The Tickets of the Week - Choose your movie!

Three releases from Hollywood this week. All have pretty well known stars and so the choice is a bit tough because it surely is not easy catching all three in theaters. So, here is a peek at what is in store.

1. Sex Tape.

Marquee Name: Camerone Diaz.

The ‘Charlie’s Angel’ was last seen in a major release in Bad Teacher. Well, is she a marquee name in India? Not always. But, with a movie named ‘Sex Tape’, the interest is definitely increased. But, this one is more of a comedy/drama, with very little of the ‘title’ element. Expect to have a laugh riot, if the movie delivers what it promises.

2. The Judge

Marquee Name: Robert Downey Jr.

Well, the name Robert Downey Jr. might not bring people into theaters, but if you say the words Iron Man, the barometer jumps a few inches. Robert Downey Jr. is hugely popular as Iron Man/Tony Stark and to a lesser extent as Sherlock Holmes. It would be very interesting to see him on screen after a long time as something that is not Iron Man or Holmes. This is far removed from the action and thrills; The Judge is a family drama, with a bit of courtroom stuff. Interesting premise. And you have Robert Duvall and Billy Bob Thornton for company. Definitely an inviting option.

3. Left Behind

Marquee Name: Nicholas Cage

Cage ceased to be a big draw after Ghost Rider ran out of steam. Now, going by his last few movies, one has to approach a new one with quite a bit of apprehension. The last few years have damaged his legacy a bit and we hope for our sake and Cage’s that this one stems the rot. Looks like a fantasy action flick with a little bit of sci-fi thrown in. We have had quite a few action movies this year, so this one has to be quite good to catch our attention. Besides, there are many action films yet to release this year. So, the idea of waiting for a bigger better option doesn’t seem that bad.

Bottom Line: In spite of big names like Robert Downey Jr. and Nicholas Cage having releases, it is Cameron Diaz’s Sex Tape that has managed to get more shows in Chennai city than the other movies. Is it Diaz, is it the movie’s title, or is it something to do with how the movie performed globally? Friday has the answers.

STOLEN: Do we need this mundane flick?

What do you do on a regular day at work, when nothing special is happening, everything seems as normal and mundane as it can get? You go through the motions with a numbness that only an often repeated routine can bring. That exactly seems to be what has happened with the entire team of Stolen. Just another outing for the crew who planned nothing novel or exciting; a mish-mashed repeat of what most of them have been doing for quite a number of years. The results show very clearly on screen – a kidnapping drama that never gets the adrenaline flowing, the actors walking through the frames without conviction and action popping up every now and then in the form of a speeding car or a few gun shots. It is really difficult to remember a scene in the entire 96-minute duration which you could call unique.

Stolen is another one of those kidnap stories, the kind that Hollywood churns out when it is short of ideas. The protagonist could be a cop, a marine, a commoner, a moron, or a career criminal. Enemies of the past come back to haunt the present and kidnap the wife, girlfriend, brother, sister, daughter. Then the protagonist has to pay up or shoot the bad guy up. Well, you have the variables; throw them together and pick a combination. Stolen’s combination is one where the protagonist is a criminal, enemy from the past is a former accomplice, the one kidnapped is his daughter and the protagonist tries to pay up but ends up shooting up the kidnapper. Maybe the only shred of imagination that the makers have shown in here seems to be in the form of two cops who are constantly on the tail of the protagonist because they think he is up to something.

This is the kind of movie that you can call a ‘no-sweat movie’, because no one seems to have broken sweat over its making. The script seems to have been knocked together in a hurry and the cast assembled on a ‘whoever-is-available-besides-Nicholas Cage’ basis. Dialogues hardly stay with you for a minute after they have been spoken, the performances disappear from the mind the moment the credits begin to roll. You don’t have to try to forget Stolen, it vanishes from your mind altogether.

The one thing you want to say about this movie with conviction – clearly not enough thought or effort went into it and it reflects poorly on an A-list crew. You might be able to pardon this if you are a die hard Nicholas Cage fan, but that is an endangered species at the moment. Cage, you don’t need this half-hearted hotch-potch, it only damages your legacy. Stolen seems to be a movie made because a lot of people had nothing better to do, its not downright bad or boring, just so mundane and predictable that you would have preferred some innovative nonsense in its place. A better name for the Stolen would have been Lost, the team clearly Lost the plot.

Verdict: As mundane a kidnap drama as it can get!