mishellyjelly Reviews

The Ten (2007)

The Bible itself is probably funnier.

[1/10 · 11 February 2008]

I had middling expectations for what I expected to be a clever comedy spoofing the 10 commandments, but this movie fell flat on its ass within the first 10 seconds of Paul Rudd's painfully wooden narrative. This movie was took all of my goodwill and sympathy (aka. stored-up pity laughs) for the "fresh, unconventional indie film with a small budget", kicked it in the groin, smacked it over the head with a rusty shovel, and left it by the side of the road to die. A *horrifically* bad attempt at satire on a subject so ripe for parody the phrase "shooting fish in a barrel" comes to mind.

The only bright spots were Liev Schreiber (with impressive comedic timing) and perhaps Winona Ryder's vignette. I have no idea why Famke Janssen was even cast.

To sum up; It was rubbish. The acting sucked. The script sucked. The jokes bombed. It wasn't clever or witty at all. Barely watchable.

The Office (2001–2003)

Aussie here. Hated this!

[3/10 · 6 November 2006]

OK, I really didn't like The Office (UK). Maybe it's because I saw the US version first and fell in love with the show, but the UK version really fell flat. It was boring, clichéd, and tried too hard to exaggerate David Brents character. Granted, I've only seen the first season, but to me there was nothing funny about any of the infamous "subtle, British-ish sophisticated jokes", and by that I mean "tedium" of the show, and the US Office leaves the UK version trailing in the dust. Yes, I realize that they were two different shows (kind of), but to be honest, you can't really watch one without comparing it to the other.

For starters, Ricky Gervais isn't nearly as talented as Steve Carell (just watch Little Miss Sunshine and witness the emotion in his eyes alone), regardless of what almost every other poster seems to think. Gervais' acting doesn't convey the same loneliness and intrinsic fear of rejection in Carell's Michael Scott, that redeems the character of his loud-mouthed, childish facade and makes him so complex and lovable.

I also found that the jokes were old-fashioned (kind of out-of-date humour)with some of them were drawn out way too long (David Brent's awful singing in ep 4 might still be going on). The writing is noticeably slow-paced and kind of crude. I never thought I'd say this, but US censorship can be a good thing. Tim's inflatable birthday present, acting like an sore loser on quiz night and David Brent's awkward sexual advances to the poor secretary? More eye-rolling than funny. Trying to buy gaydar online, bubble wrapping a george-foreman-grilled foot, and having an ambiguous obsession/man-crush on the office temp? Funny. And maybe that just shows a superficial sense of humour and an ignorance of the "subtlety" of British comedies, but yeah. I don't care.

The side-characters are markedly less chararismatic and quirky (as well as less attractive *shallow* :P), in essence, they are losers. Cold and unlikeable as well. Hardly a legendary comedy, British or otherwise.

I gave it a 3 because the acting wasn't terrible.