MovieChat Forums > Aloha (2015) Discussion > Something is just odd with the basic set...

Something is just odd with the basic setup

posted 9 years ago by NotSlowScott
6 replies | jump to latest

This is from Wikipedia:

Military contractor Brian Gilcrest (Bradley Cooper) returns to Hawaii to organize a traditional blessing for a new pedestrian gate on behalf of billionaire Carson Welch (Bill Murray), who intends to develop nearby land into a space center.

I thought that Cameron Crowe needed a better set-up. I wasn't sure what was the point of the traditional blessing for a pedestrian gate, or why I should even care. I guess it was to get him to the island, but it felt half baked. Maybe Crowe should've added some more exposition explaining what was going on, because I began to get bored and think about how the guy who created Say Anything doesn't know how to execute his cryptic ideas anymore. Don't get me started with the scene with his ex-girlfriend's husband flying him to the island. I was like, what-t-t? Soon after Danny McBride (playing his usually jerk) pops up and they are talking about things that just aren't clear or engaging to me. Then you see his ex-girlfriend at some ceremony and we find out she can make her own hours and she's begging him to come for dinner--even though they have a 12 year old daughter Bradlee Cooper doesn't even know about, which makes little sense considering she "tried calling Bradley Cooper five times last year." This stinker is a freaking mess of a screenplay. It makes Elizabethtown look like Tootsie.

[–] TxMike 9 years ago

Wiki isn't always the best. Here is how I describe it.

- Billionaire needs a new bridge or gate or something.
- That requires infringement on native lands.
- It would be politically correct to get the blessing of the King.
- The King has little respect for the governmental authorities.
- Gilcrest is an old friend of the King, he is hired to do the talking.
- While there Gilcrest encounters his old girlfriend and her family including the daughter he never met.
- He also meets this new girl, a fighter pilot assigned to escort him. She takes a liking to him.

So to me it was all set up nicely and the movie is about the resolution of the three stories, a deal with the King, resolution of the family situation with the old girlfriend, the love affair with the pilot. Plus we find out about the secret plot requiring Gilcrest to have the new satellite destroyed.

It all makes sense to me. Doesn't make it rise above an average movie but it all makes sense.

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Make a choice, to take a chance, to make a difference.

[–] Thornspike 9 years ago

Agreed.

[–] cocacolaistherealthing 9 years ago

It still doesn't make sense.

Why can't the billionaire maneuver around wherever he's passing through? His base is in the ocean, he doesn't need a land path. Why does he give a damn about the native opinion when he's doing something shady?

Why does the billionaire have as much power as he does over the military workers when the department of defense can have all the money wants? Why would they let him do whatever he wants without checking it out, to the point that he has weapons onboard his shuttle? It has way too much leeway.

Why is Gilcrest seemingly the only human on earth with influence with the Hawaiins? How does he have the authority to give them the control over those two mountains and that cell phone service when he's barely an agent of the billionaire or the Air Force?

How does he barrage a satellite with sound files to make it explode?

Why is he trusted by anyone, given his known duplicity?

Why is the Rachel McAdams character so ok with him, when he basically abandoned her? Why is Woody ok with him being around all the time, knowing his history with his wife?

Why doesn't Woody speak?

Why does Ng, a straight laced, career-focused, independent woman, fully aware of all Gilcrest's flaws and personality, so quickly get involved with him? And why does he give up an established pattern of behavior as lone wolf for her?

What is with Captain Fingers constant finger motions--it had nothing to do with anything.

Why is the air force revealing so much information to Gilcrest when he is just supposed to be securing a gate blessing? Why is the billionaire revealing so much?

Why didn't they conceal the weapon they moved onto the island better--they moved it in a truck plastered with the company name at 8 at night through a main part of the base.

There's much more, but it's clear that nothing makes sense in this film.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jojozlo 9 years ago

You actually saw this?

[–] MongoLloyd 9 years ago

Yes, it's just plain odd. Bill Murray playing some kind of super rich guy!!????! (not believable) And Cooper's odd demeanor and Stone's bizarro personality. It was so annoying, I had to stop watching after about 15 minutes.

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