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'THE UGLY TRUTH'
HOW UNROMANTIC
By Sean Chavel

Katherine Heigl is playing another one of those characters who is a hard-driven and hectic career woman but has a bankrupt love life in The Ugly Truth. Here she plays a morning TV talk show producer named Abby who seems to have lots of clichéd ideas on how to get ratings. Yet in an early scene while out on a first date, she is a deranged batty in controlling the course of the date even going so far as to hand over to the guy a printed list of conversational subjects.

She's a loser in love (see Heigl in "27 Dresses" too). But wait a minute? No young career woman her age would ever act that way on a date, going out of the way to un-order a bottle of water that the guy has asked the waiter for. Come on, how could any woman be career savvy as to make it this far into the TV biz and yet have no idea how to act socially accustomed on a date? Her character, in contrived stages of plotting, gets a mentor to help her land a man.

The movie knows nothing about how real television professionals behave in the studio environment. Everybody around the studio talks about sex or slings one-liner jokes about sex on a constant basis. It would seem like none of these professionals have anything else on their minds whatsoever, and as it stands, pervasive behavior comes off vapid and soulless. With such non-stop anatomical mindsets, the first and second, and let's not forget third or fourth, crotch jokes fizzle instantaneously because none of them feels spontaneous. The raunch is already predetermined before it hits the screen.

It's not Abby's idea when bad boy Mike Chadaway (Gerard Butler, "300") is hired to boost ratings as a new special correspondent with a segment named after the film's title whose first advice for women is to shut up and be passive. Abby at first hates this guy but soon enough is shopping with him so he can help her pick out a sexier bra and cocktail dress so she can impress the surgeon hunk next door named Colin (Eric Winter). At the same time, Mike is trying to teach her to play hard to get. Before you know it, Abby is out on a date with Colin trying to clean a stain from his pants, but to on-lookers looks awfully like a pantomimed… you know what, forget it.

"The Ugly Truth" is a pandering romantic comedy that wants to be so hip and edgy that it hopes to appeal to smutty males as much as it does to progressive females who… gee, like sex as much as men do. Mike, coming off like a soused Las Vegas hotel comedian, pitches a few persuasive barbs on why men flee from tight-lipped and inhibited women. But his profanity would only realistically make him a hit with barmaids, not successful women who wear business suits.

For those of you out there who have seen enough movies to predict what happens next, guess which two characters fall in love? One could talk about the pseudo-dynamite twists and turns, but let's jump ahead and bring you some closure. It would be nice to say that the movie has its share of highs and lows, but please be correctly informed that most of the movie is sedated with lows. What is incredulous about "The Ugly Truth" and now the romantic comedy genre in general, is how un-romantic the romantic comedy has become in our times. Recently "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock was a rare good breezy one (it even had this old-fashioned thing going for it called wit), but the romantic comedy is routinely the most sour entertainment you could possibly find anywhere and it is a toxin being served up almost regularly these days.

'(500) DAYS OF SUMMER'
WAIT TILL HE FINDS AUTUMN
By Sean Chavel

(500) Days of Summer is a film with five hundred seeming replays or a number close to it. Very few romance films are this nimble and supple - full of those moments that occupy relationships between smart, inquiring and contemplative twenty-something's. This is what happens when the writing is snappy and the directing is swift. Most of the movie goes right - it's very confident and self-assured with itself for certain.

Notice that I called it a "romance" film. I think it's because it is inaccurate to classify this as a romantic comedy or a dramatic romance. But the film, with its' spontaneous detours through dream sequences, a French new wave impromptu, black & white snapshots, attention-grabbing diagram drawings, a split screen with a fake-and-real scheme, and a buoyantly choreographed musical number - is a whimsical romance. The film is breezily photographed and the cutting has a pop rhythm. It moves fast and exuberantly, but also smartly.

Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) replays his 500 up-and-down days with the girl he loves. Summer (Zooey Deschanel) is the girl he was meant to spend his life with, he believes. Tom is a greeting-card writer who gave up on his dreams of being an architect, and Summer is the new office assistant whom he's smitten with the moment he lays eyes on her, but word is out that she's a closed-off snob. He steers his eyes away for three days until he can't help but notice her. On day four, they share the elevator and bond over The Smith's song "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out." An employee outing taps two karaoke performances by first Summer, then Tom. Then Tom's drunk friend tells him, "Why don't you just tell her you like her?"

