The new movie “Dog Days” is another screenplay that follows the “Gary Marshall” paradigm of having about 10 stories in one script that loosely connect together. This multi-story concept is kind of like fishing with dynamite. The idea is, to have as many stories as possible because if 2 or 3 of them work then the movie will make money and become a success. The common thread throughout this story is dogs and for those who see this film, some will want to get a dog and others will not – mainly because of the constant barking of more than a few of them during the 2 hours. The barking issue and having to get up in the morning and walk your dog is a major commitment for anyone who is not a big dog lover. I for one do not like the constant barking, which is why I am more of a cat person.

As far as the many stories of this film, I thought some of them worked and some of them did not. Towards the end there were several emotional moments that were very well done and for me was enough to give this movie a mild recommendation. Dog Days stars Vanessa Hudgens Eva Longoria and Nina Dobrev as the only well known actors and they do enough good acting carry the series of about 10 stories.

Overall I give Dog Days a mild recommendation – despite the Garry Marshall mass produced story.

One problem with this movie right from the start is the title – trying too hard to be funny. “The Spy who Dumped Me” is a reference to the movie “The Spy Who Loved me” starring Roger Moore from 1977. As soon as any movie tries too hard to be funny it will fail as a comedy and unfortunately most of the one-liners in this story from Kate McKinnon fall flat because they seem like she is trying too hard to be funny – and that never works.

What everyone has learned in the last 43 years is how rare it has been where a cast member of Saturday Night Live has gone on to be a huge success in the movie business. The obvious rare exceptions to this are Eddie Murphy who was a major success in 48 hours, Beverly Hills Cop and Trading Places. John Belushi’s break out role was in Animal House and The Blues Brothers with Dan Aykroyd. Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd were a big hit with the Ghost Busters franchise and Chevy Chase had some early hits with Fletch and a few Vacation movies. Since those early years getting a huge breakout role from SNL – has not really happened since then and this is despite having some extremely talented cast members: Kate McKinnon and Kristen Wiig being two of all time best. The problem is that being extremely successful on a show like SNL does not necessarily translate into a great movie role. A great movie role has more to do with a great idea, great writer and luck than anything else. This is the first co-starring role for McKinnon and while there were some flashes of brilliance from her in this movie, the screenplay was not nearly as as good as she deserves.

As far as this film I thought the story was too “all over the place” and trying to hard to not only be funny but different. Different is great, but not if trying to be different makes the story ridiculous.

Kate McKinnon’s co-star Mila Kunis was good in her role and she has been very likable in all the movies I have seen her in – but unfortunately the script for this movie should have had about 20 more re-writes before it was green-lighted.

The Rotten Tomatoes ratings for this film are a low 37% and I agree with this rating and I do not recommend this movie.

The CEO of Spanx, Sara Blakely recently made a statement, “I have to get better at not caring about what other people think”. This comment from a self made billionaire is one of the key ingredients to winning in life and being successful. Unfortunately, when you’re 13 years old and about to go to high school, caring about what other people think is your entire world. When you are 13 years old and the early stages of adolescence all you care about are the opinions of other kids in your age group. Most of this need to be accepted is an innate part of growing up, the other part of this is the extreme fear of being made fun of, of feeling like you will never belong, as if you are not as good as everyone else – an outcast, a freak.

Age 13 has always been a very tough time in anyone’s life but today, with cell phones, the internet, email and social media – its exponentially much harder, so difficult that bullying causing suicide is a common story in the news. Age 13 is especially difficult for adolescent girls who have to tolerate the subtle cruelty of other girls who can destroy another girl with one nasty look, eye roll or well placed debilitating comment during a lunch hour. This form of bullying where one individual can give themselves a temporary high by totally destroying another person is a fundamental evil in far too many young people – and adults.

What is most impressive about the new movie “Eighth Grade” is its realism about how difficult it is to be 13 years old in today’s world. I saw no evidence of acting in this movie, most especially with the lead actress Elsie Fisher, who in my opinion should receive and Academy Award nomination for best actress this year. Elsie plays Kayla who is the child of a single father and she has bad skin, is a little overweight and is terrified of not fitting in with everyone else. One scene that stood out the most was a phone call that Kayla gets from an older girl who is trying to help her get ready for high school and Kayla cannot stop pacing during the call – because her nervousness over the importance of this one call is so profound. Why do so many of us put so much weight on what people think of us? What makes the random opinion of someone who we don’t even know an important barometer of our self worth? Why is their opinion ever even relevant – have they walked a mile in our shoes? What makes this even worse is the bully’s that frequent this age who feed off the terror of someone feeling like they are not accepted by others and delight in adding fuel to their misery.

Kayla’s father Mark is played extremely well by actor Josh Hamilton, who is desperately trying to understand his only daughter and rescue her from her pain, even though Kayla is too anguished to ever listen to a word her father says. Mark is also raising his daughter as a single father and his wife’s absence is only explained late in the movie as “she left”. I thought the acting with this cast was outstanding.

Eighth Grade has a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and I agree with this assessment. This film is the most real life depiction of what it is like to be a 13 year old girl about to go to high school that I have ever seen. This movie will make you wonder how you survived when you were 13 years old – realizing that there is a big price to pay for being young especially in today’s world.

Eighth Grade gets my highest recommendation and should receive a best picture nomination.