Accepted is the “odd” entry on this list as it is the only movie I have not seen, but that is in fact the reason it is on this list. I skipped multiple screenings of this film and was sent the HD DVD but never considered going to the theater or putting it into the player all because there is no way a movie that is being sold as the “Animal House for a new generation” can uphold such a lofty claim when it is only rated PG-13. Especially when being compared to one of the most loved pioneering R-rated comedies ever.
The box art for the HD DVD says that critics are calling it “freakin’ hilarious”. This is a lie, only one critic said that specifically and based on 68 out of 106 reviews counting as “Rotten” on RottenTomatoes I don’t think many others felt the same way. At Comic Con last year the cast was there and Lewis Black, who stars in the movie, told us if you don’t like the movie then we should, “Shut the fuck up!” He told us this enough times that his rant was far more raunchy than this movie ever could be as we all know a PG-13 movie only gets to use the word “fuck” once. Oops.
Don’t get me wrong, I actually thought The Break-Up was pretty good, but this is not a list of PG-13 movies that sucked, it is a list of PG-13 movies that would have been better had they been rated R and this is an excellent example considering the talent involved.
We have all seen Swingers and Wedding Crashers, one of which featured Jon Favreau and the other that starred Vince Vaughn, both are rated R and both take full advantage of two acotrs that star and co-star in The Break-Up. This is a movie that seems to want to use Vince Vaughn to his fullest capabilities yet holds back just as he is about to go full-on Vince. As for Favreau they give him such a one-note character it isn’t even worth it. The Break-Up wants to appeal to the romantic-comedy lovers while at the same time bringing in the audiences that find Vince Vaughn’s comedy so appealing. Unfortunately in this case the rom-com crowd is far more satiated than the others.
This is a movie in which porn star Jenna Jameson even makes an appearance, but the prurient interests of that crowd are limited to a look at Aniston’s bum and not much more. All I can say is that with a bit of what made 40-Year-Old Virgin so good The Break-Up could have actually been far more memorable. Yeah, Break-Up outdid Virgin at the box-office, but I don’t see The Break-Up‘s Special Edition DVD just yet, whereas Virgin has already capitalized on a double-dip DVD release.
I will admit there is one great line in this flick and it comes from Cole Hauser as Vince Vaughn’s brother, “Arrested for what, baby? For being awesome? ” It is classic and I only wish it was on YouTube so I could share.
Be Cool is one of a couple of sequels on this list that follow-up their R-rated successes with a lackluster PG-13 release that by no means matches the original’s accomplishments. When you are aspiring to reach a wider audience you run the risk of alienating the audience that loved the original work and Be Cool is an excellent example of this issue.
Following-up the 1995 comedy hit Get Shorty, Be Cool tried to use famous faces and a generic storyline to sell its comedy rather than good writing. Get Shorty had crazy characters, but they were part of the story rather than used to tell it. With Be Cool they dumbed down the humor by giving us Vince Vaughn giving us his best Vanilla Ice impersonation and The Rock acting as a homosexual bodyguard. This is the extent of the comedy in Be Cool and it is nothing more than what you will see on “Will & Grace” or any one of UPN’s sitcoms. Movies are better than that and it takes more than just famous faces and circus-like humor to make us laugh. It takes a good writer.
Scott Frank penned Get Shorty and recently wrote and directed The Lookout, a movie I was less than impressed with, but his ability to pen a screenplay is far more accomplished than say Be Cool‘s scripter Peter Steinfeld who was part of the Analyze That script team, a movie that pains me to even think of. I can’t imagine Elmore Leonard can be at all happy with Be Cool‘s generic less than gritty feel, but his wallet is surely fatter thanks to its existence.
Ghost Rider is not a film that would need to be beefed up with R-rated material. Nope, Ghost Rider is a film that would need to go back to the first stages of scripting with a whole new focus. It baffles me how anyone could look at a film about a man who sells his soul to a demon lord and then parades around as a fiery skeleton could be looked at as a property that should be rated PG-13, or even made to be such a watered-down mess.
Considering the dark nature of this comic book icon, it only takes a short reading of the character’s background to realize just how much was left out of the story and how simplified it all became. It seems as if studios don’t want to explore the darker side of these characters and simply appeal to the larges common denominator in an effort to sell lunch boxes and action figures. However, while Ghost Rider still managed to earn over $115 million at the box-office it was panned by critics and only succeeded at such a level thanks to no competition during the February dumping season.
If Sony Pictures had considered what exploring the dark side of this comic may have earned them a sequel would probably already be in the works. Look at what it did for Batman Begins, a movie that made $205 million and has already spawned the most anticipated comic book movie of 2008 in The Dark Knight.
Creating a movie that does well at the box-office opening weekend is one thing, but creating a movie that stands the test of time is a completely different ball game. I am not saying a movie has to be rated R to be good, I am simply saying studios need to embrace what their movies are really about, and Ghost Rider is definitely far more than bad acting and special effects.
Releasing one month after the gritty crime drama Running Scared, 16 Blocks had something to live up to, but considering no one saw Running Scared all 16 Blocks had to do was live up to its promos. Taking place primarily in the streets of New York you would expect a dirty gritty thriller, but instead we get everything but the dirt and the grit.
When you cast Bruce Willis and David Morse you have the making of both of these adjectives, but just as Disturbia (another PG-13 movie that almost made this list) missed out on using the truly dark nature of acting Morse can accomplish this movie does the same, but the flaws of this pic reside more on the Willis and Mos Def side of things.
Willis plays the typical washed up cop who resorts to drinking and acting irresponsibly while Mos Def is along for more of comedy relief and an attempt at tapping into your emotional core. However, this film isn’t a movie that will benefit from the soft and cuddlies. While there are moments of grit they can’t make up for the moments in between. The opening of this flick and the truly realized scenes are telling two different stories and it is the softer moments that make you wish there were more of the gritty ones. The movie sustains itself throughout, but it could have been so much better if director Richard Donner had fully embraced the atmosphere his film was shot in and the dark nature of his villains.
