great use of a unique setting—and also that his best days may be behind him. The film’s last third features professional insecurity and personal hope (in the form of a potentially-life-reinvigorating romance) that perfectly captures the panic and promise of globalism. Grade: A-
How to Be Single…Whatever happened to the old-school, actual romantic-comedies? Somewhere along the way Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan have been subverted by cynical (but no less unrealistic) offerings by Amy Schumer or Kirsten Wiig. “How to Be Single” splits the difference of a Katherine Heigl film (it even has the sleazy/smarmy bartender smugly finding ways to not let a one night stand continue) and the new-school of rom-coms that feature understanding men (usually played by Jake Lacey…as it is here) who just wants to take endless care of a woman that is not nice to him. Add in Rebel Wilson as a cartoon of “the best friend man eater” (there to contrast nicely with more typical leads in Dakota Johnson and Alison Brie) and you’ve got a film that only thinks it’s better than it really is. Grade: C
Sing Street…John Carney (of “Once” fame and the mellow Hollywood misfire “Begin Again”) has never really been a filmmaker I fully appreciated…until now. “Sing Street” is about a bullied kid whose home life is falling apart deciding to create music videos as both an artistic, life-saving outlet and to win over the girl of his dreams. I dragged my feet in seeing this film since it’s set in dreary Ireland during the 80’s but the feel of it is so universal it practically transcends time and place, functioning as a time machine to everyone’s teen years. It starts slow but gets better as it keeps going, becoming the first film I’ve ever really seen that captures just how important music—and music video culture—can become to a young person, the videos becoming fantasy windows into a better adulthood. By the end, if you’re not rooting for the hero you may already be dead. Grade: A