Film Review: 'Aloha'

"Aloha" is a mega-star-studded snoozy little love story that should have been better. Even the Oscar winning writer-director, Cameron Crowe, slips into mediocrity as he stumbles through uncharacteristic vapid musings wasted on stellar actors.

The film opens with a brilliant montage of archival footage of Hawaii and the Air Force during the late 50s and early 60s. From that point it's all downhill. Bradley Cooper plays Brian Gilcrest, who in his younger years was once enamored by space. Working as a private military contractor in Kabul, he's badly wounded and decides to return to Hawaii. After the privatization of space exploration, Brian decides to cash in on working for billionaire Carson Welch (Bill Murray), who has hidden agendas.

Brian's military liaison is perky fighter pilot Allison Ng (Emma Stone). And, by the way, ex-girlfriend, Tracy (Rachel McAdams) is also in the picture, now married to Army pilot (John Krasinski). They have two kids, the eldest resembling Brian. It doesn't take a genius to figure what lies down the road for everyone involved. 

Crowe really drops the ball on so many levels. For a guy who's been blessed with a gregarious gift for gab ("Almost Famous" and "Jerry Maguire"), his screen writing on this project almost stoops to the depths of redundancy. The dialogue is rife with tiresome sentimentality. When the line, "You can't buy the sky," is probably meant to be a heavy observation about the film's bottom line, it comes off as tremendously trite.

And what about these actors, most of them Oscar nominated, wanting to participate in this frivolous farce? Come on. Bradley Cooper who finally realized his potential in the last three years ("American Sniper," "American Hustle" and "Silver Linings Playbook") seems to have fallen off the wagon in "Aloha." But there is one exception. Alec Baldwin is fantastic as a General who instills the fear of God upon any and everyone with whom he crosses paths.

"Aloha" could have benefited by more of Alec Baldwin and less of everyone else. Forced chemistry amongst the other actors comes off as just that. The film seemed vaguely attempting to follow in the footsteps of "The Descendants." If so, it tripped miserably at every turn.