Jumper and Semi-Pro are the two main commercial releases this week. Jumper tells the story of a young man who discovers that he has the ability to teleport to any location. Being a modern self-absorbed kind of guy he naturally spends his time walking in and out of bank vaults and bars leaving a trail of looted stores and notched bed posts. Soon it is revealed that he is one of many people with this ability and that there is a mysterious group out to kill them. This all sounds very exciting but unfortunately it is a bit of a mess and it’s far more fun hanging out with Jamie Bell’s psychotic Griffin than it is to follow Hayden Chistensen’s main character. Ultimately, this is a decent TV pilot that swam out too deep and almost became an movie.
Semi-Pro is merely the latest Will Ferrell loveable loser movie. 
In short it’s better than Talladega Nights, not as good as Anchorman and nowhere near Old School.
Film of the Week is Seth Gordon’s documentary King of Kong. On the surface this is the story of some guys with a little too much time on his hands (says the guy writing a film blog) trying to become the world’s top scoring Donkey Kong player but, look below this and you will find a story of intrigue, obsession and competition. Whilst it is fair to say that this is documentary film making at it’s most narratively ‘tuned’ edge (and you suspect that some people may have been unfairly dealt with by the direct
or) it is hard not to be dragged into this underdog movie. If I’m honest I’ve disparaged other films of this type for their constructed nature but I just couldn’t help but be seduced.
Elsewhere we have gory thriller WAZ and the new Ryan Reynolds’ rom-com Definitly Maybe plus Kidulthood being given the ’special edition’ treatment ahead of the arrival of the sequel Adulthood… but of most interest is The Exonerated. This is a filmed version of Erik Jensen and Jessica Blank’s play concerning people convicted for murder then… err… exonerated. Whilst this might not sound like a fun piece of entertainment it is well worth checking out for the basic, sparse presentation and a veritable feast of great actors.
Have a good week.
