Comic: Superman/Batman #63

There's always something to be said about a comic book with a monkey on the cover. In this case it's a gorilla; Gorilla Grodd to be exact, but that does not matter. What matters is that Superman/Batman issue sixty three is a done-in-one story about how a psychic gorilla takes over the ENTIRE world and banishes Superman from the planet using keen gorilla trickery.

Like most apes, Grodd has to be taken down a level and who better to do that than a bearded, one-eyed, crazy-as-beans Batman. Yeah, you read that right. You get both a psychic gorilla controlling the whole world AND a crazy bearded Batman running around defying him. It's like cookie dough and ice cream. Two good things that go great together. Top this off with that fact that the whole issue is set in a post apocalyptic future where the sunset is green (GREEN!), and I'd be hard pressed to name a more enjoyable comic lately.

It doesn't hurt that the issue is drawn superbly by Rafael Albuquerque. The way he draws a gorilla getting punched in the teeth by Superman is out of this world. That's neglecting to even mention the way he's portrayed Batman. It's so cool I can't even fathom words sufficient enough to do it justice. Also, Albuquerque's Joker is the coolest Joker in comics at the moment.

All in all, I'll buy anything with a monkey on the cover. I think any logical person would. It's a good thing too when I read an issue of any comic more than once in a week. Not that any of you are going to spring up and haul yourselves to the nearest comic book shop, but for a psychic gorilla maybe... just maybe... you should.

Pellet Reviews: G.I. Joe, True Blood, and District 9

Whoa, so I'm a little behind on all of the media I've been intaking lately, but such is life my friends. Anyways, in an attempt to catch up in a manner that won't take up three posts and take me hours to write, welcome to my first edition of pellet reviews! That is to say, I'm aiming to keep these shorter than usual.

First up: G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra

Hoo boy this movie had a lot stacked up against it going in. I mean, did anyone see the trailers? One has to question whether the PR team behind this film was asleep at the wheel or purposefully trying to sell the movie as brainless. Granted, what you see in the trailer is fairly close to what you get in the film, but fortunately for the movie itself the package fairs better as a whole.

To begin, G.I. Joe like Transformers before it is a chance to cash in not only on a profitable toy line, but also the dreams and fantasies of man-children everywhere. The plot is as simple as Duke (Channing Tatum) and his best pal Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) are tasked with escorting a new nanotechnology weapon to a secure location when they are ambushed by the hotter-than-usual (not counting the Alfie remake) Sienna Miller as Baroness. Wacky hijinks ensue and the elite but mysterious G.I. Joe unit swoops in to save Duke and his pal. Managing to save the nano weapon, the Joe's are impressed enough by Duke's action (Ripcord doesn't do anything but lay on the sidelines, but they recruit him too) to enlist him in their elite program. Cue the montage and before you know it, Duke and Ripcord are the best G.I. Joe operatives around, magically excelling in every training routine. It's not long before we learn the attempt on the nano-bomb was in fact a cunning ploy by the weapons designer, McCullen (Christopher Eccleston), to get his weaponry into the terrorist market. You see, he lives by the evil weapon maker code of playing both sides of a conflict. I believe the filmmakers were attempting here to comment on the state of the arms trade, but thankfully the surrounding plot and characters are so cartoonish and inane that the message never seems to penetrate the subconscious.

Anyway, before long the would-be Destro pinpoints Joe HQ using a tracking device in the nano weapon and his minions break in a decimate the unsuspecting Joe army. Before long the Joe's are on a revenge mission to retrieve the weapon before it can be used on the public, and the audience is treated to a number of fantastic set pieces which see the Eiffel Tower get destroyed, super suited soldiers running down the street dodging missiles at 80mph, and an assault on a subarctic underwater base. Somewhere in there the filmmakers attempted to shoehorn in a love story between misunderstood Baroness and Duke, and the shared loss they feel over the loss of her brother Rex (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). It's pretty tame and predictable, but it's nice that Sienna Miller gets to survive the proceedings if only for the chance she may sauce up the sequel.

