“The Witches of Eastwick” (1987) is an ugly little troll of a movie hiding behind a trio of screen hotties (Cher, Pfeiffer, Sarandon). It’s Jack Nicholson at his worst. He’s a sweet-talking stranger who rolls into town and starts sweeping women off their feet (hijinks ensue). It’s not hard to figure out the secret he’s hiding. It’s also not hard to imagine this being a cinematic parody of Nicholson’s actual, real-life romantic relationships. I mean, the dude is gross looking, but he’s talented and rich and can seemingly get laid whenever he wants. I sympathized with all the on-screen vomiting.
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“Burn After Reading” (2008) is a not-very-good espionage movie with George Clooney. It’s kinda stupid, actually. But it does have a lot of people I like in it (Brad Pitt, the dude from the movie about the guy who plays the drum, Frances what’s-her-face, John Malkovich), and there are some characters that made me laugh. It wasn’t like I thought two hours of my life had been stolen. But when it was over, I was like: “What was up with that?” Then I reminded myself it was a Coen brothers movie, which means that probably nothing was up with anything.
In 2008, when “Step Brothers” was released, Will Ferrell was 41 and Mary Steenburgen was 55. In the film, she plays his mom. I bet that hurt when her agent called. I bet it also hurt when she read the script and counted how many F-bombs she would be dropping for the sake of a cheap laugh. What was that Mary? You won an Oscar? That’s cool, but were you ever a “mystery slimed celebrity” at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards? This plotless movie is a loosely strung sequence of admittedly funny gags, but Ferrell’s shock-and-awe comedy style grows old.
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