Cecily Strong

‘The Garfield Movie’ – This is Not the Cat I Was Looking For

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

I grew up on Jim Davis’ “Garfield.” I loved this lazy cat whose affection for lasagna and reveling in his own laziness and selfishness often had me laughing quite uncontrollably. I even got my first-grade teacher to initiate a celebration which I proudly called “National Number One Garfield Day” which my classmates were eager to participate in. And yes, I reveled in those animated classic television episodes in which the orange tabby cat was voiced by the late great Lorenzo Music who perfectly captured Garfield’s sarcasm, gluttony and eventual self-awareness without missing a beat.

Years later, Hollywood brought Garfield to the silver screen, but with limited, if any, critical success. While the 2004 live action “Garfield” movie had the brilliant Bill Murray voicing the infamous cat, the story felt more like a “Toy Story” clone instead of representing the feline we all grew to love in our youth. And seriously, when we see Jon Arbuckle get lucky with someone of the opposite sex, I have to believe something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Now we have “The Garfield Movie” which brings the infamous cat back to the animation realm with Chris Pratt voicing him. It starts off introducing Garfield into the age of the internet and apps as he proceeds to order an obscene amount of Italian food which he scarfs down in record time. Following this, we jump back in time to when he seemingly gets abandoned by his father and ends up wandering into an Italian restaurant across the street where he meets Jon Arbuckle who is all by his lonesome eating a pepperoni pizza. They quickly form an unbreakable bond as Jon, like us, cannot resist this cat’s infinite cuteness in the slightest.

At the start, it looks like “Garfield The Movie” is going to respect the comic strip’s history perfectly as it acknowledges this feline’s love of lasagna among other things, and it was a kick to see him land flat on Jon’s face while he is in bed as if to tell this human, “Get up asshole, make me breakfast!” But from there, Garfield and everyone else is thrown into a story which is generic at best.

While doing a raid on the refrigerator for midnight snacks, Garfield and Odie get kidnapped by a Shar Pei and a Whippet who take them to an abandoned mall where they meet Jinx, a Persian cat who is bent on revenge against Garfield’s father, Vic, who abandoned Jinx at a very inopportune moment. While Garfield wants nothing to Vic after all they have been through, the both of them quickly realize they need one another in order to secure their freedoms and obtain an obscene volume of milk for just one cat.

From there, this movie goes into the usual tug and pull of a father trying to make amends to a child he wasn’t there for, and a child who wants nothing to do with a parent they feel abandoned by. I think you have a good idea of where the story goes from there as it goes through the usual tropes and cliches father-son motion pictures have to offer, and it quickly became apparent to me that this was no “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”

On top of that, there is a lot of retconning going on here. Those who kept up with the comic strip know Garfield reunited with his mother at one point, and this gave the orange cat more dimension than he had previously. Here, he reunites with his father, and it doesn’t have the same dramatic heft. Also, Odie is made to look like some super genius whom Garfield can only dream of being as smart as. But one of the delights of the comic strip is how Odie is as dumb as a post, so this dog’s genius behavior feels completely out of place.

And when it comes to Garfield’s relationship with Jon Arbuckle, it is much too loving to where there is no drama between owner and cat found here. Garfield revels in his selfish endeavors to where Jon is constantly infuriated beyond repair, and none of this animosity is found here. I kept waiting for Jon to admonish Garfield for playing with the power seat in his car or for eating a fern plant he just bought. But no, they just get along all too well here. Even a trip to the vet feels routine, and I remember just how terrified Garfield was about going to the vet.

As much as I wanted to appreciate what director Mark Dindal and company did here, and there’s no doubt kids will enjoy this movie, I really came out of this cinematic endeavor feeling like this wasn’t the Garfield I grew up on in the slightest. Moreover, as we watch Garfield traverse a critical portion of Lactose Farms where every conceivable form of security was put in place, it only reminded of infinitely superior scenes in Pixar films like “Monsters Inc.” That the “Mission Impossible” theme plays at one point is no surprise, and it made my eyes roll as this addition feels much too obvious.

The voice cast is clearly having a lot fun here. Chris Pratt clearly revels in voicing Garfield, and he does a good job even though he still can’t hold a candle to Lorenzo Music. Samuel L. Jackson is an inspired choice to play Garfield’s father, Vic, and I say this even though I kept waiting for the bad ass motherfucker within Jackson to erupt. Yes, this is a family movie, but still…

If there is one cast member to single out above all others, it is Ving Rhames who voices Otto, a bull and former mascot for Lactose Farms who is pining to be reunited with his long-lost love. While he could have played this lovelorn bull as if he was in on the joke, Rhames instead plays this animated character ever so straight to where his dramatic pauses provide the biggest laughs this film has to offer.

For what it’s worth, “Garfield The Movie” is bound to delight the kids, and their parents are bound to watch it with them hundreds of times once it arrives on physical and digital media. Still, I came out of it frustrated as this really didn’t feel like the Garfield I know and love. Instead, you have an orange tabby cat stuck in a movie with a story unbefitting to his legacy and easily pales in comparison to the average animated classic.

