Welcome to Me (3/5 Stars)

Well, what is a borderline personality disorder? I concede that it is a thing because it sounds vaguely familiar to me, but I would not trust myself to describe it accurately. And I just watched an entire movie in which the main character a woman by the name of Alice Klieg (Kristin Wiig) explores all of its facets in a very public way. The very public way she does socially awkward things I suspect is part of her disorder. But in another sense she does a lot of things that utterly stupid though completely sane people are capable of as well. The distinction is important especially in a comedy because stupid people are funny but mentally ill people are not. So which of Alice Klieg’s actions fall into what camp? A better definition of what ails her would help the audience out quite a bit. As it is, the prevailing feeling in the theater is, “should we be laughing at this?”

Alice Klieg lives alone and with the TV on nonstop. She especially likes talk shows like Oprah. One day she wins the lottery, a seventy million dollar jackpot. She has a conversation with her psychotherapist (Tim Robbins) in which she explains that she will stop taking her medication and move into a casino hotel room. She also has big plans for an Oprah like talk show. She pitches the idea to a local access production channel. “I want it to be about me,” she explains, “and I want to come in on a Swan boat.” The head of the channel (James Marsden) asks for 150K per show for 100 shows. She immediately takes out her checkbook. After the meeting the other members of his production company, his brother (Wes Bentley) and two producers (Jennifer Jason Leigh and Joan Cusack), balk at the idea. But Marsden explains that they are almost broke. They either take the money or start laying people off.  So “Welcome to Me,” a show written, directed, and hosted by a crazy person is born on the local access channel in the 10am two hour time slot.

This is a very interesting premise with lots of potential as a movie but the pitfalls should be rather obvious. The main one is that making fun of a person with mental illness is not a nice thing to do. And if you don’t make fun of them, than where is the comedy going to come into play. The best example of a movie making that leap is David O. Russell’s ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ that has several characters with some sort of madness in them. But at the same time they aren’t completely defined by their madness. That is to say they are people with personalities that have disorders not just clinical manifestations of the disorder itself. This allows their behavior to be guided by choices. Choices maybe influenced by the illness sure, but choices nevertheless. The clear demarcation of where illness ends and personality begins is how the viewer knows whether to laugh at Bradley Cooper wearing a garbage bag while he is running. There is reason behind it. He wants to lose weight and the bag helps him sweat. And yes he knows he looks ridiculous but he doesn’t care because he is very excited and focused on what he is doing. The “excited” and “focused” is part of his disorder but Cooper puts on the bag ultimately for sane reasons: he wants to lose weight. His disorder doesn’t compel him to wear garbage bags while jogging for no reason. If it did, it would not be funny. It would be sad.

When Alice Klieg is shown sleeping on a bed in a sleeping bag as opposed to under the covers it is not explained why she wants to do this or even whether a borderline personality disorder would influence a person’s choice to do this. (I assumed germophobic reasons but then again I’m not sure what that has to do with bordline personality disorder). Or take the several instances in which she states that winning the lottery was not luck but due to believing in herself, an idea she got from watching Oprah. Now for all I know that could be part of the disorder. But it could also be the case that she is just a stupid person. I wish I knew because its mean to make fun of retarded people for being retarded and I’m not sure if that is what is going on here. Here is an example of an opportunity wasted: Very early on in the story we are told that Alice is off her medication. Well, okay. But what was she like when she was on medication? That would be a good clue as to what is happening with her. This is not explored by the movie.

To be clear the movie does not impinge upon the viewer any guilt from watching the proceedings. (If they were funnier perhaps they would. I am reminded a little bit of the remake of a French movie in which a group of elites host a competition to bring the biggest idiot they can find to dinner party.) The main reason is that Alice Klieg’s friends, family, and ultimately her cash-strapped employees act in good faith around her. Nobody tries to ouright steal her winnings. Sure having a TV show is an incredible waste of money but lottery money is fit to be wasted and to the production company’s credit, they try to do a competent job of realizing her vision. The TV show itself is the most interesting thing going on in this movie. Here Alice recreates dramatic scenes from her life, fake fights with her mom (an off-screen Joan Cusack) who always wins, makes and eats her favorite recipes, and even uses her past veterinary skills to neuter and spay any dogs the audience wants to bring into the studio. Something is going on in that studio and it may or may not be special but it is at least original. The reactions of the people working there are mixed. For instance Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character quits but it is not entirely clear whether she does so because she thinks the company is taking advantage of Alice or because she thinks the work is below her. Maybe both. Wes Bentley takes Alice out on a couple of dates because she asks him to. She is very intent on sleeping with him right away. Again it might be nice to know if that is the disorder working or plain horniness.

