My Left Foot

June 28, 2008

My Left Foot (1989) ****

Directed by Jim Sheridan

I’m sure the late Christy Brown wouldn’t want to be patronized, so my saying that the film based on his autobiography comes across quite sentimental and slightly scattered probably wouldn’t bother him any more than it would bother anyone else I’d say that to. That being said, My Left Foot is ultimately an inspirational cinematic treasure which does justice by not only showing Christy’s story in a deservedly triumphant way, but it also teaches us that the expectations and limits we artificially and stereotypically ascribe to people oftentimes fall short of their true potential. As a man born with cerebral palsy in a poor family in Dublin, Christy Brown conquered and transcended the challenges that faced him. My Left Foot does a splendid job of attributing much of Christy’s success to the love of those around him, especially his mother. Not everyone with cerebral palsy will (or even can) similarly achieve the accolades and independence that Christy worked hard to ascertain, but we must always keep in mind that the more we lower our expectations about people with disabilities, the more we may stifle their own hopes and dreams. If I had a handicapped person in my life, My Left Foot would make me want to love and support him or her more. Since I don’t, instead this film makes me want to offer myself to this world in a more profound way. For me, that’s a sign that this film succeeds big time!

Daniel Day-Lewis gives the performance of a lifetime as Christy Brown—at least it would be the performance of a lifetime for a lesser actor. One mustn’t forget that he won his second Best Actor Oscar as Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood this year. Add in his performances in In the Name of the Father and Gangs of New York, and you’ve got a handful of performances that are extraordinarily impressive. His performance in My Left Foot, which won him his first Best Actor Oscar elevated him to a higher level of prestige in the public’s eye, and he’s more than lived up to it.

Sure, he’s got the mannerisms of a man with cerebral palsy just right, and even more difficult, he is able to adjust them as his character gains maturity and skills to help him control his twitches. Yeah, he develops the voice of his character throughout and remains consistent in every scene, which is saying something considering the fact that the older he got, the greater his mastery of speech. Still, Day-Lewis’ triumph lies in what he delivers beyond the externals. Especially in his scenes with Ruth McCabe as his love interest Mary, he’s able to display his character’s emotions even though he doesn’t steady his mouth or his eyes because of his twitches. He portrays anger, humor, sarcasm and embarrassment clearly all while displaying a mastery of the external motions that go along with his disease. As is the case with Daniel Day-Lewis performances, he does border the line separating acting and overacting at times, especially after a funeral in a bar, but he doesn’t cross it. Never once did I see a man playing a man with cerebral palsy. All I saw was the character of Christy Brown himself. Actually, I just now realized that when I’ve been thinking of the real Christy Brown while writing my review, I still thought of Daniel Day-Lewis’ face. I suppose Christy Brown looks different than Daniel Day-Lewis—hmmm, interesting.

Brenda Fricker won an Oscar for her role as Mrs. Brown, and though she’s had one of the worst post Oscar careers in film history (a Brenda Fricker movie marathon would have to include Home Alone 2 and The Love Guru), her performance is pitch perfect. She doesn’t try to steal her scenes at all, which makes her character’s love and generosity feel genuine. I also loved Ray McAnally’s performance as Christy’s dad. Believe it or not, I actually loved the character of Mr. Brown himself even though he has moments in the film which make him look like a monster. His deep imperfections make the character feel more genuine, and he really does love his family, which we do see throughout. It seems like he really is doing the best he can to provide for everyone he loves.

I also enjoyed Fiona Shaw’s performance as Dr. Eileen Cole, a specialist in cerebral palsy that helped Christy acquire much of the skills he would use to become an independent adult. Unfortunately, Christy falls in love with her, and when he learns she’s engaged, Christy causes an extremely uncomfortable scene in a restaurant. It’s totally believable that Christy would fall in love with this character and much of the credit for this belongs to Shaw herself. Her smiling demeanor and genuine interactions with Christy made me have a little crush on her as well. It’s through this relationship that we really come to learn that Christy isn’t perfect—not by a long shot. At times, Christy can be a pigheaded, stubborn, pain in the ass. Christy Brown and the film itself must be applauded for their willingness to show the character’s dark sides. My Left Foot isn’t a condescending love fest; Christy’s ability over and over again to be a jackass makes a love fest impossible.

