| Overall Grade: |
B |
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| Story: |
B |
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| Acting: |
B+ |
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| Direction: |
C+ |
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|
| Visuals: |
B- |
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40 Year Old Virgin meets Family Stone -indie style
by Richard (movies profile)
Apr 22, 2008
6
of
6 people found this review helpful
I saw this movie a little over a week ago in the theatre. I hadn't been to the theatre in months (due to a lack of decent movies showing), but since I have liked Steve Carell's other movies, I felt this one might be worth seeing.
For the most part, I felt this was a good movie, but that it was a little shy of being great. I liked the characters and the way in which the story was setup, but felt that more detail could have been added into the relationships of the characters. When Dan meets Marie near the beginning, there is a poweful connection between them. Throughout the movie, they continued to have interactions together, but they never quite seemed to have that real power they had the first time, they only talked about what they should do about it (in hindsite, maybe this is closer to how an interaction like this might be in real life?).
I also felt there could have been more closure with his daughters. Dan had not connected very well with any of them throughout the movie, but in the end, they tried to lump together him solving all of his issues with a wedding scene that included vague references to this closure (the middle daughter's boyfriend was at the wedding). I felt there were many opportunities for him to sort out these issues, but that, aside from the wedding scene and a brief conversation he has with them near the end of the movie, we never truly see the resolve.
As for the actors, I felt they all did a fairly good job. Steve Carell is a solid actor that seems to play this sort of role very well. I am a little bit of a Dane Cook fan, and was hoping to see more out of him, but as an actor he seemed just ok (as a comedian the man is a genious).
All in all, I really did like the movie, but felt that, with an added 10-15 minutes, they could have added more substance to the ending to give it a little better closure, rather than rushing right through it. Though the idea of the movie seemed original, it didn't quite have that original feel, and felt more like a combination of The 40 Year Old Virgin and The Family Stone (with a touch of indie to give it a slightly different feel).
I would still recommend seeing this movie. As I said earlier, it is not great, but if you enjoy a little bit of chaotic family get-together, you should like this movie.
I would give it a 4 out of 5 |
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