Pauly Shore movies have a tendency to be pretty bad but In the Army Now is actually almost good. Sure, there are plenty of outlandish antics and stupid jokes, but there’s something about this movie that is kind of endearing. I certainly never expected to say that about a movie with Pauly Shore and Andy Dick as the leads, but then again, stranger things have happened!
Shore and Dick star as bumbling electronics salesmen who are completely unsatisfied with life and fear that they’ll never achieve their goal of owning their own shop. They see a sign for the Army Reserves and decide to sign up because of the sign-on bonus. Their pay for being Reservists would go a long way to helping them reach their goal. Leary of signing up for anything too dangerous, the duo decide to learn water filtration as their Reservist specialty.
After surviving basic training and learning the ins and outs of water filtration, their unit (including David Alan Grier and Lori Petty) gets sent to Africa when Libya invades Chad. Shore and Dick’s four-soldier water filtration unit is essential in the hot climate but things get bungled up and they get lost in the middle of the Sahara desert. They argue and bicker, hopelessly search for the rest of the Army and all sorts of goofy things happen.
In the end, an opportunity to save the day presents itself. They discover a secret missile launch site and radio into their superiors, who send them the supplies needed to make it visible for an air strike. Summoning all their courage and training, the four misfits prove that Reservists can be just as brave and effective as the regular Army guys and save the day. (Come on, it’s a comedy after all!)
For some reason, In the Army Now is one of Pauly Shores most tolerable films. He doesn’t do as much of his nonsensical “Weasel” persona and the subject matter of being a Reservist is treated with a proper amount of respect. Instead of making the military look stupid, bravery and courage are emphasized. Granted it’s Pauly Shore emphasizing these traits, so a grain of salt is needed. Nevertheless, it’s actually worth watching. I think most people will find it funny and it’s mostly harmless. You won’t lose brain cells watching this movie.
Oddly enough, this is probably one of Pauly Shores least remembered films, yet it’s one of his best. Check it out if you don’t mind some innocent semi-brainless fun.
This was a date movie for me. I took my fiancée out to dinner and a movie and this was the only remotely decent thing playing that we could agree upon. I’m very glad we did because this film is charming and really showcases Steve Carell’s versatility as an actor.
Dan in Real Life got more favorable reviews than it did negative ones, but it wasn’t garnering the kind of positive buzz that builds anticipation for a film in the minds of the masses. The film did have appeal from wildly different demographics because of its star, Steve Carell. When Dan in Real Life hit theaters Carell was still a big draw for young audiences because of his work on The 40 Year Old Virgin, Anchorman and The Daily Show. Older audiences and some bleed-over from the youthful demographic know and like Carell from his performance on The Office and Little Miss Sunshine.
It’s rare to get this kind of catch-all appeal but it worked for Dan in Real Life (to some extent). Its main competition on the weekend was the youth-magnet Saw IV and the next weekend would see the launch of the much-hyped American Gangster and the Jerry Seinfeld vehicle Bee Movie. The odds were certainly stacked against it but it persevered.
I don’t know what critics and moviegoers failed to see in this film, because I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can see how some viewers and critics felt like the story was something out of a sitcom, but it all works because the story couldn’t be stretched into a TV show. I think the reason people took issue with it is because it doesn’t fit a specific comedy mold. It’s part romantic comedy, it’s part straight comedy, it has a few slapstick elements, some black humor and plenty of tongue-in-cheek wit. This causes Dan in Real Life to not fit any comfortable genre classification that people ultimately try to associate a film with.
I like films like this- the ones that are virtually unlike anything that has come before it. It’s unique and stands out in my mind. The uniqueness of the film comes from many different factors. Not only is the story good, but the writing and acting all heap goodness upon goodness.
Steve Carell stars as Dan, an advice columnist on the verge of national syndication. Every week people rely on his advice to clean up the messes in their lives. Ironically, his life is full of quirks and messes that he struggles with: he’s a middle-aged widower with three daughters (two of them teenagers) that he doesn’t completely understand. He and the girls head off to a family gathering, where we meet even more eccentric but endearing relatives.
