Posts Tagged ‘Brian Cox’

Short Take: Has plenty of chuckles, but lacks any true wit

Director: Jay Roach

Screenwriters: Chris Henchy, Shawn Harwell

Cast: Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Sarah Baker, Dylan McDermott, Jason Sudeikis, John Lithgow, Dan Aykroyd, Brian Cox

Length: 1h 25m

Synopsis: Cam Brady (Ferrell) has had three consecutive terms as the congressman of North Carolina and is running to be re-elected for a fourth. Initially running unopposed, a naïve and idealistic milquetoast named Marty Huggins (Galifianakis) throws his hat into the ring with eight weeks before votes are set to be cast. Unbeknownst to Marty, his financial backers known as the Motch Brothers (John Lithgow and Dan Aykroyd) are attempting to turn Marty into their puppet, trading his political success for signatures ratifying a plan that will effectively sell a portion of North Carolina to the Chinese. Desperate to keep his office, Cam decides to pull out all the stops and fight the dirtiest, nastiest campaign he can. With the help of a mysterious campaign manager named Mr. Wattley (McDermott) Marty is able to fight back just as hard, and before too long both candidates’ worlds spin wildly out of control. The race is neck and neck up until election night, but does either candidate deserve to win?

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Short Take: A surprisingly heartfelt story that should impress even its biggest skeptics

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Screenwriters: Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver

Cast: James Franco, Andy Serkis, John Lithgow, Freida Pinto, Brian Cox, David Oyelowo, Tom Felton

Length: 1h 45m

Synopsis: Dr. Rodman (Franco) is a scientist working to create a drug that will cure Alzheimer’s by re-growing the brain cells lost by the disease. To perfect his compound he must experiment on primates like chimps, which are physiologically similar to humans in most respects. With one chimp in particular, named Caesar, the compound works to actually improve his brain functions, boosting his intelligence tenfold. Despite this breakthrough, however, Rodman must continue his work with Caesar in secret after the same compound was wrongly believed to have had dangerously negative effects on another chimp. Years pass as Rodman proceeds to raise Caesar like a child, rearing him into a highly functional being that may hold the key to countless scientific advancements. Unfortunately, Caesar’s natural maturation eventually begins to conflict with his upbringing, and while he longs to stay with the only father he’s ever known he also has an unyielding need to be free. And as it so happens, “free” in this case means more than just living independently.

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