12 Angry Men (1957) * * * *

Directed by:  Sidney Lumet

Starring:  Henry Fonda, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, Lee J. Cobb, Robert Webber, George Voskovec, Jack Klugman, Ed Begley

12 Angry Men contains most of its action within the constricting confines of one room, where a jury of twelve men determine the fate of a teen accused of killing his father.     The race of the accused teen isn't spelled out, but he looks to be of Hispanic descent.     He seems guilty if the evidence is approached at face value.     An elderly neighbor claims to have the boy say, "I'll kill you" and then fleeing from the scene shortly after.     A woman from across the street swears she saw the boy stab his father.     His alibi is shaky, mostly because he was unable to remember the name of the movie he saw the night of the murder.    The murder weapon, a switchblade, was found a few blocks from the scene.   With the exception of the opening scene in which the trial judge gives instructions to the jury, the rest of the evidence and witness' statements are dissected in the deliberation room during a hot, stormy, intense day.   

An initial vote is taken and it is 11-1 in favor of conviction, which carries a death penalty for the boy.     The lone holdout is known as Juror 8 (Fonda), who doesn't think it's fair to send the accused off to the electric chair without at least considering the evidence first.     This annoys one juror (Warden), a wiseguy who has tickets to a baseball game burning a hole in his pocket.     He votes whichever way would get him to the game the fastest.    The jurors have names of course, but they aren't revealed here.    They are differentiated by their personalities and their quirks.     The ringleader of the jurors eager to convict is Juror Number 3 (Cobb), a hothead whose judgment is clouded by personal issues.    

The film wisely never attempts to prove a case that the accused is innocent, but whether the evidence provides enough of a reasonable doubt to convict him.    That's the burden of proof the prosecution must fulfill.     There has been public outrage over recent acquittals of Casey Anthony and George Zimmerman.     I'm certain the jury deliberations went a lot like this one, but ultimately twelve people voted unanimously to acquit.      12 Angry Men focuses on the group dynamic in which the men choose sides and stake their ground.     Loyalties switch back and forth as the evidence is probed and contested.     Fonda demonstrates how a stroke victim with a dragging leg couldn't possibly have walked to the door in 15 seconds to see the boy flee the scene like he testified.     Another juror questions why someone would use a switchblade to awkwardly stab downward into a taller person.  
As the hours go by and the jurors sweat, the accused's guilt is no longer a foregone conclusion.  

Lumet also wisely focuses on the role personal issues play in such settings.     Racial bias is an issue.  One juror begins an ignorant monologue against "people like that" which forces the other eleven men to distance themselves physically and emotionally from his hate.     I especially noticed the reaction of Juror 3 when he reveals his prejudice by ripping up a picture of he and his son.    He says, "Whoa" as if he had (or was about to) make the biggest mistake of his life but was saved from it at the last second.     His reaction is of someone who nearly falls over the edge of a cliff but regains his footing in time.     He then breaks down in a moment of powerful honesty which leaves the others speechless.

Lumet fills the room with established character actors whose names aren't known (except for two jurors who introduce themselves at the end), but they create unique personalities.     Fonda has an everyman quality he displays in many of his films, which allows us to identify with his plight more sympathetically.     He's one man against eleven others.    He takes an unpopular stand, but holds his ground because he believes, somehow, that something isn't right about the case.     He doesn't believe anyone should be sentenced to die so frivolously and without a proper examination.   

Besides the performances and the built-in suspense of the conflicts between the men, the film also takes on a claustrophobic quality in the room itself.     The cigarette smoke and rising tensions make it seem as if the walls are closing in and according to Lumet, he shot the film in just that way.    It adds to the already palpable tension.      Sidney Lumet has made films about one man vs. a corrupt police department with Serpico, one man vs. a greedy corporation in Network, and one man vs. a large legal team and powerful hospital in The Verdict.     No doubt Lumet appreciated this idea and its intrinsic drama.     He is among the best directors in movie history and 12 Angry Men is another example of his brilliance.     And thank goodness Juror 8 decided not to go along with the crowd.  

Pleasantville (1998) * * *

Directed by:  Gary Ross

Starring:  Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, William H. Macy, Joan Allen, Paul Walker, Don Knotts, J.T. Walsh, Jeff Daniels

Pleasantville is a story of present-day teenagers swooped up into a black and white 1950's TV sitcom via a magic remote control.     That is just the setup.    The payoff is something you wouldn't expect.    In a sense, Pleasantville becomes a microcosm of the changes that swept our nation in the 1950's and 1960's.     The film can even represent the idea that progress isn't necessarily a bad thing, even if people fear it or can't understand it.    If there was ever a place aching for change, it's Pleasantville.

The film opens in the present day, where David (Maguire) spends his time, when not in school, glued to reruns of a 1950's sitcom named Pleasantville.     His sister, Jenny (Witherspoon), is more concerned with dating and being popular.     One evening, the two fight over the remote (a Pleasantville marathon is on!) and the remote breaks, causing an elderly, folksy TV repairman (Knotts) to drop in and replace it.    One click of the new remote causes the two teens to be transported into Pleasantville itself, with parents George (Macy) and Betty (Allen)

David and Jenny understand their dilemma, even if everyone around them believes they are Bud and Mary Sue, the teens from the family around which Pleasantville is based.     David is able to help Jenny familiarize herself with the terrain, which includes white picket fences, doting housewives, and dinner on the table sharply at 6:00.     Teens go to Lover's Lane to hold hands.     The high school basketball team isn't just undefeated, but nobody ever misses a shot.    Geography classes consist of discussing Main Street and Elm Ave. because their world ends there.    