Dan is set to fetch the morning paper in town, where he meets a lovely woman named Marie, played by Juliette Binoche. Dan and Marie awkwardly flirt, both realizing how silly it must seem to see middle-aged adults flirting like children without trying to be too obvious. It’s cute and appreciable. There’s a real emotional honesty in these scenes, as well as the rest of the film, that most romantic comedies fail to capture. Instead of absurd yucks, Dan in Real Life aims for heartwarming chuckles and it succeeds.
Marie and Dan say goodbye and she departs after receiving a phone call from her boyfriend. Dan feels a little bummed, buys the paper and heads back to his parents’ house. He returns only to find Marie fraternizing with his family. Turns out Marie is going out with Dan’s brother, played by Dane Cook. More humor and awkwardness ensues as the two try and work everything out over the course of the weekend.
Carell and Binoche really convey an honesty in their performances that is hard to come by. Despite the seemingly unlikely setup, they really make you feel like everything is real. Technically, it is all very possible, but they made it feel like it was never not possible that this all could happen. It just feels so genuine that it’s hard for me to explain.
And I think that genuine quality explains why its success was so limited. The theater I saw this film at was packed. Half the crowd was young teenagers and half were adults. The kids must have been disappointed because they didn’t laugh very often. Perhaps they thought this would be another 40 Year Old Virgin. The older crowd, myself included (I guess), had a good time. Most of the younger crowd probably told their friends not to bother seeing it because it wasn’t as good as Carell’s crude humor flicks. Older viewers may have recommended it to friends, but we adults are stingy about what we spend money on, so most are probably waiting for it to come out on video.
The disappointed young folk are wrong though. This is one of Carell’s best films to date and easily his best leading role. He excels at being normal- Dan is honest, sensible and vulnerable. Carell really shows his acting chops here because, while we already know he can make us roll with laughter, he invokes laughter from everyday absurdities and also works the audience’s emotional side. For a funny man to make you tear up is truly a beautiful thing.
The rest of the cast is spot-on in their performances. Dane Cook, who I normally can’t stand, is surprisingly normal, tolerable and effective as Dan’s brother. The daughters bring their characters to life and are wonderfully realistic. Every character builds in just the right places to make this film work.
It may be hard to tell from my rambling review, but I really, really liked Dan in Real Life. It’s emotional honesty and subtle humor goes a long way and is a refreshing change of pace from the typical Hollywood comedies. It’s a testament to Steve Carell’s abilities and I hope he goes far in his career. I highly recommend that you check this one out.
Not only does this film glorify the irresponsible and potentially deadly hobby of illegal street racing, it also seems to make an attempt to legitimize it, leaving me with nothing but contempt for The Fast and the Furious.
Essentially a shallow repackaging/rip-off of the 1991 film Point Break, The Fast and the Furious boasts “high-octane action and excitement” but, in reality, rarely manages to make it out of first gear. Paul Walker stars as a twenty-something undercover cop trying to break into the local street racing culture in hopes of uncovering the mastermind behind a series of semi truck robberies on local highways.
Walker makes himself look like a rookie fool by racing the local hotshots with his car at stake and losing, though he tried his darndest to win. Fortunately, a “surprise” police raid causes everyone to flee, allowing Walker to save one of the street racing gang leaders, played by Vin Diesel. Despite looking like a total stooge and the all-too-convenient raid and getaway, Walker is admitted into Diesel’s inner circle. One of Diesel’s gang sees right through Walker’s ruse but Diesel doesn’t believe it.
Walker proceeds to fall in love with Diesel’s sister and comes to embrace his new found “friends” and their lifestyle. This clouds his vision to the fact that Diesel is indeed the one behind the highway robberies and he spends much of the movie trying desperately to find evidence that one of the other gang leaders is behind it.
