aj989 Reviews

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

Style over story

[5/10 · 31 May 2016]

Stylistically this film is top-notch. The music, cinematography production design, costumes and opening credits are all superb. The mood - that of a laid back yet still elegant '60s - is also well captured. But was the story sacrificed in the process? The narrative - involving a missing scientist and a nuclear weapon possibly falling into the hands of some Nazi sympathizers - is so half-baked and altogether dull one might think that the story was always considered secondary. The film also opens flatly with some boring dialogue in an East Berlin auto shop and, in general, the film takes a while to get going and lacks a memorable action sequence - never a good sign in an action flick.

The casting is not all that successful either. Armie Hammer does his best with a thinly drawn caricature of a character. He utilizes a Russian accent so thick it appears to have been intended to be comedic. Henry Cavill fares even worse. His dialogue, for instance, often appears as if it was dubbed or looped in at a later date. Instead of appearing as suave, cool and debonair, he comes off as robotic. And his character's attempts to come off as witty always feel forced. The performance was like a bad James Bond audition. He does look good in a suit however. The Man From U.N.C.L.E is thus like its leading man - beautiful to look at on its surface, but underneath not much to write home about.

The Crossing Guard (1995)

A Missed Opportunity

[3/10 · 30 July 2015]

The film opens with a rather strange juxtaposition of two scenes. One features a group of grieving parents discussing how they have dealt with the loss of their children. The other features a topless stripper playing with fire. The Crossing Guard at its heart is how people deal with grief differently and the consequences those choices have for all. Some parents would prefer to pour their heart out. Others choose more destructive outlets, like patronize strip clubs. Jack Nicholson, the father of a girl killed by a drunk driver, spends some of his nights at strip clubs, while Anjelica Huston, the mother of that girl and Nicholson's ex-wife, spends time listening to those grief stricken parents pouring their hearts out. Like that opening juxtaposition the film's points are hit with all the nuance of a sledgehammer pounding in a nail.Therefore, little attention is paid to how Huston's character attempts to come to terms with the death of her child; instead, the focus is on how Nicholson destructively grieves for his daughter. Of course he wants revenge. And of course this quest for revenge, the film tells us, doesn't solve anything but only further eats away at him.

Nicholson, who still seems to be in Joker mode from his stint in that role in the Batman franchise, is as over the top as one might expect. The character he's saddled with is a difficult one to play to be sure, but Nicholson makes his character so over bearing and indignant that his presence soon becomes toxic. Instead of exploring his character's inner grief and psychology the film would rather just show his temper tantrums. David Morse, as the drunk driver who killed Nicholson's daughter, is, by contrast, and surprisingly, shown as some kind of repentant saint. He knows what he did, feels terrible about it, and tries to communicate it to an obstinate Nicholson. But in general Morse isn't given much to do other than stare into space stoically. Huston, however, it must be said is quite good even if the film doesn't really care about her and only utilizes her to show how crazy Nicholson's character has become.

The middle part of the film, where Nicholson parties with some strippers (including Three's Company's Priscilla Barnes) and Morse's character meets up with some bohemians, is a total bore. Another subplot of Morse falling in love with Robin Wright Penn adds nothing to the plot other than act as filler so the film can reach the standard 120 minute run time. Finally, the closing sequence of the film, which includes a chase (or in Nicholson's case a fast walk) through LA and ends with a kumbaya moment in a graveyard as the sun is slowly rising and the tedious score swelling, is totally ridiculous.

What's most disappointing here is that at its core The Crossing Guard could have been a good film. Sean Penn has directed other fine films (especially Into the Wild) and Nicholson, at least prior to the '90s, is a first-rate actor. But totally lacking nuance in performance and story and weighed down by a miserable second half and a hokey conclusion renders this film instead largely a failure.

Nuts (1987)

Unintentional Camp

[4/10 · 9 July 2015]

Barbra Streisand as a call girl (a "high end" one of course) who has gone more than a little nutty. Leslie Nielsen as a crazed John who attacks Streisand while wearing some very tiny black bikini briefs. Richard Dreyfuss as Streisand's hyper public defender. Dialogue such as "I get four-hundred dollars for a straight lay, three-hundred for a hand job, and five-hundred for head. If you want to wear my panties, that's another hundred" and "Don't judge my blow jobs, they were sane." All makes for a rather unintentionally campy movie and this camp factor is only ratcheted up by the serious way the film was made.

Streisand, admittedly, is entertaining in the role, even if the constant muttering to herself gets a little old after 30 minutes and becomes a little too theatrical in a look at me "I'm acting" kind of way. Nuts was based on a play originally produced in the 1970s and this film version, directed by the great Martin Ritt, is unable to overcome its original theatrical limitations. The film is unendingly claustrophobic, for example. There is only one scene that takes place outdoors - the final one. Moreover, the premise is awfully limited and despite Streisand's star power and the over the top concept of a nutty hooker killing one of her clients this film at its core is just a standard TV courtroom drama.

Against All Odds (1984)

Mediocre melodramatic remake of a classic noir

[5/10 · 9 July 2015]

A broke football player (Jeff Bridges) recently cut from his team is hired to track down a poor little rich girl (Rachel Ward) in Mexico wanted by her wealthy mother (Jane Greer) and her gangster ex-boyfriend (James Woods). Against All Odds is a remake of the 1940s classic Out of the Past. Updated for the 1980s, the film was also significantly dumbed down and rather than serve as a hardboiled noir like Out of the Past, Against All Odds is far more content to function as a melodrama probably in an attempt to secure better numbers at the box office.

The movie is perhaps most notable for its excellent title song, played over the final scene and end credits, by Phil Collins. This final scene where Ward and Bridges stare at each other knowing they can never be together is the film's best moment. The film also gained traction because of a few, somewhat explicit, sex scenes between Ward and Bridges, but perhaps unconventionally it is Bridges' body that is showcased more than Ward's. The film also includes some nice tropical Mexican scenery, including a few scenes at ancient ruins, where Bridges and Ward have one of their romps.

In general, Bridges is quite good here and that is to be expected as he excels in these kind of stoic roles where he plays an outsider. Ward, on the other hand, is about as emotive as a plank of wood. Rather than act, she mostly just whimpers through the whole film. The film also makes up a rather convoluted excuse as to why Ward's character speaks with an English, rather than American accent (the film is set mostly in LA and Ward's character is ostensibly American), but it was mostly likely due to the fact that she couldn't pull off a competent American accent. The film's biggest mistake however was turning the Ward character from a femme fatale who takes the initiative, as she did in the original film (and played by Jane Greer) into a largely helpless and ever whimpering rich girl. In the process the character lost a great deal of allure.

The film is further marred by a script that goes totally off the rails in the film's final third weighed down by plot machinations featuring point-shaving and bribery and also a poorly directed climactic shootout/confrontation.

Catch and Release (II) (2006)

Never takes off

[3/10 · 9 June 2015]

This movie would've liked to have been described as light, funny, touching, and romantic. Instead it's mostly just maudlin and when it's not that it's just forgettable. Jennifer Garner, as earnest and cloying as ever, plays a young woman whose fiancée has just died. Over the course of the film, she paints some walls, pouts, and, this being a romantic comedy, naturally falls in love with one of her dead fiancée's friends (Timothy Olyphant), who for some reason decided to move in with Garner and her friends even though he has a giant beach house in Malibu. She also has to contend with the disappointing revelation that her cherished fiancée may have fathered a child while they were together.

As you might be able to discern from the above brief plot description, not much happens in this film. The crux of the film should have been the burgeoning romance between Garner and Olyphant but the two have little to no chemistry and neither has much in the way of screen presence. The film does have some nice visuals of Colorado (or is it Canadian?) scenery. The characters that populate this film being residents of some lush, mountainous utopic part of Colorado are outdoorsy types - they drive Subarus, build memorial peace gardens, fish, and are psychically fit (except Kevin Smith, whose obesity was probably intended to further his character's kookiness, a very important trait in friends of romantic comedy lead characters). But why care about them? The film doesn't give us any real reason to.

Zashchitnik Sedov (1988)

Somber Soviet film from the Gorbachev period

[9/10 · 4 January 2015]

Defense Counsel Sedov, Evgenii Tsymbal's 1989 short film, is stunning and bleak. The film, shot in a documentary style, focuses on the efforts of a Moscow lawyer, the eponymous Sedov, to defend four agronomists, who were tried and convicted of "wrecking" (specifically killing some cows at the state institute they worked). Tortured, the men confessed and now await their execution in a Siberian jail. Rather than open the film with a lengthy exposition, the film instead starts with an argument over a dining room table as a group of women plead with Sedov to represent their loved ones who are jailed in Siberia. Sedov, of course, would rather not. The chances of setting these men free, no matter how false the charges against them, was slim to none in an era (the 1930s) when some seven hundred thousand men and women were executed during what later came to be known as the Great Terror. In addition, to offer help those accused of such crimes against the state was to raise the ire of the authorities and bring possible charges against you.

Sedov (played by Vladimir Ilin), although positioned as the hero of the film, does not look or act like a conventional one. He's middle-aged, pudgy, balding and exhausted looking. Rather than volunteer to defend the innocent agronomists against the trumped up charges, which might lead to their execution, he has to be reluctantly drafted to defend them, and he does so in a calm, restrained manner. He gives no fiery speeches; instead, he simply raises a few doubts in the minds of those who had the power to free the men. But, the legal system he confronts is hardly a legal system at all, but instead a mass bureaucracy of hapless, fearful state employees who sign death warrants because it is what they believed their superiors wanted them to do. Another key theme within the film is the powerlessness of the individual. While Sedov succeeds in part, he ultimately fails as the terror continues because others are not willing to stand with him in opposition to the state's actions.

Despite being produced on what looks like a shoestring budget, the film makes up for it in the way the film's narrative unfolds. Initially the audience expects the four agronomists to be executed and in a pulse-raising scene a number of military officers enter Sedov's officers demanding that he come with them, leading the viewer to believe Sedov will also soon be put on trial. But then a reversal happens and then finally a third reversal occurs at a climatic party meeting. Actual newsreel footage, used to great dramatic effect, closes the film. And this all occurs within a taut 50 or so minutes.

Defense Counsel Sedov was made possible only because of the inauguration of Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms, allowing for more open discussion (glasnost) of past misdeeds undertaken by the state. The topic of the Great Terror, which touched nearly every family in the USSR, had never been as thoroughly broached previously in any Soviet film as it was in this film. Here, the Great Terror is exposed for what it truly was – a time of state sponsored mass killings of innocent people. Defense Counsel Sedov is thus one of the triumphs of the Gorbachev period.

Not only is the film about a depressing topic and one wrapped up on a pessimistic note, the film is shot in an almost washed-out, dreary black and white. That the film is set during wintertime and that large portions of the film occur in dark, cold Siberia only further contributes to the film's bleak and depressing mood, a mood that was very common across the USSR in the 1980s as economic hardships had begun to wrack the country by this time. The film's haunting score fits perfectly.

Cross Creek (1983)

Steenburgen out in the swamp

[7/10 · 14 August 2014]

So-called "Woman's Films," containing narratives built around the dilemmas (romantic or otherwise) faced by the film's central female character, were popular attractions at movie theaters throughout the 1930s and 1940s only to die out as tastes changed. Audiences were drawn to these films, which usually featured strong female characters, romance, and stories of female perseverance. "Cross Creek" functions more or less as a "woman's film." It's the story of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (Mary Steenburgen), the author of the classic novel "The Yearling." Seeking inspiration after a fallow creative period, Rawlings sets out, despite the concerns and objections of others, including her current husband, to a remote part of rural, backwoods Florida, populated only by people who live off the land, not because they have to, but because it's the only way the know how to live. And they love it all the same.

After an initial rough start in her new home in Cross Creek, Rawlings perseveres. At Cross Creek with the help of her maid Geechee (Alfre Woodard), neighbors (Rip Torn and Joanna Miles), a farmhand/moonshiner (Ike Eisenmann) and the pastoral beauty of her surroundings, Rawlings finds community, solace and the inspiration to write "The Yearling" after a series of repeated rejections by her publisher. Marjorie's romantic life is a lesser concern for the film. She has a suitor (Peter Coyote), who she rejects at one point, before agreeing to his proposal, but the film is more about Marjorie's love for her surroundings. Martin Ritt captures the damp, sweltering beauty of this part of Florida wonderfully. The production design and costumes are additionally well done.

