"Aloha" (2015)

I’m not sure what the controversy was. It could be a list of things.

When Sony was hacked, an email from Amy Pascal badmouthed it.

Although, in a state where the majority of people are of Hawaiian/Asian descent, there is but a handful of Islander faces. In fact, Emma Stone plays a person named Ng (pronounced “ing”). She explains in the movie that she is quarter Chinese, quarter Hawaiian and 50 percent Swedish. Quirky or downright odd? You be the judge.

There was no official press screening.

This has been in some limbo since 2012 (that was three years ago). To be fair, and for some odd reason, Crowe movies seem to languish in the void. I recall “We Made A Zoo” just float on the tongues of everyone, until it finally got finished.

I drove by the billboard for this movie on my way to work off Highland and assumed it was a new television show. Then I read the credits…which listed Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, John Krasinski, Alec Baldwin and Bill Murray. To which I was amazed, until I saw it was directed by Cameron Crowe.

There’s something about Crowe’s movies that are really…well, every line people say seem to have importance. I’m not sure why, but I think I suffer from the same affectation. That every piece of dialogue comes off as a fortune cookie. A sage speaking the words from above. It’s no different in this movie.

I really think it’s a grotesquely panned movie. It’s not as bad as critics are saying. I think there are enough good things to watch. The plot is zany and odd. But whatever, we’ve been placed in some mythical spiritual Hawaiian lore that dips into the culture, but not fully explains. It feels completely like bits and pieces that all would make interesting movies. Personally, plucky and bug-eyed Stone tried her hardest. She put a lot of effort into it, even though, it seemed like most of the time she was lost to the story. The lines poured zippy past her lips fast enough as a rebirth of a Katherine Hepburn. Bradley Cooper is up and down. I blame the dialogue he was given. He zigs when you feel he should zag. His laid back “Hangover” personae is too overwhelming and he’s too handsome for this character that clearly should’ve been more schlubby. But they’re both amiable enough not to completely piss you off. Bill Murray makes more or less a cameo. I think he’s suppose to be a Richard Branson, but can’t shake his likeability even though he is supposedly the bad guy.

The scenery is…well, it’s Hawaii. And it’s on film. It’s absolutely beautiful. It seems like it is land I’ve not seen before. The ones owned by the U.S. military and functions strictly for the “white faces.” I have no issues with it being completely white washed. Though, did they have to have STUNNINGLY beautiful people. I think I’m on this kick now where I prefer real looking people. Crowe seems to live in the world of the 50’s movie stars. Lit like the old days as well. Just traditional beauty.The character actors today get so lost.