Tag: James Garner
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Unfortunate bit of trivia to start us off—Twilight is supposed to be called The Magic Hour, but just around the time of release, Magic Johnson’s high profile (and quickly cancelled) TV show had the same title and they changed the movie’s title. Titles are both important and not. They definitely establish a work’s intention—you may…
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Mister Buddwing is kind of amazing. And exceptional. But only if both those descriptors are used as pejoratives. Like. Wow. What a mess it is. What’s funny is how director Mann maybe sees what he’s trying to do with the film but doesn’t see how he’s not achieving it. The film wants to be edgy…
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While The Great Escape runs nearly three hours, director Sturges and screenwriters James Clavell and W.R. Burnett never let it feel too long. Part of the quick pace comes from the first half hour being told in something like real time and another big part of it is the aftermath of the escape taking up…
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Maverick is a lot of fun. In fact, it’s so much fun, when the film runs into problems in its second act, it’s impossible to be disappointed. It’s still so likable, one just feels bad it doesn’t maintain its quality. There are two major problems. The first is the music. When the film starts–and for…
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Legalese’s cast order is a tad deceptive. First, James Garner headlines it. While he does have a large role, he’s not the protagonist—and he’s not even the regular likable Garner character. Legalese plays on that assumption, however. Then there’s Gina Gershon, who has a small part (though the film opens with her). Then it’s Mary-Louise…
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I don’t know if I can think of a more mild mystery than They Only Kill Their Masters. It’s a solid vehicle for James Garner, giving him a lot of leading man stuff to do and a fair amount of internal conflict. But it’s so slight, so genial, it doesn’t leave much of an impression.…
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Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam is not particularly good. It has a lot of problems, which I’ll enumerate, but it also has a lot of undeniable strengths. I’ll start with those…. I mean, it’s got James Garner voicing an old wizard. That casting alone makes it worth some kind of look. And Dos Santos…
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I wonder if the U.S. Army would like to get a movie like Tank out today. The movie’s politics are… well, they’re not hilarious, but they’re so blatant, it’s stunning. It’s a pro-Army film and an intensely anti-Georgia film. It likes Tennessee though. From Tank, a future cultural historian could surmise the residents of Georgia…
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From the first scene of Support Your Local Sheriff!, I thought of one thing: Blazing Saddles. Mel Brooks lifted the tone of the frontier townspeople scenes, just giving them ribald dialogue. In Sheriff, the humor poked at the Western stereotypes is smarter and funnier. The characters themselves are–in character–aware of the absurdities of the genre…
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Okay WWII spy thriller about the Nazis capturing a D-Day planner (James Garner) days before the offensive. They only have… well, longer than thirty-six hours but ostensibly thirty-six hours to crack him. Their plan? Have shrink Rod Taylor convince Garner he’s had amnesia for six years. The first hour’s Taylor’s, which is good because he…
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Mildly amusing and often sexist 1960s sex comedy with James Garner and his pals trying to set up a “bachelor” pad (only most of them are married) complete with in-house blonde (Kim Novak). Novak’s good, Garner’s okay (playing the bachelor and Novak’s de facto love interest); William Bendix has a great cameo as the boys’…
The Stop Button 