Marauders (2016) *

Directed by:  Steven C. Miller

Starring:  Christopher Meloni, Adrian Grenier, Bruce Willis, Johnathon Schaech, Dave Bautista

Did all of the members of this cast lose at Rock, Paper, Scissors and were forced to show up on set for this movie?    It sure feels that way.    Marauders is a crime thriller with no thrills, unlikable characters, and performed with alarmingly low energy by the actors.     Nearly every scene is drenched with soaking rain.     This is either done on purpose to inject some Atmosphere, or the filmmakers had really, really bad luck with the weather while shooting. 

Where to begin?   The film opens with vicious bank robbers dressed in creepy costumes robbing a bank and killing some staff members.    Their instructions are delivered via a Siri-like recording.     Who programmed this thing?    The FBI is soon on the case, led by a taciturn, angry agent named Montgomery (Meloni).    This Montgomery is a piece of work.   When he's not busy yelling at his crew, he's pounding drinks and lamenting the loss of his family.   Montgomery is written as so angry and unsympathetic that we dislike him as much as the villains.  There is no depth.  So why should we care if he stops the bad guys?

The bank is one of many run by a man named Hubert (Willis), who may as well wear a t-shirt saying, "I have more to do with this than you think."    Willis speaks in his trademark low-register, tough guy voice.    In some scenes, he barely puts forth enough effort to be audible.  Was director Miller so happy to have Willis aboard that he let him coast?     Former wrestler turned movie tough guy Dave Bautista is on hand as an FBI agent who seems to be trying to outdo Willis in the "I speak so softly only dogs can hear me" department.    

Another shady character is a Cincinnati cop named Mims (Schaech), whose wife is dying from cancer and a new FBI recruit (Grenier), who acts like he got lost on the way to the next Entourage movie.  Most of the characters play bigger roles as the robbers take down more banks and kill more people.  There is More To This Than Meets The Eye, but are we supposed to really sympathize with the criminals' motives?   

All of this could conceivably work if the movie didn't feel so depressed and defeated.   It isn't fun to watch.    The actors take little joy in their work, as if they realized it was a dud.   What we see is actors stuck in a movie that has straight to DVD written all over it and they knew it.   

The Seven Year Itch (1955) * *

Directed by:  Billy Wilder

Starring:  Tom Ewell, Marilyn Monroe,  Sonny Tufts

I saw a local theater version of the Broadway play on which this movie is based.     Now, I've seen the movie.    I don't think it could work in any form.     Aside from minor characters thrown in on occasion to break up the monotony, The Seven Year Itch is a two-person show and we witness all of the pitfalls which go along with staging such a show.

Billy Wilder's movie has one advantage the play does not, which is it can escape the confines of Richard's apartment and we can actually see the street, or where he works.     But, unfortunately, no matter where Richard goes, there he is.    Alas, the problem.     There are times when we could use a break from this knucklehead and he just won't go away.

The Richard of this movie is Richard Sherman (Ewell), a late 30s (ha ha) married man whose wife is away for the summer.    Richard is stuck working in the hot city, but life will soon become more adventurous when a sexy blonde (Monroe) accidentally drops a tomato plant from the balcony above.     Richard sees her and is thunderstruck with lust.     This blonde, seemingly available woman fell into his lap like manna from heaven.    Richard undergoes somewhat of a moral crisis, but not so much so that it stops him from inviting the girl to dinner or back to his place for a drink at midnight.

Richard undergoes quite a battle with his conscience.     Some of this is played out in fantasies or daydreams, while the rest he explains to the audience in endless dialogue.     He is fortunate not many others are around to see him talk to himself so much.     The issue is that the movie feels the need for Richard to fill up every moment with incessant talking as he tries to justify his obvious infatuation.     If much of this dialogue was cut out, the filmmakers would have had barely have enough running time to qualify for a feature film.     Fine by me.

Not much is known about the girl, not even her name.    She is more of a symbol than a person.    She represents an alternative to the dull existence that has become Richard's marriage.     I am of the belief that major characters in a movie should have at least a first name.     When Richard refers to the girl as "Lady" or "Miss", it is inconceivable to think he never once asked her name.     There is a sly reference to Marilyn Monroe herself played as a wink to the audience.     Not many men would be lucky enough to have Marilyn Monroe in his apartment alone.    

The Seven Year Itch is a morality tale with non-stop chatter.   I zoned out for long sections of it.    Dialogue is more memorable in small doses.     One word can have more power than 100 words.     The movie could have had Richard having internal conversations with voice over at its disposal.     This is a distinct advantage over a play.     But, The Seven-Year Itch, aside from a different conclusion and a few more sets, is basically a filmed play.     With of course the addition of the iconic scene in which Marilyn has her skirt blown up while standing over a grate.   



  

Eddie and the Cruisers (1983) * *

Directed by:  Martin Davidson

Starring:   Tom Berenger, Michael Pare, Joe Pantoliano, Matthew Laurance, Ellen Barkin

Spoilers are present. 

Knowing that Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives was released in 1989, you know Eddie Wilson, the lead singer of the titular up and coming band who vanished in 1963, is alive at the end of this movie.    Even if there were no sequel, the movie can't end any other way.     If it turns out Eddie is dead or still missing, then what was all of that about?     It's an ok film, with a good soundtrack, but it all seems inevitable.      We begin to wait impatiently for the outcome we know is coming.

The movie opens in the present day (or 1983 when the film was released).    A television reporter (Barkin) hears of supposed lost tapes from Eddie's last recording sessions before his car plunged off of a bridge in 1963.    She follows the story, tracking down former members of The Cruisers to learn more about Eddie.     Her most helpful source is Frank Ridgeway (Berenger), who played piano and wrote the words to the Cruisers' songs.     He is now a schoolteacher, but remembers the Cruisers fondly.     The other Cruisers work in different areas of South Jersey, including bassist Sal Amato (Laurance), who performs an Eddie Wilson tribute show and sums up his feelings about Eddie succinctly, "Some nights I'm mad at him for living and others I'm mad at him for dying."  

Do the tapes exist?    There are conflicting reports.    While this is being sorted out, there are flashbacks to several Eddie and the Cruisers performances.     The songs, (from John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band) are well done and the actors convincingly perform them.     Pare looks the part of a rock star, but in the scenes where he isn't singing, Eddie is a quiet, sometimes sulking dullard.     More credit is given to him as a visionary than we ever actually see.     He isn't given much of a personality, but Pare tries valiantly to give him substance.

The "Season in Hell" recording sessions, as they came to be known, was Eddie's attempt to branch out into darker, edgier material.      He was Jim Morrison before Jim Morrison was Jim Morrison.     The Cruisers' manager (Pantoliano) was correct in thinking that Season in Hell was crap, because it is.     The movie also teases the possibility that Eddie is alive before it is revealed in the final scene that he is.     What was Eddie doing all of these years?    How did he make a living?     Why did he fake his death?    How did he dodge the questions of people who recognized him?   Was the beard really all he needed to do to disguise his identity?    How did he manage to stay unnoticed for 20 years?   The movie ended just as soon as it started to get really interesting.     We had to wait for the sequel some years later, and based on what I recall from seeing it, those questions were still never answered.  

I saw a recent TV show dealing with accusations that Elvis Presley faked his death in 1977.    People all over the country swore they saw a heavy-set man with a jet black pompadour running around in public places, so it must have been Elvis.   Assuming Elvis faked his death and went into hiding, wouldn't the first thing he would do is drastically change his appearance?    Make himself unrecognizable so people would let him live in anonymity.     Perhaps even grow a beard?  

