"Everybody Wants Some!"

My SXSW review of "Everybody Wants Some!"

"Everybody Wants Some!"

Posted on March 13, 2016  on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Film is reviewed from the 2016 SXSW Film Festival screening.

'Everybody Wants Some'  (2016)

It’s 1981 in a small Texas college town where most of the sports teams of the college suck, all but the baseball team. The team rules the campus and just about the whole town, living in two old houses off campus, where there are only two rules laid down by their coach; no girls upstairs and no alcohol. Needless to say that both rules will be broken within in a few hours of the house manager laying down the law.

Into this environment walks freshman pitcher Jake (Blake Jenner), a likable but sometimes too smart for his own good 18-year old who must quickly find his place in this new world of booze, manliness and baseball. The team is ruled by the upperclassmen; Roper (Ryan Guzman), the ringleader of the house and the man with a line for every lady and McReynolds (Tyler Hoechlin), the best hitter on the team and a fiery personality to match his talent. Jake soon meets some of his other team members including Willoughby (Wyatt Russell) who seems to be on a mission to smoke as much weed as he can, Nesbit (Austin Amelio) a cock-sure upperclassman who never backs down from a challenge and Billy Autrey (Will Brittain), Jake’s new roommate and a teenager right out of West Texas central casting, drawl and all.

Jake is soon wrangled by the upperclassmen to go out for a little cruising of the campus for a little drinking before the team meets with the baseball coach for the first time. In a parking lot of a dorm, the guys encounter two girls who just aren’t falling for the upperclassmen’s lines, in fact, one of the girls, Beverly (Zoey Deutch), instead, tells the guys she is more interested in Jake, “the quiet one” over anyone else in the car. This is a girl that Jake will long remember, as he is determined to see her again, and isn’t going about to let college get in the way.

“Everybody Wants Some!” is a blast to watch, sort of a sequel to “Dazed and Confused,” Richard Linklater’s 1993 classic film about a bunch of Texas high school students experiencing their last days of high school. While not the same characters as in “Dazed,” the baseball team does inhabit the same small town Texas world, just a little older but certainly not the wiser. The film explores what it was like to go to college in Texas in the early eighties where Disco was starting to die, the “Urban Cowboy” craze was ruling the roost and the punk rock/new wave scene was still going strong. Linklater lets us get a taste of all these worlds, as the guys try to go with the flow, hitting bar after bar, in the search for free drinks and women.

The film takes place over the three days prior to the first day of class. It’s a tip to Linklater’s narrative talent that the film moves seamlessly from one day to the next, with the nights of rowdy behavior followed by a morning of recovery. Interspersed between parties, are conversations that range from talking about ESP (weed aided of course) to how to survive on a team full of competitors. This gives the film time to fill out the characters, making them seem more real than your typical college high jinks film. This makes Jake, Roper, and the others come off as much more rounded, fleshed out characters that we can enjoy. The quick banter back-and-forth as we learn about each team member makes the film flow, and is so much fun that often at my screening the laughter was so loud you couldn’t hear the response. Linklater’s knack of making dialogue seem natural while seamlessly flowing helps make this film feel as if we are almost taking part of the baseball team banter. The soundtrack is an amazing mix of different genres that perfectly reflect the times and the changing moods of taste. Everything thing from the flashy rock of Van Halen to the punk rock of Patti Smith to the country classic, the “Cotten Eyed Joe” contributes to fit the film perfectly for the time period.

The young, mostly unknown cast is outstanding with Ryan Guzman as the quick-witted Roper, Tyler Hoechlin as the brash MyReynolds and Austin Amelio as the boisterous Nesbit standing out. The secondary story of the film is the romance between Blake Jenner’s Jake and Zoey Deutch, the theatre major Beverly. Beverly is about the only woman in the movie that is treated as she isn’t a conquest for the team to win and Deutch gives us a performance that is smart and multi-layered, creating someone that Jenner’s Jake would be interested in. There is great chemistry between the two, as sparks fly from their first date as they talk and have ice cream, to their last date when they spend the whole night talking, right up to almost the first class of the year. Jenner is the standout of the film, as we instantly like his Blake, a guy that is trying to find his place on the team. Jenner also is able to show us that at the same time, it’s apparent that Blake is more than just a ball player, he is someone who has an intelligence in him that he can hold his own with the whip-smart Beverly.

