Good Will Hunting Meets Saturday Night Fever, Only It's Not Nearly That Funny

Rating: 4/10 (2 April 2013)

I totally adore Jennifer Lawrence, which is why I went to see this movie, but really I found it very hard to take. Every element thrown into the story looks like it was tested by a Hollywood focus group. The peons love dirty jokes? Check, everyone talks dirty. Everyone loves romance? Check, love blossoms even when the two main characters are obviously insane. The underdogs enter the big contest -- my God, it's a stunning surprise -- and then, well, they come out on top! All those big clichés were bad enough, but I found a lot of minor things annoying too. The condescending view of working class America -- yes, we're all foul-mouthed morons and we all love football, but do we have to paint ourselves green? The condescending portrait of the Hindu psychiatrist -- he's an okay guy once he starts watching football.
It was all so depressing to watch, yet, once Jennifer Lawrence takes hold you become like a mindless slave, unable to stop watching.
Oh, and one word about Bradley Cooper. He's not that bad when he shuts up and the camera just captures something mean and deadly in his eyes. When he's talking, and acting, doing his twitchy little man-boy Adam Sandler impersonation, he's vile beyond words. But when he sits still, you see something harder in his face. Something truer. Suddenly this isn't PUNCH DRUNK LOVE. It's THE English PATIENT. And he's Ralph Fiennes! So really, I give this movie four stars. Two stars for Jennifer Lawrence, and two stars for Bradley Cooper. But the rest of this mess, you can keep.
Oh, and thanks Liberal Hollywood. Thanks for letting the black man play the fool again!