Aloha
(2015)Sometimes you have to say goodbye before you can say hello.
Cameron Crowe dramedy about a celebrated military contractor (Bradley Cooper) who returns to the site of his greatest career triumph – the US Space program in Hawaii – and reconnects with a long-ago love (Rachel McAdams) while unexpectedly falling for the hard-charging Air Force watchdog (Emma Stone) assigned to him. Co-stars Bill Murray, John Krasinski, Danny McBride, and Alec Baldwin.
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Directed by Cameron Crowe
Starring Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, Bill Murray, Ivana Milicevic, John Krasinski, Jay Baruchel, Alec Baldwin, Danny McBride
Written by Cameron Crowe
On Demand, DVD & Blu-Ray
Available from 8 providers
Flicks Review
BY Liam Maguren Flicks Writer
If you weren’t convinced with George Clooney being part-Hawaiian in The Descendants, then you’re going to feel whitewashed seeing Emma Stone’s Hawaiian-Chinese character Allison Ng in Cameron Crowe’s latest. This is but one symptom of Aloha’s severely undercooked story about cultural sensitivity and the US Space Program, one that tries to honour Hawaiian culture in the same way a dude-bro attempts to honour native Indian heritage by wearing a chieftain feather hat at Coachella.... More
OK, I’m being a little mean with that comparison, but when a conversation between two Caucasians about the mana of a forest rings worryingly false, you can’t help but feel the whole production could have used another consultant.
Though it’s difficult to believe in ‘Bradley Cooper: computer military genius’, the film is far more fun when focusing on ‘Bradley Cooper: flawed-but-loveable bachelor’. There are a host of lively characters and involving relationships that dish out constant pleasantries, and although the script could have used a serious revision with regards to the aforementioned plot, the character-to-character banter is witty enough to keep the film afloat, with an on-form star cast that give the dialogue even more buoyancy. Danny McBride and Alec Baldwin in particular pierce with their sparse but wickedly funny roles.
In this sense, Aloha is a disposably smooth ride, but you’ll need to forgive the misjudged cultural-political military plot (an order that may prove too tall for some).Hide
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Aloha
BY Mel superstar
BY dsmartin wannabe
A bit hard to follow at first. Some "interesting" camera work. Not enough of the beautiful Hawaiian scenery. Not as bad as some reviewers had said.
BY JamesN grader
It was a very mixed bag of confused storytelling with odd funny moment from some good actors. Unfortunately, there was also a clear lack of chemistry between a number of the actors, most notably Emma Stone and Bradley Cooper. The whole space race then computer hacker storyline was a waste of screen-time that added very little. It would have greatly benefited from some solid editing and rewriting from someone other than Cameron Crowe.
BY kneats grader
A couple of laughs, but mainly just awkward and disappointing.
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The Press Reviews
18%
of critics recommend.
Rotten Tomatoes Score. More reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Cut together with the haphazard feel of a posthumously completed record... Full Review
Whatever Crowe’s ambitions, Aloha feels like a tropical transplant of past work, and an unfortunate demonstration of the law of diminishing returns. Full Review
Unbalanced, unwieldy, and at times nearly unintelligible, Aloha is unquestionably Cameron Crowe’s worst film. Full Review
Crowe squanders the star power at hand. Full Review
It gives me no pleasure to report that Aloha is still a mess, a handful of stories struggling for a unifying tone. Full Review
Inspiration has become Cameron Crowe's crack. His films are all-you-can-eat pixie-dust buffet from which all unnecessary excitement has been expunged. Full Review
Even with its off-balance, overstuffed storytelling, the film maintains a charm and energy that never flags, with brisk pacing and generally engaging performances from its deep-bench cast. Full Review
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