Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Race Out and Rent
Posted By Scott Renshaw on August 25, 2009, 9:26 AM
This is the kind of week when it's particularly fun to make DVD rental suggestions: When there are genuinely enjoyable movies making their debut, and they're ones that nearly everyone missed the first time around in theaters. ---
Like too many movies for grownups, Tony Gilroy's Duplicity didn't get much love at the box office. Nor did it get much from many other critics, who tended to complain that it didn't work as a frothy Ocean's Eleven-style caper. Which, unfortunately, missed the point entirely: The corporate espionage framework is just an ideal device for exploring how people every manage to trust one another in their relationships.
Greg Mottola's Adventureland also tackles a tricky romance, but does so with more overt humor and a wonderfully appealing sense of 1980s nostalgia -- at least for those who remember it well. Jesse Eisenberg, as the hyper-literate nerd trying to woo the girl of his dreams, may do a better Michael Cera than Michael Cera himself.
And one other overlooked but enjoyable option: Rudo Y Cursi, the charming comedy that re-teams Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna (Y Tu Mama Tambien) as half-brothers moving up and down the ladder of success as soccer pros in Mexico.
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