Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Kapten Video Rich and still reasonably young widow (Susan Sarandon) tries to find purpose. Her daughter (Rose Byrne) is tired of constant attention, so the woman looks for other ways to be useful to people.Also playing, J.K. Simmons, Jerrod Carmichael, Lucy Punch, Cecily Strong et al.Nothing to write home about, just another of those emotionally limp, wishy-washy "old but still kickin' it" type of drama-comedie-something-movies that the big stars of yesterday like to do so much.The screenplay is as soulless as you would expect from such a project. The story is full of "done to death" stuff and outright cliches. There's no proper story development: things happen, end or just disappear fast without finding natural rhythm or reaching to meaningful conclusion...Well, it's still marginally more watchable than, say, Morgan Freeman's latest "old people" movies such as "Just Getting Started", but it would take a special talent to create something even more vapid, no?Caught in on Netflix, watched to see Sarandon and Simmons. Both are good as always, making every project just a bit more solid just by appearing in it.Surprised to see that Metacritic's and Rotten Tomatoes's scores are pretty good, higher than mine. That's why you should only trust Kapten Video - because other critics have bad taste! Yes. I also dance better than they.

LilyDaleLady It's depressing to see a fine actress and lovely lady like Susan Sarandon reduced to doing this kind of comic shtick. There isn't much here you couldn't find in a 1950s TV sitcom about an "interfering mother" -- about the only surprise is that the character of Marnie Minervini is not Jewish, but Italian. (Speaking of that: would an Italian mother be bringing over BAGELS? not biscotti or cannoli? Really?)The stereotype of the bossy smother-mother -- well-intentioned, but SO overbearing -- is a very, very old trope and yet the director here, Lorene Scafaria, seems to think she's struck comedic gold. A bonus feature on the DVD is an interview with Scafaria and her own real life mother, on whom the film characters are based...and it comes across as creepy & troubling, not cute. About the only thing original is that the "smother-mother" here, Marnie, is a baby boomer and not a member of the Greatest Generation...if you fall into that demographic, it is a bit jarring to realize you are now among the OLDSTERS being mocked, and not the "young hip generation" anymore.But the problem with THAT, is when an overbearing mother of that former era was caricatured (unfairly I think), we KNEW someone of that age was a lifetime homemaker & mother, with no real education or career outside of that. So when their kids were grown and their spouse passed away, they had literally NOTHING else in their lives. That is very hard to accept when it comes to a boomer mom, who almost certainly had a career, went to college, etc. If we take Rose Bryne (age 38) and Susan Sarandon (who looks amazing at 70) literally...she did not have her daughter until she was 32. Yet there is no sense whatsoever that Marnie has ever had a profession or career, even part-time...that she had any life beyond marriage & kids...that she has same-age friends (and not just her daughter's friends)...or a life in Manhattan that she has left behind...or that she has always hovered over Lori (Bryne) who at least in her late 30s, for Lori's entire life.That's because Marnie is reduced to a stereotype; a meddling, clinging old crone with no life of her own. If Scarfaria thinks this about her own mother (besides mining her for lame jokes), it is pretty darn sad.Of course the vehicle that finally gives Marnie "a new life" and gets her claws out of Lori (a little) has to be....a new romance, supplied by J.K. Simmons (who's as charming as always). Indeed, nice single men in their 70s are clamoring for gorgeous Marnie here, which frankly is not something I've seen much for women I know over 60. And in LOS ANGELES! In other words: it is apparently not possible for a woman to heal from widowhood or loneliness or clinginess...unless she finds a new lover/husband.The other kinda distasteful element of the film is that Scarfaria (either reflecting real life OR a kind of cultural elitism) has made Marnie staggeringly wealthy. Of course, some people ARE really wealthy, but THAT also means the story is far less universal. Most older widows struggle financially -- your Social Security check is cut by a third when your spouse dies -- but not Marnie! SHE has apparently inherited MILLIONS from her husband, about which she acts as if he were a great-uncle who left her an unexpected inheritance. (Wasn't their wealth, their mutual assets, HALF HERS all this time? why was she SURPRISED to get it?) Out of a combination of guilt, wealth, control, naivete, and self-destructiveness, Marnie seems driven to spend her millions inappropriately -- buying expensive Apple electronics for people she barely knows, and throwing a very costly, large wedding for two ALREADY MARRIED lesbian friends of her daughter ....a couple whom she has just met! -- at first offering them $13,000 as tax-free gift....but then, paying entirely for a wedding which is clearly more than 2-3 times that much, being a catered affair on a rented YACHT and including a very costly designer dress for the bride!Though the whole concept is tedious, I think that last part lost the whole believability aspect for me. Even sitcoms have to be grounded in something relatable. If my mother spent a sizable chunk of her assets (and my future inheritance!) on a stranger's gay wedding (and not MY OWN wedding!)...I'd be properly concerned she was mentally ill or even showing signs of impending dementia. That isn't cute. It's troubling. It is troubling if the lesbian couple accepts this much money from a wealthy stranger, even as a gift. NOBODY here is behaving like anything resembling a real, normal human being in 2015.Not funny. Sad.

MinistryofDoom Yes, there are some pretty big A-listers in this film....Rose Byrne, Susan Sarandon, J.K.Simmons, Jason Ritter, etc...but just because you have some well known faces in your film, it doesn't mean that you have a great film. That should be the takeaway here. My mom is a longtime fan of Susan Sarandon so I watched the film with her. Both of us were bored to tears. The uninteresting life of Marnie and her daughter just seemed to go on for ever and ever and ever. There's no climax in this film, no payoff. Nothing. It just goes on and ends and that's it. There wasn't even any indication that it was even building up to something. It's just the boring story of a mom and her daughter living in L.A. There is no reason to watch this film at all, because it's just a re- enactment of "REAL LIFE". Hell, you're probably living Marnie's life right now and I bet you're more interesting than Marnie.

kosmasp Who wouldn't wish to have Susan Sarandon as a mother? Or at least a friend! I mean even when she has flaws she's amazing. And of course her character has flaws, but who doesn't. Her relationship with Rose Byrne is exceptional. The overall tone is set nicely. And if anything I'd wish this was longer, had more JK Simmons in it.I understand if some feel that not much is happening. It's a valid criticism of the movie. But if you do like the path rather than the overall goal this is heading for, you will cherish that path it takes. It's really well played (no pun intended) and it has a real arc. For more than Sarandon, but especially for her character. There are so many real moments to cherish ... but it has to be something you like, otherwise it doesn't make sense to watch it