FILM REVIEW OF ''PASSENGERS" (2016)

The adventurous science fiction romance “Passengers” (** OUT OF ****), starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, contains an initially appetizing premise.  An enormous spaceship carrying 5000 passengers and a crew of 250, all of whom are asleep in hibernation pods for the 120-year journey through space to colonize another Earth-like planet, encounters complications with an asteroid field and a malfunction opens one of the pods.   Our unfortunate hero awakens to find himself alone aboard the spacecraft with luxurious accommodations and recreational facilities, but he cannot resume his sleep no matter what he tries.  Imagine being trapped all alone aboard a vessel reminiscent either of Douglas Adams’ novel “Starship Titanic” or Grant Naylor’s novel “Red Dwarf” cruising on auto-pilot through the icy desolation of the galaxy with nobody to turn to for relief and assistance.  No matter what he does, our hero cannot get a response from anybody about his ordeal.  Moreover, he won’t interact with another human until the ship enters orbit around its destination in 90 years!  Indeed, the only thing that he can do is share his anguish with an oblivious android that mixes alcoholic beverages behind the bar and indulge in the recreational outlets aboard the ship.  “Imitation Game” director Morten Tyldum and “Prometheus” scenarist Jon Spaihts synthesize the classic films “Sleeping Beauty” and “Titanic” in this promising ‘what-if’ scenario, but the characters aren’t as compelling as the life and death crisis with which they must contend.  Chiefly, Jennifer Lawrence’s highly-strung, leading lady spends more time screaming than scheming, while the Chris Pratt hero tangles with a fate so tragic that he conducts himself in an ethically compromising manner that haunts him.  Some of the obstacles that they confront are genuinely exciting, but “Passengers” amounts to a thoroughly predictable yarn riddled with plot holes that neither Tyldum and Spaihts nor Lawrence and Pratt can triumph over in this 116-minute, PG-13 rated opus.  Ultimately, when you consider everything that everybody could have done to improve this flawed film, it is really a shame that “Passengers” doesn’t live up to its potential.

Basically, “Passengers” reminded me of those adventures that intrepid pilgrims embarked upon to enter a promised land for a better life.  Jim Preston (Chris Pratt of “Guardians of the Galaxy”) is a middle-class, mechanical engineer who cannot find his fortune on a vastly overpopulated planet Earth, so he books passage aboard the lavishly appointed corporate ferry Avalon for a faraway place designated Homestead II.  There are two things that you should know from the outset about “Passengers.”  First, this sci-fi saga occurs so far into the future that all the guess work in space travel appears to have been accounted for by scientists so that nothing can possibly go wrong.  Second, our hero and heroine don’t contend with menacing alien creatures out to make a meal of them.  Humanity is the only race that inhabits this half-baked escapade that wears out its welcome long before the Avalon reaches its destination.  During the first 30 or so minutes, Jim Preston struggles to amuse himself aboard this spectacular spaceship.  Some things about the craft are really cool.  As it plies its way through the universe, this sophisticated, state-of-the-art spaceship has been designed to travel on auto-pilot with a huge, invisible shield deployed like a huge nose-cone to deflect anything perilous in its path. The asteroid field that it smashes its way through during the first few minutes evokes memories of “Titanic,” but the toll that the asteroid field takes on the Avalon doesn’t create problems right away.  After he awakens, Preston takes advantage of all the opportunities that the ship offers.  As it turns out, the hibernation pods are scheduled to open during the last leg of the voyage, with the crew awakening months prior to the passengers so they can prepare them for disembarkation.  When Jim isn’t floating in alcohol, he tries to break into the bridge where the crew sleeps.  Meantime, Jim browses through the passenger database and finds Aurora and admires her in her translucent hibernation pod.  Eventually, about a year later, Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence of “The Hunger Games”) joins Jim, and the fate that they are facing horrifies her.  Jim has done everything that she suggests later to extricate them from their predicament. 

Initially, like all romantic movies, time takes a toll on Jim and Aurora’s relationship, especially the conditions that prompted their rendezvous in space.  We learn Aurora is a writer who wants to experience life first-hand on Homestead II and then return to Earth so she can write the first book about the experience.  Unlike Jim, Aurora purchased a higher priced ticket and enjoys all the features of a first-class passenger. You can see the resemblance between “Passengers” and the Leonardo DiCaprio & Kate Winslet “Titanic.” 

Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt generate enough charisma to make a sympathetic couple. Nevertheless, they can only do so many things before “Passengers” exhausts its spontaneity. The closest thing to another human is friendly android bartender Arthur (Michael Sheen of “TRON: Legacy”) that polishes glasses, mixes drinks, and listens to them.  You can figure out where “Passengers” is bound with its cliché-riddled ‘boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back’ plot.  Once Jim and Aurora have broken up, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that something bigger must happen for them to repair the damage to their relationship.  They must reconcile themselves and then figure out how to repair the catastrophic damage to the Avalon as it steadily deteriorates because of the asteroid field encounter.  Lawrence and Pratt are more interesting than the one-dimensional characters that they portray. The arrival of another character to straighten things out doesn’t really help matters in Spaihts’ by-the-numbers screenplay.  For the record, Hollywood has been struggling to develop this project for about a decade.  Initially, Keanu Reeves and Reese Witherspoon were cast to play the two lovers, but scheduling difficulties derailed that enterprise. You won’t get carried away with “Passengers.”

