Tag Archives: Jake Lacy

Review: Go head over heels for ‘Ode to Joy.’

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Martin Freeman sports an American accent in this film based on a story from This American Life. Charlie has a rare disorder that causes him to pass out when he experiences strong emotions but especially joy. This makes life and dating especially difficult. With odd coping mechanisms that keep him in a constant state of depression and boredom, he meets Francesca, a woman that challenges his sense of dull stability. When their first date goes awry, Charlie insists on setting her up with his very different younger brother, Cooper. Francesca must overcome her own fears while Charlie comes to grips with his disorder and stop making excuses. How does he really want to live his life?
The entire cast is a delight. Jake Lacy as Cooper is an amazing foil for Freeman. Young and hungry for more than a good time, he’s funny and a very relatable character, for better or for worse. Jane Curtin as Francesca’s ailing Aunt Sylvia is as lovable and sarcastic as Jane Curtin always is. Melissa Rauch as Charlie’s interim love interest is hilarious in her serious love of anything and everything tedious. Morena Baccarin is honest and grounded with an exuberant spirit. My girl-crush since her Firefly days, she’s also clearly a secret Timelord, but let’s not confuse fandoms. Martin Freeman is ridiculously charming. I cannot help but get wrapped up in each role he plays. He’s simply wonderful.
The rom-com is alive and well, people. Ode to Joy is a unique indie that’s sure to be a knockout this summer. It opens in theaters, on digital and On Demand this Friday. Check out the trailer below!

TITLE: ODE TO JOY

IN THEATERS: August 9, 2019

ON DIGITAL AND ON DEMAND: August 9, 2019

DIRECTOR: Jason Winer

WRITER: Max Werner

CAST: Martin Freeman, Morena Baccarin, Melissa Rauch, Jake Lacy, Jane Curtin, Shannon Woodward, Adam Shapiro

SYNOPSIS:  Martin Freeman (The Hobbit) has fallen in love and can’t get up. A man’s fervent attempts at subverting happiness once it begins to cause him bouts of narcolepsy are put to the ultimate test when he falls in love.

GENRE: Comedy

RUN TIME:  97 Mins

RATING: R

DISTRIBUTOR: IFC Films

‘CAROL’ comes to life on the silver screen today. Here are a few reasons why we think it shouldn’t be missed.

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Carol poster

As one of the most anticipated films of this year’s New York Film Festival, CAROL most certainly blew everyone’s expectations out of the water. Here are just a few reasons why we adore this elegant film…Carol still Cate and RooneyThe Plot:

 In an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s seminal novel The Price of Salt, CAROL follows two women from very different backgrounds who find themselves in an unexpected love affair in 1950s New York. As conventional norms of the time challenge their undeniable attraction, an honest story emerges to reveal the resilience of the heart in the face of change. A young woman in her 20s, Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara), is a clerk working in a Manhattan department store and dreaming of a more fulfilling life when she meets Carol (Cate Blanchett), an alluring woman trapped in a loveless, convenient marriage. As an immediate connection sparks between them, the innocence of their first encounter dims and their connection deepens. While Carol breaks free from the confines of marriage, her husband (Kyle Chandler) begins to question her competence as a mother as her involvement with Therese and close relationship with her best friend Abby (Sarah Paulson) come to light.

ROONEY MARA and CATE BLANCHETT star in CAROL

ROONEY MARA and CATE BLANCHETT star in CAROL

The Cinematography:

Edward Lachman is a genius behind the camera. Having worked hand in hand with Director Todd Haynes on Far From Heaven in 2002, his visual landscape for Carol is unmatched. Shot in 16mm, perfectly framed, with delicate but specific shots through windows and the focus on the color of crimson and corals, make this a true feast for the eyes.

You can watch Ed discuss his experience in an interview from NYFF53 here.Carol still Kyle Chandler

The Performances:

We’re not shy about our love for Cate Blanchett, nor is The Academy. In truth, there is not a single loose thread in the casting of this film. In the film’s press conference this week, you could see and hear the passion the entire cast held for the project and the respect they had for Phyllis Nagy‘s immaculate adaptation. This is not a story about a lesbian couple, this is a story of two people falling in love. The effortless nature of Blanchett, Mara, Chandler, Paulson, and Lacy as an ensemble evokes the kind of emotion so rarely experienced in the cinema these days. Both Cate and Rooney landed on my Top Female Performances of NYFF53 list. Lacy’s boyish charm and naivete bound off the screen. Chandler’s masculinity and energy are a powerful match for both the period and Blanchett. And as for Sarah Paulson (my favorite player in American Horror Story, every season), well, I wanted to put her in my pocket and place her in every film from here on out. It’s the kind of presence that should not be overlooked, ever. These actors are extraordinarily great at their jobs. There is no doubt about it, CAROL is a timeless film.

