Raja Gosnell
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Connections, in both directions
The 1999 Drew Barrymore romcom “Never Been Kissed” is referenced multiple times in “Words on Bathroom Walls,” with the older film cast in a rosy Proustian glow that may come as a jolt to any viewers who remember the 20th century.
While the Never Been Kissed references and patriarchal quips are a bit stilted, the fashion in which Maya’s home life is revealed is very effective.
He keeps his condition a secret from her (and as it turns out, she’s keeping mum about some things, too), but inevitably their feelings for one another deepen and real romance is in the air—though one might question the wisdom of having the lovebirds bond over a shared reverence for Drew Barrymore’s 1999 romcom “Never Been Kissed,” even if it’s intended as a joke.
If it continues to hit some cheesy beats (Maya is a feminism-spouting valedictorian but she secretly loves Never Been Kissed and is itching to be invited to prom), there's undeniable sweetness as a secretive and cynical pair of teens come nervously together.
Yes, Plummer and Russell are a cute, screwball-esque, cine-literate couple (they bond over Drew Barrymore rom-com Never Been Kissed and Adam likes to draw comparisons between his life and Will Hunting’s) a la those featured in The Fault in Our Stars , Five Feet Apart and the like, but there are complications to their lives that these kind of movies don’t always explore.
Tutoring turns into something more as the two young leads have great chemistry and would make fine partners in a romantic comedy — territory “Words” veers into when Adam discovers that his super-serious classmate’s favorite movie is “Never Been Kissed.”
A less consistently witty but still pleasing take-off of 2007's " Enchanted ," also about fairy tale characters ending up in modern-day Manhattan, the film's plot is simple and straightforward, its pacing unassumingly nimble for running a lengthy 103 minutes.
Unlike "Enchanted," which also saw cartoon characters enter New York City through a portal, the Smurfs are still their CGI-animated selves in both worlds, pursued in both worlds by a live-action Gargamel (Hank Azaria, "The Simpsons") and his live-action (but CGI enhanced) cat.
They have been expelled, a la Disney’s Enchanted , from their native forest by their nemesis, evil wizard Gargamel (Hank Azaria), and through a convenient portal.
It clearly takes it cues from flicks like "Enchanted" and "Stuart Little" in transporting these fantasy characters from their enchanted land and into modern-day Manhattan where they interact with all us live-action folk.
No, Raja Gosnell's movie is an uninspired rip-off of Disney's Enchanted.
This Enchanted-style fish-out-of-water scenario is mined for interminable product placement gags (Blue Man Group!) and dreary fantasy-meets-modernity scenarios (Gargamel gets Tasered by the NYPD!).
There is a distinct Never Been Kissed vibe toward the end, a nod to 10 Things, and a little bit of a John Hughes-ian dramatic infusion around Simon’s come-out, but it never feels like it’s ripping off any other movie.
Except for Baymax, and possibly Hiro, the team members are rudimentary sketches of clumsy or foxy nerds; the amiably doltish Fred, for example, is simply a pale copy of Shaggy, the Scooby-Doo sidekick voiced by Casey Kasem .
On the island, they meet Emil Mondavarious ( Bean 's Rowan Atkinson), the park's owner, who informs them that something strange is going on at his establishment.
Two years later, a summons from Spooky Island theme park owner Mondavarious (Rowan Atkinson, "Bean") will reunite the trio along with the never split team of Shaggy (Matthew Lillard, "Summer Catch") and "Scooby-Doo."
There’s a pretty simple reading of the new Amy Schumer movie from writer-directors Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein (the writing duo behind “Never Been Kissed” and “He’s Just Not That Into You”) because every headline focuses on Amy Schumer, the stand-up comic turned Emmy-winning sketch comedy force (“Inside Amy Schumer”) who teamed up with Judd Apatow for her feature film breakout (“Trainwreck”).
I Feel Pretty, written and directed by Abby Kohn and Marc Silversteen (the team behind the movies Never Been Kissed and How to Be Single) has a lot to unpack, including themes of body image, self-esteem and self-confidence, dating and relationships, appearances, the messages of advertising and the importance of friends.
Although making their co-directorial debut behind the camera, a look at their screenplay filmography is sufficient to create a sense of trepidation: Never Been Kissed , He’s Just Not That Into You , Valentine’s Day , The Vow , How to Be Single .
Then there’s the standard makeover theme you’ll remember from Working Girl, Miss Congeniality, or another Kohn-Silverstein project, Never Been Kissed.
It’s written and directed by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein, the creative team behind the sweet and underrated tearjerker The Vow and most notably for the goofy gem Never Been Kissed.
But screenwriters Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein, the minds behind scripts for films like Never Been Kissed, The Vow and How to Be Single making their feature-length directorial debut, can’t seem to get beyond sitcom platitudes.
The story (what there is of it) is a thin stew of shamelessly stolen ingredients, one part Mrs. Doubtfire , one part Nutty Professor , one part Tootsie , five parts idiocy.
Borrowing heavily from The Nutty Professor and Mrs. Doubtfire (not to mention, of course, the grand "mama" of them all, Tootsie), this film serves up heapin' helpin's of fat jokes, sex jokes, and scatological humor, wrapped around a thin plot involving FBI agents trying to nab a bank robber.
Because while Sonic the Hedgehog is cut from the same bland mold as Garfield (2004), Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007), and The Smurfs (2011), the one thing besides the little blue fur ball that feels most like a relic of the Clinton years is Jim Carrey.
