Post by StevePulaski on Jun 14, 2011 22:46:42 GMT -5
The cast of Whatever it Takes.
Rating: ★★
Whatever it Takes is a walking, talking, full-motion cliche built on other scenes taken from movies like It's a Wonderful Life, and a direct remake of the play Cyrano de Bergerac. Besides the respectable performances of the four leads and the catchy soundtrack, whatever small redeeming factors Whatever it Takes had quickly diminished after the first twenty minutes.
I'm known to like a lot of high school movies where dorky teenagers lust after the girl of their dreams, and Whatever it Takes almost lured me in until it started walking into every cheap little trap. Right off the bat, anyone who thinks the dream girl is perfect and that the popular kid is going to follow through with his promise clearly hasn't seen any teenage movies.
The plot: Nerdy kid Ryan (West) is desperately trying to get a date with Ashley (O'Keefe), the school dream girl. Jocky Chris (Franco) is trying hard to score a date with Maggie (Sokoloff), the school geek. Chris offers to help Ryan with his date if Ryan helps Chris with his. The two agree and venture out through double dates and each others' "smart" advice to win over their love interests.
What bothers me is Whatever it Takes does nothing to change the formula. The characters don't act like real-life teenagers at all, they act like poorly created, dim shadows of who they should be playing. West and Franco are not to blame. They are just playing the characters. They didn't write the material they are saying. Both, at that time small, actors do what they can with the paper thin material they have, and needless to say, it all goes in a fair matter.
The most frustrating scene in the film, besides the end scene that is abysmal, is the scene in the nursing home. Besides thinking flatulence will get you a cheap laugh, Whatever it Takes spits the few moments in a film I'll never understand; the "I take it back" moments.
In this skit, Chris is talking to Maggie in the nursing home discussing her role in theater. Chris says "We have a theater club?" when Maggie brings up that she's in it. Maggie replies with the I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that "what?" as anybody would. Chris says something like "I mean that's cool." The rest of the scene flows as if he never just insulted her hobby like it was unimportant.
Why are movie characters so natural and so not concerned when someone just asks a stupid question that insults them. Once he/she reminds themselves that what they just said was idiotic, they say something that sounds nothing like what they just said and continue as if it never happened. Just arbitrary.
While scenes like that are unnecessary and an insult to the actors and filmmakers, some little moments make Whatever it Takes watchable. It certainly is forgotten, but it might get some sort of revival now that James Franco is making it in the world of acting. Though that may happen, it certainly is likely, that the only recognition he will get from this is the "oh wow, he used to do crappy films" response from many.
Starring: Shane West, James Franco, Jody Lyn O'Keefe, and Marla Sokoloff. Directed by: David Raynr.