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THE HOLLYWOOD DILEMMA
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How F’n ironic that a movie which deals with lying to loved ones is in fact guilty of doing just that to us, the movie audience.
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If you’ve seen the preview for The Dilemma you know it promises Kevin James physical comedy and Vince Vaughn off-the-dome improv lines of awesomeness. It promises to be embarrassing, to be hip, to be a comedy. It’s not.
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It’s an uneven relationship drama with some funny moments and a lot of cliche ones.
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It’s a liar. A fearful if-I-tell-the-truth-in-the-marketing-nobody-will-come-see-me p*ssy of a movie. It’s a sellout. It’s a coward. It’s Hollywood 2011.
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First thing is first before I go on any further. I know, you’re asking, “Dude, why did YOU, The Movie Preview Critic, see a film you deemed unworthy?” I hear you and agree. Here’s the thing, when you’re in a big group, you only get one vote. Not that I’m dissing my peeps (is it still okay to talk like that?), I’m actually glad I was forced to see it. Why? Because it’s THE metaphor for how Hollywood thinks and operates!
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Director Ron Howard may just be my new hero, because, I believe, after his work on The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, he’s all into putting messages and hidden meaning into his work. I believe The Dilemma could easily be titled, The Howard Code.
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Let’s analyze the story and reveal this cloaked insight.
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The set up is honestly conveyed in the preview: Ronny (Vaughn) sees Geneva (Ryder) cheating on Nick (James) with Zip (Tatum). So...what’s the problem? Just be a good friend, obey the Bro Code and TELL HIM!
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The WHY he doesn’t tell him is where it gets metaphorical. Ronny can’t tell Nick because they both have a business deadline: fine tune a hybrid electric engine that sounds like a 60s/70s style powermobile. If Ronny tells Nick, Nick will be too distraught to concentrate. They’ll miss the deadline, and NOT GET PAID!
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Ronny is Hollywood and Nick is the audience. H-Wood can’t tell us the truth about this movie, about a lot of its movies, because it wants to get paid off opening weekend. What’s the truth? Oh, stuff like, “The Dilemma is actually a dramedy that tries to balance serious relationship issues with character based comedic moments.” Or, “The Karate Kid remake, yeah, there’s no Mr. Miyagi, no Daniel San, we’re just using the name for market-research purposes that activate nostalgia feelings in Generation X.” And, “Spiderman reboot, we’re gonna roll the dice and see if it’s accepted. What have we got to lose? If we get away with it, we’re gonna reboot everything every two years!”
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It’s truth we already know. Deep down we feel it. We just don’t want to face it. Wait a minute...Ronny is the main character? What’s the directors name? Ron Howard! So, RON is struggling to tell us the truth. He wants to get paid and at the same time wants to have a clean slate with us! So, in Russian novelist style, when there’s a powerful regime monitoring the artist, he or she is forced to code meanings. Here Ron has made a movie that represents his inner struggle.
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The lesson to be learned here is that truth creates authenticity. It’s based in love, in fearless existence. When a person acts afraid the results are tragic and frustrating. And just like in life, H-Wood is scared of the...future. There’s no road map for what will be, only records of what was. If existence is guided by courage - the willingness to go beyond fear, not the absence of it - then the correct road will be lighted step by step. It’s a terrifying prospect because living in the moment of truth reveals the immediate ground beneath - what if there’s a ledge and a steep drop a few feet ahead!?! It could mean death! That’s fear, that’s irrationality. Close your eyes, listen to your inner wisdom, it knows where the danger is. Most likely, those cries for safety are the wails of the Ego not wanting to be replaced by the wisdom of boundless eternity.
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Hollywood, in an economically strained market, is gripped by fear. It’s turned totally around and is staring at the past. The safe, already lived, knowable, defined history of what was. Instead of trusting itself to tell stories that reflect the spirit of our times, that translate the mood, meaning and (what’s another m-word?)....myth of the now, it’s recycling the hits of yesterday into the forced knee-jerk reflex audience Box Office profit of today.
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Thirty or so years ago there wasn’t a Tron or a Karate Kid or Rambo. Why did H-Wood make them back then? Because the momentum of H-Wood’s second golden age in the 1970s was still influencing filmmakers. Back then the “artists” soaked in their culture, their environment and listened to their hearts to finally have it all translated by their intellect. Tron was a result of the growing computer revolution. Rambo was birthed by the psychic pains of Vietnam vets returning from a tragic war to a country torn apart by its motivation and result. The Karate Kid, a coming of age story that polarized the magnetic pull of Eastern Philosophy and Martial Arts first introduced by Bruce Lee in the late 60s and early 70s. And, yes, it was sort of a teenager meets Star Wars high concept at the same time. Ever notice that Miyagi is basically Yoda?
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Polish movie master Krzysztof Kieslowski once said that between films he took breaks for “life-ing.” Basically, to live, to dip his toe in the pool of humanity and feel the temperature. To take a swim, let all of life soak into him, so that when it was time to write a script, to film a movie, he could wring his soul with his thoughts and pour the insights onto the page, to capture it on celluloid.
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In The Dilemma, it’s revealed - oh, by the way, did I mention SPOILERS!!! - that Nick has been getting Happy Endings at the local massage parlor. This has for some reason motivated his wife, Geneva, to have an affair. That’s typical human behavior: avoid pain.
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Here’s the thing: there’s no growth without pain. The truth hurts, then it heals.
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“Hi, I’m trying to make you laugh instead of being true to myself and letting funny organically occur.”
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Think of the truth as a metamorphosistic (is that a word?) event. It’s a shifting. A nano-second evolution towards authenticity. Every lie, every fear-based action is a retreat into the womb of safety. Instead of being birthed, it’s a stagnation. It’s arrested development. The great thing about a Caterpillar is that it DOESN’T KNOW it’s going to become a Butterfly! It just follows its instincts and obeys. It has faith. If it knew what was in store it would resist spinning the cocoon. There would be no Butterflies. Humanity’s curse and blessing is consciousness.
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For Hollywood, the fear is, “We don’t know what stories people want to see. We’re not sure what to make. The only thing we do know is that we need to make money to keep the machine going, so, let’s go with projects most likely to succeed. We must survive.” Hmmm, where have we heard that before? The stock market.
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After the 90s tech boom bubble burst, the we-can’t-let-the-good-times-end Wallstreet money makers decided that HOUSING was the next big thing! So, for 8 years or so that became the way to make money...in the now. But, the danger of shortsightedness is repercussions in the long term. Which is what happened. The water below deck finally reached the upper class aboard the Titanic and everyone responded, “Are we sinking?”
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Truth is eternal. No matter how big the lie, it cannot contain the truth it attempts to conceal, deny or repress. Like holding a beach ball underwater, it will eventually push its way to the surface.
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In the case of Wallstreet, the “bubble” burst. In the case of Hollywood, there are no more major hits of the past to remake, no more sequels that can be justified - though its trying that with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Next Trilogy! - no more franchises to reboot - ‘cough’ Spiderman ‘cough.’ In the case of The Dilemma the moment of truth comes when Ronny is cornered and there’s no other action to take than to speak the truth.
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The result? Rebirth! Success! The path of The Real.
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Ronny feared he’d lose his friend. He feared he’d lose the business deal. He feared he’d be the bad guy. While there was some pain, some emotional turmoil, in the end, EVERYONE became stronger.
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How funny that The Dilemma’s best joke is the fact that it lies to itself and the audience. It pretends to be something it’s not, just to fit some pre-established genre expectation so we won’t get “scared” off.
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How ironic that the films we remember, that we reward with huge Box Office are those projects that are fearless! Animal House spawned the frat film, Porky’s the teen sex comedy, Dumb and Dumber the gross out flick, Something About Mary, American Pie and The Hangover upped the ante and we paid, we cheered, we were entertained, we were thankful.
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Yes, when a film has the courage to speak its truth, the copies follow. Hollywood becomes a spider that sucks its prey dry once trapped in its web . That means copying a successful movie until the law of diminishing Box Office returns takes effect. But, thankfully, the spirit and energy of that maverick trailblazer usually empowers us to withstand the stale period of creativity that follows until the next recharge.
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Which brings us back to The Howard Code and Ron’s final message. In the story Ronny and Nick are tasked with creating a fuel efficient engine that is “green” but at the same time sounds like it has the I-don’t-care-how-many-gallons-of-gas-revving-the-engine-it-takes-this-is-muscle-car-power motors of the good ol’ days. Here, Hollywood is the hybrid car, and storytelling is the engine - Hah! Code cracked baby!
