I heard about the beach scene so naturally I thought I'd check out this film that I otherwise never would have bothered with. Marketed as a "return of the raunchy 'R' comedy". Of course 'R' shouldn't be confused with "maturity". This is basically the kind of 'R' comedy as a Apatow or American Pie film whose target audience is clearly adolescents. It's about as smart as a fart joke. Poor Jennifer Lawrence, whose more mature film Causeway was largely ignored, has chosen to go back to mainstream mediocrity, the same unfortunate path that befell other talented comic actresses like Cameron Diaz or Drew Barrymore. About the only aspect of interest here is that this might be one of the first films to explore the generation gap between Millennials and Zoomers, or how the latter has inherited and enhanced the former's infantilism. (That the 19 year-old Percy is technically an adult is a recurring joke.) Percy, the "kid" in the picture, is socially and emotionally neutered in such a way that doesn't suggest the autism spectrum so much as being the suffocated spawn of selfish, affluent and manipulative helicopter parents, which I suppose counts as the sharpest commentary the film has to offer. The class contrast between the two leads is far more interesting to me than the age gap. And as if to prove the creeping infantilism in our culture, some critics have even accused the film of "grooming", missing the point that Percy grows up once people stop treating him like the child he is not (even if this is played out in the most maudlin manner imaginable).
But back to the buck naked ass-kicking. I wouldn't call J-Law 'brave', as some have, for being willing to get cunt-punched on the big screen, but I was able to produce a couple quality slow-mo gifs for my own personal entertainment. What else could I do since I failed to satisfactorily photo-shop my face onto her Italian "cousin" in a thong? Trust me, this is the extent of potential a film like this provides.
5/10
The balls on this motion picture. Lead and granite marbles. This complexly plotted heist film, with multiple levels of corruption and duplicity, a loaded cast of burnished Aussies, expertly and precisely shot and edited by Bruce Beresford (who would not be my first guess as an expert action director). Gnarly, viscious, boiled to a crust. Even at this pace, the climax is a spastic meldown that makes Reservoir Dogs look like Wild Strawberries. Copies should come with a complimentary towel. Good looking out, Rock.
9/10
Rock wrote: