I’m always a little weary of sequels, especially sequels to kids’ movies. It’s way too easy for ideas to be rehashed because there’re no more stories to tell with the characters. But after catching the first Despicable Me movie on TV over Christmas, I was optimistic about its chances for a decent sequel. For a 4th of July kid release, you can do much worse.

The best thing I can say about the sequel is that they avoid rehashing completely. Steve Carrell’s Gru doesn’t turn evil again and he doesn’t lose his daughters’ trust when it comes to evil schemes. They took the relationships established in the first film and expanded on them. The movie actually starts with Gru being a loving, protective dad orchestrating the youngest girl’s birthday party. The whole scene is very sweet and actually quite funny and sets the tone of the whole movie. In fact, because the relationship between Gru and his girls is established quickly (along with the premise that he is an ex-villain), you can easily go into this movie without seeing the first one.

While I like the concept of the sequel’s plot (secret organization recruits him to be a spy and take down villains), the actual storyline could have been stronger. It wasn’t terrible, it just kind of fizzled. I did like that the minions were incorporated into the mystery nicely. Speaking of the minions, these are some of the most successful comic relief sidekicks in modern kids’ movies. The majority of the time they manage to be very funny. There were a few scenes with them that could have been cut (a whole chase scene towards the beginning was pointless). They also resorted to some really stupid fart jokes — if they spent that time on the story instead it could have been a stronger movie. While my eyes strained early, the 3D used for the in-your-face gags was actually kind of fun … make sure to stay during the credits.

The new love interest (played by Kristen Wiig) is charming, eccentric and a nice compliment to our hero. Again, it would have been better to take out the few bad jokes and use that time to build more of a relationship between the two, but I’ve certainly seen this sideplot done worse in kid movies. It would have been nice if they didn’t resort to her being put into the damsel role towards the end. The real strength of the movie is the relationship between Gru and his daughters. It’s genuine and sweet and a lot of the best jokes comes from the dialogue between those four characters. If you need to find a movie this holiday weekend for the kids that the adults can stomach, I’d highly suggest Despicable Me 2.

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Michael Bay is pretty much the quintessential director when it comes to action films. His name and his films are synonymous with fast cars, scantily clad exotic women, raunchy humor, slow motion shots and explosions. Lots and lots of explosions. So it was to my surprise when I heard Bay was tapped to helm and direct Pain & Gain, a movie based on the Sun Gym Gang’s kidnapping, extortion and murder spree that took place in Miami during the mid-nineties – a far cry from the Transformers film trilogy he just completed.

Thinking that Bay’s movie-making values and philosophy had reached a level of maturity after learning about the subject matter of his post-Transformers film I went into Pain & Gain expecting Bay to show me something new. Something fresh. Something I hadn’t seen from him before.

Well … let’s just say some things change and some things stay the same. Here’s the breakdown.

Without spoiling too much of the plot Pain & Gain stars Mark Wahlberg and Anthony Mackie as Daniel Lugo and Adrian Doorbal respectively, two body builders who work at Sun Gym in Miami. Lugo helps turn things around at the gym to compete against the rival Gold’s Gym but still finds himself stuck and in a rut and wanting more out of life. After crossing paths with very wealthy and belittling client Victor Kershaw (brilliantly played by Tony Shalhoub), Lugo hatches a scheme to kidnap, torture and extort him for his fortune. New Sun Gym recruit Paul Doyle (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) is brought into the fold to round out the scheme and the rest is history and for you to find out.

Pain & Gain sports a well-balanced cast that actually worked surprisingly well together on screen. I’m usually apprehensive about Mark Wahlberg who usually acts in one of two modes, either overly over-the-top and dramatic or overly over-the-top moronic, with little wiggle room for go-between. In this film however he was able to play a pumped up meat-head without a problem.

I will have to say however that The Rock’s performance in this film is probably what saved it for me. It was so different to see Johnson take on a role where he was a softy ex-con with a heart of gold. His comedic timing was great and he was ultimately the glue that held the film together in my opinion – which is probably why they marketed it so heavily with Johnson all over the posters even though his character doesn’t even show up until a third of the way through the film. Ed Harris’ and Rebel Wilson’s characters also stand out among the film’s cast and round out the rest of the key players in the film’s story.

Now I liked quite a bit about this film. But liking Pain & Gain for some of the reasons that you may find yourself liking it for is a double-edged sword – and therein lies where the moral dilemma comes in. But first I’ll start by mentioning what I liked about the movie.

