CATCH AND RELEASE
RYAN: Thank you Columbia Pictures for a special advanced screening of a movie we’ve been wanting to see for an uber long time, “Catch and Release.”
CAROLINE: Now we know why they waited to release it in January.
RYAN: I’m gonna go out on a limb and start by saying I thought some of the performances were really good in this film, and overall, I was actually entertained by it.
CAROLINE: I was mildly entertained by it, but let’s be honest, Ryan – we love Jenny Garner and have loved her since the “Alias” days and will pretty much see anything she’s in – however, this is not a good movie.
RYAN: It was a problematic movie, yes. But Jennifer Garner impressed me by remaining misty-eyed through half of the film.
CAROLINE: She gives good cry.
RYAN: Other highlights were an hysterically funny Juliette Lewis.
CAROLINE: I always love her. She’s hilarious, albeit a Scientologist.
RYAN: And her wardrobe malfunctions were great. By that, I mean kudos to the stylist who dressed her like Erin Brockovich.
CAROLINE: She has very funny character and she plays her very well.
RYAN: But the show was equally stolen by Fiona Shaw, a.k.a. Aunt Petunia from the Harry Potter movies.
CAROLINE: Yeah, nobody cares.
RYAN: [laughs’ And then there were some hot men and some less hot men in this.
CAROLINE: Here’s the problem: the guy who plays the romantic lead is ugly and has Chiclet-sized porcelain veneers.
RYAN: He’s fugly.
CAROLINE: But the guy who plays the friend is way hot, and he should have played the romantic leading man. I have spoken.
RYAN: I agree. Had they switched those actors, all would have been well with this film.
CAROLINE: Wellll…let’s be real now. It wasn’t a very good script.
RYAN: Ok fine, the script sucked. Bottom line?
CAROLINE: I really wanted to like this movie, as you well know. And while it wasn’t a miserable movie-going experience, it was definitely way too long for a romantic dramedy, and it should have ended a half an hour before it did. And you never really know where the movie is going. It doesn’t have a sense of purpose. And some of what happens is truly preposterous.
RYAN: There were moments where I felt like I didn’t know what I was supposed to be rooting for or caring about in this movie. It had a random lack of predictability and overall strangeness to it. And the soundtrack was awful – I didn’t like any of the songs in it. But at the end of the day, I was entertained and I enjoyed this film.
CAROLINE: I’m with you in the sense that I love Jennifer Garner and I really thought she played her part as well as could be expected. But there were a lot of weaknesses in this movie, and it’s just kind of a strange story.
RYAN: And as our friend Jessica, who joined us for this screening, said, “I wanted to be caught but please unhook me and release me.”
COSMO: Shout out to Jessica’s Pops on the Upper West!
RYAN: Yes, Cosmo saw this movie with us too.