Hud

October 15, 2008

Hud (1963) *****

Directed by Martin Ritt

After watching Hud on Turner Classic Movies, I heard Robert Osborne, who would get my vote if he ran for president, talk about the frustration both Paul Newman and director Martin Ritt felt once the character of Hud Bannon became an anti-hero instead of an all out villain. I called Paul Newman the “king of on screen coolness” in my tribute post to him, and I think many would agree with the appropriateness of that title. It’s because of Newman’s charm and appeal that filmgoers refused to despise Hud and instead found much to admire amid the character’s many flaws. It was interesting for me to hear about this ironic affection, and it got me thinking about my own ultimate judgment of Hud himself.

Well, before I get to that, let me first say that my judgment regarding the film Hud is that it’s a masterpiece! Not only is it a breathtaking exploration into good and evil, but it’s also a glorious example of a great western! This film, which Ritt rightly chose to shoot in black and white, has a feel about it as if it may have been made in the 1940’s. Yet, intermingled within its nostalgic aura, Hud is also a movie that captures the cultural transformations which the sixties brought into the American consciousness. Another great film, The Last Picture Show, similarly attempts to show the tension between two conflicting realities forced to coexist together. That film contrasts the sad peacefulness of an old Texas town set in its ways with the sexual aggression embraced by many teenagers in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Hud is a better film by far, mostly because it doesn’t rely on shocking sexual situations in order to provoke a reaction from its audience. Instead, screenwriters Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr., adapting Frank McMurtry’s novel, focus on a seventeen year old boy’s two heroes, each having a completely different philosophy of life. Hud, the boy’s uncle, embodies freedom and rebellion, while Homer, Hud’s father and the boy’s grandfather, holds onto deep rooted values and principles such as hard work and integrity.

It may seem like both philosophies are valid and acceptable, until we begin to see that Hud’s refusal to tow the line comes from a deep rooted cynicism which most likely began when his recklessness resulted in the death of his brother/Lonnie’s father when Lonnie was just a baby. Lonnie is the seventeen year old boy mentioned above, and he’s played by Brandon de Wilde, who looks remarkably like a seventeen year old version of that kid from Shane. I crack myself up! Anyway, Hud is clearly adopting a dangerous nihilistic worldview, which obviously can’t be good for a boy who still embraces the idealistic optimism of youth, which, while not always accurate, does make Lonnie strive to be respectable and decent. If you believe that there’s no ultimate virtue in decency and respectability, like Hud, then you’re going to grow up to be the kind of 34 year old who breaks windows in bar fights, hires a lawyer in order to forcibly remove his father from his ranch and attempts to rape a housekeeper who doesn’t immediately accept his sexual advances.

Of course, there’s a downside to being so relentlessly moral like Homer, played by the great Melvin Douglass who won an Oscar for his brilliant performance. It’s because of his naivety that his entire herd of cattle may have been infected with foot and mouth disease which can be traced back to his recent purchase of cheap Mexican cattle. If the government determines that his cattle are in fact diseased, it would require all of his animals to be killed. If Hud had his way, he wouldn’t have reported the first dead cow to the government to begin with, thus risking a catastrophic nationwide outbreak. If Lonnie were to look at the situation from Hud’s perspective, then he’d see that Homer dug his own grave, potentially losing everything he worked so hard for because of his incessant, irrational need to always do the “right thing.”

Lonnie witnesses severe arguments between his uncle and his grandfather, and as the film progresses, it’s clear that he’s ultimately going to be forced to choose which hero he wants to be like. Hud cares for Lonnie as much as a man like him can care for someone, but he obviously values his own pleasure over Lonnie’s well-being. This is seen clearly when, in a drunken state, Hud forces his way into their housekeeper’s room in order to try and rape her. Patricia Neal won an Oscar for her portrayal of Alma the housekeeper. Lonnie saves Alma before Hud gets what he wants, and in doing so, he becomes the victim of Hud’s rage when he begins to be suffocated.