Perhaps Garfield as a character has long since outlived his usefulness in popular culture. Jim Davis’ creation is nowhere as popular today as it was back in the 1980’s, and perhaps studio executives are afraid of making this orange tabby cat look as lazy in this age of Me Too, Times Up and an intense desire for true representation in Hollywood.

All of this reminds me of a scene in “Here Comes Garfield” in which Garfield attempts to explain to Jon, without words, why Odie didn’t come home with him after they both went outside to play. Jon, of course, doesn’t understand what Garfield is describing to him in the slightest, and Garfield ends up telling him ever so dryly:

“What we have here is a failure to communicate.”

When it comes to Garfield and Hollywood, this still remains the case.

* * out of * * * *

‘Love, Gilda’ Shows How the Late ‘SNL’ Comedienne Never Really Left Us

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

Love Gilda poster

You cannot help but fall in love with Gilda Radner. Even in death, her spirit radiates with a power nothing can destroy. Her smile stretched for miles whenever she appeared on “Saturday Night Live,” and it never faded from our sight even as she fought a tough battle against ovarian cancer. When she passed away on May 20, 1989 at the age of 42, it really felt like a national tragedy, and I remember Steven Martin paying tribute to her on the “SNL” stage while on the verge of tears. After showing a video of him dancing with Gilda, he said the following:

“You know when I look at that tape I can’t help but think how great she was and how young I looked. Gilda, we miss you.”

It’s now been almost 30 years since Gilda died, and she is still missed. But with the documentary “Love, Gilda,” she is brought back to life for a time, and we get to see sides of her many have not seen previously. Granted, her life has been documented endlessly on various shows and in numerous books, but we get to see home movies of her youth and journal entries, most of which were previously unseen. Whether or not you think this documentary touches on anything new, just the chance to spend time in her company makes it a must see.

Among the most memorable images we get of Gilda are in home movies made when she was a child. Even back then she had a big smile on her face and a zest for life which never faded. We also see how she was overweight as a child to where she talked of how kids at school teased her viciously. One family member told her to make a joke about her weight if they made fun of her again, and this proved successful. From there, I think it’s safe to say comedy was Gilda’s weapon of choice for all the obstacles life would throw at her.

It’s a treat to watch “SNL” regulars like Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Bill Hader and Cecily Strong among others reading from Gilda’s journals as it is clear on their faces the love they had for her work, and of the effect she had on theirs. Poehler even admits many of the characters she created on “SNL” were essentially B-versions of Gilda’s characters, but her work still stands on its own regardless. I envied these celebrated performers as they got a glimpse of Gilda’s actual handwriting which gives a glimpse into her wonderful mind.

As “Love, Gilda” moves on, we see her reflecting on the fame she achieved through “SNL” and the overall effect it had on her. I believe her when she reveals how she was unaware of how famous she had become until the cast visited New Orleans. We also come to see how fame at times served to keep her chained to a certain place in life, and of the pressures it brought on which made her eating disorder even worse. Once again, comedy becomes her weapon as she finds ways to make fun of being famous as her spirit remains strong. While she came to fame in a time before the advent of social media and cell phones, being in the public’s eye probably wasn’t much easier.

This world can really beat you down to where we become overcome with disappointments and bitterness, and many often feel like happiness is a commodity far out of their reach. So, it’s always great to know that one person who maintains a strong spirit and a wonderful view of life in the face of personal tragedies. Even as we watch Gilda Radner in her most harrowing moments, going through chemotherapy and losing the ability to bear children, she still has a big smile on her face and an infinitely strong spirit which never faltered even in her dying moments. She also had the love of her life, the late Gene Wilder, at her side through it all. I can only hope to be as lucky.

Could director Lisa D’Apolito, who had the privilege of appearing in my all-time favorite movie, Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas,” have dug deeper into Gilda’s life? Perhaps. Some parts are given short shrift like her brief marriage to guitarist G.E. Smith and her movie career which ended after the critical and commercial failure of “Haunted Honeymoon.” D’Apolito also uses audio of Radner reading from her autobiography “It’s Always Something,” which remains one of my favorite books ever. Anyone who has read it can testify just how revealing Radner is about her struggles, and it threatens to make this documentary pale in comparison.

Regardless, D’Apolito does excellent work in making us see what a strong human being Gilda Radner was, and of how her spirit and influence remain incredibly strong even years after her death. The “SNL” cast member was made to endure terrible things in her life and left us at far too young an age, and yet she came out fighting and left us laughing hysterically. She even found humor in her cancer battle and demonstrated this when she guest starred on “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” and her entrance was one full of victory. Nobody dared to make jokes about cancer back then, but she showed no fear in making fun of the most hideous of diseases. Even if it feels like there could have been more to this documentary than what we are shown, D’Apolito makes us see how Radner lives on in many ways.

Wilder founded “Gilda’s Club,” an organization where people with cancer can meet to build emotional and social support, after her death, and there are now over a dozen of them throughout America. Her book “It’s Always Something” is still in print, and I cannot recommend it more highly. And, of course, you can always catch her in “SNL” reruns which continue to entertain audiences of many generations. She may be gone, but “Love, Gilda” shows she never really left us. With a spirit as strong as hers, she never will.