Once "Bud" and "Mary Sue" arrive on the scene, things begin to change.    Colors emerge, first in the flowers and then in the people.     Someone misses a shot in basketball practice and the players are warned not to touch the ball.     Then, the basketball team is defeated for the first time ever.   Mary Sue takes her boyfriend to Lover's Lane to do more than hold hands.     Even Betty discovers masturbation, causing a bush outside to burst into flames.     All of the changes frighten mostly the men of Pleasantville, who led by the town mayor (Walsh), fight back to keep their original way of life.     After all, what is the world coming to if dinner isn't waiting on the table right at 6:00?

Pleasantville of the 1950's begins to resemble America of the 1960's, with protesters fighting for change on one side and quasi-fascists on the other attempting to suppress it.    Those people who have by now become "colored" are quarantined from the rest of the town.    I don't think it's accidental that these issues in the film mirror history so closely.      When I first saw Pleasantville, I expected a spoof of 1950's sitcom which reflected a too-perfect world.     What transpires is more moving and powerful.     Each person has a different trigger which causes them to turn from black and white into color.     For some it is sex, for some it's expression of long repressed desires, and for others it's discovery of their true natures.   

Nothing lasts forever.   The TV shows which reflected an idyllic world where the biggest issues could be solved by Dad are long gone.    Some refer to the 1950's as the "good old days", but this was an era of McCarthyism, civil rights inequality, and a fear of nuclear annihilation from the Soviets.    It is remembered through rose-colored hindsight.    In a sense, movies like Pleasantville push toward the future with rose-colored foresight.   

Once Around (1991) * * * *

Directed by:  Lasse Hallstrom

Starring:  Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, Danny Aiello, Gena Rowlands, Laura San Giacomo, Griffin Dunne

We think Once Around is headed for the usual payoffs.  Instead, it goes against our expectations and is all the more satisfying because of it.  It is a tricky film fraught with risk, but it works splendidly.   

The film focused on a working-class Boston family, the Bellas, headed by Joe (Aiello) and Marilyn (Rowlands), who live in a picturesque suburban home.  That home is hosting the wedding of their youngest daughter Jan (San Giacomo) as the film opens.   The wedding puts subtle pressure on the oldest, still unwed daughter Renata (Hunter) to be next to walk down the aisle.   She has a boyfriend
who puts it bluntly, "I have no interest in marrying you."  Heartbroken, she decides to join a seminar in the Caribbean where she will learn to sell condos.   

It is there she meets Sam Sharpe (Dreyfuss), a gray-haired, tanned salesman who is said to have sold a record number of condos and became filthy rich.    Sam speaks at the seminar and tells jokes that would likely get him sued for sexual harassment today, but Renata is enthralled by him.  They fall in love and soon he is meeting her parents, where he says things like, "I want to shake the hand of the first man my Renata ever loved."  But he regales them with generosity and Renata loves him, so they keep quiet about their natural suspicions about him.  "We don't know anything about this man," Joe says during a quiet moment, of which there are few once Sam arrives on the scene.

What is the story with Sam?   He's rich, yes, but he's also always "on", as if he doesn't know how to switch off being the condo salesman guy who at times can be a bit aggressive.   He means well and wants to ingratiate himself with Renata's family, but he can't read people.  He is the last to catch on that he acts inappropriately, even though others around him are clearly uncomfortable.  His entire personality is a high-wire, high-pressure sales act.  This clashes with Renata's conservative family, culminating in a blowup at Joe's mother's memorial service where Sam insists on singing a Lithuanian song even though no one wants to hear it.    

Yet, there are a few crucial scenes in which Sam reveals the depths of his affection for Renata and her family.  He turns down the wattage just enough to allow himself to be vulnerable, especially in the aftermath of the memorial service where Renata tells Sam, "You're tearing us apart."  I also especially loved Sam's response when Renata defends him after her parents tell him he is no longer welcome at their house.    

We think we know where Once Around is headed and to my relief, we don't. It doesn't end with a tidy, happy conclusion. We expect one type of film, but what we get is something else entirely.  I won't reveal how it all works out, except to say that it doesn't quite work out.  I admired the life the actors bring to these people.     I rank this among Dreyfuss' best performances.   Could the same guy who hires a belly dancer to perform at Joe's birthday party also be the same guy who is able to sensitively guide Renata during the trickiest situation in her life?   The answer is yes and that's why I love Dreyfuss in this film.   Danny Aiello is a treasure, handling family matters with authority and conviction as best he can, even though he's not sure exactly what the right answers are.   Gena Rowlands provides a sweetness to the proceedings as a mother who wants the best for all involved, so she would be the last person you would expect to take a stand when Sam steps over the line once too often.

Holly Hunter is a short bundle of energy who dives headlong into what she calls "an adventure" with Sam.   Hunter is never less than convincing as she transforms from a sheltered woman who early on asks to sleep in the same bed with her parents to one who takes a mature stand when needed.     We sense that she will be ok and we hope her adventure continues.   

Once Around is not the type of film that gathered big box-office grosses when it was released in early 1991.  It isn't a cookie-cutter film that can easily be pitched as a "such and such meets such and such".    It contains laughs and tears.  It has characters that change and evolve, capable of creating havoc and miraculous moments that ring completely true.  It is truly remarkable.  

Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) *

Directed by:  John Boorman

Starring:  Richard Burton, Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher, Kitty Wynn, James Earl Jones, Ned Beatty, Max von Sydow

When Exorcist II was released, it was pulled from theaters and re-edited twice.     The movie feels like it was hacked to death in the editing room.      Scenes and characters don't connect.     Actions and motives of characters are inexplicable.     I don't know what the movie was like before the cuts, but I doubt it could've been this confused.

I'll explain the plot and try to make sense of it as best I can.     Father Lamont (Burton) is assigned by the church to investigate the death of Father Merron (von Sydow), who died during the exorcism of the demon that possessed Regan McNeil (Blair) in the original film.      It is explained the investigation is to prove whether the exorcism did any good.      It didn't.     Regan is under the care of a psychologist (Fletcher) while her mother is shooting a film on location.     This accounts for Ellen Burstyn's absence from the sequel.     After performing a mind meld of sorts (borrowing from Star Trek terminology) with a strobe light that makes moaning sounds, Father Lamont realizes that Regan is possessed by another demon named Pazuzu (or was he the demon all along?).    This demon was first discovered by Father Merron when he was performing exorcisms in Africa.     In one scene, Father Lamont is able to travel telepathically to Africa to witness Pazuzu arriving with a swarm of locusts.     Lamont does this from the point of view of a locust, so if you ever wanted to know what a day in the life of a locust is like, here's your movie.  

He then visits Africa in search of Kokumo (Jones), a tribal leader who apparently can assist in exorcising Pazuzu from Regan.     When we meet Kokumo, he is a tribal leader, but then in the next scene he is revealed to actually be a scientist who studies locusts and has successfully isolated a "good locust" whose wings haven't brushed with the others.    Or something like that.     It is never made clear who Kokumo actually is.    Perhaps this connection is lost as the result of the severe editing.     It seems the locusts are symbolic of the conflict going on within Regan.    Or something like that.  

Regan, sensing Father Lamont is in trouble or will be, steals the mind meld strobelight and performs another mind meld with him in a run-down motel room.     How did she get there and how did she pay for it?    Who knows.    The mind-meld puts Lamont in a trance which leads he and Regan to their old house in Washington, DC where the original exorcism took place.     They are followed by the psychologist and Regan's caretaker, Sharon (Wynn), who seems kind of iffy.    She reminded me of the nanny in The Omen who committed suicide publicly at Damien's birthday party.  

I won't reveal what happens there, except that things blow up and bodies fly around.   Yes, the locust swarm makes a guest appearance as well.    Strangely, the neighbors don't acknowledge the ruckus until well after it's over and the characters have said their goodbyes.     

What do we have here?    A chopped-up film that takes a superhuman effort to make sense of.     Richard Burton is intense and we have many closeups of his intense look, but I was worried he was going to blow a gasket.     Linda Blair channels the sweet Regan from the first film and her powers are only hinted at.     It's amusing to hear Fletcher's character mock the possibility of evil demons when she has all the evidence that one exists.     And where did she get that strobelight thingy?    Max von Sydow reprises his role as Father Merron in flashbacks where we see the blanks filled in on his exorcism experiences.     His scenes ultimately aren't really necessary, but at least they weren't left on the cutting room floor.     Maybe this entire project was doomed from the start.   

Sixteen Candles (1984) * * *

Directed by: John Hughes

Starring:  Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Michael Schoeffling, Gedde Watanabe, Paul Dooley, John Cusack

What separates a teen comedy like Sixteen Candles from a teen comedy like Porky's is the teenagers in Sixteen Candles are allowed to be vulnerable, touching, and even nice.     The ones in Porky's are essentially adults trying to imitate teens and failing badly.    The Porky's teens are one-dimensional and are never, ever insecure.   John Hughes was able to find the right touches in many of his comedies.    Who can't relate to a teenager with a hopeless, seemingly unrequited crush?   Anyone who says he or she can't is full of it.  

It's Samantha Baker's (Ringwald) sixteenth birthday and no one in her family remembered it.    The rest of her family is concerned with her older sister's wedding tomorrow.    Plus, both sets of grandparents and a foreign exchange student named Long Duk Dong (Watanabe) are also staying under the same roof for the weekend.    (Whenever the name Long Duk Dong is mentioned, a gong crashes over the soundtrack).    Samantha is also hopelessly crushing on a senior named Jake (Schoeffling), who has a pretty senior girlfriend and doesn't seem to notice Samantha.    Jake is not presented or performed as a dopey, aloof jock, but as someone who is tiring of his popular, empty girlfriend and may see Samantha as a pleasant alternative.    

Further complicating matters is geeky freshman Ted (Hall), who sports braces and has a crush of his own on Samantha.    Ted, like many teens his age, lacks social graces and doesn't know when he's not wanted.     His pursuit of Samantha is at first met with disgust, but soon the two are hanging out together in the school shop pondering their teen angst.     Both reveal themselves to be insecure and maybe would be friends if Ted didn't ask to borrow her underpants.    Why does he want them?    Not for perverted reasons, but to prove to his doubting friends that he could score with Samantha.    The $1.00 admission his friends charge to see the panties is icing on the cake to Samantha's bad day.

Long Duk Dong has no issue landing a girlfriend in his brief visit.  "Dong is here a few hours and he's found someone.   I've been here my whole life and I'm like a disease," Samantha laments.     Dong's night of partying ends with him face down on the front lawn, telling a car owner that his vehicle is in the lake.    Jake's house is also trashed after hosting an all-night party, one which he befriends Ted and discusses his intentions for Samantha.    

