Garry Marshall died a few months after the release of “Mother’s Day” (2016) and I can assure you, he took no sitcom-style plot conventions with him to the grave. They’re all here: the younger and sexier second wife, the wacky parents, the sassy black friend, the wedding scene, the hospital scene, the graveyard scene. He did everything but have Fonzie jump a shark again. But that was Marshall’s gift. He could take boilerplate romantic comedy material and pan fry it in enough schmaltz to clog an artery, yet it would always come out satisfying (not great, satisfying). It’s cinematic comfort food.
Archives for posts with tag: Timothy Olyphant
Some records will never be broken. I can’t think of one right now. I’m sure it involves Hank Aaron or Michael Jordan or somebody. Oh, wait, here’s one: Most Consecutive Movies Where You Play An Uptight White Guy. Jason Bateman has become the DiMaggio of WASPiness, even when he plays a Jewish dude, like in “This Is Where I Leave You” (2014). It’s a harmless little cliche about family dysfunction that plays like an episode of “Parenthood,” but with cussing, pot smoking and boob jokes (I’ve never actually watched “Parenthood,” maybe all that stuff is in the TV show, too).
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