Top of the week is a cracker-jack of a documentary--CLIENT 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer--and before you think you know all you need to know about this movie, the tag line, which is quite accurate, reads "You don't know the real story..." To his credit, Spitzer, who is interviewed thoroughly in this film, takes full responsibility for the sexual escapades he became involved in, which ended his political career as New York governor. But the big picture paints a whole other side of the story. He started out as NY attorney general and became obsessed with stopping the rampant corruption and carelessness with which Wall Street did their business. He sued many financial companies for bad business practices--this was several years before the fall of Wall Street firms that led to the crippling effect on our current economy---and he had many successful results. When he became governor of NY he alienated many powerful (mostly Republican) people, and guess what!?--they all seemed to have a finger in his fall from grace. There are many telling moments as the heads of AIG and other institutions gloat over his disgrace, all the while stealing BILLIONS of dollars at the expense of the average American tax payer, you and I. It seems that the masses and the media care more about the sex lives of those in power, than the outrageous greediness and fraud that is perpetrated upon us by the rich and powerful of Wall Street. This film made me angry and disgusted. GRADE--------A-
When a young chef is bypassed for promotion at his high end restaurant, he quits and ends up helping out at his father's run down, greasy-spoon east Indian restaurant, and by doing so, finds his cooking inspiration and a girlfriend to boot. This is a very familiar story, with every plot point predictable from the onset, and the actors play it very broadly. While it's heart is in the right place, most of the jokes fall flat and the film lacks energy. TODAY'S SPECIAL doesn't live up to it's title. GRADE-------C+
The new thriller starring Russell Crowe, called THE NEXT THREE DAYS, is a major disappointment. The plot is the main culprit, since the film starts off with the arrest of his wife (Elizabeth Banks) but we aren't sure what for until later in the film, and that confuses us from the start. Then we never know what really happened until the very end of the film, and by that time I didn't really care. Here is an ordinary man whose wife is in prison for murder--somewhat of a mild-manner Everyman, who manages to track down and interview a famous felon who managed to escape from prison many years ago and is happy to spill the details (!?!) and then decides to break his wife out of prison because he loves her so much (?!?). The plotting didn't make much logical sense to me. He ends up paying a deaf motorcycle hoodlum (!?) to create new passports for his family, and creates a whole map with pictures and charts on the kitchen wall of his plan. (Apparently he had no friends or family who would drop in to visit, even though he has a son in elementary school who must have been suspicious, and he acts strangely towards his in-laws--but they must never go to the house, either.) And don't get me started on the scene where he single-handedly steals money from a meth-lab house BY SETTING THE HOUSE ON FIRE (!!!!!!!!!) and then tries to be heroic by pulling a drug dealer out of the flames and putting him in his car (!!!!!!) When the break out plan does start into motion, he seems to turn into James Bond, with everything seeming to fall his way. I didn't buy it for a second. The drama is manipulated in every possible manner (suspense, drama, tears, love), sort of like the ickiness I felt when I watched director Paul Haggis' earlier film CRASH in 2005. Sometimes his writing works as in CASINO ROYALE and MILLION DOLLAR BABY, but when he's off, he's really off. GRADE-------D+
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This was a busy week for DVD's and some TCM selections. Now over 25 years old, the made-for TV film THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MISS JANE PITTMAN (1974) still holds up incredibly well, especially the career capping performance of Cicely Tyson, who won the best Actress Emmy for her role as a woman's remarkable life from age 12 as a slave through age 110. The final simple scene in front of the courthouse is one of the most memorable moments captured on film in any medium, and has haunted me since I first saw it on TV long ago. It still carries a big BIG punch. GRADE-----B+
An early Bette Davis film I'd never seen turned out to be an excellent example of the soap opera/three hankie melodrama---THE OLD MAID (1939)--and that year was what many consider to be the golden year of Hollywood films. (Great films from 1939 include GONE WITH THE WIND, GOODBYE MR. CHIPS, STAGECOACH, DARK VICTORY, NINOTCHKA, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, MR SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, and the amazing WIZARD OF OZ.) Add THE OLD MAID to that incredible line up. Davis and Miriam Hopkins play cousins who compete for the affections of the same man--a rivalry which spans many years. The biggest fireworks seem to come on the day of some important event--usually a wedding, where some lurid secret must be revealed at that very moment---just minutes before the ceremony!!!!! Set in the 1860's-thru the turn of the century, this story based on the Edith Wharton novel, is an engrossing, and entertaining bit of Americana. GRADE------B+
I think the recent SEX AND THE CITY II (2010) got a bum rap when it opened to scathing reviews last May during SIFF, so I missed it then. I realized early on that the (very) few laughs in the first half hour were actually very serious--the opening scenes features an over-the-top gay wedding, complete with a full men's chorus and Liza Minnelli, but in lieu of the current political (gay marriage) climate, it is actually rather enlightening as the characters reflect on love and marriage and change. The film seems to reposition itself into out and out drama by the end. Fans of the TV series were bound to be disappointed by the lack of smart, shocking sex comedy antics, and I know I had to reset my expectations differently, but I think there were some very clever, sly, shocking and moving moments in the story that sees the four best friends reconnecting in a trip to Abu Dhabi and discovering that their lives had all changed drastically. Their shallowness becomes truly appalling to themselves, as they grapple with restrictive customs of the Middle East and issues dealing with their changing bodies and more adult relationships. Do I wish there were more laughs? Sure, but I was never bored, and the writers keep the faith by exploring sides of the women we didn't really get to see on TV. Except maybe Samantha, who's still a wanton slut obsessed with sex. Yeah. GRADE------B
An early, episodic George Stevens film, ANNIE OAKLEY(1935) features a sparkling Barbara Stanwyck as the most famous sharp shooter in the world, who joins Buffalo Bill's Wild West show and has a romantic relationship with another sharp shooter. The Wild West show seemed portrayed very authentically. Another charming bit of Americana. GRADE-----B
I saw my first two Brigitte Bardot films this week. The first is a comedy mystery called COME DANCE WITH ME! (1959) which has Bardot joining a dance studio to try to solve the murder of her husband's blackmailer. The plot is nothing special, but Bardot is a revelation to the uninitiated. There are several homosexual characters that are treated with natural grace, so it comes as a bit of a shock when some nasty stereotypes are dragged out towards end of the film. GRADE-----B-
An earlier Bardot film, NAUGHTY GIRL (1956) aka MAM'ZELLE PIGALLE has a younger teen Brigitte staying with a famous entertainer friend of her father while he's away, and she innocently wrecks havoc on all concerned. She is delightfully charming, the best thing in the film, and clearly a star in the making. GRADE------C+
Cary Grant and Betsy Drake (who were married at the time) star in a sentimental comedy called ROOM FOR ONE MORE (1952), about a kind hearted couple who keep adopting kids and pets. Grant keeps complaining that he can't get any (sexual) attention because their house is full of five kids, a large dog, and a litter of kittens, and that running joke becomes rather tiresome, but I have to say that it seemed very true! GRADE------C+
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