I've said for years this film is the finest example of it's genre. It's a story about coming of age, the last fling before adulthood and giving the status quo the finger on your way out the door on the road to becoming part of the status quo, film. It also is John Hughes homage to his home town, Chicago.
Hughes cast a young Mathew Broderick as Ferris Bueller, the wise guy pain in the ass to the high school principle. Ed Roony. Ferris has charmed his parents, friends and most everyone except Rooney. Ferris quilts his best friend Cameron Frye into stealing his dad's vintage sports car, mimicking his girls friends father so they can spring her from school and facing up to the rest of his life. Cautionary note here. If you're looking for a character arc, the character that changes in this story is Cameron.
The hi-jinks of this trio are legendary. If you've never seen this film in it's entirety, you probably are aware of some of the scenes, because of their out take and situational value. The most famous is the improbable but enjoyable scene, where Ferris hi jacks a float in a Chicago downtown parade and leads the crowd in a Broadway style version of the Beatle's "Twist and Shout". The most creative is a MTV type montage of shots inside the The Chicago Art Institute.
The battle between the stuffy irate principle and the always ahead of the situation Bueller, comes to a head when in a final confrontation Ferris has to depend on his sister, a character who has been setup as an unlikely ally. Her conversion to the Ferris Bueller fan club is handled in such a way that we never see it coming.
All in all this film is just fun. I label it a classic simply because, while the costumes and the pop culture references are somewhat dated, the film is still relevant. Kid's are always rebelling against authority. We could only hope they express that dissatisfaction by skipping school to go to Wriggly Field, The Chicago Institute of Art and attend a Parade
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Monday, July 9, 2007
Evening, He Said
I've always hated the segregation of films into guy films and chick flix's. When you term a film like "Field of Dreams" as a man's film, you deny women the chance to see how men can feel about their relationship with their fathers. This would be true of the film "Evening", if men chose not to see it because some critic or the marketing department shortcut their responsibilities and hung the Gal film label on the it.
It is true that the main theme of this film is the relationship between mothers and their daughters and I for one can't learn enough about this subject, as every women I know and care about has a mother and these relationships fairly teem with nuances and issues I have no clue about.
In addition to the need to understand more about the subject, men would deny themselves the opportunity to see some fine performances by some of our finest actresses. The unique situation here is the film features two mother daughter teams. Vanessa Redgrave and Natasha Richardson play a mother and daughter. Meyrl Streep and Mamie Gummer play one character at different ages.
In this magnificent use of the flashback technique Michael Cunningham and Susan Minot, who wrote the novel the script is based on, combine to write a script that allows us to go back in time and return to present day seamlessly and intelligently to understand how things of the past affect the way we are today.
In this story, two daughters are trying to make sense of their lives and their relationship as their mother lays dying in the room above them. The mothers dreams and ravings, assisted by the painkilling drugs she is getting to make her comfortable, are suggesting to her daughters a part of her life that they are unaware.
We see the past through the dreams of the mother, played by Vanessa Redgrave. Her younger self, Ann, played wonderfully by Claire Danes, is the off beat New York friend of socialite, Lila, played by Mamie Gummer. Ann has traveled to Rhode Island to be the maid of honor in Lila's wedding. Lila's brother, played by Hugh Dancy, is eager to stop his sister's marriage to the family's approved spouse in favor the their friend Harris. Harris is the son of an old housekeeper, who has become a part of the family.
Harris has returned for the wedding from his medical practice in a small town where he serves a mainly poor clientele. it is obvious that he is welcome, but he would not be if he were to try and elevate himself above his status in the eyes of Lila and Buddy Wttenborn's Parents, played by Glenn Close and Barry Bostwick. In the story of the past Harris's relationship with Lila, Buddy and Ann hold the key to the mystery of why Ann is reliving this time in her life as she prepares to die.
In the present her daughter Nina, played by Toni Collette, is unsure of her future. she has been bounding from one career to another and duplicating that pattern in her love life for years. At this point however there is a unanticipated defining moment in her life occurring. she is pregnant with the child of a man who truly loves her and wants to marry her. She is afraid of making a mistake, which is why she has lived her whole life in a series of failures to commitment.
Her sister Constance, played by Natasha Richardson is the 'good daughter", who has the career, the husband and kids. her success hides and equally frustrating suspicion that somehow by committing she's missed something.
What we learn in the end is that by committing we do pass up opportunities and we will never know what might have been and we can't help but wonder but grieving over lost opportunities that might have been is a wast of time. This is brought home in a scene where Lila , played at this age by Meyrl Streep, comes to spend one last visit with the dying Ann. Reminiscent of an earlier scene where they lay together in Lila's bed on the the morning of her wedding a discussed her commitment to her marriage that day, this time they talked about Harris and what he meant to both of them and how their lives turned out because both of them turned down the chance to build a future with him when in truth they both wanted to do that and turned their back on the chance.
In the end, that scene summed it up for us, but one more scene between Nina and the older Lila summed it up for the girls. In the end, it's not the life we could have had that counts, it's what we do with the life we got.
It is true that the main theme of this film is the relationship between mothers and their daughters and I for one can't learn enough about this subject, as every women I know and care about has a mother and these relationships fairly teem with nuances and issues I have no clue about.
In addition to the need to understand more about the subject, men would deny themselves the opportunity to see some fine performances by some of our finest actresses. The unique situation here is the film features two mother daughter teams. Vanessa Redgrave and Natasha Richardson play a mother and daughter. Meyrl Streep and Mamie Gummer play one character at different ages.
In this magnificent use of the flashback technique Michael Cunningham and Susan Minot, who wrote the novel the script is based on, combine to write a script that allows us to go back in time and return to present day seamlessly and intelligently to understand how things of the past affect the way we are today.
In this story, two daughters are trying to make sense of their lives and their relationship as their mother lays dying in the room above them. The mothers dreams and ravings, assisted by the painkilling drugs she is getting to make her comfortable, are suggesting to her daughters a part of her life that they are unaware.
We see the past through the dreams of the mother, played by Vanessa Redgrave. Her younger self, Ann, played wonderfully by Claire Danes, is the off beat New York friend of socialite, Lila, played by Mamie Gummer. Ann has traveled to Rhode Island to be the maid of honor in Lila's wedding. Lila's brother, played by Hugh Dancy, is eager to stop his sister's marriage to the family's approved spouse in favor the their friend Harris. Harris is the son of an old housekeeper, who has become a part of the family.
Harris has returned for the wedding from his medical practice in a small town where he serves a mainly poor clientele. it is obvious that he is welcome, but he would not be if he were to try and elevate himself above his status in the eyes of Lila and Buddy Wttenborn's Parents, played by Glenn Close and Barry Bostwick. In the story of the past Harris's relationship with Lila, Buddy and Ann hold the key to the mystery of why Ann is reliving this time in her life as she prepares to die.
In the present her daughter Nina, played by Toni Collette, is unsure of her future. she has been bounding from one career to another and duplicating that pattern in her love life for years. At this point however there is a unanticipated defining moment in her life occurring. she is pregnant with the child of a man who truly loves her and wants to marry her. She is afraid of making a mistake, which is why she has lived her whole life in a series of failures to commitment.
Her sister Constance, played by Natasha Richardson is the 'good daughter", who has the career, the husband and kids. her success hides and equally frustrating suspicion that somehow by committing she's missed something.
What we learn in the end is that by committing we do pass up opportunities and we will never know what might have been and we can't help but wonder but grieving over lost opportunities that might have been is a wast of time. This is brought home in a scene where Lila , played at this age by Meyrl Streep, comes to spend one last visit with the dying Ann. Reminiscent of an earlier scene where they lay together in Lila's bed on the the morning of her wedding a discussed her commitment to her marriage that day, this time they talked about Harris and what he meant to both of them and how their lives turned out because both of them turned down the chance to build a future with him when in truth they both wanted to do that and turned their back on the chance.
In the end, that scene summed it up for us, but one more scene between Nina and the older Lila summed it up for the girls. In the end, it's not the life we could have had that counts, it's what we do with the life we got.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Once, He Said
The musical is as movie genre as old as the talkie. In recent years, it has taken a back seat probably best done in animation by Disney. But take heart, telling a story by singing your heart out has not died. John Carney director and writer has given us a totally different take on the concept with his film "Once".
eastern We are introduced to a Dublin street busker who is playing, as he says, what people want to hear during the day and his songs at night when there aren't as many people. A immigrant European women encourages him to record his music. Her aid and encouragement seems selfless, but in fact she also needs an outlet for her pain. As it turns out she is an accomplished musician and just the thing he needs to take his flagging pride to another level.
