Starring:  Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling
Directed by:  Glenn Ficarra and John Requa
Rated:  PG 13
Running time:  1 hour 58 mins
Warner Brothers

Our Score: 5 out of 5 stars

Fans of the television program “The Office” (the US version) were pretty sad this season when Steve Carell left the show.  After seven successful seasons Carell decided to do what countless actors have done before:  make that successful transition from tv star to MOVIE STAR!  In the past Carell has done some solid work in comedies like “The 40 Year Old Virgin” and “Anchorman,” as well as showing some serious chops in “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Dan In Real Life.”  Many actors before Carell have taken that big step.  From Clint Eastwood, Ryan O’Neal and Tom Selleck (good choice) to Shelly Long and David Caruso (not so good), many have taken that great leap only to land hard.  Not Carell.  As a man who must learn how to deal with all that life throws at him after his wife asks for a divorce, Carell gives, in my opinion, the best performance of his career.

Cal (Carell) and Emily (Moore) have been married for two plus decades.  One night at dinner, unable to decide what they want, Cal suggests they count down from three and then say it out loud.  Cal is floored when Emily orders “a divorce.”  He moves out of the house, leaving behind two very sweet children, Molly (Joey King) and Robbie (Jonah Bobo, truly the emotional heart of the film).  While drinking away his sorrows in the local singles bar Cal is befriended by Jacob (Gosling), who can see in Cal a defeated man who needs to discover life again.  While helping Cal Jacob is mystified by a beautiful woman (Stone) who resists his advances.  By the time the film is over, everyone will have, hopefully, found what they were looking for.

Brilliantly written by Dan Fogleman, “Crazy, Stupid, Love” is the perfect romantic comedy and the best one to come along since “Love Actually.”  The characters are fully developed and as you watch them you can easily identify them as someone you know.  It also helps that the film is perfectly cast.  As I mentioned above, the sky is the limit for Steve Carell on the big screen.  He proves himself a true romantic leading man here, as well as a fine actor.  Same with Gosling.  So great in heavier roles like “Half Nelson,” which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor and “Blue Valentine,” which criminally didn’t,  here he gets to have a few laughs, some at his expense.  Like Matt Damon before him, Gosling is beginning to become one of my favorite actors to watch on screen.  Moore and Stone are also strong characters, a rarity in this genre’.  The supporting cast, including Kevin Bacon, Marisa Tomei, Analeigh Tipton and a hilarious Josh Grobin, help the film maintain it’s fast pace.  But it is young Mr. Bobo that surprises with a performance that belies his 14 years.  His Robbie, more than anyone else in the film, has a handle on what love is and how it should be. And everything is held together by the strong direction of Ficarra and Requa, who crafted last year’s “I Love You Phillip Morris” with a deft hand.  No sophomore slump here!

In a summer of romantic comedies both good and bad, it’s nice to see that Hollywood saved the best for last.

Director: Susan Streitfeld
Starring: Mason Gamble, David O’Hara, Malcolm McDowell and Frances Fisher
Golf in the Kingdom LLC
Rated PG
Running Time: 87 minutes

Our Score: 2 out of 5 stars

Most movies have a scene where it takes the lead on a existential transcendental journey to find themselves, but with this film it never moves on from that point. The film started and I was enjoying the whole trippy existential experience and then I was waiting and waiting for it to take the next step in the story. Unfortunately I was left waiting. I have never read the book so maybe I am missing the overall deep meaning for the story. Well even if I did, I found my eyes struggling to stay awake and focused on this film. Luckily it wasn’t all bad since the film does have some great acting.

David O’Hara really delivers a great performance in the film. David is is know for his role in “Wanted” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” and is co-starring in “Cowboys & Aliens”. Mason Gamble also delivers a great performance as Michael Murphy. Mason is known for his lead role in 1993’s “Dennis the Menace”. He has really proved in this film that he can act and will bring great things in the future.

“Golf in the Kingdom” follows Michael Murphy (Mason Gamble) whose encounters with a meets a golf player named Shivas (David O’Hara), who has a profound influence on him. Shivas teaches Michael not only golf but also about spirituality. I wouldn’t really call this a sports movie in general though since it is focuses less on the game and more on the spiritual side of life. I would say more of a coming-of-age finding yourself film with golf in the background.

Starring: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving and Tommy Lee Jones
Directed by: Joe Johnston
Rated: PG 13
Running time: 2 hours 5 mins
Paramount

Our Score: 4 out of 5 stars

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Finally! After years of teasing and Samuel L. Jackson cameos, the “Avengers” movie is almost ready. We just needed to meet the one that started it all. And here he is. Ladies and gentlemen, standing a robust 5’ tall and weighing a whopping 120 pounds, I give you “Captain America!” But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In what appears to be present day Antarctica, a discovery has been made. A large item is buried in the ice. When a team is lowered inside, they come across a lot of frost and a large metal disc emblazoned with a single star. Hmmm. Jump back to Norway in 1942. In a near empty castle lies a secret. A secret that Adolph Hitler wants for himself. However, while the fuehrer’s men are “out in the desert looking for religious artifacts” (a nice “Raiders of the Lost Ark” reference, thank you very much), one of his most treacherous henchmen searches for that secret: the Cosmic Cube, one of the most powerful jewels of Odin and seen briefly during the afore-mentioned Samuel L. Jackson cameo earlier this year in “Thor.” Said henchman, Johann Schmidt (Weaving) has another name in Hitler’s Third Reich: the Red Skull. Meanwhile, in New York City, Steve Rogers (Evans) is attempting, for the fourth time, to enlist in the Army. Due to his slight frame and penchant for attracting practically every ailment known to man, Steve is classified 4F, making him unsuitable for military service. This is upsetting to Steve whose best friend, James “Bucky” Barnes (Sebastian Stan) is heading off to Europe to battle the Nazis. A chance meeting with Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci) gives Steve one more chance, a chance that changes the course of the war for good.