Alma makes her decision about Hud, and after witnessing Hud’s reaction to one final tragic event, Lonnie makes up his mind as well. Yet, the story isn’t over right there. Hud does spend some time self-reflecting—about twenty seconds—before he chooses whether he values his nephew over his right to live as he wishes.

Paul Newman is absolutely perfect as Hud, commanding the screen with a presence equal to John Wayne. Not once do you question why Lonnie admires him so much. With a less charismatic actor, Hud may have been unlikable from the beginning. Come to think of it, a different actor probably wouldn’t have caused the irony mentioned at the beginning of this review. Hud is a louse, through and through, and because of this, I agree with the disapproval that Newman and Ritt felt regarding the character’s appeal. Newman obviously didn’t realize his own allure. Had a lesser talent than Sidney Poitier won the Best Actor Oscar that year, I would be outraged by the fact that Newman didn’t prevail.

Douglass and Neal clearly help make this film as great as it is. Yet, the person who deserves more credit for his work in Hud is Brandon de Wilde, who was nineteen when this movie was released. Tragically, de Wilde was killed in a car crash in 1972 at the age of thirty years old. He will always be known as the impossibly cute blond boy who yells three of the most classic words in film history, “Shane! Come back!” However, I think it’s also appropriate to remember the fine work he did as Lonnie in Hud. Again, had a less talented actor played his role, then Lonnie may have come across feeble and irritating. Instead, Lonnie emerges as a young man that deserves to be admired, thanks to de Wilde’s characterization.

Hud was a smash hit, probably because of Newman more than anything else. It’s refreshing to see a movie as smart and insightful as Hud connecting to audiences at large. Too bad many left this film with an unintended and in my opinion inappropriate idolization of this film’s title character. Not only does this misguided fondness speak volumes about Newman’s on screen persona, but it also adds another interesting layer to this truly superb western.

Rachel, Rachel

October 13, 2008

Rachel, Rachel (1968) *****

Directed by Paul Newman

It’s almost as if fate herself insisted that I see Rachel, Rachel. After hearing of Paul Newman’s death, I decided to compile films for a Paul Newman marathon. As I was looking through Newman’s filmography and reading tribute articles, I knew for sure that I wanted to watch his directorial debut—Rachel, Rachel—which garnered a Best Picture Oscar nomination. I’d never heard of the film before, so I was looking forward to checking out this potential hidden treasure. Sadly, I was disappointed to find out that it’s not available for rent from Netflix at this time. Therefore, I decided to replace it on my marathon with Sweet Bird of Youth. I figured that I’d leave Rachel, Rachel on the “saved movies” section of my Netflix queue, and when it does become available, I’d watch it then. What I wasn’t expecting, however, was to look at Turner Classic Movies’ programming schedule and find that Rachel, Rachel would be showing at 2:30 AM on a Monday morning. Immediately, I set my DVR to record the film, then went to this blog and happily added Rachel, Rachel back to my marathon. Since TCM showed Sweet Bird of Youth earlier the previous day and since I recorded that as well, I decided to keep that film in the marathon also, bringing the number of Paul Newman films I will have watched once I complete the marathon to eleven.

I had trouble sleeping, so I awoke to find that the record light was lit on my DVR. I turned on the television to see that Rachel, Rachel was showing at that moment. Since I was pretty wide awake anyway, I decided to start watching it from the beginning. Now, two and a half hours later, I’m sitting here still excited about having seen such a triumph! Rachel, Rachel now solidly resides on my list of the 100 Greatest Movies I’ve Ever Seen.

Newman doesn’t appear in this movie at all. Instead, he directs his wife Joanne Woodward who plays the film’s title character. Newman’s direction isn’t just adequate—it’s spectacular! This goes down in my book as one of the best directorial debuts in film history, behind his Butch Cassidy co-star Robert Redford, whose film Ordinary People remains as my favorite movie of all time. Rachel, Rachel transitions, often suddenly, between reality and fantasy. The fantasy exists as Rachel’s thoughts and daydreams are heard and shown with no filter at all. Newman directs these sequences with an eerie quality, giving the film a dark, powerful tone which resonates strongly.

