"You had me at Hello", "You complete me", "Show me the money!" - Oscar-winning filmmaker Cameron Crowe has penned some cinematic gems in his time.
His CV includes some truly memorable films – Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire and the just wonderful Say Anything. More recently however, we've had the entirely forgettable Elizabethtown, We Bought a Zoo and now, dear lord give me strength - Aloha.
The degree of disappointment must always be factored into any enjoyment of the final product.
Whether the trailer is great (most definitely in this case), whether you're a fan of either the filmmaker or his chosen cast (ditto), these things can hype you up. So when the final credits roll, and you realise you've been unfathomably let down, it does tend to inflame the sensibilities just a little.
Aloha is essentially two films in one, one of which makes NO sense, and bears almost no relevance to the other, and the other being a Days of our Lives style cornball romance.
Bradley Cooper is Brian, returning to Hawaii as a private contractor after years in the military and on a top secret mission. He returns to many memories, none of them good.
Emma Stone is his military attaché Allison, charged with monitoring his every move. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out what happens there.
Rachel McAdams is Brian's jilted ex-girlfriend Tracy, now married with kids to one of his best friends (John Krasinski).
All that romantic baggage is unpacked against the backdrop of Brian's "top secret mission", heavily-laden with and woefully mistreating Hawaiian myth and legend in the process.
Much is said, or not said, none of which makes a huge amount of sense, and all of which left me checking my watch praying the film would end.
The cast does its best with this unfortunate collection of characters - but not one of them comes out of this looking good, not even Bill Murray can save us.
There are a few moments when this shambles of a script entertains, but not only are those Spartan moments ALL in the trailer, they are simply just lost in a sea of ham-fisted silliness and dross.
Gutted.
One-and-a-half stars.
3 News
Aloha
:: Director: Cameron Crowe
:: Starring: Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, Bill Murray, Ivana Milicevic, John Krasinski, Jay Baruchel, Alec Baldwin, Danny McBride
:: Running Time: 105 minutes
:: Release Date: June 4, 2015
source: newshub archive
