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Whip It – nf – This is movie which may have appeal to the high school movie set , especially the girls. A 17 year old girl from a small town in Texas played radiantly by Ellen Page ( who was tremendous in Juno ) decides that she can’t live out the aspirations of her mother ( Marcia Gay Harden) and become a beauty queen so she escapes to Austin and joins an all girl roller derby team. The movie and all the characters are filled with clichés. Most of the girls on the team are tough on the outside but have a heart of gold. This includes one roller derby teammate played by Drew Barrymore who also makes her directorial debut with this movie. There is a boyfriend who has a band. She has a best girl friend with whom she has a temporary disagreement. Her Dad just cares about watching football on TV but ultimately comes through for her. It won’t be hard to predict what her mother finally does. Thirty years ago roller derby was popular on TV and I understand it is making somewhat of a comeback in middle America today. This movie will not propel it to center stage. It may be an inspiration of some young girls who can identify with the heroine. (2009)

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Everybody’s Fine – rm – Robert Deniro is a retired middle class blue-collar widower who would like to see his four widely dispersed grown children all sitting around a family dinner table once again. When they can’t make it for a planned get together he sets out to visit them and perhaps to try to reign them in once again. Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, and Sam Rockwell play the children. Kirk Jones directed this remake of a 1990 Italian movie ”Stanno tutti bene”. As the now lonely dad sets out from his small upstate New York home to try to find out what is really going on in the lives of his children, he finds out more about himself and how he was perceived as a father. His well meaning expectations which came out of his love for them has led them all to convey that everybody is fine in an attempt to shield him from the various true paths which their lives have taken. Deniro skillfully projects the tenderness of his character that wanted the best for his kids but must have left the real listening of them to his deceased wife. Perhaps he is a little too simple and the storyline a bit contrived but it will jerk some tears from you. It is a good movie for the holiday season, as it will ultimately make you think about your own family and what we convey to children as they are growing up as well as what we can say to them now. (2009)

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He’s Just Not That In To You – rm – We decided to watch this movie on a recent NY-LA flight. We thought that this film with Jenifer Anisten, Ben Afflick, Drew Barrymore, Scarlet Johannson and Kevin Conolly (from Entourage) might be a light movie that would fit the bill. After seeing it, we didn’t quite agree on how to score it so we averaged or our ratings. Susan thought it was a fluffy but enjoyable movie which depicted well contemporary dating relationships of young people but in a humorous fashion, Michael thought it was a unimaginative film which wasn’t worth the time even on a boring plane trip (He should have stayed with his book). It did demonstrate how cell phone, texting, email, Facebook and MySpace (they seem to have left out Twitter) all are a crucial part of the singles scene. Maybe, Michael took it a little too seriously, but he also thought it was demeaning to women. We hope this analysis doesn’t peak your curiosity to see it. 2009