Category Archives: Romance
4-Word Review: From 1893 to 1979.
In 1893 writer H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) constructs a time machine and introduces it to his skeptical guests at a dinner party that he is hosting unaware that Dr. Stevenson (David Warner) who is also attending the party is the notorious Jack the Ripper. When the police surround the home looking for Ripper he jumps into the time machine and escapes to the year 1979. Wells then quickly follows him to modern day San Francisco and tries chasing him down, but along the way he meets Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen) who he fall in love with.
Initially I enjoyed seeing Wells' confusion at dealing with modern society and the technology and had the film stayed at this level the whole way it could've been quite entertaining, but Wells ends up adapting too quickly. I was willing to accept that he was just a smart guy who could figure things out by being very observant, but Jack ends being the same way. Jack even attends a discotheque wearing a John Travolta-like white leisure suit, until it seemed like he was always a part of the modern world, and the original time traveling spin gets unfortunately phased out.
The romantic relationship that forms between Wells and Mary comes off as forced. Having her ask him out on a date while she's working at her job and after only talking to him for a few minutes seemed too forward and unprofessional. Does she do this to all of her customers and if so how can she hold down a job if she's coming on to all the men that she meets and if not then why would she ask out Wells so quickly after having just met him? Having the two end up going to bed together makes Wells seem too contemporary and not like a person from the Victorian era from which he came where sexual relations outside of marriage were much more taboo.
The script is full of a lot of loose ends too. For example: Wells goes to a jeweler to trade in his jewels for US currency, but the jeweler won't accept them unless Wells shows a valid driver's license, which he doesn't have. The next day he goes to a different jeweler who gives him the money without asking for the ID, but why? In between Wells goes to a church where he speaks out loud in an awkward prayer, so are we then to presume that the second jeweler gave Wells the money without requesting the ID because of divine intervention?
There's also a moment when Jack runs out into the street and gets struck by a car and is sent away to a nearby hospital, but then returns later showing no visible bruises or scratches. There's also no explanation for how he was able to fool the nursing staff into thinking he had died as when Wells goes to the hospital that's the explanation he's given.
The ending is equally screwy. It has Wells and Mary going a few days into the future only to read a newspaper article reporting Mary getting killed inside her apartment by Jack, so they return to the present and then back to the apartment where Mary then takes a nap, which seemed hard to believe knowing that Jack was coming to kill her there and she'd be too tense and nervous to ever relax enough to go to sleep. Why even go anywhere near the apartment anyways and instead just find a room at a nearby hotel? There isn't much tension to her potential death either since all Wells would need to do is go back a few days in his time machine and she'd be as good as new.
The explanation that Mary never got killed, but instead it was really her friend, who she had invited over to dinner is problematic too because even though there wasn't DNA testing at that time they could still identify the victim through their dental records.
The story, which was based on a 55-page treatment written by Karl Alexander, who later expanded it to a novel, which was released at the same time as the movie, has a lot of potentially interesting ideas, but it ends up taking on too much. A decision should've been made to focus on either the romance or Wells's pursuit of Jack, but not both. Trying to cram two plot-lines together results in a script that's too rushed and poorly thought out.
Director: Nicholas Meyer
Available: DVD, Blu-ray, Amazon Video, YouTube
Posted in 70's Movies, Movies Based on Short Stories, Romance, Sci-Fi, Thrillers/Suspense
Tagged Entertainment, Malcolm McDowell, Mary Steenburgen, Movies, Review
Best Friends (1982)
4-Word Review: Writing partners get married.
Richard (Burt Reynolds) and Paula (Goldie Hawn) have been working together as a screenwriting team for many years and have fallen in love in the process. Richard would like to take the next step and get married, but Paula resists afraid that this will ruin their friendship, but eventually she caves to his pressure and they tie-the-knot. Things though get rocky when they visit both of their relatives and when they return to L.A. seem destined for a break-up only to be forced to acclimate when they're locked in a room and not allowed out until they revise the ending of their latest screenplay.
This film is similar to Romantic Comedy as both dealt with two people of the opposite sex working together as a writing team while romance blossomed in the process. Yet both films missed the mark by not focusing enough on the writing craft and the teamwork needed to get a script written. Only at the very end do we see the two working together, but because it waits so long to get to this point it's not really worth it. In between we get immersed with drawn out segments dealing with each partner learning to deal with their kooky in-laws, which has been done in many other romances before and is neither fresh nor insightful.
I also didn't like that it begins right away with them already in-love, which deprives the viewer the chance of seeing how the relationship began, which is usually half the fun. The couple are a bit too lovey-dovey and there's never any fiery argument between them, which could've offered some tension in what is otherwise a flat story with very little that actually happens.
The script was written by Valerie Curtain and Barry Levinson, who based their own real-life experiences of working together and then ultimately marrying on the two characters and it would've been nice had they simply been cast as themselves. Hawn and Reynolds are okay but there's a big age difference between the two and their presence also gives it too much of the glossy, big-star Hollywood treatment where as with Curtain and Levinson playing the roles would've made it seem more genuine and original.
My favorite part though is when they travel to Buffalo, New York in the dead-of-winter where they must deal with actual snow and cold and not the fake studio kind. However, Goldie's parents, played by Barnard Hughes and Jessica Tandy, come-off too much like caricatures playing off the stereotype that everyone that gets old automatically become senile and eccentric. The things that they say and do are more cringe worthy than amusing and nothing that a real senior citizen would ever do.
Their visit with Burt's parents, played by Keenan Wynn and Audra Lindley, improves a little as they act more normal, but it's just as unfunny. The film also misses out on a prime comic opportunity as the two are informed that they need to revise their latest screenplay in a hurry and I thought it would've been quite amusing seeing them trying to work on it while cooped up in the home of Burt's parents and trying to block out all the noise and chaos around them, but the film only teases with this idea, but eventually whiffs on it.
The story is unfocused and throws in all sorts of dumb things like Goldie's sudden addiction to Valium pills that have nothing to do with the main plot. Having the film begin where it ends with the two locked in a room for days and forced to reassess their relationship while going back through certain highlights that the two had through flashback including showing how they first met would've given it more of a fragmented narrative and made it seem less drawn-out and mechanical.
Director: Norman Jewison
Available: DVD, Amazon Video, YouTube
Posted in 80's Movies, Cold Climate/Wintertime Movies, Comedy, Movies Based on Actual Events, Romance
Tagged Barnard Hughes, Barry Levinson, Burt Reynolds, Entertainment, Goldie Hawn, Movies, Review, Valerie Curtain
Romantic Comedy (1983)
4-Word Review: Playwrights fall in love.
Just as Jason (Dudley Moore), a popular playwright, is getting ready to tie-the-knot with the beautiful Allison (Janet Eilber) he meets Phoebe (Mary Steenburgen). Phoebe is a school teacher aspiring to be a playwright and hoping to team up with Jason, who has had some success in the past, but looking for new inspiration. The two soon become a successful writing team, but begin to fall-in-love in the process, which creates a strain on Jason's marriage.
The film is based on the play of the same name that was written by Bernard Slade, who also wrote the screenplay. Slade was at one time a television producer whose most noted creation was Th Partridge Family', but by the late 70's had moved into writing plays with his biggest hit being Same Tim Next Year about two married people who get together once a year to have an affair, which became a runaway international hit and inspired Slade to then write this one, which is basically just a minor reworking of the same theme. While his first play was hailed as being fresh and original this thing is much more mechanical and ultimately as generic as its title.
The story's biggest failing is that we never get to see the relationship blossom and grow. Instead it starts out with their awkward meeting that exposes their contrasting personalities and temperaments and then jumps ahead several months later to where they've already become lovey-dovey to each other, but with no insight as to how that came about. Part of the fun of watching a romance is seeing how it flourishes between two very unlikely people, but here that gets glossed away making everything that comes after it seem very forced and contrived.
The film also offers no insight into the collaboration process and how two people can work together to create a play, which could've been both interesting and amusing. It also could've been revealing seeing what kind of plots their plays had and why some of them are flops while others are hits. Having a story within a story concept where the two write about the secret emotions that they have for the other into their characters could've added a unique angle, but like with a lot of other things here becomes another missed opportunity.
