Last Chance Harvey

I kept my expectations in check with Last Chance Harvey, staring Dustin Hoffman, one of the most formidable actors of our time, as the quirky Harvey Shine and Emma Thompson as shy but strong Kate Walker. My latest Netflix movie didn't get great reviews and some of Hoffman's movies can be a bit bazaar.

Harvey is a jingle writer and his daughter is getting married. He hasn't seen her much because she lives in London and, coincidentally, the wedding is in London. Upon arrival he passes one of those people that tries to gather information by conducting a survey. He's not interested and brushes off the lady. Once in his hotel, he learns of the wedding plans and starts to realize that he's not really welcome there. At the rehearsal dinner that night those feelings are confirmed.

At this point in the movie I was ready to kick his daughter's ass. His ex-wife wasn't much better. I could not believe how rude both were being to him and he coiled in defeat and surrendered into seclusion. I felt horrible for him and almost felt like I was there with him.

And then things got worse. Fortunately for Harvey, the lady that he shunned at the airport on his inbound flight shows up again and it goes from being that awkward obnoxious guy to that feeling of fresh sunshine and thinking that things can get better. Will Harvey be able to make good on his relationship with his daughter and find happiness again?

The movie is mostly predictable and quite short. It's only an hour and 30 minutes long. Though the reviews that I read were mostly disappointing, both Hoffman and Thompson both won Golden Globe nominations for their performances.

Last Chance Harvey also stars Liane Balaban as Susan, Harvey's daughter, Eileen Atkins, Kate's mother, Kathy Baker as Harvey's ex-wife, and James Brolin as Kathy's new husband.

The movie was directed by Joel Hopkins, a relatively unknown director who's only other direction came with Jump Tomorrow.

Last Change Harvey is rated PG-13 for some brief strong language and an attempt at boosting ticket sales because PG movies usually don't bring in as much money.

While the beginning of the movie was much more powerful to me than the end, I still thought the movie was decent and give it 3 stars.

Rumor Has It

This is one of those movies that ties its story-line to another movie, sort of like how Sleepless In Seattle followed the 1957 hit An Affair To Remember staring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. In Rumor Has It, Jennifer Aniston's character Sarah Huttinger suspects that the her family is the subject of the 1967 movie The Graduate, which starred a young Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft.

Throughout her life, Sarah suspects that something's just not right. She looks like no one in her family and she acts nothing like them. Then at her sister's wedding she starts to hear rumors. She then decides to investigate those rumors and learns more than she really wanted to know, especially about her mom. And, of course, she needs to find out everything before her own wedding to Mark Ruffalo, who rolls with Buffalo.

In the process, she meets the man that her mother met before her mother got married. This seedy old guy, played by Kevin Costner, has his own secrets and is interested in making some more secrets.

The movie is a clever play on The Graduate. Having seen The Graduate makes Rumor Has It a lot more understandable, so if you plan on seeing Rumor Has It, watch The Graduate first. The acting is as you would expect from your typical romantic comedy. And, being labeled a romantic comedy, it has to turn out as expected, right?

The movie is directed by Rob Reiner and you'll be happy to know that there are no left-wing punches at the right in the movie. The movie also stars Shirley MacClaine, whose brother is so vain, as Sarah's grandmother and Kathy Bates as one of Sarah's mother's friends.

As far as romantic comedies go, this one is okay. There is some nonconformist sexual situations and a drug use giving the movie a PG-13 rating, the standard for romantic comedies.

You won't lose much by missing this movie, but if you have some time to burn, this one's not too bad. I give this movie 3 stars.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

With Dustin Hoffman, Jason Bateman, and Natalie Portman, this movie cannot go wrong. Note that there was a requirement that all stars of this movie have their last name end with "man".

Mr. Magoirum's Wonder Emporium is run by Mr. Magorium is a plus 200 year old magician(?) who owns a toy store in New York, but is facing his soon demise and must transfer ownership in order for the store to survive.

Dustin Hoffman is a man of many characters, in life and in the movies. He doesn't disappoint. Natalie Portman, on the other hand, could have been asleep and done the same job acting. She's nice to look at, but she's such a dull actress.

There's also Zach Mills who plays Eric Applebaum, the hat collector. He's a loner kid that likes to hang out at the toy store and do amazing things. At one point I said to my wife, that kid acts like a younger version of Mr. Magorium. She just looked at me and I was like, "Oh........!".

Jason Bateman plays the accountant whos' trying to balance the books. He plays a dry, boring, and someone mean straight guy who suddenly finds his way at the end and helps to save the toy store.

This is mostly a kids movie. My 6 year old son lost interest in it about 20 minutes into the movie, though my 8 year old thought it was the greatest movie ever. On the other hand, she thinks that every movie she sees is the greatest movie ever. (You remember being like that as a kid, right?!)

I gave this movie 3 stars, not because I thought it was great, but because it filled its niche. It is meant for younger viewers and my younger viewer liked it. It is a feel good movie that you know will have a happy ending. If you have kids, they will probably enjoy this movie. If you only have dogs, you probably will not like this movie as much.