(L-R) KYLE CHANDLER and CATE BLANCHETT star in CAROL

(L-R) KYLE CHANDLER and CATE BLANCHETT star in CAROL

For a mere taste of what you’re in for, here is the trailer:

CAROL– Opening In Limited Theaters November 20, 2015

Rated R | Runtime 118 minutes

Carol still Sarah PaulsonCarol still Rooney

Carol still Todd Haynes and Cate Blachett

 

Liz’s Review: Get raunchy with ‘BALLS OUT’

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Balls Out posterYou never know what you’re gonna see at Tribeca Film Festival. One out of left field film from last year was BALLS OUT. Wrong sports metaphor in this case since this particular movie revolves around an intramural college flag football league. Starring a rag tag team of hilarious and talented people like Jake Lacy, Kate McKinnon, Nikki Reed, Beck Bennett, Jay Pharoah and many, many more, Balls Out pulls no punches when it comes to the A-typical sports genre movie. Balls out cast stillCaleb (Jake Lacy) is a fifth year senior with law school on the brain and an overbearing and hilariously high-on-life girlfriend (Kate McKinnon). Suddenly finding himself faced with having his future mapped out for him, he begins to reminisce about his freshman year and his flag football team’s- The Panthers- epic win over a douchebag rival team the Titans. Haunted by the how the first game ended with the paralysis of his best friend, Caleb struggles to commit to what makes him truly happy. Balls Out is an unapologetic underdog story, that’s frankly funny as hell. Every single sports cliche you can think of is admittedly thrown in your face. Training montages, two stoner fans acting as the league’s “official announcers”, hidden personal agendas, each Panther member being just slightly too weird for reality, and a rival captain so damn ridiculous you love to hate him. All this is admitted in the actual dialogue. The film never takes itself seriously at any moment, which is what makes it so great. I was not expecting to like this film at all, and it ended up being my favorite comedy of the fest last year.Kate KcKinnon Balls Out stillSo let’s talk performances in Balls Out. Jake Lacy is, for lack of a better phrase, relatively straight laced, in comparison to the rest of the cast. Nikki Reed does an excellent job playing the girl who comes into Caleb’s life just when he needs it most. This was a nice departure for Reed coming off the Twilight series and a great follow up to her quirky performance in last year’s Murder of a Cat. She is cool and fun. Kate McKinnon steals every scene she is in. Since she joined SNL, I have been touting her as the new Amy Poehler. One wide-eyed look from this gal is comedy gold. Newly minted Panther head coach is played by Nick Kocher. Wher has this kis been all my life? He easily flips from just amusing to sidesplitting comedy with the ease of someone twice his age. How is he not in everything right now? Team him up with Chris Pratt, like yesterday. I want over saturation of Kocher immediately. Jay Pharoah and D.C. Pierson‘s narration as the sideline peanut gallery makes the game sequences what they are. Balls Out Beck StillNow, let’s get real  for a moment. Hands down, once again,the star of this film is Beck Bennett. I have been a fan ever since his national AT&T campaign. Believing he is vastly under utilized on SNL, I have been privileged to see his outstanding movie roles thus far. His last film, Beside Still Waters (a MUST see), was on the opposite end spectrum on his testosterone driven revenge obsession in Balls Out. Like McKinnon, each frame he appears in he completely owns. I don’t know how anyone kept a straight face having to be in a scene with him. It makes me wonder how much of his dialogue is improvised. I would imagine the DVD blooper reel with feature him heavily. Cheers to Beck for bring this film over the goal line.

BALLS OUT arrives theatrically and on VOD June 19th.

Genre: Comedy
TRT: 100 min
Camera: RED Epic
Language: English

Rated: R for crude and sexual material, language and some drug use

SYNOPSIS: With graduation, marriage, and an uncertain future on the horizon, fifth year college senior Caleb Fuller (Jake Lacy) decides to do the one thing he vowed to never do again: get the ol’ flag football team back together. Now with the help of his Panther teammates and unorthodox head coach Grant Rosenfalis (Nick Kocher), Caleb must defy all odds and logic if he ever hopes to achieve the intramural football glory he once had. Set in the highly popular world of college intramural sports, BALLS OUT is the epic sports movie for the guys who don’t deserve one.