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“Baywatch” Starring Dwayne Johnson Starts Up Big In Miami

Well folks, it’s official! Paramount pictures announced yesterday that principal photography has started on “Baywatch” the movie, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Zac Efron, fashioned after the American television series that first aired in 1989 and went on to become one of the most watched television series in the world. With a theater release date set for May 19, 2017, it would appear that this time around the bold and the beautiful patrolling the beach will come in many a suntanned shade as “Quantico”  television series’ star Priyanka Chopra, Ilfenesh Hadera of ” Chi-raq” and comedian Hannibal Buress from “Daddy’s Home” and “Neighbors” have been tapped to complete the cast. For those living in Los Angeles and  hoping to catch an in person sniff of what The Rock is cooking, you’ll have to mosey east and then down south as Miami, Florida and Savannah, Georgia are serving as the on set doubles for that sunny cinematic Bay. Seth Gordon, the director of “Horrible Bosses” is set to helm this picture with the original producers of “Baywatch” the television series, Michael Berk, Doug Schwartz and Greg Bonann set to produce along with heavy hitters Beau Flynn and Ivan Reitman.  Considering the gut busting Alpha versus Omega antics done so well in Gordon’s ” Horrible Bosses,”  something good could definitely be brewing in this “Baywatch” movie redo with Johnson playing David Hasselhoff’s established king of the beach, Mitch Buchannon, who finds himself deep in top lifeguard battle with new kid on the block Efron.  Things only get more heightened when both lifeguards unwittingly discover a criminal threat to the future of their beloved Bay. In “Baywatch” Johnson will find himself reunited with Alexandra Daddario, who played his daughter in the hugely successful blockbuster “San Andreas.”  Add this that Johnson also worked well on ” San Andreas” with none other than current “Baywatch” producer Beau Flynn, and the forecast for “Baywatch” could be quite sunny.

Dwayne Johnson at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. Photo credit David Shankbone.

“Daddy’s Home” Serves Up Dependable If Not Outsized Comedic Fun

“Daddy’s Home” isn’t anything revolutionary when it comes to comedy, but this is more than okay with regards to what it is trying to achieve. It’s core strength is that it is happy to stay in its lane when it comes to what we can expect from both Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as funny men doing age appropriate work after SNL and The Funky Bunch. Ferrell is the terminally uncool parent suddenly thrown into direct competition against the too cool for school Wahlberg as both vie for the label of “best dad”. Of course, in the complicated landscape that is today’s modern and heavily appendixed nuclear family, keeping a permanent lock on such a vaunted status or any other is nearly impossible. So, in trying to attain the unattainable, comedy ensues as we watch Ferrell and Wahlberg attempt do what we as parents attempt to do every day, only to rise again with the Sisyphean hope of better results tomorrow. In short, “Daddy’s Home” is a great movie for people surviving that hell that hath no fury like that of the child who feels inadequately loved. While this movie is certainly a success when it comes to exploiting classic but modern familial territory, it really isn’t for kids. Much of the humor, while unquestionably satisfying is definitely nothing that you will relish explaining to your under twelve set, or even your more naïve under eighteens on the way home from the theater. So, unless it’s within your wheelhouse to explain to kids why strippers and women with daddy issues can be laugh out loud funny in the abstract but nothing fun to experience in real life, leave them at home with the sitter. The scatological and more adult skewing mental humor is pretty good in “Daddy’s Home”. True, many of the more subtle situational elements could have been pushed a bit further to achieve a sharper bite, but that’s about narrower more specific tastes versus broad comedy, and this movie is definitely broad humor versus finely crafted or slyly observational laughs. To that end, the moments that are the laugh out loud best are those firmly rooted in some serious balls to the wall physical humor. In terms of where these gag bonanza scenes go, they deliver some great laughs. However, the impact of these payoffs are directly related to the element of surprise so try not to watch too many trailers as some reveal a bit too much of what makes these moments truly special. If there is any danger with “Daddy’s Home”, it’s if moviegoers take it too seriously. If you look at the movie too closely from a logistical standpoint, it can start to crumble a bit – especially with regard to Wahlberg’s inexplicable vehicular mobility despite being established as an out of towner who isn’t the first son of oil sheiks or a rogue music mogul. However, if you take the movie for the light fare that it is – with a welcome dash of heart when it comes to the merits of a little bit of a dance battle going a long way in solving parent/student peace, it’s a pretty solid comedy. With good ensemble acting throughout with unexpected cameos by way of Hannibal Buress and some other stand up all stars taking a welcome bow in the parent ‘hood depicted, “Daddy’s Home” is a yes when it comes to uncomplicated but grownup holiday fare.

"Daddy's Home" starring Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg and Linda Cardellini. Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures.