Gulliver's Travels
Jan. 1st, 2011 06:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reviewthatMovie: Gulliver's Travels
Starring: Jack Black, Jason Segel, Emily Blunt
Opened Nationwide: December 25, 2010
Stars: 2
In this big screen interpretation of the book Gulliver's Travels, we meet up with Gulliver, a mail room worker of a major corporation who has no ambition to go anywhere in his life. But in his attempt to try and impress the woman he has a crush on, he accepts an assignment to write a travel column about the Bermuda Triangle. While out trying to get information for the article, he finds himself in the land of the Liliputs, where he lies about who he is so that he can impress them.
While this film did make me laugh a couple of times, it relies far too much on Jack Black to carry the story, and doesn't spend enough time trying to create a strong story (regardless of who was in the staring role). It would have been far better if we could have had a stronger story-line that wasn't just a vehicle to bring us Jack Black heavy humor (and as a result, made the humor feel far too forced than it would have felt if the writers had let it happen naturally). Example: there is pretty much an entire scene that revolves around the use of the term "lame-ass" (and the term is repeated ad nauseum).
There was also far too little of Jason Segel or Emily Blunt, who can hold their own as actors. And there was even less of Billy Connolly or Catherine Tate, which was even sadder than the small amount of Jason Segel or Emily Blunt. If the writers had actually used Connolly and Tate's natural comedic talents, they might have done better in getting a laugh that seemed natural.
I'd say either skip it, or wait until you can find it in Redbox.
Starring: Jack Black, Jason Segel, Emily Blunt
Opened Nationwide: December 25, 2010
Stars: 2
In this big screen interpretation of the book Gulliver's Travels, we meet up with Gulliver, a mail room worker of a major corporation who has no ambition to go anywhere in his life. But in his attempt to try and impress the woman he has a crush on, he accepts an assignment to write a travel column about the Bermuda Triangle. While out trying to get information for the article, he finds himself in the land of the Liliputs, where he lies about who he is so that he can impress them.
While this film did make me laugh a couple of times, it relies far too much on Jack Black to carry the story, and doesn't spend enough time trying to create a strong story (regardless of who was in the staring role). It would have been far better if we could have had a stronger story-line that wasn't just a vehicle to bring us Jack Black heavy humor (and as a result, made the humor feel far too forced than it would have felt if the writers had let it happen naturally). Example: there is pretty much an entire scene that revolves around the use of the term "lame-ass" (and the term is repeated ad nauseum).
There was also far too little of Jason Segel or Emily Blunt, who can hold their own as actors. And there was even less of Billy Connolly or Catherine Tate, which was even sadder than the small amount of Jason Segel or Emily Blunt. If the writers had actually used Connolly and Tate's natural comedic talents, they might have done better in getting a laugh that seemed natural.
I'd say either skip it, or wait until you can find it in Redbox.
