Physical (apple tv) Review

Possible spoilers ahead!

The new Apple TV series “Physical” follows the story of housewife Sheila Rubins (Rose Byrne) who seems to be having a mid-life crisis. It’s 1981 and her life seems stuck in neutral as her values of peace and love seem pointless with Regan now in the White House. She now thinks her failed academic husband, Danny (Rory Scovel) is a loser, and instead of eating “clean, healthy foods” Sheila binges on fast food only to throw it back up. All hope seems lost for poor Sheila, until one day when she discovers that 80s sensation called aerobics.

“Physical” is one strange show because it deals with some heavy topics, but it seems to want to make it funny, but the problem is none of this is funny. A man or a woman with an eating disorder is no laughing matter, if anything it is a topic that demands to be treated with care and respect. This show doesn’t try to do that, instead “Physical” treats Sheila’s disorder as if it’s just something she does now and then, but in the first episode we see this is a daily routine for her. And no, just because she goes to ballet class afterward does not make it okay.

It might have helped if Sheila was a sympathetic character or someone the audience can get behind. But based on the episodes Apple has released so far, Sheila is neither of those things. As far as I can tell, Sheila is an Olympic-level self-loather who hates everyone and everything. Through the series, she judges every man and woman she comes across for being heavier than she is, prettier, uglier, more successful, or whatever else comes into her mind. And almost immediately, she judges herself for being so superficial.

The reason I know all of this about her is that in every scene of the show Sheila narrates her inner thoughts. Let me be clear: this isn’t just done at the beginning of the episode or the end. It’s done in every damn scene! “Physical” has so much narration that at times I wasn’t sure whether to listen to Sheila or if I should pay attention to whatever was on the screen at the time.

Oh but there’s more: Sheila pretends she’s someone else whenever her self-involved husband is around, then gets mad at him for not knowing her better. Hager’s husband is an idiot for sure, but he’s not a mind reader and couldn’t possibly know what’s his wife is going through. Another annoying habit is how she constantly twists anything her husband or other people say to her into an insult towards her.

However, all the problems I have with the character of Sheila have nothing to do with Rose Byrne. The actress does a good job for the most part, and there are moments during the show where she shines like during a conversation with one of her husband’s students. All the problem I have come from the scripts, and the way it handles some very serious issues.

As for the supporting cast, I’ve already mentioned Rory Scovel as Sheila’s husband, but there’s also Bunny (Della Saba). She’s the owner of the financially struggling aerobics studio where Sheila discover her new addiction. Bunny lives at the studio with her part-time pornographer, full-time surfer boyfriend Tyler (a soulful Lou Taylor Pucci). Then there’s Greta (Deirdre Friel), a fellow mom at Sheila’s daughter’s daycare who’s revealed to be the wife of Danny’s biggest political donor (Ian Gomez). They’re all fine I guess, but I had to choose one I think Bunny has the most potential.

As you can probably tell, I was pretty disappointed with “Physical.” I don’t like how the series tries to make eating disorders funny, or how narcissistic Sheila is. Maybe the show would have worked better if it had been a flat drama. Since a lot of the conflict is built around Sheila and Danny’s marriage, so the drama angle would have made more sense. I watched all the episodes Apple made available, but I didn’t see anything that would make me want to come back for more.

“Physical” final grade: D

Better late than never review: Spy

I know this review is several months late, but I only watched “Spy” last weekend. What can I say? It was a busy summer.

Anyway, possible spoilers ahead!

“Spy” stars Melissa McCarthy as Susan Cooper, an often ignored desk-bound CIA analyst who is the real brains behind one of the agency’s best field agents, Bradley Fine (Jude Law). However, when Fine’s latest mission goes horribly wrong, and the identities of other CIA’s top agents are compromised, Susan sees her chance to become a field agent. and she convinces her boss (Allison Janney) to let her go undercover and gather information on a missing nuclear weapon headed for New York.

Susan’s other goal is to track down Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne), the daughter of a dead arms dealer, who is now in control of the nuclear device, and the one responsible for agent Fine’s mission gone wrong. But with little training, can Susan maintain her cover and fool Rayna, before she sells the weapon to the highest bidder?