One of the aspects of Pain & Gain that I found very satisfying was the point-of-view changes that were thrown into the film to tell a character’s side of the story and give the audience a look inside their world from their perspective. Side-stepping from the story briefly to look into the minds of the characters was jarring at first but you got used to it rather quickly and the clever usage of voice over, the believable acting and text layover effects really sold it.

Michael Bay also did a sly job of still making this film a typical Michael Bay movie which I found to be quite surprising given the nature of the film’s subject matter. The raunchy humor was still ever present along with the scantily clad exotic women, fast cars, slow motion effects and of course … an explosion. Coupled with the cast’s superb acting chemistry and The Rock’s stand-out performance, Bay was surprisingly able to deliver a crime-thrilling action-comedy that really brings it home. Yes, I said comedy.

Now here’s that moral question I kept referring to and what I didn’t like about the film. I went into this movie knowing it was based on true events involving kidnapping, torture and even a murder or two thrown in for good measure. I wasn’t sure that the tone Bay took with this film was the right one. Because Pain & Gain basically made out the Sun Gym Gang’s exploits out to be a joke. I was entertained and I laughed at things that I probably shouldn’t have been laughing about. Should I have enjoyed the hilarity and antics Bay portrayed onscreen? Even though people’s lives were affected by the actual events? Had this movie been purely fiction I wouldn’t have had this moral question looming over my head after seeing the film.

I recall probably the most signature moment in the film where the movie reached a point where the insanity of Pain & Gain actually had to be summed up with a subtitle that flashed onto the screen that read “This is still based on a true story.” And me along with the rest of the audience laughed. Pain & Gain was funny. But in actuality it probably was handled insensitively.

If you can look beyond the fact of the rather insensitive and tactless approach to portraying the subject matter, Pain & Gain can actually be an entertaining film. If you’re a fan of Michael Bay this film won’t disappoint, nor will it let you down if you’re a fan of Mark Wahlberg and especially The Rock. My only request is that you at least be mindful of the serious nature of this movie’s truthful origins.

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Family, love, and religion. A relationship of love is usually from the bonds of family or attraction — but sometimes it can be a platonic connection of friendship. Damaged people often find comfort in each other — but can they help each other heal or are they only making things worse? Can the power of belief bring about change and healing, or are there limits?

The Master follows Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) as a veteran in the years following World War II. Freddie is damaged in ways unclear and complicated, with heightened sexual impulses and severe alcoholism — all leading to sudden outbursts of his violent temper. The kid’s got issues. After some trouble, he stows away on a ship departing a San Francisco harbor — it turns out this boat is carrying the members of a new movement called simply The Cause, led by charismatic author Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and supported by wife Peggy (Amy Adams), his son (Jesse Plemons, in utterly inspired casting), and daughter (Ambyr Childers) with her new husband (Rami Malek). Freddie is discovered and taken in with curious and welcoming arms by Lancaster, who finds the veteran fascinating and possibly a problem to solve with The Cause.

But soon enough the relationship between Freddie and Lancaster builds, the master and servant, the father and surrogate son, the doctor and patient. Freddie brings his loyalty and fierce intensity to bear against the completely self-assured and accepting nature of Lancaster. But not everything is so grand … skeptics and dissenters seek to collapse The Cause or prove it false, while indomitable and unimpeachably loyal Peggy thinks Freddie may prove to be a problem that not even The Cause can solve.

From beginning to end, this film is beautiful to watch, with shockingly impeccable cinematography and immersive editing. But that’s not to take away from the ridiculously good performances of the “big three” acting presences in this movie. Joaquin Phoenix has a lip-curling, animalistic way of moving and acting, a physicality that leaps off the screen and discomforts while it draws the eye. Philip Seymour Hoffman makes you understand why a movement of rabidly loyal members would follow him, and Amy Adams has a way of staring into your soul and demanding something more. More what exactly, it’s hard to say.

The story and plot is not overly complicated; in many ways it’s relatively simple, but it’s about these people, and how belief affects them — that is what matters here. This is not a flawless movie, nor will everyone enjoy the achingly slow build to an ending that tries to frustrate you. But there’s no question that it stands out from the crowd of mediocrity and pablum — perhaps the meaning is only skin deep, or perhaps it’s about something real. Either way, it’s a damn good movie.

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In a world of problems, who has more than disaffected divorcees in their 30’s? None, that’s who! Real life is hard, everyone. And love is complicated. Haven’t you heard?