Refreshingly, the film largely refuses to condescend to those who call Cross Creek home. When they could've easily been portrayed as a bunch of hicks for cheap laughs or simply out of derision, Cross Creek's inhabitants are seen as normal people living in a unique environment. Only Geechee, the maid played with wonderful exuberance by Alfre Woodard, is rather cliché ridden. (It should be said that the film really isn't interested in Geechee at all – she doesn't even possess a real name) The character is a stereotypically loyal, deferential servant used occasionally to lighten the film's usually somber mood. And her boyfriend, LeRoy, is shown as simply shiftless.

A few other faults remain with the film. "Cross Creek," in general, has all the ingredients of a good "Woman's Picture" (escapism, female triumph and perseverance, a little romance), except for, perhaps, the most important part - a strong female lead. Steenburgen, often appearing as she's about to wilt, just isn't strong or compelling enough. She's awfully milquetoast and dainty in the lead role, which makes her character's eventual triumphant adaptation to her often harsh and unwelcoming surroundings a little less believable. Coming off her massive success in "Melvin & Howard," "Cross Creek" was the first time she had the opportunity to headline a major motion picture and it was also basically the last time as well. The film (decidedly character driven) also drags at times and one occasionally may wonder, over the course of the film's two hour running time, about the film's larger meaning and the reasons for it being made. Is it about the importance of community; the inspiring powers of nature; a woman's quest for independence and meaning; or is it simply the tale of how "The Yearling" came to be? The film doesn't quite seem to know either.

Summertime (1955)

Sweet little film

[8/10 · 12 July 2014]

Summertime is David Lean and Katherine Hepburn's love letter to lonely, middle aged secretaries everywhere. Although the film is rather thin and at times acts more like a tourist reel of Venice, the performances by Hepburn - the best of her work in the 1950s - and the incredibly charming and suave Rossano Brazzi makes up for the film's weak points.

The film is a breezy adaptation of an Arthur Laurents play that while on paper seems to be nothing particularly special, is enlivened by Lean's vivid direction and the chemistry between Hepburn and Brazzi. She plays a lonely secretary traveling through Venice, and he is a lonely store keeper. They meet, fall in love, yet they must part because she has to return home. Hepburn's typically heavy mannerisms and her increasingly croaky voice appear only a little bit here in the beginning but after the first 10 minutes she is nothing but great. It certainly is a charming film and the last scene at a train station is just spectacular.

Picnic (1955)

A Slice of Life

[9/10 · 29 December 2013]

I've always very much enjoyed this film about a drifter (William Holden) who wanders into a small, dormant Kansas town and over the course of only a day breathes new life into it and stirs passions among its residents.

"Picnic," has its faults. And there are many: the miscasting of William Holden, who was far too old (37) to play a young drifter looking to find his way in life, Kim Novak's breathy performance that takes on a mannequin like quality which leaves no room for the necessary chemistry between her and Holden, Rosalind Russell playing to the rafters (although she does nail her most important scene – the one where she lashes out at Holden), and finally the way the musical score pounds loudly as the melodrama is poured on in the last act.

"Picnic" also lacks the lyrical quality of the great Douglas Sirk melodramas of the same era ("Imitation of Life"), but maybe its nostalgia for a time and place gone by or the way director Joshua Logan nails the sleepy life of an American town that is just waiting eagerly to be awoken. Or maybe it is James Wong Howe's brilliant widescreen cinematography or the wonderful performances from Verna Felton, Susan Strasberg and Arthur O'Connell that allows me to forgive the film's faults and treasure it for what it is: a beautifully shot melodrama that perfectly captures a slice of Americana.

Once Is Not Enough (1975)

Hot mess of a film

[2/10 · 31 May 2013]

Once is Not Enough is a tepid screen version of a terribly trashy Jackie Susann novel. Kirk Douglas stars as an over the hill, broke movie producer, who, to maintain his opulent life style, has married one of the world's richest women, played by Alexis Smith, an overbearing snob, who enjoys nothing more than to orchestrate the lives of all those around her. His daughter (Deborah Raffin) is a beautiful, but prim and naive young woman (i.e. Virgin!) who detests her father's new bride. Her "daddy complex" is a primary theme that runs throughout the film. Rather than dating the hot young available astronaut, she instead chooses the brooding, middle aged and over bearing author - a man incidentally very much like her own father.

Besides the often hilarious camp nature of Once is Not Enough, the film has few redeeming features. The cinematography is terrible. Deborah Raffin is entirely uninteresting as the lead. Throughout most of her screen time, Raffin either giggles or stares blankly into the camera. The dialogue is abysmal and the story line has been done before and done much, much better. Despite all the talk of sex, very little actually occurs. I'm still not sure why Kirk Douglas agreed to do this film and for much of the film he seems confused as to why he is on screen as well. While the first 40 or so minutes are centered on his character, he disappears for most of the rest of the film. When he is on screen, he is loud and entirely over bearing, which sadly is a hallmark of his filmography from around this time.

Brenda Vacarro in her role as magazine editor and sex addict Linda Riggs, is the film's main highlight. Despite her character being written as a one note joke, Vacarro perseveres. She spits out most of her badly written lines as if they are actually worth something and she gives a full characterization of what is largely a poorly constructed out stereotype.

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

Vivid story of what happens when an outsider enters an isolated small town

[10/10 · 31 May 2013]

From its strong opening of a train speeding along the rails in the desert of California to the last scene, as Spencer Tracy boards that same black train once again, "Bad Day at Black Rock" is full of intrigue, mystery, and shady characters. And at 81 minutes it is a breeze to sit through.

Spencer Tracy plays a disabled WWII veteran (he lost an arm in Italy), who travels to small desert hamlet that is run by a posse of thugs led by Robert Ryan and his disciples, Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine. Tracy, an outsider in the town, draws the ire of Ryan and his gang for simply being there and he causes further suspicion when he starts asking questions regarding a man – a Japanese farmer who lived nearby – who no one wishes to talk about, especially the circumstances of his disappearance.

The script is full of wonderful dialogue and while the villains (Borgnine's character especially) appear at times cartoony, they certainly are entertaining. In this cast without a weak-link, Tracy, Ryan and Walter Brennan, as the town doctor, are the standouts. Tracy (even though he was probably too old to be just out of the army) imbues his aging character, who feels he has lost his worth in life because of his disability, with a great sense of dignity and purpose. This is a great role for Tracy and when he gets an excellent scene, such as when his character demands answers from the town doctor and hotel clerk, he excels.

John Sturges' direction is also top notch and several scenes that he constructs are striking. The score by Andre Previn is also excellent and fits the film so well.

The film is also somewhat similar to "High Noon." Both are about isolated Western towns in which the citizens of the town fail to stand up for what is right and instead look the other way at the injustice that occurs right in front of their eyes . But, in both films, one man does decide to take charge and stand up for what is right. I found "High Noon," which also has a short running time, to be rather boring and visually uninteresting. "Bad Day at Black Rock," in vivid color, is the far better film.

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Wonderful movie about returning soldiers

[10/10 · 31 May 2013]

When Robert Osborne introduced "The Best Years of Our Lives" on TCM years ago, he started it off by saying that some consider this to be one of the greatest films ever made. I was suspicious, as I had seen the film years earlier and thought it to be a good, not great film, but after that viewing, I now consider it to be a truly great film.

The film tells the story of four soldiers who return home to Boone City after the end of WWII. Al Stephenson (Fredric March) returns home to his wife (Myrna Loy) and daughter, Peggy (Teresa Wright). Al also has a son, but he disappears almost entirely by the middle of the film. Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) returns home to a wife (Virginia Mayo) who doesn't seem much like the woman he thought he married and alternatively he is drawn romantically to Peggy. Finally there is Homer (Harold Russell) who returns home to his family and girlfriend with the news that due to war injuries he no longer has his hands; instead two hooks are in their place.

