Word: humoredly
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Devil's Advocate, despite its acerbic humor and visual style, is nothing like "Scream," which set the new standard for all horror or semi-horror flicks. Though the very premise of this film involves a satirical jab at the legal profession, the movie doesn't ultimately match the sly wit of Scream or the films from which it borrows. The ending, in trying to be both clever and moralistic, comes off as manipulative and uninspired--in other words, too conventionally Hollywood. It's a huge let-down after a fun build...
Fans of Martin's own particular brand of humor in his T.V. and movie roles will feel right at home here, since the tone and style of humor in Picasso match that of Martin's film roles. As a comic playwright, Martin uses many, if not most of the tricks in the book, including characters' conversing with the audience and openly referring to the play they're in, and ample use of smoke and explosions...
Martin also gamely tries to add depth to Picasso by exploring such universal themes as love, inspiration and the beauty of science. Unfortunately, sometimes the shift from the ridiculous to the sublime can be jarring, as the play occasionally moves from absurd humor to would-be-profound statements in a single line, interrupting the flow of the play. Several times, a string of non-stop jokes is followed by a crisis of realization which feels strained and unnatural. Martin, does, however, make some good points, and his effort to address more thought-provoking issues does broaden the scope...
...grainy dysfunctional-family drama that seems to be aiming for a Chekhovian blend of humor and pathos, but falls far short of the mark. Its saving grace is solid ensemble acting, and Julianne Moore and "ER" darling Noah Wyle hold their own as the two central characters who make Thanksgiving squirmily uncomfortable with their barely-concealed resentment toward their tacitum and enigmatic father (Roy Scheider of "Jaws" fame). Unfortunately, none of the characters here are given enough depth or dimension to earn any true empathy...
Thanks to the recent surge of self-help and spiritual renewal literature, humor "writers" now have even more fodder with which to antagonize the "battle of the sexes." A grand favorite of this genre is the "girls rule, boys drool" pseudo-feminist text, as well as the male role-reversal counterpart, in which one gender is blasted incessantly in the hopes that the opposite sex will cry, "It's true!" between shrieks of laughter. Two recent addition to these battle, Macho Meditations: Daily Thoughts and Inspirations for Real Men and The Guys' Guide to Guys' Videos: The First Video Guide...