In Hello I Must Be Going, we meet Amy (Melanie Lynskey from Two and a Half Men), who recently got divorced from an extremely successful entertainment lawyer in the city (Manhattan, but it doesn’t really matter) and is now forced to live with her parents. Why doesn’t she have a place of her own? Because she dropped out of grad school and apparently has no skills or the capacity to find work, and as the divorce papers aren’t final, she has no alimony — and doesn’t seem to want it either. Because she’s independent? I don’t know, that part doesn’t really make sense. Her parents, successful wealthy lawyer Stan (John Rubinstein) and condescending, shrillish mother Ruth (Blythe Danner) are worried about her. And also about this upcoming deal — Stan needs it or he can’t retire, and they can’t go on a trip around the world.

So they have a dinner party with the family of the potential client, including hippieish wife Gwen (Julie White) and pensive actor Jeremy (Christopher Abbott from Girls). Don’t forget about Amy’s awful brother and kind sister-in-law, although the movie will soon enough! The important thing is that the 35-year-old Amy has an instant connection with 19-year-old Jeremy, because of passion and chemistry, basically. He seems to respect her, unlike most people she knows (especially her mother and ex-husband). And Amy is attracted to both how she feels with him and also him, to a lesser extent. In the end, it’s all about her.

This is such a typical movie of its type, from the sad, pensive score to the lingering shots of no dialogue to the paper thin characterizations of anyone other than the two main characters. Melanie Lynskey does a good job here, but it seems like she could’ve been given a far better script. Christopher Abbott is fine, playing it low key, filled with quiet rage and despair, but mostly blase about life working out in the end. The supporting cast is all okay too, nothing especially bad or good, and Blythe Danner does the best she can to add depth to a character without any on the page. The moral of the story seems to be that you shouldn’t let people around you make you feel bad or force you down a path that makes you miserable. Fair enough, but it’s a lot easier when you have safety nets to fall back on — there is the faintest hint of austerity worries here, but it’s buried beneath the drawn out romance.

It’s a movie that thinks it’s very original: “Oh, what if an adult was forced to live with her parents!” And that’s fine, except that the movie moves away from the humor of the situation and gets predictable and really quite stale.

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Is there anything more precious than a young boy’s love of baseball? Well, of course, but don’t tell that to some people I know. After all, what about the connection between a father and his daughter? Or surrogate son/protege?

Trouble with the Curve tells the story of Gus (Clint Eastwood), an aging talent scout for the Atlanta Braves who’s struggling to retain his relevance. He also has a daughter, Mickey (Amy Adams) — you can probably guess why he named her that if you know baseball — who’s a lawyer working hard for a partnership at her firm. She just needs to land that one big case. As for Gus, his own job may be in jeopardy, threatened by relative youngster Philip Sanderson (Matthew Lillard, who’s 42, so he seems young in comparison), who uses the mysterious Evil Computer to find and evaluate talent without ever seeing them in person. Poor Gus just may not be able to keep up, with his failing vision and hatred of the Evil Computer and various Evil Electronic Ilk.

But good ol’ Gus still has a few tricks up his sleeve — his years of experience have given him uncanny abilities for scouting. He plans to look at a rising star in North Carolina, Bo Gentry (Joe Massingill), to prove he’s still got it. Mickey is convinced by Gus’ friend (John Goodman) to go along and ensure Gus will stay safe. Even though she still needs to land that big case! Naturally, father and daughter have been estranged for a long time, and have a lot to learn about themselves and each other. A classic sort of “road” movie with a few evil villains (Philip, that computer, maybe an overly cocky baseball star) and a sparkling conflict between a crusty old man who doesn’t want to change and his ambitious daughter who’s putting her own career on hold for him.

Oh, wait… there’s also this wholly unnecessary romantic subplot with Johnny Flanagan (Justin Timberlake), a young scout who was a former player scouted by Gus himself, but had a bad injury. Considering that Mickey looks like Amy Adams and has an engaging personality, Johnny can’t help but find her fascinating. What she sees in him, I can’t imagine. Sure, there’s the parallel to Gus and his old school ways, but let’s be honest here — Justin Timberlake can be a decent actor, but he doesn’t hold a candle to these two. There’s honesty and emotional baggage aplenty in the eyes of Adams and Eastwood, and Timberlake just has a big ol’ smirk. Those evil villains seem a bit silly and feel thrown in, because someone didn’t think the relationship between the two main characters was interesting enough. There’s a great movie here, with some unnecessary padding, so if you can get past that … it’s a home run (eh?).

But only if you can ignore a few foul balls.

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