THE WRECKING CREW (2026)

January 29, 2026

Greetings again from the darkness. Well, it’s not exactly a ‘good cop/bad cop’ scenario, since only one of them is a cop – and he’s suspended and out of his territory. It’s also not a traditional ‘Buddy comedy’ since these aren’t buddies, but rather estranged, grudge-holding half-brothers. Still, the premise is admirable, and the casting choice of pairing Dave Bautista with Jason Mamoa is marketing brilliance. Jonathan Tropper (creator and writer of “Banshee”) wrote the screenplay and Angel Manuel Soto (BLUE BEETLE, 2023) directed.

An apparent hit and run takes the life of Walter, the father of brothers by different mothers, James (Dave Bautista) and Jonny (Jason Mamoa). James is a composed Navy SEAL officer who is married with two kids. Jonny is a party animal cop on a reservation in Oklahoma, whose girlfriend Valentina (Morena Baccarin) dumps him moments after he’s suspended from his job and learns his father has died. Of course, Jonny had no relationship with his dad and has been estranged from brother James for a decade. When he’s attacked and his house is trashed by Yakuza gang members, Jonny figures there more to his dad’s story and heads to Hawaii (where James lives) to investigate.

The film serves its purpose when James and Jonny are going at each other with verbal digs or physical punches. The personality differences of Bautista and Mamoa makes these exchanges kinda fun … and sometimes funny. It’s actually a let down that their exchanges aren’t a bit more clever – say, in the mold of 48 HOURS (with Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy). Perhaps I’m asking too much. The most frustrating aspect here is the villain. Claes Bang plays Robichaux, the leader of Yakuza, and he is severely underutilized here … other than a crack about him as the Vampire Lestat (Bang was terrific in the TV series “Dracula” ).

Morena Baccarin plays Valentina as a bank manager with extraordinary driving skills. Other supporting work comes from Jacob Batalon as Pica, more comedy relief as Walter’s assistant and referred to as ‘fat Jackie Chan’; Stephen Root as a frustrated Police Captain; and Temuera Morrison as the Governor. There are some stunning shots of Hawaii, and more of the impressive tattooed physiques of Bautista and Mamoa as they constantly fight – either each other or bad guys. They even get to look cool riding motorcycles. I feel obligated to make note of one particular action sequence that bothered me. It’s the biggest action set piece in the film … an incredible air and road chase scene featuring an incredible amount of gunfire and vehicle carnage. What bothered me was a stunning number of innocents who were harmed and probably killed … all with no care or attention from our heroes – James and Jonny (the former more concerned about his own wrecked vehicle). For me, this put a damper on what otherwise was played as a comical, over-the-top action film.

Streaming on Amazon Prime as of January 28, 2026

WATCH THE TRAILER

1 Comment | Action, Comedy | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by David Ferguson

THE ADAM PROJECT (2022)

March 10, 2022

Greetings again from the darkness. At a certain age, most of us have given some thought to what we might say to our younger self if we had the opportunity to go back in time. The familiar phrase goes, “Hindsight is 20/20”, but what if we had foresight? What if we knew the best choices to make, and the bad decisions to avoid? Director Shawn Levy (the “Night at the Museum” franchise) reunites with his FREE GUY (2021) actor, Ryan Reynolds, to bring us a crowd-pleasing time travel movie with a personal twist. The script was co-written by Jonathan Tropper (“Banshee” creator), TS Nowlin (“The Maze Runner” franchise), and Jennifer Flackett (“Big Mouth”).

Twelve-year-old Adam (Walker Scobell in his first film) is the kind of wisecracking kid that attracts bullies at school. He lives with his mother (Jennifer Garner), and they are both still mourning his dad who died in a car crash. Ms. Garner is saddled with the film’s most obvious line when she lectures young Adam, “… the future is coming sooner than you think.” When adolescent Adam stumbles on an injured astronaut in the garage, it takes a while before he figures out that it’s actually his own self from the future (2050 vs 2022). When you have a wisecracking 12-year-old, it’s only perfect casting to have wisecracking master Ryan Reynolds play the older version. Despite some early friction, or maybe because of it, the two enjoy playing off each other with snappy one-liners and comebacks.