For a few years, I worked at a summer camp which integrated special needs campers with a general population of kids. It was a great experience for everyone involved to get to know individuals with disabilities, and it’s amazing how comfortable kids are when they get the chance to be exposed to these individuals. There was a man with cerebral palsy in his forties named Bobby Mita that had been coming to the camp for almost twenty years. His elderly parents would take care of him during the winter, and they’d leave him at camp so they could have the summer off. Bobby looked forward all year to the summer even though he had to sleep in a cabin with no air conditioning and bratty kids. I know that he got very lonely during the winters, and he loved spending the summers surrounded by people who loved him, and boy did we all love Bobby Mita! The camp has since shut down, so I’m sure Bobby’s summers are much lonelier these days. I was lucky enough to know Bobby Mita, and knowing him has forever changed the way I look at people with cerebral palsy. For those people out there who don’t have a Bobby Mita in their life at least have the character of Christy Brown in My Left Foot to enlighten and inspire them!

The Crying Game

June 28, 2008

The Crying Game (1992) ****1/2

Directed by Neil Jordan

Even though Neil Jordan’s The Crying Game was made as late as 1992, it’s still way ahead of its time offering the same message about true love and humanity that Brokeback Mountain would present thirteen years later. While Brokeback Mountain remains simply a love story, The Crying Game offers its political statements within the confines of a first rate thriller. Sure, I can understand why many heterosexual men might not relish the idea of sitting through Brokeback Mountain since it is primarily a homosexual love story, but I think guys that love a good action movie might really get into The Crying Game if they could open their minds long enough to accept the infamous secret twist that’s finally revealed at the one hour and four minute mark. If you know of the secret, and anyone that knows film must know it by now, and you’re uncomfortable seeing a movie containing this particular plot point, I plead that you give this movie a chance, because it’s immensely entertaining! Note—this is a film for adult audiences only!

I think I first learned of the twist of The Crying Game when Coming Attractions with Jeffrey Lyons and Michael Medved did an episode about either secrets in film or gender issues in film or something like that way back around 1994. Going into The Crying Game, I was paying close attention to see whether or not I would have been fooled had I not known its twist. As you probably figured out, I’m not going to explicitly give away the twist, but I’m not going to avoid it completely either. From the Brokeback Mountain references, one might just figure it out. It’s okay though because the movie still works either way. When a picture of the character in question is first revealed, I immediately saw that this character does not look totally convincing regarding the secret. On the other hand, I’m not sure I would have guessed it right away. When someone other than this character sings a song at the Metro Bar, I’m positive I would have known at that moment. Sure, not everyone would be fooled, but I absolutely believe that it’s feasible that someone who was completely oblivious to this fact might be fooled. Once I watched this character for quite a bit of time, I started to see moments where this character came off quite convincing.

Anyway, if you’re confused by that last paragraph, I can totally understand, though if you think about it a little bit, I bet you can figure out what the twist is. If you go into this movie still unaware and you’re totally floored at the hour and four minute mark, then you will experience the same shock that millions experienced when the film first debuted. Even knowing it was coming, the reveal itself is still quite surprising. I never expected that the film would show us in that way, though if you think about it, that would definitely be one of the obvious ways that the other character might find out. While I thought the twist would be revealed at the end, I was pleasantly surprised that after the reveal, there’s still forty minutes left. That means that the whole movie doesn’t lead only to the twist. Therefore, I still had the ability to be in the dark regarding exactly where the movie was going.

The first forty minutes are very different than the remaining hour regarding tone and plot. Forrest Whitaker, who I believe should have been nominated for an Oscar for his performance, plays Jody, a British soldier kidnapped and held hostage by members of the IRA. The British government has three days to release some prisoners or else they will shoot Jody. One of the members of the IRA named Fergus, played by Stephen Rea, becomes close with Jody as he is standing guard. At one point, Jody shows Fergus a picture of his girl and asks that Fergus check up on her if he dies. The entire exchange between Fergus and Jody works extremely well. During these scenes, the dialogue by Neil Jordon is very dramatic and heightened. I felt like I was watching high quality theatrical dialogue, which is quite refreshing in a Hollywood thriller. Whitaker equals the level of dialogue with his broad performance. It would be another thirteen years before he would win his Oscar, and while I haven’t seen The Last King of Scotland, the film that gave him his award, I’m glad now that he won because this movie made me a real fan. Maybe the Oscar voters forgot his performance since he’s out of the film after forty minutes. The last hour was probably shocking enough to make many forget the quality of Whitaker’s acting.

Eventually, Jody does die, and Fergus, who at this point has escaped the IRA and has changed his name to Jimmy, seeks out Jody’s girl to deliver his message. He enters her salon for a haircut and afterwards, he follows her to a bar called the Metro. The girl, named Dil, welcomes his glances and playful banter, and through her flirtatious ways and also because Jimmy saves her from an abusive boyfriend, he comes to care for her deeply. Eventually they become intimate, but things become complicated for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is that one of the other IRA members named Jude (Miranda Richardson) has caught up with him and demands that he go on a suicide mission for the IRA as punishment for abandoning them. She threatens Dil’s life as well, which convinces Jimmy to go along with the mission. The night before he’s going to do it, Jimmy tries to hide Dil, which results in a confrontation that forces Jimmy not to be able to go through with the mission, which puts both of their lives in danger.

