Director: Marjane Satrapi Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Anna Kendrick, Jacki Weaver Writer: Michael R. Perry | 2.5/5 The Voices Let me go ahead and put it out there: I would be a horrible PR guy for Ryan Reynolds. Truthfully, I just haven't been a fan. His charming, million-dollar attitude does nothing but highlight the mediocrity of his work, in my opinion. Sure, he has not hit the lows of, say, Sandler; but I rarely get excited for his work. In an assuring turn of events, though, Reynolds has had a pretty prolific one-going-on-two years of steady, independents. This is a good sign. He is showing he is willing to shake away his rom-com personal won hard in The Proposal. I am proud to say that, even though Marjane Satrapi’s psycho-comedy The Voices is an altogether subpar film, this is the best work I have ever seen of Reynolds. Reynolds is Jerry, a socially awkward factory worker with an attitudes that is eager to please. He does not seem to notice how mundane his job is assembling bath tubs, fully distracted by his all-consuming crush on the “office hottie” Fiona (Gemma Arterton). Jerry also has two talking pets, an encouraging dog named Bosco and a sinister cat named Mr. Whiskers, who whisper evil, murderous thoughts into his ear. After we find out that Jerry regularly visits a probational psychiatrist, played by the ever-welcome Jacki Weaver, it becomes abundantly clear that he might be imagining his talking pets. Jerry is prescribed a medication that helps to shut out these voices. Needless to say, he isn’t taking his meds. |
What kind of movie would this be if he was? A boring one, most likely. Satrapi amps up the crazy to 11 barely twenty minutes into the story. Things go south real fast when Fiona stands Jerry up, making him wait for hours for no one. You can imagine how the guy reacts. Deeply troubled and possibly psychotic man becomes obsessed with a woman who can’t be anyone else’s? We have seen this story before. We even know what happens after the deed is done and concerned friends start snooping around Jerry’s place.
Satrapi would have better served her cause by mixing up the predictable story. Simply making Jerry do horrendous thing is not enough to keep the audience entertained, even if the insanity is exaggerated for laughs. The film is occasionally funny, but rarely thrilling. Movies like last year’s The Guest followed a similar comically psycho-killer trajectory. That plot kept us guessing as the violence was thrown our way. The director should have taken some tips from that film, especially with Reynolds giving it his all.
There are a few amusing supporting roles, including appearances by Weaver and Anna Kendrick - can you believe that she sings in this too? -, but this movie is Reynolds’. Not only is he playing the role of a mentally unstable dude, but he also lends his voices to all the animals he converses with. Sure, they are all figments of his own imagination, but they could have easily gotten someone else to provide the voices. Reynolds British and Southern accents are pretty bad, but that only lends to the humor. The conversations Jerry has with his pets play out smoothly, but you cannot forget that Reynolds filmed these scenes solo (without the aid of animals that talked back). Viewing those scenes from this angle, I was all the more impressed. All the positive buzz around his Sundance hit Mississippi Grind has actually got me excited. Here’s to the resurgence of Ryan Reynolds.
(Available on iTunes)
Satrapi would have better served her cause by mixing up the predictable story. Simply making Jerry do horrendous thing is not enough to keep the audience entertained, even if the insanity is exaggerated for laughs. The film is occasionally funny, but rarely thrilling. Movies like last year’s The Guest followed a similar comically psycho-killer trajectory. That plot kept us guessing as the violence was thrown our way. The director should have taken some tips from that film, especially with Reynolds giving it his all.
There are a few amusing supporting roles, including appearances by Weaver and Anna Kendrick - can you believe that she sings in this too? -, but this movie is Reynolds’. Not only is he playing the role of a mentally unstable dude, but he also lends his voices to all the animals he converses with. Sure, they are all figments of his own imagination, but they could have easily gotten someone else to provide the voices. Reynolds British and Southern accents are pretty bad, but that only lends to the humor. The conversations Jerry has with his pets play out smoothly, but you cannot forget that Reynolds filmed these scenes solo (without the aid of animals that talked back). Viewing those scenes from this angle, I was all the more impressed. All the positive buzz around his Sundance hit Mississippi Grind has actually got me excited. Here’s to the resurgence of Ryan Reynolds.
(Available on iTunes)