“Who shoots cake?”
From the moment Saint Motel’s “My Type” began on the speakers and Sam Rockwell began dancing his way across the screen, I knew Mr. Right had it.
Unique characters are invigorating. They offer a pinch of panache, a slice of seduction few other elements can. Sometimes, the guy just has “it”.
Francis has it.
Clever, imaginative and nothing if not dramatic, Francis is the blood pumping through this picture’s veins. I’m not going to claim he’s otherworldly but he’s enticing. He’s…Mr. Right.
And when you scout potential, all you want in the world is to see those gifts flourish. When the script is hitting and Francis is on all cylinders, Mr. Right is fun but when things are off, the picture stumbles.
Writer Max Landis had something special here. Francis has quirk and charisma oozing all over him. He’s enthralling, magnetizing, seriously can’t get enough of it. Stuff can be hard to kindle. When you do, it’s important to keep your foot on the gas and maximize the current.
Any writer is familiar with the damnations of writer’s block. It’s nixed novels I’ve started, quite a few reviews, even poetry and some music. Coming back to those projects sometimes provides a fresh spark but often the fire has burnt out. It simply isn’t the same as it once was.
Mr. Right reeks of writer’s block. As captivating as Francis is, it’s difficult to maintain heat beginning to end. That’s not to give Landis a pass. A refined script can make it happen, plenty of films have succeeded in doing so. This sadly isn’t one of them.
It’s a huge bummer because you know it was there. It’s the one that got away, as the saying goes.
Some sequences are finely polished for an action comedy while others run rough and curt. Mr. Right doesn’t have a pacing problem so much as a quality predicament. Quite a handful of scenes push plot and little more and therefore feel so out of touch with the clips of ingenuity and flair. It’s almost as if the movie takes commercial breaks.
When a film has Mr. Right, has the “it” I mentioned, the errors pop out like a triple rainbow. You’d have to be blind not to see it. This only makes Mr. Right‘s shortcomings all the more frustrating. I criticized director Paco Cabezas years ago for his narrative choices and story editing in Rage. Seems like history repeating itself.
When you have a golden goose character, it’s a wasted play every time you take him off the field ‘less you have a strong role player you can sub in when he’s out of the picture. Tim Roth is always fun but doesn’t get on screen anywhere near enough. Anna Kendrick’s awkward but adorable shtick makes its annual appearance but her character has a low ceiling and there’s only so long writing gymnastics can keep the ball rolling. Special kudos to RZA’s showing but he’s a play off Francis, not one by himself.
In news that may surprise you, the film’s best moments are when Rockwell and Kendrick share the stage. There’s a clear chemistry there and they bounce off each other well, leaving Mr. Right resembling a trampoline park. Scenes that involve neither them nor Roth are dying for a skip button. It stalls momentum so yeah, I guess there is a pacing problem.
A movie gifted with Rockwell’s jubilant energy should be ashamed. You can sometimes discern an actor’s emotions from their performance and my deductive skills tell me Mr. Rockwell was having a blast on set, really hamming it up. That’s not a given in any profession but Rockwell truly brings his A game, portraying Francis as the jack-in-the-box he is. He brought life to this when so much around him tastes stale and bland.
It doesn’t happen often but sometimes I watch a movie, really enjoy it but come away feeling disappointment. Such is the case with Mr. Right because while the chemistry between leads Rockwell and Kendrick nears enveloping at points, the film as a whole misses the target.
Once again, if you’re new to my blog, I’ve always ranked movies on a scale of 0-100 (I don’t know why, I just always have). Here’s the grading scale.
90-100 It’s a great movie and definitely one worth buying. (Batman Begins, The Matrix, L.A. Confidential, Her, Taken)
80-89 It was a pretty good movie and definitely one worth seeing, but it doesn’t quite scratch my top ten percentile. (The Conjuring 2, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Dumb and Dumber, Pokemon Detective Pikachu, The Matrix Reloaded)
70-79 It’s okay but I’ve seen better. It has its moments, but it has its flaws, too. (Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Matrix Revolutions, Triple Frontier, I am Legend, Ip Man 2)
60-69 It’s got plenty wrong with it but I still got enjoyment out of this one. (Zathura: A Space Adventure, Battleship, The Rundown, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Doctor Strange)
50-59 This movie isn’t intolerable but it’s not blowing my mind either. I’m trying really hard to get some sort of enjoyment out of this. (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, XXX, The Silence, The Fast and the Furious, Brooklyn’s Finest)
40-49 This movie is just mediocre. It’s not doing anything other than the bare minimal, so morbidly boring that sometimes I’m actually angry I watched this. (Transporter 3, Doom, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Power Rangers)
30-39 Definitely worse than mediocre, the 30′s ironically define the 1930′s, full of depression, lack of accomplishments, poverty and just so dumb. (Bulletproof Monk, High-Rise, Most Likely to Die, Independence Day: Resurgence, The Crow: City of Angels)
20-29 What did I just watch? Cliches, stupidity, nothingness, did I mention stupidity? Just…wow. (XXX: State of the Union, The Snowman, Avalanche Sharks, Catwoman, The Gunman)
0-19 Watching this movie resulted in one or more of the following: seizure, loss of brain cells, falling asleep/unconsciousness, feel you wasted your time/day, accomplished nothing for you, left the movie knowing less about it then you did going into it, constantly asking yourself why you came to see this movie, or near-death experience. In short, staring at a wall was just as entertaining as watching this movie. This movie deserved a sticker or a label that said, “WARNING: EXTREME AMOUNT OF SUCKAGE.” (The Extendables, The Coed and the Zombie Stoner, The Forbidden Dimensions, Cyborg, Outcast)
My score for Mr. Right: 64.
Despite ending with a thud, the spin of Rockwell and Kendrick makes Mr. Right deserving of a view but only that and nothing more.
wordsofwistim 