Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Little Miss Melancholia struggles to find steady pace or comfortable tone.  Populated by underwhelming appearances from anyone who missed Franco’s apocalypse.  Carrel and Knightley cling to tiny strands of character arc as they are tossed violently from one vignette to the next in an unedited brainstorm one year too late.

Observe and Report

Tonally confused. Paul Blart got Knocked Up by a Taxi Driver. Empathy with Rogen is only possible because everyone else is even worse. Pena gives best performance but Faris is barely bearable. Scenes of occasional violence are ironically funniest parts in film where reporting is more enjoyable than observing was.

The Informant!

Matt Damon takes a fantastically serious comedic turn in a quirky true-story crime conspiracy. Sodherberg uses his main character’s mind to take the film back to Schizopolis, and for once voiceover works beautifully. Periodically difficult to associate with main character and hard to understand plot, but then, that’s the point.