Adult Beginners (2014)

Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale have been dating since 2012 and have made three films together in that time. She's the Australian beauty known for the "X-Men" and "Insidious" films, as well as 2014's "Neighbors" and 2011's "Bridesmaids". He's the tall, dark and handsome actor who played Al Pacino's estranged son in "Danny Collins" (2015), Cate Blanchett's would-be suitor in "Blue Jasmine" (2011) and did a season each of "Nurse Jackie" and "Boardwalk Empire". Together, Byrne and Cannavale have made 2014's "Annie" and 2015's spring releases "Adult Beginners" and "Spy". Now, you may be wondering why I've devoted the opening paragraph of my review of "Adult Beginners" (R, 1:30) to the relationship between two of the movie's stars. Well, it's because that's the most interesting thing about this movie. Nick Kroll (who has had a recurring role on "Parks and Recreation" and has his own show on Comedy Central) came up with the story, and stars in "Adult Beginners" as Jake, a self-centered tech guru whose career gets off track, leading him to move in with his sister, Justine (Byrne) and her husband, Danny (Cannavale). Justine, who's expecting her second child, and Danny, who's building the young family a new home, let Jake earn his keep (and saves them some money) by providing day care for their 3-year-old son, Teddy (played by twins Caleb and Matthew Paddock). Jake is predictably inept at taking care of the lad, but he isn't the only adult in the film with an underdeveloped sense of self. Along with Jake, Justine and Danny also feel and act like overgrown kids, orÂ… adult beginners.

The film's title actually refers to the fact that Jake and Justine never learned to swim, but they end up taking little Teddy to a swim class taught by Miss Jenn (Jane Krakowski), who encourages them to take an adult beginners swim class. Other familiar faces that pop up in minor roles include Josh Charles ("The Good Wife") as Jake's prospective employer, Joel McHale ("Community") as Jake's shallow best friend and Bobby Moynihan ("SNL"), who plays a socially awkward former high school classmate of Jake's. After riding a pretty steep learning curve, and with the help of fellow nanny, Blanca (Paula Garcés), Jake starts to get the hang of being Teddy's nanny, but being in his sister's home for a period of months exposes him to some family drama that he would rather have avoided, but has to deal with.

"Adult Beginners" wants to be a poignant reflection on what it means to be an adult, and make us laugh in the process. It fails on both counts. The conversations and scenes meant to deliver the movie's message are few, far between and not really integral to the other goings-on. The jokes are not few and far between, but they're also not very funny. The cast member who comes closest to amusing is Moynihan, but only in two brief scenes. The three main adult characters are unsympathetic and the actors playing them are uncharismatic. Cannavale, who has done some great work over the past couple years, unconvincingly bounces back and forth between clueless and angry. Byrne, whose career has had as many misses as hits, was funnier in "Neighbors" – and that ain't saying much. Kroll sleepwalks through his role, a self-absorbed sad-sack, a la Adam Sandler, but not as entertaining.

Fmovies: After watching this flick I kept trying to figure out its message ... because it came across to me as a message type story. Well I came up with many messages. The main message being - "family first" - maybe?

The script is first class, the acting is just fine, the music, sets, editing is wonderful. But at movies end you feel a bit lost. The only weak point in the story is when Jake tells his sister about her husbands secret, it seemed a bit forced and contrived. The argument just doesn't hold up to support Jake spilling the beans!

And what about Justine's job? That issue just fades away when Jake moves back into the city for his new job. There just isn't enough foundation on each character to hold the story together.

Jake and Justine are victims of loosing something that they held dear in their lives. Plus Jake looses out professionally and Justine looses her image of her husband. And at end it just doesn't come together. But it's not a bad movie.

Jake is not awesome. Jake is also broke and now stuck living on his sister's air mattress in New Jersey in the independent comedy Adult Beginners.

Adult Beginners appears to be judged a bit more harshly, and rather unjustly, due to individual viewers' biases against Nick Kroll. The plot may not be the most original, but the characters are real and identifiable, and as far as indie films go, a well done effort.

Jake, played by Nick Kroll, is an entrepreneur behind the next big tech item. Unfortunately, its production is doomed and he is out his entire investment, his and several others' large venture capital. What does one do when they've failed in Manhattan? Why, go back to your family with your tail between your legs to the suburbs of New Jersey! His sister Justine, played by Rose Byrne, isn't completely pleased but agrees to let him stay for three months and watch her and her husband's (Bobby Cannavale) son.

The plot has been done to death, and that is the only thing working against Adult Beginners as a film. The character types are also far from original, from the narcissistic protagonist to the less than perfect family he is forced to stay with. So, you may ask yourself, why bother watching the movie? Because, Adult Beginners is enjoyable. The drama of the story is not too serious so the film still has an 'escapist' effect. The writing is natural and fluid and the acting realistic and entertaining. The fun is in the medley of recognizable faces that make cameos throughout the film. It seems unfathomable that someone could hate Adult Beginners because it is a perfectly likable film, and is in fact, quite a nice watch and I would do it again.

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Adult Beginners fmovies. The movie starts really slow ,, not much comedy to laugh at ,, but the plot grows gradually until it peaks after the swimming pool "adult beginners" thingy. The screenplay is just okay ,, the writing seems to be getting involved much more with the drama than it is with the comedy ,, not much excitement or unpredictability, you can easily know where things are going in the movie. Honestly, the trailer was kinda misleading with all of these funny bits which seem to reflect the 5% comedy in the movie.

As for the cast, Nick Kroll and Rose Byrne performances was fine they reflected the depressed newly parent pregnant woman and post- failing business guy. For me ,, and as a supposedly comedy movie,, the scenes with Jason Mantzoukas, Bobby Moynihan and Joel McHale had much more comedy and "giggles" than the leads.

Overall,, the movie wen just okay,, for me it deserves no higher than 5 as a rating the IMDb average rating by 1,518 users is 5.5 which seems close enough ;)

The story background seems like another classic of s man rebuilding his life after a sudden loss. The main focus on the family and relationship drama feels really nice. The way the movie's script depicts the many small things happening in Jake's life is really nice that it feels so subtle and smooth. The movie literally didn't have any increase or decrease in mood, and just dominantly play on a single track of story development. The smaller things seem unpredictable, although their consequences seem so very predictable once they have come on-screen. The acting overall is quite a good bit. Rose Byrne's acting still feels okay although the character doesn't really need much more development. Nick Kroll really gets the comedy side nicely, just at the right portion. Bobby Cannavale's acting really balances the whole set.

Jake (Nick Kroll) screws up a business deal and loses lots of money. His investors are angry. He leaves NYC and goes back to the family home. His sister Justine (Rose Byrne) is pregnant and puts him to work babysitting his nephew Teddy. Her husband Danny (Bobby Cannavale) is fixing up the home for sale. She signs Jake up with Teddy in a swim class for mommy and kid. Jake suspects that Danny is cheating with the real estate agent.

Rose Byrne is utterly charming. Bobby Cannavale is a great suburban dad. Nick Kroll is fine for this role although his big screen charisma is still in doubt. The material feels lighter than it could have been. The drama is not pushed that hard. There is one good moment when Justine downplays something which actually elevates the material. There are a couple of those scenes and the really endearing Byrne which make this better than nice.