Maya Erskine Archives – CULTURE MIX

Review: ‘Smurfs,’ starring the voices of Rihanna, James Corden, Nick Offerman, JP Karliak, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, John Goodman and Kurt Russell

July 16, 2025

by Carla Hay

Ken (voiced by Nick Offerman), Hefty Smurf (voiced by Alex Winter), Smurfette (voiced by Rihanna), No Name (voiced by James Corden) and Brainy Smurf (voiced by Xolo Mariduena) in “Smurfs” (Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

Directed by Chris Miller

Culture Representation: Taking place mostly in the fictional Smurf Village and various parts of Earth, the animated film “Smurfs” (based on the comic book series of the same name) features a cast of characters that are Smurfs (blue humanoid beings), wizards, and other creatures.

Culture Clash: Papa Smurf, the leader of Smurf Village, is kidnapped by an evil wizard, and it’s up to the rest of the Smurfs and some allies to save Papa Smurf.

Culture Audience: “Smurfs” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the “Smurfs” franchise, the voice cast and animated films that are formulaic to a fault.

Razamel (voiced by JP Karliak) and Gargamel (voiced by JP Karliak), Papa Smurf (voiced by John Goodman) and Azrael (voiced by Rachel Butera) in “Smurfs” (Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

Even by the simplest of standards for animated films, “Smurfs” is a subpar mess of idiotic dialogue, hyper banality, and unimaginative plot developments that copy superhero movies. Most of the supporting characters have no real purpose but to take up space. “Smurfs” has about 18 characters who have noticeable speaking roles, but the movie cares about only six of these characters, based on how they affect the tepid story.

Directed by Chris Miller and written by Pam Brady, “Smurfs” is part of the “Smurfs” franchise that began in 1958 with a comic book series created by artist Peyo. Since then, there have been numerous “Smurfs” movies and TV series, all of which are about a group of dwarf-sized blue humanoids called Smurfs, who live in Smurf Village. After all these years that the “Smurfs” franchise has existed, “Smurfs” has a very unoriginal concept: Papa Smurf (voiced by John Goodman), the leader of Surf Village, has been kidnapped, and the other Smurfs go on a mission to save him.

Much like the Seven Dwarfs in the “Snow White” fairy tale, Smurfs have names based on their respective defining personality characteristics. They travel in a male-dominated pack that apparently that only makes room for one “alpha female” Smurf. In the case of the Smurfs, this “alpha female” is Smurfette (voiced by Rihanna), who is portrayed in this “Smurfs” movie as sassy but not as smart as she could be.

Smurfette is also an anomaly because unlike the other Smurfs (who are born without the need for female childbirth), she was created by the Smurfs’ arch nemesis: a power-hungry wizard called Gargamel (voiced by JP Karliak), whose main goal in “Smurfs” stories is to capture Smurfs and use them for unscrupulous reasons. It’s just another way of defining the Smurfs world as a world where only males get to create life. In this “”Smurfs” movie, Gargamel is not the chief villain and doesn’t have a lot of screen time.

The original “Smurfs” stories had a problematic erasure of females and made all the Smurfs male, except for Smurfette. This “Smurfs” movie has a more equitable gender balance of Smurf characters, but that still doesn’t make the movie very good. Only the most die-hard Smurfs fans would be able to tolerate the slop that’s doled out in this wretched film.

Most of the other Smurf characters in “Smurfs” are Papa Smurf’s red-haired, self-assured brother Ken (voiced by Nick Offerman), No Name (voiced by James Corden), Moxie Smurf (voiced by Sandra Oh), Hefty Smurf (voiced by Alex Winter), Vanity Smurf (voiced by Maya Erskine), Worry Smurf (voiced by Billie Lourd), Brainy Smurf (voiced by Xolo Maridueña) and Grouchy Smurf (voiced by “Smurfs” director Miller). In the beginning of the movie, No Name is very insecure about not having a name therefore not having an identity. He depends on Smurfette to give him emotional support and pep talks.

Gargamel and his more evil brother Razamel (also voiced by Karliak) belong to the Evil Alliance of Wizards, which has gained possession of thee out of four magical books that bring peace to the universe. Papa Smurf, Ken and their long-lost brother Ron (voiced by Kurt Russell) used to be a trio of superheroes called Smurf Guardians of Good. (For whatever reason, the Smurfs in the movie keep pronouncing “guardians” as “guardianeers,” even though the word “guardianeers” doesn’t exist in the English language.)