Somewhere within that plot is the aforementioned surprise! Again, I’m so glad that the film wasn’t simply a one trick pony. The Sixth Sense revealed something at the very end which the entire film leads up to. The Crying Game sets its reveal much earlier in the movie, allowing for a suspenseful, violent and ultimately inspiring conclusion. Jaye Davidson, who plays Dil, received an Oscar nomination, and interestingly enough, besides a huge role in the blockbuster 1994 film Stargate, Davidson never appeared in another movie. Stephen Rea’s performance is quite complicated. At first, his character is quite bland, and I felt at first that his performance was bland as well. Yet, we learn later that his life and his self-image had become quite unsatisfying, and therefore, he became almost numb. It is through his relationship with Dil that his character comes alive, and Rea’s performance then becomes something special. He was similarly nominated for an Oscar.

Jordan’s screenplay deservedly won an Oscar, and his direction also garnered a nomination. His career has been full of interesting smaller films like The Butcher Boy and The End of the Affair. His project right after The Crying Game was directing Anne Rice’s book Interview with the Vampire, which has become an iconic horror film mostly for the homoerotic undertones in Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt’s performances. That film was beautifully directed, though I still believe Jordan’s crowing achievement so far is The Crying Game.

I can only imagine sitting in the theater at the one hour and four minute mark having no clue what I was about to see. That must have been absolutely crazy and shocking for those that experienced just that in 1992. Unfortunately, I only knew this film as the film with this particular secret, and I’m sure many other people only know of it in a similar way. This one is much more than that, and as such, I really can’t recommend The Crying Game enough. The relationship between Jimmy and Dil is one of the great relationships in screen history, and it is through their sacrifices that we learn exactly what it means to love.

Harvey

June 27, 2008

Harvey (1950) ****

Directed by Henry Koster

The story of a man with an imaginary six-foot-four rabbit as a friend must have influenced both Donnie Darko and Lars in Real Life. Actually, I think comparing this film and Lars in Real Life actually makes the latter film even worse. The people around Lars ultimately fall in love with his sex doll friend, but in Harvey, people don’t patronize Elwood P. Dowd too much, and it definitely causes much hardship on his sister and niece. Sure, the bartender is willing to pour two drinks when asked, but he’s not willing to treat Harvey as an existent being. You’ll notice that no one in the movie when introduced to Harvey reaches out a hand to shake air. People love Elwood and as such, they don’t want to hurt him so they let him continue his delusion. In Lars and the Real Girl, they actually play along with Lars. The former is riskier and much more authentic to how people would act in that situation. The latter is lazier and more condescending. We come to pity Lars, but we come to love Elwood P. Dowd, which is a name I can’t think of without the line, “Let me give you my card,” following right after.

James Stewart plays Dowd, a good natured delusional man who is ruining the lives of both his older sister Veta (Josephine Hull) and his niece Myrtle (Victoria Horne). Because of Harvey, Veta isn’t able to hold social functions and thus, Myrtle isn’t able to find a beau. The film begins with Veta attempting to throw a party without telling Elwood. Unfortunately, Elwood hears about the party in the newspaper and returns home to greet the guests. After Elwood introduces everyone to Harvey, they freak out and leave almost immediately. For Veta, this is the last straw! She decides to take Elwood to a sanitarium to have him committed and out of their lives for good. At the sanitarium itself, a series of events occur that results in Veta being comitted and Elwood sent on his way. Once Dr. Sanderson and Miss Kelly (Charles Drake and Peggy Dow), the doctor and nurse at the sanitarium, realize their mistake, they immediately free Veta and search for Elwood.

Veta, who was stripped and bathed by an orderly at the sanitarium named Wilson (Jesse White), is now determined to sue the sanitarium, which displeases Dr. Chumley (Cecil Kellaway). In order to please Veta, everyone goes out searching for Elwood. Eventually, Chumley finds Elwood, but then later leaves him alone without apprehending him. When Sanderson, Kelly and Wilson find Elwood, they believe that maybe he did something with Chumley. Instead, Elwood uses this moment to explain to Sanderson and Kelly where he first met Harvey. Here we learn Elwood’s motivations and philosophies, all of which has given his life meaning and has enriched the lives of most of those he has befriended.

At the end of the film, when Elwood is finally apprehended, the decision must be made whether or not Elwood should be admitted. Even if he is not, should he be medicated so that he will stop seeing Harvey? Veta is concerned when she learns from a cabdriver that frequently delivers patients to and from the sanitarium that people are changed dramatically once they are medicated. Since Elwood is such a kind and generous man, does she really want to change who he is just to get rid of Harvey? Ultimately, Elwood gets to choose whether Harvey should stay with him or not, and while he does finally make a decision, he also has to consider that Harvey himself might want a say in the matter.

