As Good as It Gets.

Review #1516: As Good as It Gets.

Cast: 
Jack Nicholson (Melvin Udall), Helen Hunt (Carol Connelly), Greg Kinnear (Simon Bishop), Cuba Gooding Jr. (Frank Sachs), Skeet Ulrich (Vincent), Shirley Knight (Beverly Connelly), Yeardley Smith (Jackie), Lupe Ontiveros (Nora), and Jill the Dog (Verdell) Produced and Directed by James L. Brooks (#1470 - Terms of Endearment and #1485 - Broadcast News)

Review: 
"Just let the wardrobe be the character. You play yourself. That's the way you approach it."

It's easy to do a romantic comedy-drama when you have two of a kind playing against each other. Jack Nicholson was already an icon in doing a variety of outsider/anti-hero roles through a long and varied career that toiled for years in low-budget fare and writing before rising to prominence with Easy Rider (1969) and Five Easy Pieces (1970). As for Helen Hunt, she came from a family of photographers and directors and worked as a child actress from a young age. She eventually took on film with films like Trancers (1984) before reaching some success with the sitcom Mad About You in 1992. As for director Brooks, this was his fourth film venture (the first after the flop I'll Do Anything three years prior). It came about because of a script he found named Old Friends, written by Mark Andrus (who went from graduating in business from UC Riverside to creative writing, and he had his first script credit with Late for Dinner (1991) at the age of 36). Its story of a vile man and his gay neighbor had toiled around for years in limbo with various actors like Kevin Kline expressing interest. A year was spent in doing reworking of the script in changing its emphasis, but Brooks would spend considerable time experimenting when filming along with tinkering with the editing and its ending (which apparently changed five times).

As a love story of aggravation and change, it certainly has quite a strange appeal. Over the gradual pace of 139 minutes, it creaks and moves towards romance with a reluctant foot forward and a good cast to make a moderately funny piece of entertainment. It all starts with Nicholson, who is quite enjoyable in acidic misanthropy, one that is hard to resist in viewing because of how Nicholson makes the role across in compulsions and obsessions with conviction that never is sold out for cheap tricks. He can throw a dog in a chute and yet we still find ourself going along with his curious nature in what makes one the way they are and aren't. Hunt matches him with a mix of weariness and her own rediscovering of herself that makes a well-rounded performance of charm that goes quite hand-in-hand for some interesting chemistry like fire and ice when with Nicholson that doesn't seem too out of the blue for where they need to go. Kinnear accompanies the proceedings as the other piece of a trio of human frailty and wit that comes from it with a snappy Gooding Jr or brief moments of charm from Knight alongside smaller moments from folks like Harold Ramis that lend the film some breath of a capably human world trying to deal with very real miseries and quibbles that come from all facets of life, whether that means work or other stuff. The first half definitely works better than the second in setting up moments of back-and-forth between Nicholson and Hunt (along with pretty much anybody else his orbit, such as a quip about how he writes about romance), while the second half travels on the road with our trio and sticks itself in a bit of sentiment that gels adequately to try and arrange what you could (or could not) expect from its setup of exacting change in the patterns of people - if you remotely believe that our main duo can stick as a couple, then it will work out with wonders. For me, it sticks okay, but it definitely seems a bit tinkered one too many times to really separate it as a great experience, particularly with a length of 139 minutes. On the whole, the film gradually builds a human story towards romance with most of it in the right place with an absolute winning pair in Nicholson and Hunt to go along with a few good humorous moments to make something worth going for both the heart and the throat in charm.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Broadcast News.

Review #1485: Broadcast News.

Cast:
William Hurt (Tom Grunick), Albert Brooks (Aaron Altman), Holly Hunter (Jane Craig), Robert Prosky (Ernie Merriman), Lois Chiles (Jennifer Mack), Joan Cusack (Blair Litton), Peter Hackes (Paul Moore), Christian Clemenson (Bobby), Jack Nicholson (Bill Rorish), and Leo Burmester (Mr. Craig) Written, Produced, and Directed by James L. Brooks (#1470 - Terms of Endearment)

Review:
"I always feel that I am the advocate for my character. More than anyone else on the set, including the director. I'm there to protect my character, in a way."

"I am a character actor in a leading man's body."

It must have been an interesting task to try and follow up a debut success like the one James L. Brooks had. And to do so with three captivating actors in a romantic comedy-drama about the news (for someone who worked at CBS News as copywriter and newswriter) is surely a solid curiosity, with each having been featured in a couple of films in their own interesting paths. The first key to the film is in Hunter, who had started acting from a young age and had entered film and television in 1981, with work gradually following that built to luck in 1987 with this (chosen prior to production after Debra Winger became pregnant) and Raising Arizona. The next key piece is Hurt, who shifted his focus to acting despite having studied theology at Tufts University, utilizing his training at Juilliard School to start in the stage in 1977 and then film in 1980. The third piece to the puzzle is A. Brooks, who quickly rose through the ranks of stand-up comedy to fair amount of variety and television fame before shifting focus to writing/directing his own films along with acting (most notably debuting in Taxi Driver).

Alongside Brooks' own experiences with the news, one other key inspiration for the film was producer Susan Zirinsky, who Brooks based for Hunter's character, who would also serve as technical advisor and associate producer. It is evident fairly quickly that we are dealing with a smart and capable movie, one with a distinct trio of performances that line up together for an interesting look upon the nature of romance within workaholics and a prevailing shift in the way news is delivered to the public. Each of these performances reflect well upon the other sides of the triangle because they all drive the film with comedic anguish that is easy to see traits of in ourselves without looking away. Hunter is the one to gravitate to first, with a high-strung performance that generates skillful intensity that can be both admirable and one to fear in anyone that hard-driving, which generally makes for plenty of interesting sparks when paired with anyone, particularly with Hurt; the best scene to represent that is when she is guiding Hurt through his first broadcast as anchorman with an earpiece, which almost in a way feels like sex. Hurt proves just as well with the other side of the news coin as the harbinger of fresh-faced infotainment that proves convincing in secretive charm, aware of the surroundings yet managing to never be sacrificed for pretty boy cheap shots. A. Brooks makes up the conscience of the film, and he is quite riveting in keeping our interest over with cynical charm and timing - one of the best lines come from him that asks if it would be "a great world if insecurity and desperation made us more attractive", which only makes scenes like his first anchorman show all the more entertaining. Others prove just as endearing in their own ways, such as the amiable Prosky or with Cusack (participant in another interesting scene involving a dash to get a tape in time), or retired news correspondent-turned-actor Hackes. And yes, Nicholson is also present for a time in the film, and he delivers his brief time with the spry standards one would expect from him. In general, the film does a fine job in showing people and the way they work around it in an evolving landscape along with how they work around themselves in various quibbles and high-strung desperation for 133 minutes. We seem them as children, then as adults, and then finally we see them all together again, steadfast in the honesty of who they are, for better or worse. On the whole, this is a fairly entertaining work, an achievement that hits most of its marks in sharp honesty and amusement that holds together long after its release because of how much we still see of it play out now.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Terms of Endearment.

Review #1470: Terms of Endearment.

Cast:
Shirley MacLaine (Aurora Greenway), Debra Winger (Emma Greenway-Horton), Jack Nicholson (Garrett Breedlove), Danny DeVito (Vernon Dalhart), Jeff Daniels (Flap Horton), John Lithgow (Sam Burns), Lisa Hart Carroll (Patsy Clark), Huckleberry Fox (Ted "Teddy" Horton), and Troy Bishop (Tom "Tommy" Horton) Directed by James L. Brooks.

Review: 
"While you're doing it, it is sort of a lonely kind of feeing, even though you are surrounded by so many people giving beyond the call. That's generally true of movies, there's a sense of urgency, people risking their tail, people woking past exhaustion. That's what moviemaking is."

Some films just have all the right pieces go into the right places, one where talented people can be led by talented directors to make a talented comedy-drama, which is proven tremendously so with this film. At the helm at director was James L. Brooks, who would serve as producer and adapted the screenplay from the 1975 novel of the same name by Larry McMurty (who you may recognize as the writer of novels such as Horseman, Pass By and The Last Picture Show), which was the first of two novels involving the character of Aurora (with The Evening Star turned into a film of its own thirteen years later). It was the first film for the 43-year old Brooks, who had forged a long road from a rough childhood to work at CBS as a host-turned-copywriter to work in television writing. through the help of Allan Burns. It was in 1969 that he helped create his first television series - the groundbreaking Room 222, one of the first shows with a black lead character (played by Lloyd Haynes). The following year proved just as beneficial, since Brooks and Burns were brought on by Grant Tinker to help develop a show for Tinker's wife, which resulted in the enormous hit The Mary Tyler Moore Show and subsequent spinoff classics in Rhoda and Lou Grant, and he soon added film to his lineup with writing and co-producing in Starting Over (1978). The chance to do a film of his own came not long after, although it would take a few years to develop into full. The original actress intended for the main role of Aurora was Jennifer Jones, since she and her husband had the rights to the book and had sent the book to Brooks as a vehicle for her. However, while he liked the book, he wanted to do on his terms without it being a vehicle for a certain actress, which led to him getting Paramount to get involved and do the film themselves. MacLaine was picked because Brooks felt that she was the only one who saw it as a comedy, while Sissy Spacek soon left for Winger to enter. The third key piece to the film is Nicholson, who came into the film because of the rejection of another actor for a role that was written into the film independent of the book: Burt Reynolds (an actor I love to see in films that unfortunately honored his commitment to Stroker Ace). Sure, others did decline the role before Nicholson signed on (including Paul Newman), but I think we both know how much a tremendous presence Nicholson proved to be, who wanted to play a middle-aged character without the requisite crisis that came with it for those type of character while taking inspiration from an astronaut friend and a relative of his.

It is evident pretty quickly how the film operates as a comedy-drama: a curious movie with a balnce of laughs and tears that earns most of its moments on screen in coming to terms about what family means as things continually change for both parent and child. We care to see these characters because we believe in these folks and their struggle - whether it involves fussy squabbles or squabbles of the heart. It is smart enough to maintain its 132 minute pace with meaningful foundation and sentiment without becoming a manipulated parody of itself, since there is so much great chemistry between its main trio that never seems sacrificed for any sort of cheap joke or sob-story moment (alongside the fact that I don't take manipulation arguments seriously for films like this that are too competent to be labeled as such). MacLaine and Winger might've had a strange time filming together, but they sure make for a great mother-daughter team on screen. MacLaine bursts with a great understanding of what is needed from the material, hovering over things with pathos and attention to all that matters in chemistry with her on-screen daughter and her on-screen lover with Nicholson, which serves well for inquisitive excitement. Winger proves just as well in delivering a captivating performance filled with smart independent charm and timing for interaction with the situations that require it, evolving with the times in how she is with others like Daniels (a good immature performance for someone in their second film role). If the film just had those two, that would probably be enough, but having Nicholson in the mix pushes it into the stratosphere with his presence, because he is such a force of nature even when having just a portion of time to really spring your attention for his interesting appetite for life. Others, like DeVito, Daniels, and Lithgow prove well in filling in the counterparts to the main duo when it comes to trying to define some sort of "love". On the whole, the film moves from place to place that makes the time go by carefully while getting to its wrenching climax with focus.

For the fourth time in the history of the Academy Awards, a director would win an award for their directorial debut (Delbert Mann, Jerome Robbins, and Robert Redford), and Brooks gained a further distinction as one of a select group of folks (twelve as of 2020) to win three Oscars for one film, since the film also won for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. It is evident to see why the film attracted so much attention, because it is a tremendously well-made film that tugs at the heart with wit and tragedy that make for a prime film to watch of its era for its stars and direction.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.