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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Our View: Cheers to jobs, fish; jeers to canceled insurance ... From the council: Medford-Alba sister city bond is a special one ... Emergency Services ... Our View: Cheers to jobs, fish; jeers to canceled insurance ... From the council: Medford-Alba sister city bond is a special one ... Emergency Services ... Movie review: Stoner movie 'American Ultra' mixes in humor, violence, romance and panic attacks Comment By Ed Symkus More Content Now MailTribune.com By Ed Symkus More Content Now Posted Aug. 21, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Ed Symkus More Content Now Posted Aug. 21, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News A government agency has developed a secret program that produces “super” people, folks who can do things better than anyone else, especially fighting and killing. But something goes wrong with the program, it’s shut down, and years later, someone else starts it up again. Then things really go wrong. No, this isn’t a review of the new film “Hitman: Agent 47.” This is about “American Ultra.” It’s a violent, action-filled comedy. “Hitman: Agent 47” is a violent, action-filled thriller. Although there are a few variations, both movies have THE SAME PLOT and are opening on THE SAME DAY. What is Hollywood thinking? Here are some thoughts about the comedy. Our hero, Mike (Jesse Eisenberg), is introduced in a holding room. He’s shackled, nervous, bloodied up and being questioned. A flashback to three days earlier brings us to a much happier, if somewhat hazier time. Mike and his girlfriend Phoebe (Kristen Stewart) are getting stoned, preparing to leave on a romantic trip to Hawaii – where he has plans of proposing to her. They make a great couple, but another in a series of his panic attacks sends them home from the airport with that ring still in his pocket. A harsh change of scenery brings us to CIA headquarters, where Agent Lasseter (Connie Britton) is getting increasingly annoyed with her new upstart of a supervisor Agent Yates (Topher Grace). It seems that stoned-out Mike, slogging through a job at the local Quick Mart, is a highly skilled CIA “asset,” though he doesn’t know it. Yates is telling Lasseter that Mike must, for whatever reason, be eliminated. But an angry Lasseter reacts by visiting innocent Mike and “activating” him with some code words, of which he has no understanding. But when some guys start messing with his car in the Quick Mart lot, something clicks inside him, and he first separates them from their weapons, then kills them, getting one of them “MacGyver” style, with a spoon. “What the (bleep) is going on here?” he wonders, as he’s freaking out over what he’s done? Same reaction from Phoebe after he calls her to the scene. Same reaction from Agent Yates, who sent those two guys to kill him. What’s going on is that Yates, a snotty little power-hungry bully who has clawed his way up the CIA ladder but is a coward, has jumpstarted an experimental CIA program that had been quashed, and done so without any permission. Getting rid of Mike will clean out any of the original program’s remnants. To make sure there are no glitches, this creep labels the well meaning Lasseter a “rogue CIA operative.” Lots of people have lots of secrets in the film, and they slowly rise to the surface, resulting in a bunch of extreme violence that’s pulled off in a kind of cheery way. Mike’s killing skills astonish him, and his longtime relationship with Phoebe isn’t quite what it seems. But those aren’t the real surprises here. The surprises are that we get terrific, vibrant performances from the often flat Eisenberg and the usually dull Stewart. Both rise to the occasion, and have great accompaniment from Grace and Britton. Joining them all, for a pretty riotous, mostly shirtless role as drug dealer Rose, is John Leguizamo. Truth be told, even though this is being sold as a stoner movie, and there is a good deal of smoking going on, it’s more of an offbeat science fiction-like story. There’s ample fire power, a fairly high body count, some good humor, an unexpected dark side and some nice Hawaiian music. Oops, almost forgot. It’s also a love story. AMERICAN ULTRA Written by Nima Nourizadeh; directed by Max Landis With Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Topher Grace, Connie Britton, John Leguizamo Rated R Ed Symkus covers movies for More Content Now. By Ed Symkus More Content Now MailTribune.com By Ed Symkus More Content Now Posted Aug. 21, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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