Rachel is pretty much a thirty-five year old child. She’s a schoolteacher perhaps because she’s attempting to fulfill a desire to have children, which she believes will never happen. She lives with her overbearing mother because she’s convinced herself that her mother will die without her running the household. At the beginning of the film, she’s a virgin precisely because she never indulges nor takes any risks. At one point, her friend Carla (Estelle Parsons), a fellow schoolteacher, criticizes Rachel because whenever they go out for ice cream, Rachel only ever orders vanilla. “There are thirty other flavors including a flavor of the month,” Carla tells her.

Rachel grew up living above the funeral parlor that her father owned and operated. We see Rachel as a little girl fascinated by the bodies of dead children, including one that’s being embalmed in front of her. This begins a lifelong obsession with death which permeates her thoughts even as an adult. Clearly, she’s afraid of life and afraid of death at the same time. Yet, of the two, death probably appeals to her more since she would escape the disappointment and sadness she feels due to what she hasn’t done in her life.

As you can tell, this is a pretty heavy film. There are even subtle undertones of pedophilia and lesbianism that make the film that much more intense. We experience scene after scene of disturbing awkwardness as Rachel tries new things in life only to find that she’s still profoundly unfulfilled. The film’s most disturbing scene takes place in a Pentecostal church where a preacher physically forces Rachel to open herself up to the power of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, Rachel lets everything out too aggressively, causing her to make a complete fool of herself. Newman directs this scene as a horrifying nightmare, perfectly capturing the bizarre intensity of the situation.

She finally loses her virginity with a childhood friend only to scare him off when she tells him after their second date that she’s afraid that he might die and that she wants to have his baby. Then, something happens which may give Rachel’s self-centered, sad existence new meaning. Unfortunately, this hope leads to that final tragic event which completely breaks her down.

Yet, from the ashes of everything that happens during this one painful summer, Rachel is able to emerge a confident adult ready to move on with her life, purging herself of the things that have held her back and taking control of her own destiny. There’s no artificial happy ending to this film, and Rachel makes it clear that she knows that the odds of everything working out the way she wants are slim to none. Still, she now possesses the strength to face life head on instead of miserably waiting until death mercifully takes her away from all her unhappiness.

Joanne Woodward gives a triumphant performance. She was appropriately nominated for an Oscar. Unfortunately, her nomination occurred on that fateful year when Barbra Streisand and Katherine Hepburn tied to both win the Best Actress Oscar, the only time in Oscar history where that happened in a lead acting category. Also excellent is Estelle Parsons as Carla. Parsons also received a nomination, but lost to Ruth Gordon for her iconic performance in Rosemary’s Baby. The picture lost to one of my favorite movies of all time—Oliver! While I love Oliver!, most critics believe that it did not deserve to win, especially considering that 2001: A Space Odyssey was released that same year and didn’t even receive a Best Picture nomination.

Rachel, Rachel is a profoundly sad and ultimately empowering story about a woman who has lost control of her life and doesn’t know how to begin to change. She has to go through some of the most tragic situations imaginable in order to make it to a better life. Newman had trouble convincing Warner Brothers to finance Rachel, Rachel. He wanted this movie to be made so badly that he agreed to sign on to act in two films for less than half of his usual salary. Clearly he felt passionate about this story, and I’m thrilled he was able to see it through to its completion! I’m equally thrilled that I stumbled upon Rachel, Rachel on Turner Classic Movies. Otherwise, I might have missed the one opportunity I had to justify sitting down and watching this superb buried treasure!

The Top Ten Movies of September 2008 (and the five worst)

October 12, 2008

The Top Ten Movies of September 2008 (and the five worst)

Not counting short films like The Great Train Robbery and A Trip to the Moon, one film that I’ve seen and reviewed a few months ago (Billy Elliot) and a film I plan on revisiting before I review it (Cool Hand Luke), I saw 22 films that I chose from to make September’s top ten list. Most of these films were released in 2007.

10. Lust, Caution- Ang Lee has made three of the most visually gorgeous films I’ve ever seen. Lust, Caution is the third, and it’s truly unforgettable. The epic plot works wonderfully, though it’s overshadowed by the film’s scenes of graphic sex. Still, its visual and non-sexual narrative elements are truly extraordinary.