An office romance begins, but the film avoids sitcom auto-piloting. It has the kind of unpredictable giddiness of the kind of Cameron Crowe film before Cameron Crowe lost his magic. The hook is that the two lead characters are unorthodox opposites. Reversing stereotypes, Tom is a sensitive and romantic one with grandiose ideas about how love completes us. Summer is uninterested in having a boyfriend and enjoys her independence. While they're dating, Summer insists they are just friends. By the time they realize they are a couple, they are having quarrels like Sid & Nancy.

Well not quite, but that's how Summer describes the two of them. The film slides back and forth in time, using flash title cards informing us which day they're in. They're all Tom's scattered memories, shuffling between day 32 and day 185 and then back again to an earlier time. It's like a sunnier version of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," but by day 320 watch as Tom's face begins to droop. Love is schizoid, isn't it?

It only feels like the last 100 days are redundant, but that's love - you stick around past all reasons of insanity. Not much goes wrong with "Days of Summer" yet it could have entirely disposed of scenes of Tom receiving expelled advice from his pre-teen sister which are moments that scream of degenerate rom-com sappiness. Another unmerited distraction: Tom also has a gratuitous blow-up on the false magnanimousness of the greeting cards his company composes. Most of the time, the film is a jaunty affair that is more sweet and divine than real life. I would love to see the movie again, but with some edits.

'FUNNY PEOPLE'
BROMANCE WITH A LIFE AND DEATH MESSAGE
By Sean Chavel

Who's up for Adam Sandler in a dramatic role? This reviewer is one of the very few who is up for it anytime (he does excel when he's put in the hands of a talented director), but Sandler's role with Funny People happens to be an equally funny and dramatic role that will not likely, or at least entirely, alienate his fan base who won't stand for Mr. Sandler-DeNiro-type outings. In this role Sandler is rude and blunt, has a direct and raunchy way of talking about sex, and get this - talks in his normal voice for the most point except for the times his adult character deliberately does baby talk to amuse family and fans.

His character George Simmons does has fans around the globe. He is a huge movie star with a legacy of… baby talk and fart movies and one that is called "My Best Friend is a Robot." He lives in a house suited for celebrities who have homes worth well over $20 million dollars. He lives alone but with a staff of maids and cooks. He is somebody that looks as if he lives comfortably except for now he becomes diagnosed with terminal cancer. And realizes he has no close friends, only acquaintances. The movie begins with this exploration of how a rich comedy superstar will deal with impending death.

As a billed comedy (although it's more serio-comic), you would probably guess that the Simmons character will laugh in the face of death. Why not put the Simmons character through a series of comedy nightclub appearances so he can meet amateur comic Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) whom he takes a strong liking to? Simmons actually hires Wright to write jokes for him and to be his personal assistant. One of Simmons odd requests is to have Wright sit by his bed at night until he falls asleep.

It is essential to bring up now that this film is the work of Hollywood writer-director hotshot Judd Apatow ("The 40-Year Old Virgin," "Knocked Up") whom has become so popular that now he is often imitated. Look at "I Love You, Man" and "The Hangover," two movies that have nothing to do with him and yet feel very Apatow-ish. With Apatow, you can count on rudely verbose guys who talk in scatological terms, yet feel very human in their spewing frat-boy ways.

And without batting an eye, he writes roles for Rogen where he plays schlub with lousy prospects to start out with until he gets a major unforeseen opportunity to knocks on his door. He is lousy with women, and his roommate (played by Jason Schwartzman, whose character is the star of a dumbbell sitcom called "Yo, Teach!") gets laid all the time, which feels like a daily slap in the face. Jonah Hill ("Superbad") is the third roommate, and also running competitor to Rogen's Wright - they're both competing it seems to not be the biggest loser of the house.

