Title: Jerry & Marge Go Large

Director: David Frankel

Released: June 17, 2022

Runtime: 1 hour 36 minutes

Available to stream on: Paramount+

IMDb synopsis: Based on the true story about long-married couple Jerry and Marge Selbee, who win the lottery and use the money to revive their small town.

Jerry (Bryan Cranston) and Marge (Annette Bening) Selbee live in the small town of Evart, Michigan. After forty-two years as a production line manager, Jerry is being forced into retirement. While Jerry isn’t keen on the idea of retirement, Marge is thrilled at the idea of them both enjoying their golden years together.

As a retirement gift, Marge, his son Doug (Jake McDorman), and his daughter Dawn (Anna Camp) buy Jerry a boat. When Jerry decides to take it out for the first time, his truck begins rolling down the boat ramp into the water. Panicking that he might lose his truck, Jerry leaves the boat and hops into the truck and floors it. While he managed to save the truck, he forgot that the boat wasn’t completely off the trailer. The boat motor was absolutely destroyed as it was drug across the pavement.

While in his local convenience store, Jerry happens glance at the back of a lottery ticket. Here is the thing about Jerry, he’s really good with numbers. As he notices the odds on the back of the WinFall ticket, his brain kicks into high gear. Jerry has found a loophole in the WinFall lotto game. In short, buy enough tickets and the variable of luck is reduced to a point that favors the player every time. After testing his theory and realizing he was correct, the fun begins.

Jerry and Marge begin buying WinFall tickets by the thousands. Realizing that the more tickets they can buy the bigger their winnings will be, they decide to get their whole town in on the action. The people of Evart, Michigan are on board with the plan. But the people of Evart, they don’t want to spend their winnings on shiny new toys. They want to invest in the town and bring some life back to it.

So, what happens when the WinFall game is no longer available in Michigan? Well, if you’re Jerry and Marge, you’re retired so you go and find WinFall. They decide to drive to Massachusetts where WinFall is still an active game. Stopping in one of the first gas stations they see that offers Winfall, they meet Bill (Rainn Wilson) who runs the gas station. After multiple visits, Jerry and Marge let Bill in on their hustle. Without any hesitation, Bill is in and allows them to print their own tickets for however long it takes each time they pop in.

Things are back on track and the winnings are piling up. However, there’s another group that has caught onto the flaw and is starting to exploit it as well. A group of Harvard students are recruiting the wealthy friends of their parents to get in on the WinFall loophole. The group eventually confronts Jerry and tries to force him out of the game while still promising him a cut of the profits. But Jerry and Marge enjoy the travel and the good fortune that this all brings to Evart. So, what are they to do? Do they let the entitled and obnoxious Harvard kids do all the legwork while still getting a cut? Or is the smarter play to face them head on and show these kids that with age comes wisdom?

The fact that this is based on a true story is wild. The decision to tell the story in such a bland way is also wild. It isn’t that there’s anything horribly wrong with Jerry & Marge Go Large, it’s that there isn’t anything that’s particularly good about it either.

Bryan Cranston could make watching paint dry captivating. He is great as Jerry and is able to keep you engaged when he’s on-screen. Annette Bening playing the role of the woman wanting to bring excitement back into her life is great as well. Who really stood out in his brief time on camera was Larry Wilmore as Jerry’s accountant, Steve. We could have used more of Steve’s humor and less of the humor we actually got. There are a lot of “old people don’t get technology” jokes. There’s also a lot of forced “crazy old guy” gimmicks with Jerry. More often than not, both miss their landing.

What is nice though is that it’s a feel-good story. Who doesn’t love a nice feel-good story? Yes, the story, as it’s told to us, is bland. This probably would have been much more captivating if we focused more on Jerry and Marge as a character study. But sometimes simple and bland is okay. There’s nothing wrong with walking away from a movie thinking, “That was okay, but I’ll probably never watch it again.”

So, what do you think? Have you seen Jerry & Marge Go Large (2022)? If so, hit me with your thoughts and reviews in the comments below or by reaching out on social media!

Well, now that “J” is in the books, it’s time to look ahead to next week. Since I will be traveling this week, I’ve got the letter “K” in the can for you already. Next Sunday, Oscar Sunday, for the letter “K”, we’ll be reviewing Kansas City (1996) which is currently available to stream on Prime Video.

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Well, here we are at the third installment in our Margot Robbie filmography watch through, The Wolf of Wall Street from 2013. After seeing her performances in Vigilante and About Time, it is safe to say that this was the role that served as her launchpad into the stratosphere. Let’s get into it…

Title: The Wolf of Wall Street

Director: Martin Scorsese

Runtime: 3 hours

IMDb synopsis: Based on the true story of Jordan Belfort, from his rise to a wealthy stockbroker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government.

Watched via: Streaming on Paramount+

Leonardo DiCaprio, teaming up with Scorsese for the fifth time, turns in a performance as Jordan Belfort that is one of my favorites that he has given us. He commands your attention when he is on the screen as he loses himself in the role.

For that matter, Jonah Hill as Donnie Azoff and Matthew McConaughey in a brief role as Mark Hanna, turn in performances not to be missed as well.

Hill dives right into the quirkiness of the character, leading to some entertaining moments throughout, especially involving quaaludes.

While McConaughey’s performance as Mark Hanna could almost be viewed as an extension of himself.

Jordan Belfort might have more money than he knows what to do with and view himself as king of the world, but there is one person who the king still bows down to, Naomi.

Margot Robbie absolutely crushes it as Naomi Lapaglia here. Jordan becomes smitten with Naomi at a party and decides to pursue her. Once they are married and have a child together, Naomi decides enough is enough. She wants Jordan to clean himself up and stop with the hookers and copious amounts of drugs. To prove that she is really the one in control of the relationship, Naomi decides that Jordan is not allowed to touch her body.

But do not get it twisted, Naomi does not rely on just her sex appeal in her attempt to get Jordan on the straight and narrow. When she is forced to tell him that she wants a divorce, she makes it very clear that he will still be allowed visitation as long as he does not try to fight or drag out the divorce proceedings.

What can I say that has not already been said about this film? Scorsese delivers with yet another homerun. It is like if you made Goodfellas but set it on Wall Street. Jordan Belfort is our Henry Hill as he narrates his rise to riches as well as his ultimate crash down to reality. I remember seeing this back when it first landed on streaming, but this was my first time revisiting it. After a rewatch, I might actually like The Wolf of Wall Street more now than after my initial watch.

Have you seen The Wolf of Wall Street? What are your thoughts on it? Let me know in the comments below or by reaching out on social media.

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I said it at the beginning of this post, but I will say it again. This was the role for Margot Robbie that rocketed her into the stratosphere. Yes, we will get to her roles as Jane Clayton and, most famously, Harley Quinn. But first, we have a few more stops first along the way.

So, what is next in the Margot Robbie filmography watch through? Our next watch will be Suite Française (2014) where Margot plays Celine Joseph. Suite Française is currently streaming on HBOMAX if you would like to watch it before next week’s post.

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