NMR: Trifecta

No regular movie review today, so instead, here's a trio of brief reviews for films I recently caught through Netflix.

Bigger, Stronger, Faster: This was the documentary on steroids released last year that caught the attention of a lot of wrestling fans. The film was made by Chris Bell, who along with his two brothers, was a bodybuilder. Bell lays it out early on how torn he is on the subject because he didn't feel it was right to take steroids but he kept discovering all of his childhood heros (Ah-nuld, Hulk Hogan, Sly Stallone) had all taken them. Bell does a really good job at presenting arguments on both side of the issue. However, Bell's own non-commital stance on the issue grows wearisome as the movie progresses and you'd like him to pick a side. This is not a great documentary, but if you have any interest at all in the subject, it's probably worth a look. This one is available to watch instantly. Rating: ***

The Invasion: This was yet another remake of Invasions of the Body Snatchers that came out back in '07. I was initially interested in it as it was going to be one of Daniel Craig's first post-Bond films. However, the film kept getting delayed and there always seemed to be more re-shoots. Soon the writing was on the wall that this wasn't going to be very good, and for the most part that's true. There are a handful of good scares in the film, but it provides nothing new to this classic story. There are hints of what could have been (the idea of the possibility of world peace if the pod people completely take over), but all of that is loss for generic action scenes. The end result is a film that had more knives put to it than Joan Rivers. Rating: **

The Heartbreak Kid: Another '07 release that had some promise but turned out to be a dud. Ben Stiller re-teamed with the Farrelly brothers in this remake of a 1972 comedy. While providing some occasional laughs, this one ends up being too crass and stupid. It's another one of these Three's Company comedies where simple communication would have prevented all of the conflicts. The film doesn't do itself any favors by including in its supporting cast unfunny guys like Carlos Mencia and Danny McBride. Little known actress Malin Ackerman (soon to be seen in Watchmen) seems talented though, so hopefully she'll continue to get more roles. This film, however, is totally skippable. Rating: **