Cougar Town (Season 6)

By: Robert Murphy

It's always tough to say goodbye no matter what the situation, but I feel it's always especially hard to say goodbye to a fantastic show one that you've watched since the beginning and kept right along with. Cougar Town may not have started out as that kind of show for me but it did grow on me after the initial effects of it's premise began to fade. It's hard to believe that the show was actually going to be about Jules Kobb (Courteney Cox) dating younger men for an entire show. A plot like that would be at best a one season type deal but the characters and story grew into so much more than all that and all that remains of the God awful idea is the reruns of the first season and the title for the series. Now though it is time to say goodbye to Jules and the rest of the cul-de-sac crew so let's see what the final season has in store.

The big shocking reveal at the end of the previous season turned out to be that Laurie (Busy Philipps) is pregnant with Travis's (Dan Bryd) child. Now normally a show would make the entire season be about the pregnancy but Cougar Town took a different approach to the whole ordeal, maybe because it was their final season or maybe because the whole having a baby thing has been done to death as I just mentioned. The first couple of episodes do see some shenanigans with an insane Laurie, her character is already crazy enough without all the hormones but with a child driving her insane she becomes a lot worse. Perhaps my favorite pregnant Laurie moment was during the episode where Jules decides to give up wine while Laurie is pregnant. Since Jules can't do anything alone she makes everyone also give up wine as well too soothe the savage beast that is Laurie Keller. When it turns out that they all betray her though in an elaborate "speak easy" style escapade she goes full juvie on all of them and whips around a sock full of nickles. 

As I said though the whole pregnant Laurie bit gets condensed down rather quickly and in one of the episode an eight month time skip occurs and Laurie has baby Bobby in the second episode. The rest of show sees real change and growth for the rest of the characters with plenty of other interesting changes that surprised me. Adult Bobby (Brian Van Holt) ends up finding a high paying job opportunity out of state and ends up moving away from everyone. It's a move I didn't see coming or rather I didn't want to see coming as Bobby was probably my favorite character and it was certainly hard for Andy (Ian Gomez) to lose his best friend and because of this we actually see a major change for his character too. Andy was always the bread winner for his home while Ellie (Christa Miller) stayed at home but after Bobby leaves he ends up becoming a stay at home dad. This leaves Ellie to return to work herself, if any of you forget she use to be lawyer. Everyone's roles get reversed and changed and I actually really enjoyed seeing these new changes being brought out, I would have loved to see more of them if the show continued but that sadly that won't happen.

Midst all of the switching and changing though much of what Cougar Town's core strengths continued to shine through for it's send off season. Plenty of the earmark moments for the shows humor have continued forward this time around such as Ellie and Grayson (Josh Hopkins) duking it out together. Then we have Andy who spends some of the season sulking without his best friend Bobby around (their bromance is something the writer Bill Lawrence does well and has plenty of experience with i.e. Scrubs). Then you have Travis and Laurie who only just began to figure out their relationship now they have to figure out how to add a kid into their own craziness. One thing that I didn't enjoying seeing occur all over again was Grayson and Jules arguing over the two never having privacy, Jules wanting everyone around her to be involved in everything and Grayson wanting some alone time for them. It's an issue and plot device that should have been nipped in the bud the season following the twos marriage to one another. Grayson really just needed to get over it already and move on but for the most part everything else continued to move smoothly and in classic Cougar Town fashion. 

In the end, I feel like this final season for Cougar Town was a fantastic send off for the series, it didn't feel like a goodbye sort of thing but rather each character continued forward with each of their own story arcs. This is a great thing because for the first time in awhile the dynamic of everything the show was founded on was shaken up, it wasn't all about drinking wine and everyone hanging out at Jules's all day long for once. Bobby moved away and got a job, Laurie and Travis have their own kid, Ellie went back to work, heck even Jules managed to change a little when she reads her first book. Again, it's too bad this change didn't occur sooner and if it did maybe that could have spelled out another season for the show, but it was a fitting end for a show that evolved quite a bit from it's start. 

Good:

- The show finally saw some real change

- Plenty of the core strengths continued throughout the season

Bad:

- Some of the more lack luster gags and plot elements continued

- Why weren't these changes made sooner? Why were they done in the final season?

Scully Rating: 7.0 out of 10

Tammy

By: Robert Murphy 

Do you ever have one of those days where absolutely nothing goes right? From the minute you wake up you were destined to have a crap storm of a bad day and that's what we open on in Tammy as Melissa McCarthy's foul mouthed, brash and over inflated brand of character returns for another go. Tammy is about to blindsided with a series of bad luck events that included losing her job, hitting a deer and being cheated on by her long time husband to name a few. This leads her to storm off out of town to get away from all the bad that has happened and the only way she can do that is with her grandmother, Pearl (Susan Sarandon) by her side and her chunk of cash she has in her pocket. The two set off together on an adventure to get out and live free before one of their times is up and the other wants to do what we all want to do at times and that's scream "SCREW YOU" to the world and have a good time. 

We have seen this sort of ill mannered character from Melissa McCarthy before as she has become a master of the role in other films the past few years in Identity Thief and The Heat. This isn't to say this a bad thing because it frankly works and McCarthy is sometimes such a hard read as an actress that it can feel different each time even though you know the film was made for her brand of character. As her character and Pearl set off on their journey together, you can't help but notice and undeniable spark between the two and how their on screen chemistry works quite well. Sarandon's character Pearl is an alcoholic/diabetic ball of delight who is incredibly charming even under the grey wig and make up that try and make her older. Add in a little Tammy mix to that with her spunky and loud attitude and you do find a recipe for success but it works for only a quick one liner or two and a few outrageous events. While Sarandon "co-stars" as the films sidekick, she doesn't gain all the main drive as McCarthy does and when the film lulls and falters, you are left staring at the screen with her being the only one on it. 

Hidden in the midst of McCarthy lime light though, there are a surprising number of other compelling actors and actresses who sneak some screen time out of Tammy. Pearl happens to meet a love interest at one of the road trip stops along the way, gentleman rancher Randy (Gary Cole) created some more appeal to keep watching. The twos hook up also makes way for the stale romance of Tammy and Randy's son Bobby (Mark Duplass) as the two flirt at various points throughout the film. I didn't mind that Bobby would show up at various random times through the film and in fact I loved him as a character but he was vastly underwritten and was part of many of the films lulling moments with Tammy. Other crazy events transpire that lead to Pearl needing to call up an old time friend for help, a no nonsense Leanor (Kathy Bates.) Pearl and Tammy seek refuge with her and her lesbian partner Susan (Sandra Oh) which later leads to an all out 4th of July raging party with some jet-ski burning and alcoholic rants for some added tension. 

Tammy as a character is the perfect way to describe Tammy the film, a mess of ideas and one trick stunts to try and distract you from the fact that you just watch something with no plot to it. Pearl and Tammy do have an initial plan in mind at the beginning of the film but it gets lost in a clump of ideas and stories that were included in the story along the way. McCarthy is still pretty funny and I'm not saying you won't laugh at what you see but her one trick pony act may be coming to end as there won't be too many more ways you can sell this angle for too long. Sarandon, Bates, Duplass and other side characters are a delight though and I deeply enjoyed their stories, I just wish that there was more of their story to go around when the end credits roled.