* * * ½ out of * * * *

The Meddler

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

the-meddler-movie-poster

When reading the plot synopsis of “The Meddler,” I walked into it expecting a formulaic comedy dealing in stereotypes like “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” did. Not that working with stereotypes is always a bad thing, but it can get old very quickly and leave audiences with not much that is worth remembering when they leave the theater. Plus, the movie’s story deals with a parent interfering in the life of their offspring at the most inconvenient time in their life, and how many times have we seen that before? We all know it will build up to that moment where the offspring will say, “Mom, I love you but will you PLEASE GET THE HELL OUT OF MY LIFE??!!” But despite this inescapable confrontation, we know everything will work out in the end.

Well, “The Meddler” turned out to be a pleasant surprise as it is a movie made from the heart more than anything else. A lot of it has to do with the fact writer and director Lorene Scafaria (“Seeking a Friend for the End of the World”) based the story on her own mother and the relationship she had with her. But while this might sound like a buddy comedy, it’s really more about the mother and it gives Susan Sarandon one of the best roles she has had in recent years.

Sarandon plays Marnie Minervini who, as “The Meddler” begins, is staring listlessly at the ceiling fan in her bedroom. We learn Marnie was recently widowed and has since moved from the east coast to Los Angeles to be closer to her daughter Lori (Rose Byrne). As the title suggests, she endlessly interferes in Lori’s life and then goes on to help others whom she feels need her assistance. But deep down she is still struggling with the loss of her husband, someone she was with for decades and who has now vanished from her life. While she looks very pleasant on the outside, Marnie is still struggling to come to terms with her husband’s death and is trying to find new meaning in her life.

What I loved about Sarandon’s performance is how she avoids the easy trap of turning Minnie into a simple caricature and instead turns this character into this wonderful human who is infinitely generous to a fault. Even as Minnie gets a little too involved in her daughter’s life, Sarandon never makes her seem the slightest bit aggravating. It’s also great fun to see her roam around The Grove as if it were Disneyland because it shows just how new to Los Angeles Minnie really is.

Sarandon also has a great foil to work with in Rose Byrne who plays Minnie’s daughter Lori. Byrne also could have made Lori, a writer for television, into a caricature, but she makes her into someone with work problems we can all relate to regardless of whatever industry we work in. Lori is enduring a lot of problems in her life other than her mother such as being dumped by her celebrity boyfriend Jacob (Jason Ritter) which still weighs heavily on her, and she is not sure how she can move on past her heartbreak. Ever since the scene in “Neighbors” where she succeeded in getting two college students to seduce one another, she has remained a terrific actress and one with very sharp comedic skills.

During “The Meddler,” Minnie is met by a couple of men who are eager to get to know her better. One is Michael McKean’s overly earnest Mark whose idea of a date is to take Minnie to the Holocaust Museum, but it’s hard to imagine anyone getting romantic over there. McKean is always fun to watch no matter what movie he’s in, and he makes the most of his limited screen time as a guy who can’t quite take a hint.

The other suitor is a retired cop turned movie set security guard who goes by the name of Zipper, and he is played in a scene-stealing performance by J.K. Simmons. While being upstaged somewhat by an awesome looking mustache, Simmons makes Zipper into a uniquely lovable guy, and he is wonderful to watch as he introduces Sarandon to his nest of chickens. We’ve seen this Oscar-winning actor go from playing a warm-hearted father in “Juno” to an insanely brutal music instructor in “Whiplash,” and this is not to mention his terrific work in the first three “Spider-Man.” But in “The Meddler” Simmons gets to play a role many of us haven’t seen him play before, a romantic leading man, and he pulls it off beautifully.

What makes “The Meddler” an especially strong movie is how genuine it is in its emotions. Not once did its story feel the least bit manipulative, and its portrait of people trying to move past the loss of a loved one feels authentic in its portrayal. Nothing ever feels cloying or artificial, and it also helps that Sarandon, Byrne, and Simmons are surrounded by a wonderful cast which includes “SNL’s” Cecily Strong, Lucy Punch (the moment where she tosses a baby shower gift aside is priceless), Jason Ritter, Casey Wilson and Jerrod Carmichael. Each actor succeeds in creating unique characters who are fun to hang out with, and watching them is a reminder of how there is never a role too small for an actor to play.

Although it deals with the heavy subjects of grief, heartbreak and losing a loved one, “The Meddler” proves to be a very positive movie which is optimistic in its view of life. In a time where many movies feature infinitely cynical characters, here’s one with a woman of a certain age (and lord knows there’s not enough of those) who is very giving and generous. Even when she appears to be more generous than anyone should be, we keep watching the movie with the hope her spirit will stay strong during even the toughest of times.

“The Meddler” was made on a low budget and on a very shooting schedule, and everyone involved succeeded in giving us something much better than we could have expected. Please don’t let the fact it is not a superhero movie keep you from checking it out.

* * * ½ out of * * * *

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