9. The Bourne Ultimatum- An extremely satisfying conspiracy plotline mixed with Greengrass’ brilliant (and I meant BRILLIANT) handheld camerawork, The Bourne Ultimatum made me want to catch up with this series.

8. The Counterfeiters- Refreshingly humble in its scope, The Counterfeiters tells a fascinating story which calls the viewer to contemplate extreme ethical questions. There’s no event in recent human history as evil as the Holocaust. What does this fact do to the concept of sin and redemption when examined within this umbrella of ultimate malevolence? However you answer this question, one thing is for sure with The Counterfeiters—it will definitely make you think!

7. Burn After Reading- The Coen Brothers’ latest example of figuratively torturing their irredeemable characters, Burn After Reading is simply hilarious. The Coens’ continue to deliver films with pitch black comedy better than anyone else out there.

6. Trainspotting- Here’s a movie that wasn’t afraid to go to the extreme in its exploration into heroin abuse. I felt like my original review didn’t emphasize the fact that this film is ultimately a comedy, and an entertaining one at that. Clearly not everyone’s cup of tea, Trainspotting is provocative and truly unforgettable.

5. Death Proof- Tarantino’s entry into the genre of seventies grindhouse flicks, Death Proof is an adrenaline rush that I still feel the effects of weeks after watching it. Most scenes are good, a couple are boring, and two of them are totally kickass—so much so that I ultimately love this movie!

4. My Kid Could Paint That- This movie about a four year old and her questionable ability to create breathtaking works of abstract art totally surprised me. I didn’t see the controversy coming, which was refreshing. This is a top notch documentary worth seeing and discussing!

3. Bananas- This is the film that introduced Woody Allen’s genius to the world, and after watching Bananas, I could totally understand how so many revered this film when it was first released. Allen presents anarchic humor of the same quality as the Marx Brothers and Monty Python.

2. Rescue Dawn- Werner Herzog is a director I’ve come to love over the past few months, and Rescue Dawn is his crowning achievement in my book. Christian Bale’s extreme performance alone is worth seeing. Add in Herzog’s patient pacing and you’ve got a war film that matches the unique achievements of movies like Apocalypse Now, All Quiet on the Western Front and A Thin Red Line.

1. Paranoid Park- I used this movie in the high school film class I teach in order to show students an extreme example of independent moviemaking at its finest. Paranoid Park tells the most fascinating story in the most interesting ways, and yet, it’s completely palatable and brilliantly realized. Paranoid Park deserves to be called the ultimate indy film!

And the bottom five:

5. Lions for Lambs

4. Talk to Me

3. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

2. Starting Out in the Evening

1. Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Starter for 10

October 12, 2008

Starter for 10 (2007) ***

Directed by Tom Vaughan

With all of the classic eighties comedies out there that people of a certain age idolize, I’m left to conclude that a film like Starter for 10, clearly paying tribute to many of those films, is somewhat unnecessary. I was ten in 1990, so I’m not someone that holds films like Pretty in Pink, Say Anything and Class to much esteem at all. People younger than I may not have seen these films at all, and thus, I’d recommend viewing the originals over Starter for 10, which is nothing more than an adequately entertaining rehash, complete with a soundtrack containing songs that Adam Sandler parodies in The Wedding Singer.

Cliché after cliché pop up in the film’s storyline about an intellectually curious college student named Brian Jackson who struggles with friendship, love, family problems and a place on his school’s team set to appear on a televised quiz show called University Challenge. Brian’s been obsessed with knowing as much as possible ever since he used to watch quiz shows with his now deceased father. He comes from modest means (despite the fact that he lives in a house next to the beach), and thus, many of the friends he leaves behind are worried that he’s going to change when he’s surrounded by university “wankers.”

Brian’s male roommates are wearing dresses when he arrives (see the movie Class in order to understand this scene’s unoriginality), and immediately, they attend a party where he meets an attractive activist named Rebecca, played wonderfully by Rebecca Hall who was so brilliant in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. At first, Brian’s smitten with Rachel until he meets Alice (Alice Eve), a sexy blond who cheats with Brian’s help so she can compete on University Challenge as well.