G.I. Joe is a pretty mindless film, but it so embraces this idea that it actually ends up working much better than anyone may think walking into theatres. Honestly, it never tries to take itself too seriously, presenting itself at face value while not shying away from its share of eye-rolling jokes. This scenario works best in the favor or Marlon Wayans, who in most appearances only manages to annoy and distract from the rest of whatever movie he graces. Also on his side is the fact that supposed main character Duke is played by the acting equivalent of silly putty. Channing Tatum does well enough to deliver his lines without sounding like an idiot, but does little else to emote or evoke a connection with his character. This is a shame considering Duke is destined to become the charismatic leader of the G.I. Joe forces. Unfortunately, the best that can be said for this movie is that exceeds expectations, but that only amounts to a passable film. There are most certainly some cool action sequences presented here, but I felt they always just missed the peak of their potential. Luckily, the film keeps a brisk pace moving from one element to the next fast enough to keep the viewers distracted that there is hardly any substance to speak of.

Some credit must be given to Joseph Gordon-Levitt who apparently realized that this film allowed for a spectacularly over-the-top delivery so much so that when he delivers some of the hammiest lines in the film, you can't help but grin at the cheese factor. I imagine this was intentional, and it was also fun to see a villainous turn for the actor so soon after 500 Days of Summer. Credit must also go to Sienna Miller who pretty much embraces the fact she's there for eye candy. It doesn't stop her from being sufficiently both a combo of nasty and campy. It plays right until her inevitable redemption scenes which come off as forced and unnecessary. Almost-points finally go out to Dennis Quaid who hams it up in the bad way, and seems satisfied with punching in for a paycheck. See G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra as a second-string movie theatre day or if you really think you can't handle engaging your brain on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

True Blood: 'Timebomb'

I've been very bad about my True Blood reviews as of late, and I definitely missed the boat on the episode before this one. This is not to say that the show has taken any kind of dip in quality. Quite differently, True Blood has cranked itself to eleven and all of the carefully established dominoes of the season thus far are tipping.

This week sees the tensions between the Fellowship of the Sun church and the vampire law of Texas come to a boil. Sookie's trapped in a basement with a turncoat human who's betrayed her to the Fellowship, Bill's trapped in his hotel room with his maker Lorena who has absolute power over him, and Jason's still an idiot. Meanwhile, back in Bon Temps Sam Merlotte is on the run and paranoid on account of demon-god Maryann running amok carving hearts out of people while causing everyone to have sweaty, black-eyed orgies. Tara and Eggs of course remain oblivious, and it's getting harder to ignore how ignorant they are becoming over the increasingly weird happenings around them. Also, vampire Jessica and Hoyt finally get it on for each of their first times and its very sweet until Bill barges in and surprisingly does not dismember the human.

This week pretty much had my jaw on the floor the entire episode. There were so many revelations and just plain cool moments that one would be hard-pressed to deny this may very well be the highlight of the season thus far. Godric the two millenia old vampire makes his appearance and Eric quickly finds him and Sookie. We are treated to a hilarious moment where Eric affects a bumpkin persona to try and non-violently escape from the Fellowship church, and before long all hell breaks loose. Surrounded by the Soldiers of the Sun, Eric and Sookie seem to be cornered... UNTIL all of the Texas vampire law-people bust in the front door and through some awesome vampire speed and power turn the tide of the fight in about four seconds. Bill knocks Lorena out with a 52-inch plasma screen TV and super-speeds his way to his woman, just in time for the fireworks. Steve Newlin, crazy in his desperation, holds Sookie at gun point until Jason saves the day; finally coming through and doing something not stupid. Right before the blood begins to spill, Godric appears and brings an unexpected peace to the proceedings, despite Newlin's prodding. One gets the impression that Godric is a different kind of vampire in this show, choosing to learn from his two thousand years of unlife and evolving as opposed to becoming more separated and routine. Given the fact Godric is played by a younger, shorter actor it is very fun to watch the rest of the vampire cast go sheepish around him.

The day saved, there's obviously an after-party in which Godric seems bored with the state of his unlife and the vampire snobbery, Jason apologizes to Bill and everyone about what a moron he is, and Lorena is banished by Godric. You almost, almost feel bad for her when Bill tells her he never wants to see her again. She's just a love sick murderer after all. The episode cuts out as one of Jason's pals from the Fellowship crashes the party, announces himself, and reveals a chest strapped with live explosives and what look like mini-projectile stakes. He presses the button and credits roll. Elsewhere Sam is still on the run, discovers Daphne's heartless body in a frame-up, goes to jail, and finds himself being able to trust only Andy. Tara and Eggs end up eating Daphne's heart thanks to Maryann's deceitful but delicious cooking skills, and proceed to beat each other senseless most presumably at Maryann's demonic behest. Lastly we are treated to a heart-breaking scene in which Jessica realizes she is an eternal virgin (at least physically) thanks to the timing of her vampirism, and you truly feel for her with Hoyt.