Moore and Steenburgen have no chemistry and there was a big 18 year age difference between them. Moore is too acerbic and having him go from being sarcastic and abrasive to suddenly loving and tender is unconvincing. Steenburgen's young girl voice makes her seem empty-headed and not the sophisticated, witty type who would be able to write the type of plays that she supposedly does. Why Mia Farrow and Anthony Perkins, who played the parts in the original Broadway play, weren't cast in the same parts here is a mystery, but they would've been far more effective choices.
The expected drama and conflicts involving the wife never culminates into anything making her presence virtually pointless. The laughs are non-existent as well. In fact the only time it ever gets even mildly amusing is when Moore and Steenburgen would argue and it would've been funnier had they been portrayed as hating each other, but teamed up anyways simply because they somehow managed to write hit plays when they worked together.
Director: Arthur Hiller
Studio: MGM/UA
Available: DVD, Amazon Video
Posted in 80's Movies, Cold Climate/Wintertime Movies, Comedy, Movies Based on Stageplays, Movies that take place in the Big Apple, Romance
Tagged Bernard Slade, Dudley Moore, Entertainment, Mary Steenburgen, Movies, Review
Gotcha! (1985)
4-Word Review: Spy game turns real.
Jonathan (Anthony Edwards) enjoys playing the make-believe spy game of Gotcha on his college campus by shooting his fellow students with paint darts of which he is quite good at. For a vacation he goes to Paris, France and meets Sasha (Linda Fiorentino) who is a real-life spy transporting undercover documents from behind the iron curtain. She gets Jonathan to travel with her to East Berlin where he reluctantly finds himself caught-up in the spy action and having bad guys shoot at him with bullets instead of paint balls.
The film has its engaging moments, but the plot gets played-out in a haphazard way. The beginning comes off too much like just another banal coming-of-age comedy with guys using all sorts of corny lines to get women to go to bed with them and a lot inane dialogue and comedy bits are used to help string it along.
Things do improve once he meets up with Fiorentino who puts on an effective foreign accent and adds much needed chemistry. The vivid on-location shooting avoids the well known landmarks and instead focuses more on the hotels and restaurants, which makes the viewer feel like they're traveling alongside the characters. Jonathan's transition from cocky college student to scared kid in way over-his-head is interesting too, but something that I wished had been played up more.
Edwards' performance helps the viewer remain sympathetic to his quandary despite the fact that it was his own naivety that got him into his jam. I didn't like his hairstyle though, which to me looked more like a wig and, since he's shown to be openly bald in his later years, it probably was. He was also older than his character and looking very much like the 23 years of age that he was, which is what Fiorentino guesses when she first meets him and not like 18, which is what his character supposedly is making the opening conversation that the two have unintentionally ironic.
The third act in which Jonathan returns to the states, but the Russian spies continue to chase after him, is when this thing really goes south. It would've worked better, and been more believable, had the entire spy scenario remained in Europe instead culminating on the same college campus where it began making the intended irony too forced and too cute for its own good.
There were times when I did get caught-up in the intrigue, but film ruins the tension by always answering it with a comical twist that makes it come-off as too gimmicky. There's also no explanation as to what was on the film role that Jonathan and Sasha were trying to smuggle out and the Russians were so eager to get back, which makes the plot transparent instead of exciting.
The one moment though that I really did like and even found quite memorable is when a caged tiger is brought into a classroom to show the veterinarian students how to shoot a sick animal with a sleep dart. The animal seems to be in very real pain and with genuine moans of discomfort and the part where he gets hit with the dart forces him to leap up in his cage in a very startled manner. I'm not sure how they were able to pull off getting a legitimately hurt tiger into the scene, but it's the one segment where the movie isn't silly and it's too bad the rest of the script couldn't have fallen in-line with that same type of approach.
Director: Jeff Kanew
Available: DVD
Posted in 80's Movies, College Life, Dry Humor, Romance, Spy/Espionage
Tagged Anthony Edwards, Entertainment, Linda Fiorentino, Movies, Review
Top Gun (1986)
4-Word Review: Student pilot proves himself.