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Wise filmmakers like Ron, who have been in the biz for a long time, know what has happened. They can’t be happy. But, like the saying goes, “Baby need a new IPhone,” so, you gotta take whatever projects are available. Hollywood has changed its make and model a number of times since its birth over a hundred years ago. It looks sort of the same, but, what kind of engine does it have now? What kind of storytelling is fueling it. Based on what’s been going on lately, not the kind that’s gonna make it roar.
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This movie itself suffers from a tug of war of identity. On one side courageous storytelling pulls it, at the other, marketability and safe genre setpieces. The latter is what makes up the preview. The former is what makes up most of the movie. We’re sold by Hollywood, then soul-ed by the filmmakers.
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Surprisingly, I hated it less than expected, but wished it was better than it ended up being. It had potential.
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This also reveals the crisis of being that most films have nowadays. How does a story please Hollywood while obeying its inner truth? Most films that set a standard, that make an impact go against H-Wood’s advice (Easy Rider, The Godfather, E.T.).
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Here, I LOVE how the comedy is character based and not forced. There are so many situations where it can become wacky-tacky. Like, when Ronny goes to get evidence of Geneva’s cheating he’s on the balcony with a camera peeking through the windows. That scene could easily be like, “Okay, he sneaks in, gets caught under the bed while their humping, “ or, “He gets caught under the covers and she thinks his hand is Zip’s while Zip thinks his leg is hers, etc.” But, it doesn’t. It stays real. As a result it’s not super funny, but comedic.
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But, then, it gets try-hard when Ronny is at the Botanical Gardens and he slips on a rock and falls into....the poisonous plant area! Wah-wah. Now, guess what? He’s got a rash on his face, it hurts when he pees and he has to lie to everyone about how it happened. That’s when it feels like a H-Wood “rewrite specialist” came in to “bring the funny.” It’s a total tone change that doesn’t match the rest of the movie, which is, a somewhat sincere exploration of, “What would happen if you saw your bro’s wife being a hoe?”
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In a lot of films Geneva would be abused as a character. She’s a cheater, so the five ton anvil is gonna fall on her as much as possible. Not here. Ron is too smart a filmmaker. Remember, he started out in comedy. Night Shift is an underrated gem, Splash is funny, Cocoon mixes laughs and tears masterfully, Gung Ho has some zeitgeist and hilarity and of course Parenthood is a classic (Yes, the current TV show is based on this). The man know his sh*t. Geneva gets a fair shake as a human being. She’s not a cliche...at first.
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Because of its cinematic cognitive dissonance the story doesn’t know which way to go and in the end feels thinly resolved. Geneva starts out by saying that, “You don’t know what it’s like INSIDE a marriage. There are two sides.” Ronny at first doesn’t believe her, but then, after investigating discovers she’s telling the truth. But...nothing is done with that. If Nick is getting handies at the make-you-feel-good massage parlor, then explore it! What made him cheat? Did he get bored with his wife? And, why did she feel cheating was the best first response instead of, oh, I don’t know...TALKING TO HIM?
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The Queen Latifah character is underdeveloped and used mainly for kinda-sort-of shocking laughs that are more giggles. Geneva and Zip don’t get resolved. Why did she choose him? Zip, when he is confronted by Ronny, seems emotionally distraught over being “the other guy.” Why isn’t that played up more? What’s his deal? Has he always wanted a cougar? Does he have mommy issues? Does she want to feel alive with the bad boy?
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It feels like the cliché scenes were filmed the day the studio suits paid a visit to the set. Once they left, the “real” script was handed back out to everyone and the more subtle, dramatic and authentic moments were quickly captured before the overseers of marketability returned. The result is a work that is asking for permission to be different instead of standing in it’s truth and revving its engine.
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Because H-Wood has burned through its story reserves like the real world is milkshaking oil supplies, 2011 will be the year of Peak Story. There are no more major comic book characters to adapt. No more 80s horror villains to re-rape (watch out Candyman, the 90s are next!). No more legit sequels to pump out. It’s time to go hybrid, to go green, to...get creative. This might be the most original script based movie year in the last five. The challenge for modern myth makers is, do they remember how to be inspired? To listen to that inner voice? To get in contact with the Muse?
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If they’ve forgotten how, don’t worry. The Howard Code has shared the secret of how to return to great storytelling: tell the truth.
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The Movie Preview Critic rates DUE DATE:
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DUE DATE’S PLACE IN MOVIE HISTORY:
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