filmland / By Charlie Myers

Meet the Fosters

It’s a running joke in the film that taking someone’s reservations is worse than murder and, of course, this no-no sets the rest of the madcap plot in motion. It turns out that the Tripplehorns are using a stolen flash drive to blackmail the wrong person, as the Fosters discover when they are removed from the restaurant by Collins (Common) and Armstrong (Jimmi Simpson).

The rest of the film finds the bumbling but surprisingly resourceful couple getting in and out of one bad situation after another. One of the nice things about Fey and Carell is that they look like they could be married couple with children. Although Carell, at 48, is eight years older than Fey, he looks younger, and while both are attractive neither is burdened with matinee-idol looks.

Neither Fey nor Carell are as sharply comic as they have been elsewhere, but I attribute this to the romantic plot line that tends to soften all the hard edges as it trudges its way to a preordained conclusion. Fey and Carell fight this as much as possible, and it would have been great to see them in a film with sharper writing.

The cast is nicely rounded out by a shirtless Mark Wahlberg, who helps out the couple, and particularly by James Franco and Mila Kunis (Solara in The Book of Eli; TV’s Family Guy), who may be the funniest actors in the film. William Fichtner (Prison Break) as the D.A. who carries around a broom to symbolize how he is going to clean up the city, and Ray Liotta as the mob guy (not a stretch) also add some extra humor. Director Shawn Levy (the two Night at the Museum films) makes little attempt to elevate the script but moves things along appropriately.

This is a minor effort, but at least an enjoyable one. If you go, stick around for the outtakes during and after the end credits. Rated PG-13 for sexual and crude content throughout, language, some violence and a drug reference. 88m. At the Broadway, Mill Creek and Fortuna.

Continuing

ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Johnny Depp and Tim Burton’s very public love affair takes a journey down the rabbit hole. Rated PG. 101m. At the Broadway and Mill Creek.

AVATAR. Military forces attempt to control and exploit a region and its people, which they know little about. Rated PG-13. 162m. At the Broadway.

1 2 3 4 NEXT PAGE >SHARE