ME TIME
Kevin Hart plays Sonny, a stay-at-home dad who’s dedicated to his family but somewhere along the way stopped doing stuff for himself. His wife (Regina Hall) hatches a plan for her to take their two kids on a trip without him so he can have a week to himself to do whatever he pleases. And after dodging his best buddy Huck (Mark Wahlberg), he eventually reconnects with him to go all out in celebrating his birthday. What ensues is derisive, unfunny, and so stupid. It’s hard to imagine this coming from the writer/director of I Love You, Man and Along Came Polly, but unfortunately it is.
What Wahlberg and Hart are doing these days is very predictable, and their on-screen friendship feels fake and forced. These two guys can do comedy but they’re clearly just going through the motions here. The one I feel sorry for is Hall. She’s way too good to be stuck in such a dull role where she’s not allowed to be funny. Viewers are cheated throughout the entire movie with a weak story about friendship and being yourself that’s filled with dumbass antics we have to suffer through. Me Time is a total waste of time.
LOST OLLIE
Ollie (voiced by Jonathan Groff) is a patchwork rabbit toy lost by his best friend Billy (Kesler Talbot), and through his map of memories and a little help from Zozo (voiced by Tim Blake Nelson) and Rosy (voiced by Mary J. Blige), he sets out on a quest to get back home. Co-starring Gina Rodriguez and Jake Johnson, this new four-part Netflix miniseries based on William Joyce’s Ollie’s Odyssey is splendid, sweet, and surprising. Just like Woody and Andy, it’s a toy story that pulls on the heart strings, lovingly presenting childhood innocence as well as the difficulties of growing up.
At the same time, director Peter Ramsey (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) and creator Shannon Tindle’s (Kubo and the Two Strings) live-action/animated hybrid separates itself from others like it in atmosphere and tone while parading sensational VFX. Whimsy, dark, immersive and emotional – Lost Ollie is about much more than literally being lost. It’s about long lost love, tragic loss, and that deeper, compulsory connection we thrive on. We tend to forget the significance toys have on us during such a crucial time in our young lives. Fortunately you can watch this superb series and be joyously reminded.
DAY SHIFT
In his feature debut, stuntman-turned-director J.J. Perry has serious difficulty in nailing the action or the jokes, hence his campy horror-comedy flick is incapable of being anything but bush-league. Jamie Foxx plays a modern day vampire hunter, beheading the bloodsuckers and cashing in on their teeth. But he’s been down on his luck for awhile and needs a bunch of cash in a hurry if he wants to keep his family together. The only way to do that is to get back in the Union – an international group he was kicked out of – and they aren’t going to make it easy for him. He gets the worst hours and is partnered with Seth (Dave Franco), a by the book auditor who’s never been out in the field in his life. What could possibly go wrong?
Admittedly, Perry applies his stunt expertise to assemble a few good bloody fights/kills, yet very little of it truly delivers. Foxx’s guaranteed charisma isn’t enough, either. His and Franco’s chemistry is so-so, while other characters are severely underused. Everyone involved is trying too hard and doing nothing for the genre they’re sinking their teeth in to. The fun is sucked out and what’s left is altogether aggravating.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association and the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
Check out the SoBros Shop. Become a Patron. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Watch on YouTube.
