8 - Tuesday, September 23, 2014
The Michigan Daily -- michigandaily.com
FILM REVIEW
'The Maze Runner
sunk by direction
Young adult book-
turned-movie
disappoints
By NOAH COHEN
DailyArts Writer
Reminiscent of "Divergent"
and "The Hunger Games," this
young adult book-turned-movie
offers familiar
satisfactions B
and thrills.
Without a The Maze
romantic arc - Runner
stripped with-
out apology Rave 20 and
from the book Quality16
canon (thank 20thCenturyFx The Sandlot,
you, first-time 2t etr a
director Wes avoid emotionally exhausting the
Ball) - this audience or committing the nar-
movie presents a more patient rative to any premature climactic
vision of the insanities available denouement. The lay of the plot,
to young adults fighting govern- in this same regard, fails magnifi-
ment-level powers. cently.
"The Maze Runner," in its In movies like this one, the
defense, has outstanding young ambient uncertainty has alien-
actors such as Dylan O'Brien ated younger audiences, but with
(TV's"TeenWolf"),whoplaysthe Teen Wolf's twitchy best friend
lead action hero, Kaya Scodelario as our eyes and ears, we're con-
("Skins"), who plays the token tent to saddle up. The issue for
female and Thomas Brodie-Sang- "The Maze Runner" is direction;
ster ("Game of Thrones"), who it's constantly unclear which
plays the ineffectual second-in- questions we-the-audience are
command. The acting, amazingly, intended to consider paramount;
is not where this film falls short. it's unclear whether we should
These 25-year-olds-playing- consider present conflicts to be
teenagers demonstrate sufficient lethal threats or minor nuisances.
maturity to attune their acts of Owingto these ambivalences, the
desperation to the relative des- "grievers,".nonsters of the Maze,
peration of each scene, so as to don't amount to much dramati-
4
"Why are they remaking 'Friends'?"
20TH CENTURY FOX
cally. Blame the pacing, not the
actors,
Given the assured deaths of
our beloved Black guy, the gad-
fly antagonist and several name-
less dudes, we intuit the familiar
marching promise that our favor-
ites will all survive for the sequel.
The hot girl has yet to be roman-
tically leveraged, the best friend
has yet to die in the worst, most
heart-wrenching manner con-
trivable, the government con-
spiracy remains intact and the
action hero has yet to ask "what
it all means."
All in all, this movie was about
a group of boys trapped in the
center of a scary maze, whose
mystery, though ripe with dra-
matic potential, is not demysti-
fled in any satisfyingway.
New Girl' premileres
enigrae slies
By CHLOE GILKE
Daily TV/New Media Editor
After an overly ambitious and
mostly unfunny third season,
"New Girl" has a lot to prove
in its fourth
year. While the
first two sea-
sons were the
perfect blend
of rmm-com
sweetness and
snappy dia-
logue, more
recent epi-
sodes have
New Girl
Season Four
Premiere
Tuesdays at 9 p.m.
FOX
WARNER BROS.
The strangest police line-up of all time.
Leave out the sch-maltz
lost touch with what made the
series so refreshing in its earlier
years. But "New Girl" is basical-
ly a new show at this point. Nick
and Jess are no longer a couple,
Schmidt isn't pining after Cece
anymore, Coach is back to liven
up the stale group dynamic. All
these changes could either point
toward a re-invigorated new era
for the show, or season three
could go down in history as the
year "New Girl" dropped off in
quality and predicted its own
demise.
"Last Wedding" simultane-
ously represents classic "New
Girl" and a version of the show
viewers have never seen before.
Jess (Zooey Deschanel, "(500)
Days of Summer") and the
gang are frustrated at having
to attend 11 weddings in one
summer, especially since none
of them is in a serious relation-
ship, and they've even managed
to miss out on the wonderful
array of hookups that weddings
could present. But the 12th wed-
ding has to be a special one -
as Schmidt (Max Greenfield,
"About Alex") points out, it's
the last chance to meet people
before sweaters and fall cloth-
ing make discerning a potential
date's figure nearly impossible
(obviously, this is what Ned
Stark really meant when he said
"winter is coming").