The King of Comedy (1983) * * * *

Directed by:  Martin Scorsese

Starring:  Robert DeNiro, Jerry Lewis, Sandra Bernhard, Diahnne Abbott, Tony Randall, Shelley Hack

It is too bad Rupert Pupkin was 20 years too early for American Idol or Last Comic Standing.  He wouldn't have needed to barrel into talk show host Jerry Langford's (Lewis) limo and plead for a spot on his show.  And Jerry wouldn't have had to politely brush him off and exit from such an awkward situation.  Jerry insincerely tells Rupert to call him, which Rupert tries to no avail, and then Rupert takes extreme measures to ensure he gets a slot on the show.  Extreme, as in dropping by Jerry's office and then his home unannounced, followed by kidnapping him.  This is the premise of Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy, one of his most satisfying films to date.    

Robert DeNiro plays Pupkin and it takes a few moments to realize it is DeNiro.    With slicked back hair, a cheesy mustache, and a nerdish suit, Rupert is a repository of self-confidence.  He can't understand why Jerry wouldn't agree to book him automatically.  The only time we see Rupert "performing" is in his mother's basement, where he speaks to cardboard cutouts of famous people as if he were hosting his own show.   We don't know if he ever performed at a club or an open mic night.  It doesn't matter.   He has such faith in his abilities (unseen by us) that he just knows Jerry will one day call and ask him to appear on the show sight unseen.

To say Rupert is delusional is putting it mildly.  He shows up at Jerry's office and is soon escorted out of the building by security.  After a few more rejections, he shows up at Jerry's country home unannounced with a date in tow.  Jerry is livid, his date is mortified from embarrassment, while Rupert is perplexed because Jerry now wants him out of his house.  Rupert does not know when he isn't wanted.  All he cares about is his single-minded pursuit of fame.  When asked why Jerry said he would call, Jerry replies, "If I hadn't, we would still be standing on the steps of my apartment building." 

Rupert's next step is even more bizarre.  He, along with his friend and fellow Jerry stalker Masha (Bernhard), kidnap Jerry.  Rupert's ransom demand is a slot on the show, knowing full well he will be arrested after and spend time in prison.  His rationale: "I'd rather be king for a night than a schmuck for a lifetime."    When we see Rupert's act, he is a hit with the audience, although in truth none of his jokes are as funny as his name.

The King of Comedy isn't about Rupert's act, but his obsession with fame.  This leads him to stroll into situations aggressively without regards to others' feelings.  He seems like a nice guy, but he sure can't read people well.  Such as is with narcissists like him.   But since Jerry is not exactly a warm and fuzzy guy, we can almost identify with Rupert's passions to an extent.  The only voice of reason is Rupert's sometime girlfriend (Abbott-DeNiro's real life wife at the time), who can at least read that Rupert is nuts and Jerry surely doesn't want them in his house.

Somehow, Rupert thinks he is born to be famous.  In the end, he will be more famous for kidnapping Jerry than his stand-up act.   That suits him fine, I think.  Scorsese is familiar with the theme of obsession in previous films like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Mean Streets.   Just because Rupert is less prone to violence than a Travis Bickle or a Jake LaMotta doesn't make the obsession any more healthy.  Scorsese is fascinated by these people and their shallow single-mindedness.    So are we.     The King of Comedy is, at its roots, a comic look at Rupert's nature.     It is not as edgy or serious as Taxi Driver or Raging Bull, but we witness it all the same and can't look away.    

It takes courage to make dark material like The King of Comedy and make it palatable. Scorsese is a master craftsman and can do that.  We don't know much about Rupert.  He is a blank slate with a cheerful exterior and a burning desire to achieve something in this world.  In the end, he doesn't even mind going to jail.  He got what he wanted, which is more than can be said for a lot of people.   





 

Mr. Mom (1983) * * 1/2

Directed by:  Stan Dragoti

Starring:  Michael Keaton, Ann Jillian, Teri Garr, Martin Mull, Jeffrey Tambor, Christopher Lloyd

Mr. Mom has its appealing points.     Just when it starts to work, though, some dumb slapstick stuff is thrown in and we have to start again from scratch.      It is as if writer John Hughes (who would go on to write and direct smarter comedies like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Planes, Trains, & Automobiles) assumed maybe the subject would be too touchy for some and threw in the "safe" scenes of a washing machine exploding or a vacuum cleaner going awry.     Movies should have more faith in their audiences.    

Made in 1983, Mr. Mom is the story of Jack Butler (Keaton), a Ford executive who is laid off and can't find another job.     His wife Caroline (Garr) takes a job as an advertising executive after years away from the workforce.     So, Jack is now home with the kids and Caroline is out in the rat race.    The idea of role reversals in the household was something not explored much in 1983, so Mr. Mom is topical for its time.    It is entertaining on a superficial level, but it could have been so much more.

Jack is, at first, a disaster running the household.     Some of these scenes require Keaton to play really, really dumb, which is not his strong suit.     Keaton possesses quick thinking and innate intelligence.    He is a ball of hyper energy in his best work.     He is too smart to play as dumb as he is in certain scenes here.     You get the feeling Jack is an alien just introduced to the idea of a washing machine, a vacuum cleaner, cooking, and grocery shopping.    Jack doesn't just mess up one thing, he messes up everything, even to the point where he forgets to remove his children's socks before bathing them.    Oh, and of course the idea of changing a soiled diaper is foreign to this father of three children.   Based on this, it is baffling how Jack ever rose to the level of Ford executive in the first place.   

Jack eventually does better.    Not just better, but perfect.     He does a complete 180 in a matter of a day or two.    Caroline's work days grow longer as she meets with clients and sets up marketing campaigns.    This creates predictable tension in the Butler household, now that Caroline is an absentee mother.     Caroline's oily boss Ron (Mull) doesn't help matters.     His attraction to Caroline is obvious and you know it's a matter of time before he hits on her.     Jack also has a suitor in Joan (Jillian), a housewife who wears low cut blouses and makes her intentions quite evident.    

The actors are likable and appealing, even the ones playing the home wreckers.    They manage to rise above the sitcom material they are sometimes saddled with.     I wish the movie concentrated on the human elements involved, but it wasn't made to be that kind of movie.     America might not have been ready for something deep, so Hughes and company gave them exactly what they needed.     I still think there could have been more observational humor about household role reversals and office politics without having a poor guy load way too much detergent in the washing machine.  

Central Intelligence (2016) * * *

Directed by:  Rawson Marshall Thurber

Starring:  Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jason Bateman, Amy Ryan, Aaron Paul, Danielle Nicolet

Central Intelligence meets your expectations and then in some cases surpasses them.    What would seem to be a run-of-the-mill buddy movie has some nice touches.    Like the muscular CIA agent still haunted by being bullied in high school and still thinks Sixteen Candles is the best movie ever.    Or a plot we kind of actually care about.  And it's consistently high energy.  The movie is goofy, yes, but it's a good time.  

The comedy teams tall, muscular Dwayne Johnson with the diminutive Kevin Hart and they make a natural comic duo with good chemistry.   Johnson is the CIA agent Bob Stone, the fat kid bullied in high school who has become, well, Dwayne Johnson.     Bob changed his name from Weirdicht and no one dares bully him unless he wants body parts bent in ways God did not intend.   Hart is Calvin Joyner, the most popular student in high school, who actually took time to help Bob when Bob was a victim of a particularly nasty prank during an assembly. 

Bob meets up with Calvin for drinks.  Calvin is stuck in a rut as a mid-level accountant and married to his high school sweetheart Maggie (Nicolet).   High school was the apex of his life to date, but soon finds himself unwittingly helping Bob avoid capture from his fellow CIA agents.   Bob may be insane, rogue, or trying to stop a bad guy from doing something very bad with the world's satellites.  It depends on who you hear it from.  In a funny twist, it is Bob who hero worships Calvin despite Calvin's ordinariness and is still a geek at heart.   

