At the Movies With Peter Travers: “Fast and Furious” and “Adventureland”
At The Movies this week is Fast and Furious, which — as Rolling Stone movie critic Peter Travers points out — should not be confused with 2001’s The Fast and the Furious. One film had two The’s in the title, the other one does not. Sadly, that’s where the differences end as both Paul Walker and Vin Diesel rejoin the franchise after neither appeared (in a non-cameo role, at least) in the third installment, Tokyo Drift. Regardless of the title — call it Slow and Stupid if you want — this film is Scum Bucket-bound, as the muscle cars and babes aren’t enough to cancel out the flick’s ill-conceived plot points. Example: Diesel is a fugitive from the law, the police can’t catch him, yet he’s living at his sister’s house in Los Angeles. Guess they didn’t think to look there.
Also, Travers checks out the new comedy Adventureland, starring Twilight‘s Kristen Stewart and directed by that guy who made Superbad.
Based in the 1980s and telling the story of a virgin (Jesse Eisenberg) taking a job at an amusement park, the film hits every teen flick cliché possible, but is saved by great comedic performances by SNL vets Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig (one of Travers’ comics to watch). However, the usually-superb Ryan Reynolds is miscast as an adulterous handyman involved with Stewart’s character.
Finally, Travers went to see The Haunting in Connecticut despite Scum Bucketing the film based solely on its trailer. His verdict: It stinks. In fact, Travers argues that the McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish commercial with the singing fish plaque is creepier than the entirety of Haunting. Next week At the Movies, the valiant Travers braves Hannah Montana: The Movie. Did it make him want to gouge his eyes out? Was Taylor Swift’s co-starring performance a revelation? Stay tuned.