Linklater has created a film, which while a little shallow at times, is so much fun that you are willing to overlook its few flaws. While a welcome addition to “Dazed and Confused,” this is a film that deserves it’s own place in the Linklater film repertoire. As with “Dazed and Confused,” which gets better with each viewing, you will want to revisit the baseball team from the small Texas college town for years to come.  My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again

My movie rating system from Best to Worst: 1). I Would Pay to See it Again 2). Full Price 3). Bargain Matinee 4). Cable 5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

“Everybody Wants Some!” Website

“Everybody Wants Some!” comes out this April.

"Only Yesterday"

My review of the Studio Ghilbi classic "Only Yesterday"

"Only Yesterday"

Posted on March 12, 2016 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Photo courtesy of GKids

"Only Yesterday"   (1991)

In 1991, Studio Ghibli was only six years old but already had a major hit in the animated film “Kik’s Delivery Service” (1989). In 1991, director/writer Isao Takahata brought us the animated film “Only Yesterday” which went on to become the biggest grossing film in Japan for 1991. For some reason, the film was never released in North America. For the 25th anniversary of the movie Studio Ghibli has recorded an English-language version of the film starring the voices of Daisy Ridley (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”) and Dev Patel (“Slumdog Millionaire”). The original Japanese language version with English subtitles will also be released. When the film was made director Takahata decided to keep the animation of the movie as realistic as possible, so the dialogue was recorded before the film was made and then the animators matched the animation to the voices. They also stayed away from the typical Japanese animation and gave the film a more realistic look, with lush animated backgrounds and characters that had much more human-like characteristics.

“Only Yesterday” is about Taeko (voiced by Daisy Ridley), a 27-year old office worker living in Tokyo. We follow her as she cleans off her desk, says her goodbyes and heads for the train station to start her 10-day vacation. She is off to visit her relatives, farmers in the countryside. It’s something she did last year and is looking forward to it again this year. As she rides on the train, she thinks about when she was a young teen, living with her sisters and parents. She thinks about what was important to a young girl, things that today seem unimportant but to a young child, it’s their whole world. It’s a world which could seemingly crumble if a classmate shuns you or if you aren’t picked for a team sport.

When Taeko arrives at her destination, she is clumsily met by Toshio (voiced by Dev Patel), a young farmer whose passion for the land is almost overwhelming to Taeko. Toshio is very outgoing, easy to talk to too and seems interested in Taeko’s opinions on just about every subject. He is a little jealous that Taeko gets to live in the big city, being one of the few young men in the countryside that hasn’t left to make it big in Tokyo, having decided to go into his families’ business of raising crops. They arrive at her relatives’ farm where they grow flowers that are used for rouge and for dying clothes. As soon as she gets out of Toshio’s car, she dons on her work clothes and instantly starts working in the field. The work is satisfying, and it seems that Taeko may be suited better for this world than the “rat race” back in Tokyo.

Photo courtesy of Gkids

“Only Yesterday” is a warm, lovely film that treats it’s main character, whether it’s the adult version or the younger one, with a loving touch. This is a movie about a woman discovering that what molded her in youth, now has implications in the adult world. Taeko seems to be happy with her job in Tokyo but the longer she spends getting back in rhythm with a simpler life, the more content she seems. The film explores the conflict that women in Japan felt at that time, their desire to be independent working women in conflict with the Japanese ideal that women should be “stay at home” mothers. Taeko will have to decide by the end of the film on what life she wants to live in the future, the big-city life or the simpler country way of living.

The film also explores Taeko’s childhood in flashbacks, often brought on by what Taeko is experiencing in the present time. Taeko’s childhood is not all smiles and playdates with friends. Taeko, as a child, like the adult, is extremely headstrong, wanting big things to happen and when they don’t, she gets very disappointed or rebellious. This causes her parents to react strongly back, whether it’s a slap from her father or her parents forbidding her from taking her interest in acting further. These incidents have far-reaching results that Taeko is still dealing with as an adult.