FILM REVIEW OF ''THE HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET" (2012)

What was “Hunger Games” actress Jennifer Lawrence thinking when she signed on to star in the lightweight but bizarre chick flick horror chiller “House at the End of the Street?”  Perhaps Jennifer’s agent convinced her to make it to keep her busy while the producers of both “The Hunger Games” and “The X-Men” were preparing their next sequels.  Indeed, anybody could have played the character of Elissa.  A year or two ago this would have been a plum role for Amanda Seyfried.  Although she brings her good looks and charisma to the character of Elissa, Lawrence looks like she is biding time with this above-average, atmospheric potboiler. Meantime, Elizabeth Shue, cast as her mom, and Max Thieriot, cast as a troubled young man, look like they were born to play their roles.  The rest of the cast is believable, especially Gil Bellows as a small-town cop, Nolan Gerald Funk as a despicable high school playboy, and Allie MacDonald as our heroine’s closest high school friend.  Incidentally, “House at the End of the Street” (**1/2 OUT OF ****) has nothing to do with either the Jodie Foster epic “The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane” or director Ruggero Deodato’s grisly Italian-made movie “The House on the Edge of the Park.”

“Hush” director Mark Tonderai must have been channeling Alfred Hitchcock as well as Wes Craven when “Dream House” scripter David Loucka and he made this movie about suspicious characters in a rustic setting.  Indeed, a little bit of Hitchcock’s classic “Psycho” creeps into this edgy offering.  Similarly, the choices made the heroine evokes memories of the Wes Craven movie “The People Under the Stairs.”  Like most horror movies, the filmmakers play head games with the audience during the first hour before they shoot the works.  You never really know what is occurring in this surprising, often disorienting saga, even when you think you know what is happening.  Happily, “House at the End of the Street” isn’t the kind of scary movie that will curse you with nightmares, much less throttle your throat with icy fingers of tension while you’re watching it.  Tonderai’s film won’t have you either chewing your nails or squirming in your seat until Ms. Lawrence is tied down to a chair in the last half hour of the action.  Everything that occurs before those scenes is basically warm-up material.  You won’t find a scene-stealing, sadistic, maniac like a Freddie, Jason, or Michael Myers here because the killer doesn't don a disguise and mutated into a full-blown killer.

An ugly divorce prompts Dr. Sarah Cassidy (Elizabeth Shue of “Adventures in Babysitting”) and teenage daughter Elissa (Jennifer Lawrence) to move into a house that they might not otherwise have been able to afford had a murder not occurred at a nearby residence.  It seems that an insane child slaughtered her parents one stormy night.  The authorities searched for the murderous girl afterward but never found her.  Word spread that the daughter had drowned in a nearby dam.  Naturally, this unsettling murder lowered property values, and Sarah discovers that she can afford the house.  Sarah had a history as a slut when she was a teen so she is ever vigilant where Elissa is concerned.  Initially, neither Sarah nor Elissa knew that anybody was living in the house where the murders occurred.  As it turns out, their backdoor neighbor is a quiet, well-mannered, but reclusive young fellow named Ryan.  You see, Ryan was the son of the parents who died at the hands of their daughter. Ryan wasn’t living with them at the time of the murder.  Since his parents left him the house as well as enough money for him to attend a community college, Ryan has been living there and trying to avoid the neighbors.

Meantime, Elissa attends a party at another neighbor’s house.  A popular high school jock, Tyler (Nolan Gerard Funk of “Bereavement”), is the son of these neighbors, and they tout his civil-minded exploits at school.  In reality, Tyler is a loathsome reprobate.  During the party, Tyler tries to persuade a reluctant Elissa to have sex with him.  Elissa storms out of the party and walks home.  A storm erupts while she is walking, and Ryan pulls up in his car.  He offers Elissa a ride, but she refuses to accept his offer.  Moments later, the bottom drops out, and Elissa changes her mind.  Afterward, they become close friends, much to the chagrin of Elissa’s mother.  An uneasy Sarah establishes ground rules for them during dinner one evening.  Ryan and Elissa cannot be together alone.  Ryan is willing to abide by these strict rules, but Elissa hates her mom for embarrassing her in front of Ryan.  Elissa reminds Sarah that she is not a slut.  Shrewdly, Elissa programs the family telephone so when mom calls, the call is forwarded to Elissa’s cell phone.  Sarah often has to work late shifts at the hospital. This way Elissa can visit Ryan without Sarah’s interference.

Discretion prevents me from divulging some suspicious things that are happening at Ryan’s house.  Suffice to say, despite his sympathetic demeanor, Ryan is not entirely who he appears to be.  Nevertheless, Elissa likes him, and her mom warns her that she—Elissa—is the kind of girl who tries to mend other people.  In other words, she tries to make them better.  Nobody in the town trusts Ryan, except an affable policeman, Bill Weaver (Gil Bellows), who stands up for the misunderstood youth.  By this time, Tonderai and his writer start making the characters behave idiotically, and “House at the End of the Street” turns into a video rental.  When the revelations come, the source of all the evil turns out to be the parents.  Interestingly enough, our heroine finds herself up to her neck in trouble when she allows her curiosity to get the best of her.  While the villain isn’t as homicidal as Norman Bates was in “Psycho,” he turns out to be a far more interesting character than our valiant heroine.