Both of these people are drifting after the loves of their lives failed them. He lost his girlfriend when she left him for a new life in London. The girl, there are no character names in this film, left the father of her child in her home country to find a new and more hopeful life. What they have in common is music and beautiful music it is.
In this film music is not incidental music to create background. The director is not creating moods or scene with familiar music. With their music, he created dialogue that drives the story and introduces us to the characters. Following them in their effort to record their songs, we are exposed to their dreams, suffer their pain and hear their stories.
In the wings lurks the question, can they over come their grief and find love and if they do will it be with each other? I won't tell you the answer to that, because it would spoil it for you, but I can tell you that seeing this film is a wonderful and worthwhile experience.
eastern We are introduced to a Dublin street busker who is playing, as he says, what people want to hear during the day and his songs at night when there aren't as many people. A immigrant European women encourages him to record his music. Her aid and encouragement seems selfless, but in fact she also needs an outlet for her pain. As it turns out she is an accomplished musician and just the thing he needs to take his flagging pride to another level.
Both of these people are drifting after the loves of their lives failed them. He lost his girlfriend when she left him for a new life in London. The girl, there are no character names in this film, left the father of her child in her home country to find a new and more hopeful life. What they have in common is music and beautiful music it is.
In this film music is not incidental music to create background. The director is not creating moods or scene with familiar music. With their music, he created dialogue that drives the story and introduces us to the characters. Following them in their effort to record their songs, we are exposed to their dreams, suffer their pain and hear their stories.
In the wings lurks the question, can they over come their grief and find love and if they do will it be with each other? I won't tell you the answer to that, because it would spoil it for you, but I can tell you that seeing this film is a wonderful and worthwhile experience.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
The Valet (Doublure, La), He Said
Romantic comedies are so much better with French subtitles, or so it might seem. The plot of this farce is simple. The CEO of a large French company has a mistress. She happens to be a supermodel (potential trophy wife of the highest order). They are photographed together and the photo is published in a newspaper along with the obligatory speculation that there is a romance in the air.
Our CEO / Lover is worried about his wife, not because he loves her, but because she controls sixty percent of the stock in the company he runs. In the the photo there is a man passing by. Our CEO's attorney suggests that they set up this guy with the supermodel to take the heat off of him until his position at the company can be secured, he can than divorce his wife and have his trophy,
Cut to hapless man walking past the power couple at the moment the photo is snapped. He is a parking valet for a popular restaurant, who lives with his pal in a dumpy flat commiserate with their status in Paris. His girlfriend has just gone into debt to open a bookstore. When he proposes to her, she tells him that she is too involved in her venture to consider marriage to him. Despite her offer to remain friends, he is despondent and desperate
Cut to supermodel, (think whore with a heart stereotype). She is actually in love with the CEO, but wants him to leave his wife and marry her. She serves him notice and leaves him. But the damage from the photo is done and the CEO must recruit her and the hapless hero to play act as a couple until the heat is off of him. Hapless man does it for enough money to get his girlfriends bookstore out of hock. Supermodel makes the CEO a deal. Hedging her bet, she'll do it for twenty million which he will get back when he divorces his wife.
And so the playacting begins, with the question for everyone else is what the supermodel sees in the Valet and why isn't he more happy about his new room mate. Events all work out in the end, but the trip is enjoyable and while somewhat predictable amusing in a very French way of looking at things
Our CEO / Lover is worried about his wife, not because he loves her, but because she controls sixty percent of the stock in the company he runs. In the the photo there is a man passing by. Our CEO's attorney suggests that they set up this guy with the supermodel to take the heat off of him until his position at the company can be secured, he can than divorce his wife and have his trophy,
Cut to hapless man walking past the power couple at the moment the photo is snapped. He is a parking valet for a popular restaurant, who lives with his pal in a dumpy flat commiserate with their status in Paris. His girlfriend has just gone into debt to open a bookstore. When he proposes to her, she tells him that she is too involved in her venture to consider marriage to him. Despite her offer to remain friends, he is despondent and desperate
Cut to supermodel, (think whore with a heart stereotype). She is actually in love with the CEO, but wants him to leave his wife and marry her. She serves him notice and leaves him. But the damage from the photo is done and the CEO must recruit her and the hapless hero to play act as a couple until the heat is off of him. Hapless man does it for enough money to get his girlfriends bookstore out of hock. Supermodel makes the CEO a deal. Hedging her bet, she'll do it for twenty million which he will get back when he divorces his wife.
