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SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - Can a movie read minds in the audience? “Catch and Release” does.
The last line — “What took you so long?” — echoed the question preying on my mind for most of its 124 minutes before that perspicacious punch line.
Although not a complete failure, “Catch and Release” manages to turn a promising premise into an inchoate, meandering marathon ostinato of “what’s taking you so long?!”
Not just an average midstory slowdown, this is a swan dive into permanent tedium, notwithstanding determined efforts by the marvelous Jennifer Garner and the boldly and corpulently funny Kevin Smith, devilish director of “Clerks,” “Chasing Amy” and “Dogma.”
“Erin Brockovich” writer Susannah Grant is the writer-director of “Catch and Release,” which opens with an unflattering closeup of Garner at the funeral of her fiancé — eyes and nose red from crying, the “Alias” star still manages to look attractive. The plot dangles on said fiancé’s secret life, but little is revealed or is of much interest.
And yet, girl-next-door-glamorous Garner, the constantly eating and wisecracking Smith (“Silent Bob speaks!”), a fine turn by Juliette Lewis, as an aspiring massage therapist from hell, and John Lindley’s gorgeous cinematography in and around Boulder, Colo., provide some spark to the film, even while the story stalls and stalls.
“Catch and Release” also offers the still-young year’s worst performance: Timothy Olyphant’s lady killer, a major — albeit shyly classy — stud character is made by the director to show a fixed, irritating smile to express the depth of his cardboard character. It’s embarrassing, especially when guess who falls for this illegitimate son of Alfred E. Neuman ... oh, never mind. Take heart: You may feel that it takes forever, but the movie will eventually end.
Catch and Release *½
Starring Jennifer Garner, Timothy Olyphant, Sam Jaeger, Juliette Lewis, Kevin Smith
Written and directed by Susannah Grant
Rated PG-13
Running time 2 hours, 4 minutes
Comments from Examiner Readers
11:19 AM MST on Sun., Sep. 28, 2008 re: "Skinny Puppy is back, making myths"
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12:05 AM MST on Tue., Aug. 26, 2008
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4:40 PM MST on Sun., Jan. 20, 2008
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3:19 PM MST on Sun., Jan. 20, 2008
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10:52 AM MST on Sat., Apr. 28, 2007
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ironlungcorp said:
Skinny Puppy did pave the way for NIN though, in the sense that they were essentially THE pioneering industrial act.
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Gnome said:
Why is everyone obsessed with comparing Nine Inch Nails and Skinny Puppy? Who the hell cares if one was influenced by the other? They're completely different by now.
1 agree | 1 disagree
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Concerning Truth my A**! said:
Let's clear up this NIN "conspiracy" before this "genius" goes out and blows up his school: the phrase at issue is "putting this Puppy right back at the head of the Nine Inch Nails pack it originally whelped." Look up any dictionary and you will see that "whelped" means "gave birth to" or slight variations thereof. You therefore are railing against the writer who you agree with. Good job!
144 agree | 151 disagree
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Truth my A**! said:
Get your facts right! All Reznor did was glamorise industrial music by making it more accessible (which Puppy weren't out to do). NIN opened FOR Skinny Puppy in 1988, Skinny Puppy had already formed in 1982, and if you were such a big fan of NIN you would already know that they released "Pretty Hate Machine" in 1989...AFTER Puppy released their first Album "Back & Forth" in 1984! It doesn't take a genius to work out who came first!
149 agree | 163 disagree
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TRUTH said:
If this comment is implying that "Skinny Puppy" helped create/start NIN then this article is a "Mythmaker". The one and only member of NIN, from the beginning, is Trent Reznor. He was/is a fan of Skinny Puppy, leave it at that!
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