Razamel kidnaps Papa Smurf to force Papa Smurf to tell Razamel where to find the missing magical book, which is called Jaunty (voiced by Amy Sedaris) but doesn’t really need to be a talking book. You know the rest: Hijinks ensue. Chase scenes happen. The heroes find themselves trapped in a seemingly impossible situation, but they band together to figure out the problem and fight the villains.

The Smurfs end up in the Australian Outback, where they meet Snooterpoots, who are furry interdimensional creatures that live underground and have a weakness for eating cake. Snooterpoots have mop-like fur in various colors and are slightly smaller than Smurfs. Snooterpoots are also thieves whose specialty is pickpocketing.

The leader of the Snooterpoots is Mama Poot (voiced by Natasha Lyonne), a gravelly-voiced ex-girlfriend of Ken’s. Mama Poot is initially reluctant to help rescue Papa Smurf, but she’s persuaded to when she’s enticed with the reward of cake. There are huge sections of the movie where you only see Mama Poot, Smurfette and No Name. In a movie already overstuffed with characters, “Smurfs” shows various Snooterpots who are seen scurrying around, but only Mama Poot is the only Snooterpoot with a voice, name and personality.

Other characters in the movie include Evil Alliance of Wizards members Asmodus (voiced by Octavia Spencer), Chernobog (voiced by Nick Kroll) and Jezebeth (voiced by Hannah Waddingham); a talking tardigrade (voiced by Jimmy Kimmel); Razamel’s intern Joel (played by Daniel Levy); and Gargamel’s cat Azrael (voiced by Rachel Butera). There’s no point in keeping track of who most of these characters are because most of them are sidelined in service of a story that really focuses on Smurfette, No Name, Mama Poot, Papa Smurf and feuding brothers Razamel and Gargamel.

“Smurfs” copies a multiverse dimension-hopping idea that was in 2023’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” And just when you think “Smurfs” isn’t done imitating a Marvel superhero movie, the reveal of Smurf “demi-god” Ron (who has superhero powers) looks like whoever created Ron is a big fan of Thor and Captain America.

The dialogue in “Smurfs” is bland and often mind-numbing. At one point, Ken says to the group of Smurfs: “You don’t know Smurf about Smurfs.” In another part of the film, the Smurfs end up in Paris. Smurfette knows it’s Paris but can’t explain how she knows, even though the Eiffel is right in front of them. Where’s Brainy Smurf when you need him?

Later in the film, the Smurfs say words what could be curse words but are bleeped out. At first glance, it might seem “edgy” for a “family-friendly” movie to do this, but it’s really lazy comedy. It’s also a thinly veiled and short-lived attempt to keep mature audiences interested in all the drivel.

Much of the marketing for “Smurfs” is promoting Rihanna as the voice of Smurfette. And as expected, there’s an original song (“Friend of Mine”) that Rihanna recorded for the movie, whch shows Smurfette performing the song. It’s a forgettable pop tune that’s a blatant attempt to get awards recognition. Nothing about “Smurfs” is award-worthy or impressively creative.

The movie’s voice performances are visuals adequate, but the screenplay and direction fall very short of being coherent. It’s wasteful, considering all the voice talent involved. “Smurfs” introduces several new characters (Ken, Ron, the Snooterpoots), but does nothing new, in terms of what type of adventure story could be told. Even children (the movie’s target audience) could be very bored by this cash-grab film that make the Smurfs world look like a pile of mushy ideas copied from better movies.

Paramount Pictures will release “Smurfs” in U.S. cinemas on July 18, 2025. The movie will be released on digital and VOD on August 12, 2025.

Review: ‘Sacramento’ (2025), starring Michael Angarano, Michael Cera, Kristen Stewart and Maya Erskine

June 13, 2024

by Carla Hay

Maya Erskine, Michael Angarano, Michael Cera and Kristen Stewart in “Sacramento” (Photo courtesy of Vertical)

“Sacramento” (2025)

Directed by Michael Angarano

Culture Representation: Taking place in California, the comedy/drama film “Sacramento” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few Asians and Latin people) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: Two estranged best friends have a tension-filled and sometimes wacky reunion when they go on a road trip together from Los Angeles to Sacramento.

Culture Audience: “Sacramento” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and road trip “buddy” movies with good acting.

