Third Annual Mustache Movie Marathon: Week 2

It’s been a week since I wrote about the movies I watched throughout the first week of November for my Mustache Movie Marathon.  It was a long week with a few movies, some which fit into the Mustache Movie Marathon and some that didn’t.  I’m not going to spend this post writing about White House Down, a movie I liked which didn’t completely fit into the theme.  I’m not going to write about Grown Ups 2, a movie that had some mustaches that weren’t prominent enough to constitute inclusion in the Mustache Movie Marathon.  Instead, I’m going to write about some movies I watched which did fit the bill for having mustaches that meant a lot.  They were mustaches that added character to the characters.  They brought the movie out of the obscurity that they have without some great facial landscaping.  These are Mustache Movies, and this is the second week of the third annual Mustache Movie Marathon.

The Winning Season

Have you ever wanted a movie that was like The Mighty Ducks, except with high school girls’ basketball instead?  This movie is that description, and I love it for being that.

Sam Rockwell stars as a down-and-out high school basketball player who is recruited to coach girls’ basketball at a high school.  He helps teach a rag-tag group of teens how to work together and become a good team.  Some of the team members are Rooney Mara, Emma Roberts, and Emily Rios.  Also in the movie is Margo Martindale, who plays the bus driver and assistant coach, as well as Rob Corddry, who plays the high school principle.  The movie is heartwarming, and tackles a few societal issues, even if only briefly.  It’s a fun watch.

The real star of the film, however is Sam Rockwell’s mustache, which rocks well on his face.  It helps to highlight the character’s personality, making him look and feel even more down-and-out at the beginning of the film.  The character wouldn’t work as well without the mustache.

R.I.P.D.

So this one is a little bit of a cheat when it comes to the Mustache Marathon.  Sue me.  The mustache is still an important part of what is going on in the facial landscaping of this movie.  I’ll get to that after sharing how I felt about the movie.

This is the first movie of the third annual Mustache Movie Marathon that I’ve disliked.  I can see some potential in R.I.P.D.  There’s a buddy-cop comedy about, in this case, living dead monsters.  The premise is basically Men in Black.  My problem with it is that the movie goes all out to try and be Men in Black.  Not only is the premise similar, but the look of the film is similar.  It is so similar that I felt like I was watching a lesser version of Men in Black the whole time.  From the layout of the office out of which the characters work, to the creature design in the movie, everything harkened back to Men in Black, which covered the same ground but better.  This was disappointing on every level.

As to the facial landscaping, Jeff Bridges did a good job.  Sure, there is a beard involved in this one.  So what?  The beard that he sports would be nothing without the upper lip hair.  That’s the mustache to you folks who are a little bit slow.  The mustache perfectly complements the hair on Bridges’ chin.  It would be strange to see him without the mustache when he has that sort of beard, and for that reason, I consider this a mustache movie.

Harlem Nights

In 1989, Eddie Murphy wanted to direct a period piece for himself to star in, because every movie he had been in had been contemporary.  He wrote and directed this movie, and earned himself a Golden Raspberry Award in the process.

Harlem Nights is one of those movies that I can easily see the potential in.  The cast is pretty good.  It includes Murphy, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, and Danny Aiello.  I was interested in what was going on.  The problem I stumbled upon, however, was that there were two different tones to the movie that didn’t mix well.  There was the drama of the events that were unfolding, mixed with the comedy that the three comedians brought to their characters.  The movie wanted to be a comedy and a drama, but couldn’t find the right combination to make either part work as well as it should have.

Something that did work was the facial hair.  Pryor and Murphy can rock a big black caterpillar on their faces like nobody else.  If you don’t believe me, look up the poster for the film.  You’ll see what I mean.  Their mustaches were on full display throughout Harlem Nights, and they were a delight to see.

That’s it for this week’s third annual Mustache Movie Marathon summary.  Two weeks in, and I’ve seen seven movies that fit the theme that I have going for the month of November.  It’s a great bunch of movies, even if there are ones that I might not like.  It’s still interesting to see where movies go wrong, if they do go wrong.

I will return next week with the next batch of movies that I have included in the Mustache Movie Marathon.  I hope you’ll come back and read what I have to say about the movies.