Also dependable in Apatow's bag of goodies is lots of male genitalia jokes, one of them features Simmons in an on-stage performance delivering such an outrageously dirty ditty on size and lack thereof that you may find yourself gagging on your own laughter. "Funny People" has many such indulgent detours, but when it returns to its sincere core it is about the relationship between Simmons and Wright, with Wright coaching him on opening up to the people around him so he doesn't have to die alone. This also opens up the door for many celebrity cameo appearances, the most surprising of all Eminem.

Apatow has made a film with lots of good scenes that make you laugh and make you care at the same time, but a fatal flaw does this one in. By the time Simmons flies up to Northern California to see his ex-squeeze (Leslie Mann) who is now married to a hunky Aussie (Eric Bana), the visit feels like such an eternity that you feel like you've just watched two movies. At 146 minutes, this could be the longest comedy that I've seen since 1963's "Irma La Douce" which had Jack Lemmon's cop on the beat fall for Shirley MacLaine's streetwalker, which ran for 147 merciless minutes.

It is quite a sight seeing Sandler berate his assistant, for a moment his lowly assistant, with verbal cruelty (it's a scene that proves Sandler should spend more time in drama, more "Punch Drunk Love" and "Reign Over Me" movies would definitely be cool with me) that is unanticipated and wounding. It's the kind of scene that makes you think, Damn that's Strong Stuff. Yet the funniest parts of the movie is seeing the junky movie posters and clips his character George Simmons has starred in especially with this one called "Re-Do" where Sandler's head is attached to an infant baby that is something like the awful trash of the Wayans' Brothers "Little Man" from a couple years ago. Apatow's latest funny business will probably work better when it hits on-demand cable, which will allow you to watch the film in select portions at a time.

It's All in the Family
By Lisa E. Davenport

If you're looking for a cunning, twisted, gory tale depicting the psycho-kid subgenre at its eerie best, Orphan fits the bill. The production team that includes Leonardo DiCaprio and Joel Silver has come up with a zinger. Orphan is an edgy, provocative thrill ride. Are we there yet? No. We've got to find out what's wrong with Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman). Move over "Bad Seed" and "The Omen"--Esther's no average little girl either. Director Jaume Collet-Serra (House of Wax), and writer David Leslie Johnson adeptly weave together a rousing blend of in-your-face horror-clichés and hard-hitting original story telling that effectively score a bulls eye. The camera scares us--fools us--into seeing what "might" be lurking behind every closed door. Collet-Serra even adds witty comic relief to ease the bumpy ride.

Collet-Serra's skillful, cogent camera work, and John Ottman's somewhat on-the-nose score effectively propel the story as it goes from looming dread to all-out havoc. In an idyllic New England town in the midst of the frost of a chilling winter, we're drawn into a restless world of disquieting family longing, distress, and dysfunction. An attention-grabbing, opening scene--a child lost at birth--sets the chilling tone. In a role reminiscent of the one she played in Joshua, (2007), Vera Farmiga gives an exceptional performance as Kate, the mom whose haunted by a harrowing past: she's recovering from a bout with alcoholism, lost a professorship at a high profile university, and was to blame for her daughter Max's (Aryana Engineer) hearing loss: Kate was drunk while Max almost drowned. Her husband, John (Peter Sarsgaard) has coped with it all by having a romantic fling. Perfect parents, right? Traumatized, they think adoption might help fill the void and maybe even fix their crumbling marriage. At the orphanage, where they meet amiable Sister Abigail, (CCH Pounder) John is immediately taken in by Esther, a creative, amazingly articulate little girl from Russia. Esther especially impresses him with her uncanny talent for art--her paintings take his breath away. Even though she dresses in clothes that look like they're from another century, and stubbornly insists on wearing ribbons around her neck and wrists--all the time--that's ok. She's just a little "different." Esther wins them over. She's perfect. Until, of course, they get her home.

Little by little, everything starts to go scandalously wrong . Esther meets her new sister Max and her new brother, Daniel (Jimmy Bennett) who's not the least bit thrilled to have her around. At school, the kids pick on her. Esther brazenly adds fuel to the fire when a schoolgirl "inexplicably" topples off a slide in the playground and breaks a couple of bones. Then mom's car mysteriously careens down a hill while Max is in the back seat. Esther even catches mom and dad in an intimate moment on the kitchen counter. She seems to pop up at all the "right" moments. Even though Max and Daniel witness some of her madness, Esther unspeakably terrorizes them into keeping their silence. It's mom who really starts to piece the puzzle together. When she tells John her fears, he insists: Esther's just adjusting to her new family. There must be something wrong with mom! Even the family shrink (Margo Martindale) sides with him.

More and more, Kate's growing isolation engenders our sympathy as she tries to protect her family while still attempting to fix the chinks in her own armor. Each of the kids performs impressively, especially six year old, Engineer. Sarsgaard stoically plays the naive unbeliever. Fuhrman's nuanced, emotive, clever, sinister, portrayal of Esther appears so blithely strange and genuinely outlandish that it will leave you squirming in your seat for years to come. Collet-Serra boosts the scare factor in the last act with a gruesome "family" showdown and an entirely unanticipated twist that will knock your socks off. Guess who wins?

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Maggie VandenBerghe
By Jonathan Weichsel

I was supposed to meet model turned actress Maggie VandenBerghe Tuesday afternoon at the Bourgeois Pig in Hollywood, but she brought her Yorkshire terrier with her, and the café does not allow dogs. As we were leaving the establishment, Maggie glanced over at the No Dogs Allowed sign on the front door, which is only a foot above ground level, and commented, "Oh! They put the sign at dog level so dogs can see it."

As we were walking along Franklin towards my place, I asked Maggie about her dog.
Maggie: His name is Dexter. He's a boy, despite his hot pink leash.

VS: You shouldn't do that. You'll confuse him.

Maggie: I know, but he loves pink! He had a black leash, but it disappeared. I think he buried it so he could wear the pink one!

Maggie VandenBerghe has all the makings of a classic Hollywood beauty. She is funny, charming, and graceful, and like many Hollywood starlets of old such as Jean Harlow, she prides herself on being able to beat the boys at their own games. Once we had seated ourselves by my apartment's pool, I asked Maggie what she likes to do when she isn't acting.

Maggie: I love poker!

VS: Do you play for money?

Maggie: Don't tell my parents, but yeah. I always win. Most of the guys I know play, and it's fun because they don't expect that I'll beat them.

VS: It must be a good game for an actress.

Maggie: It's fun because you get to deceive people, but ultimately it's about the cards you have and knowing what to do with them.

Maggie VandenBerghe modeled throughout high school, working such high profile campaigns as Pepsi, Aussie Hair, Pantene, and Planet Hollywood. She also appeared in magazines such as Marie Claire and Fitness Magazine. But all this modeling was just so she could move to LA and focus on her acting instead of getting a job. Although she has only been in LA a year and a half, her acting career has really taken off. She has appeared in the independent films Trail of Blood, Virgins of Venice, and Lily and the Syphon, and can currently be seen in the summer blockbuster Aliens in the Attic. I asked Maggie what is the secret of her success.

Maggie: You really have to hustle. I don't have an agent or manager, so everything I get I get on my own. You have to be good, so I take a lot of classes and try to improve my acting and myself. You need a little bit of luck, and you need to meet as many people as you can.

VS: And how did you get interested in acting?

Maggie: I've always been drawn to acting, but not in the normal way. When I was a kid I would I would play these characters, and it would take over my life. I was Mickey Mouse for three months, and then I was a Ghost Buster for eight months. I went around the house capturing ghosts with my proton pack, and I would only respond to Dr. Peter Venkman, so when friends of the family came over and were like, "Hi Maggie," I wouldn't respond and my parents had to be like, "It's hi Dr. Peter Venkman." This is a pretty odd thing for a four year old to do. Then from the ages of four to six I was a Paleontologist. I taught myself how to read scientific journals, and learned the scientific and colloquial names of close to two-hundred dinosaurs. In part the reason I got into acting is that there is always a new character and world to explore. But ultimately my love of acting comes from a deep fascination with the human condition.

Maggie VandenBerghe can currently be seen in the blockbuster Aliens in the Attic. To learn more about Maggie, visit her website at http://maggievandenberghe.com.

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