As with most time travel stories, things get a bit complicated, and the only solution involves taking a bigger risk and adding more complications. Not to give anything away, but the two Adams are forced to make a joint time-jump to find dear old dad, Professor Louis Reed (Mark Ruffalo). The purpose is not to save dad’s life, but for other personal reasons that involve Zoe Saldana as Laura, and Catherine Keener (miscast as the villain) as Maya, Professor Reed’s not so ethical business partner. It’s this section that offers the most action and tension, although the film is best delivering for the audience when the wisecracks are flying between Reynolds, Ruffalo, and Scobell).

Director Levy has constructed a charming film that proves quite entertaining for mainstream audiences, and he adds little touches like a family dog named Hawking, and classic rock from Led Zeppelin, Spencer Davis Group, Boston, and Pete Townsend. He even avoids the temptation to add a line of dialogue, “Hey Dad, wanna have a catch?” Outside of one sequence, the special effects are minimal considering it’s a time travel movie, and at its heart, it’s a story about coming to grips with family and who you are as a person.

Available on Netflix beginning March 11, 2022

WATCH THE TRAILER

Leave a Comment » | Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by David Ferguson

THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU (2014)

September 21, 2014

this is where Greetings again from the darkness. After watching this movie, I thought about researching whether the boobs of a 76 year old actress had ever been as front and center as they are in this dramedy from director Shawn Levy – not counting Calendar Girls which was for a worthy cause. Luckily I came to my senses, and realized that’s not a topic anyone should google … except maybe a 76 year old man.

Jane Fonda is the actress whose enhanced assets are so prominently featured, and she plays the mother of four adult children brought together to mourn the death of the family patriarch. This is based on the novel by Jonathan Tropper and though it’s watchable enough, it could have benefited from a better script adaptation and a less mainstream comedy director. Mr. Levy provided the popular and entertaining A Night at the Museum, as well as a long list of simple minded movies that didn’t prepare him for the depth of Tropper’s story.

The four “kids” are played by Corey Stoll, Jason Bateman, Tina Fey and Adam Driver. Also joining them under a single roof are Stoll’s desperate-for-a-baby wife Kathryn Hahn, Fey’s two kids and self-professed a-hole husband (Aaron Lazar), and Driver’s engaged-to-be-engaged much older woman played by Connie Britton. If you think that’s an outstanding cast, note that also appearing are Timothy Olyphant (Fey’s brain-damaged former lover), Rose Byrne (she always lusted after Bateman), Dax Shepard (sleeps with Bateman’s wife played by Abigail Spencer), Ben Schwartz as an oddball Jewish rabbi, and Debra Monk (the helpful neighbor and more).

Obviously the issue with so many characters and talented actors is that screen time is limited. Somehow each of these have one key moment in the film, and that may be the biggest issue. Some of these we want to know more about (Olyphant, Byrne, Brittain), while others could have been written out of the script altogether (Lazar, Schwartz, Shepard) and the movie wouldn’t have suffered, and might have improved.

Most of the story revolves around Bateman and his situation – crumbled marriage, lost job, dead father, plus even more. Going through that and facing his sit-com worthy dysfunctional family provides an unending stream of none-too-subtle moments: a basement sleeper/sofa that won’t fold out, roof top talks with his bossypants sister, and even fisticuffs inside the family and out.

This is another in the Suburban-angst sub-genre, and the numerous contrived scenes and formulaic sequences are salvaged only by the talented casts ability to squeeze the moment from the next one-liner. There is so much rage and resentment in this family that we viewers are willing to find humor in the toddler toting his portable potty with him everywhere, or even Bateman taking the expected prat fall in an ice rink. There is little edge to this material, but it’s not difficult to glimpse how the right director could have approached the genius of The Royal Tenenbaums or the original Death at a Funeral, rather than a generic blend of Garden State and August:Osage County.

Britton, Byrne and Batemen all have their moments, and the movie is certainly watchable … though it could have been exceptional as either a straight out comedy or an indie-type drama. No need to email me if you come up with additional films featuring 76 year old boobs.

SEE THIS MOVIE IF: you are up for the challenge of keeping track of the seemingly endless number of characters who have “a moment” during this one

SKIP THIS MOVIE IF: you share the sentiment with me and Jason Bateman’s character that there is no need to focus on Jane Fonda’s “bionic breasts”

watch the trailer:

 

Leave a Comment » | Comedy, Drama | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by David Ferguson