Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/791658
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 2017 38 This Week AS some of you readers may have noticed, over the past few weeks I've made a bit of an effort to branch outside of the conven- tional brick-and-mortar cinemas to explore what's been happen- ing on the streaming services (legally) available to us. I am of course referring to Netflix, the now globally-available purveyor of film and TV that's capitalized on the realization that we tend to prefer to watch stuff at home these days. There have been a couple of gems on there recently – among them Werner Herzog's docu- mentary about the internet, Lo and Behold – along with some uninspired but passable enter- tainment, such as the British 'Netflix Original' iBoy. But as is perhaps inevitable, any enter- prise beholden to the bottom line is bound to churn out some duds every now and then. For Netflix, that iconic mis- fire may just be attributed to Girlfriend's Day – starring and co-written by Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul actor Bob Oden- kirk, and which debuted on Val- entine's Day. But should you think that this signals romantic comfort food, you'd find yourself sorely disappointed. If anything, Girlfriend's Day – directed by Michael Stephenson – could have easily been workshopped as cat- nip for the bitter anti-Valentine's Day crowd, given the sad-sack story at its centre. By that I mean the story of Ray (Odenkirk) a formerly-great greeting card writer who is sacked from his company for, well, not being as great as he once was. On top of still feeling the burn of his divorce – his wife, Karen (June Diane Raphael), left him for a successful children's illustrator, Harold Lamb (Andy Richter) – Ray now can't even afford to pay rent for his grubby apartment. Knowing Ray is in a desperate enough of a position to accept the task, his former boss involves him in a shady deal – he needs to write an excellent card ("like [he] used to") for a mysterious client in exchange for a large payload. As is to be expected, things spiral out of control quickly enough – with shady and violent characters suddenly worming their way into Ray's life – but he finds a beacon of hope in Jill (Amber Tamblyn) – who is, ironically enough, a woman just about as cynical as he is. You can just about spot the good intentions behind Girlfriend's Day. It has the stirrings of a light- hearted indie film that's heavy on quirkiness but that aims to bludg- eon you with a 'charm offensive' that would shame Wes Anderson back into obscurity. From the deadpan humour that suffuses nearly every scene – starting with Ray giving a nostalgic 'wise old man' pep talk to his younger col- leagues; and remember, this is the greeting card business we're talk- ing about here – and the weir- dos who populate the entire film from start to finish (side-by-side with cookie cutter archetypes), here's a film that aims to be a lit- tle bit different while never quite leaving its comfort zone. Instead, we get a film that's so half-baked it collapses in on itself roughly ten minutes into its run- ning time. While Odenkirk does his usual schtick with some suc- cess, it feels more like lazy out- takes from Better Call Saul than anything executed with bona fide comedic conviction, and the script – which he co-writes with Philip Zlotorynski and Eric Hoff- man – dovetails into a film noir structure that seems to aim for Coen Bros greatness but falls flat on its ass in a manner that would befit the hapless gumshoes of the genre. A failed attempt at both quirky comedy-drama as well as film noir deconstruction, Girlfriend's Day shows us that not all Netflix experiments make for satisfying experiences that offer a viable alternative to churned-out Hol- lywood dross. Pity. Girlfriend's Day is currently streaming on Netflix IN CINEMAS TODAY Embassy Cinemas Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 The LEGO Batman Movie (U) 10:25, 13:50, 16:10, 18:30, 20:50 Patriot's Day (15) 10:30, 14:30, 17:30, 20:30 Lion (PG) 16:15, 18:45, 21:15 Fifty Shades Darker (18) 10:30, 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00 The Great Wall (12A) 10:30, 13:45, 16:00, 18:20, 20:40 Sing (U) 10:20, 13:40, 16:00, 18:20 La La Land (12A) 20:50 Valletta Living History (U) 10:00, 10:45, 11:30, 12:15, 13:00, 13:45, 14:30, 15:15 Eden Cinemas St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 Patriots Day (15) 13:15, 15:55, 18:35, 21:15, 23:55 La La Land (12A) 13:30, 16:05, 18:40, 21:15 Fifty Shades Darker (18) 14:00, 15:00, 17:00, 18:00, 20:00, 20:50, 23:00 Split (15) 14:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15 Lion (PG) 14:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15 Denial (12A) 14:00, 16:15, 18:35, 21:00, 23:20 The Young Offenders (TBA) 14:00, 19:00 The LEGO Batman Movie (U) 14:00, 16:20, 18:40, 21:00, 23:20 Sing (U) 14:00, 16:15, 18:35 The Great Wall (12A) 14:05, 16:20, 18:35, 20:55, 23:15 Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (15) 14:05, 18:35, 23:10 Rings (15) 14:10, 16:20, 18:30, 20:45 Toni Erdmann (TBA) 15:50, 20:50 Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (15) 16:20, 20:50 T2 Trainspotting (18) 20:55, 23:30 Empire Cinemas Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 Patriot's Day (15) 10:45, 14:00, 18:00, 21:00 Fifty Shades Darker (18) 11:00, 13:45, 16:10, 18:35, 21:00 The Great Wall (12A) 11:00, 13:45, 16:10, 18:30, 20:45 The Lego Batman Movie (U) 11:00, 14:00, 16:15, 18:35, 20:45 Gold (15) 18:20, 21:05 Rings (15) 11:00, 14:00, 16:10, 21:00 Hacksaw Ridge (15) 10:45, 14:00, 18:00, 20:55 Sing (15) 10:30, 13:35, 16:15, 18:35 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ WORLD'S BEST GIRLFRIEND ★ ★ ★ ★ GIRL OF YOUR DREAMS ★ ★ ★ GIRL GUIDE ★ ★ THE GIRL THAT GOT AWAY ★ GIRLFRIEND IN A COMA FILM By Teodor Reljic GIRLFRIEND'S DAY (16+) ★ Card-carriers: Bob Odenkirk and Amber Tamblyn in Netflix's Girlfriend's Day Anti-romantic misfire of the year… and it's only February Bad boss: Alex Kapovsky and Odenkirk