Tag: Rashida Jones

THE INVITE (2026)

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Directed By: Olivia Wilde

Written By: Rashida Jones & Will McCormack

Based on the Motion Picture “SENTIMENTAL” By: Cesc Gay

Cinematography: Adam Newport-Berra

Editor: Anthony Boys and Yorgos Mavropsaridis

Cast: Olivia Wilde, Penelope Cruz, Seth Rogen, Edward Norton

Joe and Angela’s marriage is on thin ice. When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbors for a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places.

This movie reminded me of something rather embarrassing. I have never been to a dinner party.

I’ve always wanted to be invited to one. Maybe one day, if I ever have a place of my own, I’ll throw one myself. Until then, all I really know about dinner parties comes from movies, television, and books. If they’re anything like this one… sign me up. Hopefully just with slightly less emotional damage.

This feels like a genuine comeback for Olivia Wilde as a director. It reminds you just how talented she is when she’s focused less on genre and spectacle, and more on people. Relationships, insecurities, attraction, jealousy, longing, you know those messy little emotions that make us human.

The film is a loving throwback to the intimate relationship dramas that flourished from the 1960s through the 1980s. You can immediately feel the DNA of WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOLFE and BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE. It’s refreshing to see a movie made for adults that lets conversations become the action.

The smartest thing the film does is invite you into the story without revealing its hand. Whether you know the premise or go in completely blind, you’re pulled in by the seductive setup and the chemistry between the characters. As the evening unfolds, what begins as playful curiosity slowly transforms into something heavier, more emotionally revealing, and surprisingly tense. Yet the film always keeps a sense of humor tucked away in its back pocket.

Every actor is working at the top of their game, and each performance is an essential ingredient in what makes the film work.

Olivia Wilde is especially impressive, both behind and in front of the camera. She plays the anxious, seemingly ordinary half of a married couple stuck in a comfortable rut with Seth Rogen. It’s fascinating watching the dynamic evolve. To each other they’ve become familiar, almost invisible. But through someone else’s eyes, they suddenly become attractive again. The film cleverly explores how desire and perception change depending on who’s looking.

The entire movie feels like a beautifully staged play. I honestly assumed it was an original screenplay because it feels so confident and distinct. Finding out it’s actually adapted from a foreign film that’s already been remade several times was surprising. Even so, this version feels completely fresh and confidently stands on its own.

It’s bold without trying too hard. Provocative without becoming cynical. Underneath all the awkwardness, emotional chaos, and uncomfortable conversations is an oddly wholesome innocence about people simply wanting to reconnect with themselves, their partners, and the lives they’ve built.

At times the film almost plays like an emotional thriller. There isn’t a killer hiding in the house, just vulnerability, desire, regret, and the fear of saying the quiet part out loud. Somehow that’s even more suspenseful.

Even the soundtrack echoes the films that inspired it. It captures that sophisticated, simmering mood where something has been bubbling beneath the surface all evening, and you’re simply waiting for it to finally boil over.

The Invite is funny, sexy, awkward, revealing, and emotionally honest. It’s the kind of intelligent adult drama Hollywood used to make all the time and one I hope becomes fashionable again.

Grade: A 

LITTLE BLACK BOOK (2004)

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Directed By: Nick Hurran 
Written By: Melissa Carter and Elisa Bell
Cinematography: Theo Van De Sande
Editor: John Richards 

Cast: Brittany Murphy, Holly Hunter, Ron Livingston, Kathy Bates, Julianne Nicholson, Kevin Sussman, Stephen Tobolowsky, Rashida Jones, Josie Maran, Sharon Lawrence, Cress Williams, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jason Antoon, Gavin Rossdale, Dave Annabale 

A woman snoops through her boyfriend’s palm pilot and reveals his former girlfriends, which causes her to question why they’re still listed in his little black book.

This could have been an effective comedy. If it maybe had gone more silly, slapstick and screwball. As the film has an interesting premise though film offers very little follow-through on that promise.

This plays like one of those disposable movies. One where you can tell everyone involved put in a minimal amount of effort to earn their paychecks.

The late Brittany Murphy seems like she is too tired to put up much energy or even too much of a performance and seems to be just coasting on her cuteness here like a young Sandra Bullock. As we know she can do better than what she can usually do with a role like this. She just seems like she is held back here. In one of the few starring roles, she got she never seemed to showcase what made her so endearing in her supporting roles. 

Ron Livingston’s character is supposed to be this dream boyfriend, but he comes off as charmless.

The talk show she works on is horrible. The way it ties into the story could have been used more creatively.

The film isn’t even really a romantic comedy it’s more a character comedy where an annoying woman learns that feeding her fears will only lead to the worst possible scenario and has to learn self-worth. That she is enough and that anyone she is I. A relationship is lucky enough to have her and also for her to be not as trusting. 

In the end, the film just seems to be about manipulation and treachery. The characters of his ex-girlfriends are one-dimensional and come off as cruel caricatures except for Julianne Nicholson’s character. Who also wisely gets most of the screen time. She comes through as a real character even though they seem to be setting her up as a victim. Maybe if the roles were reversed and the movie was about her and Brittany Murphy’s character was one of his exes. This would have worked but alas there One goes thinking again.