Photo courtesy of Gkids

This is animated film aimed at adults. It’s a romantic film about a young woman struggling to find her place in the world. It’s also a film that explores the importance of respecting nature and how you must give to the land as much as you take. The film combines the romantic elements with the message of celebrating nature to a satisfying conclusion where we know Taeko will finally be happy with who she is. This is an animated film that is far better than most romantic live action films. is exquisitely animated; a film to savor for its beauty and its story of finding our way in the world, that we can find peace with our choices and with nature.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again 

My movie rating system from Best to Worst: 1). I Would Pay to See it Again 2). Full Price 3). Bargain Matinee 4). Cable 5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

“Only Yesterday” is now playing exclusively in Atlanta at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema

For Mike’s reviews and interviews click here

"Zootopia"

.

My review of "Zootopia" starring Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman.

"Zootopia"

Posted on March 4, 2015 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

"Zootopia"  (2016)

All her life, Judy Hopps (Gennifer Goodwin) has wanted to make a difference. We see when she puts on a school play that she not only has the flair for the dramatic, she feels that it’s her destiny to leave the country life and go to the big city of Zootopia where all the animals live in peace, peace that has lasted for generations. While at a county fair, Judy sees some smaller animals being bullied by some bigger ones, including a mouthy Fox. She stands up to the gang and while a little worse for wear, survives to see another day.

Judy, against the advice of her parents (Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake), decides to enroll in the police academy. After a rocky start,  and with determination and fortitude, Judy not only graduates but is at the top of her class. Her parents are convinced that she will get hurt in the big city, but Judy is convinced that not only can she survive in the big city, she can also make a difference in her fellow animal’s lives.

Judy makes it to the beautiful Zootopia and rents a shabby little room that she proclaims is the best. Unfortunately, her first day on the job as a police officer isn’t as perfect as she would like. Even though there is a rash of mysterious animal disappearances throughout the city, Officer Hopps is assigned the job of giving out parking tickets. Hopps is determined to be the best parking ticket officer on the force and sets out to set a parking ticket record. Will the big city crush her dreams of making a difference or with the help of con-artist fox named Nick Wilde(Jason Bateman), can she find out what is happening to all the animals that are missing?

“Zootopia” is a magical movie that combines the beautiful animation Disney is famous for with a hilarious script that has some serious undertones containing a great message we can all use. While never spelling it out, it’s about as direct approach on the subjects of racism and profiling as you can get. The message never hits you over the head, and the reasons learned are never fully spelled out to the audience, but the message comes over loud and clear. As Officer Hopps spends more time in Zootopia, she discovers that the city isn’t necessarily the paradise that she thought it was. In fact, the city is starting to fall apart at the seams as a divide develps between the animals that used to be the predators and the majority of the animals in Zootopia that used to be prey. It’s a theme that runs throughout the film, using the sometimes naive Officer Hopps to explore the complexities of discrimination and prejudices.

Part buddy film, part mystery “Zootopia” uses humor at every turn to keep the movie moving at a rather quick pace. There are so many funny lines and rapid asides, making fun of past Disney films (including one about a “frozen” girl) that you may have to see the movie several times before getting all the jokes. Equally, there is so much happening on the screen that it sometimes almost becomes overwhelming to try and soak it all in. Disney has created a lush, complex city, filled with engaging buildings and even more entertaining residents. Some of my favorites are Chief Bogo (Idris Elba), a gruff water buffalo who thinks Hopps is to small and weak to be a good officer, Bellwether (Jenny Slate) a sheep who is the deputy mayor of the city and is convinced that Officer Hopps is exactly what the city needs, Gazelle (Shakira), a pop singer with tigers as backup dancers, and Yax (Tommy Chong), a Yak that spends a little too much time meditating and not enough time in the real world.

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

The film works due to its humor and the incredible chemistry between Gennifer Goodwin, who has just the right tone for the excitable Officer Judy Hopps and Jason Bateman, who gives Nick Wilde, the cagy con-artist fox, just the perfect amount of sarcasm and coolness. Their scenes together are the highlight of the film, as their characters learn to work with each other, as they engage each other with a rapid give and take dialogue is fun to see develop.

“Zootopia” is a little long and very young children may get a bit scared at a few scenes of animals acting ferocious, but this is one film that everyone is going to enjoy. And, the DMV scene with the sloths that is teased in the trailer will have you rolling in the aisles with laughter.    My Rating: Full Price  

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

“Zootopia” Website

"Touched with Fire"

My review of "Touched with Fire" starring Katie Holmes, Luke Kirby, Christine Lahti.

"Touched with Fire"

Posted on Feb. 19, 2016  on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions

In Paul Dalio’s “Touched with Fire” we quickly learn that Marco (Luke Kirby), a part-time rap/poetry performer at a local club, not only knows that he is bipolar with manic episodes, he embraces it. Fed by a book by Kay Jamison, named “Touched with Fire,” he is convinced that like great writers such as Lord Byron, Emily Dickinson and artists like Van Gogh, his manic episodes are when he is at his best, at his most inspired and creative self. Because of this, Marco has gone off his meds. His father, George (Griffin Dunne), comes to his apartment to check on his son when he finds out his son is not taking his meds. He finds that his son is not sleeping, has “gone off the grid” by not paying his bills and has rearranged his apartment by spreading out his sizable book collection across the floor, so that he can find any book at a moment’s notice. After attempting to get his son to see his doctor, Marco runs away, ultimately ending up on the rooftop of a building so that he can stare at the moon and hope to be transported away. He ends up getting arrested for trespassing there on the roof and after displaying to police that he isn’t in his right mind, is assigned to a mental hospital.

We first meet Carla (Katie Holmes) as she reads her poetry aloud to an unappreciative audience. Her poem is met with silence, and this seems to spin her down a hole of depression. She spends her days, writing furiously into journals, sometimes so fast the pen can’t keep up with her thoughts. Unlike Marco, she feels that her manic episodes are shameful. She is aware of her mental illness, and it makes her uncomfortable with the outside world. Carla has a habit of showing up at her parents’ home in the middle of the night, pacing around the kitchen as she explores the origins of her mental illness with anyone that will listen. Her mother, Sara (Christine Lahti) tries to reason with her daughter, trying to convince her to see her doctor and to take her medication, but usually, these visits end up with Carla storming off into the night, attempting to find answers to questions that may never be answered.

Both Carla and Marco end up in the same mental hospital and go to the same group meetings. At first, Carla can’t seem to stand the talkative Marco. She feels that he is forcing his will and ideology on the group and challenges him. Marco uses his skill at rhyming and rapping to overrun Carla and the group takes break. That night neither can sleep, and they meet and slowly start a dialogue on the creativity a manic person can have if left unrestrained. Soon they begin meeting every night at 3 am to further explore that topic and many more. Could love spring from such an unlikely place from two broken people who can barely function in society?

Writer/director Paul Dalio brings us an unusual love story based on his real-life experiences that gives us a realistic insight into the world of the manic personality and how it not only impacts their lives but their loved ones as well. I liked that we see their condition in multiple ways. Carla, as she falls under Marco’s spell, loses her inhibitions and starts to embrace her condition, letting herself go further down the manic slide. We know that eventually they will have to come down, we just hope that they can survive the fall. Dalio explores their world with a loving and understanding touch, never letting the audience pass judgment on the couple but lets us let us view in depth two very complicated people. The film never romanticizes having a mental illness, as we see the consequences of some of Carla and Marco’s choices that they make under the influence of being manic. Dalio’s real-life experiences contribute to the story to make this film feel more real for the audience, and it also helps that the principals are not star-crossed teens (that mainstream Hollywood would probably offer) but older adults that have lived with the illness for a while.

