Eat Pray Love

Release Date: August 13th, 2010

Genre: Romance / Drama

Stars: Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, Richard Jenkins

Synopsis: A newly divorced middle aged woman decides to attempt to overcome her troubles by taking a lengthy vacation to Italy and India where she meets interesting new people and finds herself.

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Plot:                                          

Basing this movie on the true incredible journey of a woman who found herself in a place that many people can identify with was a great idea.

Writing / Production:              

At its best "Eat Pray Love" is refreshing, funny, and charming but it is also boring and drawn out.  There aren't a ton of bad things to say about the script but those responsible for editing would have done well to cut thirty or fourty minutes off this film.

Acting:                                   

Julia Roberts is one of my favorites and it was good to see her putting her show stopping talents to good use again.  The rest of the cast is quite delightful as well and I don't recall being distracted by any particularly horrible performances.

Originality:                            

The film used some old tricks but the idea of a woman finding herself before finding a man and not vice versa is quite different.

Overall:                                

To put it quite plainly the movie would have been really good (not great) if it was kept under the two hour mark.  As it stands there is a decent movie contained within "Eat Pray Love" you just have to tolerate the excesses that devalue the film. 

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Love & Distrust

Release Date: November 2nd, 2010

Genre: Drama / Romance

Stars: James Franco, Amy Adams, Robert Downey, Jr.

Synopsis: A collection of five short films connected only by their themes revolving around love.

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Plot:                                   

Three out of five of the plot lines were solid.  One didn't seem to have enough going on and the other did not make sense.

Writing / Production:    

Most of the short films were written well enough but the fact that there were no concrete connections between them was somewhat discomforting.  Also the opening titles, closing titles, and the titles between the short films were incredibly hokie and a thirteen year old could produce something more professional on a laptop in half an hour.

Acting:                               

The acting was pretty decent throughout but the names on the cover of the DVD misrepresent the contributions of the players to the film.  Robert Pattinson and Robert Downey Jr. are on the screen for a very small amount of time yet recieve big bold recognition on the case.

Originality:                         

It is definitely unique but not in a good way.

Overall:                              

There are some nice scenes in "Love & Distrust" but it feels like a movie that never finished shooting and was thrown together quickly and sloppily.  To top it off it is then shamelessly marketed as something that it is not.  Even though it is not total crap I highly discourage rewarding this film with your time and money.

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My Name Is Khan

Release Date: February 12th, 2010

Genre: Drama / Romance

Stars: Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Sheetal Menon

Synopsis: A Muslim man with Asperger's syndrome falls in love and marries a Hindu beautician in San Francisco but post 9/11 profiling and tragedy test the bonds of their love.

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Plot:                                   

A very beautiful premise that finds strength in its reflection of reality but is weakened by going over the top with its fantasy.

Writing / Production:      

There is a lot of beautiful work that will connect emotionally to most audiences but it is a shame that more cuts weren't made in the editing room because the film goes from moving to draining as it blows by the two hour mark.

Acting:                              

Shahrukh Khan gives as fine a performance as I've seen this year as the Aspergers afflicted protagonist and the rest of the cast was very capable if not quite memorable.

Originality:                   

Strangely enough it felt a lot like Forrest Gump.

Overall:                          

An hour into the movie I felt like I had discovered a remarkable contribution to cinema but in the end it went to the well a few too many times causing the film to fall somewhat short of its potential.  "My Name Is Khan" is still entertaining and important despite the aforementioned shortcomings.

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Date Night

Release Date: April 9th, 2010

Genre: Comedy / Crime / Romance

Stars: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg

Synopsis: A married couple decides to shake things up on their date night and head to a fancy restaurant in the city where they assume the identity of another couple to get seated which leads to big trouble.

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Plot:                                  

Way over the top in terms of being believable but a nice adventure to be taken on for the sake of comedy.

Writing:                            

Some great dialogue driven laughs as well as on going gags that don't get old.  Might have gone a little too far having the protagonists continuing to crack jokes in life threatening situations like while having a gun in their face.

Acting:                              

Tina Fey and Steve Carell are funny as hell and really put on a show in this picture.  Mark Wahlberg proves that he has some comedic value but the rest of the supporting cast, while not weak, did not really stand out and make the most of their opportunities.

Originality:                 

Did you hear about the Morgans?  Evidently not even though "Date Night" is exponentially funnier.

Overall:                          

If you don't laugh at this movie you might need to check your pulse or stop taking life so seriously.  Get over the fact that the storyline has a zero percent chance of happening in real life and enjoy the hillarious escape offered in this comic caper.

The Laugh Factor

Belly Laughs: 3-5

Chuckles: 8-10

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