#63: THE INVITE

 

STARRING: Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton. Written by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones. Based The People Upstairs by Cesc Gay. Directed by Olivia Wilde. Musice Devonte Hynes. Cinematography Adam Newport-Berra. Running time 107 minutes.

This has been a good year for relationship comedy/dramas what with the utterly superb Splitsville and the divisive The Drama before it, meaning that The Invite has a lot to live up to and it's a delight to report this delivers in spades, despite having the overbearing presence of Seth Rogen to mug and snort through the whole thing. I really don't like his schtick and his mock nasal laugh really gets my goat. 

Anyway, the plot sees Joe (Seth Rogen) as a miserable failed popstar with a bad back now teaching music in a third-rate college while his wife Angela (Olivia Wilde) fills her life buying expensive rugs and ornaments for the spacious double sized San Franscisco flat, while caring for their young daughter. Their marriage is in the doldrums and they spend their time bickering and sniping at each other over anything and everything, they no longer have sex and seem to put all their energy into staying miserable, or at least he does. When Joe comes home after work one night he's mortified to find out Angela has invited their neighbours over for the evening. Joe is mightly pissed and makes no bones about his displeasure when said neighbours, Pína (Penelope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton) arrive bang on time. Pína and Hawk everything Joe and Angela aren't, they're vibrant, vital and supremely confident. He's an ex-fire captain and she's a psychologist and sex therapist and they easily dominate their hosts. As the evening progresses, the four connect and when at last Joe and Angela are relaxed Hawk and Pína reveal their hidden secret and agenda, they're swingers and invite Joe and Angela to join them in a foursome. Then the fireworks really begin and one couple are forced to accept the truth of their relationship.

Beautifully acted, this in turns makes you squirm in discomfort, laugh-out-loud, and ponder the sadness that lurks beneath the surface. Thanks to four actors of this calibre, the film brilliantly soars, they aren't cliches or cyphers, these are real characters with real back stories and story arcs and the power struggle between them ebb and flows. This isn't a film with a huge twist in it's conclusion, just a sense of perhaps of hope. 

With a superb soundtrack and some excellent cinematography, this is a damn good looking film. And for me the icing on the cake was the use of demo tape of I'll Light The Fire, one of my favourite songs, over the closing credits. 

A very enjoyable, very adult, and very sophisticated comedy drama, this gets a very satisfied 9/10

#62: JACKASS: BEST AND LAST

Starring: Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Wee Man, Danger Ehren, Preston Lacy, Sean ‘Poopies’ McInerney, Zach Holmes, Jasper Dolphin, Rachel Wolfson, Eric Manaka, and Compston ‘Dark Shark’ Wilson. Written by Andrew Weinberg, Colton Dunn, Derrick Beckes, Eric Andre, Knate Gwaltney, Nick Kreiss, Sarah Shermona, Johnny Knoxville, Jeff Tremaine and Spike Jonze. Directed by Jeff Tremaine.  Budget $10 million. Running time: 96 minutes.

Apparently the last in the series, and judging by their ages, it's perhaps not a bad thing, apart from Chris Pontius who clearly has a hideous portrait in his attic the rest of the original cast are beginning to look their years. This is a mix of talking head interviews as the cast reveal important moments in the Jackass history along with vintage, unseen and new material from a still game, if not slower, bunch of menboys who are still willing to get the asses, dicks, bumholes and bodies beaten, kicked, punched, electrocuted and doused in human excrement all in the name of amusement. There's a genuine sense of connection between them all which is infectious and charming and Johnny Knoxville's affable manner is a delight.  

If you didn't laugh at the last four Jackass films it's highly unlikely you're going to find this outing funny, however I did, even if this outing did rely on far more scatalogical matter that I wanted. I had to look away for fear of vomiting. 

A great send off for a brilliantly funny comedy franchise.

9/10