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Family on August 13th, 2006 by Chad Everett
Right from the beginning, you can tell that this is different from the 1971 classic, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. In fact, it’s actually more reminiscent of the 1989 version of Batman because of director Tim Burton’s influence. That’s not entirely a bad thing. Batman was a classic in its own right.
But this telling quickly diverges from the 1971 version while at times remaining faithful to that wonderful tale. If you’ve seen that one (and most of us have), you’ll recognize it just about everywhere. And while I’m a big fan of Johnny Depp, let’s face it – he’s no Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka.
Burton’s taste for the bizarre comes through in stellar fashion, and for the most part it works, but rather than Wilder’s childlike sense of wonder in the original, we get a bizarre psychosis here, and it where the original worked wonders, it just doesn’t work here at all.
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Romance on June 29th, 2006 by Chad Everett
Adam Sandler generally isn’t the first actor you think of when it comes to dramatic performances, and this isn’t really a dramatic role, but he did a pretty decent job. Sure, there are moments. There are references to his other films, whether it’s the inclusion of his buddies or names or what-have-you. But there are also moments where he and Drew Barrymore really do fine job of making things work.
Henry Roth (Sandler) is something of a serial liar. He works at the aquarium, but you wouldn’t know it if you were to happen across him in a bar. He tells women that he works for the CIA – or just about any other secret organization – in order to avoid having to call them. He only dates tourists, so that they will leave at the end of their trip and he doesn’t have to see them again. Ever. But that changes when he meets Lucy (Barrymore) one morning at breakfast.
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Comedy on April 1st, 2006 by Chad Everett
Average Joe’s gym, owned by regular guy Peter La Fleur Vince Vaughn, suddenly needs $50,000 to pay off their mortgage. It looks like the only way there is through a dodgeball tournament, so they put together a rag-tag team and sign up. The rest of the movie is, well, pretty predictable, though it takes a roundabout way to get there.
The most notable speed bump on the way is through White Goodman (Ben Stiller), owner of the competing gym that wants to buy Average Joe’s (and coincidentally, the reigning dodgeball champs).
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