If George Orwell (1984) or Aldous Huxley (Brave New World) were alive today, and if either had decided to tap into the teen market, the product would be The Hunger Games. This social satire and teen action film mostly works because the story has drive. It may be a bit utilitarianâ┚¬â€Âand sometimes blatantly simpleâ┚¬â€Âbut it's still engaging stuff.
Lawrence (Oscar nominee for Winter's Bone) is a teenager who lives in a sci-fi version of coal-mining West Virginia. Under her government's totalitarian rule, each year, her home district must sacrifice two teens to take part in the life-and-death Hunger Games. Lawrence bravely volunteers to take the place of her sister. In this brutal contest, Lawrence and local boy Hutcherson compete against 22 other teens where only one youth can walk out alive.
The Games are heavily monitored by the state and televised for the bourgeois of the Capital City to revel in the barbarity.
As a satire and a romance, it's not sturdy stuff. The difference between the ridiculous effete of high society and the simple folk is a little overblown. However, to teenagers raised on reality TV, the symbolism is hard to miss. The violence is tame enough to get a PG-13 rating.
The Hunger Games actually works because the acting is solid and the action is well executed. Also, it's a good, fluffy way to introduce teenagers to the politics of Huxley and Orwell.
Jeff (Segel) is a 30-year-old pothead. He lives on a couch in his mom's basement, obsessing over the M. Night Shyamalan film Signs, and swearing that simple occurrences in his life have a greater, supernatural significance. Maybe he's right. The Duplass brothersâ┚¬â€Âthe writer/director duo behind Cyrusâ┚¬â€Âseem to think so.
Jeff's brother Ed Helms doesn't think Jeff's a winner. Helms is, to himself, a â┚¬Å”success.â┚¬Â He works at a paint store and talks of ominous â┚¬Å”business meetings.â┚¬Â He buys a Porsche he can't afford and then decides his wife is cheating on him.
Momma Sarandon is just trying to get her boys to grow up. She'd love it if her youngest son left the basement, if only to go to the hardware store and buy some glue.
Mom's life is upended when she gets a message from a secret admirer.
It turns out to be a big day for this family. Duplass films are small, sometimes meandering, and mostly improv. The actors seem to revel in the tightness and tininess of the plot. Helms is pretty nifty playing against type as a jerk, but Segel is a joy to watch.
Slowly, we learn of Jeff's dreamy qualities and his loyalty. There are also bits of pure fantasyâ┚¬â€Âwhich may seem to be a copout. However, Segel and the Duplass brothers have created such a sweet loser that we want something magical to come into Jeff's life.
There is a ton of goofy, pointless stuff here. Good thing it works. 21 Jump Street is a sophomoric re-invention of the terrible 80s cop show that gave Johnny Depp his start. This funny movie slyly reverses the typical high school comedy; now, gay teens and tree-hugging eco-nerds are hip, and jocks are uncool.
Cherubic Hill was once a faux white rapper his classmates called â┚¬Å”Not-So-Slim Shady.â┚¬Â Tatum was the athlete who bullied him. However, in police academy, these bozos combined Hill's brains with Tatum's brawn in order to graduate.
On the beat as cops, it's clear that these two are immature morons. So, they are given an undercover assignment as students to infiltrate a high school drug ring. Due to a mix-up, Hill has to play Peter Pan in drama class, and Tatum gets stuck in advanced chemistry, a course he's destined to flunk.
Hill is clearly in his comedic comfort zone here, so, honestly, he's a little dull.
Tatum, however, just found his funny bone. He's wonderful as the dopey, handsome jock thrust in with the nerds. These actors develop a snappy rapport. Hill suddenly finds the popularity he missed the first time. Tatum remains a stupid but loyal puppy dog, despite his pain of being made an outsider. There are also hilarious gunfights, car chases, explosions, a prom, a kegger, and a surprise cameo or two. It all adds up to a high school we don't mind going back to.
