Category Archives: Zooey Deschanel

Movie Review: Your Highness

Leave a reply

Wait just a minute. Am I watching the latest comedy by David Gordon Green, or a new installment of “Lord of the Rings”? No, this is just “Your Highness,” the latest film from the budding comedic mind of David Gordon Green and his usual comedic team. Seeing as this is his latest stoner comedy, and he is also the director of “Pineapple Express,” I have just one question: where is the weed? More on that in a bit.

I could explain the whole story of “Your Highness,” but you’ll enjoy it better if you just think about the concept, and not every little plot detail. “Your Highness” takes place in some medieval kingdom where everyone’s accents are a little bit British, and a little bit Elvish. The king has two sons: the strong, noble Fabious (James Franco), and the constantly lazy, always stoned Thadeous (Danny McBride), who has yet to enter into the real world. Then one day, Thadeous is called on a mission to save his brother’s bride (Zooey Deschanel), and on their mission, they also meet Natalie Portman.
Maybe this sounds weird for a film that has a joke about a minotaur erection, but “Your Highness” could have had Shakespearian potential to it. Now, I am not saying it could have been as intelligent or witty as anything Shakespeare ever wrote, but I just believe the people behind it could have made a satire that is a little more, well, sophisticated. Seriously, after a while, a certain amount of gay jokes can become tiresome.
By saying this, I hope I’m not just sounding like some humorless, stuck-up film critic because honestly, a lot of this movie is very funny. People often dismiss jokes concerning bodily functions as dumb humor. Yet, if you do something funny with a gross joke, rather than just let it sit there, it becomes legitimately funny.
However, the problem with “Your Highness” is that those are really the only jokes the movie has. I expected much more from the team that made the smartest stoner comedy I’ve ever seen: “Pineapple Express.” In “Pineapple Express,” humor was found in the action, characters, and the concept itself. This is such a funny and original concept and yet, not enough of the ridiculousness of it was put to good use. While McBride is an excellent comedic actor, he just might not be as strong of a writer as Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are.
All of the actors in the film do their best, yet none of them can really reach their full potentials because of the writing. James Franco plays the role pretty much exactly as you’d expect him to. While McBride does great work in supporting roles, he is becoming a much better comedic leading man. His role here is pretty similar to his role as Kenny Powers in “Eastbound and Down”: a cocky, spoiled burnout with a lot of bad habits. Meanwhile, Natalie Portman, while a great screen presence as always, could have had a bit more comedy in her role. They basically wrote her as the straight-faced woman warrior, when I wish her performance was a little more like this.

The main problem with “Your Highness” is that it’s too timid to create humor in the unexpected. A lot of it seems forced, and not enough of it seems loose and free flowing. Therefore, it doesn’t feel like a true stoner comedy. When you’re trying to mix humor with dragons and knights, you shouldn’t be afraid to embrace the weirdness of your subject. Just think about the ending of “Role Models,” or the entirety of “Paul.” “Your Highness” never finds that proper balance between paying tribute and making fun of the subject it satirizes.


Also, the idea of this being a stoner comedy is more of a marketing ploy than an actual truth. That illegal plant that makes you giggle a lot is barely a presence in the film.

Am I maybe not getting “Your Highness”? Could another viewing change my opinion of the film? It took a while for critics and the general public to fully understand “Pineapple Express.” However, when I watched “Pineapple Express” for the first time, I realized there was just too much hidden in it for it to be fully appreciated after just one viewing. Unfortunately, I don’t feel that same attachment with “Your Highness.”

That One Scene: (500) Days of Summer

Leave a reply

“That One Scene” is a new (and hopefully recurring) series on The Reel Deal where I examine that one scene in a certain movie that sets it apart from all others.

