Mystery Men.

Review #2568: Mystery Men.

Cast: 

Ben Stiller (Roy / Mr. Furious), Hank Azaria (Jeffery / Blue Raja), William H. Macy (Eddie / Shoveler), Greg Kinnear (Lance Hunt / Captain Amazing), Kel Mitchell (Invisible Boy), Paul Reubens (Spleen), Janeane Garofalo (Carol / Bowler), Wes Studi (The Sphinx), Claire Forlani (Monica), Geoffrey Rush (Casanova Frankenstein), Lena Olin (Dr. Anabel Leek), Eddie Izzard (Tony P.), Tom Waits (Doc Heller), Artie Lange (Big Red), Louise Lasser (Violet), and Ricky Jay (Vic Weems) Directed by Kinka Usher.

Review: 

"But that’s the nature of filmmaking. Sometimes things work, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes you just have to go with what you get and just hope it doesn’t make that much of a difference.”

I'm not really sure when I first heard of this movie, to be honest with you. Maybe it was the silly title or seeing a trailer of it on one of those "hey, this is on DVD too" things. But time comes for all things, so screw it, why not this one? Obviously, this had to be based off a comic book, although it is a bit more interesting than the usual source material. It all started with Bob Burden, who wrote and drew a comic called Flaming Carrot Comics that had a guest star with the Mysterymen, a group of "other guys" that consisted of many oddballs such as, well, The Shoveler, Spleen, Mr. Furious, you get the idea (as for the Carrot, well, he had a utility belt, a really strong pogo stick and weapon, and whatever "Zen Stupidity" is). Burden wrote over 30 issues from 1984 to 2006 that had various publishers from Aardvark-Vanaheim to Dark Horse Comics to Image. His work attracted the attention of Lawrence Gordon and Universal Pictures and eventually came into fruition with a first-time director as rejections from filmmakers such as Danny DeVito and Ben Stiller. Kinka Usher had been born in France (to a dance teacher mom and graphic designer dad) before breaking into the film industry in his twenties, which included, and I'm sure this is a surprise, work as a cameraman on a Roger Corman production. He became a director in commercials for various companies and kept on directing them* after this film came and went. Neil Cuthbert (a co-writer on The Return of Swamp Thing [1989] and Hocus Pocus [1993] and future writer of The Adventures of Pluto Nash [2002]) is the credited writer of the film, which had various re-writes that mainly dealt with people wanting to personalize their parts; Burden was even present on set for a few of those days. August 6, 1999 had plenty of cool options for theater releases: this movie, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Iron Giant, The Sixth Sense (and, to be generous, Dick came out two days earlier and the wider release for Blair Witch Project came right before August), with some of those movies becoming successes and some, well, being flops. The movie made less than half of its $68 million budget back and was not exactly a critical darling. 

This is a movie that yearns to be loved by an appreciative crowd, one that knows of the campy weirdness of comic book movies of yesteryear such as say, Batman and Robin (1997) or the current crop of offbeat failures such as Madame Web (2024). Some movies have a chump in the midst of their movie, Mystery Men is basically an entire team of chumps, the kind of folks who basically all represent the many facets of misfits you would see in school for two hours. It's a jumbled mess that will feel like a long bout of twaddle to those who don't like what its selling or will feel like a dream for those who love ridiculous little movies with noted names and the time capsule of good ol' 1999 that has serious-minded people in a silly world that gives them one shot to be on top when the corporate suck-sorry, corporate superhero can't save the city for once. Stiller tries to play it both ways: the bravado of actually trying to ragebait himself into being an actual person that is sometimes interesting. I could take it or leave it with the interactions spent between him and Forlani (who among us has an interest in striking up conversations with the waitress again and again), though. Macy and his can-do attitude of plugging away as a would-be hero is probably the most interesting of the leads because of his charm in the face of what could've easily just been a sad schlub but instead is likable enough to see him try to rise above the crop of mediocrity. I get the joke with Azaria and the attempt at doing a British accent of the highest camp order and also think taking a fork to the throat would be preferable to hearing his bit again, which actually makes hearing the long-winded fart joke of Reubens (who among us wouldn't want to be in a movie basically playing a slob?) tolerable. Kinnear is vastly needed more in his ridiculous mannerisms as a hero who can't exactly handle being "too good" at their job, particularly since Rush is supposed to match him as the main threat of mischief and can only help but pop up every now and then. Garofalo, Mitchell, and a randomly appearing Studi round it out with varying levels of interest (namely with Garofalo). You've got folks who have plugged away (shovels, jobs, you pick one) for years at something only to get silent stares, people who have been overlooked long enough to think they are invisible, folks who put on an accent/act to try and sound normal, folks who have to be rattled to even feel something (strength is one thing, some people actually willingly look at stuff that will get them mad Online) ...and then you've got folks talking in riddles, throwing balls and, well, farting. If taken seriously, it flails around with flab that will foil less patient folks while those who know what they're getting in a "hit or miss" goofy type of comedy will surely find something worth liking with these misfits and their freewheeling of the usual ensemble of would-be heroes and the offbeat ambition and neurosis in all of us.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Song of the day! 

Next up: A familiar face with little to say but plenty to do.

*Evidently, there exists an urban legend that Tim Burton actually directed the movie. I cannot imagine a urban legend more absurd. What's next, thinking that Steven Spielberg directed Poltergeist? 

*I swear, this was completely coincidental to review the movie around its 27th anniversary. Also, for fun, enjoy a making of video: Mystery Men Featurette - Spotlight on Location - Interviews With The Cast | 1999

Frankenhooker.

Review #2115: Frankenhooker.

Cast: 

James Lorinz (Jeffrey Franken), Patty Mullen (Elizabeth Shelley/Frankenhooker), Joanne Ritchie (Mrs. Shelley), Paul-Felix Montez (Goldie), Joseph Gonzalez (Zorro the Pimp), J.J. Clark (Mr. Shelley), Gregory Martin (Rufus McClure), Carissa Channing (Dolores), and Louise Lasser (Mrs. Franken) Directed by Frank Henenlotter.

Review: 

"This was never meant to be a horror film."

I know, the title is interesting. But how many Frankenstein-inspired movies can you do before you want to do something a bit different? Sometimes you need something that feels crafted out of the back of a joke premise or a perhaps an old sleazy advertisement. The director of this film is Frank Henenlotter, who was born in New York City. He saw a variety of films in his upbringing before he decided to make his own 8mm films with Valley of the Zombies (1946), The Wolf Man (1941) The Tingler (1959). He made his first short (16mm) in 1972 with "Slash of the Knife" (he described it as a "phony sex hygiene film" that was apparently too much to show right before a re-release of Pink Flamingos). He met a producer when doing that film that inspired them to try and do a longer film together. The first attempt did not work, but Henenlotter went back and wrote a script for one that could be done cheaper, which he did when walking around Times Square (which he called a "seedy, wonderful atmosphere".). The eventual result (filmed in 16mm but blown up to better quality later) was Basket Case (1982). The film played as a midnight movie for several years, and Henenlotter would direct again with Brain Damage (1988) and a 1990 sequel to the aforementioned Case, which was filmed back-to-back with this film at New York City's Pier 40. Henenlotter has since directed two further films and a couple of documentaries. Apparently, Henenlotter came up with a basic story in improvisation at a pitch meeting and then had to craft a real script later. This film was written by Henenlotter and Robert "Bob" Martin (the latter had met him when it came to a novelization of one of his films and had originally served as the editor of Fangoria magazine). As one might see coming, it was distributed by a company you probably wouldn't know in Shapiro-Glickenhaus Entertainment (so yes, there was enough money for a few pyrotechnics). The producer is the same guy behind stuff such as trying to form a version of The Protector (1985) that would make Americans want to watch Jackie Chan as a star. The film was released unrated, after the MPAA (jokingly or not) wanted to give it a rating of "S..for shit" and then an "X". An R-rated version was crafted for the market as well that apparently had one trim involve one less exploding body.

This is the movie that Bill Murray once talked about by saying, "If you see one movie this year, it should be Frankenhooker." How can I disagree with that? The film is everything you might see coming from a cheap b-movie with a provocative title that has an interest in diving right into guts and sleaze. You will get cheap chuckles to go along with, well, eyes to see skin for gore and elsewhere. This is the kind of film you would expect to be crafted of bits and pieces to make dark humor out of the idea of trying to hack one's love back to the living while also thinking they need a drill in the head. It may be spinning one funny joke to the ground, but it is doing so with evident amusement that doesn't shy away from crafting desperation for enjoyment in its 84-minute runtime. As expected from a low-budget production, there is just one noted name (well, for 1990) in a model-turned-actress Mullen to go with a cast headlined by Lorinz and his various appearances in other smaller scale films. But they make a good effort here, with the latter being our focus that achieves that level of deluded sweetness that doesn't seem like a bland pastiche of any Frankensteins you may have seen before. Mullen comes through for that climatic moment around the hour mark (after the opening shears her off) in purple attire and a particular expression of dialogue and face-turning. It is pretty entertaining when it comes to creatures of nature that happen to electrocute people for some reason. Gonzalez is this film's idea of an adversary (a pimp that happens to deal crack that the lead character uses to make into "super crack" and yes, I am serious), and while he isn't particularly too involved, it's still nice to see him take his licks as a heavy. Of note is Lasser, used for one scene against Lorinz about "lingering sanity" that apparently needed cue cards and ADR due to sickness. While I know the film is technically aimed as a comedy, it is a ghoulish kind of comedy that fits for the macabre in sheer energy that is seen in the hunt for body parts that could only lead to prostitutes and exploding parts of non-blood. That sequence of exploding hookers is one where you know it is coming and yet it still is quite amusing to see play out in sheer energy (the whole examination leading to that moment is also damn silly). The ending is especially amusing in horrific shock, since, well, it involves both an array of body parts coming out to move around but also an ending for the couple that could only happen when one wants to close it out with a punchline. As a whole, I dug the film for its effective pacing of the pursuit of grime and guts that manages to entertain with its own take on Frankenstein that is comfortably consistent for those who enjoy films from the wilder side of the street. Hell, I like stuff like this, an 8 is appropriate for such an offbeat experience.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Next up: Vincent Price as God intended in Theatre of Blood.