Less Than Zero

I wouldn't be the first to say drugs are in and a problem throughout American society. With the legalization of the pot in Washington, Oregon, and soon to be Alaska in 2015, drugs can be political and are often talked around my high school; for example "If weed should be legal or not". I will also say high school is where sadly I am most exposed to drugs. You know who the drug dealers are, who's been arrested over it and I can't tell you how times in my study hour I have overheard a story about a local party involving the drugs and alcohol.

Yes, there are stoner films but films that have a plot of a person dealing with a drug addiction are not that common. It is hard to an find audience for these films which have a depressing atmosphere. The one film that should always to mind with drug addiction though is Less then Zero

Blair (Jami Gertz), Clay Eaton (Andrew McCarthy) and Julian Wells (Rober Downey Jr.) are all college age kids during Christmas time in affluent Los Angeles. Blair and Clay are a former couple who's relationship faltered after Blair cheated on him with Julian leaving all three friends in a awkward stance. During this Christmas break, we learn that Julian now has a severe drug problem and sometimes sleeps on a cliff on a beach due to the fact that's his parents kicked him out of the house. Julian also can't pay off his drug debt to drug dealer Rip (James Spader). It is part drug film, part relationship film.

Truthfully, these are somewhat simple lead characters. These are characters who are trying their best to get away from high school problems and are trying to get a foot in the real world. It is the Downey character who is the most interesting. Director Marek Kanievska does a good job of making you feel like you have already known Julian. With some great acting by Downey, you are truly frustrated with his antics and you have no confidence that he is going to stop buying drugs like says he will. You do want him to get better because you miss that cocky, smart-ass character that briefly appears before he becomes stoned and strung out. It is hard to like Blair because of the cheating and she could possibly go down the same road as Julian but she eventually does find herself. The McCarthy character doesn't have much substance compared to the others and he is truly the only character with a clean record and you do have respect for how he tries to save his friend.          

       

Released in 1987, we do see the 80's fashion/style, and 1980's Los Angeles culture is a major theme in the film. These are all kids who parents never had money troubles, who think it is normal to wear suits and dresses every day and drive flashy cars. This rich culture is presented to us in a way that fits very nicely into the drug plot.


Less Than Zero won't seem to be a stand-out film. It is mostly remembered for being an 80's film and some of it's cast and an ironically Downey had severe drugs problems afterwards in the 90's but we should remember Less Than Zero more for how well it is made. It is a close to flawless movie with to the heartfelt message that never gives  up on what it is trying to say.

4.5/5

Iron Man 3

After 2010 and with two Iron Man movies in the books, you could really say that this series was rolling. The series was making it's actors even more popular than they were before and it had momentum. The movies also had villains that were quite memorable and they also worked as a comedies a little with Robert Downey Jr's witty and hilarious quips. The Iron Man movies also were one of the first series of superhero films that didn't have a geek feel to it. With Iron Man 3, we certainly expected more of the same; something good to add to the series. Well even though Iron Man 3 is certainly above average, in the end it is really not the Iron Man movie I wanted it to be.

Iron Man 3 has pretty much the same cast as the first two movies but there is a different director, Shane Black. The film follows Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) after the series previous events in Manhattan. He is stressed, has anxiety problems and and is not his usual cool self. To add to this, a terrorist by the name of the Mandarin begins to terrorize the country with a string of bombings. The Mandarin is really mysterious but turns into something kind of cool once his identity is revealed. Anyway, with Tony's stress, girlfriend problems and the Mandarin lurking around, things are not looking good for Tony Stark at the start of the movie.

I think this is the first film in this series where you can really question the plot. It has a good idea of Tony travelling to Tennessee after his California home is destroyed and it also introduces a new character, a young boy by the name of Harley (Ty Simpkins) who bonds with Stark.  James Rhodes (Don Chedle) is back again in War Machine armor as the Iron Patriot and his character is given a little more to do this time. As mentioned before, the villain is a good character and acted well by Ben Kingsley. The story is given a good and interesting background set from 1999 but some parts are hard to believe and do not fit realistically into the story. The ending is of course filled with action, explosives and visuals but it is stuff we have seen  before and long, drawn out and uneven.

Just as with the plot, the characters and actors don't seem to bring much new in this installment. Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts is not given much to do and does not carry any scenes. John Faverau as Happy Hogan is kind of funny in a limited role. As for Robert Downey Jr, in the first two movies, he was really given a chance to bring out the wise-cracking character of Tony Stark. In this movie, the Tony Stark character lacks personalty and is not funny and there does not seem to be very much that is special about him here. In short, I think Iron Man 3 has a very talented cast but I don't think Black really knew how to use them properly.

The film does rely on some little things especially with the settings that add to the movie. There is a beautiful house used and set right by water and also interesting uses of technology and different sets in Tennessee with snow and a country feel.

So how does this film fit into the rest of the series? Like Hangover 3 which opens next weekend, Iron Man is kind of like Las Vegas. A film that we probably won't remember because most of what happened doesn't really make a lot of sense if you know what I mean.

3/5

Due Date

For the most part, I enjoy most films by Todd Phillips. He puts out decent comedies that sometimes bring something different to the table and they are also memorable for a lot reasons. Due Date is kind of like that. It did have promise and could been something more than it is. It is not terrible at all but it could been better and I think it was one of the biggest disappointments of the year 2010.

With a similar set up to the film Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Due Date is about Pete Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) who is on his way to Los Angles to witness the birth of his first son. Due to an altercation with a guy named Ethan (Zach Galifianakis) on his fight, they are both removed. As they are both trying to get California, they decide to go together but as usual the outcome is not what they want.

The film's lack of originality brings it down a step down and frankly it is not the most exciting movie out there. At times, there isn't much to the movie and it is very unrealistic in places. I didn't know you could drive to Los Angeles with a stolen Homeland Security truck without getting arrested in the end. With unrealistic ideas, we also have "unrealistic" characters who emerge unhurt from major incidents like cars flipping over.

That said, the main point of a comedy is to make people laugh. That is exactly the opposite of what the film does and the main point why this film is subpar. 

Due Date does have good performances from the lead actors but it really fails about everywhere else. I have sat through many films from Todd Phillips before and some I praised and some I didn't but this is the only one where mockery was appropriate.

2/5