Safe Haven

Movie: Safe Haven

Genre: drama

Synopsis: Based on a Nicolas Sparks novel - Katie (Julianne Hough) is on the run from her abusive cop husband.  The takes refuge in a small South Carolina coastal town.  There, she meets Alex (Josh Duhamel).  Alex is a widower with two children and runs the local general store/gas station.  The question is – will she relax enough to allow her relationship with Alex to develop before her past catches up to her.

My two cents: Pretty good – but not quite great.  Julianne Hough was great – really breathtakingly beautiful.  My biggest problem is that I kept expecting Alex to act more like Duhamel’s Danny McCoy character from “Las Vegas”.  Overall a nice romance movie with a bit more action than your typical Nicolas Sparks movie.

[17]

Identity Theft

Movie: Identity Theft

Genre: Comedy

Synopsis: Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) is an easy-going Denver business man with a wife and two children.   His life is turned upside down when Miami con artist Diana (Melissa McCarthy) steals his identity.  Because of allegations against Sandy Peterson (actually Diana), his job is in jeopardy.  When the police are left than helpful, Sandy decides to go to Miami and somehow convince Diana to return to Denver and exonerate him.  He finds her – but getting her back to Denver makes for an eventful road trip.

My two cents: This was a really funny movie.  Jason Bateman played his usual straight-arrow nice-guy.  Melissa McCarthy was great as the con-artist.  Granted, there were times where the movie stretched credulity a bit – but it was fun to watch.

[16]

Bullet to the Head

Movie: Bullet to the Head

Genre: action

Synopsis: James Bonomo (Sylvester Stallone) and Louis Baptiste (Jon Seda) are a team of hitmen-for-hire.  Following their latest job, a third hitman tries to kill both of them – but only succeeds in killing Baptiste.  Now Bonomo is out to get everyone involved in the double-cross.  Joining him in a very tenuous partnership is Taylor Kwon (Sung Kang), a copy who lost a partner to the same man Bonomo is after.

My two cents: I kind of liked this movie.  Probably won’t be mentioned at Oscar time – but Sylvester Stallone can still play a bad-ass who will kick a lot of butt.  I especially liked Sarah Shahi as Bonomo’s daughter.  A considerable change from her role in “Almost Legal”.

[15]

Parker

Movie: Parker

Genre: drama

Synopsis: Parker (Jason Statham) is a crook with a simple code of ethics: he only hurts people if they deserve it and he only robs people who can afford it.  Parker reluctantly teams up with four others to pull off a big heist.  His crew double-crosses him, takes his money, shoots him, and leaves him for dead.  Unfortunately for them, Parker is not dead – but he is pissed and determined to get retribution from them.

My two cents: A fairly typical Jason Statham movie – which means I liked it,  I love watching Jason Statham walking around looking pissed off and kicking somebody’s butt every few minutes.

[14]

Broken City

Movie: Broken City

Genre: drama

Synopsis: Billie Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) is a former NYPD detective.  After delivering some vigilante justice to a rapist some years ago, Billie was forced to resign.  He is now a private detective.  Mayor Hostetler (Russell Crowe) is married to Cathleen (Catherine Zeta Jones). Hostetler, who takes corruption to whole new levels, hires Billie to get proof that his wife is being unfaithful.  It turns out he has other motives in mind and Billie ends up involved in a huge criminal conspiracy.

My two cents: A decent good guy vs. corrupt bad guy politician movie.

[13]

Movie 43

Movie: Movie 43

Genre: comedy

Synopsis: This movie consisted of fourteen ‘shorts’.  Among the stars: Dennis Quaid, Greg Kinnear, Seth McFarlane, Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Live Schreiber, Naomi Watts, Anna Faris, Emma Stone, Uma Thurman, Kristen Bell, Gerard Butler. Halle Berry, and Terrence Howard.

My two cents: With this star-studded cast, I had hoped that this movie would be good.  Maybe I am getting too stodgy, but I found the majority of these shorts were funny – but eventually crossed the line and made me a bit uncomfortable.  Don’t get me wrong – a lot of it is really really funny, but it just always seemed to go a little too far for my comfort level.

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