Sixteen Candles isn't deep, but it's a sweet comedy with actors who create sweet characters.     Molly Ringwald captures a somewhat lonely, but somehow hopeful teenage girl to a tee.     Anthony Michael Hall is all fast motion, optimism, and bravado, but conceals a secret that "would devastate my reputation as a dude."   He can't accept that some girl may not like him, because that would send his self-esteem into the toilet.   Watanabe takes Dong and runs with him.   He walks the tightrope between stereotype and comedy successfully.   I don't know if many other actors could pull that off.  

Like Uncle Buck, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, John Hughes found general sweetness in his characters and plays straight to that.    He had a good eye and ear for creating real people with real insecurities whom we could like.     I wonder if he saw a movie like Porky's and decided to make teenage comedies that were the opposite of everything he saw there.    I don't know the answer to that, but that sure is what seems to have happened. 

Saving Private Ryan (1998) * * * *

Directed by:  Steven Spielberg

Starring:  Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Barry Pepper, Ted Danson, Dennis Farina, Harve Presnell, Edward Burns, Matt Damon, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Jeremy Davies

Saving Private Ryan understands the nature and meaning of sacrifice.   It also depicts the hell of battle in all of its cruelty and realism.   The first twenty minutes of the film recount in harrowing detail the hellish D-Day invasion of Normandy.  Some soldiers are killed before they even get a chance to disembark from the pontoons.  Bullets whiz by.  There are explosions, fires, blood, mayhem, confusion, and death.   In between all of that, there is a plan to capture the beach head that must be followed regardless of casualties.   Medics try in vain to save soldiers who are spurting blood from various wounds.  Soldiers who lose limbs pick them up and carry them around.   Other wounded soldiers scream for help that may never arrive.   Somehow the beach is secured from German occupation by units like the one led by Capt. John Miller (Hanks) and whichever members of his platoon survived the onslaught.

After the fighting subsides, there is a closeup of a soldier lying dead on the beach.  His last name is Ryan.   In an administrative office far away from battle, a woman typing letters informing next of kin discovers three different letters going to the same address in Iowa.  Mrs. Ryan will receive notices on the same day that three of her sons were killed in battle.  This news reaches Army Secretary George Marshall (Presnell) who, after discovering a fourth Ryan son may still be alive in France, orders a squad to find the surviving Ryan and return him home.  Capt. Miller will lead the squad into the rugged terrains of rural France, searching for a private who may not even be alive and leading a group of men who wonder aloud why they are risking their lives to find him.   

Pvt. Rieben (Burns) is the most vocal in his displeasure over being assigned to find a needle in a stack of needles.   "This guy better cure a disease or invent a longer-lasting light bulb or something," says Capt. Miller, who doggedly carries out the orders despite his personal doubts about the mission's wisdom.   This is the central conflict that makes Saving Private Ryan such a powerful film.   Pvt. Reiben sums up his objections perfectly: "Why is the Army risking the eight of us to save one guy?"   Capt. Miller's sentiments carry more resonance as members of his platoon are killed in skirmishes with German soldiers along the way.    Hanks' performance anchors the film.   He keeps to himself and follows orders, leading his platoon to create a betting pool awarded to the soldier who can get him to reveal what he did for a living as a civilian.   No one can.   His hands quake with what looks like the onset of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.   

Miller, however, in a critical scene where he holds a German soldier's life in his hands, divulges his past and confesses, "The more I kill, the further away from home I feel."   An equally moving moment is when Miller, hiding from his platoon, breaks down in tears.      The performances don't reach for effect, but are grounded in authenticity and reality which makes the soldiers human above all else.   They are heroic, but carry fears and doubts, especially Cpl. Upham (Davies), who pisses himself at the thought of shooting a gun. 

When Ryan (Damon) is found, it is done by accident and is well-handled.   No dramatic "Dr. Livingstone, I presume," moment here, accompanied by music that drowns out everything else and tells you how to feel.   Ryan is distraught by the news of his brothers' deaths, but he also feels an obligation to complete his mission to hold a key bridge which the Germans will try and capture for their supply route.   "I'm going to stay with the only brothers I have left," he tells Capt. Miller.     Left with no alternative, Miller and his squad stay to assist in the defense of the bridge.   "Our objective is to win the war," he told his men earlier in the movie, and now he sticks to his guns even though some of the others would rather leave.  

The theme is sacrifice is most central to Saving Private Ryan.    The squad is sacrificing itself so Ryan can go home alive.     Ryan understands this all too well.     A dying soldier tells Ryan at a critical moment, "Earn This."    Those words stay with him all of his life and he reflects on them when he is seen as an old man visiting a cemetery in Normandy.     He has his family with him and, in front of the gravestone of the man who saved his life, declares that he has done his best to live up to the words  "Earn This."    He honors their sacrifice, as does the film.   

Saving Private Ryan is a technically superior, extremely moving film.    Spielberg has the unique ability to promote a message using the best technicians in the business to drive his point home.      The Oscar-winning cinematography by Janusz Kaminski uses washed-out tones to give the film an almost documentary feel.     John Williams, the best of all film composers, creates a memorable score.      Saving Private Ryan doesn't just document mind-numbing action sequences.    It creates a world where war has implications that reach far beyond the battlefield.  

Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013) * *

Directed by:  Lee Daniels

Starring:  Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Robin Williams, John Cusack, James Marsden, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, David Oyelowo

Sooner or later, an article or blog will be published by some smarty-pants who wishes to discredit all of the allegedly true events which take place in The Butler.     Almost all films "inspired by a true story", as The Butler is, will receive such treatment.   ( i.e.  Richard Nixon never visited the White House kitchen hawking votes for the 1960 election!)     Movies are the last place anyone should go if they expect to witness facts.     Movies are about emotional truths, not cold, hard facts.      The Hurricane (1999) strayed so much from the facts of Ruben Carter's life it was practically fiction, but it was nonetheless a powerful movie.    The Butler never rises to the level of powerful.   It seems to have been made using cliches we've seen in other movies.     I was always aware of the mechanisms working, which kept me at arm's length when it should've been absorbing me into this man's life.

The Butler is Cecil Gaines, played by Forest Whitaker as a man who learned very early in life that he had to wear different faces in order to do his job and work through life as a black man in racially segregated America.    The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments provided equal rights for freed slaves on paper, but don't tell that to certain areas of the South, where black people and white people drank from separate water fountains and dined in separate areas in the same restaurant.      Cecil is able to work within the system although he is naturally conflicted about it.     He is soon offered a position as a butler in the White House, mostly because of his ability to stay neutral on political matters.    "We don't tolerate politics in the White House," says his employer, which draws laughs of course.   

Cecil has a nice home in Washington, DC and a wife Gloria (Winfrey) and two sons, one whom decides to take part in the civil rights movement that was growing in late 1950's America.     We see many juxtapositions between Cecil performing his duties as an almost anonymous servant to a white President, while his son Louis (Oyelowo) takes part in sit-ins, freedom rides, and spends a good part of his college life in jail.      He even hooks up with the Black Panthers late in the 60's, which causes a lenghty estrangment between he and his father.

During Cecil's tenure, his wife takes to alcohol and an ill-advised affair with a neighbor (Terrance Howard) because Cecil spends so much time at work.     Perhaps this conflict did occur in real life, but it seems more like a cliche we've seen in countless movies before.      Gloria spends the first half her scenes with either a drink, a cigarette, or both in her hand.      This conflict is neatly ended after John F. Kennedy's assassination.     A little too neatly.  

Whitaker is an actor of considerable screen presence who ably expresses his inner conflicts with a look or nonverbal cues.     The trouble is the movie doesn't spend nearly enough time on him.     I would find it fascinating to learn about the daily routine of a White House butler.     How does it feel to be steps away from the most powerful person on Earth?      The film sidesteps this, choosing to concentrate more on the growing estrangement between Cecil and Louis as their lives take separate paths.    You kinda sorta know that Cecil and Louis will eventually make up, so why not show us things we haven't seen before?    

There are numerous scenes in which Cecil finds himself in the middle of Oval Office meetings where policies that shaped our nation were presented.     Sometimes the President even seeks his counsel, especially John F. Kennedy, and their conversation leads directly to Kennedy's push to end segregation.      This device rings totally false.     Cecil finds himself in so many crucial meetings at just the right times that I felt I was watching Forrest Gump all over again.  

Is it possible to have too many famous cameos in one movie?     Robin Williams, Jane Fonda, Alan Rickman, John Cusack, Vanessa Redgrave, Liev Schrieber, and Mariah Carey all appear briefly in the movie, but I was distracted by the "Hey, there's (fill in star here)!" effect.     Cusack wears a prothstetic nose as Nixon, but he is simply too young to be playing the Nixon who is days away from resigning.     I felt it was Cusack playing Nixon, rather than watching Nixon on the screen.     I had the same problem with Oprah Winfrey's performance.      Other than fret and moan that her husband is away from home a lot, there isn't much character there to distract me from the belief that I was watching Oprah and not Gloria.     

The Butler never truly takes off.    It is bogged down with being Important.   It covers a lot of ground, including Cecil's family life, all major political issues between 1957-present, and all relevant civil rights movement landmarks.    It just doesn't bring them much to life and goes nowhere in particular.   I viewed an Onion movie review of this film and the phony critic continually mentions how IMPORTANT The Butler is.    He was joking, but I don't think he was that far off.

Extreme Measures (1996) * * *

Directed by:  Michael Apted

Starring:  Hugh Grant, Gene Hackman, David Morse, Sarah Jessica Parker


I enjoy movies that tantalize the viewer with questions that don't have easy answers.      A moral dilemma which hopefully no one will ever have to face is posed to Dr. Guy Luthan (Grant).     He is asked, "If you have to kill one person in order to cure cancer, wouldn't you have to do that?"   He gives an answer to the question, but it is a question that has numerous different answers, depending on who you ask.     Any of those answers could be correct or also be wrong.      Extreme Measures isn't resolved with an easy ending.     Its implications continue on well after it's over.

The aforementioned Dr. Luthan works in a New York hospital ER.    One night, a seemingly homeless man wearing a hospital bracelet stumbles into the ER.     He is shot through with pain and is delirious.     Despite the doctor's efforts, the man dies.     When Dr. Luthan attempts to look further into the man's death, he finds the body and any records associated with him have vanished.      This causes Dr. Luthan to further poke into the matter, even though he is warned off by his superiors.    