Live-action comedies which rely overtly on pint-sized CGI mascots don’t exactly have a great standing among audiences or critics – just look at Alvin and the Chipmunks or The Smurfs – but Sonic the Hedgehog is aided enormously by the charmingly daft personality of Sonic himself.
The Smurfs , Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip , Hop , it’s been done before.
Instead, the screenwriters Pat Casey and Josh Miller lean on the simple fish-out-of-water setup that drives other recent brand-based kids’ films, such as The Smurfs.
The hackneyed, unbelievable script by Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer is mild on originality and inspired as a skewered transmutation of Stakeout and Kindergarten Cop, with a pinch of MacGyver (a.k.a.
Lawrence excels as Big Momma, and rises above the film's unremarkable direction (care of Raja Gosnell, of Home Alone 3 fame), substandard dialogue (screenplay by Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer), and a plot cribbed mercilessly from Kindergarten Cop.
Other stories, including 21 Jump Street (2012) and Never Been Kissed (1999), involve adults who try to pass as teenagers.
…on more than one occasion characters evade capture by hiding behind a large physical obstacle like it’s an episode of Scooby-Doo…
Unlike the lead-balloon adaptations "Josie and the Pussycats" and Warren Beatty's "Dick Tracy," "Scooby-Doo" knows when to take itself seriously and when to laugh at itself - even if its audience isn't laughing along at every gag.
It began as a refreshing novelty in The Nutty Professor, carried over to The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps and later provided enough tacked-on mileage to launch Martin Lawrence and Tyler Perry's celebrity into the mainstream of popularity with Big Momma's House and Diary of a Mad Blackwoman , respectively.
Maybe we should consider, instead, why films like "Norbit" -- Martin Lawrence's "Big Momma's House" farces and Murphy's "Coming to America" and "The Nutty Professor" come to mind -- are so perennially popular.
Screenwriters J. David Stem and David N. Weiss (who as a team created the insouciant wit of Daddy Day Camp and Are We There Yet? ), in concert with Jay Scherick and David Ronn (who as a team whipped up the frothy delights of Zookeeper and Norbit), working from the original cartoons of Peyo, of course, adroitly weave a tapestry of humor derived from the mirroring motifs of things ending up in the potty that aren’t supposed to be in the potty -- a tiny blue plop of a Smurf falls into a toilet; the stinking retch of an evil wizard Gargamel (Hank Azaria: Hop , Love and Other Drugs ) mistakes a porta-john for a magic laboratory -- and things not ending up in the potty that should be there, as with Gargamel’s penchant for public urination.
David Stem & David N. Weiss) and "Norbit" (Jay Scherick & David Ronn) haven't exactly set any standards for wit.
And the obligatory final reveal has all the pathos and dramatic tension of a Scooby-Doo episode.
Shades of 1999's " Never Been Kissed " follow as the guys get to relive their teen experiences with starkly different results, realizing along the way that they have grown into better people no longer chained to the scars of their adolescence.
The story (what there is of it) is a thin stew of shamelessly stolen ingredients, one part Mrs. Doubtfire , one part Nutty Professor , one part Tootsie , five parts idiocy.
Borrowing heavily from The Nutty Professor and Mrs. Doubtfire (not to mention, of course, the grand "mama" of them all, Tootsie), this film serves up heapin' helpin's of fat jokes, sex jokes, and scatological humor, wrapped around a thin plot involving FBI agents trying to nab a bank robber.
Beyond that, Big Momma's House is a Mrs. Doubtfire wanna-be.
Big Momma's House lacks charm, but is a lot better than Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), another cross-dressing comedy on which Gosnell was editor.
Mrs. Doubtfire represents the first of the ‘bodysuit’ comedies (The Nutty Professor and Big Momma’s House are later examples) that became popular – at least among comedic actors – and it features some of the most prominent and visible San Francisco locales since Hitchcock presented Vertigo .
High school cult classics like Sixteen Candles , Mean Girls , Grease , Never Been Kissed and so many others are fan favorites, but the goal is all the same: to get the unpopular girl with the hunky A-list senior.
Inside Booksmart ’s Type-A protagonist Molly (Beanie Feldstein) beats the savage heart of Election ’s Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon), while her dreamy, sensitive best friend Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) isn’t so far from Aldys (Leelee Sobieski), the tender weirdo from Never Been Kissed .
Kohn and Silverstein’s breakthrough script was the charming Never Been Kissed (1999), which Barrymore starred in and also exec-produced.
The screenplay for How to Be Single — based on the novel by former Sex and the City writer Liz Tuccillo, who also co-wrote the book He’s Just Not That Into You — was co-written by Dana Fox (Couples Retreat) and Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein, the same duo who wrote Never Been Kissed and, yes, the movie version of He’s Just Not That Into You.
It's marginally better than the clunky 1994 adaptation of "The Flintstones," but is that much of a recommendation?
And in ''The Nutty Professor,'' Eddie Murphy had a mimic's feast playing the gentleman blimp Sherman Klump and his cantankerous chorus of relatives.
Borrowing heavily from The Nutty Professor and Mrs. Doubtfire (not to mention, of course, the grand "mama" of them all, Tootsie), this film serves up heapin' helpin's of fat jokes, sex jokes, and scatological humor, wrapped around a thin plot involving FBI agents trying to nab a bank robber.