Like “Spider-Man” and “Thor” before it, “Captain America: The First Avenger” is the story of a genuinely good man thrust into something he doesn’t fully comprehend. In order to serve his country, Steve agrees to be part of an experiment being conducted by Dr. Erskine and Colonel Phillips (Jones). Unknown to Rogers, Herr Schmidt was also a guinea pig for Dr. Erskine, with less than spectacular results. That’s why they call him the Red Skull!

As the final piece of the “Avengers” puzzle, “Captain America” is a film that keeps the audience up to date on the upcoming “Avengers” film. Colonel Phillips and Dr. Erskine have a third partner in their work, military defense specialist Howard Stark, better known as Tony (Iron Man) Stark’s father. Steve is told that Schmidt’s experiment was a failure because of the man involved. The experiment is triggered by what you are as a person. “Good people become great,” he’s told. “Bad people become worse.” Indeed. After the experiment Steve, whose unscheduled chasing of a Nazi spy gains him the cover of most newspapers, is swept off by a local congressman to dress up as the highly patriotic “Captain America” and sell war bonds. The gig works until Steve is sent to entertain a unit overseas. This is Bucky’s unit, and Steve learns that 80% of the men in the unit have been presumed dead. Not believing this, Steve dons his bond selling suit and heads out to comic book immortality.

As directed by Joe Johnston, who has helmed popular fanboy films including “The Rocketeer” and “The Wolfman,” “Captain America: The First Avenger” is a comic book truly brought to life. The heroes are colorful, the villains are nasty and the gadgets most impressive. The cast does a fine job of giving life to their characters, making them more then 2D drawings on a page. Evans, who has gone down the super hero route before in “The Fantastic Four” films, gives Steve a quiet humanity that is needed to make the character believable. He truly IS a good man. Weaving, his face recalling Harry Potter’s Lord Voldermort with a bad sun burn, is commanding as the man who believes he and he alone is meant to rule the world. The supporting cast handle their roles well, especially a group that Steve rescues who form an almost “Hogan’s Heroes” like band of merry men. The special effects are well done, as are the many battle scenes between “Cap” and the Red Skulls’ toadies. Though not the best of the “Avenger” films, it’s certainly not the worse.

Starring: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis and Woody Harrelson
Directed by: Will Gluck
Rated: R
Running time: 1 hour 49 mins
Screen Gems

Our Score: 3 out of 5 stars

At first I thought this would be an easy review. Just go back to my review of this year’s earlier “No Strings Attached,” substitute some names, and head off to see “Captain America!” I was wrong. Though “Friends with Benefits” has a very similar plot line (attractive friends decide to just be sex partners with no emotional involvement) the films are very different. So I’ll put some effort into this one.

Dylan (a getting better every time I see him on screen Timberlake) runs a successful web site in Los Angeles. His work has caught the eye of GQ magazine, who want him to become the magazine’s art director. Having just been dumped by his girlfriend (Emma Stone) for being too distant he agrees to fly to New York City for an interview.

Jamie (Kunis who, after her award worthy work in last year’s “Black Swan” needs no further encouragement from me) is a head hunter in New York City. She’s just been dumped by her boyfriend (Andy Samberg), who feels she’s always looking for her prince charming. That he does it outside a retro theatre playing “Pretty Woman” pretty much confirms his thoughts. She is also the one who is bringing Dylan to the Big Apple to fill the GQ job. When he decides to take the job they become friends. And, after a quick discussion, friends with benefits.

You have to give credit to a romantic comedy that spends several moments making fun of romantic comedies! “Friends with Benefits” is a smart, funny film that gives new life to a very tried and true story. But it also has some of the problems that the film makes fun of. First the highlights…

The script, which is pretty funny during the “comedy” parts of the film. It took three different people to write it (four if you count an additional “story by” credit) and it reads like it. What sounds like a good idea to one may not be to another and, as someone who tries to be a good writer, it’s best to write alone whenever possible. However, any film that can make not one, but two, jokes at John Mayer’s expense (“he’s the Sheryl Crow of our generation”) deserves a little slack. The leads are terrific but there’s also great work turned in by Harrelson, Patricia Clarkson, Jenna Elfman and a hilarious recurring cameo by Winter Sport expert Shaun White. In a more serious role, Richard Jenkins is his usual reliable self as Dylan’s dad. Now the lowlight…

The script, which pretty much stops the film dead in its tracks when the “romantic” part rears up. We learn that both of the leads have battled problems in their past but have persevered. Yet, when things begin to turn serious, they magically reappear. Suddenly Dylan can’t add 2 + 2 and stutters like Michael Palin in “A Fish Called Wanda” while Jamie’s “prince charming” desires return again, with predictable consequences. And it’s sad to see that Hollywood seems to have only one way to deal with “R” rated sex. Though the in-bed jokes are some of the films’ funniest, it’s almost guaranteed that, like most in this genre, the film will feature the same “boy kisses down girls body/girl kisses up boy’s body” shot that’s been a staple of “R” rated films since “Caddyshack.” No surprises here. Still, the good outweighs the bad. And the comedy outweighs the romance.