Sept. DVDs — Mad Max (3.5); D Train (1.0)
Posted on August 31, 2015 by bob in DVD
The D Train (R) 
Remember when Jack Black’s manic comedic style seemed hip, edgy and hilarious? After watching this turkey, it’s hard to recall those days. Black stars as a former high-school nerd, still desperately seeking popularity among his peers years later by vigorously chairing the reunion committee. When no one seems interested in him or the event, he decides to track down the coolest guy from their class (James Marsden), who’d left the Rust Belt to try acting in Hollywood. Black spins a series of lies to his boss, family and others to get to the Left Coast, and do whatever he must to secure Marsden’s appearance, hoping to thereby bask in the reflected glow of the stud’s aura. When he lands the big fish, Black’s social stock soars…until the inevitable moment of reckoning.
Unlike Las Vegas, what happens in high school apparently follows you everywhere and forever, at least according to myriad movies – mostly comedies – about former teen idols trying to relive what turned out to be their peak years. Or, more frequently, all types of outcasts healing their psychic scars via combinations of payback and/or new insights about meaning in their lives. Why are these waters plied so often?
Perhaps the low end of high school’s social “food chains” tends to disproportionately produce screenwriters; same theory as so many shrinks being nuts because they chose that field to purge their own demons. Or it could be that audiences relate to these tales because hardly anyone in this culture escapes those seminal years with self-esteem intact. Even many of those high in the pecking order likely chafe at memories of failures, rejections, shortcomings, etc. that may not have blown their status at the time, but still left them feeling less entitled to it.
Regardless of the cause(s), this script stuffs Black’s character into an awkward, uncomfortable state of cinematic limbo. It’s not funny enough for farce, snarky enough for dark comedy, or credible in setting up empathy for its sentimental side to ring true. As Black flails through this painful (for his character and the audience) ordeal, the odds for anyone finishing the movie as a satisfied customer dwindle. Jim Carrey, Robin Williams and other high-octane comedians found worthy vehicles for age-appropriate transitions into other styles of comedy, and even dramas. Eddie Murphy has been noticeably less successful in that regard. Let’s hope Black will find his way to the former path, rather than bury his considerable gifts in duds like this.
Mad Max: Fury Road (R) 
Between 1979 -85, George Miller wrote and directed three post-apocalyptic adventures starring Mel Gibson as the titular protagonist, scrambling for survival in arid wastelands run by either brutal warlords or Tina Turner. Each was long on mayhem and short on other story elements. All were big hits. Now Gibson’s career could be described as rather post-apocalyptic, so this revival of his character features a younger avatar, Tom Hardy, in another struggle for freedom and justice against overwhelming odds. Max is captured in the opening chase. He soon gets the chance to join forces with Charlize Theron (who wouldn’t?) in a prolonged (at least 70% of the running time) escape through barren lands, zealously pursued by hordes of maniacal minions with surprisingly powerful and diverse weapons and vehicles for such resource-starved environs.
Aye, there’s the rub. This one’s all about the adrenaline. Viewers who require heavy doses of plot, character development, etc. should look elsewhere. Those simply craving a pinball/video game-style start-to-finish slugfest, will emerge as happy campers. Since I watched the first three so long ago, I’m not sure if this is a revised origin tale, or a sequel. It really don’t matter, dude. Max’s periodic voiceovers provide all the backstory needed, even for franchise first-timers.
The f/x are stunning. In audio-visual terms, Cecil B. DeMille might be wishing he’d been born half a century later so he could have used today’s tech in his movies, though he’d still have diverted more attention to storytelling.
Soda sales probably spiked at theaters from two hours of empathic throat parching; easier and cheaper to slake that thirst at home. A big HD screen would surely make this epic-scale escapist (by topic and genre) fantasy even more exciting. Don’t bother with watching on handheld or desktop devices. In this context, size DOES matter.
Mark Glass
Mark Glass is an officer and director of the St. Louis Film Critics Association.