In the end, Walker has to make a choice. After a highway robbery goes awry and one of Diesel’s gang is seriously hurt, Walker exposes himself as a cop to get medevac for the injured. With Diesel’s operation exposed and cops on the way, Walker does the only logical thing left to be done: he lets Diesel flee to Mexico. Walker puts faux friends and a lifestyle that isn’t his above his duties as a police officer and lets the bad guy get away.
So, aside from the anti-establishment undertones, what is wrong with this movie? For starters, the writing sucks. I understand that much of the dialog is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but it’s still woefully written tongue-in-cheek. Groan worthy lines like “You look tired, I think you should go upstairs and give me a massage” and “I live my life a quarter-mile at a time” are just a few examples of how stale and out of touch the script is.
The actors do their best to deal with the horrible prose they are force fed, but stale or overblown performances prevent the acting from achieving anything above mediocrity. Very few, if any, of the characters seem genuine. Most are built out of stereotypes and conventions that have grown to be more irksome than appreciable. Walker’s eagerness to be playing his first bona fide leading role and the lousy script make his character completely unbelievable and easy to pick out as an undercover cop. Vin Diesel appears to either have just been acting like his normal self or he decided to adopt his character’s attitude in real life. It’s hard to tell, but either way he’s a flat character and it’s hard to imagine a guy who grew up on the streets and working with cars to be such a genius at crime.
The rest of the cast is filled out with actors and actresses who have also had very little experience with main or even supporting roles. There’s a lot of raw talent in The Fast and the Furious, but it doesn’t appear that director Rob Cohen spent much time helping the young cast figure out their characters. All this untapped and unfocused talent is a lot to sit through for 100 minutes. I’d like the think the cast (excepting Vin Diesel of course) will go on to have bright careers when they get the proper amount of direction.
Some of the chase scenes and visual effects are a bit on the silly side. I mean, do we really need a CGI shot that takes us from the engine block back through the exhaust pipe? I think not. The use of computer inserted ‘speed lines’ to make viewers think that the cars are traveling really fast are preposterous. These effects make the cars look like they are traveling much faster than they really could under the same conditions in real life.
Also, some of the stunt work, while impressive looking, is very deceiving. Some of the race scene and wrecks are very well choreographed and executed, but rely on visual trickery and many modifications to pull off. For instance, very few cars are low enough to the ground to drive underneath and a semi truck’s trailer. Even one that is low enough would be obstructed by the spare tire holder and other parts that hang below the bottom of the trailer. The trucks used have raised trailers, which are easy to spot if you know where to look. It all looks ‘cool,’ but it’s not realistic.
And that’s the biggest problem with The Fast and the Furious. Much of it is just too unrealistic to keep my mind from suppressing my doubt for very long. The dialog is phony, the acting is stale and the plot is a stretch. The way they rob the trucks is really truly laughable and probably wouldn’t work.
At its heart, The Fast and the Furious is a guilty pleasure movie but it really turns out to be guilty of poor execution and being an almost undetectable rip-off. Just as Point Break sparked an interest in surfing back in the early 90s, The Fast and the Furious sparked interest in illegal street racing, a decidedly more dangerous and less athletic pursuit.
Pauly Shore movies have a tendency to be pretty bad but In the Army Now is actually almost good. Sure, there are plenty of outlandish antics and stupid jokes, but there’s something about this movie that is kind of endearing. I certainly never expected to say that about a movie with Pauly Shore and Andy Dick as the leads, but then again, stranger things have happened!
This was a date movie for me. I took my fiancée out to dinner and a movie and this was the only remotely decent thing playing that we could agree upon. I’m very glad we did because this film is charming and really showcases Steve Carell’s versatility as an actor.
Not only does this film glorify the irresponsible and potentially deadly hobby of illegal street racing, it also seems to make an attempt to legitimize it, leaving me with nothing but contempt for The Fast and the Furious.
