This was an utter disaster from beginning to end.
There are very few movies that are this bad. Everything about this film was awful, the casting, the writing, the filming and the music. The strongest performance was that of Alec Baldwin – who only had a total of about 7 lines. The only redeeming feature of this film is the fact it ran 14 minutes under its advertised length – yes, it was that good.
The first problem with this movie was the casting. Emma Stone (pictured) was cast as an Asian – see the problem yet? Earlier today the director apologised for this casting and called this movie “misunderstood” by the critics. No this movie isn’t misunderstood, its just awful. Bradley Cooper who has recently delivered some outstanding performances returned to his original roots – bad comedies. The cast also included Rachel McAdams, Billy Murray and Alec Baldwin, there was so much potential with this cast, but all lost in a terrible film.
Another issue with this abomination is it had no idea what is was – it was running 6 different stories that fitted into 6 different genres – it either should’ve been longer to tie up all the different plot elements, which really didn’t merge well together or they should’ve just stuck to one major story. The other plot problem is that it was set at Christmas - it’s June. This movie is either 6 months late or 6 months early, either way featured Christmas parties and Santa Claus just didn’t work.
Overall this is an abomination of the highest degree. Only go to this if you want to see a train wreck.
.5 Of A Star
Review by Benjamin Maio Mackay
Screening courtesy of Palace Nova Cinemas