Mom's Minute

Introduction to Kevin Hart’s Netflix Fatherhood Movie Review

You may know Kevin Hart for being a comedian instead of a serious actor.  Moreover, you may know him from his many “cancellations” due to some of his twitter remarks which caused him to be ousted from hosting the Oscars, as well as the publicity around him cheating on his wife. 

Regardless of how you may know of Kevin Hart, just remember that he is still in the money and continues to make movies. Kevin Hart usually acts or performs in comedy movies, but as he stated on a talk show recently, he wants you to see that he can act in serious movies.  Did he do well or did he fail in the movie Fatherhood? Check out my movie review to find out.

Plot of Kevin Hart's Netflix Fatherhood Movie

The "mother is not here so father must do it all” plot  has been told many times before. In the movie Fatherhood, Kevin Hart stars as a father left to raise his child alone due to an unfortunate incident that happened to the mother. To make a long story short, Kevin Hart as the father, is sometimes ridiculed and made fun of as he attempts to perform his fatherly responsibilities.

Unrealism in Kevin Hart’s Netflix Fatherhood Movie

As to be expected, there are infant actors in Kevn Hart’s Fatherhood movie. If you watch this movie, do not be surprised when you notice that there are several different babies playing this role who look totally different from each other. 

Also do not be fazed if you see where the baby is a lot older in one scene when compared to another one. It was annoying to me to see that the casting staff did not do a good job of following the scenes and having the proper infant to play in them.

Another unrealistic part of this movie was how easily Kevin Hart’s newly separated girlfriend returned to him -- even though he had blatantly dismissed her as a partner earlier in the movie -- through no fault of her own.  In real life, I think he would have left her and met someone else.

When you watch Kevin Hart act in the movie Fatherhood, you are probably waiting for him to say something to make you laugh.  I felt the same way when I watched the Fatherhood movie even though I knew he was playing a serious role.  In fact, the most realistic part of the movie was the few times when Kevin Hart broke from his “serious” acting and cracked a few jokes.

Regarding the duties he did as a father as shown in the movie -- I think he should be doing these anyway -- even if his wife was there --- regardless of the circumstances. 

Recommendation for Kevin Hart’s Netflix Fatherhood Movie

Rather than have a Fatherhood movie based on the serious as well as sad events in this movie -- with Kevin Hart as the main actor, the storyline should have been different.  The movie could have “copied” the synopsis of the movie 3 Men and a Baby which was hugely successful, mainly because even though it was a comedy, there were some realistic funny scenes in the movie.

Assessment of Kevin Hart’s Netflix Fatherhood Movie

In my opinion, this movie dragged on. In fact at one point I checked to see how much footage was left to be viewed in the movie before it ended.  Let’s just say that if the movie was interesting to me, I would not have done this.  

Kevin Hart as a serious actor in the movie Fatherhood was not believable for me. It was hilarious when on his crying scenes, I could tell that maybe he had just finished peeling an onion to cry -- instead of from the result of what was happening in the movie.

My advice to the comedian Kevin Hart  regarding his “serious” role in the movie Fatherhood is -- Do not quit your day job.

Rating of Kevin Hart’s Netflix Fatherhood Movie

Based on a rating of 1 star to 5 stars, with 5 stars being the highest, I rate Kevin Hart’s Netflix Fatherhood Movie 2 stars.

Introduction to Melissa McCarthy’s Thunder Force and Superintelligence Movie Review

I watched Melissa McCarthy’s Netflix Thunder Force and Superintelligence movies awhile back. During this movie review, I willl compare these films starring Melissa McCarthy and I will give both movies a separate movie rating. What did I think about both Melissa McCarthy’s Thunder Force and Superintelligence movies? Check out my movie review to find out!

Plots of the Melissa McCarthy Thunder Force and Superintelligence Movies

The synopsis of the Thunder Force movie was to create a sort of super being.  Looks like Melissa McCarthy’s character became the guinea pig for the testing. The twist here is that at one time Melissa McCarthy’s character was friends with Octavia Spencer’s character, but they had drawn apart due to a conflict earlier on in their lives.  They seem to have made up as they meet once again at Octavia Spencer’s building (that she owns) years later for the testing.

The plot of the Superintelligence movie revolves around the use of artificial intelligence to assist Melissa McCarthy's character with her everyday life, and especially with her relationship with her ex.