This is the kind of episode where you wonder how it all fits in an hour so satisfyingly. Revelation after revelation pays off, and no stone is left unturned (except for stupid Maryann, but it looks like we'll get some resolution next week). The story never seems to betray itself for the sake of melodrama, and instead lets the well established characters play for themselves. This is television at its escapist finest, and it's pitch-perfect. Wonderfully now that all of the disparate plot lines are all molded into a cohesive whole, it will be interesting to see what happens once the main cast and vampires return to Bon Temps and view the weirdness Maryann has laid bare. There's no real hanging what-if's, but the storyline is left wide open for some really great developments; not the least of which is the cliffhanger bombing this week.

True Blood is firing on all cylinders right now, and presuming it keeps it up with next week's installment, season two is shaping up to be a grander, greater version of the first already fantastic season. Do yourself a favor if you're not already and check out this show any way you can.

District 9

Where did this movie come from? In one night I very quickly found the third best film of the summer for myself. This is sci-fi at its very finest, telling a compelling and intriguing tale with some minor yet not blatant parallels to modern society.

The plot follows Wikus Van De Merwe (newcomer Sharlto Copely), a worker for the MNU organization tasked with evicting District 9. What's District 9? Oh, just a huge colony just outside Johannesburg, South Africa that happens to be inhabited by millions of an alien species that mysteriously showed up twenty years earlier. If it sounds intriguing, then this movie is already for you. The premise revolves around the concept that a massive mother ship appears in the skies above the city sometime in the mid 80's, and after months of inactivity, humans take it upon themselves to fly up to it and see what's inside. Instead of a creepy, malicious alien race akin to Ridley Scott's Aliens, or the kind from Independence Day we are treated to a malnourished and terrified race of bug-like aliens hopelessly lost without leaders. Doing the 'humane' (haha) thing, the world shuttles the aliens to earth and into shanty towns which become known as District 9. Flash forward twenty years and we jump into the film proper. Tensions between humans living in the Johannesburg area and the alien squatters are high, and the humans want the aliens to move.. Because it would seem the race is aimless and almost clueless even unto its own inner workings, it would seem that the only solution is to evict them from their shanty town and move them a number of miles away to a new one.

Unfortunately for Wikus who has just been promoted to head of the task force assigned to serve eviction notices to the alien squatters, District 9 has become more like a slum -- rampant with crime, arms dealing, illegal inter-species prostitution, and a well-entrenched human contingent content on exploiting everything around them for power and weapons. The opening third of the film is told in a documentary style that for me hearkened back to Cloverfield in its sense of conveying the illusion that what we're seeing is real, but with not nearly as shaky of camera work. The universe they've set up is exceedingly believable, and as we watch the early scenes as Wikus uses his know-how and expertise to evict the aliens while navigating the complexities of their culture and lifestyle, one is drawn willingly into the desolate world of shaky civil rights and complex moral lines. Apparently, the script is reminiscent of director Neill Blomkamp's time growing up in South Africa during apartheid, and its easy to see the invocations between that and the fictional eviction of District 9.