There are moments of sheer brilliance in Harvey. First of all, that painting of Elwood and Harvey is something I’d love to hang on my wall. Second, the speech Stewart gives behind the tavern and the way he delivers it are both absolutely beautiful. That bit of writing and acting are so touching and effective that I was really warmed by what it said about how people ought to treat each other. Further, the entire concept of the film, which is based on a stage play by Mary Chase, is wonderfully odd, and yet its oddity is used to promote such wonderful lessons and morals in quite an unconventional way. As such, I didn’t feel preached at, which allowed me to easily admire the film’s overall message.

Unfortunately, there are some serious problems in Harvey. First of all, I became frustrated by the obvious elements of screwball comedy that occurred when Veta and Elwood first arrive at the sanitarium. Over and over again, people kept interrupting each other just as the truth was about to be revealed. I personally didn’t find that gimmick funny especially when it’s repeated over and over. If Elwood was just allowed to introduce Harvey to Dr. Sanderson, then the conflict that ensues later would never have had to happen. Granted, I’m all for broad comedy, but the same interruption gimmick was repeated ad nauseum which just got me more and more frustrated.

Also, Josephine Hull’s performance as the shrieking, crying Veta annoyed the hell out of me. When I read that she won an Oscar for this film, I became quite angry. Can you really tell me that you don’t believe she overacted in her part? I so wanted her to shut up by the time she made it to the sanitarium. I’d have no problem with them locking her up for good. At least the world would be rid of her shrieking!

Harvey was recently named as one of the ten best fantasy movies of all time by the American Film Institute. It’s a very sweet film, but it doesn’t work as fantasy as much as it works as a morality fable, or even as screwball comedy. One has to ask by the end of the film whether or not Elwood really does believe Harvey exists or whether or not he is using Harvey as a means to connect with people. I believe that he may have started not believing in Harvey, but eventually convinced himself that he’s real. Either way, we should all be a little more like Elwood P. Dowd, even if he is delusional!

Enchanted

June 27, 2008

Enchanted (2007) ***1/2

Directed by Kevin Lima

Enchanted is the right word to describe exactly how I felt about Amy Adams’ performance as Giselle, a princess whisked from her animated homeland to present day Manhattan. Adams commits one hundred percent to this role, always willing to risk looking foolish, which she never does. Giselle could easily have become painfully annoying in the hands of a different actress like, say, Kristen Chenoweth. Adams’ almost valleygirl-esque speaking style brilliantly parodies the forced innocence in the voiceovers for many of the great female Disney characters stemming all the way back to its biggest offender, Snow White.

Though Adams’ performance completely overshadows all of the other great aspects of Enchanted, it’s still very true that the film does contain other great aspects. First of all, James Marsden seems to have equally as much fun in his performance as Prince Edward, Giselle’s knight in shining armor (though his armor is replaced by Victorian velvet). Edward jumps into the well that first transported Giselle into the real world in order to save her and give her a kiss so they can live happily ever after. Marsden, whose role is significantly smaller than Adams’, does light up his scenes with an almost narcissistic personality. Those princes and knights in those Disney movies sure were handsome (usually ridiculously so), and Marsden perfectly embodies their assuredness in order to deliver a great parody.

The elements involving Edward, Nathaniel (Timothy Spall) and Giselle, when she’s not on screen with Patrick Dempsey, all work wonderfully. The very best scene in the movie involves Giselle trying to rely on the kindness of strangers in midtown Manhattan, which I’m sure you can imagine doesn’t go over well. If I could have one wish, I’d have this scene extended another half an hour. Actually, I’d base the plot of the entire film on Giselle’s comical assimilation into reality and leave out the love story completely. Maybe I’m biased because I really don’t like Patrick Dempsey at all, and in my tainted opinion, I think he’s awful in this movie. He simply can’t help having the stupidest expressions of shock and wonder. Each time the camera closed in on his face, I was hoping that one of the pigeons cleaning his house might peck him repeatedly in the eye.

The film does go off the rails at times within the love story. At one point, a song breaks out in Central Park. At first, I was put off by how unrealistic this sequence comes off, but then I bought into it when I realized that we are supposed to believe that her existence in the real world also brings an element of fantasy along with it. The Central Park sequence works when seen as the product of Giselle’s magical spell. The songs as a whole are fine, but nothing really all that impressive (which makes me very glad that Falling Slowly from Once beat out three songs from Enchanted nominated in the Best Song category).