Similarities in the Plots of Melissa McCarthy Thunder Force and Superintelligence Movies

If you watch any of Melissa McCathy comedy films you will probably notice right away that her movies tend to lean heavily on slapstick.  I’m using slapstick to mean either bumping into things, tripping over objects or trying to fit into something that is too small, etc. In other words, there seems to be more physical rather than verbal comedic scenes in Melissa McCarthy's movies.

This holds true for both of her movies, Thunder Force and Superintelligence. For example in Thunder Force, you will see Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer try to squeeze into a tiny sports car.

By the same token in the movie Superintelligence, towards the beginning of the movie, you will see Melissa McCarthy’s character attempt to sit on a bean bag while the people she was conversing with sat in regular chairs. I must admit it was comical to see Melissa McCarthy’s character trying to sit on the bean bag chair which she obviously was not accustomed to using.

Other similarities include having the same actor -- Bobby Cannavale in both of her films. In the Thunder Force movie, he plays the role of the villain, and in the Superintelligence film he was her romantic interest. Also in this movie was the actor Jason Bateman who played the romantic interest to Melissa McCarthy’s character.

Acting Abilities Displayed in Melissa McCarthy Thunder Force and Superintelligence Movies

Octavia Spencer who stars with Melissa McCarthy in the Thunder Force movie is known mostly for dramatic roles.  In fact she is an academy award winning actress.  Towards that end, she played the “straight man”  in working with Melissa Carthy. My critique of her appearing in the Thunderforce movie with Melissa McCarthy is that she was too serious an actor for this film -- even though I’m sure she was directed to play this type of character.

By contrast, Melissa McCarthy is in her comedic element in Thunder Force as she plays initially an unwilling subject of an experiment where she endured excruciating pain -- for the cost of becoming physically stronger. In other words, the movie Thunder Force suited Melissa McCarthy’s acting strengths.

Which Movie Should You Watch -- Thunder Force or Superintelligence?

You may be wondering which movie would I recommend you watch, if you have not already done so. Without a doubt, the movie Thunder Force would be my choice for you to watch instead of Superintelligence-- even though they were both ok type movies.

When you watch Thunderforce you get not only a few comedic parts but there are some action scenes thrown in as well. On the other hand, if you watch Superintelligence, you will get more of a life-time type movie vibe and consequently you will probably be able to predict how the movie will end.

Assessment of Melissa McCarthy’s Thunderforce vs. Superintelligence Movies

Neither of these movies are to be taken seriously.  They were both released to entertain you as well as to give you a few laughs. Towards that end, it would be ok if you watched one of these movies, or both. There are comedic and entertaining parts in both the Melissa McCarthy Thunder Force and Superintelligence movies that probably will keep your interest.

Rating of Mellisa McCarthy’s Thunder Force Movie

Based on a rating of 1 star to f5 stars with 5 stars being the highest, I rate the Melissa McCarthy's Thunder Force movie 3 stars.

Rating of Melissa McCarthy’s Superintelligence Movie

Based on a rating of 1 star to 5 stars with 5 stars being highest, I rate the Melissa McCarthy’s Superintelligence movie 2 stars.

Introduction to Halle Berry’s Perfect Stranger Movie Review

I have sort of an older movie on DVD that I intended to watch to find out what the film was all about. The movie is Halle Berry’s 2007 film, Perfect Stranger. Even though I watched the movie on DVD, I’m sure it is showing on streaming services should you decide to watch it. And that is the question. Should you watch Harry Berry’s Perfect Stranger movie?  Check out my movie review of Halle Berry’s Perfect Stranger film to find out!

Synopsis of Halle Berry’s Perfect Stranger Movie Review

Without giving the story away, this movie stars Halle Berry as a reporter, Rowena Price, whose goal is to publicize and expose the corruption that’s going on by politicians and other businessmen. 

However, once she gets close to incriminating someone -- miraculously the culprit is relieved of any crimes or the crime is covered up.

The movie’s storyline revolves around a journalist , Halle Berry's character, who has been ousted from her reporter’s job, but still continues to seemingly seek out other corrupt people to expose -- even though she is no longer working for the news agency that initially hired her.

To make a long story short, there are some twists and turns in the plot as well as a lot of snooping on the part of Halle Berry and her computer savvy partner as she tries to solve the mystery surrounding the demise of her friend.

By the way, Bruce Willis is in the movie and plays the part of Harrison Hill, a married businessman who is not only known to be a cheater, but interesting enough, his wife in the film also knows him to be one. His cheating tendencies gives Halle Berry an ideal way to investigate him undercover as a temp office worker.