Michael Cera and Michael Angarano in “Sacramento” (Photo courtesy of Vertical)

The comedy/drama “Sacramento” has an over-used formula of two people with opposite personalities who go on a trip together. However, the cast members’ believable performances capably balance the movie’s shifting tones of whimsical and weighty. “Sacramento” had its world premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Festival.

Directed by Michael Angarano, “Sacramento” (which was filmed on location in California, mostly in the cities of Los Angeles and Sacramento) is about life’s growing pains and the crossroads of decisions about maturity and lifestyles that are often experienced by people in their 30s. Christopher Nicholas Smith and Angarano co-wrote the screenplay for “Sacramento,” which begins by showing protagonist Rickey (played by Angarano) by himself in a wooded area near a creek. Standing on the opposite side of the creek is a stranger named Tallie (played by Maya Erskine), who shouts out this sexual flirtation to Rickey: “Nice dick!”

Rickey (a never-married bachelor with no children) is intrigued by this stranger and is immediately attracted to Tallie. He suggests that they spontaneously get in the creek and swim to each other. She agrees. He strips down to his underwear, but Tallie suddenly changes her mind and doesn’t go in the water.

It sets the tone of what types of personalities they have: Rickey is very impulsive, and many people in his life think he’s irresponsible. Tallie is less likely to be a risk taker and is more of a realist. Rickey decides to swim to Tallie. Over the rest of the trip, they flirt with each other and eventually hook up sexually. What happens to their relationship is eventually revealed in the movie.

One year later, in Los Angeles, Rickey’s on-again/off-again best friend Glenn Mullen (played by Michael Cera) is assembling a crib for his soon-to-be-born first child. Glenn gets frustrated because he can’t put together the crib in the way he thinks it’s supposed to be. Glenn becomes so angry, he shakes off one side of the crib in frustration. It soon becomes obvious in other scenes that Glenn is a neurotic control freak with an obsessive-compulsive attitude about cleanliness and sticking to routines.

Glenn’s supportive wife Rosie (played by Kristen Stewart) is laid-back and very understanding about Glenn’s quirks. Adding to Glenn’s overall frustration, he has recently been laid off from an unnamed job. Rosie, who works from home in an unnamed job, has offered to be the household breadwinner until Glenn finds another job. She suggests that Glenn can be a stay-at-home father for a year while she financially supports the family. Glenn somewhat reluctantly agrees.

Based on conversations in the movie, Rickey and Glenn have known each other since they were children. But as adults, Rickey has been in and out of Glenn’s life. Even though they both live in the Los Angeles area, it’s not unusual for Rickey to cut off contact with Glenn for several months and then make contact and expect them to resume ther friendship right where it left off. This flakiness has made Glenn feel very estranged from Rickey.

But there would be no “Sacramento” movie if Rickey and Glenn didn’t have a reunion. Rickey, who is chronically unemployed, is seen trying to lead a grief support group that used to be led by his deceased father. Rickey’s style of counseling is considered too aggressively judgmental, so he’s asked to leave the group.

Feeling lonely, Rickey suddenly shows up unannounced at the home of Glenn and Rosie. Glenn isn’t happy to see Rickey, but he’s polite enough to make time to talk to Rickey. Through a series of events, Rickey convinces Glenn to go on a road trip to Sacramento (which is about 386 miles northeast of Los Angeles) because Rickey says his father recently died, and his father’s dying wish was to have his ashes spread in Sacramento. This “dying wish” is a lie. Early on in the trip, when Glenn isn’t looking, Rickey spontaneously fills a tennis ball container with dirt and pretends that the container has the ashes of his dead father.

The rest of “Sacramento” has some clichés from many other road trip movies of this ilk: The two travelers frequently bicker with each other. They meet unusual characters along the way. Something goes wrong with the vehicle being used for the trip, such as running out of gas, a mechanical malfunction, or the vehicle gets stolen or towed. And as defenses come down, the two quarrelling people on the road trip show vulnerability to each other and reveal personal secrets.

What saves “Sacramento” from watered-down mediocrity is the fact that the main characters are written in such a specific way, they can’t be described as shallow or generic. Angarano and Cera have genuine chemistry with each other that makes it easy for viewers to believe and feel invested in this volatile friendship, which is at the heart of the film. “Sacramento” doesn’t do anything that’s really inventive (and some of the scenarios are a bit too much like a sitcom), but it’s a solid option for people who want to see an entertaining film that will make viewers laugh, cringe and possibly feel some sentimentality.