The final scenes involving the evil Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) felt completely unnecessary. The movie could easily have ended with the romance at the ball before Narissa shows up. That ending would have made the movie simply a romantic comedy. Instead, we are treated to a clichéd battle which we’ve seen a million times before in animated movies. Unfortunately, these CGI heavy action scenes truly hold Enchanted back from greatness. Also, I wish the chipmunk character had been cut completely, or that the chipmunk himself had auditioned for the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie instead of this one.

Enchanted plays like boiling water and freezing water poured into the same cup. The best elements, especially Adams, are not just great, but spectacular. The less than lukewarm elements, especially Dempsey, weaken the final product. Luckily, what’s great about Enchanted outweighs its shortcomings, and the overall movie succeeded in winning me over, and also in making me a huge Amy Adams fan!

The Godfather: Part III

June 27, 2008

The Godfather: Part III (1990) ***

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

I’ve heard it said that The Godfather: Part III is actually a good movie; it’s just not in the same league as the first two Godfather films. I disagree to an extent. Okay, I’ll admit that Part III is an okay movie, but to say that it’s not in the same league as the first two is an understatement. The Godfather: Part III isn’t in the same universe as Parts I and II! The first film is one of my all time favorites, and to a lesser extent, so is the second in the series. Both have huge, complicated, original, layered storylines. Part III plays too much like a standard Hollywood thriller. The suspense is elevated big time compared to the first two, so I have to admit that it’s entertaining and engrossing. It’s just too familiar and similar to other suspenseful thrillers and for a film from the Godfather series, that simply isn’t good enough!

The performances are truly excellent all around, with the exception of one of the most famous bad performances in movie history, but I’ll get to that later. In my opinion, Pacino equals his performances in the first two films. Diane Keaton is also quite excellent, though she looks a lot more like the Diane Keaton we know now than she did in the seventies. A young Andy Garcia almost steals the movie, and as such, he received the film’s only acting Oscar nomination. Talia Shire and Joe Mantegna also add to the quality of the movie.

Similar to Part One, we begin with a party scene celebrating an award the Vatican has given to Michael Corleone (Pacino). Here we meet Vincent Mancini (Garcia), Sonny Corleone’s illegitimate son who’s quite eager to get involved in the Corleone family’s mob violence which Michael has all but given up on. Vincent attempts to convince Michael to let him kill another mob boss named Joey Zasa (Mantegna). Apparently, Vincent has heard Zasa speak ill of Michael. This combined with the resentment Zasa has garnered allowing blacks and Hispanics into his gang sets Vincent’s rage off big time.

Also at the party, Michael’s ex-wife Kay (Keaton) refuses to believe that the mob life is in the past, and she definitely doesn’t want to forgive him for his past mistakes. At this point, it’s clear that Michael is going to spend much of the film seeking redemption for his past sins. His adult children are also at the party, and both have heard rumors about the depravity of their father. Rather than taking over the family business, his son Anthony instead wants to become an opera singer. His daughter Mary (Sofia Coppola) is still wide-eyed and naïve, which is shown in the dangerous relationship she attempts with Vincent. Granted, it’s not great that they’re cousins, but the more violent Vincent becomes, the more she will be in danger of a retaliatory hit focusing on those Vincent loves.

The conspiracy in the film comes straight from the higher ups of the Catholic Church. Michael has recently made an extremely generous donation to the Vatican Bank in exchange for becoming a member of its board. Of course, with Michael’s notorious past, there is quite a bit of furrowed brows at the thought of this thug being a member of their organization. We learn later that the pope himself has a place in this deception by turning a blind eye. After retreating from the Vatican, Michael visits his old memories of Italy, many of which are painful because of what happened in Part One. It is here that Michael actually confesses his sins to a cardinal in order to feel a sense of forgiveness.

After Michael is very nearly killed at a meeting with the benefactors of his business (all of whom were gunned down) Michael gives permission for Vincent to resort to the family’s mafia ways of old. The film continues with conspiracy, forbidden love, a rekindled friendship, corruption in the Catholic Church, the murder of Pope John Paul I, assassination attempts and finally, a little bit of opera to wash all that down. It is at the opera where everything hits the fan.

Poor, poor Sofia Coppola. She is absolutely dismal in her performance—so dismal in fact that she won both the Worst New Star and Worst Supporting Actress awards at the Razzies. She does nothing more than stand there with the stupidest expressions on her face all while the people in scenes with her try to keep their lunch down because of her atrocious acting. Of course, she was cast because she’s Francis Ford Coppola’s daughter (and because Winona Ryder dropped out to act in Edward Scissorhands), but allowing her to play the part truly goes down as one of the true knuckleheaded moves in all movie history.

