Mr. Right (2015)
They just might make a killer couple.
As seems to be the norm, the queue has forsaken sending me available movies in order, and instead continues it’s chaotic grab-bag or mockery. Since that’s the case, the movie that came in the mail this week will be getting pushed - I had thing orders to bring a nice amount of mixing and matching of moods as opposed to my normal run of horror, horror, horror, action, garbage, family friendly lopsided stacking. Tonight, I retreat to the realms of digital viewings and we get to watch a movie that’s a comedy with some action and romance! Yeah, partially out of my normal league, but hey, you’re welcome people who aren’t into the normal buffet selections. This movies about a strange pairing, tonight we look to find if he’s actually Mr. Right.
Now, although it’s romantic-oriented, the movie doesn’t feel all that entirely romance. It’s like a romance-light comedy with some action sets to keep any of the stereotypical guys like me in the audience from getting too bored with the somewhat… perhaps embarrassing is the word I’m looking for here - representation of pretty girls. Look, the romance angle in this thing is as bad if not worse as most romance movies aimed at college-age folks, right? There might be a choice or two that’s actually intelligent in it, and surely there are people who act that way - probably more than should - but it’s also carrying with it a level of cringe in the writing that hurts about as much as the “man is dumb” joke in Ghostbusters 2016. Still, the balancing of the elements ended up suiting me more than I would have thought - comedy first, followed by action and using the romance elements largely as a purpose behind the story beats. There’s ups and downs here, but just go in knowing that this isn’t going to be painful levels of mushiness - nor a very serious feeling representation of it either.
The plot is somewhat similar to things we’ve encountered before - two people fall in love, one of them ends up being something (assassin, secret agent, hitman, wizard) that isn’t normal. In this case, we’ve got the pretty girl who can make good decisions although largely also can resort to being a two year old in a closet “normal” person falling for the over=powered top-skilled quirky hitman. The movie of course then revolves around the two connecting and dealing with the troubles that being a quirky hitman can bring into a relationship over the course of the movie. Where it might feel a bit different is that the quirky hitman does in fact bring a large amount of cheerfulness to the movie - at times drastically over the top, but almost always entertaining. It leads to jokes and general levity, but also brings a reason for those action moments to crop up. Action, conflict, and women that have moments of ditzy goof because the movie wants it are all common things though.
The actors, as you might expect, aren’t bad. I’d go as far as to say they all do a good job here - but don’t let me be confused as to believe that all the writing is good. Although our lead lady does a fine job in her roll, the movie itself ends up making her seem like she’s not doing a hot job at it constantly, as outside of some genuine moments where the character is fun and purposeful it largely just feels like someone who would forget how to breath in the middle of breathing and die. Perhaps I'm being a bit rough on the character, but she’s probably the weakest thing about the movie - and the female lead does what she can with it is the big feeling I get from that. I’ve seen her act before, and even in this movie there are moments when that acting really comes through, but it has got to be so hard to work with a character that’s a brick. In comparison, the male lead can at times seem too over the top with is quirkiness and overall happy performance. I get that it’s all intentional - at least I’d hope it is - but it’s a thing to point out anyways. Still, despite that the actors feel to have a good rapport, and even interactions between the male lead and the side characters all feel well done.
Every day relationship problems.
Humor is still subjective, so it’ll be hit or miss. The teen-grade jokes at the start might make others laugh more than I, who just felt a little annoyed at it, whereas later situational jokes might entertain others less than it did for me. Overall, it was a decent mix, but largely left up to the events on screen to be funny as opposed to a one liner or right up joke. The romantic bantering between the leads might be funny to some, with such moments as cute names or comments to each other, or the nonchalant way the hero dances about during fights or wears a clown nose before a kill leave a bunch to keep the mood up even if you aren’t laughing out loud. I think that’d be the best way for it - it makes you feel good, but it’s not outright ripping laughter from my mouth. Suitable would be another word for it, but again - it’s humor and you either like what they have or you don’t care for it.
Outfits don’t leave much to have fun with here - it’s one of those modern sets. Yeah, we get some nice stuff here and there - colorful shirt or dress, maybe a nice tux or suit, or that one guy in his leather coat - but it’s nothing really as stand out as you could go. You can tell most the characters by looking at them, but that’s also largely because everyone has such different faces more than anything else. Likewise, despite the rating might make you think, you’ll also find rather tame violence here. Sure, a person will get shot or stabbed, and there usually will be blood to show someone is injured or the likes, but we aren’t really talking wet squibs or over-the-top 300 CG blood or anything. No, far beyond the reaches of the violence effects, that rating probably almost solely comes from the usage of language - curses ahoy! It doesn’t bother me, but considering i’ve heard people complain about the frequency of F-bombs in The Predator, I feel that perhaps this movie requires a warning about the use of “sentence enhancers” as well.
Audio is a nice package here. Everything meant to be hear is heard, and there’s no struggling to do so. It’s even got a classy song or two in there that can stick around with me afterwards - although less to do with it being important to the movie and more just being a song I’d normally listen to anyways. Still, good song, good balance, and the rest of the soundtrack doesn’t exactly hurt the movie any even if it doesn’t excel at being stuck in your head. Really, a good chunk of this movie is just good - various little tid bits from here and there, be it acting moments, character interactions, choreography in fights, or even just how it’s shot and edited. It mostly feels like some thought went into laying shots out - and sure, a fight will throw perhaps a few more cuts in than it really needed, but it does a good job of being flashy without being obnoxious, and providing some nice footwork to watch to boot.
Dance fight begin!
The movie could have been terrible. The movie practically begged to be terrible. At the end of the day though, it’s pretty enjoyable. It’s good for leaving you in a good mood, even if it might not coax any real laughter out of you. It has it’s strong points and it’s weak points - but they find enough of a middle ground that watching the movie is a process of enjoyment and not a taxing of the nerves. I’d say it’s perhaps worth a rental for plenty of folks, assuming they can get past the stronger language, because although it’s not the best movie in existence it still offers a good enough time for it’s run that at least that once certainly won’t hurt.