Summer Film Recap: Sophie Monastra’s small theater summer

By Sophie Monastra

I don’t watch films in theaters. 

I know, I’m bad for the local economy and films are better enjoyed on the big screen as opposed to on my 33-inch Best Buy home TV. Unfortunately, I’d rather wait to rent a film from Amazon–or even better, check out a physical DVD from the library–and enjoy it in the comfort of my couch than spend $20 and gas money to go sit in a sticky theater chair for two hours. 

This summer, I became a better person. Unrelated to that, I discovered a small one-theater cinema near my house–a theater offering $5 tickets. The price alone was enough to get me off my couch and into the theater seat twice.

“The Garfield Movie” follows the tubby tabby of comic strip fame as he reconnects with his dad, gets blackmailed into robbing a dairy and learns a heartwarming lesson about family and how to properly jump a train.

Full disclaimer: I tend to enjoy films, especially animated ones, and this film is no exception. The animation captured the energy of the original comic amazingly well. The plot was a bit generic, and I will admit I caught several of the twists, but there were several legitimately funny moments–including a throwaway joke that came back in a satisfying payoff moment.

Odie, Jon’s lovable low-intelligence pooch, stole the show for me, as he should. New characters Vic, Jinx and Otto added to the world of Garfield and supported a plot that took place out of the comforts of Jon’s house.

Speaking of Jon, I do wish the human characters got a bit more time in the spotlight. Because of the large cast of new characters, Jon barely shows up and Jon’s girlfriend Liz only appears in one or two scenes.

All in all, “The Garfield Movie” wasn’t a masterpiece, but I enjoyed the animation style and found the reconnection between Garfield and his dad heartwarming. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, “The Fall Guy” follows a stuntman navigating an awkward ex-romance, a missing movie star, negative perceptions of stuntmen, and also several people who want him dead. 

I’ll admit, I had some reservations about seeing this film (the tagline “Ryan @&$@!%&$*%&@ Gosling Riding a Unicorn” doesn’t exactly spark confidence), but that was swiftly resolved after the sheer quality of the first stunt when I realized that while this film might be a chaotic, humorous ride, there would also be some emotional depth. 

Character-wise, I enjoyed Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) and Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt), both individually and together. The plot was classic action movie material, and I enjoyed watching Colt unravel the mystery of what happened to action star Tom Ryder and why all these guys want him dead. The mystery had twists I didn’t expect (take with a grain of salt; I am not wise in the ways of action movies) and set up most of the fights believably. 

Speaking of fight scenes, this film is an homage to film stunts, and it shows with the multiple car jumps, crashes, choreographed fight scenes and other various stunts. The fight scenes had a stuntman flair, with extensive use of the environment, vehicles and the attack dog, making them engaging to watch.

I found this film an absolute delight. The characters were enjoyable, and there was a good ratio of romance to explosions (clearly an unbiased metric on my part). The entire movie made a lot of allusions to other films, which fit with the movie-ception nature of the film.

What made this year’s theater extravaganza of two whole films especially fun was the people I watched them with. My family and I grabbed ice cream and explored the town before watching “The Garfield Movie,” and I got to meet my best friend at a small cafe for paninis before we watched “The Fall Guy.” That’s the appeal of seeing films in theaters–going with people you love and having that experience together. 

That’s enough to get me off the couch.

“The Garfield Movie” will be available on Netflix on September 21, and “The Fall Guy” is currently available on Peacock. 

Sophia Monastra is a Junior Professional Writing and Information Design major. That is a threat.

Images courtesy of Sony Pictures and Universal Pictures.