They go on an awkward date, and by the end, Alice invites Brian to her parents’ house for New Years. When Brian returns home for holiday, he finds that his mother has enjoyed the companionship of a local ice cream man, much to Brian’s disapproval. At Alice’s house, Brian gets high and makes a fool of himself both in front of Alice’s exhibitionist parents and Alice herself.

Once Alice blows Brian off, he decides to spend New Years with Rebecca. They begin to fall for each other… that is until Brian calls out Alice’s name while they are making out. Things become more complicated when Brian’s friend from home Spencer (Dominic Cooper) punches his University Challenge team’s arrogant captain for insulting his lower class status. Eventually, Brian’s betrayed by his friend, and his heart is broken by Alice.

The next day, Brian makes it to the taping of University Challenge. Something happens which humiliates Brian, and it’s through this horrible event that Brian’s able to put his priorities in order. The ending can be seen coming from a mile away, and yet, it works almost as an argument that Molly Ringwald should have ended up with Jon Cryer and not Andrew McCarthy at the end of Pretty in Pink. Well, that’s the way I saw it at least.

James McAvoy overacts in his performance as Brian. Perhaps McAvoy has been in too many films where he needed to be larger than life, such as Atonement, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Last King of Scotland. Here, he seems to constantly strive to surprise us with his unique mannerisms and his incessant facial twitches. McAvoy is an exceptionally interesting actor, and as such, it doesn’t work when he’s aggressively trying to be interesting like he was in Starter for 10.

Nothing feels original at all in this movie, from the love story to the competition to the scene at Alice’s house to Brian’s family situation to his friendship with Spencer. Also, there are annoying attempts at broad humor that fall completely flat, such as the scene where Brian leaves University Challenge in his mom’s boyfriend’s ice cream truck or the painfully unfunny “tribute” to The Graduate that takes place between Brian and Alice’s naked mom. That all being said, Starter for 10 has a charm that can’t be denied. It’s entertaining escapism, and it works on that level alone. There’s no subtext or larger significance to this movie beyond it being a fun eighties movie made in 2007.

Younger viewers might have to judge Starter for 10 on its own merits and not as a tribute. For them, the clichés might not register as such. For those that can reference those movies from two decades ago, Starter for 10 might be a fun nostalgic pic, though I believe the film should have been more obvious in its intentions. Then perhaps it could have been more appealing. As it is, Starter for 10 is worth checking out when it debuts on television, perhaps on BBC America. By the way, Pretty in Pink, Say Anything and Class are even more worthy of your time if you haven’t seen them before!

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

October 12, 2008

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) ****

Directed by Richard Brooks

Tennessee Williams gave the world an amazing story with breathtakingly sharp dialogue when he wrote his play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. I can’t tell you how powerful this movie was for me, and yet I’m only giving it four stars. I’m often irritated when a film adapted from a stage play, especially one which most likely takes place on a stationary set, appears too “stagy.” Richard Brooks, who directed and adapted this film’s screenplay, didn’t go out of his way to make Cat on a Hot Tin Roof into a fully realized movie in itself. Too much dialogue takes place in one room after the other. Unfortunately, when these transitions occur, they feel artificial, almost as if this new scene could have taken place in the room from the prior scene. Brooks has these characters go from a bedroom, to an airport runway (a scene which could have taken place in that same bedroom minus the airplane), to a living room (a scene which could have taken place in that same bedroom), to the front yard (a scene which could have taken place in that same bedroom), to a basement (a scene which could have taken place in that same bedroom) back to that same bedroom to end the film. Some plays don’t transition well into film as a rule; perhaps Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is one of them. On the other hand, A Streetcar Named Desire, a film based on another of Williams’ plays, wonderfully expands the film beyond their apartment into the streets and inside of a church. Maybe Elia Kazan was simply more talented than Richard Brooks.

