Rabbit Hole, Undertow, Polanski, A.and K. Hepburn

It has finally arrived at a theatre in Seattle and I didn't write last week, so you only have a couple days left to see (in a theatre) the beautiful, magical, moving triangle love story that was a great audience pleaser at both SIFF and the Lesbian and Gay Film Fest this past year. UNDERTOW (CONTRACORRIENTE) also won the audience awards at the Chicago, Miami, San Sebastian, Cartagena, and Sundance film festivals last year. Stunningly photographed on a beautiful Peruvian coastal fishing village, UNDERTOW tells how a young couple expecting their first child deal with the husband's male lover. The shocking big twist mid-film throws the story into another realm, and at first I was annoyed, but the movie doesn't backtrack from the issues raised and by the end, the audience is carried along on waves of emotional retribution. GRADE-------A-

There are a lot of movies about death and bereavement, including LOVE STORY, ORDINARY PEOPLE, PHILADELPHIA, SCHINDLER'S LIST, etc, and here is another one called RABBIT HOLE. It is a serious tale of a couple trying to cope with the death of their four year son due to a car accident, and for a while they go about it in their own way because together they can't seem to agree on how it should be handled. There are some odd bursts of humor, and some very thoughtful platitudes (many uttered by Dianne Wiest as the grandmother), and the parents, as played by Aaron Eckhart and Oscar winner and current nominee Nicole Kidman are often very effective. It covers familiar ground, and it will leave you feeling a bit somber in spite of its upbeat (for the grieving couple, anyway) ending. GRADE------B

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Best of the many DVD's of the last two weeks would be Roman Polanski's THE TENANT (1976) which features the director as a young man who moves into the Parisian apartment of a young woman who has just thrown herself out of the high story window to her death. Many of her things are still in the apartment and seem to affect the new comer by making him paranoid, nervous and very insecure. The excellent international cast includes Isabelle Adjani, the deceased girl's best friend and possible future love interest for the new tenant, Shelley Winters as the somber concierge, Melvyn Douglas as the grouchy building owner, and the intimidating neighbor Jo Van Fleet who tries to make trouble. It is still as odd and creepy and perverse as I remembered it to be, and culminates in an amazing and riveting scene of pseudo/sexual/gender confusion and hysteria that sticks with you even after 35 years. GRADE-----A-

It's been a while since I'd seen Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant cavort so effortlessly and charmingly in the romantic spy mystery thriller CHARADE (1963), and as many times as I've seen it, the mystery aspect (where is the quarter million dollars?) is still quite effective, and will definitely surprise the first time viewer. I recently bought the new Criterion Collection version and it makes the colors and sound and dialogue and music just pop. Bad prints and washed out colors of ALL other earlier DVD versions should be avoided at all costs. It's been written that this is the best Alfred Hitchcock film that Hitchcock never directed, and it is one of the rare times when I would agree with that comparison. Composer Henry Mancini, writer Peter Stone and director Stanley Donen are all in top form, and a droll Walter Matthau and sinister James Coburn add greatly to the entertaining proceedings. GRADE------A-

It was the first viewing for me of the George Cukor classic comedy ADAM'S RIB (1949) with Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy as a sparring married couple of lawyers on the opposite sides of a sensational attempted-murder case. The real surprise for me was the sharp supporting cast including first time movies for a sparkling Judy Holliday, amusing Jean Hagen, the bumbling Tom Ewell, and the smooth as silk David Wayne. These four were all successful Broadway stage actors at the time, and they all shine for the first time on the screen. I liked it for it's sophisticated comic attitude towards the battle of the sexes and for the 6 great actors who manage to hit every irony, joke and barb right on the head. GRADE-------A-

A recent French coming-0f-age film COLD SHOWERS (2006) which played a number of film festivals, focused on a struggling middle class family where the mother and father are shrewish and unemployed, respectively, and the teen son who happens to be a Judo fanatic, must deal with his bickering parents and his long time girlfriend, who starts demanding more from their relationship by introducing a new male classmate into their sexual play. There are a lot of teasing, sex and nudity scenes, and there's an atmosphere of tension that keeps you watching.
GRADE-------B-

Twenty one years ago, LONGTIME COMPANION (1990) was possibly the first film to deal with the AIDS crisis, and tried to do so by putting a human face on the disease by letting us get to know the people affected. It is a bit dated and each scene is set about one year later than the last, so that we keep thinking, "OK, who is going to die this scene..." but the very interesting thing for me this viewing (the first since 1990) was the young cast of near unknowns in 1990. Today many of them have really gone on to bigger and better things and it's easy to see why they did based on the acting in this film. Probably the most well known actor at the time was Bruce Davison, who has never been better, and he was Oscar nominated for this role as the rich guy who heartbreakingly tries to convince his deathly ill partner to just "let it go." Mary-Louise Parker is effective as the "best-friend" ( writer Craig Lucas doesn't use the term "fag hag" here), and ironically she went on to star in the important AIDS themed epic ANGELS IN AMERICA play and TV film. Patrick Cassidy, Dermot Mulroney and especially Campbell Scott have all seen their stars rise from this well meaning and emotional film. GRADE------B-

A smart little family drama that played briefly in Seattle, PHOEBE IN WONDERLAND (2008) features some lovely acting by Felicity Huffman and Bill Pullman as the parents of the precocious 10 year old Elle Fanning, who's lead in the ALICE IN WONDERLAND play at school triggers some outrageous and inappropriate behavior. Her teacher Patricia Clarkson and principal (Campbell Scott, see above review) try to help, but they all realize that the troubled girl might just "fall through the looking glass" unless they can discover the secret of her unusual behavior and odd creativity. Smart and attentive viewers should be able to figure out the denouncement, but nonetheless, this a lovely, clever film. GRADE-------B-

Last but certainly not least in the big cinematic picture, I watched the sequel to the 1969 version of TRUE GRIT, with John Wayne reprising his Oscar winning role as ROOSTER COGBURN (1975) and Katherine Hepburn almost typecast as the Bible thumping missionary. The plot is not terribly creative or original, and a week later I've almost forgotten it, but it is a true pleasure watching Wayne and Hepburn go at each other with wit and energy and a great deal of affection. It was their first time together and for both, one of the last big films of their incredible careers. GRADE------C+