Pete Mitchell (Tom Cruise), who goes by the nickname Maverick, gets accepted into an elite fighter school for Navy pilots known as 'Top Gun'. It is here where his flying skills impress his instructors, but his daredevils ways also get him into trouble. He starts dating one of his instructors (Kelly McGillis) and everything seem to be going fine until during a flight training exercise that he is piloting his partner Goose (Anthony Edwards) tragically dies, which shatters his confidence and makes him believe that maybe he is not cut out to be a pilot after all.
This film was a giant hit at the box office, but mostly ravaged by the critics and with good reason. The story is shallow, but Cruise's performance manages to hold it together. Some have criticized his acting ability by saying he can play only one type of character namely the cocky type, but here he mixes in a lot of hidden vulnerabilities with it making you feel for him during his dark times of self doubt and cheer when he finally overcomes them.
I also enjoyed the romantic angle at least initially. In a lot of movies the side romance can get in the way of the story, but here it helps keep the plot intriguing especially when you factor in their contrasting personalities and temperaments. I liked the fact that she was also one of his instructors and therefore had to keep a professional distance and how this caused tensions in their potential relationship, which I wanted explored much more and was disappointed when this plot point fizzles out already in the first act and they become instead a generic 'happy couple' the rest of the way.
The mysterious death of Maverick's father years early was another subplot that gets poorly handled. I was expecting this to work into being a heightened mystery complete with a big reveal at the end, perhaps coupled with a flashback, but instead it gets treated almost like a throwaway bit where the Tom Skerrit character explains what occurred in passing and then by the time the ending finally comes it's pretty much forgotten. The same goes for Val Kilmer who is excellent as Maverick's rival, but his part is woefully underwritten and like with a lot of other things not pushed to its full dramatic potential.
Director Tony Scott hurts the realism by implementing too much of a music video approach with literally every scene smothered with a loud, booming rock tune, which cheapens the story by making it more about mood and image than a character study. There's even issues with the sky color, which outside of the aerial footage, looks to have a bright golden color that does not replicate any sky I've ever seen on this planet.
The stunt work involving the flying jets is certainly impressive making this a movie you definitely need to see on the big screen in order to get its full effect, but eventually it gets redundant and for a layperson not familiar with piloting technique even a bit confusing. The ending in which Maverick and his fellow pilots are ordered to provide air support to a stricken ship that has drifted into hostile waters really jumps the shark when jet planes from a foreign country attacks theirs, which would be considered an act of war and a major international incident, but instead after the skirmish is over it all gets written off saying that the other country simply 'denied that they did it', which only in the movie world is good enough to make everyone else forgive and forget about it too.
Director: Tony Scott
Posted in 80's Movies, Action/Adventure, Drama, Movies Based on Short Stories, Romance
Tagged Entertainment, Movies, Review, Tom Cruise, Tony Scott
The Owl and the Pussycat (1970)
4-Word Review: Sometimes opposites do attract.
Felix (George Segal) works at a bookstore, but dreams of becoming a successful novelist only to receive rejection letters every time he sends a manuscript out. One night while residing in his cramped New York apartment he spots, through his binoculars, his neighbor Doris (Barbra Streisand) accepting payment for sex and he immediately calls his landlord (Jacques Sandulescu) to report this and it gets her evicted. In anger she goes to Felix's apartment at 3 in the morning to argue with him about what he did. The two share little in common, but eventually after hours of bickering they form a bond.
The film was originally written as a Broadway play, which in-turn was inspired by a poem of the same name written by Edward Lear in 1871. The play, which ran during the 1964-65 season, starred Alan Alda and Diana Sands and differed considerably from the film in that it had only two characters and one setting. The biggest change though was that in the play the Doris character was a black women, but the studio feared mainstream audiences weren't ready for that, which is a shame. Streisand is amusing, but she's unable to convey a tough street-smart attitude. Having an African American woman and a white man come together with vastly different socio-economic backgrounds would've made the polar opposites theme even more pronounced and their eventual bonding far more profound.
