Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003) started my lifelong crush on Gerard Butler. Unlike Daniel Craig’s pale vanilla Alex in the first film, Butler provided a beefier and more intense love alternative for Angelina Jolie’s character. He brought an intense underlying tension and, in the love scenes, an incredibly expressive face. I followed his career to the awesome Dear Frankie (2004) and cheered when he scored the Phantom of the Opera gig. But somewhere along the way Gerard Butler stopped acting and started churning out bad rom com after bad rom com (The Bounty Hunter, The Ugly Truth, P.S. I Love You). His awesome intensity and his frame, which previously reflected his characters’ intense physicality, all exited stage right. The Gerard Butler who I previously analogized with quality and acting strength I now viewed equal to terrible movies.

After giving up, I caught Ralph Fiennes’ Coriolanus last year. Butler’s Tullus Aufidius provided an excellent antagonist and the cherry on top of an amazing Shakesperean adaptation. I declared “FINALLY! Gerard Butler is acting again!” and fell back in love. But, like a maiden with a previously broken heart, I remained tentative. I deliberately avoided  Playing for Keeps and wondered if I’d ever see the Gerard Butler I loved return. After watching, Olympus Has Fallen, I rescind my opinion. Gerard Butler is back, in spades, re-assuming his acting throne on Mount Olympus.

While I hate to disagree with my esteemed colleague, Jeremy, Olympus Has Fallen is an awesome film they should’ve run in the summer. I loved it so much, I restrained myself from running home and typing an uber-giddy review. It’s ironic the film’s called Olympus Has Fallen considering it features contemporary cinema gods, one of whom played god. Every single cast member rocked it from point one, including Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Aaron Eckhart, and Ashley Judd. Can you imagine the daily set experience’s awesomeness? I bet the casting directors and producers high fived themselves continuously. I loved watching Angela Bassett as the Secret Service head and Morgan Freeman as Speaker Trumball. Melissa Leo did an excellent  job as the Secretary of Defense. No seriously. She mother-fucking rocked it. Also, Dylan McDermott finally found a film role where he absolutely stood out. In Three to Tango and Miracle on 34th Street, he faded into the wallpaper, lacking the fire, passion and intensity displayed in The Practice. But, here, he brings it 157%. And, yes, Ashley Judd proved equally memorable in her brief role. And, yes, Rick Yune was awesome. No one disappears in this, even supporting actors such as Radha Mitchell and Cole Hauser.

Another reason I loved this cast surrounded the years of professionalism and experience that effortlessly rolled off their shoulders. Cohesively, they portrayed the script’s underlying stories through their casual interactions with each other. I could see Angela Bassett and Gerard Butler’s characters having a long-standing brunch and Freeman’s character reluctantly deferring to those placed over him. I loved the multiple husband and wife relationships. I loved that Butler’s character attempted to recover from his earlier decision despite its detrimental effects. Although isolated, people still respected and admired him.

Whenever I forgot Butler’s presence in the other storylines, he popped up,  reminding me why I tattooed Gerard on my chest. Although Scottish, he pulled off the American hero well. Plus, Gerard Butler is H-O-T. Forget 50 Shades of Gray, Butler is seven shades of hot. Yes, ladies, the six pack is back. However, after years of action films, Butler’s fight scenes proved realistic and believable. Yes, this film has tons of violence, but not on a Criminal Minds level. Butler’s facial features are amazing. His fiery blue eyes are incredibly intense and his features relay grizzled well. Plus, I love his physicality expressed through his forearms, shoulder stance and gait and I loved his wry humor. Maybe Butler is so good because the film isn’t about Butler’s charm, it’s about his character. Mike Banning’s a survivalist which Butler portrays to a T.

Because of Olympus Has Fallen, I’ve fallen back in love with Butler. But, I won’t lie, sometimes Banning’s ability seemed a wee bit preternatural. His ability to use his unprotected body as a bullet proof shield is laughable. I can’t walk down the street without spraining my foot. But, Banning can withstand suicide bombers and bullets from close range and he can drop terrorists from afar without a sniper rifle. And, yes, his final monologue went on too long when it veered into melodramatic.

