Trailer Hitch
By Eric Hughes
August 20, 2008
Role Models – Opens November 14th
For me, Paul Rudd went from that slightly unfunny sidekick character in absurd Will Ferrell and Judd Apatow comedies to the leading man in films that I really wouldn't mind seeing. Not that I will rush out and see this one, but the trailer for Role Models convinced me that I'm officially a fan of Rudd and the characters he plays. I especially liked his confrontation at a Starbucks over the chain's ridiculous cup sizes and his mock of classic Jerry Maguire lines while spending an afternoon with a former girlfriend.
In Role Models, Rudd stars alongside Seann William Scott, another guy I've grown to like in time, in a comedy about two men who become mentors for young boys (Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Bobb'e J. Thompson) at a community service program to skip out of a month of jail for bad behavior. It's a good thing Mintz-Plasse wasn't just a one-hit wonder from Superbad - McLovin! - as I enjoyed his presence in the preview, where he plays a boy, dawning a cape, who seemingly believes his world is one big RPG.
Grade: B-
Also expected to be released on this date: Soul Men, Australia, Nothing Like the Holidays, The Other End of the Line, House, The Road
Winged Creatures – Opens TBA 2008
Winged Creatures is a film that examines the emotional fallout experienced by the survivors of a multiple murder and suicide in a small town restaurant. Dakota Fanning's character, Anne, loses her father in the seemingly spontaneous attack; her best friend, Jimmy (Josh Hutcherson), turns into a mute; Charlie (Forest Whitaker), who was grazed by a bullet, further tests his "luck" at a casino and Carla (Kate Beckinsale) finds herself unable to take care of herself. Other characters fall under the examining microscope as well, including ones played by Guy Pearce and Jennifer Hudson.
The trailer plays a bit excessively with cross fades, fades to black and other transitions, but it doesn't take too much away from an otherwise excellent looking melodrama. In a way, the film very much looks synonymous with the aftershock following the events of 9/11, in which people struggled, and are still struggling, to regain trust in a seemingly vicious world.
Grade: A
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