In an attempt to make the story more cinematic director Herbert Ross had the couple kicked out of Segal's apartment and then forced to go to his friend Barney's (Robert Klein) apartment. Initially this seemed fun as Segal and Streisand are allowed to sleep in the living room while Klein and his girlfriend (Marilyn Chambers) remain in the bedroom, but Segal and Streisand continue with their bickering, which forces Klein and Chambers to leave their own apartment, which made no sense. If the guests are the ones causing the racket then they're the ones asked to leave not the people paying the rent. This also becomes a missed opportunity because it could've heightened the comedy by having the couple forced to move to seedier locations each time they're kicked-out of the previous one.
During the second half Segal and Streisand enter a large home, which was apparently the residence of his fiance's family, but this is jarring since there had been no mention of the fiancee earlier. It also works against the theme as these characters were portrayed as being lonely and forced to deal with each other despite their many differences because they had no where else to go, but then throwing in Segal's connection to affluence ends up diminishing the desperation angle.
I also didn't like that Doris got portrayed as being so painfully uneducated that she couldn't understand some of the words Felix said, which was heavy-handed since his language wasn't all that elaborate. I've found that most sex workers are quite defensive when it comes to the 'they must be dumb' stereotype and make concerted efforts to play against this. Most people, especially with someone they've just met, would never admit to not understanding some words spoken by the other because it would make that other person believe that they were intellectually superior and therefore given unfair leverage.
There are few funny moments but it mainly comes during the first half while the second and third act drone on. The only real distinction are the opening credits, where a jazzy score by Blood, Sweat & Tears gets played while a greenish moon sets behind a cropped cutout of the New York skyline, which is pretty cool.
Released: November 3, 1970
Director: Herbert Ross
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Posted in 70's Movies, Comedy, Movies Based on Stageplays, Movies that take place in the Big Apple, Romance
Tagged Barbra Streisand, Blood Sweat & Tears, Entertainment, George Segal, Herbert Ross, Movies, Review, Robert Klein
The Girl from Petrovka (1974)
4-Word Review: An American/Russian romance.
Oktabrina (Goldie Hawn) is a young Russian ballet dancer living in the country without proper documentation. Joe (Hal Holbrook) is an American journalist staying in Moscow as a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Herald. Joe becomes attracted to her youthful beauty while she likes the fact that compared to her impoverished lifestyle he has a lot of money and lives in an apartment that seems 'like a palace'. The two begin going out, which attracts the attention of the KGB who raid her apartment while she's not there. This forces her to stay at Joe's for awhile and allows their relationship to blossom only to have a misunderstanding cause her to move out. Joe then tries desperately to win her back, but finds it may be too late as the authorities close in.
The film has a nice casual pace to it that's more like a European movie and the on-location shooting, which was originally intended to be shot in Yugoslavia, but eventually done in Austria, nicely brings out the gray, dismal life in the Soviet Union at the time. I even enjoyed the snowy late night scene where Joe and a friend are seen walking outside with a visual of the Red Square matted in the backdrop.
Unfortunately the film's romantic angle becomes its weakest point, which ultimately pulls the production down to a painfully boring level. I just couldn't understand why these two fell in love so fast. I got the fact that Joe found her attractive, any man would, but that's lust not love and Oktyabrina's interest centered mainly on the fact that he had money, which is equally shallow and nothing that would create this deep emotional bond after only two days together. There's also a huge age difference between the two, a full 19 years, which makes the romance come off looking even more absurd.
Hawn's a great actress, and she does okay here even though I found the heart shaped tattoo that she has underneath her left eye to be annoying, but it still would've worked better had the part been played by an actual Russian woman who could've given the character more authenticity. Holbrook has proven to be a fine actor in many other productions, but here comes off as too detached and glib and adds very little life or emotion to the proceedings. Anthony Hopkins as Oktyabrina's Russian friend shows more energy, and speaks with an excellent Russian accent to boot, and would've been a far better choice for the lead.