The investigation leads to some ghastly discoveries, including an underground homeless shelter where homeless men disappear without a trace and the other people are too frightened to talk.      Dr. Luthan is also shadowed by menacing men with guns and is fired from the hospital after large amounts of cocaine not belonging to him are found in his apartment.      Everything leads to Dr. Lawrence Myrick (Hackman), a neurologist who may be experimenting on homeless people in an effort to cure paralysis.     He has justifications for his actions:  "I'm 68 years old.   In five years if I'm lucky they'll let me work on a rat."    Is he a demented egomaniac?    Likely.     Will his research treat and cure paralysis so people could walk again?   Possibly.    Hackman, of course, is excellent.     His strength is playing Dr. Myrick so we can't make easy assumptions about him.      Yes, he is doing what is seemingly an evil thing, but is he an evil man?     Those who are paralyzed may see him as a godsend.     Others not in their shoes may disagree.   

Hugh Grant is normally at home in romantic comedies.     He is effortlessly likable in his own awkward way usually.     Here, he is up to the task of playing the lead in a thriller convincingly.    He is the last person I would imagine duking it out with a baddie on an elevator, but he holds his own.  
Grant is a moral center in the film, but he is now involved in a situation which tests those morals.      His argument against Dr. Myrick's methods are sound and logical, but they come from an objective point of view.      Then again, doctors in concentration camps experimenting on human subjects also felt they were performing miracles for the greater good of humanity.     Or were they just butchers?    Is Dr. Myrick a butcher?      We can't say for sure we know the correct answer.    The final scene involving Dr. Luthan and Dr. Myrick's wife further clouds the issue.     Dr. Myrick's question to Dr. Luthan resonates greatly:   "If you were paralyzed, what would you give to be able to walk again?"
The answer lies in each person's morality or at least their sense of desperation.        

Paparazzi (2004) * 1/2

Directed by:  Paul Abascal

Starring:  Cole Hauser, Robin Tunney, Tom Sizemore, Dennis Farina, Daniel Baldwin, Tom Hollander, Kevin Gage

Paparazzi is pure revenge fantasy produced by Mel Gibson (who also provides a cameo) in which the paparazzi get what's coming to them at long last.     The four villains in the film who snap photos of famous people are so cartoonishly vile that we are expected to root for the hero, an action film star named Bo Laramie (Hauser), without even caring that he is as one-dimensional as the rest of the bunch.      It's easy to understand why Laramie would want to exact Death Wish-style vengeance on these creeps, but giving more than a moment's thought to the plot unravels everything.  

It's understandable why celebrities view paparazzi with a certain amount of angst.    However, they also should realize that with fame comes its flip side, which is a surrendering of their private lives to an extent.     Is it fair?   No, but it's the price tag that's attached to fame and fortune, especially in a world of evolving technology.      Are there paparazzi that go too far in their quest for a photo?    Absolutely.    The death of Princess Diana is testimony to this.    However, if weekly tabloid magazines didn't sell and people didn't watch TMZ or ET, than there wouldn't be a market for photos of a celebrity on vacation.      As Tom Sizemore's Rex Harper eloquently puts it, "People want the steak, but no one wants to date the butcher."     I know what he's getting at even if the quote doesn't exactly make sense.

Laramie is a quiet family man who also happens to be a major movie star.     He is even able to attend his son's Saturday soccer games.     During one of those games, sleazoid paparazzo Harper snaps photos of Laramie's son.     Laramie politely asks Harper to stop photographing his son, but Harper persists which leads to Laramie punching Harper.     The scene was a sting operation of sorts, since Harper's cohorts are on hand to photograph the incident.      This results in a quick payday for Harper and mandatory trips to an anger management counselor for Bo.     How quick is this payday?     The counselor refers to "the incident that happened last Saturday" when she first meets with Bo.     Wow, that's a fast six-figure settlement.  

Realism isn't the strong suit of Paparazzi anyway.    Soon, a vengeful Harper and his cronies make it their mission to torment poor Bo and even chase him in a Princess Diana-style car chase which results in a serious accident.     The sleazeballs even take snapshots of the unconscious family before fleeing the scene.     Bo's son is in a coma, while his wife Abby (Tunney) has her spleen removed.     The news of the spleen removal prompts the only display of emotion from Bo in the entire film.      

After one of the paparazzo later attempts to chase down Bo on a motorcycle, the guy crashes and winds up hanging from the edge of a cliff.     Bo attempts to pull the guy up to safety, but then the paparazzo says things you shouldn't say to someone who is trying to prevent you from falling off a cliff.     Bo drops the guy to his death in the canyon below and then begins his quest to rid the world of the remaining three scumbags.     How does he feel about becoming a one-man army vs. the evil paparazzi?     Such things are not discussed in a movie like this.

The case is investigated by Detective Burton (Farina), who naturally has suspicions about Bo's involvement when the paparazzi are dying one by one.     He doesn't exactly give him a pass, but he tells Bo during a conversation, "I don't know what I would do if someone hurt one of my girls,"     The mentality of the film is clear.

The characters here are one-dimensional.     The paparazzi revel in their evil deeds and are presented as baddies who need to be eliminated like pesky mosquitoes.     Bo is a nice, quiet guy, but there isn't much of a character or even charisma there.     Hauser sometimes has trouble elevating his voice to the level of audible speech.     There is nothing about him that screams "action star".      But he is soon able to behave like an action star, setting the wheels in motion for Harper to burn while he comes out clean on the other side.    How he does this isn't made entirely clear.  

Who would Paparazzi appeal to?     The average person isn't likely to sympathize with Bo because he isn't privy to a movie star's privacy issues.     He would likely say, "I wish I had your problems" as he surveys Bo's Malibu mansion.    An actor, director, etc. in the industry may get some sort of vicarious joy from Bo's actions, but he would likely fret at how by-the-numbers the film is.    