The story follows these three men as they attempt to navigate the, not always smooth, transition from wartime to peacetime life as civilians. As evidenced by this film, not every problem was solved by the GI Bill. Memories (and wounds) of the war still linger. The film is not only a fascinating character study of soldiers but also of their loved ones as well. The way the film weaves the stories of these three distinct men together is a storytelling masterstroke. All of their stories fit together, yet are different (they come from different economic backgrounds, for example) and nothing seems forced.

Every member of the cast does a wonderful job from the leads to the actors in smaller roles like Virginia Mayo and Gladys George. March's performance is exquisite as he struggles to return to normalcy, especially at his job. Myrna Loy (has there ever been a classier actress?) is great as March's wife. Loy gives a restrained performance but one that radiates beautifully throughout the entire film. Harold Russell won two Oscars for his work here, one was honorary. Is it a great performance? No. But it sure is moving. The producer Sam Goldwyn and director William Wyler deserve credit for casting an actual amputee in the role. This is especially noteworthy when considering how frequently white actors played Asians and Native Americans in those days. When Goldwyn and Wyler could've cast anyone, they instead turned to Russell and the film is much better and more authentic because of that choice. Dana Andrews just might have given the best performance in the entire film. His part is probably the film's most complicated one. His character struggles perhaps the most both in terms of his personal life and in his job. Andrews successfully navigates this course so brilliantly; an honest, subtle, and charming performance.

Overall, this film is nearly perfect with the exception of the overreaching score. In my estimation, it is Wyler's best film as well as the best movie about soldiers returning home, and yes maybe one of the greatest American films of all time.

Absence of Malice (1981)

Newman is great in this Sydney Pollack film

[7/10 · 13 March 2010]

Sydney Pollack's harsh take on the press plays out with Paul Newman as an innocent liquor dealer and Sally Field as the delusional, yet still spunky reporter that implicates Newman in the disappearance of a local Miami labor leader.

"Absence of Malice" takes a rather tough look at the newspapers in this country. Instead of being the hero, as they were in say "All the President's Men," they are portrayed here as the agitators that don't seem to care about flimsy accusations and exposing very personal secrets.

The plot is at times a little too convoluted and Newman's character's actions/dealings toward the end of the film are a little too unbelievable for me, at least. Tension also fails to build. The film, however, isn't a mystery, so plot machinations like people getting murdered in a dark alley aren't here and shouldn't be.

Newman is great here. At his cool, suave best. Even at 56 years of age, he is still incredibly gorgeous. He could just coast on that, but he doesn't. He gives a polished and reserved performance, while definitely adding more layers to the character. Sally Field, on the other hand, is totally miscast here - too much Norma Rae here. She is feisty for sure, but seems to be trying too hard to play this strong willed, tough, and smart reporter. This is especially evident when she's playing against Paul Newman who in turn is giving such an effortless performance. Jane Fonda would've been so much better! Wilford Brimley is great in a small supporting role near the end of the film and Melinda Dillon, giving a very subtle and quiet performance, is very effective as a woman with a secret that eventually gets exposed.

Heller in Pink Tights (1960)

Colorful,

[6/10 · 6 March 2010]

The film is the story of an acting troupe (Anthony Quinn, Sophia Loren, Eileen Heckart, Margaret O'Brien) who run into various monetary and Indian problems as they travel across the Western United States.

George Cukor, who directed this film, supposedly never liked how the usual western looked. They lacked color, according to him, and in "Heller in Pink Tights," Cukor set out to remedy that. The film is full of vivacious color. From Eileen Heckart's orange hair to Sophia Loren's platinum blonde wig and the various pieces of clothing that they wear. Visually the film is quite arresting. It mixes such loud, bright colors with the colors of such a rigid and tough landscape.

While the use of color is certainly interesting, the film never gets quite as far. The story is entertaining, but in a silly way. The chemistry between Loren and her two love interests (Quinn and Steve Forrest) is non-existent. She also looks totally uncomfortable with the blonde wig she is saddled with. Eileen Heckart is fun as the loudmouth actress/stage mother to O'Brien's character, and Anthony Quinn is his usual "dramatic" self.

"Heller in Pink Tights" certainly is a different kind of Western. I just only wish the film's story would have been as interesting as its use of color.