R.I.P.D. is a paranormal buddy cop movie. A cross between Men In Black and Ghostbusters which I'm sure is how it was pitched to the studio. Dead lawmen get drafted by the RIPD to go back to Earth and hunt toxic ghosts in human form.
The movie is silly and fun with a fair amount of action. Ryan Reynolds doesn't do much throughout and his personal story which is suppose to drive the story falls flat. Jeff Bridges is in full crazy fun mode embracing the lunacy and comedy of the movie spouting off one liners through an almost unintelligible pan-western accent.
Not much story, no real acting, not much to think about. Exactly what you'd expect.
Rent It.
The film examines the role back up singers played in the rock hits of the 60's, 70's, and 80's and the gradual decline of back up singers in bands since then. Each singer has a fascinating complicated story. Who sang on what record with whom. Who wrote that hook who sang that one. But the overall thrust of the film is really what's next?
Implicit in every moment of the film is that no one would want to do this for a living. Being a backup singer isn't a job it's a means to becoming a solo artist, a star. One singer who won a Grammy for her first and only solo album went back to backup singing and through the course of her interviews she's constantly explaining and justifying her actions. As if the film makers themselves can't believe or understand why anyone would stick with the gig.
The film tells an interesting story. But the more interesting question it raises is not answered. What is success? There is a sense of melancholy and failure about the women in the film, emanating first and foremost from themselves. They never made it big, the world doesn't know their names. But every musician knows their names, they still get work, they still perform to adoring crowds. Why do they seem to feel incomplete without fame?
Would you rather sing backup on 50 songs that everyone knows or have a solo album that no one ever heard?
Rent It.
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