The Nice Guys (15) Empire, Odeon ****
GOOD things come to those who wait.
Every decade, filmmaker Shane Black unspools a deliciously off-kilter buddy action comedy that plays fast and loose with the conventions of the genre.
The Nice Guys doesn’t quite soar to the dizzy heights of Black’s previous escapades, but he comes close, retaining an enviable ability to conjure jaw-dropping one-liners out of nowhere.
The central plot is a morass of crosses, double crosses, bluffs and coincidences that intrigues and bamboozles, untangling itself in the closing frames with aplomb.
The Boss (15) Empire, Odeon **
WHAT a difference two years makes.
In the summer of 2014, actress Melissa McCarthy and husband Ben Falcone ended her winning streak of hilarious big-screen comedies with the misfiring road movie Tammy, which they co-wrote and he directed.
Love and marriage didn’t come together in a script packed with belly laughs.
Unperturbed by Tammy’s critical mauling, McCarthy and Falcone rekindle their unholy alliance in front of and behind the camera for this brash comedy about an egocentric businesswoman, who is forced to rebuild her life after a stint behind bars.
The Boss improves on its predecessor in one crucial respect: it is sporadically funny and the ebullient leading lady strains every sinew in her single-minded quest to milk laughs from pratfalls.
It’s a pleasant, fleeting diversion that fulfils the most basic requirement of a comedy: it just about makes you laugh.
Melissa McCarthy barrels through every frame with gusto and Bell dutifully plays the straight woman caught in the eye of the tornado.
True, some of the giggles are hard won but it’s a vast improvement over the tumbleweed of Tammy. On the few occasions the script, performances and direction align, it is genuinely funny.
Mother’s Day (12A) Empire, ABC *
Mother’s Day is a glossy waste of everyone’s talents and our precious time.
Thorny subjects of homophobia and racism are addressed with discomfiting glibness
The script is saturated with saccharine emotion including a bizarre scene between Aniston and a children’s party clown, who philosophises, “It’s always the simple things that work... the bottomless love of a mother for her kids.”
Laughter is almost as hard to find as sincerity, even with the occasional in-joke such as Hector Elizondo informing Julia Roberts, “You’re right, that IS the salad fork!” in a knowing wink to their iconic scene in Pretty Woman.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here