estreet-eva

"Ferdinand" tees up the standard anthropomorphized cartoon character as you've seen in a dozen other entertainments with the obligatory dance contests, butt jokes, pathos and chases (and hey, if "Finding Dory's" octopus can drive a truck, why can't a bull?) It does these thing as passably well as necessary to appeal to the minimal age of its target demographic. So no surprises there. What is interesting are the basic production issues. Most notably is the infamous scaling problem which normally plagues creature features. The titular character weighs in at 2,000 pounds and a length markedly exceeding the average bull according to the script yet he fits through doorways, in car seats, in narrow passageways and in a china shop (the writers kinda had to do that joke) with greater or less ease. Kate McKinnon plays the Dory / Mater / Olaf / Mike Wasowski wacky friend part with in the person of a truly unattractive goat. During some scenes the character rolls around balanced on a tire presumably because the animator figured out late in the process the bull / goal scaling difference was problematic. Beyond the production shortcomings, there's also the central issue of explaining to your non-Spaniard kids about the concept that people gather in large arenas to watch a heavily armed man on foot an several others on horseback kill a bull shoved into the ring for that purpose. Next up from the studio goldfish in a fraternity house waiting for pledge week. In short, putting aside these issues, good enough for what it is.

Woody Allen breaks a cardinal rule of film-making by strongly reminding the audience of a much better film. He double downs on the transgression by reminding them of arguably his best film "Annie Hall". Allen troubled blended family lives in the direct shadow of Coney Island's clanking Wonder Wheel Ferris wheel much like Alvy Singer's family lived under the Coney Island's Thunderbolt roller coaster. Hey, Coney Island is freaking crowded so you nab habitat where you can. Singer's family mind the placement for comedy while Humpty's family mines the proximity to a giant children's toy for angst, angst, and, yet even more angst. Understood being 82 years old at the time of the film's release doesn't lend itself to the wacky hi jinks of "Bananas" but this thing is more ponderous than "Interiors". It also feels even more derivative of other artists' style than "Interiors" was of Ingmar Bergman. Allen makes the decision to shoot large swaths of the film as one would shoot a Tennessee Williams play particularly whenever Jim Belushi is delivering one of several, tiresome monologues. It genuinely seems as if Allen recognized the casting of the stock middle-brow TV sitcom dad was a controversial choice and was determined to demonstrate he could act. Belushi can and the feat is all the greater given his Humpty has little to say behind reminding us he is a brutish but lovable alcoholic fisher with strained familial bonds. The distracting attractive Timberlake can act as well but largely that assessment comes from other, more comedic roles - here he bangs out the pseudo intellectual lines Allen's doppelganger characters (Owen Wilson in "Midnight in Paris", Louis C.K. in "Blue Jasmine", etc.) that have come to be legion. In short, less a film and more of a filmed rehearsal of a script in development.

Like "The Girl on the Train" and any Dan Brown book exactly what makes Ernst Cline's novel excellent makes for a just decent cinematic experience. The novel engages in dense and luxurious world-building and an intricate puzzle-box plot which unfolds degree-by-degree. By necessity of their compressed run-times, movies need to get through the set up (unless you are M. Night Shyalaman whose films constitute mostly setup). The medium limits the plot points to only a few switchbacks (again unless you are M. Night Shyalaman and you put all your switchbacks into a one big reveal). The limitations present headwinds that Spielberg takes a mighty swing at slipping but with limited success. The film's key draw, as you would expect, come from Spielberg's immersive and imaginative visuals and not from the rushed plot or flat performances. The motion picture also provides nostalgic value to those of a certain age through dozens of visual references ("there's 'Bigfoot', the king of the monster trucks back in the 80s!"). In short, to misquote the immortal words of the Gin Blossoms, if you don't expect too much, you might not be let down".