By Susan Granger
Special to WestportNow
“Deadpool 2” opens on Friday, and this subversive sequel is long, loud — and very funny.
The foul-mouthed, facially disfigured, yet indestructible anti-hero Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is still madly in love with Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and they’re thinking of having a baby, when tragedy strikes. Vengeance is inevitable.
Dressed in form-fitting red-and-black spandex, Wade does battle with the villainous, time-traveling cyborg Cable (Josh Brolin), assembling his X-force crew, including Colossus (Stefan Kapicic), Weasel (TJ Miller), Blind Al (Leslie Uggams), Dopinder (Karan Soni) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), adding sarcastic Domino (Zazie Beetz), a newcomer whose gift is being extremely lucky.
Plus, he’s determined to protect orphaned Russell (Julian Dennison), a troubled teenager who happens to be a fire-fisted mutant and views Wade as a surrogate father figure.
Wisecracking Ryan Reynolds is the creative force behind Deadpool, including co-writing with Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. He’s so delighted that the original is the second-highest-grossing R-rated film, behind “The Passion of the Christ”), that this factoid is used as one of the many in-jokes.
Director David Leitch (“Atomic Blonde”) maintains the action comedy’s irreverent tone, stressing the “F-word,” which now stands for family, along with dozens of pop culture-based references, including referring to Josh Brolin’s Cable as “Thanos,” mocking the role he plays in “Avengers: Infinity War.”
Yes, there are lots of gruesome decapitations and severed limbs, along with self-aware star cameos, like Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), still alive in this timeline, and others that will surprise you — with Celine Dion’s “Ashes” serving as the theme song.
Plus, a running joke that the song “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” from “Frozen” sounds exactly like “Papa, Can You Hear Me?” from “Yentl.” FYI: Barbra Streisand is Josh Brolin’s real-life stepmother.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Deadpool 2” is a smarmy, snarky 7 — with outrageous post-credit scenes — whether you’re a fan of superhero sagas or sick of them.
Actress/producer/co-writer Melissa McCarthy collaborated with her husband/director Ben Falcone on “Life of the Party,” a flaccid, cliché-riddled mom-com, set at (fictional) Decatur University.
It begins as Deanna (McCarthy) and her husband, Dan (Matt Walsh), drop off their daughter Maddie (Molly Gordon) at her sorority house for her senior year. Leaving the campus, Dan tells her he wants a divorce; he’s having an affair with a real estate agent (Julie Bowen) who has already put their house on the market.
After an Uber driver (Ben Falcone) totes her to the home of her parents (Jacki Weaver, Stephen Root), stunned yet spunky, Deanna decides to go back to college to get her archaeology degree since she dropped out during her own senior year for marriage and motherhood.
While Maddie’s understandably a bit dismayed, her sorority sisters adore clueless-but-kind Deanna, accepting her as one of their own. One of the more interesting is known as Coma Girl (Gillian Jacobs) because she was hospitalized for eight years. She’s a math-challenged hoot, along with Deanna’s BFF (Maya Rudolph), who swills wine coolers on the racquetball court.
There are some mocking Mean Girls (Debby Ryan, Yani Simone) and Deanna’s mysteriously agoraphobic, Goth-y roommate (SNL’s Heidi Gardner), but what’s most surprising is Deanna’s hot-to-trot romance with a sweet, wine-loving frat boy Jack (Luke Benward) which has an unexpectedly outrageous twist.
Too bad they never pursued a ripe romance with Deanna’s archaeology professor, (Chris Parnell), instead of wasting a Christina Aguilera celebrity cameo.
It’s become obvious that, while Melissa McCarthy is deliriously happy with Ben Falcone, he’s not her best director, having collaborated on “Tammy” and “The Boss.” Her brassy, bawdy comedy was far more effective under experienced Paul Feig (“Bridesmaids,” “Spy,” “The Heat,” “Ghostbusters.”)
On the Granger Gauge, “Life of the Party” is a floundering, forgettable 4, as McCarthy becomes the party-hearty, class clown.
Westport native Lisa Addario and her husband/screenwriting-directing partner Joe Syracuse came up with a crazy idea: What if a rebellious teenager became the pen-pal of a notorious, Castro-like tyrant of a small Caribbean island nation — and he suddenly arrived on her doorstep?
That’s what happens in “Dear Dictator,” when sullen 16-year-old Tatiana (Odeya Rush) satisfies her social studies teacher’s (Jason Biggs) assignment to “write to a famous person” by choosing Gen. Anton Vincent (Michael Caine), who responds, and a cordial correspondence ensues.
When Gen. Vincent is deposed by U.S.-backed forces, he supposedly disappears. In reality, he seeks refuge in Tatiana’s garage in suburban Savannah, Georgia.
Using her computer to communicate with loyalists, he plots his return to power, while teaching Tatiana how to overthrow her oppressors, the clique of ‘mean girls’ who make her high school life miserable.
“Take out the leaders,” he tells her. “Foment unrest. Assume authority.”
Meanwhile, Tatiana’s single mother, Darlene (Katie Holmes), a love-starved dental hygienist, is having an affair with her creepy boss (Seth Green), a married man with a foot fetish. And there’s another weak subplot involving Tatiana’s Christian Fundamentalist boyfriend (Jackson Beard).
Previously, Lisa Addario and Joe Syracuse wrote “Parental Guidance” with Billy Crystal and Bette Midler and “Amateur Night,” based on Joe’s real-life adventures driving hookers around Los Angeles when Lisa was pregnant with their daughter.
This is their first codirecting gig — and, unfortunately, the pacing/editing isn’t on a par with the writing. Originally titled “Coup D’Etat,” the satire should have been sharper and more subversive. While Michael Caine tries hard, he’s more convincing as Tatiana’s avuncular adviser than ruthless despot.
Coming up is “Scissor Happy,” Lisa Addario’s take on growing up in Westport in the 1980s with three sisters (Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Lynsey, teacher Lauren, and Disney filmmaker Leslie), a real estate agent mother and a gay hairdresser father. She’s a 1986 Staples High School graduate.
On the Granger Gauge, “Dear Dictator” is a farcical 5, now available streaming or on DVD.
(Editor’s Note: Westport resident Susan Granger grew up in Hollywood, studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, she has been on radio/television as an anchorwoman and movie/drama critic for many years. See her reviews at www.susangranger.com.)
