Crisp Criticism - "The Gambler", "Mortdecai", "The Wedding Ringer", "The Interview"

by

Julien Faddoul

The Gambler *

A literature professor in debt from gambling gets mixed-up with a loan shark.

Unnecessary remake of the 1974 film that provides intermittent pleasures without being particularly memorable.

d – Rupert Wyatt

w – William Monahan   (Based on the Screenplay by James Toback)

ph – Greig Fraser

pd – Keith P. Cunningham

m – Jon Brion, Theo Green

ed – Pete Beaudreau

cos – Jacqueline West

p – Robert Chartoff, Stephen Levinson, Mark Wahlberg, David Winkler, Irwin Winkler

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, Brie Larson, Michael K. Williams, Jessica Lange, Anthony Kelley, Emory Cohen

Mortdecai

An art dealer searches for a stolen painting rumored to contain a secret code that gains access to hidden Nazi gold.

Based on an anthology of novels, this is an incredibly stupid and unfunny caper film with a star who, at this point, needs to be saved from himself.

d – David Koepp

w – Eric Aronson   (Based on the Novel by Kyril Bonfiglioli)

ph – Florian Hoffmeister

pd – James Merifield

m – Mark Ronson, Geoff Zanelli

ed – Derek Ambrosi, Jill Savitt

cos – Ruth Myers

p – Christi Dembrowski, Johnny Depp, Andrew Lazar, Patrick McCormick, Gigi Pritzker

Cast: Johnny Depp, Ewan McGregory, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paull Bettany, Olivia Munn, Jeff Goldblum, Ulrich Thomsen, Paul Whitehouse,

The Wedding Ringer

A friendless groom-to-be enlists the services of a man to pretend to be his best man and cast a troop of groomsmen.

Derivative and at times misogynist farce that gives its star another chance to scream his head off.

d – Jeremy Garelick

w – Jeremy Garelick, Jay Lavender

ph – Brad Lipson

pd – Chris Cornwell

m – Christopher Lennertz

ed – Jeff Groth, Shelly Westerman, Byron Wong

cos – Genevieve Tyrrell

p – Adam Fields, William Packer

Cast: Kevin Hart, Josh Gad, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Alan Ritchson, Cloris Leachman, Mimi Rogers, Ken Howard, Jenifer Lewis, Olivia Thirlby, Jorge Garcia, Josh Peck, Affion Crockett

The Interview

A talk show host and his producer are recruited by the CIA to assassinate Kim Jong-Un when it is discovered he is a big fan of the show and requests an interview.

Foul comedy that is only of interest due to events that occurred outside of the movie itself. As a film, it is superfluous viewing.

d – Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen

w – Dan Sterling, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg

ph – Brandon Trost

pd – Jon Billington

m – Henry Jackman

ed – Zene Baker, Evan Henke

cos – Carla Hetland

p – Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen, James Weaver

Cast: James Franco, Seth Rogen, Lizzy Caplan, Randall Park, Diana Bang, Timothy Simons, Anders Holm, Charles Rahi Chun