Good:

- McCarthy still is funny and still proves she can use her brand of character once more

- Sarandon provides some much needed help for the films low moments

- A great cast of side characters

Bad:

- Very erratic story telling

- Tries to fluff up the lack of story with a series of one liners and stunts

- I don't think McCarthy should have outshined everyone, I believe she needs to stick to the role of side kick with her brand of character 

Scully Rating: 5.0 out of 10 

2 Guns

By Robert Murphy

Hey everybody, it’s off to the movies to find out if I wasted ten dollars on a box office bust or not and with 2 Guns I was definitely on the fence on whether or not I’d be getting my money’s worth out of the deal but I was pleasantly surprised with what I found. For starters, what drew me into the movie in the first place was the two lead actors that we had to enjoy, both Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington have consistently hit their mark on the films they have been in and 2 Guns was no different. The two are put together in a buddy cop/buddy pretend drug dealer action movie, exchanging not only gun fire along the way but also quick witted blows at one another that strike the funny bone just right. But the best part is that the two don’t even know that they are each undercover agents working towards the same goal. Denzel Washington takes on the role of Bobby Trench, a DEA agent with a swagger and flare of the rat pack era about him and Mark Wahlberg plays Marcus Stigman, a Navy Seal officer who has a cocky, bad boy attitude to him that fits him all too well.

Hey what’s not to love about these two

What follows on screen is a series of double crossings, after the two decide to knock over a bank that ends up carrying way more money than it should have had in it and the two quickly realize that they have been set up and that they are both not who they are pretending to be. So what does anybody do in this kind of situation, dust themselves off and decide to team up and find out just who and why they were set up in the first place.  The two proceed to go back to their individual bosses, crossing over from the Mexican border where they were working on taking down a cocaine kingpin, played by Edward James Olmos. This dusty back drop in Mexico makes for an almost old era vibe where everyone carried a gun and there were legendary sure shots all around that could shoot wings off of a fly and all that jazz. This gets a modern update obviously as Washington and Wahlberg track down their betrayers while showing off some pretty crazy action scenes such as Wahlberg’s character one shotting a helicopter pilot while its flying through the air for example. This being an issue I found with the movie but then again action movies have that hard to believe affect a lot of the times that you just have to get over and just enjoy the epicness of no matter how impossible it may be.

So things went according to plan then?

Washington and Wahlberg have never been better as I’ve said, they honestly are what bumps up this otherwise average, opposites attract, buddy cop, action film. Washington takes on more of an eased back character as opposed to the serious roles he’s taken part in lately and he performs perfectly to the task while at the same time maintaining a gruff demeanor to who he trusts in his life. Then we Wahlberg, who always plays a bit of spunky and full of energy kind of character and that doesn’t change here for as soon as the two decide to work together, Wahlberg becomes a kid in a candy store jumping for joy to have his buddy back. What sets 2 Guns apart from other butt kicking duo movie you might ask, that is that the story has a great plot and features plenty of double crossing, back stabbing goodness that separates the film from just being another action film or buddy comedy. I can’t dig too much though into all the double crossing, mainly because I don’t want to spoil it for the rest of you, you’ll just have to see that for yourself.

I don’t know, it’s nice but is there any good schools near by

Bottom line is I was pleasantly surprised with the experience that I had with 2 Guns, not only was there lots of laughs and action but the story didn’t get lost in all of that, there were enjoyable plot twists and double crossings along the way and brought the action and laughs along with it. This comes together with an all-star cast of characters, Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington are on their A game as anyone would expect. The two are what drew me into the movie and I am so happy that they did because they worked so well together, bouncing back and forth off of each other with smart mouthed jabs from Mark and the don’t mess with me attitude of Washington. There are those eye brow raising moments in 2 Guns as I said but it is an action movie and they do tend to happen time and again and often times the ridiculous and awesome stunts are what we all love. In the wake of all the so-so movies I have seen this year, 2 Guns was just what I needed to see to keep what little faith there is to be had in Hollywood lately.

Good:

-Great lead characters, Wahlberg and Washington made a great pair and were perfect for the parts

-The plot twists weren’t shocking but still were much better than I expected from the movie

-Plenty of laughs and action that were balanced perfectly with the story

Bad:

-The questionable action moments, like really questionable

Scully Rating: 8.8 out of 10