Although it’s over a decade after 9/11, I still feel uncomfortable watching the cinematic destruction of American icons. In Independence Day, it looked awesome. But, post 9/11 I find myself disturbed and wonder why filmmakers delight in the filmic destruction of American icons. Did some shots look beautiful? Yes.  All the same, similar to 9/11, the film’s terrorists used every day American objects/routines against the military, including their willingness to cooperate believing it will save hostages. And, yes, some parts of the film made me cynical. The collective leadership came across as a bunch of paper pushers that seemed too afraid of taking aggressive action, where inexplicably only one man could save the day. Also, I refuse to believe that only a limited amount of White House security wore bullet proof vests, that only a limited number of airborne support  could reach the White House and that the White House rarely changed their passwords/hiding places.

While I questioned 20% of the film, I still loved 80%. Olympus Has Fallen is a smart action film which brings Butler’s  intense on-screen talent and character dedication back to the forefront. Who knows, maybe Butler read some of the 578 daily e-mails I sent him and used his earlier hideously terrible roles to abate my mega-crush. But, now my crush is back. And, so is Gerard Butler.

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I recently finished picking up and making a huge move across the country. As a result, I haven’t had a television in the longest time. I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed it. Not only watching shows and reviewing them, but also just letting my favorites numb out my brain for a little while.

A girl gets awfully tired of thinking deep thoughts sometimes.

Such was the case last night, when I found myself utterly at a loss. Call a friend? Nah. Laundry? Boring. Put together the new bookshelf from Ikea? Yawn.

I decided to take a walk around the old town area of my new little burg to get out the restlessness. It was a perfect night to window shop. A bit chilly, but nothing wrapping a poncho around me couldn’t cure. Several blocks and cute stores later, I was thrilled to see a movie theater just waiting to feed my media starved self. Actors and music and script, oh my! I picked a flick, got some corn and settled in.

I should mention at this point, that I had no idea I was going to see this particular movie. Seems I got the title Playing for Keeps completely mixed up with Pitch Perfect. (This kind of thing is happening  to me frequently these days, I’m not happy to report.) So imagine my chagrin in the opening scenes when Gerard Butler is playing soccer instead of a bunch of funny chicks singing. At first I thought I’d stepped into a sports movie, but hey. I paid my eleven fifty so I was staying. After all, I liked Moneyball, so anything could happen. I wrapped my poncho around me and stretched out. It quickly became apparent that it was a romantic comedy and I was safe.

Or was I?

Playing for Keeps has been done to death. This plot line is as tired as my grandmother, and she’s dead. You know the one I mean … divorced Dad hardly spends time with his son, but then a wacky happenstance causes him to coach his kid’s team and they turn out to win the last game and Dad and Mom get back together. Dad grows up because his son teaches him the importance of unconditional love and blah blah blah!

Along the way, I was surprised at how many stars showed up in supporting roles. Catherine Zeta-Jones, Uma Thurman (who does not miss the chance to show off her fab body in bra and panties) Dennis Quaid (surprise, he plays an unlikable guy!) and Jessica Biel. Musta been the huge paychecks that drew these actors in, cause it sure wasn’t the inane script that was completely uneven and unfunny.

Certain details were never explained (like why didn’t George get busted for taking nine hundred bucks from the team money to pay his rent?) and other scenes strove to be funny but were just plain throwaway. As in Barb (Judy Greer) pursuing Coach George relentlessly and then simply disappearing from the film almost altogether?

However.

I still have a pulse and blood running through my veins, so I have to acknowledge that there’s something to be said for the Man Candy that is Gerard Butler. Although I can’t see why he threw money at this project (if he would have asked me I would have just fed him another grape and told him to keep his cash in his pocket after I let him put his pants back on) I can appreciate why he chose the role. His character turns into a decent guy, so he gets to be the hero at the end. He also gets to lock lips with almost every woman in the film.

And Gerard is really not a bad actor. He has this whole thing to carry on his manly shoulders. He’s in almost every scene … looking very swarthy and adorable even with the high definition showing his eye crinkles. Yep. Without Gerard, this movie would have been much more of a droning bore. He, at least, made it palatable. It’s pretty sad,though, when that’s the only positive thing you can wring out of a film.

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