Movie Review: Aloha

3.5 stars out of 5

Cameron Crowe had a hell of a run early in his directorial career: Say Anything…, Singles, Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous. Since then, he’s still out there trying, doing decent work, but hasn’t quite reached the same heights: Vanilla Sky (compelling), Elizabethtown (underrated), We Bought a Zoo (didn’t see it, but I loved the title). Still, I thought I owed it to Crowe to see Aloha. And it was a miserable, chilly day, so spending a couple of hours in Hawaii didn’t seem like a horrible idea.

The commercials had me a little worried, though. Was this a frothy rom-com? I had flashbacks to Owen Wilson in The Big Bounce, one of the worst movies I’ve seen. Quality actors signing on to a crappy film seemingly just to take an extended vacation in Hawaii. And Aloha is absolutely jam-packed with top-flight talent, some of my favorite people: Bill Murray! Alec Baldwin! Danny McBride! Rachel McAdams! Emma-freaking-Stone!

(Oh yeah, Bradley Cooper is in this too. I guess he’s OK sometimes.)

I shouldn’t have worried too much about the movie being brainless. Crowe, the former journalist, writes his films too, and generally adds layers that you wouldn’t find in paint-by-the-numbers screenplays. In Aloha, he really shows that he’s done his homework about Hawaiian history, lore, and the impact of modern life on the islands. On top of that, Crowe tackles the military’s uncomfortable partnership with private enterprise.

On the personal side, Crowe tries to add a little subtlety to somewhat clichéd storylines. Bradley Cooper’s back on the island, negotiating with King Bumpy Kanahele of the independent and sovereign nation state of Hawai’i on behalf of tech billionaire Bill Murray. Cooper used to date Rachel McAdams. She’s married to Jim from The Office, with two kids, but Jim never talks and it’s frustrating. Will the lure of the past draw Rachel back to Bradley? And what about Emma Stone, the over-eager, by-the-book military pilot assigned to escort Cooper’s character? Will love-em-and-leave-em Cooper end up with straitlaced, career-first Stone instead?

At first, Stone seemed like stunt-casting, and took me outside of the film a little bit. “Oh, look, Emma Stone is pretending to be a pilot! Her hair is tied back and she’s wearing a uniform and Aviator sunglasses! And she’s saying ‘Yes sir’ a lot!” And Crowe is getting a lot of shit for casting a white actress in the quarter-Hawaiian role. But still, Stone is a good enough actor that she slowly won me over. Plus, come on, she’s Emma Stone.

A cooler bit of casting is Dennis “Bumpy” Kanahele playing himself. It’s not just a cameo, and he does a really nice job.

Overall, performances are solid. Cooper is believable as the smooth but professionally-disgraced dude hoping to get back on his feet. Bill Murray plays it pretty straight as a jerky but dynamic captain of industry. McBride tones it down a few notches from Kenny Powers as a likable military lifer. Alec Baldwin is only in a couple of scenes as the general but he’s fun. McAdams is good: She’s tired, she’s trying.

Unfortunately, as the story progresses, Crowe “loses the handle” as they say in the sporting world. The plot gets too plotty, and kind of ridiculous. Then there’s a scene with John Krasinski which is the stupidest thing Cameron Crowe has ever committed to celluloid. I cringed.

As both writer and director, maybe there’s no one to tell Crowe “hmm, possibly we should rethink this bit.” Could it be time in his career to hand over the reigns of his scripts to an outside director, who might tighten things up? Somebody else directed Crowe’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High screenplay, and look how well that turned out!

Despite it all, I liked this movie. It was mostly enjoyable to sit through. If it was out during Thanksgiving, I would happily see it with my parents. The realistic, it’s-not-always-sunny portrayal of Hawaii reminded me of The Descendants. And though it was getting pretty stupid and I started thinking “Three stars, I’m only giving this three stars,” Crowe ended the movie really well, so I bumped it back up. Aloha indeed.