LONG SHOT (2019) – My rating: 7.5/10

Long Shot is a romantic comedy directed by Jonathan Levine and written by Dan Sterling and Liz Hannah. The plot follows a journalist who begins to spend time with his former babysitter who is now the United States Secretary of State.  While I’m not a fan of Charlize Theron or Seth Rogen, the plot of Long Shot was intriguing, so I decided to see the movie.

In 2019, U.S. Secretary of State Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron) is told by her boss, President Chambers (John Odenkirk), that he does not plan to run for a second term. Realizing an opportunity has now arisen, she convinces POTUS to endorse her as a potential presidential candidate.

At the same time,  New York City journalist Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogan) is being told that the newspaper he works for has been sold to Parker Wembly (Andy Serkis), a wealthy media mogul whose integrity, morality, principles and moral code is opposite to Fred’s. Disgusted, furious and disappointed, Fred promptly quits without any other job prospects. Adding depression to the list, he turns to his more successful best friend Lance (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), who takes him to a charity fundraiser where Charlotte is also attending. She and Fred recognize each other, as she was his babysitter when they were teenagers.

Upon reading some of Fred’s columns, Charlotte decides to hire him to write her speeches despite her manager, Maggie Millikin’s (June Diane Raphael) disapproval. At a world leaders summit, Charlotte is forced to revise a speech involving a planned environmental revision to appease some of her constituents. When Fred objects and calls her out on abandoning her morals, she changes her mind and the speech is a success.  As the two continue to spend time together under the pretext of Fred learning more about Charlotte for his writing, they start to get close.

Long Shot continues from this point with many interesting sub plots.  This movie is deemed a romantic comedy but I deem it as a farce and a satire.  Because Seth Rogan does not ever play a lead male romantic role, and looks far from the part and Charlize is the epitome of beauty, the thought of the two of them together is a laugh.  This is how our society sees things. Once you adjust to them being a real thing, you don’t have to ask why he doesn’t play these kind of roles.  I do realize, this is his character in the film but he’s so good at acting a fool, he’s made a believer out of yours truly.  Long Shot is definitely funny but no where near believable.  Imagine a female POTUS married to a grimy, buffoonery acting husband who is far from being attractive.  The media would have a field day, so would comedians and supporters. The performance of Boyz II Men at the fund raiser was a real treat and since Long Shot made me laugh, I consider it a pretty good movie.  It’s not the best of either actor, but it can serve as a pick me up for someone who needs one.  It received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the chemistry and performances of Rogen and Theron.  Check It Out!

 

THE BOSS BABY (2017) – My rating: 7/10

The Boss Baby is a 2017 American computer-animated comedy somewhat based on the 2010 picture book of the same name by Marla Frazee and produced by DreamWorks Animation. It’s directed by Tom McGrath and written by Michael McCullers. The plot features a baby who is a secret agent in the war for adult’s love between babies and puppies.  I think this is a cute and worthy topic.

A man named Tim Templeton (Tobey Maguire) tells a story about his 7-year-old self who lives with his parents, Ted (Jimmy Kimmel) and Janice (Lisa Kudrow). Ted and Janice work at Puppy Co., a puppy factory headed by Francis E. Francis (Steve Buscemi). One day, Tim (Miles Bakshi) is surprised when an infant wearing a business suit shows up in a taxi at his house, and his parents, Ted and Janice, call him Tim’s little brother. Tim is envious of the attention the baby receives, not to mention suspicious when the infant acts odd around him.

Soon, Tim learns that the baby can talk like an adult, and he introduces himself as “The Boss”. Seeing an opportunity to be rid of him, Tim decides to record a conversation between The Boss Baby (Alec Baldwin) and other toddlers who are at Tim’s house for a meeting (under the guise of a play date by the parents) to do something about how puppies are receiving more love and attention than babies.

The remainder of The Boss Baby gets pretty complicated but interesting.  I love the way the story comes full circle.  It’s amazing someone (Marla Frazee) thought up the one love that parallels the love of a baby, puppies.  They’re cute, cuddly, need constant attention and lots of training.  The Boss Baby is an adventure, which makes it exciting. However, I don’t really get the message it’s trying to send.  Babies can’t be friends with other babies and it would be very hard to drill that into a child under a year old, they’re just too young.  If nothing else, you’ll be entertained and children will love it.  A sequel is scheduled to be released on March 26, 2021, while a Netflix TV series, The Boss Baby: Back in Business premiered April 6, 2018.  The Boss Baby is currently streaming and available on DVD and Blu-ray, check it out!

NOTE:  All actors listed, are the voices of the animated characters.

[The Boss Baby is Oscar nominated for Best Animated Feature.]