UPDATE: Vertical will release “Sacramento” in select U.S. cinemas on April 11, 2025.

2019 Tribeca Film Festival movie review: ‘Plus One’

May 5, 2019

by Carla Hay

“Plus One”

Directed by Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer

World premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on April 28, 2019.

Traditional romantic comedies whose two central characters are a man and a woman typically follow this formula: “Boy meets girl. Boy and girl hook up/fall in love. Boy loses girl because of an argument, misunderstanding and/or fear of commitment—take your pick. Boy and girl make up and reunite in the end.” The couple in the story either can’t stand each other when they first meet, or they’re longtime friends who discover they have romantic feelings for one another.

Taking all of these clichés into account, “Plus One” is as predictable as they come for romantic-comedy plots. However, the entertaining dialogue and winning performances of the movie’s cast make the film an enjoyable and breezy ride. It’s also rare to see an American rom-com with an interracial storyline between a white man and an Asian woman. Their racial differences are mentioned for a few jokes in the movie, but it’s not a source of tension in the story, since all the main characters in this movie are accepting of people from different cultures.

In “Plus One”—the first feature film from writers/directors Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer—Jack Quaid is Ben King and Maya Erskine is Alice Mori, two friends who have known each other since their college days. Ben and Alice are in an age range (late 20s to early 30s), when many of their peers are getting married, but Ben and Alice are still struggling with finding their life partner. Ben is fairly choosy about what he wants, and most of his relationships end because his partner has a flaw that he can no longer tolerate. Alice is less judgmental about the people she dates, but she might be a borderline alcoholic, and her raunchy, no-filter personality screams “hot mess,” thereby driving away a lot of potential partners. She’s also still hurting from a recent breakup from ex-boyfriend Nate (played by Tim Chiou), who dumped her.

So what are two lovelorn singles to do when they’re invited to several weddings in one summer? They agree to be each other’s date (or “plus one”) to all of the weddings. One of the weddings happens to be that of Ben’s twice-divorced father Chuck (played by Ed Begley Jr.), who’s marrying a woman young enough to be his daughter, much to Ben’s disapproval. To make things even more awkward for Ben, his father asks Ben to be his best man.

The weddings take place in different parts of the world, so it’s unclear how Ben and Alice (who are working professionals) have been able to take all that time off from work to globetrot to all of these weddings. But those are the kind of details that romantic comedies such as “Plus One” aren’t really concerned about explaining. The main concern that these kinds of movies have is to get audiences to root for what we all know is going to happen.

The movie opens with Ben rehearsing his speech as a groom’s best man, so that Alice can critique the speech. Awkward wedding speeches are used as comedic devices throughout the entire film. At this particular wedding, Alice does what she does at pretty much all of the weddings in this movie: She gets drunk.

Since Alice has decided she’s going to be Ben’s “wing woman,” she tries to play matchmaker for him at the wedding receptions. However, Alice’s idea of introducing Ben to a woman is to shove him hard enough to fall down near the woman.

Ben is literally the straight man to wacky Alice, who’s a foul-mouthed, crude partier with immaturity issues. But there are hints that she’s attracted to him. When they have to share a hotel bed, due to a series of events that force them to take the only hotel room available to them, she wants to cuddle with Ben and tickle-scratch him, but he refuses.

Perhaps stung by the rejection, sharp-tongued Alice tries to convince others (and maybe herself) that Ben isn’t a suitable love partner. Some of the zingers that she puts out there include, “Ben doesn’t date people. He dates ideas.” Later, she tells Ben, “Someone as grotesquely tall and skinny as you doesn’t have the right to be picky.” Even with the sarcastic put-downs, Alice shows a vulnerable side to Ben, when she confesses that her long-married parents are miserable together, thus revealing her own issues with commitment.

When Ben finally meets Alice parents, we see a familiar pattern: Alice’s mother Angela (played by Rosalind Chao) is the tactless motormouth who pries into other people’s love lives (just like Alice), while Alice’s father Mitch (played by Tom Yi) is the calmer, more polite partner (just like Ben). People who know the rom-com formula can figure out what happens with Ben and Alice. Are Ben and Alice the type of people you would want to be friends with in real life? Alice’s drunken antics and rants would be embarrassing to any sane adult, but spending less than two hours with her and Ben on screen is amusing enough for some laughs and some sighs of relief that most wedding guests never act like Alice.

RLJE Films will release “Plus One” in select U.S. theaters on June 14, 2019.