Rosario Dawson

With heavy echoes of trashy thrillers like Fatal Attraction, this movie overcomes its painfully simplistic script with plenty of nasty nuttiness. It may be a problem that none of this is intentionally hilarious, but the audience will enjoy giggling along as the only barely defined characters get pushed into increasingly grisly situations that all hinge on corny coincidences and the fact that no one talks to each other. Yes, it's terrible, but also a guilty pleasure.

It's set in suburban Southern California, where Julia (Rosario Dawson) has just moved to live with her hunky fiance David (Geoff Stults), who runs a micro-brewery. He also shares custody of his daughter Lily (Isabella Kai Rice) with his super-sleek ex-wife Tessa (Katherine Heigl), who clearly wants him back. So of course she sets out to make Julia's life miserable, all while smiling not-so-innocently. Her masterstroke is to lure Julia's violent ex (Simon Kassianides) to town once the restraining order against him expires. And of course, Tessa is carefully making it look like Julia's the one who's losing her marbles.

Director-producer Denise Di Novi lays this on thickly, with ominous musical undertones every time Heigl appears on-screen, to remind us that she's up to something nefarious. As if we didn't already know that by her pinched expression, uber-flattened hairstyle and tightly fitted dresses. Heigl generates some sympathy for Tessa as the woman scorned, and the appearance of her even more monstrous mother (Cheryl Ladd) adds the idea that she couldn't help growing up into this manipulative creep. Meanwhile, Dawson does some serious acting as Julia, a woman trying her best in a very difficult situation. On the other hand, it's impossible to understand how her brain works, especially when she continually withholds key information about both her past and her present from David.

Continue reading: Unforgettable Review

A spin-off from 2014's awesome The Lego Movie, this raucously paced action-comedy is proof that nonstop hilarity isn't enough. Genre fans will adore the relentless barrage of silliness, as wordplay, sight-gags, film references and elaborate jokes pile on top of each other. But it's all rather exhausting, because the story is simply too slippery for the audience to hold onto.

When we catch up with Batman (again voiced by Will Arnett), he's revelling in his lonely life surrounded by his huge collection of gadgets in the cave under Wayne Manor, where his only companion is his sardonic butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes). But an encounter with the Joker (Zach Galifianakis) gets him thinking about his solitude, and new commissioner Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) wants to work with him rather than let him do everything on his own. Then he inadvertently adopts the orphan Dick (Michael Cera), just as the Joker puts into motion a nefarious plan to unleash an army of bad guys on Gotham City.

The film pings from one crazed action set-piece to the next, packing comical touches into every image and each line of dialogue. The audience has little choice but to hold on for the ride, and since it's impossible to see every gag that flies at us, this is clearly a movie that requires multiple viewings. The problem is that the story and characters aren't very inviting. Arnett's gruff whisper is genuinely hilarious, especially in his postmodern flights of fancy, but Batman is a preening idiot, really. Dawson, Cera, Fiennes and Galifianakis are more likeable, but are sidelined in the story. And the sprawling, mega-starry supporting cast offers a continual stream of solid laughs. But it's all so frantic that the sentimental themes in the story never get a chance to resonate before the script makes fun of them.

Continue reading: The Lego Batman Movie Review

Chris Rock has essentially written and directed a film based on one of his own standup routines, and the result is as hilarious as we'd expect. It's also a clever skewering of show business, from the difficulty of changing a public image to the never-ending intrusion of the press. But while the film is consistently smart and funny, it's also a bit of an inside joke, taking on an industry that's so absurd that ridiculing it might be too easy.

Rock plays Andre Allen, a former comic who found international fame playing a furry police officer in three Hammy The Bear movies. But now he wants some respect as an actor, so he has produced a serious period drama called Uprize!, about the 18th century Haitian revolution. On the day of the film's gala premiere, Andre grants an interview to New York Times journalist Chelsea (Rosario Dawson), who follows him around town as he runs errands both promoting the film and preparing for his heavily publicised wedding to reality TV star Erica (Gabrielle Union). Against his better judgement, he begins to drop his guard with Chelsea, introducing her to members of his family and inviting her to his bachelor party, which is being staged for Erica's show.

The film's one false note is the whiff of a romantic-comedy as Andre and Chelsea begin to open up to each other. Fortunately, Rock allows this to merely simmer in the background as he gets on with his wicked commentary about life in the entertainment industry. The dialogue is packed with pithy observations, sarcastic gags and knowing jabs that could only come from someone who has lived (and survived) this crazy lifestyle. Even more interesting are the darker undercurrents. Andre is a recovering alcoholic who isn't sure he can still be funny now that he's sober.

Continue reading: Top Five Review