Movie Review: Is Cameron Crowe's Aloha really that bad?

Cameron Crowe's Aloha has faced an uphill battle since it was first announced in 2008 as New Tiki. Does it deserve the criticism?

Movie Review: Is Cameron Crowe's Aloha really that bad?

Cameron Crowe's Aloha has faced an uphill battle since it was first announced in 2008 as New Tiki. Does it deserve the criticism?
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Confession time: this is an unusual piece for me to write, because I’ve never reviewed a movie before. I’m not a particularly avid watcher of film, to be honest – my viewing these days seems to be all cooking shows and whatever reality TV my wife wants to watch. But the release of a new Cameron Crowe movie has been a big deal for me since Almost Famous – I never had a favorite movie until then, and I remember being absolutely mesmerised when I first saw it. To this day it still makes me long for the teenage adventure that I never had, and I’m yet to work out how Crowe climbed into my mind and extracted a dream I don’t remember having. Since then he’s released Elizabethtown and We Bought A Zoo, neither of which set the world on fire, so I was hoping for something special from Aloha.

Aloha has faced an uphill battle since it was first announced in 2008 as New Tiki, starring Reese Witherspoon and Ben Stiller, but that version never eventuated and what we see today was filmed in late 2013. Leaked emails from the recent Sony hack revealed that the film was very unpopular with test audiences, and the company’s chair Amy Pascal described parts of the plot as “making no sense” and the script as “ridiculous”. Not a good start – oh well, surely they fixed that before releasing it…

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The story focuses on Brian Gilcrest (Bradley Cooper), a washed-up pilot turned military contractor who is sent to Hawaii by his billionaire boss (Bill Murray) to negotiate with the locals for the use of some land to launch a satellite – conveniently, Brian’s pilot on the way to Hawaii is married to his old flame Tracy (Rachel McAdams). Then we meet Brian’s completely manic airforce liaison, Allison Ng (Emma Stone), and off we go. Crowe’s movies follow the main characters as they fight their demons and grow to accept who they are, so it’s not too much of a leap to guess how things progress (with some subplots thrown in for good measure). The main characters all end their journeys neatly within the course of this story, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

I’m sorry to say that the plot and narrative of Aloha is a mess. Crowe’s characters are heavily defined by their past and their failures – aren’t we all – but the development feels very rushed and forced. Brian’s act to “get the girl” is worthy of a James Bond movie (and should have ended in torture and a grisly murder). Bill Murray’s character feels like an afterthought and his acting talents are well and truly wasted, although his dance with Emma Stone is one of the movie’s few highlights. Crowe is a master of dialogue, and there are some great lines, although the scene where Brian and Tracy emotionally dissect their failed relationship feels simply ridiculous knowing that her husband is on the other side of the kitchen door. I actually found the final scene of the movie uncomfortable to watch, and if it happened in real life – I’ll resist the urge to spoil the plot –  it would probably end up in someone calling the police…but maybe I’m just getting cynical in my old age.

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Plot issues aside, the biggest criticisms of Aloha have been aimed at the casting of Emma Stone as a part-Chinese-part-Hawaiian character, and she really doesn’t seem to fit the bill – I think she’s a great actress, but she’s about as pale white girl as it gets. It’s a shame that Crowe has had to come out and publicly apologise, but he probably should have seen that coming.

He wrote on his blog“I have heard your words and your disappointment, and I offer you a heart-felt apology to all who felt this was an odd or misguided casting choice. As far back as 2007, Captain Allison Ng was written to be a super-proud ¼ Hawaiian who was frustrated that, by all outward appearances, she looked nothing like one. A half-Chinese father was meant to show the surprising mix of cultures often prevalent in Hawaii. Extremely proud of her unlikely heritage, she feels personally compelled to over-explain every chance she gets. The character was based on a real-life, red-headed local who did just that.”

Aloha still has moments that only Cameron Crowe can deliver, at the very beginning we hear Brian reciting his childhood dreams of the future and then – bam! – there’s The Who. The music selection is exceptional, as you would expect, and I don’t think there’s anybody who can put together as good a soundtrack.

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Even as a Cameron Crowe fan, I’m unable to defend Aloha. Yes, I was still absorbed into the characters’ journeys, and came out at the end feeling uplifted before being flattened by the realisation that my own, dreary life hadn’t changed. Unfortunately, the serious flaws in plot and characterisation are just too hard to get past. Taking my fan hat off, I’m still surprised at the criticisms that Hawaii and its people aren’t represented – these may have been based purely on the trailer, as I just can’t see how you could make these comments about the final film.

Aloha isn’t a standard rom-com, and anyone expecting that will probably be confused by the film’s inherent Crowe-isms, not to mention the shaky plot. This is one for the fans only, but don’t expect too much beyond satisfying your sense of obligation – here’s hoping for a Director’s Cut.