We get our share of fistfights, shootouts, and things blowing up, but since we like Calvin and Bob so much we go along for the ride.   Johnson and Hart take a movie that could have been formulaic, shake it up, and turn it into energetic fun.  It takes surgery to remove the grins from their faces.  Jason Bateman is also on hand as Trevor, the guy who bullied Bob in high school and still likes to bully him now.     The payoff doesn't quite happen as expected right away.    This adds a dimension to Bob other than just a confident killing machine.  We see the bullied kid still struggling to come to terms with his high school experience.   Of course, we know Trevor will get his comeuppance and he may not wake up for a few days afterwards.

I enjoyed Hart in previous movies in which the material didn't match his talent.  With the exception of The Wedding Ringer, which wasn't too bad, most of his movies have been subpar.  Central Intelligence actually gives him a decent script with laughs.   The humor and energy reminded me of the first two Lethal Weapon movies.  Johnson proves to be adept at comedy and kicking ass.  It is astounding how well he has transitioned to the big screen from his days as The Rock in WWE.  Hulk Hogan chose poor projects that did not stretch his abilities and protected his clean cut image with his fans.  Johnson is confident and with a strong screen presence that works in his favor more often than not.  He is a legitimate movie star.    

Being There (1979) * * * *

Directed by:  Hal Ashby

Starring:  Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden, Richard Dysart

I doubt a movie like Being There could, or would, be made today.     It is not the type of movie that is pigeonholed into formula or able to be pitched as "Rain Man meets The American President."    Come to think of it, maybe a remake could be pitched that way.    Being There is a sly, subtle comedy with points to make that are not so subtle.    I recall a line in Kevin Spacey's Beyond the Sea (2004) where he says, "People hear what they see."   He very well could have been talking about most of the people in Being There.    

Peter Sellers, in one of his last roles before his death in 1980, is Chance, a mentally challenged gardener in the secluded home of a reclusive old man in Washington, D.C.    Chance is happy tending to the garden by day and watching TV at night.     His only other human connection is Louise, the family maid who serves him his meals.    The old man dies, the house is closed up by estate attorneys, and Chance is soon homeless.    He can not read, write, or function adequately in the outside world.     Any social skills he has were learned from television.    But, he dresses impeccably in the old man's tailor-made suits and, even though he is as homeless as an unkempt bum, people assume he is a man of class, culture, and intelligence.    He is quiet and maintains a friendly countenance, much like a person who smiles when he embarrassed, keeping up the façade that he actually knows what others are talking about.    He carries along his TV remote, even though there is no TV to watch it with.   He is soon confronted by a gang of street kids and finds they won't go away when he clicks his remote at them.

Through a bizarre accident, Chance soon finds himself recuperating in the home of Ben Rand (Douglas), a dying multi-millionaire with a younger wife Eve (MacLaine) who grows fond of Chance.   They mistakenly believe his name is Chauncey Gardiner.    Chance knows very little about anything but gardening.   When asked about his views on current events, he says things like, "Spring is the best time for planting.   You have spring and summer, then fall and winter again."    Ben, Eve, and others are astonished by what they think are profound, metaphorical statements.    Because Chance maintains an image of elegance, they assume he is wise, straightforward, and insightful.    

The family doctor (Dysart) nurtures suspicions about Chance,    He just seems "off".   The President (Warden), a close friend of Ben's, also orders background checks on Chance and is shocked to learn he seems to have no past.    Amusingly, the CIA and FBI each accuses the other of destroying his file.   This must be a man to be reckoned with, they think, because if he weren't, he would have a file.   In the meantime, Chance disarms everyone he meets simply by agreeing with them, nodding his head with a smile, and throwing out gardening references mistaken for profound wisdom.    It is amazing how well Being There escalates this joke.    Soon, Chance finds himself on a talk show and is mentioned in Washington circles as a potential presidential candidate.

Being There lampoons society because, like the people in this film, it falls for bullshit because a man in a suit delivers it.   Ben, in an Oscar-winning performance by Douglas, enjoys Chance's company in his dying days.   There is a touching scene in which the doctor is about to tell Ben that Chance is not who they think he is, but holds off because Ben confesses how meeting Chance has made his days a lot better.   Somehow, someway, Chance keeps up the façade even though he isn't really putting up one.    It is a façade created by those who around him who aren't really paying attention.   

Sellers expertly plays the blank slate Chance in what is a hard performance to pull off.     He stays within himself at all times, even when Eve attempts to awkwardly seduce him.    He says, "He likes to watch,"   He means TV, she thinks it's an invitation for her to masturbate.   She doesn't even notice he begins trying calisthenics on the bed while she climaxes.   It is among the best performances of Sellers' career.    He never reaches for effect because there is none to reach for.    He resists the urge to play Chance with a sly awareness of what's happening.     

The people in Being There are not stupid by nature, but still find themselves falling for a lie they created for themselves.     Being There remains relevant today.  We fall for political rhetoric because of a way a certain person is presented on camera.   We follow the lives of glamorous movie stars because they are packaged a certain way by the media.   Things have not changed much since 1979, only the greater media presence and the advent of social media.  

A lot was made of the film's climactic scene, where Chance walks on top of the lake and uses his umbrella to check the water's depth.    There are many explanations I have heard as to why this happens.   (Chance is a Christ figure, etc.)     Here is mine:   Chance, because he is impervious to outside influence and is able to have the world conform to him, somehow rises above the muck the rest of us are stuck in.   Does someone need to be like Chance to be immune to the way we are shaped and controlled by the media?  Or others?  Being There suggests that this may be so.  
 

Child 44 (2015) * *

Directed by:  Daniel Espinosa

Starring:  Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, Paddy Considine,
Vincent Cassel, Fares Fares

As Child 44 wore on, I could not help but notice the similarities between its plot and the plot of the 1994 HBO movie Citizen X.     Both are about the investigations into a series of murdered Russian children whose mutilated bodies were found near railroad tracks.   Then, I learned Child 44 is based on a novel which used the murders in Citizen X (which took place roughly 30 years after the events in this movie) as inspiration.     Citizen X is a superior film, which painstakingly takes us through an investigation fraught with frustration, dead ends, and Communist bureaucracy which hindered the investigation's process.     Child 44 is much more labored and murkier.     It is all over the map.    Besides the murder investigation, the movie delves into the hero's troubled marriage, espionage in Stalinist Russia, politics, World War II, and an old beef between two characters that spills over into everything else.     The child murders aren't introduced until about 45 minutes into the movie and the movie slams on the brakes to change direction.

Tom Hardy stars as Leo Demidov, a World War II hero fortunate enough to be the soldier chosen to fly the Soviet flag over the Reichstag in May 1945 and photographed (an allusion to Iwo Jima).     Fast forward to 1953, and Leo is a high-ranking military man who hunts suspected traitors in the paranoid, dictatorial Soviet Union.     This is the year Stalin died, but his imprint of fear and cruelty leaves an indelible impression.      Leo is at odds with a rising underling Vasili (Kinnaman) who soon becomes his arch enemy.    Leo is married to schoolteacher Raisa (Rapace), who married Leo more out of fear than love.    She is soon suspected to be a traitor, Leo refuses to denounce her as a traitor, and the two are banished to the woods under the auspices of General Nesterov (Oldman), who likely wonders daily who he pissed off to be put in charge of that wasteland.

Leo's closest friend Alexei's (Fares) child is found murdered while Leo is still in Moscow.    Under pressure from his superiors, Leo declares the death as accidental even though he was clearly murdered.     According to Leo's bosses, murder is "a capitalist's disease" and in "there are no murders in paradise."    When Leo arrives in Podunk, more bodies of dead children pop up and Leo determines a serial killer is at work.     General Nesterov threatens Leo to not pursue a murder investigation, but we sort of know the General will soon assist Leo. 

There are many subplots, but none which ever reach of state of urgency required in thrillers.    Does it want to be a thriller?    A documentary of Stalinist Russia?   A love story of a revived marriage?    Yes to all three, but by wanting to be about all of this, the movie isn't truly about any of them.     I admired the performances and there is a lot of talent on both sides of the camera.    The actors all speak in authentic sounding Russian accents, but sometimes the actors seem to be trying so hard to get the accent right at the expense of being understood.    I would have preferred straight up English accents.     We get that these people are Russian.    

