The Intervention (2016) Reviews

• Great cast of Thrity-somethings in an amusing film about relationships

  subxerogravity2016-08-31

  Well...I went to go see the movie because I like all the people that were in it. Jason Ritter, Natasha Lyonne, Alia Shawkat. The talent in the movie drew me in, I wanted to see it. It's one of those movies that seems to be for a specific group of people. Like this generations Thirty-Something. Got to point out that the group of actors use look good for Thirty-Somethings, which more points out how different being Thirty-something now is than it was when that show aired. But this is not the focus of the movie. The focus is on the intervention, a group of friends who have known each other forever try to convince two of their friends that they're in a bad marriage and need to end it. It's very ironic as you learn real quick, as everyone is tossing rocks when they all live in glass houses. It has it's funny moments as the movie is very relateable about life and relationships, as everyone discovers where they are is not necessary where they belong. It makes for a lot of laughs, but sometimes I felt the dramatic performances were rushed to make it more funny. The intervention is an OK film, it works for me cause I like the cast in it and the laughs come from a it's so funny it's true situation. I can see it not working for everyone for the same reasons. http://cinemagardens.com

• Doesn't Ring True

  larrys32016-11-30

  The talented actress Clea DuVall makes her major motion picture directorial and writing debut here, and also is one of the featured players in the ensemble cast of eight as well. The group gathers at a luxurious summer home, outside of Savannah, mainly to have an intervention and urge two of their friends to bail out of a very strained marriage. There's a lot of talent in this cast and they're effective in their particular roles. However, I found the screenplay to be terribly clichéd and non-believable on the whole, and the characters to be carping and annoying for the most part, reaching epiphanies during the movie that seemed to come out of "left field". Are we really supposed to feel for a character who's trying to make the argument that Hitler may have had good intentions in what he did, and thus maybe wasn't such a bad guy? How they left this scene in the film is beyond my comprehension. To note, there's lots of explicit language laced throughout the movie, as well as some highly suggestive sexual scenes, All in all, a talented cast is rather wasted here as the script and the whole thing just didn't ring true, in my opinion, plus the usual 180's at the end were not worth the long slog to get there.

• Subtle Drama

  scythertitus2017-08-12

  Solid dramatic comedy about four sets of couples with their own quirks and problems, giving a good balanced outlook at relationships and the various ways in how they can work and work out. The cast is great and the comedy is subtle. The film does a good job of addressing multiple viewpoints and informing the audience of who each character is and what they are feeling. The best aspect is probably how then each defined character interacts with each other, as well as which ones don't. Often times you get the feeling more of watching a play than a movie (in a good way). Overall I recommend this film to people who like real life stories, if you are looking for lots of laugh out loud comedy, high stakes or extreme drama then you won't find it here. But a pleasant, thoughtful and enjoyable look at relationships as they mature is delivered in very fine fashion.

• Big Chill? Not even close

  antonio122018-02-17

  I've never written a review here but seeing this movie being compared to Big Chill, one of the finest movies about relationships ever, I couldn't help myself. I love these kind of movies but this is just bad filmmaking. Soulless, bad written characters and horrible story. Cannot believe that director is best friends with otherwise great Lynskey, cause she's given her one of the the worst roles of her life.

• White-Washing Tyler Perry

  thesar-22016-08-27

  Imagine a world where Tyler Perry makes a movie with real actors, believable dialogue, actual adult behaviors, depth and characters you actually care about. Before you say anything, it's not a racial issue. It's a talent session with real adults of 2016. I only bring up Perry because this movie, white actors or not, felt similar in setting and conflicts and yet, 100x more real than the stage- turned-movie sh|t he's spewed out. Watch out! Adults swear. Oh, my goodness! People have sex outside of marriage. And don't look now! Alcohol can be consumed. People can discuss problems in a gorgeous, remote home, but still be real. Here, I felt the interactions were genuine. I know sometimes there were one-liners and some made me laugh, but they don't happen all the time in real-life like a lot of snappy indie films about "real-life" lead you to believe. Let's back up a bit. The Intervention is about a long-standing group of friends and relatives that vacation in an incredible home on certain weekends of the month. This holiday, however, is hosted and manipulated by one of the group to host an intervention for a married couple of the clan whose marriage appears to be on the rocks. Everyone (here and in your life) has flaws. So who can really tell others how to live? And there, folks, we have our movie. It's not perfect, but it was refreshing to feel real again. Not Hollywood glamourizing couples or having Oscar-bait tear-jerking scenes. It was quick, tight, nothing huge and something to enjoy for under 90 minutes. We all need an intervention. If you feel you don't, let me read you something I wrote about you before you entered the room… *** Final thoughts: WOW! Never even got to my favorite part of this movie. What a great reunion of both Clea DuVall and Natasha Lyonne…both I loved in But, I'm a Cheerleader. Spoiler, sorry, in both movies I saw them in, they were a lesbian couple. It would be nice to think these were their same characters, but they weren't. Still, once I saw them both on screen, I squealed in delight. Additionally, in the closing credits, it was nice to see this was DuVall's passion project as I learned only then she was the Writer and Director in addition to one of the group of friends. So, it must've been her who made sure Natasha returned as her on screen love interest. Awww. Makes me smile… …and want to rewatch But, I'm a Cheerleader for the twelfth or twentieth time! (I lost count. Love it!)