We're The Millers (2013) * 1/2

Directed by:  Rawson Marshall Thurber

Starring:  Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Ed Helms, Emma Roberts, Nick Offerman, Kathryn Hahn, Will Poulter

I'm fully aware that not every movie made is going to be a Best Picture nominee.     Some movies aren't made with such lofty expectations.      I'm pretty sure the cast and crew of We're The Millers knew they won't have to set their alarms to wake up when the Oscar nominations are announced in January 2014.      I expect a film that's advertised as a comedy to be funny.     I hope when I plunk down $11.00 for a movie that it holds up its end of the bargain and entertains me at least at its intended level.   

Based on those standards, I didn't think We're The Millers was funny or very entertaining.    It sets up a premise that delivers the typical payoffs with little energy expended.    The script goes through the paces and leaves the actors with little to do.    The best thing I can say about it is that not one joke involves ingesting a bodily fluid or characters vomiting.     One character has a testicle bit by a tarantula, which sadly I saw coming early.     You don't introduce a spider in the first act without expecting it to bite someone later on.      What exactly is funny about a testicle blowing up like a balloon anyway?    This is the type of cheap laugh a movie resorts to when it lacks inspiration.

The film stars Jason Sudeikis as Dave, a low-level drug dealer who is robbed of his stash and about $33,000 in cash he owes to his supplier Brad (Helms), a seemingly cheerful sleaze who calls everyone "buddy" and has an office in what looks like the middle of an aquarium.      There's even a prized great white shark forebodingly swimming in the background.      Brad's plan for David to pay him back:   Go down to Mexico and smuggle a "smidge, smidge and a half" of weed back across the border, which adds up to about two metric tons.      In order to avoid detection and suspicion, Dave hires a stripper neighbor (Aniston), a runaway girl (Roberts), and an 18-year old naive virgin (Poulter) to pose as his family, The Millers, as they sneak the drugs over the border in a humongous RV.      The stripper, Rose, works in one of those movie strip clubs where the girls wear entirely too much clothing.      Rose, of course, is the stripper with a heart of gold.      Aniston needs to develop a habit of saying no to scripts like this.   

Getting the drugs and back across the border is relatively easy, but then the crew attracts the attention of fellow RV vacationers The Fitzgeralds (Offerman and Hahn), who are friendly and able to help out when the Millers' RV breaks down.     This leads to a misunderstanding by the Fitzgeralds that the Millers are swingers in a deadening scene that could've worked, but missed.      The virgin Kenny also attracts the Fitzgeralds' sweet teenage daughter, which leads to a strange scene in which both Rose and the runaway Kasey teach him how to kiss.     That Kenny is a lucky bastard.

The Millers are soon hunted by the Mexican drug dealer the weed actually belongs to.    This leads to a scene in a garage in which Rose performs a striptease for the dealer.    Aniston, assuming it's her body and not a double's, looks great and manages a sexy dance without even having to remove her top.    There's even a shower helpfully nearby along with sparks that fly out of nowhere to add to the effect.     

The actors in We're The Millers all give it their best effort, but they need a script that serves them better.     There are one or two chuckles, but that's about it.     I think the film needs more of an edge.    The Millers, despite all of their flaws, are nice, likable people.    They're much too nice to be thrown into such an unremarkable film.      I saw The Incredible Burt Wonderstone a few weeks ago and it contained scenes of outrageous humor that weren't afraid to push the envelope.     The characters were rough around the edges and it was very funny.     I also think of Bad Santa, where Billy Bob Thornton played a mean SOB drunk who poses as a shopping mall Santa in order to rob it.     He wasn't a very nice guy, but it was a superior dark comedy.      We're The Millers isn't in their league.    It is safe, unchallenging, and wants to be loved, even though the material begs for it to push the boundaries at least a little bit.      The best we get is a peek at Jennifer's g-string.  

The Notebook (2004) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Nick Cassavetes

Starring:  Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner, Gena Rowlands, Joan Allen, Kevin Connolly, James Marsden

My understanding is the ending for this film is different than the one for Nicholas Sparks' novel on which it is based.     After reading a synopsis of the book, including its ending, I believe the filmmakers made a correct choice to change it.     The film's ending, although unlikely, is more cinematic and moving.    The book's ending is appropriately sad and probably more realistic, but who wants to see a movie about an aging man trying to stir his wife (suffering from dementia) into remembering their past, but ultimately they both die before she can remember anything?     What a bummer.

As The Notebook opens, the older man Duke (Garner) reads from a notebook to an older woman named Allie who lives at the same nursing home.     The notebook contains the story of a love born long ago.     The woman apparently has never heard the story before and eagerly anticipates the ending, or does she already know it?     Duke is a compassionate, loving man, who of course is the woman's husband, although she doesn't remember him or their children.    He is hoping against hope that he can somehow penetrate her dementia, even for a spell.      Doctors warn him that he is running a fool's errand, but Duke remains persistent and optimistic despite his own health issues.     I can't say I disagree with him.   

The story he tells is about their romance which began in pre-World War II South Carolina.     The younger version of the couple is played by Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, both of whom are very appealing.     Rachel McAdams has a wide-eyed smile that lights up the screen.    Allie is a city girl spending the summer in South Carolina before going North to college.   Gosling gives Noah (Duke's real name) a fierce, worldly intelligence despite his character's rural upbrining.     He reads Walt Whitman and understands Allie's defiant, spirited nature.     Unlike many movie romances where both are just too perfect and ideal to be human, Noah and Allie behave as normal couples do, even those very much in love.    "That's what we do.   We fight.     I tell you when you're being stubborn and you tell me when I'm being a horse's ass," Noah tells Allie, "We'll have to work at this every day."    

