30 Day Movie Challenge: Day 1- Accidental Love (2015)

Alright as I said before, this is the real 30 day movie challenge that you guys should be doing because it so easy to watch a film that you already have before. Why not take the challenge of checking out films you never have and support filmmakers everywhere. For day one, I said to watch a film from your favorite actor and one of my favorite actors happens to be Jake Gyllenhaal (Okja) and the film I chose for today is 2015's Accidental Love which was directed by David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook). The film stars Jessica Biel (The Illusionist) as small town girl Alice Eckle who seems to have it all from a cool job to a loving police officer boyfriend, but all of that is taken away when she is struck in the head with a nail gun lodging a nail inside her skull. Unfortunately for her, she has really bad health insurance and she decides to go to Washington to confront her local congressman Howard Birdwell (Gyllenhaal), but even that proves to be a challenge. The film also stars Tracy Morgan (Cop Out) as Keyshawn, Kurt Fuller (Ghostbusters II) as Reverend Norm, Malinda Williams (High School High) as Rakeesha, James Marsden (Sonic The Hedgehog) as Scott, Catherine Keener (The 40 Year Old Virgin) as Rep. Pam Hendrickson, Paul Reubens (Flight Of The Navigator) as Edwin, James Brolin (The Amityville Murder) as Speaker Buck McCoy, Beverly D'Angelo (National Lampoon Vacation) as Helen Eckle, and Kirstie Alley (Look Who's Talking) as Aunt Rita.

This was surprisingly a pretty good film that I didn't even know existed until I searched for Jake Gyllenhaal films on Amazon Prime. There were some scenes in the film's writing that just felt a little forced at times, but other than that it was just a fun movie to watch. Two actors in this film really surprised me and I feel the film would have lacked if they were not in it and that is Tracy Morgan and his blown out asshole (in the film) and Kurt Fuller and his permanent erection that was now chaffing with his leg (in the film). Those two provided me with some laughs throughout the film that were much needed because Biel at times was drowning. There were times when you could tell she was trying to be funny and it just didn't work at times. The one thing I did like however was her dynamic with Gyllenhaal who was great as the dumb witted rookie senator who has no idea how anything really works in the senate. Their love story works for the reason that they are both sad individuals who seriously need each other. I loved James Marsden in the film with his percentages of how he felt things were going to go like there was a 65/35 percent chance this would happen and etc. (watch the film to know more). I definitely do not regret watching the film because it had some good cinematography and overall it was a cool story. I am going to give the film an B- for a final grade.

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

I am quickly growing to be a huge fan of Bradley Cooper (Guardians Of The Galaxy) after having already viewed A Star Is Born and Burnt. If you do not have the VUDU app then you have to download it because they off great movies to view for free every month and if you keep throwing Coopers films in there I am going to check it out like today’s film Silver Linings Playbook. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, but they only took home one, but it was released in 2012 and was directed by David O. Russell (American Hustle). The film stars Cooper as Pat Solitano, a former high school teacher who just served a stint in a mental hospital after finding his wife cheating with another teacher and he uncontrollably beat that said teacher. Now he is out and all he wants to do is prove to his estranged wife that he is a better man than before and he’ll need Tiffany’s (Jennifer Lawrence) help in order to do so. The film also stars Robert De Niro (Ronin) as Pat Sr., Jacki Weaver (Widows) as Dolores, Chris Tucker (Rush Hour) as Danny, John Ortiz (Steve Jobs) as Ronnie, Julia Stiles (The Omen) as Veronica, Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire) as Jake, Paul Herman (Heat) as Randy, Dash Mihok (Romeo + Juliet) as Officer Keogh, and Anupam Kher (Hotel Mumbai) as Dr. Patel.

One thing has to be said right from the get go and that is the film won the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for Jennifer Lawrence who rightfully deserved the award. Bradley Cooper did a great job playing someone who kept telling themselves that they were getting better, but Jennifer put out a great performance as the girl who takes what she wants by any means, but is also vulnerable at the same time. Traumatizing events in life can have a very negative effect and it hits people in different ways and the two of them were examples of that. Bradley Cooper acted out in anger and frustration when situations were not going his way while Lawrence acted out because she was depressed and felt alone. Those are two well known examples of mental health distress, but everyone solves it in their own way and it was the two of them that helped each other. One of the funniest things in the film had to be Chris Tucker who must have escaped Baltimore like three times, but was always escorted back because his technicality didn't work. Robert De Niro was awesome as well as the very superstitious, old school father in a film that featured some great acting. The story si great, the cinematography is great, and there is a great balance of comedy and drama in the film. This is definitely a great one to check out and as I said before, it's available right now on VUDU for free. So, I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.