I wasn’t sure wat to expect from “Spy” because I’m not what you would call a Melissa McCarthy fan. However, I’m happy to say that “Spy” exceeded all my expectations, and is in fact, the funniest movie I’ve seen this year.

The “Spy” premise is simple: Tell a James Bond story, but from Moneypenny’s perspective. Director Paul Feig has created a film that perfectly parodies the 007 franchise, yet still works as a proper action comedy stand alone film. on its own terms. Feig’s script captures, and ridicules many of the fantasy aspects of the male spy action hero genre, especially when it comes to his characterizations of agents played by actors like Jude Law and Jason Statham (more on that in a moment).

Melissa McCarthy delivers plenty of heart as Susan Cooper, something that I think has been missing from some of her other roles. McCarthy shines in the comedy bits, especially her dialogue scenes with Rose Byrne, but she also looks damn good in the action sequences. My favorite of which had to be the motorcycle/ car chase.

Overall, the entire cast is wonderful, but the scene-stealer among McCarthy’s costars is Jason Statham, who plays an increasingly unhinged Agent named Rick Ford. The role calls for Statham to poke fun at his (usually) unstoppable action hero screen persona, even mocking some of his most ridiculous onscreen stunts from previous films.

2015 has been a very good year for spy movies, and “Spy” is a very good showcase for Melissa McCarthy and yet another successful collaboration between her and director Paul Feig. The result is a spy-action parody that’s smart and funny, but still very action oriented. nature. This gives me just a little bit of hope that next summer’s Ghostbusters reboot won’t be a complete train wreck.

“Spy” final score: 9

Trailer Park: Spy

To be perfectly honest, I’m not much of a Melissa McCarthy fan. Mainly because she always seems to be playing the same type of role in her movies. However, for some reason strange reason, “Spy” looks really funny.

It’s probably because I am a fan of the spy genre and Jason Statham. And yes, I realize that Jason Statham also plays the same role in most of his movies too. Anywho, I’m definitely seeing this movie in theatres.

 

“Spy” is directed and written by Paul Feig. The film stars Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Jason Statham, and Jude Law. “Spy” opens in U.S. theaters on May 22nd, 2015.

TNU Box Office Preview: Won’t you be my neighbor?

Mother’s day may be this weekend, but most of America’s moviegoers are spending the day with the neighbors.

“Neighbors” is the new R-rated comedy starring Seth Rogen and Zac Efron. Thanks to a solid marketing campaign and strong early reviews, (as of Friday morning, it had a 75 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes), the Universal film should earn $35 million this weekend. “Neighbors” is opening at 3,279 theaters, and should be helped by its likeable cast of Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, and Rose Byrne.

Not to mention that in recent years several original R-rated comedies have opened over $35 million: “21 Jump Street,” “The Heat,” “The Hangover,” “Ted.” and Sex and the City. And according to Fandango, the movie is selling twice as many advanced tickets as “This is the End,” and the most for an R-rated comedy since Ted in 2012.

If “Neighbors” opens with at least $35 million, it should be more than enough to topple “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” which is looking at a steep drop in week 2. Although I liked the film, many fans seems divided over Amazing 2. Critics also had a luke warm reception to Spidey. At last check, the movie was still sitting at 55 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Clarius Entertainment is releasing animated movie “Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return” at 2,641 locations this weekend. As the title suggests, the movie is a sort of sequel to the 1939 classic film.

The movie will have some appeal with children, and families, but it won’t open above $6 million. As a matter of fact, “Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return” may not even crack the top five.

The wildcard this weekend could be comedy “Moms’ Night Out,” which Sony is releasing at 1,044 locations. The film stars Sarah Drew, Trace Adkins, Sean Astin and Patricia Heaton. And believe it or not, “Moms’ Night Out” is aimed at the same audiences that made modest hits out of ” Son of God,” “God’s Not Dead” and “Heaven is for Real.” With that in mind, “Moms’ Night Out” is looking at a $9 million debut.