The two leads, especially Holmes, are impressive in their ability to convey such deep emotions and meaning through their many mood swings, some of which are painful to watch. Holmes has the tougher route to take, as her character is the one that is a bit more grounded in reality. She also has further to go in accepting the mania of her life, since she starts out being ashamed her illness and her possible actions. Kirby is convincing as the man who is so sure his mania will lead to great things that he is willing to risk it all to achieve them. Kirby and Holmes play off each other incredibly well, with Holmes’s character being more reserved and moodier than the always talkative Marco that Kirby portrays. While the supporting cast are acceptable in their performances, I did find that their characters were a little shallow, making it too easy for the film to use as pawns to move the story along.

While not a perfect movie, “Touched with Fire” feels real, giving us insight into a world of mental illness that we rarely get to explore to this existent. The film, due to the excellent performances of the two leads, and the genuine way it deals with its characters, gives us a way to understand what it’s like to deal with such a frustrating and sometimes deadly illness.    My Rating: Full Price 

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

“Touched with Fire” Website

"Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words"

My review of the documentary "Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words"

"Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words"

Posted on Feb. 12, 2016  on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Photo courtesy of Rialto Pictures

“Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words” (2015)

Produced with the full cooperation of Ingrid Bergman’s family and friends, “In Her Own Words” is a film that is incredibly loaded with personal photos and home movies of the actress and her family. Bergman had a fascination for cameras from an early age. Her mother died when she was very young, and her father seemed to want to document Ingrid’s life with photos and even home movies, to make sure that she remembered everything from her childhood. After an incredibly tough childhood where she lost a great deal of her family, including her beloved father at age twelve, Bergman started acting at a very early age. She went to an acting school at age sixteen, only to quit after a year, when her film work began to take off. Ingrid met and married a young doctor, Petter Aron Lindström, and they had a daughter named Pia. She became such a sensation in Sweden that Hollywood came calling.  Legendary producer David O. Selznick, the man responsible for bringing the world “Gone With the Wind” just two years earlier, signed Ingrid to a big contract and immediately sent her to Hollywood right before World War II broke out.

Bergman had always wanted to work in Hollywood, and she acted in some of the most iconic films of the forties, including “Intermezzo,” Hitchcock’s “Notorious”  and of course, “Casablanca.” She would go on to be a seven-time Academy Award nominee and three-time Academy Award-winner, along with a Tony and numerous Golden Globes. She eventually grew tired of Hollywood and decided that she wanted work with Italian director Roberto Rossellini, who had set the world on its ear with his groundbreaking film “Open City.’ She wrote a letter to Rossellini, a letter that would forever change her life. Ingrid would fall in love with Rossellini while still married to her first husband, and it would shock the world when she had a baby out of wedlock with Rossellini. Suddenly, Ingrid Bergman became the world’s first film star to be continually stalked by the paparazzi, and she was practically banned by the U.S. government to return to the States to make films. The scandal would follow her for the rest of her career, and it was years before she found box-office success again.

Photo courtesy of Rialto Pictures

“Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words” documents the struggles that Bergman went through, giving us insight into her thought process in the letters that she wrote to family and friends. Ingrid Bergman kept every correspondence and took an incredible amount of home movies, giving us a complete picture of what it was like in the Bergman home. The home movies are wonderfully shot, primarily by Ingrid, and most are in color.

There are numerous interviews with both close friends and her children, including, her youngest, actress Isabella Rossellini. You can see the love they had for their mother and how proud they were of her strong independent character. While they admit that she wasn’t always there (they had to stay behind in school, while she traveled around the world doing movies and plays), but when she was there, it was almost magical. You can see through those movies that their mother made their time together as full and enjoyable as possible.

Photo courtesy of Rialto Pictures

The film also uses the many interviews that Ingrid did, and because she was invariably a straight talker, we get to know her through those interviews. One of the big thrills of this film is getting to see a lot of footage that was shot behind the scenes of her movies. There is some early test footage when she first arrived in Hollywood that is her with no makeup on besides some lip rouge. Her beauty in that shot just takes your breath away.

