STACK NZ Jan-Feb #59

DVD&BD

REVIEWS

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THE SKELETON TWINS

WISH I WAS HERE

Twin Freaks

Daddy Day Care

Format:

Release Date: 04/02/15

Format:

Release Date: 21/01/15

COMEDY

Like the Veronica Mars big screen adventure, Zach Braff’s belated follow- up to Garden State was funded through Kickstarter. Assuming that many of those who contributed were big fans of his debut indie smash, it’s not surprising that Wish I Was Here doesn’t stray too far from the style and themes of his breakthrough film. Braff plays an actor whose career is in terminal decline and whose wife (Kate Hudson) is the main breadwinner. When his father (Mandy Patinkin) tells him that he will no longer be able to pay for Braff’s kids’ education, he decides to home school them; of course, along the way he learns a few important life lessons of his own. Although Braff doesn’t quite recapture the quirky charm of Garden State , this still makes for an intriguing companion-piece.

TAMMY

Poor White Trash

Format:

Release Date: 25/02/15

Saturday Night Live alumni Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader’s comic abilities have never been in question, but here they reveal hitherto unknown depths in this sardonic comic drama. The pair play estranged twins who are reunited after 10 years when Hader, a struggling gay actor, tries to kill himself. She takes him back to her home town to recuperate, but it soon becomes clear she has just many mental problems: Wiig, too, has flirted with suicide and although married to the nice-but-dim Luke Wilson,

Although she actually has a house, Tammy (Melissa McCarthy) is pure trailer trash. Lazy and foul-mouthed, she decides to embark on a road trip after losing her job at a burger joint and discovering that her husband is having an affair with their neighbour. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have a car, so she is forced to take her hard-drinking grandmother Pearl (Susan Sarandon) along as well. Co-written by star McCarthy with her husband Ben Falcone (who also directs), Tammy is a tad self-indulgent, but fans of her distinctive brand of loud, outrageous comedy won’t be disappointed and she is well supported by an A-list cast that includes Kathy Bates, Toni Collette, Gary Cole and Dan Aykroyd.

she has been having affairs with the instructors of various adult education courses she has been attending. Hader, meanwhile, reconnects with Ty Burrell ( Modern Family ), a former high school teacher whom he had an affair with as a student. If it all sounds a little heavy, never fear: while emotionally wrenching at times, it’s also very, very funny – the scene in which the siblings lip sync to Starship’s Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now is an instant comedy classic. Highly recommended.

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