'Aloha' is a genial but tepid romantic comedy
Hawaii is always nice to look at. That鈥檚 about the best thing I can say聽for 鈥淎loha,鈥� Cameron Crowe鈥檚 genial but tepid romantic comedy starring聽Bradley Cooper as defense contractor Brian Gilcrest and Emma Stone as聽Allison, the Air Force pilot assigned to watch out for him as he massages聽a deal to approve the island as a launching pad聽for a billionaire-funded space satellite. The billionaire, played with extra聽smarm by Bill Murray, is no peacenik 鈥� his real goal is to weaponize the聽heavens in the process of owning them.
These Space Age machinations don鈥檛 really jibe with the film鈥檚 romantic聽core, which involves Brian鈥檚 reunion with Rachel McAdams鈥檚 Tracy, an聽old flame. She is now married to a pilot (John Krasinski), a strong-and-silent type who is so nonverbal that, in the film鈥檚 best moment, the聽meaning of his muteness is rendered in subtitles. Crowe is deft at keeping聽the various plots spinning, but there are too many of them, and they don鈥檛聽intersect pleasingly. Grade:聽C+ (Rated PG-13 for some language including suggestive comments.)