What works as epic filmmaking in Parts I and II sadly becomes melodrama in Part III. The entire scene at the opera house was quite overblown, and the scene on the stairs after the opera ends almost plays into camp territory. Despite the fact that this film was made to help a bankrupt movie studio, I do believe that Francis Ford Coppola had good intentions in mind when he co-wrote this screenplay. Multiple scenes echo some of the great moments of the previous Godfather films. Unfortunately, they feel too forced and familiar to truly impress. Scenes from Part III like the opening party (Part I) and the attempt on Vincent’s life (Part II) almost beg that we compare the film to the first two and that we not judge it for its own achievements.

Again, The Godfather Part III isn’t terrible. I’d even say it’s a must see for fans of the first two. While you will probably walk away from Part III let down, you will still have witnessed some amazing acting and a fair share of edge of your seat suspense. Part III was bound to be made at some point and while it’s true that a better film could have been made to end the series, one must not forget that it’s also true that Part III could have been abysmal. Much of the hate thrown towards this film is justified but then again, much of it isn’t.

Terms of Endearment

June 26, 2008

Terms of Endearment (1983) *****
Directed by James L. Brooks

Terms of Endearment is an unlikely masterpiece. It hurdles beautifully over movie of the week terrain, which it easily could have fallen into. Most people probably think of Terms of Endearment as a film about a woman dying of cancer. Reducing the plot to a single element simply doesn’t do justice to the complexity and layers of the film as a whole. Terms of Endearment is about a mother-daughter relationship, and yes, the daughter does succumb to cancer, but that’s only one part of their relationship. People don’t define a lifetime of love only by how life ends. When we go to a funeral, we don’t spend the time talking about how someone died. Funerals are meant to celebrate life, and it is through this celebration that mourning happens because this person can no longer continue giving and receiving joy.

I did see Terms of Endearment once in college, and I’m sure I must have seen the whole thing. Unfortunately, I really didn’t remember much about it. My recollection is that I didn’t like the film because I thought it was too saccharine and (dare I say it) feminine. When I made my list of the films from the 1980s nominated for Oscar’s Best Picture, I didn’t check Terms of Endearment off as a film that I had seen. When the guys from the Filmspotting Podcast praised this movie, it made me almost eager to see it again. Boy, I’m glad I did!

The opening sequences alone are amazing! We first see Emma (Debra Winger) as an infant crying in her crib. Her mother, Aurora (Shirley MacLaine), rushes to calm her down. MacLaine was over fifty in 1983 when the film was made, but she was made up to look like thirty, and it absolutely worked! Next, we see Emma as a high school senior joking around with her boyfriend Flap (Jeff Daniels) much to Aurora’s disapproval. Winger, probably well into her thirties in 1983, similarly looks totally convincing as an older teenager. Maybe I’m over exaggerating a bit, but I think these makeup transformations are among the most effective I’ve ever seen.

Much time passes, Emma gets pregnant, and then married to Flip, and after a few years living close to Aurora, Emma must move away because Flip has received a position at an out-of-state college. At this point, she has two young boys and a baby girl on the way. In their new home, life is far from perfect. Emma is correctly convinced that Flip is having affairs, so she decides to accept the advances of a nerdy banker named Sam Burns (John Lithgow). The years pass, and just as Emma and Flip are ready to divorce, Emma learns that she does in fact have cancer.

When Emma moves away initially, Aurora, whose life was pretty much entirely dedicated to meddling in her daughter’s affairs, finds life very difficult and lonely on her own. Then she meets Jack! Well actually she meet astronaut Garret Breedlove played by Jack Nicholson. Garret uses his celebrity in order to pick up much younger women. When the two of them awkwardly meet for the first time, Garrett invites Aurora out on a date but she pretty much slams the door in his face on that one. Fifteen years later, at her birthday party, Aurora goes through a kind of midlife emotional explosion. So, she marches next door to see whether or not Garret’s invitation from fifteen years ago is still available. The two of them have an odd lunch together, and eventually, she finds his sexual conversation and brash demeanor to be repulsive. After she rejects him, she begins to think about being a little adventurous and taking up his offer to sleep together. When Aurora learns of Emma’s cancer, she dumps Garret in order to be with her daughter full time.

As you can see, time elapses dramatically throughout the film. From beginning to end, the pace moves swiftly and doesn’t stop for the cancer. While one might think that speeding through the cancer scenes may be less depressing, it’s almost more painful to watch because it happens so fast and we don’t really have time to get used to it. I liked this touch because it’s hard to imagine that anyone really “gets used” to cancer. The very best scene in the film occurs when Emma must say goodbye to her two sons. Her younger son, who’s around eight, cries and hugs his mom. The older son, around twelve or thirteen, just stands there like a brat refusing to say goodbye or even that he loves her. Emma says to him that if he doesn’t say goodbye now, he will regret it for the rest of his life. So sad, and so true.