Is it possible to be cured of borderline personality disorder? The movie ends with Alice doing several things differently than she usually does in her normal routine like for instance sleeping under the covers instead of in a sleeping bag. I’m not sure what that means. As for Kristin Wiig’s performance, since I did not really understand the character, I’m not sure how to gauge its excellence. She is always interesting to watch and it speaks of good casting to put her into the main role here but her comic potential is limited by all the above. Comedy writers take note for your future endeavors: It is not enough that a person enters a room in a swan boat. That situation is not inherently funny. You have to know why they are doing it.

Toy Story 3 (5/5 Stars) July 3, 2010

Pixar puts aside childish things. 

As Toy Story 3 opens, Andy is about to go to college. Now tall and mature, he rummages through his old toy box to see what he should take to college, put in the attic, donate, or throw away. He hasn’t played with Woody, Buzz, Rex, Slinky Dog, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, Hamm, Jessie, Buckeye, the army men, and the aliens from pizza planet in a long time. At the same time he hasn’t found it in his heart to get rid of them. A home video shows him at the tender age of ten rehearsing imaginative escapades with the song, “You’ve got a Friend in me,” playing in the background. For anybody who has childhood relics gathering dust in a closet somewhere (my Sunday comics collection for instance) the scene will send a nostalgic chill up your spine. There are just some memories you can’t bear to throw away.

The toys in this story, for those who live in caves, can think and talk and only pretend to be inanimate objects when humans are around. They act a bit like you think toys might act. They take on the personalities given to them by the children that play with them and the actors who lend their voices. Ken in particular follows this pattern. He is technically a straight man but he is also a girl’s toy, so he may be in love with Barbie but his personality and size of his wardrobe tend toward the feminine. The rest of this most impressive cast is as follows: Woody, voiced by everyman Tom Hanks, is a sheriff and the leader of group. Buzz Lightyear, voiced Tim Allen, is a brave space ranger action figure. Mr. Potato Head takes on the personality of its voice, Don Rickles, the king of insult comedy. Mrs. Potato Head is voiced by Estelle Harris, who you may remember from Seinfeld as George’s mother. Hamm (aka the evil Dr. Porkchop), is a piggy bank voiced by enormously laid back John Ratzenberger, the mailman from Cheers. Jessie, a cow-girl, is voiced raucously by Joan Cusack. Rex, the dinosaur, is voiced with a wild sideways lisp by Wallace Shawn, the little evil genius in The Princess Bride. R. Lee Ermey the drill instructor from Full Metal Jacket provides the voice of the army men. Joining the cast are other voices like Bonnie Hunt (a ragdoll), Jeff Garlin from Curb Your Enthusiasm (as a unicorn named “Buttercup”), the very British Timothy Dalton (as Pricklepants a toy thespian who doesn’t like coming alive because he’s trying to stay in character), Ned Beatty who seems to be channeling the totalitarian sheriff in Cool Hand Luke (as Lotso-Hugs, a big purple plush bear), Kristen Schaal from Flight of the Conchords (as a web-savvy Triceratops), and Whoopi Goldberg (as an Octopus). Finally rounding out the cast of toys are Ken and Barbie, the aliens form Pizza Planet, a psychotic monkey with cymbals, a sad clown with a tragic tale to tell, a bunch of thug action figures, an army of monkeys in a barrel, and a big really creepy baby doll. Whew, I hope I didn’t leave anyone out…Wait! There’s a slinky dog. Don’t forget the slinky dog! 

The person in charge of juggling all of these characters and giving each and every one of them their own moments, jokes, and arc is none other than Michael Arndt, the Oscar Winning screenwriter of Little Miss Sunshine. He does a truly admirable job. The movie is funny throughout, mixing comedy that simultaneously plays to both kids and adults. The plot goes something like this: There is a mix-up and the toys end up in a day care named Sunnyside. It turns Sunnyside is run by the hateful Lotso who runs the thing like a totalitarian dictatorship. The new toys are left to fend for themselves amongst toddlers who like to play rough and use finger-paints, while the older toys keep the more mature kids for themselves. The toys have to band together, form a prison break and get back to Andy.

How they do all this allows the director Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc.) to present some Grade A action sequences. I mentioned in last week’s review that comedy/action sequences lends itself better to animation because there needs a great deal of control in order to achieve the continuity and timing needed for physical comedy. Well, watch the first scene where Mr. Potato Head hijacks a train and blows up a bridge but then Woody and Buzz save all the orphans but then evil Dr. Porkchop unleashes “Death by Monkeys,” and you will see what I mean. The explosion of the bridge is one of the best I’ve seen in a movie. I mean it is like super big. It’s a testament to what you can do when you can use computers to make the whole thing up and there’s no chance of stunt men getting hurt. The type of precision and creativity that Pixar uses in its action sequences is almost unparalleled in modern movies. The stakes are big, the fights are exciting, and you can always tell what is going on and how because Pixar uses long shots, wide angles, and applies the laws of physics. Hell, even the salsa dance that Buzz and Jessie do at the end is one of the best I’ve seen in a movie. Let’s see Antonio Banderas do that. 

