Title: Jerry & Marge Go Large
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: David Frankel
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Annette Bening, Rainn Wilson
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
What It Is: Jerry (Cranston) worked the same job for over 40 years. Consistency is sort of his thing. He’s also incredibly good with sequences, numbers, and patterns. Now he’s retiring and even though he’s never played the lotto he hears about a windfall game. Noticing a flaw in the math he begins to push the limits and the odds and now he’s made a habit of something many could only dream of…winning the lottery.
What We Think: When you have a cast as talented and well-oiled as this led by two of the world’s premier thespians Frankel has an easy job. Point the camera and let them work. That said it’s quite easy to flub something like that. Luckily Frankel has the talent to make this work. Cranston and Bening’s chemistry as the titular couple is what makes any of this work. They are fantastic together. Working as a unit. Rainn Wilson is ridiculously funny for his part and even if the “villains” of the film aren’t great and lack of that makes the emotional tug not as great as it should be.
Our Grade: B+, This is the sort of movie we don’t really see anymore. A smaller, intimate story. One told with heft and love. One that is about humans and the human experience. It’s just nice to see something like this. It’s available on Paramount+ RIGHT NOW and if you don’t have a subscription to it click the ad to the right and sign up. It helps us out! In the meantime, I definitely recommend this one, and highly so. If you want an old-school feel-good comedy that just doesn’t feel right in 2022 but I wish it was the norm. Check this one out.