Both Lithgow and Daniels are wonderful in their roles. Daniels especially really comes off as quite a jerk. Jack Nicholson gives a classic Jack Nicholson performance which works quite well considering that he gets to act alongside Shirley MacLaine in just about all of his scenes. Shirley knows how to command the screen even when Jack’s acting volume is on high. His Oscar-winning performance is unbelievably fun to watch.

Shirley MacLaine finally won an Oscar for leading actress for this film, and as amazing as she is, she didn’t deserve it. Her co-star Debra Winger gives one of the ten best female performances that I’ve ever seen, and she should have walked away with the trophy. Winger plays the role with so much sincerity and charisma. I absolutely fell in love with her character, which caused me to mourn her deeply at the end. MacLaine gives what may be one of the thirty best female performances I’ve seen, so nothing at all against her. Winger just blew me away!

Terms of Endearment portrays a profound lifetime relationship at an extremely accelerated pace. One might argue that a relationship like Emma’s and Aurora’s deserves not to be rushed. Well, even if the film were eight hours, it would still only show a miniscule fraction of their relationship on screen. Therefore, why slow down and bore the audience? If you want to watch disease or spousal abuse or whatever in a melodramatic way that hits you over the head with heavy manipulation, watch a Lifetime movie. If you want to see one of the great films of all time perfectly summarize and cinematize a complicated intimate mother-daughter relationship, then give Terms of Endearment a chance and, especially for you guys out there, keep your mind open. This is not just a chick flick; it’s a heartbreaking tour de force!

Three Days of the Condor

June 23, 2008

Three Days of the Condor (1975) ****1/2

Directed by Sydney Pollack

Pollack’s Three Days of the Condor is another one of those films that I began watching knowing absolutely nothing at all about. Therefore, when amazing scenes revealing the plot occur very early on, I felt a sense of exhilaration and surprise that I probably wouldn’t have experienced having known what the movie is going to be about. So, if you really like conspiracy thrillers and you don’t know anything at all about Three Days of the Condor, then I suggest you stop reading and watch this movie. Don’t read the back of the box or the synopsis on imdb.com. Simply put the DVD in your player, sit back and enjoy.

Robert Redford plays Joseph Turner, code name Condor, an employee for the CIA whose job it is to read books from different countries in order to see whether or not secret communications are being sent from the governments of these countries. He’s supposed to look for anything new or different than standard works of the genre. Personally, I don’t think I’d last a day in that job. At the beginning of the film, Joseph is asked to read a book sitting on his desk and have a report filled out by four o’clock that afternoon. Unless I’m really into a book, I can not sit still long enough to read it in one day. These opening exposition scenes do give us some important clues for what’s going to come later on. The first clue we pick up is that Joseph Turner is truly a genius. Only a genius could do spy work like that.

The government operation masks itself as The National Literary Society. While Joe Turner leaves to pick up everyone’s lunch order, three thugs, led by the great Max von Sydow, enter the Literary Society and kill everyone inside, including Joseph’s girlfriend. He returns to find the corpses, and then escapes quickly once he realizes that he was meant to die as well.

He calls the NYC branch of the CIA for help where Agent Higgins (Cliff Robertson) advises Joseph to hide out for a few hours until a meet up can be arranged. At the meet up, Joe’s friend Wicks is used as a setup for an assassin to kill Joseph. Joseph manages to escape before Wicks is shot in the throat by the assassin. Now Joseph is in quite a bind because he can’t trust the CIA anymore. He decides to kidnap a woman named Kathy Hale (Faye Dunaway) so that he can use her apartment to hide out and her car to track down the reason why he is being hunted. The way Redford’s character controls Dunaway so that she can’t fight back or call the police plays out brilliantly. While she doesn’t believe his story at first, he wins her over and they become lovers (would you have guessed differently?). The film continues on as Joseph tries to uncover the reason for all of the killing.

The tension and paranoia of Redford’s run for his life is shown exquisitely. The apartment sequence between Redford and Dunaway has moments of genius. Unfortunately, Dunaway’s performance and character did not pique my interest. During his investigation, Joseph conceives and executes brilliant strategies, brilliant enough to fool the CIA at times. Since we learn of Joseph’s giftedness at the beginning of the movie, his brilliant resourcefulness later on feels totally true.

Max von Sydow gives the film’s best performance as hired assassin Joubert. He’s a major player in the twist ending. Most of the films I’ve see with von Sydow have been Ingmar Bergman films where he often plays flawed and sometimes weak men. Therefore, his ominous presence, as well as his perfect English, make his performance work extremely well. Cliff Robertson also seems to have a lot of fun playing the CIA agent whose motives are unclear until the end. The very last sequence involving Redford and Robertson plays like an absolutely engrossing tennis match between two very determined characters. The thought that our government could be doing the things that we see in this movie sends shivers down my spine.