Here was a chance to make an original comedic character or an original romantic comedy with some satire about media and models. As even the model ex-girlfriend never comes off as a girlfriend more like a one-night stand or friend with benefits, but certainly not a girlfriend. The less said about Rashida Jones’s character of the gynecologist the better.

Even the ever-dependable holly hunter is a let down maybe because her last-minute character ark is surprising but truly comes from nowhere. Maybe it’s because she wasn’t directed to play a believable person, More a plot point and the script is so haywire her character is like crossed wires short-circuiting.

What is most disappointing is that the film has a heavy-hitting cast and the material is so forgettable and seems more of the time. That it seemed outdated by the time it hit theaters.

Here was a chance to make a slapstick film with elements of the hardships of women working in the industry and being successful and in the end, it became more about jealousy and backstabbing to a degree.

This Movie Is A definite skip. The only reason it’s not a complete failure was Julianne Nicholson’s character who Deserves better the character and the actress.

Grade: F

CELESTE AND JESSE FOREVER (2012)

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Directed By: Lee Toland Krieger 
Written By: Rashida Jones & Will McCormack 
Cinematography By: David Lanzenberg 
Editor: Yana Gorskaya 

Cast: Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Ari Graynor, Eric Christian Olsen, Chris Messina, Emma Roberts, Elijah Wood, Rob Huebel, Will McCormack, Joel Michaely, Chris D’elia, Rich Sommer, Janel Parrish, Rebecca Dayan 

Celeste and Jesse have been best friends forever. They dated in high school, got married, and now they’re getting divorced. Their best friends don’t think they can maintain their friendship throughout the dissolution of their marriage, but Celeste and Jesse don’t think there will be a problem. But that’s before Jesse gets into a relationship that Celeste doesn’t think he can handle, and Celeste finds it harder to move on than she originally thought.

This is a hipster romantic comedy, because as it seems to use it’s style and story as a sense of individuality. It also feels pretty basic.

The film revolving around life after the happy ever after Scenario and dropping it from a dream-like existence to a harsh reality while keeping it light is a welcome touch.

I will admit a bias as to being a fan of Rashida Jones. Who is luminous and who I applaud for making her character kind of complex by being the controlling type and not apologizing for it. While also being brave enough to be fearless and show herself in a non-flattering light as well as displaying her character’s more embarrassing misdirections.

She co-wrote the screenplay which has her playing what seems to be her type in many of her roles, but here allows us to see the person and depth of that character for once. She really makes it work and come through.  This is one of the new breeds of romantic comedies that I am thankful for not swimming In sentimentality and having beats that feel real where you don’t know how to react and moments that feel truthful though through the whole endeavor the film keeps a light comedic tone.

It’s also nice to see Andy Samberg play more of a straight role and not be a goofy type. His humor here comes through but comes off as more charming than anything.

The subplot with Emma Roberts seems a little unnecessary as it feels more like satire and just needed a new character to kind of tell her about herself and for her to actually take it under consideration.

For all the winning pieces that the film has the one problem I have is the direction style while I applaud trying to make scenes moody and artistic. it also comes off as pretentious and distracting. Using a lot of styles when it’s not really needed comes off more like an extra dressing when not that much was needed. I could see if the material was thin or the film asked us to read more into it through visuals, but all we need is pretty much conveyed through action, dialogue, and performances.

So the camera work seems like it’s trying to cover up for something lacking which the film isn’t really. Maybe it was the director liking to have a bunch of coverage or having a chip on his shoulder trying to masquerade its Limited budget. Which is a game as I have enjoyed the director’s previous film THE VICIOUS KIND so much. He still has made a good movie here it just feels like he went a little overboard in trying to be subtle.

I like this film even at times when it feels like it is trying too hard to impress, where it seems nothing can be basic it all seems like it has to be cool for some kind of mass appeal to the audience. The film isn’t shallow, bit you will only discover that if you Give it a chance

Grade: B-

CUBAN FURY (2014)

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CUBAN

 

Directed By: James Griffiths
Written By: Jon Brown
Based On An Original Idea By: Nick Frost
Cinematography By: Dick Pope
Editor: Jonathan Amos 


 Cast: Nick Frost, Rashida Jones, Chris O’Dowd, Ian McShane, Olivia Colman, Rory Kinnear, Steve Oram, Alexandra Roach, Kayvan Novak

1987: A 13 year old natural born dancer with fire in his heels and snakes in his hips is working himself up to explode all over the UK Junior Salsa Championships. But then: a freakish bullying incident on the mean streets of London robs him of his confidence, and our young hero finds his life diverted down a very different path. So it is that 22 years later, an adult Bruce Garrett finds himself out-of-shape and unloved – trapped in a downward spiral of self-pity, repression and Nando’s take-outs. Only Julia, his smart, funny, gorgeous new American boss, gives him reason to live. But she’s untouchable. Out of his league, so he imagines, with her perfect smile and perfect life. Unknown to Bruce however, Julia has issues all of her own. Luckily for him, she also has a secret passion. Then there’s Drew, his alpha male colleague and horny king-monkey of the office. With Drew making no secret of his desire to get (his words) “all up inside Julia”, Bruce is forced into action. And thus, Bruce is once again brought face-to-face with the darkest and most powerful of his inner demons. Somehow, someway, and with a lot of hand-holding from loyal sister Sam Bruce must learn how to unshackle his dancing beast, regain his long lost fury and claim the love of his life…and he’s going to do it all On The Dance Floor…

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