Film: The Switch (2010)

Thank goodness, a rom-com that deviates off the track beaten by the thousand or so other films with the same story. This film oozes sweetness in the form of Thomas Robinson who is brilliant as the neurotic son of Jennifer Aniston's Kassie, a 40 year old woman who has decided to have a child via a sperm donor. Here's where the 'switch' is involved. Kassie best friend Wally makes the drucken decision of switching the sperm of her desired donor with his own. Let the fun begin!
With a comedy cast including the ironic Jeff Goldblum and Juliette Lewis as Kassie's ditsy friends the laughs in this film are subtley understated.
Jennifer Aniston looks fantastic for her age and is perfect in this role of a strong female lead. She and Jason Bateman have a great dialogue and rapport. Their performances are engrossing and have a lot of depth.
If you are tired of the same old rom-com, this film despite retaining the rom-com trend is definately one to watch.

Related Links:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0889573/

http://www.miramax.com/theswitch/

Film: The Last Airbender (2010)

"Avatar: The Last Airbender" was my favourite cartoon as a kid. Unfortunately, despite the skill of M. Night Shyamalan the film falls short of the mark. The story of the film is the plot from the first series of the cartoon and is set to be made into a trilogy. There are definitely touches of the directors' genius particularly in the filming of the martial arts, and the visual effects which are impressive and not over used. The sets were beautiful and once the adventure started it was engrossing and enjoyable.
However, the use of the 'Star wars' style word scroll at the beginning was not good, particularly as it was also read aloud by one of the characters who occasionally narrates. This really worked for the cartoon but I found it annoying, as if I was being spoon-fed the story instead of shown. Lines lifted directly from the cartoon also did not work in the hands of actors and the comedic moments were often passed over with barely any emphasis. The scriptwriter seemed to forget those who had originally watched the cartoon would now be 16/17/18 years old and the excessive use of the word 'bender' on its own was bound to cause ridicule.
Ironically it was the exiled Prince Zuko, played by the brilliant Dev Patel, and his Uncle Iroh (Shaun Toub), who captured my compassion and interest. I warmed to the other characters over the course of the film but would suggest that unless you were a fan of the cartoon or are around 10 years old this film is probably not for you.
Although I was not blown away, the original story is unique and holds a special place in my heart so to say that i didn't enjoy it would be a lie but I will not be adding it into my top ten.

Related Links:

Film Website: http://www.thelastairbendermovie.com/last-airbender-movie.html

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0938283/

http://www.thelastairbendermovie.com/

Film: Knight & Day (2010)

Well, you may not be able to see where the pun title comes from but this rom-com is definately a gem. Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise sparkle with chemistry and in their individual roles, both brilliant at comedy and action.

Despite his age and his characters odd behaviour, Tom Cruise fills the role of heart-throb perfectly and Cameron Diaz's slightly naive, action girl is just as great as ever.

This is the type of film that the critics pan forgetting that the main point of a film is that it is enjoyable not that it ticks a load of boxes. You can expect great laughs and fun but a completely wild story. The action sequences are superb and there is even a mysterious aspect to this adventure and of course, the scriptwriter's device of drugging the main characters to get around any slight plot difficulties .

Related Links:

Film Website: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox/knightandday/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1013743/

http://www.foxmovies.com/