Realism of Halle Berry’s Perfect Stranger Movie

The movie starts out with Halle Berry’ becoming excited to expose a corrupt politician only to be told her story would not be published.  I believe Halle Berry gave an adequate acting performance and she manages to bring the character to life. Of note is the scene in the movie where she cringed at a certain sight or in sceneses where she appeared intent on finding the criminal. 

That being said there were plenty of unrealistic scenes as opposed to what would probably happen in real life. For example, the person whose apartment Halle Berry broke into and found photos of herself should  have acted more angry and surprised than shown in the film. 

Other unrealistic happenings included the blank stare Bruce Willis’ character had on his face when he was announced a specific verdict at his trial. To me he was too calm, cool and collected when he was charged for a crime and did not seem angry or upset in the least that he may be framed. I was expecting an emotional outburst from Bruce Willis’ character -- which did not happen.

There were other unrealistic moments in the film, but I will stop here.

The Cover Art on DVD for Halle Berry’s Perfect Stranger Movie

The cover on the DVD shows Halle Berry cowering as if Bruce Willis was going to harm her.  This is far from the truth.  In fact during the film, he had the opportunity to do this -- especially after learning that Halle Berry’s character had been spying on him.  Instead, Bruce Willis’ character got angry with Halle Berry's character..and that was that.

I guess with two big name stars, the advertisers, producers, etc. wanted them both to be on the front cover -- regardless of how this image of these two actors being together would appear to the viewers before watching the Perfect Stranger movie. 

Assessment of Halle Berry’s Perfect Stranger Movie

I must admit this movie did keep my interest to a certain extent -- until the end.  As you watch this movie, you may be tempted to investigate along with Halle Berry’s character in order to determine the guilty party.

However, movies have a beginning, middle and end.  I had a problem with the ending. You will know what I’m talking about if you watch Halle Berry’s Perfect Stranger movie.

It is because of the ending -- which I will not divulge here, that I am not giving this movie a high rating. In fact,  my rating is not as high as one may expect -- given that two big stars were in the Perfect Stranger movie  -- Halle Berry and Bruce Willis.

Rating on Halle Berry’s Perfect Stranger Movie

Based on a rating of 1 star to 5 stars with 5 stars being the highest, I rate Halle Berry’s Perfect Stranger movie 3 stars.

Introduction to the Gina Rodriguez Awake Movie Review

Fresh off of watching the actor Gina Rodriguez in an off-beat comedy/drama film, Kajillionaire, it was interesting to see her in another movie -- Awake. Unlike the Kajillionaire movie, she is actually starring in this film instead of acting in a supporting role. How was the movie Awake and how was Gina Rodriguez’s acting performance? Check out my movie review of Awake to find out.

Plot of the Gina Rodriguez Awake Movie

The title actually hints at the plot of the movie.  Some strange phenomenon happens to everyone on earth that causes them not to be able to go to sleep. The two people who are still able to sleep are an elderly woman and the young child of  Gina Rodriguez’s character, Matilda played by Ariana Greenblatt.  Gina Rodriguez’s character also has a son Noah played by the actor Lucius Hoyas.

Gina Rodriguez’s character's goal seems to be to protect her child from being experimented on. Throughout the movie, you will see her either escaping from someone with her daughter and son in an attempt to prevent her daughter from being subjected to scientific experiments to find a cure for these people's predicament.

Realism of the Gina Rodriguez Awake Movie

This is a science fiction movie, so it is far from being a film based on reality. That being said, there are a few missteps in the movie’s plot when it comes to simple realism.  For example, in one instance, a man was destroyed in a church for simply pleading to Gina Rodriguez’s character to let her daughter be experimented on.

In another instance, the family meets up with an escaped prisoner and somehow become friends when it seems to me the prisoner would want to return home to his family instead of staying with a group of strangers -- which he did for the most part in the movie.

Another example of unrealism in the Awake movie is when Gina Rodriguez’s character ran away with her son and daughter, as well as the escaped prisoner and ended up at a place called the Hub where experiments were done.

Once Gina Rodriguez's character is in the facility, she meets an old friend who asks why she is there, even though she was there under false pretenses -- even wearing a white jacket she had taken to wear in order to blend in with the hospital staff.

However, by far, the most far-fetched happening of the movie was the seemingly constant violent acts being done purportly due to lack of sleep. Usually one would think people would be too tired and exhausted from not being able to sleep for days to perform these violent acts.

There are other instances of not only unrealism, but loose ends in the movie. For example, if you watch the movie, you may wonder whatever happened to the grandmother who was taking care of Gina Rodriguez 's character's children, before she ran away with them. By the way after "running away" they ended up at the place she was trying to keep her daugher from. Go figure.