I hate having to answer the question “what do you think is the most important part of a movie” because it is simply impossible to answer. Every part of a film contributes to how good the final product is. Without good actors, the character’s don’t seem real; without good writing, the situations don’t seem real, and without a good director the whole project falls apart.
However, there is always one part of a film that always stands out to me. One thing that in my eyes that can make or break a film: dialogue. Whether or not the characters have believable banter is what contributes to an entire film feeling realistic or not. That is the particular reason why Judd Apatow and Quentin Tarantino are the best scribes currently working in Hollywood.
I would like to bring up a very recent example of great dialogue. It is a very short scene from “(500) Days of Summer.” This snippet of dialogue might not seem like much when read aloud, but when put in the context of the film, it is incredible:
Summer: Is that true?
Tom: Yeah, yeah. He drinks and he sings…
Summer: No, no not Mackenzie. The other thing.
Tom: What thing?
Summer: Do you…like me?
Tom: (Pause) Yeah, yeah of course I like you.
Summer:…As friends?
Tom: Right. As friends.
Summer: Just as friends?
Nothing remarkable sounding here. But yet, there is. Even when not hearing this in the context of the film, there is something beautiful about this dialogue’s simplicity. In it’s simplicity, it feels so real. In it, Summer isn’t really asking for an answer she doesn’t know, she is just asking for confirmation for something she believes has to be true.
But that’s not the point. When you see this scene in the movie, you will realize everything about it is perfect. The surroundings of the scene seem totally irrelevant; everything is focused on Tom and Summer because it is all about them. This is their moment; their first moment where they see that something other than friendship may be possible in the near future.
Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel deliver the dialogue flawlessly. Every emotion they convey is perfectly entwined with every word they speak. They add a level of friendly awkwardness that no script can convey on it’s own. It is the true essence of onscreen chemistry: two people (typically a man and a woman) being able to communicate with each other at a realistic level, whether for positive or negative reasons.
I recall a line from Roger Ebert’s “Pulp Fiction” review in which he says “this movie would work as an audio book.” What he’s saying that when dialogue is good, sometimes listening can defeat watching.
Good dialogue is like good music, you can listen to it over and over again. That is the case for this scene of “(500) Days of Summer.” It is no complex, witty conversation about hamburgers or foot massages but simply an intimate moment between two strange souls. It is not just the words you want to listen to over and over again, but the delivery.
If “(500) Days of Summer” gets nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars this year (which I 100% guarantee you, it will), this will be the clip shown when its title is announced.
The next installment of “That One Scene” will discuss the “Ride of the Valkyries” scene in “Apocalypse Now.”

Movie Review: (500) Days of Summer

Leave a reply

Ad campaigns can often be misleading. They can make a bad movie look good, and a good movie look bad. Other times, they can make a totally original, breath of fresh air seem like a cliche drag. That was just about the case for “(500) Days of Summer.” All I can say is, the final product totally proved me wrong.

The first surprise (unless you’ve heard anything about this movie prior to seeing it) is that “(500) Days of Summer” is not about a season, but rather about a girl. The film gives us another surprise at the very beginning: this is not a love story. After telling us this, the film begins around day 400 and something. Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is beyond heartbroken.
Why is he heartbroken? 400 something days earlier, Tom, a failed architect who now works as a greeting card creator, meets Summer (Zooey Deschanel). The minute Tom lays eyes on her, he believes he’s found the one and only love of his life. Tom and Summer have very different views on love: Tom believes there’s one true love for everyone; while Summer is too free spirited to believe that relationships can even exist.
From there, the film tracks the relationship between Tom and Summer. It tracks the very highs, and the very lows. It tracks the moments of real love, the moments of fake love, and the moments of utter resentment. And it does all of this in no particular order.
The structure of the film feels more Tarantinoesque than romantic comedyesque. At one point, we’ll be at day 3. Then suddenly, day 188. Day 1. Day 422. Day 57. Day 12. It’ll then go back and repeat certain events over and over, but from different perspectives. Maybe a smirk was actually a frown. That’s something most films don’t do nowadays: stop, look around, and observe.
The film feels like one of those gangster films where a group of failed criminals get together after a botched crime and look back at everything that went wrong; except this time, it’s not a botched heist, but a botched love. But was there even love in the first place? Decide for yourself.
The romance part of “(500) Days of Summer” is debatable, but the comedy part certainly is not. While the film has some hilarious dialogue, it doesn’t rely on throwaway one-liners to get laughs. It relies on small things, such as tiny edits or little facial expressions to arouse laughter. It might get a laugh out of the deadpan way Summer describes her college nickname, or the order in which it places a certain scene.
Every shot of “(500) Days of Summer” is brimming with energy and life. That’s not surprising considering the film is directed by Marc Webb. Before directing this film, Webb was a music video director. Much of the film has the energy and surreal feeling of a music video, as certain scenes will suddenly turn into elaborate drawings while characters churn out giant musical numbers. Many of these creative touches might seem out of place, but they all serve a greater purpose. I can’t reveal that purpose hear; you’ll just have to see it for yourself.
Every step the film took, I kept waiting for it to mess up. I didn’t want it to mess up, but I just couldn’t believe a movie could be this perfect. It was hard to believe that the director and the writers could take the right step at the right time during every single moment of the film. Even though it doesn’t flow in any sort of chronological order, the film still flows like water. And it’s aided at every moment by the anti-chemistry Deschanel and Levitt display. I’m not saying the two actors go poorly together, I’m just saying that this is no ordinary love story. “(500) Days of Summer” is anti a lot of things. Although it is an indie comedy, it plays like the anti-”Garden State.”* That is, it challenges all conventional thoughts on love. Love doesn’t form because the girl you like also likes The Smiths. But, I can’t go into it in much more detail; I’ll just let the film speak for itself because sometimes, the best films need to speak for themselves: “Just because some girl likes the same bizarro crap you do, that doesn’t make her your soul mate.”
Recommended for Fans of: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Graduate, Annie Hall, Garden State, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction
*Note: This comment is not meant to insult “Garden State” in anyway. “Garden State” is a different, but equally good film.