And so the playacting begins, with the question for everyone else is what the supermodel sees in the Valet and why isn't he more happy about his new room mate. Events all work out in the end, but the trip is enjoyable and while somewhat predictable amusing in a very French way of looking at things
Monday, June 4, 2007
Paris Je T'aime, He said
This is an unusual film in that it is an anthology of "love stories from the city of love." A series of short stories with the theme of love with absolutely no ties to one another, except they all occur in Paris.
The segments range from brilliant to "I can't wait until it's over it's so bad". It is so uneven that I can't begin to deconstruct it. I'd have to run it in slow motion to do a credible job. And frankly it's not worth it
The segments range from brilliant to "I can't wait until it's over it's so bad". It is so uneven that I can't begin to deconstruct it. I'd have to run it in slow motion to do a credible job. And frankly it's not worth it
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Pirates of the Caribbean, He Said
If you saw Curse of the Black Pearl and Dead Man's Chest you will see what is suppose to be the conclusion to the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, At Worlds End . While most of us loved the first film in the series, Dead Man's Chest was a disappointment, so the opening of At Worlds End was greeted with a great deal of scrutiny. Maybe the third time is the charm, but this version of Pirates of the Caribbean (POC), left me breathless. And that's saying a lot when you consider that if you see this film from start to finish, you've invested 168 minutes of your life.
There is no doubt that even though Kira Knightly, Orlando Bloom, and Geoffrey Rush add mightily to this saga, it is Johnny Depp that literally steals the show. His facial makeup, flamboyantly overdone Pirate costume and devil may care attitude are so close to over the top that Depp has to walk a care full line so as not to let the character slide into the realm of the ridiculous. He succeeds with plenty to spare.
Playing Captain Jack Sparrow, Depp is the strong north pull in the compass that guides Kira Knightly's character as she is forced to choose between the man her father has chosen for her, the man she wants to love and the man that intrigues and tempts her. Captain Jack Sparrow is that charmingly naughty boy that, when he is around, fathers worry for the virtue of their wives as well as their daughters.
This fantasy tale pits the image of the pirates being the Robin Hood type good guys as they battle for independence and fairness against the corrupt British Government forces who seek to dominate the world in the name of the trading companies (As if any legitimate government would sell out to commercial interests, but than good fantasy is the process of suspending disbelief.)
I'm in awe of great bad guys and in many ways POC has some of the best. Tom Hollander as the sleaze and greasy but suave military brute Beckett, who plays Javer to Will Turner's, played by Orlando Bloom, Valjean in one of the trilogy sub plots, is good a bad guy as you'll find. And than there is the Bill Nighy as the tentacle faced Davey Jones.
The theme of this series, brought to a crescendo in the finale, is the constantly changing alliances among the principles, (You might want to keep score.) The special effects are grand and they do fit into the context of the story. The ending is well crafted and believable, while surprising. All in all, this final film in the trilogy is a good film on it's own and that might be the best test.
There is no doubt that even though Kira Knightly, Orlando Bloom, and Geoffrey Rush add mightily to this saga, it is Johnny Depp that literally steals the show. His facial makeup, flamboyantly overdone Pirate costume and devil may care attitude are so close to over the top that Depp has to walk a care full line so as not to let the character slide into the realm of the ridiculous. He succeeds with plenty to spare.
Playing Captain Jack Sparrow, Depp is the strong north pull in the compass that guides Kira Knightly's character as she is forced to choose between the man her father has chosen for her, the man she wants to love and the man that intrigues and tempts her. Captain Jack Sparrow is that charmingly naughty boy that, when he is around, fathers worry for the virtue of their wives as well as their daughters.
This fantasy tale pits the image of the pirates being the Robin Hood type good guys as they battle for independence and fairness against the corrupt British Government forces who seek to dominate the world in the name of the trading companies (As if any legitimate government would sell out to commercial interests, but than good fantasy is the process of suspending disbelief.)
