Two Reviews: A Comparative Study

Why was "Just Go With It" not worth more than ONE STAR, whereas "Cedar Rapids" earned THREE STARS on my enjoyment meter? My determining factors are: (1) Dialogue (script provided by the Writer/s), (2) Actors delivery of those words, and (3) the Director. The only redeeming feature of "Just Go With It" was Jennifer Aniston's performance. She was excellent! Otherwise, though Adam Sandler wasn't bad, and the little girl (about 11 years old?) was quite good, there were too many scenes that I found offensive. I noted later that there were six different writers credited for the film. The result was really a hodge-podge, a series of scenes that didn't really mesh into one cohesive whole. There's an old joke about things decided by committee! Or, perhaps it was, "Too many cooks spoil the broth." (I saw the name of the old pro Abe Burrows on the list of writers. I guess he was outweighed by the the other five.) I really don't like potty "humor" -- I find it offensive. Just about every character in the film is lying about something, including Nicole Kidman (I almost didn't recognize her) who has a small but unpleasant part to play. Then by contrast, there's "Cedar Rapids" an original take on the "country boy goes to the big city" theme, done very cleverly, with an excellent cast, headed by Ed Helms as the naive, somewhat innocent (despite his liason with his former school teacher, Sigourney Weaver - who is wonderful in her part, of course) small town insurance salesman who is sent to the "big city" of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to attend the Insurance Companies Convention. He has experiences he didn't expect. Admittedly it has a few rather "off color" lines, primarily delivered by John C. Reilly, but the film didn't depend upon them. (And Reilly was actually good in his role, as was Steven Root, our hero's boss.) Written by Phil Johnston and marvelously directed by Miguel Arteta, "Cedar Rapids" easily earned my THREE STAR rating. (Would have been Four, if it hadn't been for the few crudities -- which in French, as I recall, means 'raw vegetables.') I must give special mention to one of the actors who, although she has a relatively small part, quite favorably impressed me: Alia Shawkat. She plays a prostitute named "Bree." She accosts our hero when he first arrives and asks him for a cigarette. He, of course, lectures her (nicely) about the health hazards of smoking, and offers her some butterscotch candies instead. Definitely Kudos to Anne Heche, Isiah Whitlock Jr. and everyone else in the fine cast of this enjoyable film.