"New Girl" is at its best when
it throws all its characters into
one silly situation and doesn't
try for too elaborate or dramatic
a plot. A wedding hookup chal-
lenge, or "sex fist" as Jess calls
it (five friends joining together
to tear through the competition)
presents the perfect opportuni-
ty to spotlight the tenuous rela-
tionships between the friends
after the fallout of the third sea-
son.
Jess has her eye on hand-
some groomsman Ted (Reid
Scott, "Veep"), but miust vie for
his affections alongside a hyper-
competitive wedding attendee
(Jessica Biel, "Total Recall"),
Usually, an excess of guest stars
means that a show isn't confi-
dent enough in its supporting
characters to keep viewers tun-
ing in, but Scott and Biel's come-
dic chops put them a step above
simple stunt casting. Biel's char-
acter brings a self-conscious
and pathetic angle from Jess.
She's apparently the only one
of her roommates with a real
shot at bringing someone home,
but she's the second-best choice
of the two ladies pursuing
Ted. Winston (Lamorne Mor-
ris, "Dear Secret Santa") gives
her the advice of "Biden-ing"
Ted (that is, just following him
around until he basically just
has to pick her), but Jess is the
kind of girl who's used to being
picked first and having guys fall
in love with her at first sight.
After she's locked in the bath-
room, she muses to Nick (Jake
Johnson, "Drinking Buddies")
that maybe she's just meant to
be a "toilet person," and will
never have her own wedding
invitation decorating anybody's
fridge. It's a powerful moment,
or as powerful as a sitcom can be
- Nick and Jess wondering how
they ended up sitting on a toilet
together and why this isn't their
wedding.
Even Schmidt, who was so
sour and mean-spirited last sea-
son as to make him completely
unrelatable, was back to his
pleasantly preening and shallow
self. He and Nick have crushes
on two bridesmaids, but the
ladies only agree to spend the
night if they can all participate
in a foursome. It's impossible to
decide which is funnier: the fact
that Schmidt is so enthusiastic
to participate in group sex with
his roommate or that Nick is so
grumpy and hesitant. Thankful-
ly, Schmidt decides that Nick's
hoof-like hands are too unap-
pealing for romance, but the
buildup to that final confronta-
tion is easily the best part of the
episode. "New Girl" has built
an elaborate backstory between
Nick and Schmidt, but generally
doesn't explore their friendship
as much as some of the other
roommates. It's refreshing to see
that even in its fourth season,
"New Girl" is finding new rela-
tionships to mine for laughs, and
hopefully this episode is indica-
tive that Nick and Schmidt will
be sharing even more scenes
together.
"New Girl" still has its fair
share of problems - main-
ly, finding a place for Coach }
(Damon Wayans Jr., "Happy
Rndings") in the tangle of
friendships, and keeping Win-
ston relevant. Sadly, it's pretty
rare to see two Black characters
of the same gender in supporting
roles on the same TV show, and
if only "New Girl" could find a
way to incorporate both of them
more seamlessly into the narra-
tive, it'd be a stronger show. As it
stands, Winston sat in his chair
all night, offering the occcasional
advice or one-liner, but he barely
had a place in anyone's subplot.
Coach tried to play stud at the
wedding, but after word had
gotten around to all the ladies
in attendance that he wasn't
even in "The Best Man Holi-
day," it really hurt his game.
Nick and Schmidt's friendship
is so great, and it's baffling *
that "New Girl" hasn't even
occurred to afford Winston
and Coach a bromance on the
level of their costars.
FOX sitcom
needs to prove
itself in fourth
season.
The season premiere of
"New Girl" was a strong
comeback and showed the
post-breakup relationships
between all the characters in a
sophisticated way. The series -
still has a long way to go to
re-establish its place as one of
the best sitcoms on TV, but it's
making good progress by tak-
ing things slow and explore
the possibilities of relation-
ships between its characters.
Who knows - the sex fist may
be victorious yet.
yU
IU
hC
I '
Overcrowded cast
dilutes family
dramedy
ByNATALIEGADBOIS
SeniorArtsEditor
Screenwriters have taken to
heart Tolstoy's famous saying,
"All happy families are alike; each
unhappy fam-
ily is unhappy B
in its own way."