Three Days of the Condor proves itself to be great entertainment, with its cynical, paranoid view of the corruption of power. There’s no more powerful institution on earth than the United States government. The movie is also quite relevant for today, which is completely obvious when we finally learn why the murders did take place. This movie forces the viewer to wonder about things that most people would rather not think about but ultimately must.

The Jazz Singer

June 23, 2008

The Jazz Singer (1927) ****

Directed by Alan Crosland

If only I could travel back in time and make it my mission to change the mind of every filmmaker that had chosen to include blackface in a film. I’m pretty sure I’d have a tough time with D.W. Griffith. Unfortunately, one of the most famous images of Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer has him singing “Mammy” in blackface makeup. Some say that the only forgivable blackface performance is Fred Astaire’s dance number in Swing Time. In that film Astaire doesn’t let his character’s color affect his performance at all. The dancing is of such an incredible quality that it almost seems like Astaire is paying respect to the talents within the black community at the time. Jolson’s performance, though, doesn’t quite get off that easy. While The Jazz Singer is far from the bigotry of Birth of a Nation, it does have Jolson performing a stereotypical song like “Mammy” in blackface. That’s the way it is, and yes, I think the film must be faulted for this sad reality. Therefore, I’ve lowered my rating from four and a half stars down to four.

The Jazz Singer will be remembered always as the first film to introduce audible spoken dialogue. One of the first lines we hear in the movie has become iconic. “Now hold on… now hold on. You ain’t heard nothing yet!” From my limited knowledge, songs had been previously heard in film, but The Jazz Singer was the first to introduce the Vitascope sound technology to sync dialogue. Interestingly enough, I also read that Jolson adlibbed all of his dialogue between the songs. The script only called for him to sing.

Talking and singing don’t take up a huge percentage of The Jazz Singer. Instead, most of the film is typical of all silent films in that it uses dialogue cards in order to further the plot. Al Jolson plays Jack Rabinowitz, the son of a synagogue cantor. The vocation of singing at worship services has been passed down from father to son for four generations in his family. Early on, thirteen year old Jack is caught by a good friend of his father singing at a jazz club. The boy is a huge hit, and obviously also has natural talent and passion for singing this kind of music. His mother is disappointed to tears when she finds out, but Jack’s father’s reaction is much worse. He disowns the boy and throws him out of the house for using his God-given talent to sing secular songs.

Jack, as an adult, changes his name to Jack Robin, which is much better for show business. He works his way up to headlining a Broadway show along with his new lady friend Mary Dale (May McAvoy). He returns home to visit his mother and father, and while his mother (Eugenie Besserer) welcomes him with open arms, his father still wants nothing to do with his son. Right before his big show is to open, that same friend that discovered Jack at thirteen singing in the jazz show returns to tell him that his father is very sick. Not only that, but there’s no one to cantor the holy day service. Unfortunately the service falls on the exact same day that his show opens. Now Jack must choose whether his family and his faith are more important to him than his career, which is the only thing that has kept him going all those years.

With regard to what choice Jack makes, I won’t reveal that, but I was pleasantly surprised that I kept changing my guess as to which he will choose. At times, I thought he’d go back to his family and at other times, I thought he’d stay with the show. The final few scenes are corny, I’ll admit, but they totally won me over nonetheless.

While the blackface deeply mars The Jazz Singer, it’s still ultimately a beautiful and even more so important cinematic achievement. Al Jolson wasn’t the most talented singer in the world, but he sure knew how to squeeze maximum entertainment out of every performance. His singing style alternates between being on pitch and speaking dialogue. Therefore, he really was the perfect choice to spearhead the sound breakthrough in film. As far as Jolson’s acting goes, it’s a bit uneven. There are times, especially when he is talking to his mother after returning home as an adult, when Jolson pushes his charm a bit too hard in our faces. During these moments, he comes across obnoxious and almost creepy. Also, I think it must be said that he looks just a bit too old to be playing his character.

The Jazz Singer also gives one of the most beautiful portrayals of Jewish worship I’ve ever seen. The film obviously has quite a bit of respect for this ancient religion, and therefore, when we see (and hear) extended sequences inside the synagogue, we actually witness a special look into this most misunderstood of faiths.

The first talkie film in history is more than simply a great moment in film history; it’s also engrossing, entertaining and inspiring as well. I recently watched most of the 2007 film The Savages, which includes a scene at a nursing home where the residents and their families watch The Jazz Singer. The camera closes in on many of the African-Americans in the room looking appalled by Jolson’s performance of “Mammy” in blackface. I share in the disgust so many have with the unfortunate truth that this form of racist mockery existed all too often in the early days of cinema. Ultimately, I feel that The Jazz Singer can be mostly forgiven for its one mistake. Yep, if only I could only travel back in time…