An Elton John biopic and Rosamund Pike’s best in years: This week’s best and biggest on Netflix

Check out Jordan Parker's 'The week's best and biggest on Netflix' every Friday on CityNews Halifax.

Crazy, Stupid, Love

One of the absolute best romantic-comedies to come out of the 2010s, this is one I just keep coming back to.

Co-directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa made an emotional, dramatic and truly hilarious film that's adorable and full of intrigue.

It follows the ending of a marriage, and the middle-aged husband's push to reinvent himself with the help of a young man he meets at a bar.

Broken-hearted Cal meets Jacob and they become fast friends, even if the suave latter is Cal's polar opposite.

But a sequence of strange events connects them in ways they never truly could have imagined.

The script is beautiful, but it's the work from Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei and Kevin Bacon that makes this sing.

The ensemble is uniformly fantastic and so authentic, and it's a great little film.

4.5/5 Stars

Legend

This crime saga is an off-kilter, intense film featuring one of the coolest performances I've seen in a long time.

Tom Hardy plays twin brother in this film about identical twins who are gangsters in London in the 1960s.

Director Brian Helgeland makes a film that's both smart and also truly terrifying at times. Hardy plays both twins with hugely different skills on display.

Emily Browning, Taron Egerton, and Christopher Eccleston make up a cast that's impossible not to be impressed by.

Legend is a movie that will challenge you in all the best ways.

4/5 Stars

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

One of the funniest movies to come out of the Judd Apatow era, this one has so much heart.

Though the 40-Year-Old Virgin is hilarious and Knocked Up was shocking, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a mature effort.

It follows composer Peter who is absolutely destroyed when his long-term TV star partner Sarah leaves him. To make matters worse, she has a crass new boyfriend.

Peter goes to a resort for a getaway only to find out they’re taking a romantic vacation in the suite next door.

Jason Segel – of How I Met Your Mother Fame – both wrote and stars in this one, and he’s fabulous. Joined by Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand, and small turns from Jonah Hill and Paul Rudd, it’s an all-star comedy cast.

This one will definitely tickle people who don’t mind a little raunch, and it’s also wonderfully romantic.

4/5 Stars

I Care A Lot

A wonderful, biting little satire, I Care A Lot deserved more recognition than it received in 2020.

Rosamund Pike won a Golden Globe for her performance in the film, though it failed to garner any Oscar nominations.

She stuns as a legal guardian who spends her time conning elderly clients out of their hard-earned cash. However, one of her marks turns out to be more savvy than she expected.

Writer-director J Blakeson directs Pike to an incredible performance, which is her best since Gone Girl.

Peter Dinklage, Eliza Gonzalez, and Dianne Wiest are all great here as well, and this film is a worthwhile effort.

3.5/5 Stars

Rocketman

This insightful biopic about the entrancing Elton John was full of style, and it was a thrilling ride.

An Oscar winner for Best Song, Rocketman is a toe-tapping, spirited film about the musician’s rise to fame, struggles, and eventual sobriety.

It feels like Taron Egerton was born to play Elton, and the fact he wasn’t nominated for an Oscar feels criminal.

Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, and Bryce Dallas Howard round out an impressive cast, and I promise you won’t be able to stop grinning by the end.

4.5/5 Stars