Dysfunctional This Is
family dram- Where I
edies hold a
niche market Leave You
in Hollywood, Rave 20 and
from "The Quality16
Family Stone" t
to "August: Warner Bros.
Osage County"
to "Little Miss Sunshine." These
movies appeal to audiences - they
make us laugh while reminding us
that everyone is a little screwed
up behind closed doors. "This Is
Where I Leave You," adapted from
Jonathan Tropper's 2009 bestsell-
ing novel, is no different. Starring
nearly every in-vogue actor from
both TV and film (Jason Bateman,
Tina Fey, Connie Britton, Adam
Driver, Rose Byrne and more) the
film is an enjoyable but forget-
table addition to the category, flit-
ting between relationships with
ease but failing to develop many
of the characters.
Led by matriarch Hillary Alt-
man (Jane Fonda, "Monster-in-
Law") the four grown Altman
siblings reunite under unfortu-
nate circumstances: the death of
their emotionally distant father.
His final request is that the fam-
ily sit Shiva (a Jewish ritual in
which the family must stay in
mourning for the seven days fol-
lowing his funeral). The siblings
are not pleased, harping insults
and complaints at each other that
teeter between funny and clum-
sily one-dimensional. Bateman
("Arrested Development") stars
as second brother Judd, bearded
and cynical after he catches his
wife cheating on him with his
boss, misogynist radio personal-
ity Wade Beaufort (Dax Shepard,
"Parenthood"). Bateman is exact-
ly what we've come to expect
from him; a quippy, restrained
Everyman. The shtick works, but
fails to graze Judd's depth in the
novel. .
Throwing in this many tal-
ented actors (from vastly dif-
ferent comedic and dramatic
backgrounds) can be dangerous.
Personalities can overwhelm
relationships until we don't see
a family so much as a group of
hysterical individuals. Thank-
fully, this is not the case in "This
is Where I Leave You."
While some performances are
stronger than others, the joy of
the film comes from the seeming-
ly organic interactions between
siblings. Fey ("30 Rock") and
Bateman demonstrate the unique
sibling ability of openly hating
and loving each other in equal
measure; though Fey struggles at
times to balance her tearful, dra-
matic moments with her come-
dic sharpness, their relationship
feels genuine. Similarly, Fonda
excels as their overbearing, over-
sharing psychologist mother. The
writing tends to rely too much
on her physical humor (i.e. the
gigantic fake breasts glued to her
chest), but she grounds the film as
the erratic but ultimately caring
center of the family. Her young-
est, Phillip, is played to exuber-
ant, irresponsible perfection by
Adam Driver ("Girls"), who is
setting himself up to be the next
great actor of our generation. And
the consistently flawless Connie
Britton ("Nashville") is surpris-
ingly well cast as his much older
fiance - she matches his selfish
dynamism with measured, well-
coiffed honesty.
Despite these successful pair-
ings, the film tends to fall into the
standard book-to-film adaptation
problems - too much plot and
too many characters are shoved
into a two-hour film, diluting the
significance of many scenes. As a
professed lover of the book, it was
often frustrating to see charac-
ters or scenes fall by the wayside
for lack of time - for example,
the normally transcendent Corey
Stoll ("House of Cards") was
wasted as eldest brother Paul,
who in the novel was brooding
and deeply emotional underneath
his stoic exterior. In the film, his
few lines register him as the stur-
dy and stodgy older brother, with
no real development beyond that.
Similarly, the pacing is often off,
clunkily hedging between slap-
stick and emotionally wrought
family moments. Tropper wrote
the adaptation himself, and at
times it feels as though he forgoes
the most interesting portions of
the book in favor of cliched movie
moments.
Though enjoyable, the film
doesn't live up to many of its fam-
ily dramedy movie predecessors
or the book it was based upon.
Perhaps it's the abundance of
television stars, or the comfort-
able suburban setting, but "This
Is Where I Leave You" feels more
like a sitcom than a movie, built
up with easy laughs and schmaltz
rather than real moments.
FOX
"They told me there'd be an open bar."
'I,
'4
I