Everything is going fine for Wikus until he evicts an alien the audience knows to be up to something nefarious at best. Stumbling upon a mysterious canister which we later find out to be a fuel cell, Wikus is sprayed in the face by a mysterious black goo. From here his life more or less cascades out of his control, and the audience gets to watch a very Kafka-like transformation evocative of the Metamorphasis. Wikus slowly begins to literally come apart at the seems, treating us to disturbing visuals of finger nails being torn off, teeth falling out, and grotesque alien exo-skeleton growing beneath his skin. Not the least of his problems, Wikus' newfound transformation allows him to operate the genetically encoded, and until recently, useless alien weaponry that the MNU has amassed but been unsuccessful in actually firing. This makes Wikus a valuable military commodity and after a close call with the chopping block, he retreats and must take refuge in District 9. What follows is an interesting character study of how a man can change both literally and figuratively in such extreme conditions. Watching Copely's progression from slightly nerdy office-man to jittery, end-of-his-rope refugee is at once heart-breaking and believable. Given to extreme circumstances, Wikus must try and survive in the harsh conditions of the slum and he eventually stumbles upon the very alien whom created the fuel cell that is transforming him. Turns out that this particular alien and his son are a breed apart from the aimless, shiftless creatures populating District 9 and have taken the initiative to repair their command ship and intend on reviving the mothership. With a promise to repair Wikus if he were to help retrieve the cell, the movie transitions into one man's quest and the lengths he will go to escape his plight.

District 9 has some pretty impressive effects for a movie made for a relatively small $30 million. The aliens in the movie feel real enough to not be distracting, and emote enough believability so as to connect with the viewer in a way that involves one passed the fact they are a fancy CG effect. Once Wikus gets his hands on some of the cool alien weaponry, we are treated to some light action scenes in which some extreme violence ensues. It becomes pretty commonplace to see people literally burst like bloody water balloons in this film, and that is only the most common way random soldiers bite the dust. The important part of all of this is that even though you can kind of predict the character arc for Wikus, you never quite know the circumstances of how it will happen or where everything will end up. The movie also raises a lot of questions about basic civil liberties and it definitely left an unsure feeling in me as to which side had the moral high ground. Tensions run high in this film the entire time so that you are riveted to the screen for the duration of the running time.

By the end, you've seen Wikus' journey from naive, office nerd to hardened and bewildered refugee. The closing moments of the movie remain ambiguous, offering no solution to many of the grand problems of the situation or revelations as to the future of many of the main characters. Instead, District 9 leaves audiences with a sense of uncertainty which I am sure is intentional by the filmmaker to echo various scenarios in many parts of the world. Does war lie on the horizon for Earth? Is violence the only outcome of such a parasitic culture? Is there a peaceful solution in the end? It's the mark of good science fiction when you can walk out of the theatre without the pleasure of a tidy ending and still be satisfied with the film you've seen. District 9 may just be the sleeper hit of the summer, as it surprised me in a way none of the summer movies of this year have. Just behind Star Trek and 500 Days of Summer, District 9 deserves to be seen if only a passing interest is involved. Don't miss a chance to see a movie that is refreshing in it's new take on a familiar genre and it's ability to make you care.

Review: The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker is the newest in what I consider the new generation of war movies. The trend of the last fifteen years has been to focus on World War II era drama films while largely ignoring the Korean or Vietnam Wars. Perhaps embracing one of the most hot-button issues in today's world, there has been a recent emergence of media dealing with the contemporary war in Iraq as well as Operation: Desert Storm. I imagine the latter has also seen a popularity boost because some creative minds may find it easier to comment on a situation that has already concluded than one that is not only ongoing, but also very sensitive in our culture. The Hurt Locker continues the trend of both Sam Mendes' Jarhead and HBO's adaptation of Generation Kill in what I like to refer to as the 'desert war film'. Unlike the more or less historical depictions of soldiers fighting in the Second World War, modern war movies are more inclined to get inside the heads of the soldiers fighting. This is an interesting and unique take, but all the more understandable given the fact that the veterans of these battles are in ready and abundant supply. Films about modern war run the tenuous line of being analytical and being preachy. Either way it's a unique time to not only be making these kinds of films, but to also be watching them.

The basic premise of The Hurt Locker is the examination of an elite bomb diffusal squad stationed in Iraq circa 2004. The opening scene of the film takes strides to establish just how paranoid and volatile this warzone was five years ago where bombs are planted in the middle of busy roads hidden under trash, and it seems like any Iraqi bystander could be a threat. The scene puts the viewer in the headspace it needs to be for the rest of the film; one which anything can happen at a moment's notice and death may only be one mistake or moment away. To a large degree this tone helps establish the mind set one has to be in just to be present in that kind of warzone, let alone to be the person who diffuses explosives at point blank range. We are introduced to the centerpiece of the movie, Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner), fairly early in the film, and how he interacts with his squad mates JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) is the core of the film. Each soldier embodies a different archetype: James is the devil-may-care type who seems unaffected by his dangerous work, Sanborn is the straight laced, no-nonsense man of duty, and Eldridge is the somewhat naive, good-hearted yet frayed soldier in need of guidance. While this may seem fairly common in terms of characterization, the way in which these men interact throughout the course of the film not only informs the audience of their psyches, but each other's as well.