Assessment of the Gina Rodriguez Awake Movie

Unfortunately, the movie Awake offered no suspense, entertainment or excitement.  Spoiler Alert:  Even the ending is not clear as to how out of all the people in the world, this family of three somehow were spared the effects of whatever caused everyone not to be able to sleep -- and who by the way found out how to stop this from happening to the son and mother in the movie.

The Gina Rodriguez Awake film appeared to be a movie quickly written and put together without any cohesiveness.  

Looking back on the movie, Awake, this film seemed to me like a series of disjointed events happening headed by Gina Rodriguez's character. I think Gina ROdriguez is an adequate actor; however, for all that it's worth, she was not able to save this movie and make it more watchable than what it is. 

Rating of the Gina Rodriguez’s Awake Movie

Based on a rating of 1 star to 5 stars with 5 stars being the highest, I rate Gina Rodriguez’s Awake movie 1 ½ stars.

Introduction to the Netflix Carnaval Movie Review

 If you want to watch a movie without intriguing plot twists or if you want to watch a movie as you preoccupy yourself doing something else -- I highly recommend you watch this movie.  However, I’m getting ahead of myself.  Let’s start again.  How would you like to watch a movie about a girls’ trip that is complicated by a number of obstacles -- but still manages to end on an upbeat note? If so, then you may want to watch Netflix’s Carnaval movie. If you want to find outt how I rated the film Carnaval, check out my movie review.

Plot of the Netflix Carnaval Movie

The movie plot involves a young lady, Nina played by Giovana Cordeiro who gets together with a group of her girlfriends and takes a trip to El Salvador. She won this trip due to the number of followers she has on instagram.  As expected, the group faces a number of setbacks, including initially being separated from those who are housed in a more luxurious hotel simply because they have more than a million followers on instagram.

The key word here is “followers''.  It looks like this complete movie could have been an advertisement for instagram and why someone would think they need to have a gazillion followers. It helps also if you can believe that a character out of nowhere seems to attract the main singing talent at the resort -- who by the way has a story of his own.

In a few words, this movie is about -- yes -- once again -- a girls' trip. And not one like the comedian/actress Tiffany Haddish funny girls’ trip blockbuster movie which I enjoyed watching immensely.

Cohesiveness of the Storyline in the Netflix Carnaval Movie

The story starts with a fortune teller predicting Giovana Coreiro’s character’s future.  As expected, what she says comes to pass. For the most part, the movie stayed on course showing a group of girls seeming to have fun in El Salvador while meeting up with romantic interests and getting into scraps etc.

The outlier here was the character who seemed to have a fear of crowds, who nevertheless decided to join the group at a gathering that was sure to attract a crowd of people. Interestingly enough, she was fine in some of the large crowds. This was the major misstep I saw in the movie in trying to keep it fluffy without a lot of drama.

Various Scenarios in the Netflix Carnaval Movie

The above being said, this movie is simple to follow.  if you are just using this movie as a background while you are doing something else -- all the better.  

The Netflix movie Carnaval attempted to show how these characters interacted with each other.  Spoiler Alert: They even have a villain female in the story, who starts off being popular and of course, ends up in a different state at the end of the movie. 

Assessment of the Netflix Carnaval Movie

Many of Netflix's movies are shown with actors speaking in a foreign language with English dubbed in. As I watched the Carnaval movie, I tried to refrain from looking at the actors’ lips as much as I could -- since their lips did not follow the sound of the voice coming from them.  This was a small distraction when compared with the predictability of the storyline of the Netflix movie, Carnaval. 

The dialogue was fine for this movie; however, I was a little surprised when one of the characters said in exasperation as she was being hushed by her girlfriends for being loud something to the effect that “We are young! It’s not like we are forty or something!”  This line alone is proof enough that the Netflix people who backed the showing of this film is focused on the 18 to 34 year old group -- in having this character make this blatant statement about age.  Nevermind the older people who may be watching.

Without a doubt, I was glad to see this movie end. I was also elated that the Carnaval movie lasted a minimum amount of time.  If it had lasted longer, I'm sure I would have changed my streaming to watch another movie. But no worries... I was busy sorting out some of my snail mail as I watched this movie -- so all was not lost.

Rating of the Netflix Carnaval Movie

Based on a rating of 1 star to 5 stars with 5 stars being the highest, I rate the Carnaval movie 1 ½ stars.