Rose Byrne is Hot and Funny and Hot

Every Rose has its Byrne

So yeah, Rose Byrne. We talked about her this past week in ‘Bridesmaids’ and I have a hunch we’ll be talking about her again this upcoming week in ‘X-Men: First Class.” The thing I like about her is that she has a nice range as an actress. Range, I said range people. She lent some gravitas to ’28 Weeks Later’ and Danny Boyle’s little-seen but worth-seeing “Sunshine.” I have not seen ‘Damages’ but she was solid in recent fright flick ‘Insidious’ until that movie went off the rails into ‘Poltergeist’ parody.

I don’t think she’s given enough credit for her comedic delivery, however. And even though she’s in a comedy like ‘Bridesmaids’ she plays more the straight foil to Kristen Wiig’s comedic cyclone.

Here then is a little video of Ms. Byrne doing a line reading as Jackie Q in ‘Get Him to the Greek,’ a movie that really had only one thing going for it. Namely, the performance of one Rose Byrne.

Because of the language, it’s more than a little NSFW, but I hope you’ll agree it proves that she can do funny with the best of them.

Everything Must Go Review

Just about sums it up

There was a recurring joke on 30 Rock this past season where Tracy Jordan was doing publicity for a well-received independent movie he had done called Hard to Watch. It is the story, made progressively more unrealistic for comedic purposes, of a man who is down and out and not able to catch a break. Hard to Watch would have been a more accurate title for Will Ferrell’s new movie, Everything Must Go, not because it is a poorly made film, but rather because its frank portrayal of a man hitting rock bottom is not easy to see.

Ferrell plays Nick Halsey whom we are introduced to on the worst day of his life. He starts out being fired from a job that he has held for 16 years for an incident involving drinking on a business trip. It is also here that we see that mots of Nick’s problems stem from a serious drinking problem that he has dealt with for more than a few years. The company has apparently been fairly patient with him over the last decade, but this final incident became too much. Nick most likely warrants being fired, but he most likely does not warrant being treated like a temp by his younger boss, played by Glenn Howerton. Nick’s first stop after leaving work of course is to the liquor store. Only after he gets home does he see all of his belongings on his front lawn and realize that his wife has also kicked him out of the house. I think the logical next step for anyone who has seen themselves lose their job, their house, and their wife in the same day is to take a few moments to see how they arrived at this junction. Nick however chooses to drown himself in beer and we see that this is most likely his solution to everything.

Along the way, we are introduced to a neighborhood boy (Kenny) who takes a shine to Nick for lack of anything better to do, a new neighbor (Samantha) who appears to be having some trouble of her own, and Nick’s detective sponsor (Frank) who is quasi-helpful, but also strangely aloof. All of these people play roles of varying importance in this turning point for Nick. Kenny is drawn to Nick initially because he has nothing better to do or anyone to keep him company. His mother is at work much of the time and he does not appear to have any friends to speak of which makes the moment when he asks Nick if they are friends so genuine. It is an easy moment to pass over if you are not paying attention, but you get the sense that as broken as Nick is, he has done a good thing by becoming Kenny’s friend. Samantha has traveled cross-country to start anew with her husband who is nowhere to be found because he has not made the journey himself as of yet. Nick is drawn to her because she too is alone and though she doesn’t show it initially, is at a crossroads herself. I don’t think it is a coincidence that we never meet Nick’s wife or Samantha’s husband and it has nothing to do with any romantic feelings that might crop up between the two. Nick sees in Samantha a woman who is afraid to admit that her marriage is going through some serious problems and he knows first-hand the path that those problems can take when left unresolved. Frank, Nick’s sponsor is attempting to be helpful, but seems standoffish at the same time. Initially it seems as though, like most of the people in Nick’s life, he has just gotten sick with having to deal with Nick’s relapses. Isn’t that what a good sponsor does though? Help their friend through no matter what? Frank does so, but almost seems forced in some respects as if he is waiting to tell Nick how he really feels.

The bottom line for Nick Halsey is that he is a good guy with a serious problem. We are rooting for him because of this, but at some points even we start to get a little tired of him and so it becomes easier to see why both his employer and wife have as well. When Nick runs out of money and as such, alcohol, he goes on a tirade and eventually tells Samantha to face the fact that her marriage is failing though really it is just at a turning point. That is the difference between them at this point. Nick sees his life as a failure and Samantha comes to realize it as a fork in the road. I think one of the most important scenes in the film is when he goes to visit an old high school friend, Laura Dern, because she wrote something positive about him in his high school yearbook twenty years ago. Even she can tell that Nick has some serious issues to deal with, but she reminds him of a story from high school about his helping her out for no reason other than she needed help. In one of the more poignant moments of the movie, she tells him that having a good heart doesn’t change.

Nick eventually realizes that it is time to start over and that means getting rid of the belongings that he has built up over the years and that are now deposited on his front lawn. The symbolism of his “stuff” is an interesting choice as obviously he must start from scratch in order to move forward with his life. Nick of course does get rid of nearly everything, even most of the items that he couldn’t bring himself to part with for most of the film. Kenny gets a baseball signed by the 1978 New York Yankees, his jackass and perverted neighbor played by Stephen Root gets a crate of Playboys, and Samantha gets the most important gift of all, his father’s old records. During the film we come to see through some anecdotes and even a home movie that his father was an alcoholic as well and a mean one at that. Nick never wanted to be like his father, but in many ways his failures are the same. Nick refuses to sell his father’s records, even to a man willing to pay any price, but letting go of them to Samantha is one of the most important steps in his recovery.

Everything Must Go is a difficult movie to watch, but Will Ferrell is at his best in more serious roles where his comedic talents do not dominate. Films like this and Stranger Than Fiction have demonstrated his ability and my hope is that he continues to make more dramatic fare (interspersed with comedy of course) and hopefully evolves into what Bill Murray has become in films like The Life Aquatic. Everything Must Go is the first film by Director Dan Rush and it is an inspired effort. It will not lend itself to frequent repeated viewings, but it is an honest portrayal of a man officially at rock bottom trying to climb back up. In addition to Ferrell, Rebecca Hall is great as Samantha, Christopher Jordan Wallace (yup, Notorious B.I.G.’s son) is perfect as Kenny, and even Laura Dern is well cast as Ferrell’s high school friend Delilah. It is certainly hard to watch Everything Must Go, but it is something you probably should anyway.

Bob’s grade – 70%