Change Your Image
davisk957
Reviews
The Gambler (1974)
There are no happy endings in This world.
Those viewers who wished a happy ending (and that's what they're really saying when they find the movie's ending scene weak/disquieting/unfulfilling/whatever) don't really understand the nature of degenerate gambling.
And that's what this man is. Let's (as all gamblers do) put some %'s to it: arbitrarily I'll say 95% of habitual bettors play for the kick, the high, the thrill of the unknown outcome -- sports betting, casino betting, the turn of a card, they're all the same. Their motto of life might be, "If it moves, bet on it; if it doesn't, eat it." It isn't the win that's satisfying to them, or the money won -- because, you see, there's always the next game to get down on. Both a win or a loss is quickly forgotten, adjusted to, and forgotten. The next play is the only important one. Yet, to some extent or another, they keep it manageable, within the scope of their lives.
Then there are the other 5% -- the really degenerate gamblers. Now to these guys (never heard of a female degenerate gambler, did you?) it's NOT the action they crave. It's the LOSS. Make sense? Of course not, because you're probably reading this as a rational human being, and self-destruction is hard to get inside of.
But that's what this story is all about -- one of the 5%'ers.
To an experienced sports bettor, the scenes like the indelibly memorable tub scene are all too powerfully true. How a win turns to a loss in the last second happens all too often. And how COULD those 3 college hoops games all go south, when they all had big leads at the half?? But examine two key turning points in the story: for dramatic impact, the writer imbues the protagonist with somewhat unlikely powers of recovery -- the Vegas comeback is the stuff of dreams, and the fix on the NYU game, keeping it under 7 points when all was lost with a minute to go -- those contrivances were needed to show the magnitude of this guy's disease. Had he been just a steady loser, he couldn't rise to the heights necessary to fall so far. Not once, but twice, he made a full recovery from the debts he owed. Yet he couldn't learn from it -- hell, he couldn't even take one night to sleep in peace.
No, his desire for self-destruction had to be played out as it was, in a lurid hell far worse than casinos or calling the book again. He needed the self-degradation that only a Harlem pimp-fight could give him.
I found the ending fitting, un-sentimentalized, and perfect for this unblinking portrait of a man who couldn't be satisfied until he'd thoroughly debased himself.
Substitute a down-and-out drunk for the gambling addiction, and the story's been told many times. This should be assigned viewing in every GA meeting.
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
More to this than meets the eye
There is much complexity to this film.
Notable is the treatment of the locales, to emphasize the stark difference between the naive innocence of the small-town girl (whose first scene shows her bored with her mundane existence -- what teenager hasn't felt there was great adventure and excitement in the outside world?) and the urbane ennui of the uncle.
We start with NY, shown as an unpopulated wasteland; first the "No dumping" sign at the waterfront, then the chase through barren alleys, ending with the rooftop shot from the perspective of the escapee. Where are the throngs of people on the streets of this metropolis? Why, they're all in Santa Rosa! Note how every street scene there is filled with happy pedestrians. As packed with citizenry as this little town is, they know each other -- the traffic cop and librarian know the girl by name. It's Thornton Wilder at work here.
Now why is this complex? Because there's a war on, yet no mention is made of it. Maybe the script was written before Dec, 1941. The only nods to that condition I saw were the Army soldiers happily on the streets, the Buy Bonds sticker over teller window, and the snippet of a TOJO headline on a library newspaper. But the war wasn't lost on Hitchcock, who'd had years of it in Britain and Europe.
He was telling us, through the treatment of the towns, and the lead characters, that our small-town innocence was about to be ravished by what was REALLY going on in the world.
Uncle Charlie is a metaphor for the evil that is out there, that we assume will never assault our protected, insulated lives. (One could even say he had the mesmerizing charm of Hitler, and was as dangerous.) By the time this movie ends, how his niece must long for the boring, yet happy days she's now lost forever. A coming-of-age story, not just from the eyes of a young girl -- but from the eyes of small-town America.
Then there's the complexity of the relationships. I noted a discussion thread here that postulates that Hitchcock was suggesting an incestuous past, or longing, between the leads. Way off base. Some people will see Freudian implications in a train wreck. He didn't throw his hat on her bed to "claim his territory" with her, but to flaunt his disregard for the father's superstition. His is an arrogant superiority at work, not a desire for his niece. Hers is not sexual tension; it is genuine joy at knowing her idolized uncle is on the way to visit -- after all, she was named after him, and her mother (his sister) has always idolized him herself. But from the first pain inflicted on her wrist, she slowly grows more and more suspicious of his perceived perfection. She is not starry-eyed, but centered -- after all, she very maturely reacts to the detective's proposal. But to her, Uncle Charlie represented all the good in the world, and soon he equals the opposite. She does NOT protect him through a misguided feeling for HIM, but to protect her mother -- she wants him arrested -- just not in her town.
It is an underrated masterpiece.
Chrystal (2004)
True to the bone
Stumbled on this gem while browsing through the Sundance Channel on DirectTV -- Thornton's name got me interested, and my wife and I made the comment as the opening credits rolled that we were unfamiliar with the rest of the cast. But when Snake showed up, we sat up straight, as the Rev from Deadwood was unmistakably in the house, despite the makeup. Perhaps I wasn't as aware of Ray McKinnon's identity as I am now, but this man is a serious talent. I wish that The Accountant were available on DVD (at least not in NetFlix rental), but until it is, Chrystal will do.
Others have commented on the beautiful vocal by his wife, Lisa Blount, and -- thinking she must be a noted bluegrass singer, I checked her out -- surprised to find that her interesting bio reveals nothing but an acting background.
But I titled this comment True to the Bone, and now I segue to the meat of my interest in the film. It -- the story -- is not about Joe, or Snake, so much as it is about Chrystal (as the title would indicate.) At its heart, it's unflinchingly about the mother's loss of an only son, and the pain that never goes away, and the illogical anodynes that are used to temporarily assuage that pain. She is not 'crazy,' as the locals think. She uses sex to ease her suffering, and young boys to subconsciously bring her closer to her lost boy. A dramatic literary extreme, true, but valid nonetheless. I remember that when our only son was killed in an accident 35 years ago, my then wife had pretty much the same lasting emotional hell to deal with until her own death 17 years later. It's a non-stop carousel ride of blame, anger, keening, but always the pain.
Doubtless, Ms. Blount's Arkansas background lent much to the tone of the movie, but as Mr. McKinnon is credited as Writer and Director, I must bow to his elegant insight into the deepest loss a woman can feel. That this one fine movie can achieve that while simultaneously portraying an equally pained man's search for redemption -- and throwing in a multitude of unforgettable supporting characters (Snake, Hog, Charlie, and Larry spring to mind, but also the seer and the mother) -- I wish that TCM would pick this one up, so that it could enjoy a wider audience.