"Table 19" brings the (mis)adventures of Eloise. As the movie opens, Eloise is hesitating whether to "accept with pleasure" or to "decline with regret" a wedding invitation she just received. In the end she decides to go. She hesitated because she was just dumped, via text no less we later learn, by her boyfriend Teddy, whose sister is getting hitched. Along the way, Eloise is also relegated from sitting at Table 1 (with the bride and groom) to Table 19, a table in the back corner. At Table 19, there are 5 other people, including the bride's nanny, a bickering wedded couple, and a guy who is in a halfway house for stealing. At this point we are 10 min. into the movie, but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this movie was originally scheduled to be directed by Mark and Jay Duplass, who co-wrote the script. It ended up being directed by Jeffrey Blitz (best known for directing "The Office" TV series. The Duplass involvement gave me confidence to hope that this would be a worthwhile, if not quite straight up (that's how the Duplass brothers operate), comedy with a romantic undertone. Boy, was I wrong. The movie centers on the ensemble cast that make up Table 19, but unfortunately, at no point did I felt emotionally connected or invested in these characters. Worse yet, the movie is simply not funny. I didn't laugh a single time the entire movie, so for a movie that is billed as a comedy, that is a problem. In fact, about half-way through the movie, when the action finally steers away from the wedding dinner/reception, we get to understand some of the background of the ensemble cast, and the movie takes a turn toward sadness. Check out the bickering wedded couple, played by Lisa Kudrow and Craig Robinson: you just feel sorry for them. Anna Kendrick, who plays Eloise, can do no wrong in my book, but even she cannot save the movie, After yet another mishap, she retreats to the bathroom to freshen up, and as she looks at herself in the mirror, she tries to pep herself up and says "this day will not suck!", but you know that it will... Same thing at that point as far as the movie goes, as you want to yell at the screen "this movie will not suck!", but by then you deep down already know this is a lost cause. Thankfully the movie clears away some of the sad undercurrents, so that in the end we end up with something that is bittersweet, but I'll leave it to you to decide whether it's more bitter or more sweet. In the end, I felt hugely disappointed with this film, considering the involvement of the Duplass brothers and Anna Kendrick.
"Table 19" opened this weekend on a handful of screens for all of Greater Cincinnati. The Sunday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended poorly. Six people in the theater, including myself. Given the dismal reviews this movie is getting, I can't see this playing very long in the theaters. If you are a fan of Anna Kendrick or even Lisa Kudrow, you want want to check this out on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, but keep your expectations low...
Couple of comments: this movie was originally scheduled to be directed by Mark and Jay Duplass, who co-wrote the script. It ended up being directed by Jeffrey Blitz (best known for directing "The Office" TV series. The Duplass involvement gave me confidence to hope that this would be a worthwhile, if not quite straight up (that's how the Duplass brothers operate), comedy with a romantic undertone. Boy, was I wrong. The movie centers on the ensemble cast that make up Table 19, but unfortunately, at no point did I felt emotionally connected or invested in these characters. Worse yet, the movie is simply not funny. I didn't laugh a single time the entire movie, so for a movie that is billed as a comedy, that is a problem. In fact, about half-way through the movie, when the action finally steers away from the wedding dinner/reception, we get to understand some of the background of the ensemble cast, and the movie takes a turn toward sadness. Check out the bickering wedded couple, played by Lisa Kudrow and Craig Robinson: you just feel sorry for them. Anna Kendrick, who plays Eloise, can do no wrong in my book, but even she cannot save the movie, After yet another mishap, she retreats to the bathroom to freshen up, and as she looks at herself in the mirror, she tries to pep herself up and says "this day will not suck!", but you know that it will... Same thing at that point as far as the movie goes, as you want to yell at the screen "this movie will not suck!", but by then you deep down already know this is a lost cause. Thankfully the movie clears away some of the sad undercurrents, so that in the end we end up with something that is bittersweet, but I'll leave it to you to decide whether it's more bitter or more sweet. In the end, I felt hugely disappointed with this film, considering the involvement of the Duplass brothers and Anna Kendrick.
"Table 19" opened this weekend on a handful of screens for all of Greater Cincinnati. The Sunday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended poorly. Six people in the theater, including myself. Given the dismal reviews this movie is getting, I can't see this playing very long in the theaters. If you are a fan of Anna Kendrick or even Lisa Kudrow, you want want to check this out on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, but keep your expectations low...