That being said, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof still works, despite its staginess, primarily because it’s such a compelling story to begin with. Paul Newman plays Brick Politt, a one time high school football star who takes to heavy drinking because of his failing loveless marriage to his wife Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor) whom he believes once slept with his best friend who has since committed suicide. Being from the South and because of the heirs required of being from such a well respected family, Brick doesn’t want to divorce Maggie. Instead, he just drinks trying to numb his pain.

Brick’s father, affectionately called Big Daddy (Burt Ives), returns after an extended stay in a treatment facility for what he believes to be a spastic colon. Instead, it’s cancer, and it’s fatal. Yet, no one has the heart to tell Big Daddy who is excited to get a new lease on life. Brick’s crumbling emotional state clashes dramatically with Big Daddy’s new outlook on life, which eventually results in Brick telling Big Daddy the truth about his health. Now that the cat is out of the bag, both Brick and Big Daddy continue a painful exchange of harsh truths about their pasts. Perhaps Brick will face the root causes of why he drinks in enough time to save his marriage before Maggie, called Maggie the Cat, figuratively jumps off her so-called “hot tin roof.”

No one that I know of captures the conflict of Southern gentility against the cruelty of life better than Tennessee Williams. Everything’s all about expectations, and as a one time football hero, Brick knows all too well how painful it is to disappoint those he loves, including himself. Throughout the film, Brick is using a crutch because he’s broken his leg from a fall he took while he was drunk near his old high school. This is a blatant metaphor for the crutch that alcohol provides him emotionally. Most films today would treat alcoholism as an addictive disease. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof views it more as an escape from facing one’s problems directly.

Brick’s older brother Cooper (Jack Carson), on the other hand, has done everything his father has wanted. He’s married to Mae Flynn (Madeleine Sherwood) with a handful of kids and an impressive career as a lawyer. The problem is that Big Daddy has no respect for Cooper and rightly so. Just because a person is able to be successful on the outside doesn’t mean that he’s a good person deep down. It’s clear that Cooper was hoping to inherit Big Daddy’s fortune once he died, and perhaps that’s the main reason Cooper strove to meet Big Daddy’s expectations. His wife is an idiot, and his kids are total monsters.

Brick, on the other hand, let Big Daddy down as well, but in facing this fact, Brick has the potential to become a man of true integrity by becoming a great husband and possibly even a father. First, though, he needs to become a good son before it’s too late. This is made more difficult considering that Big Daddy wasn’t much of a father to begin with.

The quality of acting in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is inconsistent, but fortunately, the performances that are successful are absolutely sublime. The best performance by far lies in Burt Ives’ powerhouse portrayal of Big Daddy. I can’t believe he didn’t receive an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his work here. Ironically, however, he did go on to win the Oscar in 1959 for his work in The Big Country, beating Paul Newman’s performance as Brick. I’ve not seen The Big Country, but if that win was merited, then I’d think it likely that he ought to have won both male acting Oscars that year.

Elizabeth Taylor is sparkling in her conflicted performance. It may sound like she’s a minor character based on my description of the film’s plot, but actually, she’s the character with the most at stake. Clearly, she’s about to lose the man of her dreams if the marriage does ultimately crumble, and thus, she has everything riding on the results of the confrontation between her husband and her father-in-law. Taylor still performs in a classical acting style, mastering Williams’ rich dialogue in the process.

Paul Newman, on the other hand, is completely miscast in my opinion. He has a few glorious moments to shine, but overall, his method acting feels like he’s inadequately attempting to channel Marlon Brando’s Stanley Kowalski from Streetcar. Newman performs as if he’s in a completely different film from everyone around him. Brando is able to shine in Streetcar independently and even in spite of the heavily theatrical acting of those he’s with on screen. Newman doesn’t dominate in his performance, and thus, he’s ultimately inadequate, which makes his acting appear inconsistent.

I really did love the story within Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and overall, I really did enjoy this movie version. Yet, I’m going to make it a personal goal to see a production of Williams’ play on stage. Afterwards, I might be able to better articulate the success or failure of Brooks’ adaptation from stage to screen. Until the play is produced near me, I’ll appreciate the fact that I’ve seen the film version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Once I see it on stage, it may increase my disapproval of Brooks’ adaptation.