Flesh and Blood.

Review #2046: Flesh and Blood.

Cast: 

Rutger Hauer (Martin), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Agnes), Tom Burlinson (Steven), Jack Thompson (Hawkwood), Fernando Hilbeck (Arnolfini), Susan Tyrrell (Celine), Ronald Lacey (Cardinal), Brion James (Karsthans), Bruno Kirby (Orbec), Simon Andreu (Miel), John Dennis Johnston (Summer), Marina Saura (Polly), Kitty Courbois (Anna), Jake Wood (Little John), and Nancy Cartwright (Kathleen) Directed by Paul Verhoeven (#002 - RoboCop, #632 - Total Recall, #1922 - Starship Troopers)

Review: 

"The triangular relationship [of] Martin–Agnes–Steven is now the main story line, but in retrospect I think we should have stuck with Hawkwood and Martin. The failure of Flesh and Blood was a lesson for me: never again compromise on the main story line of a script."

Admittedly, it is probably easy to forget that the second phase of Paul Verhoeven's career that saw him leave his native Netherlands started with Flesh and Blood (1985). He started making films in the 1960s, with only a spell in the Royal Dutch Navy in between this, and it was his efforts in directing the television series Floris (featuring Rutger Hauer as the star) in 1969 that was set in the early 16th century during the country's Guelders Wars that took inspiration from earlier TV programs such as Ivanhoe. Business is Business (1971), his first feature, wasn't successful, but Turkish Delight (1973), featuring Hauer, still ranks among one of the most famous films made in the country. Hauer and Verhoeven would work together for three of the next four films that the latter made in the Netherlands, which included another famous film with Soldier of Orange (1977). Anyway, after 1984, Verhoeven had received offers from Hollywood to direct but was debating whether it was necessary to leave his native country. As such, he described this film as a "compromise", one that was shot in Europe that was a multi-country production with primary funding by Orion Pictures. Originally, the film was to be about the gradual disintegration of the friendship between the characters ultimately played by Hauer and Thompson. However, the producers pushed introducing a love interest within the character of Leigh that would create a love triangle (Hauer-Leigh-Burlinson), which he went with, much to later regret, although the ensuing troubled production did not help matters. Gerard Soeteman, who had developed the aforementioned Floris and had written a handful of scripts such as Turkish Delight, co-wrote the film with Verhoeven. Made on a budget of $6.5 million, an absolute shoddy promotion effort by Orion led to the film being a flop with audiences.

Wait a minute, people didn't go for this kind of film? A film set in the Middle Ages (1501) that is thrust with plenty of unwieldly characters involving swordplay and wonderful design? It might not have the most conventional of leads to follow, but who the hell cares? Granted, medieval fantasy can be one to favor in entertainment with good ol' swordplay, but with the right execution, you can lend a dose of reality to that hodgepodge, especially with Verhoeven and his approach to violence. In other words: death will happen in the Middle Ages, and it will rarely happen naturally. Well, that, and folks love God. This was the fifth and final film collaboration between Verhoeven and Hauer. During production, the two had such a disagreement with how the lead was supposed to be played that it led to a rift in which they never worked together again, because the former favored moral ambiguity while Hauer did not wish to play such a scoundrel given that he was just breaking into more mainstream features (such as The Osterman Weekend (1983), for example). While I can certainly see Hauer's point, time has clearly favored Verhoeven. The moral ambiguity that Verhoeven aims for when making a Middle Ages tale of such odd people is especially right for Hauer and his rough exterior to make a useful rogue rather than if he had tried to play it with any sort of heroic bent. He is supposed to lead this band of undesirables, and he leans into it with great conviction that is a brute through and through to the worthiest endgame. Verhoeven obviously had an interest in showing a confident woman with convictions that want to go anywhere to get their goal, as represented by Leigh. Consider how she handles her first scene where she consults her maid-in-waiting (Cartwright) about how one, well, has sex. She watches for a bit and then goes to hit her to put it to a stop. The way she deals with both Hauer and Burlinson is exquisite in its cat-and-mouse game of who ends up playing who, one who sells the act as more than a mere observer. Burlinson is undoubtedly the lesser of such a lofty triangle, but being warped by the mesh of trying to seek reason in a world that desires swift retribution does at least make for some sort of interest. I can't imagine the disappointment that could come from Thompson in going from a potential lead to basically support, but he at least makes a worthy character presence that obviously merits curiosity (I should mention his name happens to be the same as a 14th century mercenary leader). I enjoy the atmosphere of the film, because it never betrays the ambition in 126 minutes to make a suitable tale of, well, flesh and blood mixing for craven desires that deserved better marketing. The film doesn't skimp on the brutality that obviously had to happen in a time like this, and it reflects well that one enjoys the supporting cast for as long as they can. The real adversary is the ambition for the flesh to draw blood and not have it be their own, regardless of if the rich person happened to be sending someone off to do their battles for them or not. As a whole, it is a triumph of a movie in excruciating grit, one that dares to show the flesh and blood of the Middle Ages with wonderful design and devastating consistency for a brutally good time.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Between the Lines.

Review #1988: Between the Lines.

Cast: 

John Heard (Harry Lucas), Lindsay Crouse (Abbie), Jeff Goldblum (Max Arloft), Jill Eikenberry (Lynn), Bruno Kirby (David Entwhistle), Gwen Welles (Laura), Stephen Collins (Michael), Lewis J. Stadlen (Stanley), Jon Korkes (Frank), Michael J. Pollard (The Hawker), Lane Smith (Roy Walsh), Joe Morton (Ahmed), and Marilu Henner (Danielle) Directed by Joan Micklin Silver (#1818 - Hester Street)

Review: 

Admittedly, if you want to follow up a sleeper hit that was thought to be too "ethnic" from big studios, I suppose an ensemble piece with up-and-coming actors is not the oddest thing to come up with. As with her last effort in Hester Street (1975), Raphael D. Silver served as producer. The film was written by Fred Barron and David M. Helpern Jr. Barron had written for the Boston Phoenix, an alternative weekly periodical and he used his experiences there to help shape the script (incidentally, Silver had worked for the Village Voice before becoming a director. This was the second of a total of seven theatrical films that Silver directed. The cast might be the most standout quality in terms of the sheer rise that came from some of them: this was the debut for Heard, Eikenberry, and Morton, who each had started in stage and television before this film, while Goldblum had made his debut in film only three years prior while Crouse was fresh off supporting roles in All the President's Men (1976) and Slap Shot (1977). Perhaps fitting the tone of the film is the inclusion of Welles, who earlier had a supporting role in Nashville (1976). The film was shot and set in Boston.

The movie has a picturesque style of trying to show a look at a time that was within a bare plot composed of episodic pace and an attempt at forming an interesting ensemble. I just wish it was a better movie to sit through for 101 minutes, because it is an experience that seems hopelessly stuck between wistful reminiscences of a time long ago and mildly interesting humor without ever sticking to one main plot. It lingers in episodic format without making a stand for itself beyond trying to ride with mildly likeable people (except for one glaring case) that has a last act that feels like it should have been firmly in the middle. Look, you don't need much to go on about the dangers of big business in little papers, but the bare minimum is meant to be doubly excelled, not barely cleared. Heard makes for a mostly capable lead in frustration and drive. His on-again, off-again dynamic with Crouse is at least entertaining to try and hold a film longer than the other ideas presented, if only because one would like to see more when presented with someone loaded in talent that could use her as just an excuse to not write. You can already see how Goldblum became a curious presence in film here, since he practically gobbles the attention right out from under folks, one that sees him act like a flake in mostly satisfying ways that might as well be a predecessor to his role in The Big Chill (1983); I especially like a scene where he talks with a performance artist with accompanying acts of "art". Kirby makes a suitable middleman in terms of wistful charm in the foreground. Korkes makes an okay beleaguered head to the process. It should only figure the one actor who is the most loathsome in terms of who they became in later life has the least interesting performance. Collins is simply not fun to watch, seemingly trying to bring humor in self-involved author crap that is bland and easily skippable when contrasted with literally anyone on screen. Whether intended as a caricature of writers who want to write the "great American novel" or not, he doesn't do anything worth mentioning positively. Hell, Pollard is playing a cliche with the newspaper salesman on the street, and he runs circles around him when it comes to general charm because one finds Pollard endearing in the foreground and background in those moments, while Stadlen is at least meant to be a foil in his advertising shill persona. Smith only shows up in the last couple of scenes as the prospective buyer of the news station that clearly means big changes...and since the movie ends quickly after that, his impact is diminished despite the fact that he makes an imposing figure. I mean, sure, make an argument all you want about the creeping danger of big business onto papers that supposedly tap into the city, but don't just latch it in late (putting "rumors of a big buy" through the film doesn't cut it). The presentation of contrasts between Heard-Crouse and Collins-Welles would be interesting if the latter didn't end with a completely lame resolution to the latter that is less a case of "human decision-making" and more just a lazy way to throw things together. As a whole, what I like about the movie is the occasional amusing moments that come within trying to make a living in newspapers with a place now resigned to being a middle-ground on the way up or down for people, one that has some ideas wishing to flow for a stronger experience. The loss of innocence within a newspaper that sees its ambition squashed would make an intriguing tragedy, but here one finds a movie that can barely hold the jockstrap of Park Row (1952) It might be an interesting time capsule for a time long past in terms of newspaper media being more than just the option used for people who don't like reading a phone screen, and that is probably the best compliment one could make. 

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Next Time: Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)

Stuart Little.

Review #1946: Stuart Little.

Cast: 

Michael J. Fox (Stuart Little), Geena Davis (Mrs. Eleanor Little), Hugh Laurie (Mr. Frederick Little), Jonathan Lipnicki (George Little), Nathan Lane (Snowbell), Chazz Palminteri (Smokey), Steve Zahn (Monty), Jim Doughan (Lucky / Officer Allen), David Alan Grier (Red), Bruno Kirby (Mr. Stout), Jennifer Tilly (Mrs. Stout), Stan Freberg (Race Announcer), Jeffrey Jones (Uncle Crenshaw), Connie Ray (Aunt Tina), Allyce Beasley (Aunt Beatrice), Brian Doyle-Murray (Cousin Edgar), Estelle Getty (Grandma Estelle), Harold Gould (Grandpa Spencer), Patrick Thomas O'Brien (Uncle Stretch), Julia Sweeney (Mrs. Keeper), Dabney Coleman (Dr. Beechwood), Miles Marsico (Anton), and Jon Polito (Officer Sherman) Directed by Rob Minkoff (#073 - The Lion King, #746 - The Haunted Mansion, #1125 - Mr. Peabody & Sherman)

Review: 

Sure, movies for children are a dime a dozen, but life is (probably) not too short to enjoy light fare every now and then. It also probably helps if you have familiar names as director or as the stars. This was the first solo directorial effort by Rob Minkoff, who had co-directed The Lion King (1994) with Roger Allers, which had culminated a decade of work at Walt Disney Productions (having studied at the California Institute of Arts that resulted in an internship). The film is based on the 1945 children's novel of the same name by E. B. White, who is also known for his subsequent 1952 novel Charlotte's Web, which has had numerous film adaptations. The screenplay was written by M. Night Shyamalan and Greg Brooker (the latter wrote this and did re-writes for She's All That while honing a script for what became The Sixth Sense - all three films were released in 1999). White had been inspired by a dream he had while riding in a railway sleeping car about a tiny boy who acted like a rat. The advent of digital effects with Sony Pictures Imageworks, along with visual effects by various people alongside supervision by John Dysktra, made the possibility of the film possible that wouldn't been the case before 1999.

It is a movie about earnest people adopting a mouse that talks, you know. The level of enjoyment you get from the film may very well depend on how seriously you take the film, honestly. It seems about as whimsical as one might expect from a children's film adaptation without becoming an explosion of weirdo cuteness. This happens mostly because it tries to play a bit of adventure with a pint-sized lead that gets to deal with the danger of being left without a family along with the danger of cats thinking about lunch. Fox had plenty of voice experience with films such as the Homeward Bound features (1993, 1996), so it isn't too surprising to see him here as the lead voice, which he handles with warm charisma. Sure, the role might be packed with schmaltz, but Fox handles it amiably to where we appreciate seeing him carrying things around. Laurie and Davis make for earnest parental figures that don't oversell the level of enthusiasm needed to make this seem warm enough to take seriously on an "okay, sure" level (i.e., being parents to a child and a mouse adoptee at least seems fine). Lipnicki is at least what you would expect from a kid actor (so yes, the kid from Jerry Maguire is fine). There is absolutely nothing surprising in seeing Lane here, which inspires a few chuckles as the foil to Fox that is followed by attempts at kid-friendly heavies played by folks like Palminteri, which is neat. There is a wide variety of name actors that pop in from Dabney Coleman to Jon Polito that come and go just as quickly with one-bit lines that work fine for folks already comfortable with what they are watching. You get to see a boat race along with what passes for a "car chase" to go with a story path that you would probably foresee coming midway through. It's a family movie that doesn't dawdle too much or go overboard in bits with animals. The film inspired a sequel three years later, which retained Minkoff and a handful of actors from the first film. As a whole, it is a cheery little movie that has enough decent notes that it hits within semi-adventure and a few chuckles that does exactly what you would expect without strain or irritation.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

When Harry Met Sally...

Review #1491: When Harry Met Sally...

Cast:
Billy Crystal (Harry Burns), Meg Ryan (Sally Albright), Carrie Fisher (Marie Fisher), Bruno Kirby (Jess Fisher), Steven Ford (Joe), Lisa Jane Persky (Alice), Michelle Nicastro (Amanda Reese), Kevin Rooney (Ira Stone), Harley Kozak (Helen Hillson), and Estelle Reiner (Female Customer) Directed by Rob Reiner (#108 - This Is Spinal Tap, #180 - Stand by Me, #232 - The Princess Bride, #363 - North, and #640 - The Bucket List)

Review:
"I try to write parts for women that are as complicated and interesting as women actually are."
"I'd never ask an actor to do something I couldn't do - not that I'm the best actor in the world - but if I can do it, then I know that anyone I hire can do these things."

How many people know about this film? Or, more specifically know the film more than that one great line about having what she's having? It is a testament to director Rob Reiner and writer Nora Ephron in how they managed to generate a classic for the age. Reiner came from a distinct background of comedy like no other, the son of singer/actor Estelle Reiner (whose one line in this film being perfect deadpan) and comedian/director Carl Reiner. A graduate of UCLA Film School, he started in show business through appearances on television beginning in 1966 while also doing some writing for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour the following year. In 1971, he jumped into national prominence with his starring role as Michael Stivic in All in the Family, which he appeared in for over eight years. He moved onto directing with This Is Spinal Tap (1984).  Ephron had her own distinct background as well, the child of playwrights that originally aimed for a career of journalism. Ephron had her own distinct background as well, the child of playwrights that originally aimed for a career of journalism. She worked at various news outlets such as The New York Post and Esquire while also writing essays and novels, and she shifted onto screenplays as well with the TV film Perfect Gentlemen (1978) and Silkwood (1983, co-written with Alice Arlen). The genesis for this film came from Reiner's experiences while single and divorced, for which Ephron would interview him and producer Andy Scheinman to make a script out of; the title characters were based in some part on Reiner and Ephron.

If Crystal and Ryan had to be remembered for any film they were ever part of, I would say this is definitely the best one for each of them to have taken part of. You don't need me to tell you this is a classic, you can tell pretty quickly that it is a bona fide romantic comedy because of how smart it is about what makes people tick at times when it comes to passion and not-quite passion with each other. Its tale of friendly neuroses make for plenty of quirky enjoyment that builds interest without being consumed by clichés or impatience, both being enjoyably high maintenance with each other. Crystal is quite amusing, capable of juggling funny lines alongside moments of interplay with Ryan that border from combative to friendly, while also being interesting in the perspective of someone by themselves with expressiveness that doesn't grate on you. Ryan provides warmth and plenty of smart timing as well, being quite convincing in grace and charm that account for plenty of interesting moments, whether involving faking an orgasm in a diner, or just having a moment in conversation that makes us feel close with them. Not lost in the shuffle is Kirby and Fisher, who both are pretty amusing when paired with the respective other in casual conversation but also make for an interesting pair together. The film is well-paced at 96 minutes with just enough balance and humor from both actors and direction/writing to make a funny film with a good deal of honesty and warmth to serve as an example of making a romantic film without too many contrivances or fuzzy things to get in the way of a good story.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

City Slickers.

Review #808: City Slickers.

Cast
Billy Crystal (Mitch Robbins), Daniel Stern (Phil Berquist), Bruno Kirby (Ed Furillo), Patricia Wettig (Barbara Robbins), Helen Slater (Bonnie Rayburn), Jack Palance (Curly Washburn), Noble Willingham (Clay Stone), Tracey Walter (Cookie), Jeffrey Tambor (Lou), Josh Mostel (Barry Shalowitz), David Paymer (Ira Shalowitz), Bill Henderson (Dr. Ben Jessup), Phill Lewis (Dr. Steve Jessup), Kyle Secor (Jeff), Dean Hallo (T.R.) Directed by Ron Underwood.

Review
On the 25th Anniversary of this movie's release, I decided that it would be a good idea to make a review for it and ultimately it turned out to be a great idea. City Slickers is not just a well-made comedy, it is also a movie with layers of drama that manages to give it enough weight to make for a truly entertaining film. The main trio (Crystal, Stern, Kirby) have good chemistry with each other, managing to share some good moments of screen together; one of my favorites is when they are talking about their best (and worst) days, mainly because we get a glimpse at what made them feel their happiest (along with their lowest), as they are trying to capture that spirit again. The movie never feels contrived in either its comedy or its drama, always managing to keep a balance. Naturally, the supporting cast is also a key highlight, with Palance standing out easily, with his first scene having him rope a character to a fence, complete with that chiseled look of his He plays the role with simply and effectively, without any ounce of fakery, and he certainly works well with Crystal, particularly when trying to deliver a calf. He doesn't have all too much screen time, but he is certainly memorable enough and excellent to the core, and his performance managed to snag an Oscar. There is a certain appeal to what these characters are going through, with them trying to use a dude ranch (disguised as a mythic kind of fantasy) to solve their problems, as weird as it may seem. You get to feel for these characters, while also having a laugh at the lines and gags that make up an enjoyable movie. I'd recommend seeing it, one for the jokes, and one for the other elements that give it much needed weight.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: This Is Spinal Tap.

Review #108: This Is Spinal Tap.

Cast
Michael McKean (David St. Hubbins), Christopher Guest (Nigel Tufnel), Harry Shearer (Derek Smalls), Rob Reiner (Marty Di Bergi), Tony Hendra (Ian Faith), R.J. Parnell (Mick Shrimpton, drummer), David Kaff (Viv Savage), June Chadwick (Jeanine Pettibone), Bruno Kirby (Tommy Pischedda, limo driver), Ed Begley, Jr. (John "Stumpy" Pepys), Danny Kortchmar (Ronnie Pudding), Fran Drescher (Bobbi Flekman), Patrick Macnee (Sir Denis Eton-Hogg) Directed by Rob Reiner.

Review
This is the essential rockumentary, that is the lesson you've learned after watching this movie (Also to power your things up to 11). The film has decent acting (you really can't have bad acting in a rockumentary), but it's most important thing that it has is its music. Two words: So Cool...It's a film that satarizes other rock bands and while not being very smart and all, it makes up for it by being enjoyable and just plain awesome. Actually, it's not just "plain", it's rocking awesome. It's cool, funny, rocking, 11venating, and most of all cool.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 11 stars.