I'm in awe of great bad guys and in many ways POC has some of the best. Tom Hollander as the sleaze and greasy but suave military brute Beckett, who plays Javer to Will Turner's, played by Orlando Bloom, Valjean in one of the trilogy sub plots, is good a bad guy as you'll find. And than there is the Bill Nighy as the tentacle faced Davey Jones.
The theme of this series, brought to a crescendo in the finale, is the constantly changing alliances among the principles, (You might want to keep score.) The special effects are grand and they do fit into the context of the story. The ending is well crafted and believable, while surprising. All in all, this final film in the trilogy is a good film on it's own and that might be the best test.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Away From Her, He Said
To tell a story you need to have compelling characters in a situation that somehow changes them or the world around them. If you were going to write a screenplay, you could do no better than to start with a short story written by Alice Munro, the acknowledged current champ in that category. Sarah Polley turned to Munro's "The Bear Came Over the Mountain".
This tender and wonderful tale is about a couple facing Fiona's, Grant's wife played by Julie Christie, decent into the hell of dementia. She is more aware and more rational about her condition than her husband, played by Gordon Pinsent. Fiona decides she must admit herself into a rest home that deals with dementia patients. (All patients with dementia do not necessarily have Alziemer's, but the treatment is essentially the same)
The closer the day when Fiona is going to leave, the more apprehension begins to build in Grant's mind. It accelerates quickly on the drive to the rest home. During the trip, Fiona reminds him that some memories she has are good and some she wishes she could get rid of. The memory she wants to forget is of an affair he had with one of his students. On the other hand, she is oddly happy about the fact that he did decide to stay with her. He has validated their relationship by resisting temptation to leave her for a younger woman.
After a required period of no contact for thirty days imposed by the rest home, Grant visits Fiona only to find that already she is confused about who he is. Not only is that fact difficult to process, but Fiona has taken responsibility for a fellow male patient Aubrey who has not only become dependent on her , but somewhat possessive.
Grant has befriended the head nurse who coaches him through his understanding of what is going on. But what the head nurse can not do is get rid of the nagging feeling that he has to compete for the affection and loyalty for his wife. It's only when Aubrey is taken out of the home by his wife and Fiona in her grief begins to slid further down the slippery slope that dementia can be, that Grant realizes that the price he might have to pay for any meaningful contact that he might have with his wife.
In short, even though Julie Christe is stunning, this film is not so much about the character that she plays, but the husband Grant. Grant begins with denial and ends up with a more complete understanding of Fiona's experience. Once again his decision is to stay with her or to leave.
(For more information on this condition see www.alz.org )
This tender and wonderful tale is about a couple facing Fiona's, Grant's wife played by Julie Christie, decent into the hell of dementia. She is more aware and more rational about her condition than her husband, played by Gordon Pinsent. Fiona decides she must admit herself into a rest home that deals with dementia patients. (All patients with dementia do not necessarily have Alziemer's, but the treatment is essentially the same)
The closer the day when Fiona is going to leave, the more apprehension begins to build in Grant's mind. It accelerates quickly on the drive to the rest home. During the trip, Fiona reminds him that some memories she has are good and some she wishes she could get rid of. The memory she wants to forget is of an affair he had with one of his students. On the other hand, she is oddly happy about the fact that he did decide to stay with her. He has validated their relationship by resisting temptation to leave her for a younger woman.
After a required period of no contact for thirty days imposed by the rest home, Grant visits Fiona only to find that already she is confused about who he is. Not only is that fact difficult to process, but Fiona has taken responsibility for a fellow male patient Aubrey who has not only become dependent on her , but somewhat possessive.
Grant has befriended the head nurse who coaches him through his understanding of what is going on. But what the head nurse can not do is get rid of the nagging feeling that he has to compete for the affection and loyalty for his wife. It's only when Aubrey is taken out of the home by his wife and Fiona in her grief begins to slid further down the slippery slope that dementia can be, that Grant realizes that the price he might have to pay for any meaningful contact that he might have with his wife.
In short, even though Julie Christe is stunning, this film is not so much about the character that she plays, but the husband Grant. Grant begins with denial and ends up with a more complete understanding of Fiona's experience. Once again his decision is to stay with her or to leave.
(For more information on this condition see www.alz.org )
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