Leo's investigation leads him to a point where he is pointing his gun at the killer, Vladamir Malevich (Considine) .     The killer is a disturbed, guilty man crushed by war as much as Leo was made famous by it.     He explains through tears of misery and guilt that he can not help himself.     It reminded me of Peter Lorre's justification in M (1931).    Leo listens and lowers his gun, but then we are cheated out of a payoff.    I won't say how, but this scene was the best in the movie and I felt shortchanged.     I would have liked to have seen this sequence fleshed out at the expense of many others.

Child 44 meanders without much dramatic tug to pull us along.     The film is in no hurry to get anywhere.     Instead, we see strong actors adrift in a movie that doesn't quite know what it wants to be about. 

Free State of Jones (2016) * *

Directed by:  Gary Ross

Starring:  Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Keri Russell, Mahershala Ali, Sean Bridgers, Bill Tangradi

Free State of Jones has potential to be a powerful story.     The trouble is: It stops and starts, then sputters again.      There is no true emotional arc to which the film can rise.     It wastes a strong lead performance by Matthew McConaughey and a good supporting cast.     I just wish the acting was in service of a better film.     The trailers make it seem like a Civil War-era Braveheart, with McConaughey leading a rebellion against the tyrannical Confederacy, but all of the rousing scenes are in the ads.     The rest begins to feel as long as the Civil War itself.

Based on actual events, McConaughey is all business as Newton Knight, a Confederate medic who deserts the army after his nephew (I think, or is it cousin?) is killed in battle.     He leaves to bury his kin in his poor Mississippi hometown, made up primarily of poor farmers.     This doesn't stop the Confederacy from swiping nearly all of the food and belongings for the war effort.     This, along with a new law protecting sons of rich plantation owners from serving, angers Knight enough for him to turn outlaw and hide in the impenetrable swamp along with a few runaway slaves led by Moses Washington (Ali).

So far, so good, but then the film itself feels like it is stuck in the swamp also.     A lot of screen time is devoted to Knight's time in the swamp, where he bonds with the runaway slaves and forms a ragtag army to prevent Confederate authorities from usurping residents' property.     These scenes drag.    They drag to the point in which over an hour has gone by and we are nowhere closer to the promised Free State of Jones.

Knight's army grows with the onslaught of Confederate desertions.     His army grows in size and stature.     He wins enough battles against the Confederates to essentially control three Mississippi counties in the name of the Union.     There are some battles and some speeches by Knight that don't quite hit the power of William Wallace's, and then suddenly the war is over.     Knight and the now-freed slaves (on paper anyway) now must adjust to life during Reconstruction.      Mississippi makes life hard for the former slaves, figuring out ways around those pesky 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.     Knight takes up the fight against those in power, most of which are former Confederates returned to positions of authority simply by swearing an oath of loyalty to the newly reformed Union.

Free State of Jones meanders between Knight's life as a crusader and his home life, which is a wreck.    Knight is married to Serena (Russell), who leaves him for higher ground during the war.    Knight takes up with Rachel (Mbatha-Raw), a slave who was once able to save his son from death.    The Rachel-Newton union is at the heart of an inexplicable subplot which takes place years after Knight's death.     His descendant (I assume his grandson) marries a white woman, but the marriage is fought in court because the grandson may be l/8 black, which is enough by law to prohibit the marriage.     The trial scenes feel like they belong in a different movie.     Serena (who returns after the war), Rachel, Newton, and their children live together in harmony.     Newton is very much a "live and let live" kind of guy.    Actually, all of the adults in that household are.     Any obvious potential conflicts are not dealt with, even though there had to be some.

Free State of Jones doesn't lead anywhere of significance.   There are moments of power which are islands onto themselves, but they don't rise to a sustained emotional high.    It is admirable that Knight led a crusade against the Confederacy, but nothing was really won.     The war was over soon enough and Knight is a poor farmer again, forced to take the same crap he fought against.      The freed slaves are soon forced to return to their former masters in "apprenticeship" programs, which was unofficial slavery.      The black right to vote is allowed on paper only, with many former slaves kept away from the polls by intimidation

Free State of Jones has an annoying habit of resolving plot conflicts with passages of written narration on the screen.     The apprenticeship angle was disallowed by the government and federal troops were sent to enforce the new amendments.     After they left, the KKK grew in stature, and so on and so forth.     It's as if the movie is officially announcing the end of a subplot before moving on to the next one.     Thankfully, the movie eventually runs out of subplots.   Maybe there is a reason Newton Knight and his rebellion remained an unheralded historical footnote until now.     Maybe there is a good story to be told from all of this, but Free State of Jones is not the movie to tell it.

The Blues Brothers (1980) * * *

Directed by:  John Landis

Starring:  Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Henry Gibson, James Brown, Carrie Fisher

The Blues Brothers is among the first films based on a Saturday Night Live skit.    This genre has been met with mixed results over the years, but The Blues Brothers is among the better ones.    It is a chase-filled musical with high energy and plenty of laughs.     The plot itself is something to hang the chases and songs on.      Many of the laughs come from the Blues' unflappability in the midst of the chaos they cause.     A building falls down on the Blues Brothers?    They just dust themselves off and keep going.     Half of the state's police cars are chasing them?     They just sit cool, calm, and collected.    

The movie begins with Chicago-based Elwood (Aykroyd) picking up his brother Jake (Belushi) after Jake is released from prison.     Elwood drives an old police car and the brothers wear matching suits, ties, hats, and sunglasses (even indoors or when it's not sunny out).    They are never seen wearing anything else.    The brothers discover the orphanage in which they grew up is about to be shut down unless they can raise $5,000 in back taxes.     The Blues decide to get their old band back together, do some gigs, and raise the dough.     Sounds simple enough, but in some cases, recruiting the guys isn't as easy as expected.     One is happy being a maître-d' in a high class restaurant.     This leads to a hilarious scene where the Blues harass the snooty clientele.      This may be the only movie ever where "we want to buy your daughters" is a funny line.

The Blues intentionally, or in some cases unintentionally, catch the attention of the police and neo-Nazis (among others) who chase them all over the place causing untold amounts of property damage.    The Blues get some gigs and perform some high energy numbers while eluding seemingly everyone in the state of Illinois.     All they want to do is get the $5,000 to the Cook County clerk's office by 9am so the county won't close the orphanage.      I think even the National Guard gets involved in mobilizing outside of the clerk's office.

Despite it all, the Blues Brothers remain unflappable and indestructible.     They may be outlaws, but they're doing something nice for kids, so we forgive them their trespasses.     The funniest scene in the movie occurs when the Blues are quietly taking an elevator up to the clerk's office while every police officer and Illinois National Guardsman is chaotically and loudly setting up headquarters outside.     This juxtaposition is perfect.   

The musical numbers are well done, but they seemed to be marking time for me.    I liked the outrageous stuff where the Blues continue to make enemy upon enemy and elude them.      Believe it or not, there are subtle scenes of humor amidst the wreckage.     After one police squad car crashes into a mall, the driver says, "Damn, I think we broke a mirror."    Funny stuff.   



.   

I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007) * * *

Directed by:  Dennis Dugan

Starring:  Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, Dan Aykroyd, Jessica Biel, Ving Rhames, Nick Turturro

Adam Sandler occasionally stars in a pretty good comedy like I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry.     It has a plot which could go horribly wrong in the wrong hands, but has an underlying sweetness and charm.      His better movies, such as 50 First Dates, The Wedding Singer, You Don't Mess With the Zohan, and this one, all have that quality.     Sandler should stick to that.    It suits him well.   

I Now Pronounce...stars Sandler as Chuck and Kevin James as Larry.    Both are New York City firefighters.     Chuck is single and according to his captain, "If this pencil had a skirt, you would try and sleep with it,"    Larry is a widower with a young daughter with medical benefits issues.    They are about to run out, I think, but whatever it is, it sounds bad.    In order to ensure Larry can keep his benefits, or whatever calamity may befall him, Chuck and Larry propose to pretend to be a gay couple and marry.    The news of their sudden coupling floors their friends.     Some of the more homophobic ones keep their distance from them.    

A hot lawyer (Biel) named Alex is hired to help Chuck and Larry with their case.     Chuck falls for Alex, causing obvious issues because he is supposed to be gay.    Alex is one beautiful woman and has a scene in her bra and panties which is sexier than entire pornos, not that I watch them much these days.     Chuck and Larry encounter homophobia and shunning not just from friends, but from protesters as they attend gay functions to keep up the façade.   

Their story soon becomes news as a city inspector (Buscemi) smells a rat and suspects Chuck and Larry are defrauding the system.      He is correct and actually on the right side of the law, but because we like Chuck and Larry, the inspector is seen as a villain.     There is also a new firefighter (Rhames) whose demeanor and size scare the hell out of everyone, but reveals his secret to Chuck because he is so moved by his plight.

I Now Pronounce... is actually a warm comedy.    To my recollection, there is no projectile vomiting or body functions run amok.     The movie finds humor in the misinformation about homosexuals and turns the joke on the misinformed.      A scene where the soap falls to the shower floor is a funny example of this.     James and Sandler are a couple of guys just trying to help each other out in whatever way possible.     There is also a funny dynamic in which Larry assumes the role of the nagging wife who complains the husband isn't home much anymore.

This is a movie that walks a fine line between bad taste and the charm it manages to maintain for the most part.     An Adam Sandler movie wouldn't be an Adam Sandler movie without occasional lapses in good taste, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well this movie maintains its tone.    

How to Be Single (2016) * *

Directed by:  Christian Ditter

Starring:  Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Leslie Mann, Alison Brie, Damon Wayans, Jr., Anders Holm, Jake Lacy, Nicholas Braun

Here is a movie with too many characters to juggle and subplots to resolve.    Characters act based on the needs of the script at the time.    A guy is nice, until he isn't.     A relationship is going great, until suddenly it isn't.     A woman is a sexaholic, alcoholic party animal, until she suddenly has a sensitive side.      When all is said is done, the main character winsomely learns "how to be single" and celebrates her triumph by visiting the Grand Canyon...alone.      Is the Grand Canyon the place where somehow everything in the universe makes sense?     Where people go to be at peace and resolve their inner conflicts just by looking at the giant hole in the ground?     Between the movie Grand Canyon (1991) and this film, it sure appears that way.

How to Be Single begins with Alice (Johnson) and her college boyfriend of four years "taking a break".     Alice wants to "find herself" even though she loves the guy and he loves her.     I think the ground rules are: Once she finds herself, they will get back together.     We are supposed to feel bad for her when this doesn't go as planned.      The boyfriend finds another girl, one who has apparently found herself already, and Alice is now single.     Her work buddy Robin (Wilson) takes her on a tour of the Manhattan clubs, dispensing advice such as "Don't pass your drink number" and "I don't even touch myself until I hit 24 drinks".      These girls are rarely seen without a beer or drink in hand.    In Robin's case, sometimes full bottles of champagne.    They may not find Mr. Right, but they find plenty of Mr. Right Nows, and are well on their way to full-blown alcoholism.   

Alice lives with her sister Meg (Mann), a workaholic, unmarried, childless doctor who, in keeping with the theme of this film, decides she wants a baby out of the clear blue.     Thoughts about their relationship nagged at me, like:  "Sisters?   Really?"     There is also another character named Lucy (Brie) who hangs around the bar below her apartment because it has free Wi-Fi.     She befriends the bartender Tom (Holm), who is as commitment-phobic as Robin, to the point that he doesn't keep anything edible in the fridge so conquests don't stick around for breakfast.     Tom and Alice become fuck buddies, but he falls for Lucy.    

Lucy has no connection to any of the other girls in the movie.     I could buy it if she were Alice's sister and not Meg, but this is not the case.     Her scenes seem dropped in from another movie filming nearby.    Brie is appealing, to be sure, but her character and all of the subplots attached to her are irrelevant.

This is the type of movie where characters apparently don't speak to each other at all unless they're on screen.      Plot developments curiously pop up because these people don't communicate well.     Meg hooks up with a boyfriend, but fails to tell him she's pregnant.      Alice hooks up with a real-estate developer (Wayans, Jr.) who is a single father, but neglects to tell Alice he's a widower until three months after their first kiss.     Aren't these things that should be brought up much sooner?    Does nobody ask questions, such as, I don't know, "What happened to her mother?" or "You look like you have a baby bump, are you pregnant?"    Instead, these relationship roadblocks are brought up only to facilitate contrived, phony breakups.   

The actors are appealing despite the shallowness their characters are saddled with.     Johnson shows, as she did in Fifty Shades of Grey, that she is likable, touching, and vulnerable.     Rebel Wilson is an energetic force who is perfectly content within herself.      Although I don't quite understand why she felt she had to hurl herself onto the hood of a moving taxi to flag it down.    Not once, but twice.  Normal people usually wave their hand and thus reducing the possibility of injury or death.   

I found myself not caring all that much.     I suppose we're supposed to be happy that Alice found herself at long last and everyone else finds their soul mates, or in Robin's case, a never ending party train, but I wasn't much moved.     How to Be Single isn't sure what type of movie it wants to be.    Does it want to be a party comedy?    A quasi-Sex and the City?    An earnest romantic comedy?   
Because it doesn't know, it bogs itself down. 

The Freshman (1990) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Andrew Bergman

Starring:  Marlon Brando, Matthew Broderick, Bruno Kirby, Penelope Ann Miller, Jon Polito, Paul Benedict, Richard Gant, Frank Whaley, Maximilian Schell

I watched The Freshman with a consistent grin.   No wonder.   Marlon Brando essentially reprises and tweaks his own Don Vito Corleone.   How great is it to see the Don one more time?    Granted, Brando's character is named Carmine Sabatini, but he is The Godfather.    One character says, "The movie based The Godfather on him."   How can you not watch The Freshman and cherish it just for this fact alone?     There is more to like about The Freshman, however, than just Brando.     It is goofy, intelligent fun and light as a feather, with a giant Komodo Dragon thrown in for good measure.    

Broderick stars as Vermont-born NYU film school freshman Clark Kellogg, whose belongings are stolen by street thief Victor (Kirby) the moment the train stops in Manhattan.      Fortunately, or unfortunately, he tracks down Victor who introduces him to Sabatini.     Desperate for money, Clark agrees to pick up a package for Carmine at the airport and deliver it to shadowy Larry London (Schell) in New Jersey.    The package is the aforementioned lizard, who wreaks more havoc than you would expect.    He comes with more instructions than the Gremlins.      What plans do Carmine and Larry have for the large lizard?   

Clark also meets Carmine's daughter Tina (Miller) at the family home.    Clark sees the Mona Lisa hanging on the wall and admires how well it was copied.    Tina corrects him, because the painting in Carmine's home is the real thing, while the one on display in the L'oeuvre is the fake.   "My dad thought it was such a shame it was behind all that glass," she tells a stunned Clark.   Clark's relationship with Tina also ventures into odd territory.

The Freshman is full of funny touches like that.     Brando could just as easily behaved just like The Godfather and that would have been enough.     But, he actually creates a sweet character underneath.    Broderick is a good foil.     He seems ill-equipped to deal with this lunacy, but he finds he is up to the challenge when the chips are down.      Another standout is Paul Benedict as Professor Fleeber, Clark's self-important film school professor who can recite The Godfather films line by line.    

Part of the joy of watching The Freshman is seeing where it leads.    You think you know where it is going, but then pulls the rug out from under you more than once.   We are delighted to see Don Vito Corleone once again, even if his name is, ahem, Carmine Sabatini.  

Philomena (2013) * * * *

Directed by:  Stephen Frears

Starring:  Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Sophie Kennedy Clark

Philomena is many films at once:  A scathing essay on the Catholic Church, a heartfelt drama about a woman searching for the son she was forced to give up for adoption years ago, and some human comedy between its two leads.    All of it flows effortlessly into an absorbing film.    Judi Dench (Oscar nominated for her performance) plays the London-based title character as a woman with deep hurts, deep regrets, and yet a positive, sympathetic outlook on life.     She takes joys in the little things, like hotel robes and buffets.     She just wants to know what happened to the son she gave birth to and then watched being taken away by another family.  

Her traveling companion in her search for her son is journalist Martin Sixsmith (Coogan), who has fallen from grace and now writes human interest stories.     He despises his job, but something about Philomena's story intrigues him.    Or maybe he is just desperate.    Either way, the pair travels to the convent in Ireland where Philomena lived as an unwed mother and gave birth to her son.    The nuns repeatedly made Philomena and the other girls feel ashamed of their sexuality and for giving birth out of wedlock.    They worked as nearly indentured servants as penance.    One day, her child was adopted by an American family and Philomena never saw him again.  

The convent conveniently lost all of its records in a recent fire, so the pair soon journeys to Washington, DC in order to find out more.     Martin's anger with church hypocrisy and intolerance only intensifies after seeing what happened with Philomena.     He is cynical to be sure, but also carries a chip on his shoulder about his lot in life.     Philomena's outlook is significantly rosier despite this horrible event.

Dench and Coogan are an odd couple, but they grow to understand each other as they close in on her son's whereabouts.     Fate makes a tearful reunion impossible, but Philomena continues on undaunted and unbowed.    I really enjoyed these performances.    We see a gradual smoothing of the rough edges between Martin and Philomena even though neither truly changes much about their respective personalities.    Perhaps the mutual quest has brought them closer together.     They care for each other and they care about what happened to her son.

Philomena doesn't strive for easy payoffs and cheap sentimentality.    It ends happily in a way because we learn how Philomena's lifelong love for her child was not unrequited.     It is a touching development revealed in a surprising way.     We are happy to have taken the journey with these two people.     Dench delivers one of her best performances.     This is a woman who can play Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth I, M from the James Bond series, and Philomena Lee.    An amazing array of people from an amazing actress.     Coogan has played mostly comic roles, but really excels here with a character who can be somewhat caustic and self-serving.     Watch him as he delivers the news to Philomena about her son's fate.     For the first time, this is not just a story for him, but real life with real human emotions involved.  

The story here is complex and challenging.     It tests our capacity for outrage and ultimately forgiveness, much like life did for Philomena Lee.     Her final confrontation with the nuns who shamed her is remarkable because it does not go for the easy way out.     We see who Philomena truly is.    She says, "I don't want to hate people,"     Philomena (co-written by Coogan) has the courage to be a film that isn't easily pigeonholed and is all the greater for it.  

Lorenzo's Oil (1992) * * * *

Directed by: George Miller

Starring:  Nick Nolte, Susan Sarandon, James Rebhorn, Peter Ustinov, Zack O'Malley Greenburg

Lorenzo's Oil tells a sometimes sad, sometimes uplifting, but altogether human story about a six-year old boy afflicted with a rare disease and his parents' tireless efforts to save him.      Before you say Lifetime Original Movie, understand that Lorenzo's Oil is a polar opposite.     Not to denigrate Lifetime movies, but they tend to scratch the surface of a story.     Lorenzo's Oil is perceptive and looks deeper.     Yes, Augusto Odone (Nolte) and Michaela Odone (Sarandon) are relentless in their pursuit to find a cure for their son's disease.     But, in a moment of true power and candor, the Odones come to the grim realization that the cure they seek may not save their child's life, but potentially other children's whose cases are not as advanced.      One doctor frankly tells the Odones, "We are dealing with a disease that six months ago didn't even have a name."

The disease is ALD (I won't spell out what it stands for), a rare disease that was fatal to those afflicted, which were mostly young children.     Not much is known about it, but in every library book Augusto reads, the prognosis is eventually death after about 18 months of the disease's destruction to the afflicted person's nervous system.      The Odones, in their grief and denial, refuse to accept this fate and begin their quest to find a cure.     Neither are doctors, but they seek help from doctors and push to have more research conducted.      They find this is not as easy as expected.     The doctors understand that finding a cure for any disease takes funding, years of research, testing of medicines, and trial and error.     This will not do for the Odones.     Meanwhile, their son's condition worsens to the point he can no longer function and lies in a custom-made bed in a catatonic state.   

The doctors are not cold bureaucrats.    They discover advances and more positive findings, but caution the Odones not to be too excited.      These doctors have seen too many cases in which all of their research goes for naught.     The lead doctor is Dr. Nikolais (Ustinov), who also works tirelessly to help the Odones while maintaining a professional detachment necessary to his job.     As a doctor, sometimes he must deal in cold reality.     This rule does not apply to the families.

Nolte and Sarandon deliver intensely felt powerhouse performances.     They are determined, exhausted, and relentless.     Michaela will not even entertain the possibility that her son will die.     The Odones alienate their loved ones and other parents in their quest.      They feel anyone who doesn't think or feel exactly like they do is not committed enough to the cause.     This is not correct, but their level of denial is so great it overshadows everything.     As is their will. 

The cure for ALD is eventually found and the montage over the ending credits shows children cured by the Odones medicine, known as "Lorenzo's Oil".     The powerful scenes showing progress are not accompanied by a swelling score or underlined heavily to tell us how to feel.     We get an inside look at the painstaking process of medicine.     One can not snap his fingers and find a cure.     Many will die in the process and the cure will likely be for the future, not the present.      Lorenzo's Oil understands this all too well and truly feels it from the inside out.

Footnote:  Lorenzo eventually died in 2008 from the effects of ALD.    He died 24 years after his initial diagnosis, but mostly in the catatonic state.     He outlived his prognosis by nearly 22 years, although he never regained use of his faculties.    

The Toy (1982) * * *

Directed by:  Richard Donner

Starring:  Richard Pryor, Jackie Gleason, Scott Schwartz, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Teresa Ganzel, Ned Beatty

Reviewing The Toy is as challenging as the material itself.     The Toy combines idealism with racial politics in the deep South not even twenty years after passage of major civil rights bills.      The idea of a nine-year-old white boy "buying" an adult black male friend is tricky to pull off at best.     The Toy manages to walk the fence between slapstick comedy and the completely offensive sometimes in the same scene.     The movie also shoehorns in some sentimental family stuff also.    The casting of Richard Pryor and Jackie Gleason softens the blow somewhat.     Of course, the child isn't actually "buying" Pryor's Jack Brown, an unemployed journalist, but the implication of something possibly more troubling lurks around the corner.

The boy is Eric Bates (Schwartz), a spoiled brat home from military school for one week a year.     His father is multi-millionaire mogul U.S. Bates (Gleason), who has little time for his son because he is busy buying up businesses and sometimes entire towns.      Eric discovers Jack working at a toy store after hours and decides he wants to buy him, as he puts it.     U.S. agrees to pay Jack $3,000 for the week to be Eric's friend, just as long as they stay out of his way.     Jack agrees because he needs the money to save his house from foreclosure. 

U.S. believes in the philosophy "money means never having to say you're sorry."    He's a gruff power broker feared by his underlings.     His right-hand man Mr. Morehouse (Beatty) is so afraid of him that he drops his drawers at Bates' demand so he can show everyone who's boss.     However, he is not completely without redemption because he wants to make his son happy in the only way he knows how.    There is some room for growth. 

Eric's friendship with Jack doesn't start off swimmingly.    Eric plays mean pranks on Jack and bosses him around.     Jack threatens to walk out, but soon they become friends and Jack assists in Eric's quest for his father's love and attention.     The Toy from here on out maneuvers uneasily into schmaltzy territory, but it maintains an edge.      U.S. and Eric soon declare their love for each other, but I get the feeling Eric still needs to have an appointment to see the old man.

Pryor is at his best with an edge.    The Toy is more of a family comedy, or at least what passed for one in 1982.    Pryor is still funny here with material that is borderline offensive.    Gleason takes a character who could be a boring blowhard and instills some sympathy.     Oh, he's nowhere near ready to become a family man, but he is taking baby steps.    His prized possession seems to be his perfectly erected domino set more than his busty trophy wife (Ganzel).

The Toy contained enough laughs to be satisfying and is a product of its time.     Pryor and Gleason mine it for all it's worth.      Could The Toy be remade?     Yes, but to avoid a slippery slope, the toy likely won't be a black man.     The Toy remake will just as likely be an innocuous family film that won't burden itself with issues of racial politics and poverty.     I can't say whether that is a good thing. 

Miller's Crossing (1990) * * *

Directed by:  Joel Coen

Starring:  Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, Marcia Gay Harden, Jon Polito, John Turturro, J.E. Freeman

Miller's Crossing at times almost plays like a sly comic version of gangster films.     The characters and the plot are multi-layered, but they sometimes speak as if they know they are making a gangster film in 1990 and riffing on 1940's dialogue.     It seems self-aware.     I don't know if that was the Coen Brothers intention, but that is how it plays.      Once the movie gets down to business, it is a tale of double crosses and power plays with characters always looking for the angles.     I admired it and enjoyed it, although it never involved me on the emotional level like a Goodfellas or The Godfather series.    

The film centers around Tom Reagan (Byrne), a deputy crime boss in an unnamed big American city circa the late 1920's.     I'll assume it's New York, even if the movie doesn't exactly identify it.     A war with rival Johnny Casper (Polito) is looming.      Tom's boss Leo (Finney) is preoccupied with wanting to marry his girlfriend Verna (Harden), whom Tom is also sleeping with.     They may even love each other.      If Tom has any moral compunction about bedding his boss' girl, he hides it behind a façade of coldness.       Tom thinks the best way to avoid an all-out war is to give up Verna's brother Bernie Bernbaum, a two-timing bookie and con man, (Turturro) to Casper.     This is not something Leo wants to do because he loves the girl and handing her brother over to be murdered might put a crimp in their relationship.

The actors do a very good job of hiding their feelings and intentions behind masks of detachment and tough dialogue.     Tom is obviously in love with Verna, Leo loves the girl and loves Tom like a son.     We sense the pain Tom's betrayal has on Leo even after putting a whooping on Tom.     Johnny Casper is a blowhard who trusts more than he should.     He is not as cool and collected as Leo and confides that the crown on his head is becoming awfully heavy.     Neither man really wants war and do what they can to avoid it.     Contrast that idea with The Godfather, when Clemenza tells Michael, "We need to have a war every 5 to 10 years or so.    Gets out all the bad blood."   

Byrne, Harden, Finney, and Polito all masterfully wade through their inner conflicts, especially when Tom himself is tasked with whacking Bernie in the middle of the deep, desolate woods.     Bernie pleads for his life and Tom lowers the brow on his hat, which is the physical manifestation of his inner conflict.     I won't say what happens, but it leads to further angst for all involved.     Leo is a crime boss with a heart, as is Casper to an extent.     That doesn't prevent either from getting their hands dirty when needed, but it provides dimensions.  

Prior to Miller's Crossing was Blood Simple (1984), another story of betrayal and murder and Raising Arizona (1987), where Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter kidnap a child because they cannot conceive one.     Miller's Crossing follows in the vein of crime undercut with humorous undertones.    They would later master this dichotomy in Fargo and No Country for Old Men.     Miller's Crossing is more successful than the Coens' earlier films and shows their progression in storytelling.    

Less Than Zero (1987) * * * *

Directed by:  Marek Kanievska

Starring:  Andrew McCarthy, Robert Downey Jr., Jami Gertz, Nicholas Pryor, Tony Bill, James Spader, Michael Bowen, james Spader

Less Than Zero rings absolutely, mercilessly true.  I can relate in every respect to Clay (McCarthy), an Ivy League college freshman who returns to Southern California to find his best friend and girlfriend are not only sleeping together, but hooked on drugs.   People Clay loves and cares for are addicted and he can only do what he can to help them.    Blair (Gertz) is the girlfriend who can at least pull herself together to understand Julian (Downey) is spiraling out of control.      Julian is into the local drug dealer Rip (Spader) for $50,000.    He can't pay the money back, so Rip employs him as a prostitute for his male friends.     Julian is dehumanized, promises to stay clean, but cannot free himself from the demon of drugs.      Less Than Zero depicts Julian's downfall in a real, harrowing way.    Whether you're a user, a bystander, or a loved one, you identify with these people.  

McCarthy and Downey Jr. (especially Downey Jr.) have had well-documented drug and alcohol addictions.     McCarthy described how he was mostly hung over during filming of St. Elmo's Fire and other films.     Downey Jr. spent time in jail before getting clean and reinventing himself as the biggest box office star in the world.     Most do not pull themselves out of such hell.     Loved ones try to exert power over a situation in which they have no real power.     Trying to control someone else's addiction is like trying to restrain the bulls of Pamplona with bear hugs.    You put in every ounce of effort you can, but you just get run over.     Clay tries to raise the money to pay off Rip, but wisely asks Julian, "What then?"    Julian doesn't have an answer.     Just because the debt is paid doesn't mean Julian is done with drugs.     He just gets another chance to dig himself into another hole.

Clay, Julian, and Blair are rich young adults from Beverly Hills who live in the world of superficial glamour and glitz.    Everyone seems to be having a good time in their own vacuous way.     They think cocaine will help enhance the experience.     It doesn't.     Julian continues to put himself and his loved ones in deeper and deeper levels of danger.     He makes empty promises to stay clean, goes through the hell of detox, and there is no doubt he means every one of those promises....until he encounters the drug again.     He tells Rip he is quitting for good "this time".     Even Rip has heard this bullshit before.     "Try and make an effort," he tells Julian, "to at least come up with a better excuse to quit.    I've heard all of this before,"    I'm sure Clay, Blair, and Julian's family have all said the same thing.      I would think your dealer is the last person you want to inform that you are quitting drugs.      Rip is played with cold efficiency by Spader, who for a drug dealer is rather patient as the probability of Julian actually paying him back dims.     "Julian is the problem, not me," he tells Clay, as if this somehow absolves him.

The performances here are all strong, while Robert Downey Jr. immerses himself into this world so much that we fear for his safety.     Could a lot of this performance have been drawn from real life?    Probably yes.     He looks and sounds physically and mentally exhausted.     How long can he keep this up before his body says "no more'?    I have witnessed this in members of my own family, which is why Less Than Zero hits home so strongly.     McCarthy is the moral center.     In the book by Bret Easton Ellis on which this movie is based, Clay is a recreational user himself, but thankfully screenwriter Harley Peyton makes Clay a straight arrow.     It wouldn't be credible for Clay to try and help Julian get clean if he had issues himself.   

Director Kanievska directed music videos before this movie and the lighting, sounds, and décor all suggest a world of exterior glamour that masks inner pain.      The characters inhabit this world, but are almost outsiders to it themselves.     The drugs keep them out of touch with reality.     They can't enjoy if they are numb and high all the time.      Reading Roger Ebert's review of this film, he uses George Carlin's famous quote when asked what cocaine made him feel like.     He quipped, "It makes you feel like having some more cocaine."     Julian (and Blair to a certain extent) know this all too well.     It ends tragically for at least one of them, while the rest have to pick up the pieces.      Less Than Zero is perceptive, tragic, and knowing.      We can only watch the trainwreck as it unfolds.    We want to help, but it's useless.     Kind of like real life.  

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Rocky II (1979) * * *

Directed by:  Sylvester Stallone

Starring:  Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith, Tony Burton, Joe Spinnell

Rocky II is an exciting, thoughtful sequel that truly continues the Rocky story before subsequent sequels turned Rocky Balboa into a superhero.      Rocky, of course, lost the first fight with Apollo Creed by a split decision, an outcome that doesn't sit well with Apollo or the general public.     Apollo is rattled by the public's perception that Rocky truly won the fight.     He challenges the southpaw to a rematch with promises to really put a hurting on Balboa this time, as if hospitalizing him the first time wasn't enough.

Rocky, who endured a horrific beating that threatens his sight, marries Adrian and settles down in Philly after retiring.     Apollo goads Rocky into accepting the rematch even though Adrian is scared for Rocky's health.     Apollo's trainer Duke Evers (Burton) is not keen on having a rematch with Balboa.     ("I saw that man take a beating unlike any man I've ever seen before, and the man kept coming after you.")    Remember in the first film when Duke expressed his concern that Rocky may be a dangerous opponent?   ("He just doesn't think it's a damn show.   He thinks it's a damn fight.")
If he didn't make his feelings clear then, he sure does in Rocky II.

Rocky tries to get a real job or even cash in on his newfound celebrity by shooting commercials.     He doesn't have many skills that don't require punching someone and he can barely read the cue cards much to the mounting frustration of the director.     Fighting is all he knows and loves.     Adrian's pregnancy further complicates matters.     But, naturally, Adrian comes around in dramatic fashion and Rocky runs through the city with kids following their hero.     I liked the run in the first Rocky better where Rocky did it alone through the desolate Philly streets.     Rocky II probably had a higher budget and therefore could hire more extras.   But the run is a bit cheesier this time.

Rocky II realistically addresses the idea of taming the savage beast.    Rocky either fought or collected money for a local loan shark.     He isn't cut out for much else.     Since the baby is coming and Rocky just bought a house and new car, Apollo's challenge looks more and more like the better play.      I also enjoyed the different dimensions of Apollo as played by Carl Weathers.     He is still the trash-talking showman, but he is now angrier and more willing to play the bad guy to lure Rocky out of retirement.    He is hurt by the backlash about the first fight.    He can't let it go even though he should.     After all, he suffered broken ribs and a hospital stay himself... and he won.    Rocky hooks up with Mickey (Meredith), who in his no-nonsense, gruff way, puts it plainly, "Let's knock his block off."

The final fight is in the tradition of Rocky fights.     More punches are thrown in one round than in entire real boxing matches.     Both men endure hellacious beatings.     Rocky Balboa may actually be the first fighter to become smarter after two straight beatdowns.     It is amusing when the referee threatens to stop the fight before the start of the fifteenth round.     Where were you six or seven rounds ago?    In Rocky III and Rocky IV, he is far and away more articulate, more sure of himself, and seemingly more thoughtful and analytical.   Take that Dr. Bennett Omalu! 

One of the reasons Rocky (1976) remains a great film is its willingness to show Rocky as savage with a soft spot for Adrian.     That Rocky (and the one in this film) is not stupid, but has a colorful, straightforward way of expressing himself in as few words as needed.     He is as smart as he needs to be.     He comes from somewhere and his hometown is as big a co-star as the other actors.      Rocky II is polished filmmaking that more or less keeps the Rocky Balboa persona intact.     The climactic fight is exciting and the finale is unlikely, but suspenseful and it works.     Of all the Rocky sequels, this one comes closest to maintaining the integrity of these characters.  

And the Band Played On (1993) * * * *

Directed by:  Roger Spottiswoode

Starring:  Matthew Modine, Ian McKellen, Richard Gere, Lily Tomlin, Richard Masur,Glenne Headly, Saul Rubinek, Alan Alda, Steve Martin, Swoosie Kurtz, David Dukes, B.D. Wong

And the Band Played On does more than simply document the early years of the AIDS epidemic.    It also mercilessly recreates the fear, misinformation, frustration, and anger of the doctors, patients, families, the public, and the gay community in response to a disease of which diagnosis was a death sentence.    It is emotionally overwhelming and powerful.    At first, the disease was known as "gay cancer" because it afflicted mostly homosexuals.     Funding to research and fight the disease was almost non-existent.     President Ronald Reagan did not say the word AIDS in public until 1985, five to seven years after the first cases were diagnosed.      Doctors from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) learned quickly it was a blood borne disease passed mainly through sexual contact.      Working through the bureaucratic red tape to finance their research was a nightmare.     Was this because it was mostly considered a "gay" disease?     You can surmise that, even if it wasn't outwardly admitted, and you can understand why sufferers felt hopeless and alone.

The movie, based on a non-fiction book by San Francisco journalist Randy Shilts (who himself died from AIDS-related illness in 1994), shows us early cases in which patients showed up in hospitals with rare and horrifying afflictions such as Kaposi's Sarcoma.     Doctors were baffled and had no way of treating the patients.     The CDC formed a belief that a retrovirus was eating up white blood cells that fight off infections, leaving the patient open to a "whole horror show of diseases", as one doctor puts it.    Doctors were sent to interview the patients.    They discovered many had sex with other men who then had sex with other men with the illness.    They found a link, but not much willingness to fund the research.

The team of doctors is led by the outspoken Dr. Don Francis (Modine), who was haunted by his own experiences in 1970s Africa in which hundreds of villagers were dying from a mysterious illness.    It was not AIDS, but it caused a helpless feeling in Dr. Francis.    He was there to help them and could not.    This is what drives him to beg and plead for funding while tirelessly searching for the virus causing the illnesses.    He frequently clashes with the CDC chairman Dr. Jim Curran (Rubinek) over lack of money, outdated equipment, and having few resources.    Curran is not unsympathetic to Francis' cause, but he knows all too well fighting for such things is an uphill battle.     Especially when the afflicted are homosexuals.  

When the research confirms disease transmission through gay sex, the CDC is stunned to find that the gay community is not willing to follow its recommendations to close city bath houses (where homosexual men met to have anonymous sex).    They fearfully see these attempted closures as a violation of their freedoms.     They fear society is trying to push them back into the closet.     Add this to an already overflowing powder keg ready to explode.

The number of cases and deaths rises as the politics and bureaucracy continue on.      It took the death of Rock Hudson and the case of Indiana teen Ryan White, a hemophiliac, to finally get the ball rolling in a meaningful way.     These occurred in 1985, which is of little comfort to the loved ones of those who already died from the disease.     There is also the matter of the French discovery of a potential retrovirus, which American scientist Dr. Robert Gallo (Alda) wants to take credit for.       Dr. Francis tells Gallo, "you've turned this disease into an international pissing contest."   

We watch the extent of bureaucracy, homophobia, and fear has on the fight against AIDS.     A rational person would think all should be primarily concerned about wiping it out, but fear is the enemy of rationalism.     A particularly telling scene involves the CDC presenting its case to a national medical conference to test the blood supply for the virus.     A blood industry board member callously asks, "You want us to spend 100 million dollars on testing because of a handful of transfusion fatalities and eight dead hemophiliacs."     An outraged Francis replies, "How many dead hemophiliacs do you need?"     

And the Band Played On manages to juggle a lot of subplots and characters without losing its way.    It remains passionate, compelling, and fascinating all the way through.     The final montage, which is accompanied by Elton John's AIDS anthem "The Last Song", is particularly emotional.    We fully understand the toll the disease took on the world.     I can't imagine the pain and helplessness not only the doctors felt trying to figure out the disease and treat it, but of the sufferers who were dying from a disease that just recently was given a name.     And the Band Played on reminds us of this.     It does what great films do:  it observes, it angers, it challenges our perceptions, it involves us, and it makes us empathize.