You, Me, and Dupree

You, Me, and Dupree- D+
Although I find Owen Wilson slightly irritating, I can understand his appeal. He has a talent for delivering good one-liners and being honest about making a fool of himself onscreen. It's annoying, but there's something slightly charming about it. The movie does have some good one-liners, and if you love seeing Owen Wilson make a fool out of himself onscreen, you'll be satisfied. The problem now lies in the fact that everything else in the movie is disposable. The remaining actors might be decent at some things, but comic acting is not one of them. The script has no shape at all, and the writing is inconsistent and sloppy. The main source of conflict in the movie lies between Matt Dillon and the other three characters, his wife, his father-in-law, and his best friend. He's frustrated with all three, but refuses to tell them why. The problem is, we as audience members don't know why either and we get frustrated seeing him in agony, when sitting down and just telling them would be sufficient. What's even more frustrating is that the movie ends without any real resolve where anyone admits they were wrong for tormenting this poor guy. Whatever.

The Devil Wears Prada

The Devil Wears Prada- C
In my eyes, Meryl Streep can do no wrong. She picks roles that are interesting and different. It appears that she can do just about anything. Her performance here is no exception. She single handedly saves the movie from complete disaster. Basically, it becomes really difficult to even stay awake during the long stretches that she is off screen. It lacks any sense of humanity and never really rises from being any more than a shallow comedy. If the film makers could take a lesson from Streep, I feel that all could have been repaired. Her character is undoubtedly shallow and seems to be void of any humanity whatsoever, but there are three or four moments of pure brilliance where you see the woman behind the facade. There's one that lasts for a few minutes that is hard to miss, unless you were asleep (which is understandable), but there are plenty of other moments which happen so quickly that you might have blinked and missed them. That's the subtlety and artistry I go to the movies to see. Thank you Meryl!