After their first summer together, the two break up under pressure from Allie's mother (Allen), who disapproves of her daughter seeing "trash" as she puts it.     Her mother may have more experience in this area than she would care to admit.     A few years pass, much of which are engulfed by World War II, where Noah fights in Europe while Allie volunteers as an Army nurse.     It is there she meets Lon (Marsden), a wounded soldier who comes from old Southern money and is very sweet and loves Allie.     He does absolutely nothing wrong.      His only flaw is that he is not Noah, who stays on Allie's mind even though they had been apart for years.

After Allie becomes engaged to Lon, she sees a newspaper article featuring Noah and goes back to rural South Carolina to see him.    Does she wish to say goodbye to him once and for all?    Or does she still love him?     A powerful scene during a fierce thunderstorm provides the answer, in which profess that "it's not over for me."     Allie is then forced to choose between security with Lon or love with the poorer Noah.     The older Allie is on the edge of her seat wondering which man she will choose, although she says she may have heard the story before.  

The Notebook is a moving, idealized romance with very real, human characters.      Is the romance idealized because that's how Noah/Duke remembers it or is it because that's how he wants Allie to remember it?     The story in the notebook Duke reads to Allie could be a bestseller all by itself, but his only mission is to have Ally remember their love one more time before dementia grabs a permanent hold of her.      His children beg for him to come home, but he poignantly states, "That's my sweetheart in there, I'm not leaving her.    She is my home now."  

The Notebook remains the best of the filmed adaptations of Sparks' novels.     Message In A Bottle, The Lucky One, and Safe Haven were the other ones I've seen, but they didn't work for me for one reason or another.     The Notebook contains strong performances and a story I cared about.    Sure it's a mushy tearjerker, but it does the job and does it well.     There is plenty of abundant sunshine and beautiful scenery, as in all films based on Sparks novels, and it seems the rain comes only as a way of telegraphing crucial plot developments (as is with every other movie adaptation of his novels).      Something tells me the scene on the dock between Noah and Allie would work just as well if it were 75 degrees and not a cloud was in the sky.    

Private Benjamin (1980) * *

Directed by:  Howard Zieff

Starring:  Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, Robert Webber, Albert Brooks, Sam Wanamaker, Armand Assante, Barbara Barrie, Craig T. Nelson

Private Benjamin begins with such promise but trips on its way to the finish line.     It has a nice setup and a woman we care about, but then comes the ungainly mix of fish-out-of-water and basic training pratfalls.    By the time Benjamin goes to Europe, I no longer cared, even though she has matured and become more independent.     

The film stars Goldie Hawn as Judy Benjamin, a late 20ish woman whose goal in life is to marry a wealthy man and live life maxing out credit cards and decorating her husband's study.     She marries a hard-working man named Yale (Brooks) who dies while making love on their wedding night.     Her dreams have been shattered and she retreats into seclusion.     Desperate for answers on how to right the ship and move on, she goes on a local radio talk show and a caller offers to better her life.     She meets him the following day.     He is an Army recruiter who makes serving sound like an extended vacation or a job she can quit just like any other if she doesn't like it.     He conveniently leaves out the basic training part, which is sure to clash with Judy's ideas of a paid vacation.  

She goes to training in Biloxi, Mississippi (I thought immediately of Biloxi Blues) and is taken aback by a drill sergeant who demands she do 10 pushups because she fell asleep on the bus.     Judy has little idea how an army barracks works.    She frets that there are no curtains and the place is filthy.    Her new commanding officer Lewis (Brennan) has a handy solution to that problem and soon enough, Judy is cleaning the latrine with her electric toothbrush.      At first, Judy does everything wrong.     She can't keep up on the runs and is picked on by another tough female private whom she will ultimately befriend.     

A turning point comes when her parents come to the base and want to take her back to live with them, which is not a tantalizing prospect, especially when her overbearing father says, "We will not let you out of our sight."    She decides to stay at the base and put her all into training, allowing her to be good at something for the first time in her life.      Up to this point, Private Benjamin was predictable, but Hawn allows us to care for her.    She is sheltered and privileged, but learns to be independent during her stay in the Army.     The basic training stuff is mildly amusing at best, but then things take a wrong turn when she actually becomes useful.    

Judy is recruited to be part of the base commander's elite paratrooper unit shortly after she helps (albeit accidentally) her team win the base's war games.     His ideas for her don't necessarily involve jumping out of a plane at 13,000 feet.     Before that, she bonds with her fellow teammates around a campfire while passing around a joint.     This has become a cliche in itself.    Is the only way to bond involve smoking weed and laughing hysterically at everything?    This is likely the early 80's version of female bonding.     A similar scene is featured in 9 to 5.

Judy hooks up with a handsome French doctor (Assante) while on leave and blackmails her base commander into stationing her in France near him.     He seems nice at first, but prefers soccer and other women over Judy.     They get engaged, but by that point, does the new Judy Benjamin really want to spend her life as a doctor's wife?     We all know where this is going and Private Benjamin doesn't surprise us.      Somehow the movie loses its legs after Judy graduates from basic training.     Once she became a competent, determined, useful woman: I felt the movie had little to say or do after that.    It all lost steam.   The entire subplot with the French doctor simply emphasizes what we already know about the "new" Judy Benjamin.      Did we really think she would slip back into her old ways?