I usually don’t demand too much during the first third of the year, where entertainment in film is about as dry as an overcooked piece of meat. Nevertheless, filmmakers still manage to put out very likable and fun films this time of year, and Focus is certainly no exception.

While certainly a very glaring first impression, the film suffers the detriment of having characters who mimic the personalities of the actors playing them. However, stars Will Smith and Margot Robbie make it work exceedingly well, skating by on their near-perfect chemistry and wit. Will Smith is typically snarky and wise, but Robbie really elevates her trophy-wife role from The Wolf of Wall Street, showing far more class while retaining her smarts. The remaining cast, while ultimately forgettable, are still having lots of fun with Smith and Robbie, and it’s their energy that overcomes any sort of over-malleability their characters might have.

The story isn’t even very consistent, feeling like a two-short-film series put into a single 100-minute movie. While our first half deals with Smith and Robbie coming to know each other and how the latter becomes a better con-artist in the process, the second sets itself on a single con that’s complicated by the leads’ now-strained relationship. The only glue holding the film together is Smith and Robbie, and as I’ve said before, they have more than enough flair to hold their own along with the film itself. The world and underground band of thieves and con-artists that director duo Glenn Ficarra and John Requa have created even really holds your interest from the very beginning, but once that half of the film ends, we’re only left with Smith and Robbie. Not overly terrible, but you find yourself missing them as the rest of the film plays on.

While being far looser than the average Martin Scorsese flick would have any right to, it has a similar feel to one, both with its gorgeous lighting, seedy undertones, and dynamite soundtrack (yes, and there’s even some Stones in there too). If Smith and Robbie are the glue holding the film together, the cinematography and music is the heat that dries it even quicker. It’s probably one of the better film soundtracks since Guardians of the Galaxy; has just the right song for the right scene, setting just the perfect tone.

Not as taut as most crime-related movies, but Focus offers enough wit, charm, and magnetic performances to make almost any filmgoer happy. While the stuff going on behind the camera may not be very well-executed, the stuff in front of it is dazzling, and it provides a strong case for more Will Smith and Margot Robbie-centric movies in the future, because they show that they can really make something out of nearly nothing.

Final Verdict:

After last year’s haunting masterpiece The Babadook, I’ve really been anticipating another horror film that could even stand remotely by its side. Judging from the early rave reviews of It Follows, I was certain that this would be just the film to do that. However, it’s quite disappointing to say that it very noticeably missed the mark.

The cast was rather hit or miss. The lead actress, Maika Monroe, and Keir Gilchrist, who plays her childhood best friend, are both actually quite effective and really give us characters to care about while their lives are in danger. Daniel Zovatto who plays the ever skeptical Greg, is not very convincing at all, but he’s a very minor character, and writer/director David Robert Mitchell doesn’t focus on him for too long. Regardless, most of the cast connects to each other very well and make for a fine group of friends, especially when accounting the standards of today’s horror fare.

The story is probably the weakest part of the entire film. Certainly, it has something to say, but there’s little plot to this film other than avoid the thing that’s trying to kill us, and more often than not, there’s a lot of very longer scenes that kind of just show the kids hanging around and talking about nothing in particular. It’s as if the director was making a tween indie drama and then decided to make it a horror film halfway through. While I say that the cast connects well as a group of close-knit friends, their dialogue and their characters don’t feel larger-than-life enough to make what they’re talking about immensely interesting.

The biggest strength the film has going for it is certainly its atmosphere. The lighting for this film is surprisingly very stark for an indie flick and really works in creating dread and a touch of nostalgia for classic 80’s horror films. If this weren’t enough of an indicator, the score, another smashing benefit for the film, is lifted straight from films like Halloween and The Shining. If nothing else, it will be a grand trip down memory lane for people who pine for the glory days of John Carpenter.

However, as for the “monster” itself, it’s very hit-or-miss. There are a few forms that are rather disturbing and produce some of the film’s best scares, but otherwise, as the trailers for the film suggest, it takes on the form of an otherwise regular person. Other than fearing for the life of our protagonist, the creature itself does not evoke too many frights no thanks to its frequent normalcy, and as a result, the film is unfortunately not extremely scary.

For what it’s worth, It Follows is certainly a far better horror film than what Hollywood tends to dish out, but if you’re looking for a film that will constantly leave an icy chill in your spine during and after the fact like The Babadook did, this is not a film for you. Fans of oldie-goldies horror will certainly appreciate its attention to detail on how it seamlessly replicates that period, and the characters are likable enough that you care enough for their safety. However, I just feel as though it was just not dark or sharp enough to fully satisfy my cravings for a truly horrific experience.

Final Verdict:

It’s a bittersweet feeling to know that a film will suck merely after seeing the first trailer. On one hand, it affirms your tastes and proper understanding of good filmmaking, but it still means another film undeservedly taking the spot of a far better one. Much like most Kevin Hart movies (and for that matter, recent Will Ferrell movies) are easy pickings in this regard, and Get Hard was no exception.

Will Ferrell is quite an unfortunate case. Films such as Stranger than Fiction and Everything Must Go clearly showcase a very talented actor, and films like the first Anchorman and Step Brothers show that he can make his typecast man-child persona work wonders. This film, though, misses the mark on both fronts, providing an insufferably stupid and annoying character in the form of James King. Ferrell performs his ridiculous role with reckless abandon, but considering that this may be a career suicide on a Norbit-level scale (a fact Ferrell almost seems aware of on screen), it’s probably better that he try and go out on a bang. Strangely enough, Kevin Hart provides a handful of decent well deserved laughs, and his character, Darnell, is earnest and sincere enough at times that he remains all-around likable. He often succumbs to his overzealousness, much like when he plays both a Latino, black, and gay inmate at once, that the film resumes its usual sloppy drag.

Nuance must be a non-existent word in both director and writer Etan Cohen's vocabulary, as the vast majority of the humor is phoned in, forcibly offensive, and obvious as all hell. Immediately as the plot rears its head, you can tell who screws over King, and we need constant reminders over how much of a gold-digger King’s wife is, much like when she beams waking up to her massive engagement ring or throws a hissy fit over the insufficient size of their massive mansion. The gay café scene was particularly agonizing, painting gays as constantly sex-starved whores (if their dialogue and blocking were any indicator). The mere thought of trying to clear King’s name doesn’t even cross his or Darnell’s minds until the final twenty minutes. It’s yet another case of a movie that cares more about throwing any and all jokes it can at the audience while putting the story in the backseat until the writer has to bring it back, almost as if contractually. And yes, the resolution is about as stupid and rushed as I’m making it sound.

Ferrell and Hart have surprisingly decent chemistry, but Hart maintains his status as ringleader, solely for the fact that he can at times give a performance that isn’t overly-mopey, overly-smug, or overly anything. Even rapper T.I., playing Darnell’s gangster cousin Russell, gives a far more subtle performance, and the scenes involving his fellow gang members learning from King how to trade, buy, and sell stocks was one of the few honest chuckles I got squeezed out of me.

Other than that, this movie is just a groan-inducing dud. It doesn’t provide the expected sheer stupidity warranting for my blood to boil, as Kevin Hart seems to be actually trying (albeit at times too hard), and there are some a couple of decent laughs, but they are far too few and way too far between to warrant even a rental. This movie already made bank this weekend, but so did Eddie Murphy’s Norbit during its run. Let’s hope that like that train-wreck, this will be a wake-up call for Ferrell and Hart to get their acts together before they too both fade into comedic oblivion.

Final Verdict: