Category: Drama
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In many ways, Game 6 is the Michael Keaton movie I’ve been waiting ten years to see. He’s the lead, it isn’t a comedy, he’s got a grown kid, it ought to be a return to form. It’s a mildly high profile film, or at least it should have been, as Don DeLillo wrote it.…
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I’m not sure when Lorenzo’s Oil lost me. The opening credits are set in East Africa, the focus is on Lorenzo–for those who don’t know, who don’t remember the previews if not the film, Lorenzo is a kid who gets a rare disease–and the film takes a lyric quality. George Miller was a good, straightforward…
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In addition to being the first film of Andrew V. McLaglen’s I’ve seen (which is quite an achievement, considering how much he directed), Shenendoah is the first film I’ve seen where James Stewart plays the patriarch. Unless Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation counts and I don’t think it does, not like Shenendoah. The film sets…
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Do the British have an unending supply of novels about wise-beyond-their-years young women (unjustly poor or ordinary, of course) who have slightly dim older sisters who can’t see love in front of their eyes while all the time these younger women suffer for their sisters’ happiness? It certainly seems so. I Capture the Castle, the…
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I wonder if, in the early 1970s, anyone could tell Robert Duvall was going to end up playing the scruffy-looking, ne’er do-well with the heart of gold over and over again. He doesn’t particularly act in The Stars Fell on Henrietta. He just shows up and does his thing. His scruffy-looking thing. There’s some attempt…
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Stupefyingly bad sequel to PEYTON PLACE without any of the original cast returning. Unfortunately, none of the replacements are up-to-par–though, to be fair to Tuesday Weld and Eleanor Parker (in for Hope Lange and Lana Turner, respectively) the parts are the problem not the performances. Really bad lead performance from Carol Lynley, who’s back in…
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Poorly written drama about single mom (Noni Hazlehurst) working in the Melbourne music scene. She falls for heroin-addicted actor Colin Friels, which causes all sorts of problems because Hazlehurst is a mom after all. Alice Garner (daughter of source novel author Helen Garner) is the kid; she probably gives the best performance in the film.…
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Fairly terrible tale of arms dealer Nicolas Cage–set over twenty years–as he works with unreliable little brother Jared Leto, romances and marries Bridget Monyahan, and avoids hotshot Interpol agent Ethan Hawke. When the script’s not telling bad jokes, it’s just being bad; less a film than a collection of loosely related scenes connected with poorly…
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Outstanding, emotive, melancholic biopic of Chaplin, with a transfixing Robert Downey Jr. playing the lead role. The film covers Chaplin’s whole life, from a childhood in poverty to the silent successes to the eventual sound failures. Fantastic all-star supporting cast–especially the various Chaplin flings (Marisa Tomei is a standout)–but Downey’s the whole show. Downey, John…
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Pointless outing from a disinterested Soderbergh about Franz Kafka (Jeremy Irons) finding himself in a very Kafka-esque (wink wink) mystery involving a secret organization and various kinds of intrigue and corruption. Irons is fine in the lead, whereas sidekick Jeroen Krabbé is excellent. Love interest Theresa Russell is godawful. Soderbergh’s technical work is great, he…
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Okay Meat pie Western (Australian Western) about lawman Ray Winstone getting outlaw Guy Pearce to go and kill worse outlaw (and Pearce’s older brother) Danny Huston. While Pearce is off hunting Huston–and experiencing all the turmoil of that situation–Winstone contends with his complicated, but loving, marriage to Emily Watson. Phenomenal performance Winstone, good but could…
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Seemingly endless adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES with an atrocious lead performance from Nastassja Kinski and an almost as bad one from her beau, Peter Firth. The third act, partially based on the source material, is an absolute disaster. But the screenplay’s still endless problems of its own. Absolutely gorgeous looking; cinematography…
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Outstanding not soapy soap opera about wealthy Texan Robert Mitchum, suffering wife Eleanor Parker, and his two sons–the legitimate one, George Hamilton, and the bastard, George Peppard. Once Hamilton comes of age and starts hanging out more with Peppard, away from Parker’s helicoptering, everyone gets in a lot of trouble. Fantastic performances from the entire…
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Iowa farmer Kevin Costner hears a voice telling him, as disembodied voices no one can hear do, to build a baseball field in the middle of his field. Much to wife Amy Madigan’s chagrin, Costner listens to the voice and builds the field, kicking off a journey through the American love of baseball and Costner’s…
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Watchable–thanks to good acting and direction–and beautifully designed melodrama about the rugged 1950s Australian newsreel cameramen and their manly pursuit of the capital n news. Sometimes hard to believe melodrama–often involving William Motzing’s music ruining scenes. There’s also the problem with how the authentic newsreel footage mixes in. Very assured, but to no good end.…
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Outstanding drama about John Lynch and Jacqueline McKenzie, who both have schizophrenia, meeting, falling in love, and trying make a life together, contending with their treatment and Lynch’s concerned/disapproving family. Wonderful performances from Lynch and McKenzie, great script and direction from Rymer. Rymer establishes a wonderful sense of empathy, never letting the characters become pitiable…
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Disappointing “serious” war action movie about lieutenant colonel Gene Hackman shot down behind enemy lines in Vietnam with no one willing to save him except helicopter pilot Danny Glover. Wooden dialogue, bad music, and director Markle shoots close-ups when they should be long shots and vice versa, but it could be a lot worse. Both…
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Shallow look at the complexities of American Imperialism in the Middle East–think Noam Chomsky for progressive sitcom viewers–would probably be a lot more successful if writer-director Gaghan didn’t pretend he was making documentary; so lots of shaky-cam of a straight dramatic narrative. Great performances from Matt Damon, Amanda Peet, and Alexander Siddig; not so much…
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Excellent drama set on one winter weekend in 1970s Connecticut about two families and the various ways they’re connected, through infidelity, lust, and tragedy. Great performances from the cast–Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Jamey Sheridan are the parents, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Adam Hann-Byrd, and Elijah Wood are the (teenage or older) kids.…
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Middling drama about two young and pretty autistic people, Josh Hartnett and Radha Mitchell, meeting, falling in love, dating, having problems. The film’s got very little to say about autism–Hartnett’s the lead, but the character and performance are geared for a supporting role–it’s just a romantic drama. A light one. Næss’s direction is good. Mitchell’s…
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Woody Allen goes London with this excellent (but just a thriller) thriller about tennis instructor Jonathan Rhys-Meyers who marries up (to Emily Mortimer) but starts cheating with his new brother-in-law’s girlfriend (Scarlett Johansson). Rhys-Meyers and Johansson are both excellent. Impeccably executed, with a great British supporting cast and healthy nods to the old Ealing comedies.…
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The Rainmaker‘s got some beautiful stuff in it. My history with it is somewhat sorted… I discovered it on DVD, then abandoned it–and have now rediscovered it. I can’t remember what my last problem with it was–probably the same as my current one–but I was selling DVDs and needed cash. It’s not perfect and has…
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I adore broad, sweeping statements. Here goes: I do not think any film, of all the films I have seen (conservatively, a couple thousand, maybe three), has had a worst last thirty seconds than Conversation Piece. It’s so incredible, so incredibly bad, I can’t believe the cast and crew didn’t start giggling when a) reading…
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Pretty good adaptation of Laurie Halse Anderson’s young adult novel features a great performance from Kristen Stewart as a high school freshman struggling in the aftermath of a sexual assault. Some strong direction from Sharzer. The short running time hurts it. DVD, Streaming.Continue reading →
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Sometimes lovely film about developmentally disabled Thornton (who stars, writes, directs) getting out of the mental hospital he’s been in since killing his mother and her lover as a child. He soon bonds with 12-year old Lucas Black, who’s experiencing his own traumas. Way too long, way too many montages. Embarrassing-to-the-production bad performance from Dwight…
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Singular motion picture recounting three nights of New York paramedic Nicolas Cage’s life and experiences on the job. Amazing on all counts–the lead performances from Cage and Patricia Arquette, the showy supporting ones from everyone else. Marc Anthony stands out as a frequent “customer.” Once frequent Scorsese scripter Paul Schrader adapted Joe Connelly’s novel, which…
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Singular Western pits rustler-turned-farmer Jack Nicholson against mercenary Marlon Brando. Exceptional on most fronts, including Penn’s direction, Nicholson’s performance, and the John Williams score. Brando’s good too, he’s just not Nicholson. DVD, Blu-ray, Streaming.Continue reading →
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Obnoxious jerk Thomas Jay Ryan befriends (and exploits) introvert garbageman/unknown great American poet James Urbaniak, seducing his sister (a spectacular Parker Posey) but encouraging his writing. Very long, very difficult. The last act is truly phenomenal stuff. DVD, Blu-ray.Continue reading →
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Not good drama has Daniel Day-Lewis a hippie widower living on an island with teenage daughter Camilla Belle; they’re the only people on the island, an abandoned commune. He decides they need a female figure so he moves in girlfriend Catherine Keener and her two sons. Belle doesn’t react well to the new status quo.…
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Wonderful gem of a movie romance (between Keith Carradine and Shelley Duvall) amid a 1930s-set crime drama. Will Carradine pick a life of bank robbing or listen to Duvall and go straight. Great performances from all involved and Altman’s direction excels in the setting. Screenplay by Calder Willingham, Joan Tewkesbury and Altman. DVD, Blu-ray.Continue reading…
The Stop Button 