While a little long and spending a little too much time on footage showing the kids playing, “Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words” is a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes footage that will make any fan happy to rediscover this amazing actress and the incredible life she led.    My Rating: Full Price 

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

“Ingrid Bergamn: In Her Own Words” is playing exclusively at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema

"Rosenwald"

My review of the documentary "Rosenwald"

"Rosenwald" 

Posted on Sept. 18, 2015 

"The Choice"

My review of "The Choice" starring Benjamin Walker, Teresa Palmer, Alexandra Daddario, Maggie Grace.

"The Choice"

Posted on Feb. 5, 2016 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

“The Choice” (2016)

Travis (Benjamin Walker) is living the good life. He has a beautiful home in a small town on the coast of North Carolina. Travis is popular, fun-loving and playing the field. He has a great support group of friends (all have married and have kids). He takes his boat out on almost a daily basis with his trusty dog by his side (who, by the way, is afraid of water). Travis works as a veterinarian with his father, Dr. Shep’s (Tom Wilkinson) and he has a loving sister, Stephanie (Maggie Grace) who seems to know Travis better than Travis knows himself.

Gabby (Teresa Palmer) is working at a local hospital and is studying to take her medical boards. She works alongside her boyfriend, Dr. Ryan McCarthy (Tom Welling) and his father (Brett Rice) who runs the hospital. She is comfortable and happy with her life, looking forward to when she becomes a doctor. She moves into a new home near the water with her dog. What she wants from her new home is a quiet place to study and sleep.

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Gabby’s plans to study are complicated by her neighbor Travis. Travis doesn’t take a lot of things seriously, and he loves to have people over to his place for bar-b-que and beer. The afternoon that Gabby moves in Travis has a couple of friends and their families over for a cookout and play games. Gabby gets more and more frustrated as the party seems to get louder with each passing moment, disturbing her plans to study. As the party winds down, and Travis’s friends leave, he sits in a lone chair in his front yard that looks out over the water listening to rock blasting from a boom box when Gabby angrily appears. As Travis continues to kid her, Gabby chews him out for his lack of good manners and accuses Travis’s dog of knocking up Gabby’s dog. Travis is intrigued by this fiery woman who won’t even give him her name. As Gabby storms off to her home, Travis turns the music up and enjoys the evening. Little do each other know that this first encounter is one that will change each of their lives for the better.

Nicholas Sparks produced this film based on his best-selling book of the same name, hand-picking the cast, the screenwriter, and the director. “The Choice” is a film that has all the usual Sparks touches that we have come to expect from his work. We have the two lead characters that while they initially clash, are destined to somehow, some way, end up together. The supportive family and friends are there, some of whom recognize, even before Gabby and Travis do, that there are some sparks there between them, and of course, there is a significant crisis that threatens the couple’s happiness.

As with most of Sparks work, the film is set in North Carolina, and the scenery is spectacular as cinematographer Alar Kivilo captures every purple, pink and blue hue coming off the water and the sky. Director Ross Katz keeps the film moving at a quick pace and lets quite a bit of humor come into the story-line. The first two-thirds of the movie are fun and lighthearted, as the couple starts falling in love, even as they continue to get on each other’s nerves.

What makes this film watchable, for all the Sparks schmaltz that this movie contains, is that Benjamin Walker and Teresa Palmer work incredibly well with each other. They have exceptional chemistry on screen together, especially in those moments where they are bickering. There is quite a spark between them and it’s very apparent on the screen that their characters are attracted to each other right from the start, and that draw continues to build as the film goes along. Walker has an easygoing southern charm that makes you like him from the start. Palmer has to work a little harder as her character isn’t as likable, but she wins us over as soon as her character starts warming up to Travis. The film is also helped by an outstanding supporting cast, including the always fascinating and brilliant Tom Wilkinson as the kindly father of Travis, Maggie Grace as Travis’s sister who keeps telling Travis that he is about to fall for Gabby and Tom Welling as the supportive boyfriend of Gabby’s.

My biggest problem with the film is that it almost slows to a stop when the big crisis starts happening. It goes on way too long, letting us experience the agony of the situation for what seems like forever. However, the chemistry between the two lead makes this a movie that fans of Nicholas Sparks films will enjoy.     My Rating: Bargain Matinee 

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

“The Choice” Website