This Is 40 (2012)

 
A rambling and mean-spirited film that should have remained in the rejected ideas pile, This Is 40 stinks. Perhaps it might strike a chord with affluent socialites complaining about the size of their mansions and the middling success of their very own record company but for us ordinary folk, it’s an infuriating load of steamy garbage that ought to play like the anthem for the ‘Occupy’ movement.

The film follows the lives of Pete and Debby, who you may remember from Knocked Up. They have a couple of kids, are “struggling” financially, and pretty much hate each other and themselves. Fortunately for them, the most difficult part of their lives involves downgrading from a multi-million dollar home and eating too many five-dollar cupcakes. It’s hard to swallow someone wallowing in self-pity as they drift between their massive master bedroom and accompanying bathroom foyer before throwing a catered party under a giant tent in their massive backyard and eating a 500-dollar custom guitar cake.



Even though the actors involved seem to be committed to fleshing out this reality, I really wish they had done something else with their time. Leslie Mann is probably not to blame but her character is utterly despicable and a major contender for “biggest bitch of the year” award. The ever-lovable Paul Rudd is, well, in a rut for most of the time and just gets dumped on for anything from playing on his iPad to ruining his crumbling physique with, you guessed it, fancy cupcakes. The problem is, nothing goes anywhere. You just see these miserable people for a while, they do nothing and then it’s over. The film tries to bandage the blaring lack of a plot with numerous little cameo roles and pop-fi references which, again, don’t ever amount to anything.



The seams have started to show on director Judd Apatow‘s projects for a while now but This is 40 is the largest departure from the meaningful dramedies like Knocked Up and The 40 Year Old Virgin that made him a household name. Instead of the geeky and almost whimsical nature of those films, this one seems comfortable whining and wishing ill will on its audience. 



Another minus for This is 40 lays in Apatow’s bloated opinion of his film, a miscalculated assessment of its worth that somehow allowed him to let it stretch on aimlessly for over two hours, whereas most comedies tap out around ninety minutes. I guess that makes sense though considering comedies usually involve laughing and this smelly pile of trash is destitute of any laughs. Maybe worst of all, they spoil the end of Lost. That is a sin I will never forgive.



A quasi-sequel that no one ever asked for, This is 40 is a joyless waste of talent and resources. Near the end, Albert Brooks says: “That was deeply uncomfortable. At least that pretty girl was there to divert our attention.” I don’t think he meant to sum up the whole movie, but he just did.

D-

Robot and Frank (2012)



Jake Screider‘s Robot and Frank imagines a future where robots have taken on assisting roles in human life. They stock the shelves at the library, act as medical assistants and….well I guess that’s all we see, but we can imagine that they carry out a smattering of equally undesirable but helpful roles in this society. Even under its not-so-shiny facade, Robot and Frank has heart and chemistry and is inventive enough to score a sly win for independent film.



When retired thief Frank (Frank Langella) is given a care-taking robot from his estranged son, he attempts to involve his new robotic helper in a comeback heist. Seeing the detailed planning that Frank invests into this operation, Robot (who remains unnamed) decides that it would be good for his deteriorating mental health and agrees to help.


Frank Langella is great as the irreverent old Frank who, however thorny, is both a strong and fragile character. He reminded me a lot of Junior Soprano, a lost man on his last leg who can’t really help himself to his askew world view and grumpy, homebody nature. Filling in the voice for Robot, Peter Sarsgaard is perfect. His robotic monotone is rife with notes of sympathy and understanding – making him more of a lovable Wall-E than any of the fearful AI’s that have dominated robotics since 2001. 



Although it is hardly an important enough film to make many waves outside of its very niche circuit, Frank and Robot is an oddly sweet story that tells a meaningful tale about aging and family. It’s a charmed collision of old school and new age with a bittersweet edge, one of those indie films that you can’t help but be won over by.

B-