5 ideas about 5 movies

Hello!

And welcome to a slightly different type of a movie review. Long story short: I have been feeling a bit burned out after writing 2-3 movie reviews per week while also writing a lot of essays for my studies. Thus, as soon as the summer started, I almost stopped writing completely and missed out on reviewing quite a few films. In order to get myself back to writing without pushing myself too much and in order to catch up on the missed reviews ASAP, I decided to review all the 5 films together in 1 post. Thankfully, these movies easily lend themselves to this type of format, as they all have a similar message and some shared ideas.

The movies that I will be discussing are: I Feel Pretty, Life of the Party, Book Club, Eddie, and Tully. You might have heard about some or all of these films. If you know anything about them, then you know what’s their connection: they are all female-driven films that encourage women to live at ever age (yes, even after 30) and however they want (as mothers, as career women, as both or neither, or as whoever they want to be). Let’s go over all the pictures one by one in a bit more detail and see what exactly they were doing with the overarching topic of female empowerment.

• I Feel Pretty

I Feel Pretty is the latest Amy Schumer comedy (joining Trainwreck and Snatched), written and directed by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein (who did How To Be Single recently). I have always appreciated Schumer’s ‘zero f*cks given’ attitude but never found her jokes particularly funny or original. I had similarly mixed feelings about this film. I wasn’t sure and I’m still not sure whether this movie portrayed character growth or was confused about its message. Was the movie trying to portray body positivity or body shaming? Was it condoning or celebrating egoism and privilege? Were we laughing with or at Schumer’s character? It’s been like 3 months since I saw the film and I’m still not sure. Rate: 3/5

• Life of the Party

The second comedy out of the five films, Life of the Party is less raunchy than I Feel Pretty and has a clearer message. Mellisa McCarthy starred and wrote the film, while her husband Ben Falcone directed it (the duo previously worked on Tammy and The Boss together). The main idea of the movie was the female empowerment through higher education, specifically. The film also promoted female friendship and solidarity, which both are super important. On the entertainment side, the movie was funny but a bit cringe-y too. Rate: 3.3/5

• Book Club

The third comedy of the bunch, Book Club stars the creme de la creme of Hollywood: Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen. Bill Holderman directed the film (in a directorial debut) from a script written by him and Erin Simms (TV actress). Book Club was my favorite of the three comedies because it had the best-written dialogue and banter and also promoted female friendship not only in college (like Life of the Party) but throughout one’s whole life. It also showcased 4 successful women with different career and life choices (variety is important as any life choice is valid!). Lastly, Book Club, even though inspired by Fifty Shades of Grey, somehow felt the most profound out of all the comedies. Rate: 4/5

• Edie

The indie version of Book Club, Eddie is small British drama about not being afraid to live and follow one’s dream at any age. While Book Club gets to the same message through a raunchy book, Edie gets there through hiking in Scotland. Sheila Hancock stars as the frustrating and sympathetic lead, while Elizabeth O’Halloran writes and Simon Hunter directs. In addition to Book Club, this film also reminded me of other indie dramas like The Leisure Seeker and Finding Your Feet! Rate: 3.7/5

• Tully

The last of the films and the second drama of the five, Tully was the film that surprised me the most. Starring Charlize Theron (in another, Monster-esque de-glamourized role) and Mackenzie Davis, written by Diablo Cody and directed by Jason Reitman (the duo behind Juno), Tully tells the not sugar coated at all story of a tired mother. It has a Bad Moms set-up but doesn’t go the comedy route. Instead, its story goes into an unexpected direction in order to present a message that a simple family life is as valid of a life choice as any other, even if it is no longer promoted as much in the media (‘a career woman’ is the desired ideal these days and my personal ideal too. And yet, this ode to motherhood of a movie states, moms should be celebrated and idolized just as much). Rate: 4/5

To conclude, I hope you enjoyed reading my slightly rushed and probably confused take on 5 movies that I’ve seen recently and somehow managed to connect in my own head!