Albert Brooks Page 2

It's been 13 years since the release of the Disney/Pixar hit Finding Nemo, and filmmaker Andrew Stanton has opted to make a spin-off instead of a direct sequel, shifting the perspective to recount the life story of the forgetful blue tang. Because it centres on a personal quest, it's a very different style of movie, which makes some of the action feel rather contrived. But the characters are still vivid and likeable, and it's packed with meaningful themes.

The film opens with young Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) being taught by her parents (Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy) how to cope with her short-term memory problem. But she still gets lost. Then years later, after her adventure teaming up with Marlin (Albert Brooks) to help find his son Nemo (Hayden Rolence), she has a brief spark of memory and decides to find her family. Accompanied by Marlin and Nemo, Dory crosses the ocean to a California marine sanctuary, where they get separated. Dory gets help from cranky seven-tentacled Octopus Hank (Ed O'Neill), the perky whale shark Destiny (Kaitlin Olson) and a befuddled beluga whale (Ty Burrell). Meanwhile, Marlin and Nemo meet a pair of laddish sea lions (Idris Elba and Dominic West).

Continue reading: Finding Dory Review

From the team behind Despicable Me and Minions, this high-energy adventure makes up for its rather simplistic story by filling the screen with lively characters, silly dialog and colourful animation. There's nothing terribly distinctive about the movie, as most of the gags feel recycled and everything bounces across the surface without generating any resonance either in the humour or emotions. But it's a lot of fun while it lasts.

In a cosy Manhattan apartment, the happy rescue dog Max (voiced by Louis C.K.) lives with his owner Katie (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt's Ellie Kemper). The moment she steps out of the door on the way to work, he's already bored and waiting for her to come home. So he hangs out with the other pets in the neighbourhood, including lovelorn pomeranian Gidget (Jenny Slate) and food-obsessed cat Chloe (Lake Bell). Then Katie brings home another stray, the gigantic brown furball Duke (Eric Stonestreet), who immediately starts challenging Max's alpha-dog status. As war breaks out between them, they find themselves stranded in the city, caught up with a sewer-dwelling gang of abandoned pets led by the adorable but intense bunny Snowball (Kevin Hart). Meanwhile, Gidget and Chloe recruit some help to find them, including a grumpy hawk (Albert Brooks) and an ageing basset hound (Dana Carvey).

The plot basically consists of a series of chaotic chase sequences that build up to a climactic scene straight out of a Die Hard movie. Each character and plot element is over-constructed, which eliminates any sense of honest emotion or loose interaction, but the characters are likeable simply because they're so ridiculous. The animators use a lot of colour and a tactile variety of furry textures. And the actors have a lot of fun with the characters. Hart is, of course, the scene-stealer as the fast-talking kingpin who uses his cuteness as a weapon. And while C.K. and Stonestreet are endearing as the story's protagonists, it's Slate and Bell who win over the audience in the funniest, most complex roles.

Continue reading: The Secret Life Of Pets Review

A young Hollywood stunt driver (Gosling) moonlights as a getaway driver, overseen by his mentor Shannon (Cranston), who has just negotiated a partnership with businessman Bernie (Brooks) and his shady partner Nino (Perlman). But the driver's isolated life is breached when he gets to know single mother Irene (Mulligan) and her young son (Leos) who live in his building. And when Irene's husband (Isaac) is released from prison, the driver offers to help clear an old score so he can start with a fresh slate. Of course, nothing goes as planned.

Continue reading: Drive Review

In The In-Laws (based on the 1979 film of the same name), like most other Michael Douglas vehicles, his gaunt face is rarely off the camera. Wisely, director Andrew Fleming inserts a hilarious Albert Brooks as the perfect remedy for Douglas's self-absorption.

Continue reading: The In-Laws (2003) Review

Brooks, as usual, plays a riff on himself, with Kathryn Harrold (perhaps best known as Jenny Loud on MacGruder and Loud) as the apple of his eye. Brooks is up to his usual shenanigans here -- wondering whether Harrold is cheating on him, obsessing over every little detail, slamming Quaaludes, and wondering whether he shouldn't have dumped the girl after all. Eventually they'll come back together, only to be torn apart before the end. The question is whether we'll reach an equilibrium here where both parties are happy,

Continue reading: Modern Romance Review

With its overblown script striving for maximum wackiness and cheap laughs, the espionage-and-matrimony comedy "The In-Laws" walks a thin line between funny and dumb in an inebriated stupor. Butt-crack gags and unlikely explosions are the order of the day. But a threesome of smarter-than-the-screenplay comedic performances keep the flick punchy enough to earn fairly steady smiles.

Albert Brooks stars as an anxiety-ridden podiatrist who considers a little foot fungus one of the most dangerous things in the world. Needless to say, he's in way over his head when, while trying to micro-manage his daughter's wedding plans, he stumbles onto a covert operation of international intrigue being led by the father of the groom (Michael Douglas), a loose-cannon undercover CIA agent.

Brooks provides a running narrative of amusing neuroses as he's knocked out and dragged along on a mission so he doesn't blow Douglas's cover as the screwy spook tries to prevent an effeminate French arms dealer (David Suchet) from selling a stolen nuclear stealth submarine. With masked insanity in his eyes and caffeine in his bloodstream, Douglas rides a comically uneven keel as the obnoxious daredevil spy of questionable sanity who does everything by the seat of his pants, including trying to negotiate with bad guys in a restaurant bathroom while having his first dinner with his future in-laws.

Continue reading: The In-Laws Review