In 2011’s Horrible Bosses, four of this decade’s best actors (Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Aniston, and Collin Farrell) take a backseat to the film’s three stars. The plot of this movie revolves around three friends. Nick (Jason Bateman – Juno, television’s Arrested Development), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis – Hall Pass, We’re the Millers), and Dale (Charlie Day – Going the Distance) are stuck in jobs that are made intolerable because of bosses who make their lives hell. Their bosses are so terrible that the trio wonders how much better their lives would be if they were no longer their current bosses.
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One Week (2008)
To say that Michael McGowan’s One Week suffered from the wrong movie/wrong time syndrome would be an understatement. Much like the beautiful movie Walk The Line, Joaquin Phoenix’s performance and the film were overshadowed by Jamie Foxx’s Ray, which came out a year earlier. From most critics’ perspectives, Ray was a slightly better movie. While Phoenix received a Best Actor Academy Award nomination, there was no chance he would win it because Foxx won the award a year before. The Academy wasn’t going to reward essentially the same movie with a nearly identical lead performance. The unfortunate part was that these movies were based on legendary actors (Johnny Cash in Walk The Line, Ray Charles in Ray), and each actor portrayed each man correctly.
About Last Night (1986)
I would have seen it years ago if I had been made aware of how great Edward Zwick’s movie was. I had always known About Last Night was an 80’s classic, but I associated it with cheesy teenage comedies like The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire, and Pretty in Pink. And while those movies have a certain charm, I put them all into the same category. By association, I also classified About Last Night with those movies because of the stars Rob Lowe and Demi Moore. Over time, I, for whatever reason, associated the plot with two people who met, had a wild night of sex, and then spent the rest of the movie regretting that decision. This story didn’t interest me either. I’ve seen that movie play out hundreds of times on the screen. Had I not stumbled upon About Last Night on cable one night, I might never have seen it. Had I not, I may have forever missed out on a good movie.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Roman Polanski’s (The Pianist, Chinatown) first American film, 1968’s Rosemary’s Baby, is a classic film that has held the test of time and should be viewed by every film fan at least once. Though classified primarily as a horror film, it isn’t scary compared to today’s movies. However, it does have a certain eeriness that only the legendary film directors (such as Alfred Hitchcock in Psycho and others) could capture in that day and age. It’s neither the darkness nor the freaky-looking characters that establish the fear. Instead, the fascinating, web-weaving storyline captures the audience’s interest for the film’s duration.
Sherrybaby (2006)
Maggie Gyllenhaal demonstrates her range as an actress in the little-known but critically acclaimed Sherrybaby. Gyllenhaal is a household name by now, though she hasn’t been in too many blockbuster movies. In fact, as of 2011, her only film that earned more than $75 million at the box office was The Dark Knight, which would have made its money regardless of whether she had been in it. This statement doesn’t mean to take anything away from Gyllenhaal. She is a very talented actress and will be a Hollywood A-lister for the next decade and more. However, in the movies I have seen her in thus far (namely Stranger Than Fiction, Crazy Heart, The Dark Knight), I’ve seen her play the same sweet girl next store who is likable, urns heads, and puts the needs of others before her. There’s always a fear that if an actor repeatedly plays the same character, she will be typecast and find it difficult to break that mold. Seeing Gyllenhaal star as the lead character in Sherrybaby showed me that she has the range and won’t allow herself to get pigeonholed into that same sweet character we’re accustomed to seeing her in.