Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: After barely scraping by with two kids and one on the way, things are finally looking up for Denver resident Sandy Patterson when he is offered an opportunity to be part of a new finance firm with five times the salary. However, that financial security is put in jeopardy when a woman in Florida steals his identity, both destroying his credit rating and getting him in legal trouble. When he learns it could take a year or more for local police to clear him, Sandy takes matters into his own hands and travels to Florida to bring the thief back to Denver so he can trick her into confessing in front of the police. Who's in it? The movie stars Jason Bateman , Melissa McCarthy , John Cho , Amanda Peet and Jon Favreau. Review: Our 15-year-old had another late theater practice last night (thank God those are almost over) so, after watching Resident Evil for the umpteenth time and realizing we still had a couple hours to kill, my wife picked out Identity Thief . I wasn't su...

Synopsis: After failing to be accepted to the Los Angeles Police Academy, TSA agent Ethan Kopek's life has fallen into a rut, and he seems to lack ambition even after finding out he's going to be a father. After his pregnant girlfriend, Nora, points this out to him, he attempts to take some initiative and seek a promotion. He is shot down at first but then given a trial run at a baggage-scanning lane during the busy travel rush on Christmas Eve at Los Angeles International Airport. A short time into his shift, a terrorist makes contact with Ethan via an earbud and tells the agent he needs to allow a carry-on bag containing a chemical bomb through his lane or Nora will be killed.  Who's in it? The movie stars Taron Egerton , Jason Bateman , Sofia Carson , Theo Rossi and Danielle Deadwyler. Review: After scrolling through quite a few holiday movies last night, I decided to change things up a bit and go with the action/drama, Carry-on , which I found on Netflix. At first, ...

Synopsis: Clay Vanstone dreams of running his branch of a technology company the same way his dad used to, including holding an annual holiday party. His sister, Carol, the acting CEO, has other plans, however, including cancelling the party and laying off 40 percent of his employees. The only chance he has of turning things around is landing a large client by inviting the client to the party being held against Carol's wishes. The epic party, however, quickly gets out of hand. Who's in it? The movie stars Jason Bateman , Olivia Munn , Jennifer Aniston , T. J. Miller and Courtney B. Vance. Review: I had another movie in mind for last night but wasn't able to find it right away, so I decided on Office Christmas Party instead. This is a movie that has been out for several years, but I had never seen it before. After watching it, I can honestly say I didn't regret the decision. At first, I wondered if a movie that was solely about a holiday bash would get old fast. Howev...

Synopsis: A competitive gamer, Max Davis, has everything he could ask for in his equally competitive wife Annie, who makes a perfect partner during their regularly-held game night with friends. But, when he continually fails to get Annie pregnant, she believes it is from the feelings of inadequacy caused by his successful older brother, Brooks. When Brooks comes to visit, he hijacks game night, hires a company to run an interactive murder mystery and, later in the evening, is kidnapped. There's just one problem, the kidnapping is not part of the game. Who's in it? The movie stars Jason Bateman , Rachel McAdams , Kyle Chandler , Kylie Bunbury and Jesse Plemons . Review: I wound up getting this film on DVD through Netflix because, from the description at least, I thought it sounded a lot like the movie Date Night and, since my wife and I both loved that film, I figured it would be worth taking the time to watch. As it turns out, this wound up being an OK film with ...

Synopsis: Shortly after moving to California to start a new life, Simon and Robyn run into one of Simon's ex-classmates, Gordo. Even though Simon has no interest in reconnecting with his former classmate, Gordo has other ideas and continually stops by the house when Simon isn't home and leaving gifts for the couple. Simon wants to put an end to it. However, Robyn doesn't think Gordo is a threat and begins to suspect there is something from her husband's past he isn't telling her. Who's in it? The movie stars Jason Bateman , Rebecca Hall , Joel Edgerton , Allison Tolman and Tim Griffin. Review: I really should have mowed my lawn yesterday. But, I just couldn't get up the energy to do that so, after running a couple other errands, my wife and I wound up watching an afternoon movie. We originally started watching Meet the Blacks , but quickly discovered neither of us was enjoying it and started searching for something else. After going through doze...

Synopsis: Calvin Joyner was the most popular kid in high school and was voted most likely to succeed. Now stuck in a dead-end job as an accountant with his 20-year reunion approaching, Calvin can't help but feel he has wasted his potential and his marriage is on the rocks as a result. Things quickly change for Calvin when he reconnects with the bullied high school classmate he showed kindness toward and learns his formerly overweight schoolmate has changed his name to Bob Stone is now a secret agent with the CIA. However, after getting tricked into helping his new friend, Calvin must figure out if he's helping one of the good guys or if Bob is a bad guy. Who's in it? The movie stars Dwayne Johnson , Kevin Hart , Amy Ryan , Danielle Nicolet and Jason Bateman. Review: I originally got the DVD for this movie through Netflix a couple months ago but, mostly because I wasn't expecting it to be very good (I always am skeptical of comedies), I ended up finding excus...