The performances in this movie are powerful. In particular, Ned Beatty and Pixar have done an incredible job with Lotso. Never have I sensed such strong emotion in a cartoon. The clown who once knew him tells a sad story about a young girl who spent every moment of the day with Lotso. One day, the girl brought Lotso to a park, fell asleep, and was taken home by her parents who completely forgot to take Lotso along with them. A lost toy, Lotso somehow made it back, trudging through a thunderstorm, to the window of the girl’s home. He peered in the window and saw a replacement Lotso-Huggs bear sleeping in the bed with her. You can actually see the sense of betrayal in his face as his heart hardens. From then on, he is a toy without a soul. That huggable purple bear proves his is capable of some very bad things. Yes, Toy Story 3 is funny, heartwarming, and action-packed but it also happens to be the scariest movie Pixar has ever made. It is a very good question as to what would happen if a cartoon character was nominated for an Oscar. Who would get it: The voice actor, the animator, or both? I don’t know but the movies of Pixar are ripe for deserving such recognition. (You don’t believe me. YouTube the clip of Dory, voiced by Ellen Degeneres, in Finding Nemo trying to speak Whale. Try to tell me with a straight face that she doesn’t deserve some type of award.)

If Toy Story 3 doesn’t make you laugh as much as previous Pixar movies, it won’t because of any substantial lack of wit. What you are experiencing is what happens when a movie becomes too good to laugh at. A good example of this is Barbie’s line near the end of the movie. It is the climatic scene where the toys rise up against the evil Lotso. She speaks against Lotso’s tyranny and passionately declares, “Power in government should derive from the consent of the people!” Now this is funny for the obvious reason: Barbie is supposed to be a dumb blonde and here she is, to all the other toys’ surprise, saying something very smart. But you wouldn’t laugh too hard because it isn’t entirely obvious whether Pixar means for it to be a joke. You wouldn’t know that because the movie itself is a perfect allegory of the evils and abuses of a despotic regime and the ultimate moral superiority of democracy. I wouldn’t be surprised if North Korea or China banned this movie. It’s dangerous to assholes. But back to Barbie’s plea. Either you will find it funny or it will strike you as a profound statement of political science. Or it may strike you as both. The point is that it works all three ways. Such is the genius of Pixar. This movie is a perfect illustration of what is meant by “family entertainment.” It is the type of movie that will please every single member of the family no matter what their age.

At this point, I am in awe of how Pixar keeps on making vastly superior movies year after year after year. I take delight in seeing how much money they are making at the box office. Hopefully other studios will get greedy and start making movies at the high artistic level of Pixar. The only thing Pixar hasn’t gotten, rather unfairly I believe, is Oscar Gold. Certainly, they have several golden statues in the Best Animated Feature Film and the Best Animated Short Film but it is about time they got recognition in the categories that weren’t made especially for them. (Wall-e in particular, I felt should have won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2008. It would certainly find itself on my list as one of the 100 best movies ever made). The Academy made a mistake in having an Animated category at all. They have essentially voiced the opinion that animation should be relegated to the kiddie table while the live action adults are having dinner. That they would start this tradition during the cultural Renaissance that is Pixar is tragically ironic. In making the argument that cartoons can be considered as great art I quote Sam Jackson’s substance over form argument as he talks about the existence of miracles in Pulp Fiction: 

Vincent: Okay, so God stopped the bullets-
Jules: No, you’re judging this shit all wrong Vincent. Its not that God stopped the bullets, turned water into wine, or found my fucking car keys. What is important is that in that moment I felt the touch of God.”

The movies of Pixar routinely make me laugh heartily, enthrall me with visual delights, and move me deeply. To say that it doesn’t count as great art as much as live action movies is like saying the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes isn’t great literature or that a Richard Pryor standup routine isn’t on the level of a soliloquy by Shakespeare. All of which is complete bullshit. 

I was ten when I saw the first Pixar movie, Toy Story. I must have watched it a dozen times in a period of two years. I pulled it out again in preparation for Toy Story 3. It was still a great movie but like Andi, in the third movie, I was now looking back at those toys as an adult who has put aside childish things. If like Andi and I on the eve of college, you also boarded up the remaining vestiges of your childhood and consoled your mother when she noticed how empty your room was, you might just cry a little. I eagerly await the next movie by Pixar, the best storytellers of my generation. 

Note: The animated short that precedes this movie, Day and Night, is as good as any other animated short Pixar has made. They deserve yet another Oscar for Best Animated short film.