Crisp Criticism - "The Boss", "Mother's Day", "The Divergent Series: Allegiant: Part 1", "Eddie the Eagle"

by

Julien Faddoul

The Boss

A titan of industry is sent to prison after she's caught insider trading. When she emerges, she attempts to rebrand herself as America's latest sweetheart.

Dim, illogical comedy that devotes all its time to jokes that are either inconsistent or contradictory. Another failure by its star to combine the temperaments of sadness and slapstick.

d – Ben Falcone

w – Ben Falcone, Steve Mallory, Melissa McCarthy

ph – Julio Macat

pd – Rusty Smith

m – Christopher Lennertz

ed – Craig Alpert

cos – Wendy Chuck

p – Will Ferrell, Adam McKay

Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Peter Dinklage, Kristen Bell, Kathy Bates, Kristen Schaal, Cecily Strong, Margo Martindale, Tyler Labine, Parker Young

Mother’s Day

Intersecting stories with different mums collide on Mother's Day.

A colossal piece of garbage, with everyone concerned supplying the least amount of energy possible.

d – Garry Marshall

w – Tom Hines, Lily Hollander, Anya Kochoff, Matthew Walker  

ph – Charles Minsky

pd – Missy Stewart

m – John Debney

ed – Bruce Green, Robert Malina

cos – Marilyn Vance, Beverley Woods

p – Brandt Andersen, Howard Burd, Daniel Diamond, Mark DiSalle, Mark Fasano, Mike Karz, Wayne Allan Rice

Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson, Timothy Olyphant, Jason Sudeikis, Sarah Chalke, Margo Martindale, Jon Lovitz, Britt Robertson, Shay Mitchell, Jack Whitehall, Loni Love, Gianna Simone

The Divergent Series: Allegiant: Part 1

Beatrice Prior and Tobias Eaton venture into the world outside of the fence and are taken into protective custody by a mysterious agency known as the Bureau of Genetic Welfare.

As dull a futuristic action-film as one could imagine that soothes its audience into an incurable state of apathy.

d – Robert Schwentke

w – Noah Oppenheim, Adam Cooper, Bill Collage   (Based on the Novel by Veronica Roth)

ph – Florian Ballhaus

pd – Alec Hammond

m – Joseph Trapanese

ed – Stuart Levy   

cos – Marlene Stewart

p – Lucy Fisher, Pouya Shahbazian, Douglas Wick

Cast: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Zoë Kravitz, Miles Teller, Naomi Watts, Ansel Elgort, Jonny Weston, Maggie Q, Jeff Daniels, Bill Skarsgård, Nadia Hilker, Keiynan Lonsdale, Courtney Hope, Joseph David-Jones, Autumn Dial, Hannah Alligood, Ray Stevenson, Mekhi Phifer, Xander Berkeley, Parisa Johnston, Rebecca Pidgeon, Daniel Dae Kim, Octavia Spencer

Eddie the Eagle

The story of Eddie Edwards, the notoriously tenacious British underdog ski jumper who charmed the world at the 1988 Winter Olympics.

Almost ferocious in its sentimentality, with not a single convincing moment. Not surprisingly, its most interesting aspect – the rebellious coach played by Jackman – is entirely fictional.

d – Dexter Fletcher

w – Simon Kelton, Sean Macaulay

ph – George Richmond

pd – Mike Gunn

m – Matthew Margeson

ed – Martin Walsh

p – Adam Bohling, David Reid, Rupert Maconick, Valerie Van Galder, Matthew Vaughn

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Taron Egerton, Christopher Walken, Matthew Brandon, Ania Sowinski, Mads Sjøgård Pettersen, Tomasz Dabrowski