BOWIE IN TIGHTS: LABYRINTH AT THE 99W DRIVE-IN

Some time back, I mentioned Portland's perennial love for a very short list of films, many of which have the name Jim Henson attached to them.  I'm not even going to pretend to understand.  While I definitely had my time in the sun with Mr. Henson, I've been out of short pants for a few decades now and don't find myself returning all that often to his oeuvre, though that's likely to change as my kiddo piles on the years.

Okay, full disclosure: not a day goes by without an Elmo clip being leveraged in exchange for tooth brushing, but I digress.

For those of you who enjoy marinating in childhood nostalgia, there's something to celebrate as the 99W Drive-in in Newberg welcomes back Henson's 1986 film Labyrinth, an extended experiment in puppets, musical fantasy, and David Bowie in very tight (or is it magical?) pants.  Sure, there's a fall chill in the air and the 99W isn't exactly a short drive from PDX, but bring a blanket, Portland, and you'll be rewarded for your efforts with a 35mm screening of your 3rd or 4th favorite film that doesn't star Seth Rogen or Paul Rudd, okay?  And, since the drive-in recently succeeded in their campaign to digitally upgrade their operation, this is pretty close to your final chance to see a film projected on actual film at a local outdoor theater.

As is the gold standard for drive-ins, admission to the 99W gets you a double scoop of film entertainment.  This week's second feature is We're the Millers, which currently holds a not-so-fresh score of 48% on a certain "tomatometer".  But, hey...Labyrinth!

Labyrinth plays in a double feature with We're the Millers on Friday, October 4th through Sunday, October 6th at the 99W Drive-in.  More info available here.

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ALL IS BRIGHT: THIS AIN'T NO BROMANCE

It's a rough world out there.  And returning after a long absence is a difficult proposition.  How appropriate is it that Phil Morrison's less than prompt follow-up to his 2005 indie hit Junebug concerns itself with a man attempting to find his bearings, both familial and internal, after having his life interrupted by a long stay in prison?  In many ways, Dennis (Paul Giamatti), the protagonist of All is Bright suffers under far less steep expectations than Morrison does here.  No one expects anything from Dennis; in fact, his wife, Therese (Amy Landecker), has completely written him off, telling their young daughter that he died, rather than bothering with the messy truth about his incarceration.

The film picks up shortly after Dennis is released from prison.  What's his first move?  He returns to his rural, French-Canadian home where he's swiftly informed both Therese's lie and her involvement with Dennis' former best friend and partner-in-crime Rene (Paul Rudd), who Therese plans to marry once Rene's wife grants him a divorce.  With nowhere else to go, Dennis tracks down his romantic rival at a local bar, tries to beat him up, and (naturally?) ends up joining his Rene in an annual trek down to New York City to set up a seasonal Christmas tree selling business.  Yeah, this IS a Christmas movie...bet you never saw that coming.

If the plot sounds convoluted, rest assured, this film, like Junebug, doesn't grind too heavily on plot mechanics.  Instead, Morrison and screenwriter Melissa James Gibson treat these characters as people, albeit ones that sometime stray into situations just a smidge over the line separating the real from circumstances of a cartoonish nature.  When All is Bright sticks with its primary motif of two losers holding a predictably bad hand, it's at its best, resembling at times a modern update on a flavor of male camaraderie rarely portrayed in film since Elaine May's Mikey and Nicky (a bromance, this is, thankfully, not).  But, on the few occasions when the script pushes Dennis and Rene to act like people trapped in an indie comedy, the film stumbles, drops focus, and feels oddly flat.

All is Bright is unlikely to enjoy the same strong word of mouth leading to a slow-building success that Junebug did.  It's just not a film designed to register with a broad audience.  The characters aren't that likeable, nor is the action all that identifiable.  But it is a movie that deserves a chance from fans of quietly observant, character-driven cinema because, for each slight misstep that it contains, there's a charming counterpoint hidden just around the corner. 

All is Bright is currently available for viewing on VOD platforms such as Amazon Instant Video & iTunes.  The film opens theatrically in October.

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THIS IS 40: SMUGGLING IN THE SERIOUS WITH THE VULGAR

With his latest film, Judd Apatow veers away from bromance-informed genre that he helped create with films like The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, but no one is going to mistake This is 40 for the work of anyone else.  The identifiable touchstones of Apatow's oeuvre, including the way the actors all seem to be ad-libbing their way through much of this loosely structured film, are all in place, as is his usual ensemble cast of friends and family.  Surprisingly, even though This is 40 may be the least focused film that Apatow has directed, it's rarely boring.  On the contrary, it's downright funny and, if the success of a comedy is measured in laughs (which, obviously, it should be), Apatow is still capable of churning out a guffaw-inducing winner.

Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann reprise their roles as Pete and Debbie from Knocked Up.  The handful of people who didn't see that earlier feature won't be left out in the cold; This is 40 operates as a stand-alone piece and absolutely no prior knowledge of the characters is necessary to follow the action.  As the film opens, Debbie's turning 40.  No one in her family (or at her ob/gyn's office, for that matter) is allowed to acknowledge this rite of passage.  As far as she's concerned, she's turning 38.  At the same time, Pete's stubbornly holding on to a dream from his youth, running a music label, which, unfortunately for him, means running it into the ground.  All of this leads to some serious friction in the couple's relationship, each one denying their own part in the mess that their marriage has become.

Like in most relationship comedies, the bad is exacerbated by lying (about money, parenting, etc.) and unreasonable expectations while the good drifts further out of sight.  For a film laid out in comedic dressing, there's quite a lot of serious adult issues being bandied about here.  Peter Pan syndrome, the loss of sexual spark, and issues of abandonment and resentment all get an airing and there are several times when things are more "real" than straight up funny.  What keeps it all afloat is the palpable suggestion that, despite their problems, Pete and Debbie have more together than just shared history and a couple of kids.  Rudd and Mann are fascinating to watch together, even when the material and the running time feels a little stretched.  They're supported by winning performances from Albert Brooks, John Lithgow, Jason Segal, and, especially, Chris O'Dowd.

The film ends up being less about how to resuscitate your life from what it's become and more about gaining perspective on what you might have been taking for granted.  There aren't a lot of raunchy comedies being made in Hollywood about entering middle age, but This is 40 suggests that there's more than enough material worth mining there.  Neither overly romantic, nor completely flighty in its aims, Apatow smuggles in the serious with the vulgar, producing a mixture that's characteristically juvenile while forwarding a more mature model of what he's previously made.  It's not perfect, but This is 40 is far from nonessential, proving worthy of a look, especially where his fans are concerned.

This is 40 opens at the Portland area theaters on Friday, December 21st.  More info available here.

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