phillip baker hall – Tripping Through Gateways

After lukewarm receptions to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Carrey went back to where his bigger successes occured. High concept comedies. And you do not get more high concept than Bruce Almighty.

A couple decades after the Oh God series, we see George Burns replaced by Morgan Freeman in the role of God. Carrey plays Bruce Nolan, a sad sack who does not appreciate what he has, rather wanting more, believing he will be happy once he achieves his goals. And his biggest goal? To try and move from doing puff pieces for the local news station to the anchor desk. He tries to be positive, but is dealt a crushing blow when the job goes to his rival Evan Baxter (Steve Carrell).

Angry and at the end of his rope, he ends up getting a meeting with God. God is not really impressed with Bruce’s complaints and makes him a deal. Bruce has the omnipotent power of God for a week. Bruce agrees, and initially relishes the power.

This is a fairly entertaining bit, as we see Bruce experiment with what he can do. And at first it seems awesome…until he starts discovering some of the drawbacks…like hearing everyone’s prayers. Bruce starts to find things getting harder, and he is chasing away his girlfriend Grace, who is tired of Bruce being so focused on himself and his unwillingness to see what he has as enough. Bruce tries to use his powers to fix his personal problem, and quickly tries to find shortcuts for the responsibility stuff (like prayers from people). Of course, it ends up only being made worse.

Even with the powers of a supreme being, Bruce’s life is more messed up than ever. Bruce hits bottom, even though he can move the moon.

And this is where the film works so well. It is very focused, with a very simple point. Don’t be a self centered jerk. Bruce begins to look outside himself…he starts to help people in regular human ways. Rather than worrying about what is just out of his grasp, Bruce focuses on what is right there in front of him.

Freeman makes a pretty nice avatar for God. He is kind, gentle, loving and patient. He is not there to accuse Bruce, he is there to open Bruce’s eyes. Like Oh God before it, Bruce Almighty’s God does try and tackle some of the tough questions about existence. They do it best when they keep it simple.

While you can predict the happy ending on it’s way, the film manages to earn it’s happy ending. It does not cheat. Bruce does not have to just say he is sorry and everything is awesome. No, he has to work to get there. He has to give up dreams and find a new path.

There is a lot about Playing Cool that makes me want to like it. The cast (both lead and supporting) is comprised almost entirely of actors I like a lot. The film has some nice ideas it is playing with. It has some clever visual moments.

But the pacing and the storytelling? That is where it falls flat. And it keeps it from being a movie I truly enjoyed.

That it is a cliched tale of a screenwriter (Chris Evans) who does not believe in love, but then meets that one amazing woman (Michelle Monaghan)…but she has a boyfriend (Ioan Gruffudd). He seeks the advice of his friends and family (well, his grandad, played by Phillip Baker Hall). These characters are fairly well designed. There is the gay best friend Scott (Topher Grace), obligatory art performer girl secretly in love with the lead (Aubrey Plaza), disillusioned married buddy (Luke Wilson) and Oddball Played by Martin Starr.

The film tries to attack these cliches, but rather ineffectively. And there are numerous attempts at big emotional beats. Yet, the film never really earns these. I did not get the draw between the leads, everything was a rough sketch.

What makes this painful is the film has terrific imagery. Whenever Evan’s screenwriter starts getting philosophical, the film gets interesting to watch. There is a terrific scene where the Screenwriter (Evan’s and Monaghan’s characters are simply credited as “Me” and “her”) starts mocking the notion of there being “someone for everyone”. He talks about how there are those people who are such social misfits, there is no way they could find someone…but he is surprised by how many of them do. The picture becomes more colorful and vibrant, except for Evans, who is now black and white. There is an animated sequence where Grandad tells the tale of how he pursued the woman he loved (an outlandish tale of swimming an ocean, riding wild horses and so on). Evans talks about how his heart has let him, and stands in the background chain smoking. And we see Evans off to the side, smoke billowing from every pore, like Humphrey Bogart. The movie is wonderfully expressive at times.

As a said, I like the cast. In a fun bit of casting, Anthony Mackie is Evan’s agent (kind of a business wing-man). The cast is well chosen for their roles…

But the movie takes so any shortcuts, it never earns the big emotional beats and revelations. “Me” realizing who he would spend the rest of his life on a boat with after reading his friend’s (Grace) favorite book? It feels empty…it should be this hopeful and uplifting moment, but the film skips so much it feels rushed…except it somehow manages to slow down to a crawl, especially when focused on Evans and Monaghan. The film is full of ideas, and some pretty lofty intentions. But it jumps past what it needs to invest in. There is no sense of a real life for these characters.

The writers have only two movies (both Chris Evans films) to their writing credit and this is Director Justin Reardon’s first full length feature. I see some genuine potential in all three, but this film is not a ideal final product.

The creative style and cast make me want to like this movie. The cliches and lack of depth make me disappointed that it does not live up to those things.

Tag: phillip baker hall

Hail to the King (Bruce Almighty, 2003)

Coasting to the End(Playing It Cool, 2014)