Ice Cube as a badass, no-nonsense history teacher is enough incentive for me to watch Fist Fight. The film’s a straightforward popcorn-comedy, and while a good chunk is time-consuming filler (so the film can meet a proper runtime) to the titled fist fight, there’s enough crude hilarity between Charlie Day, Ice Cube, Tracy Morgan and Jillian Bell to entertain until the climax. As for the fight itself, it’s pretty damn good—not just in comedy mind you (though it certainly has its moments), but in actually being a really entertaining, no holds barred fight sequence.
Lovesong:
Lovesong’s strongest element is its focus between the protagonist Sarah (Riley Keough) and her 3-year old daughter Jessie (Jessie Ok Gray). The pair genuinely feel and act like a mother and daughter interacting, with my favorite scene being when Jessie throws a tantrum about having to eat pizza (feeling startlingly true-to-life). I suspect there was heavy improvisation—both intentional and unplanned—in play with such scenes (wouldn’t be surprised if the latter scene was the child actor actually throwing a tantrum), and if so, was a wise decision by director So Yong Kim to keep in. Unfortunately, such strength is only present for the first 30 minutes, while the film’s weakest element remains persistent throughout.
Lovesong’s intentionally slow-moving storytelling is a mixed bag of results. It works well during the first-third—where the film’s focus is on Sarah, her best friend Mindy (Jena Malone), and Jessie’s interactions—yet quickly loses its effectiveness after the timeskip, where the film starts spreading its focus on other characters and subplots. Lovesong is an 80 minute film, yet feels like it goes for over two-hours. By its finale, I grew bored and disinterested with the film’s remaining story, and more interested in the film actually ending.
The Space Between Us:
The Space Between Us is a very generic story caught in some really sluggish pacing. The film takes about 25 minutes to introduce its romantic feature, and another 30 minutes to actually have the love interests physically interact. That’s nearly half the film spent getting to the core storyline, and believe me, there’s nothing worth writing about during said first hour. The remaining film, as well as the romance itself, is equally as generic. The Space Between Us’ premise was already a sparse enough concept for a two-hour feature, yet when combined with the writers’s lack of innovation, ends up being an entirely lackluster experience. It’s a shame too, since the film has some skilled actors; perhaps if it had had the right creative team, The Space Between Us could have been something salvageable.