Right away, it's clear this movie is fairly somber in mood. There are no overly happy moments where our characters are carefree and overtly cheery, but the movie does well to avoid wallowing in melodrama. Instead the movie seems to provide an honest portrayal of what life in an increasingly hostile environment would be, and probably is, like. Moreso than any movie of its kind in recent memory, The Hurt Locker effortlessly puts the viewer in the mindset of it's characters. I found myself dwelling on the stakes of their plight as well as the kind of thoughts you have to have and suppress to prevent total panic more than once throughout the movie's slightly overlong two hours. As the movie progresses, we also see how Sergeant James deals with the same thoughts. Beginning as essentially a man who does not seem to care what happens to him as long as he's safe and does his job, actor Renner is able to portray a man helplessly attracted to the thrill of living in that moment between life and death. More than once we see how the pressure catches up to him and he is believably overcome with the extremity of the situations he finds himself in, only to bottle it up and return to duty seemingly unaffected. It's effective characterization for one can not help but wonder what effort of will or conscience it takes to see the things some of these soldiers see and walk away unshaken.

In the end the movie wraps up and we are treated briefly to James back home in the USA. Perhaps the most damningly effective and informative part of the movie, we see how he copes with the mundane facets of everyday life that are so far away from the explosions, gunshots, and death of Iraq. We also see how the adrenaline high of being a bomb technician has taken any of the color out of his day to day life. The viewer also finds themself wondering whether it really is the rush of the job or instead the horrors he's witnessed that have left him so singular in his interest. At the end of the movie it's hard to peg this film as any one thing. On a level it is a look into the minds of the men and women who find themselves in a constant flux of moments between life and death. On another it's about the way war or even living surrounded by constant death can numb a person emotionally and mentally. This movie succeeds on both of those fronts to be sure and the best thing to be said about it is that it makes one think. In a cinema climate where producing the most shocking visuals can sometimes be paramount to actually saying something with the art, The Hurt Locker presents its subject matter in an inobtrusive way that leaves the analyzation almost exclusively to the audience.


As an aside, I have to say that the above poster does not evoke an iota of the tone of the movie it represents. In fact, I would almost say this poster is the farthest thing from an accurate representation of the film, opting more for an edgy, almost action oriented take on what is more or less a character study. Hmph.

Picture: My Gigantic Yet Creepy Sentinel

There's a pretty funny story as to how I ended up getting this picture, suffice it to say that as you can see I got rained on again. I took this after 45 minutes of feeling like I was in a maze and this guy just looked smug. Also, is it just me or does rain make every picture cooler?

Review: Funny People

Sometimes it's hard to remember that while Judd Apatow and the gang of actors he's come to be associated with have had a tremendous film presence in recent years, this is only the director's third time behind the wheel. Even with that knowledge, Funny People feels right at home inside this relatively new genre that essentially spawned from Apatow's earlier films. This is a double edged point for the movie. On one hand, the audience knows what to expect and the cast is primarily well known. On the other, the audience knows what to expect. A number of films starring these same actors have been released in the last few years. From the top of my head I can think of Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I Love You, Man, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Pineapple Express, 40 Year Old Virgin, and Knocked Up. I imagine I even missed a few there, but essentially these films have the same faces showing up and plots that, while different, share a vast amount in common. In each of the above films we expect a very lude, envelope pushing first act that isn't afraid to "go there", and a second act which almost always has a heartwarming message about either love or friendship. It's a fairly worn genre that has been upgraded to the kind of unabashedly real, no-compromise formula we see today. And it works. It speaks to the youth generation of the day, but the problem is that it's becoming worn once again. This is the chief problem I placed in front of Judd Apatow walking into Funny People, and while I wasn't blown away afterwards, this film definitely surprised me in a lot of ways.

The first place to begin in a movie from this group is obviously the cast. Dually lead by both Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen, both actors are well-known so that the impetus to entertain and hopefully bring something new falls on them. Sandler turns in a pretty convincing performance here in what essentially amounts to a dramatized version of his own life. The usually zany, but oddly emotionally detached actor is able to channel a very introspective performance for this film. I found that it's almost as if in having to get in touch with earlier aspects of his life and career, Sandler was forced to not only come to terms with but also repurpose parts of himself that seemingly fell away over the years. It all adds up to a very self referential turn for the well known actor, and stands as one of his more heartfelt performances in years. I still don't find him particularly funny, but the way Sandler addresses it is more tribute than pastiche. It comes from a genuine place and that resonates regardless. Seth Rogen is pretty huge these days, and the number of movies he's appeared in over the last two years is staggering. Fortunately for him, it seems he has the talent to back up his exposure. With a distinct look and one of the most unique laughs in cinema, one would think that it would be tough to distinguish the actor from any of his characters. Here Rogen plays against type (which is to say carefree, upbeat, stoner with a heart of gold) and manages to convince the audience that he is Ira -- a self conscious, insecure, and emotionally in-touch individual. It's not played for laughs either. Like the rest of the movie, you cheer for Ira as he slowly gains confidence in both life and career. Most importantly, it feels like a real progression. I'd be lying if I said that the scenes with Seth Rogen in them were more interesting to me than the ones with just Adam Sandler.

The rest of the cast does a serviceable job. Jonah Hill is the slightly manic, fast talking guy we've seen before. Leslie Mann does a good job of playing a woman torn in half by the turmoil happening all around her life, and you vicariously feel her dilemma. Jason Schwartzman jumps between being hilarious and over-the-top. One moment he's pitch perfect as just exaggerated enough to be real, and the next he pushes it slightly too far into the realm of outrageousness. Eric Bana does a great job as the overly butch, Australian husband to Mann, and it seems his comedic background serves him well. He knows he must essentially be the antagonistic jerk, but he plays some hammier elements of the character up just right to garner laughs. Most importantly he is able to earn a sliver of sympathy which is invaluable in the final act of the film. The movie is also chock full of various celebrity cameos, the least successful of which goes to Eminem who does a fair job of realistically delivering his lines, but when tasked with being funny falls a little flat.

Funny People is basically two movies in one. While I have heard the argument that the movie's heart succeeds best in the first half in which Adam Sandler's character believes he is terminally ill; I find it hard to agree. Without the second act which focuses primarily on Sandler's George Simmons attempting to get back the girl of his dreams, the movie runs the risk of swimming in all too familiar waters. Too many movies have dealt with dying, learning to accept it (or not), and the arc of that journey. It would be impossible and unwise of this movie to walk the same road. Instead, Funny People chooses to use the less travelled road of showing what happens when you stand on the brink and get a second chance. Though not altogether a new concept, it allows the film to do a lot more than it would have otherwise. Once these elements are established, it's easy to field where the movie is headed.

More than once during the film I worried that we were going to get another mushy, gooey Apatow ending serviced by convenient plot devices and copious amounts of emotion. It's on this point that the movie surprised me most, bucking a number of trends I fully expected it to embrace. First, even after having a life altering experience, George Simmons is not definitively the hero of the story. Things happen that cause the audience to really wonder if the right thing is happening, which in turn causes one to think deeper about the circumstances of the unfolding story. Second, unlike the previous two Apatow films, everything does not necessarily end up ideally for the protagonists. For once it feels like a bow hasn't been tied around everything and it leaves the viewer the opportunity to decipher for themselves one or two elements of the story. This is certainly a rare and unexpected treat in a movie from this group.

Lastly I will call into question the comedic element and thusly the titular 'Funny' in Funny People. This film falls more into a dramatic category than a comedy line of thinking, but never misses the opportunity to invoke a laugh. For this reason, I cannot recall during this film a time I may have laughed as hard or genuinely as I may have viewing previous efforts from this director, but I also cannot remember feeling there was any value to the film after the credits rolled. In the end, Funny People is an average movie to me. It doesn't astound or revolutionize, but it does just enough to distinguish itself from its peers in my mind that I feel it's worthy of being called the most thematically successful Judd Apatow movie, if not the funniest. See this movie if you want an amusing diversion which possesses the requisite heartwarming elements, but can handle not being spoon fed the most meaningful messages of the story.