In typical 70's fashion the ending is a downer, which was completely different from the one in the film's source novel of the same name that was written by George Feifer, and only helps to cement this as a complete waste of efforts by all those involved. This was just one of the many bad movie choices that Goldie made during the 70's that put her career on life support that managed to be revived in 1980 when she did Private Benjamin.
Director: Robert Ellis Miller
Available: DVD-R (Universal Vault Series), Amazon Video
Posted in 70's Movies, Cold Climate/Wintertime Movies, Movies Based on Novels, Movies with Nudity, Romance
Tagged Anthony Hopkins, Entertainment, Goldie Hawn, Hal Holbrook, Movies, Review
Jennifer on My Mind (1971)
4-Word Review: Girlfriend becomes heroin addict.
While vacationing in Venice Marcus (Michael Brandon) meets up with Jennifer (Tippy Walker) a young free-spirit whose beauty and carefree ways immediately smitten him and the two begin a relationship, but Jennifer's impulsive ways doesn't allow it to last. He later learns that she's a heroin addict and tries to help her overcome it, but to no avail. After she disappears for several months she then suddenly shows up at his doorstep wanting to rekindle old-times. At first he's happy to see her, but then learns that her addiction has grown worse and after reluctantly giving her an injection that turns out to being fatal he then goes into a panic and tries to get rid of the dead body as he fears he'll be implicated for her death otherwise.
After the success of Love Story screenwriter Erich Segal was a hot commodity and given free-reign to write any concoction he wanted and this script, which is based on the Robert L. Simon novel 'Heir' is the result. The story though is poorly structured and seems to focus more on Marcus and his efforts to get rid of the body than on giving any meaningful insight to the drug addiction experience. There's also severe shifts in tone where it's dramatic one minute and then has weird dream-like humorous segues where Marcus sees visions of his dead grandfather (Lou Gilbert) who cracks corny jokes.
Director Noel Black, whose career looked bright after doing the critically acclaimed cult hit Pretty Poison, manages to infuse some nice on-location scenery, particularly that of Venice, but technically botches many other moments. The worst comes when Jennifer tries to jump off the roof of her house, but she goes from being in her backyard to on the rooftop in a matter of seconds, which isn't realistic. She then jumps off it even though it's a 2-story building with another rooftop of a different section of the home beneath her, which is where she should've landed, but instead the film in a poorly edited bit that doesn't even show the actual jump has her landing in a flower bed.
The Marcus character, who has inherited his grandfather's fortune and therefore doesn't have to work for a living, is too smug to be likable and most viewers will find his privileged situation off-putting. He also doesn't seem, despite his insistence, to be all that 'in-love' with Jennifer especially with the callous ways he tries to get rid of her body and in one really creepy moment even professes to the corpse that he feels closer to her now than when she was alive. I also couldn't understand why this non-descript guy would be constantly attracting the attention of violent bikers and hippies. One instance occurs when he is doing nothing more than standing at a pier of a lake and within seconds finds himself surrounded by three bikers who come out of nowhere and then later on as he's driving down a busy highway some hippies decide to harass him at random but no one else.
Jennifer character is equally annoying as the viewer learns little about what makes her tick. Walker's acting career ended after this film as she left Hollywood disillusioned with the business after having an affair with George Roy Hill when she was only 16 and he was 42 while filming The World of Henry Orient. Her life, like the character in the film, then took a strong downward spiral as she opened up an art gallery in New Haven, Connecticut which eventually closed. In a 2015 interview published in the New Haven Register she was living in a cramped 1-bedroom apartment that was infested with cockroaches after having spent several years being homeless and surviving off of social security and what little monthly money her brother in Texas sent her.
The film's only saving grace are the performances of its supporting cast . I enjoyed Peter Bonerz as a psychiatrist who barrages into Marcus' home and tries to give him an impromptu therapy session. Chuck McCann is amusing too as a motorist who tries to help Marcus change a flat, Barry Bostwick and Jeff Conaway enliven things as two antagonistic minstrels and Robert De Niro is great as a gypsy cab driver. Otherwise this thing is a complete mess that like a bad car accident is garish enough to keep you watching, but offers nothing in return.
Director: Noel Black
Studio: United Artists
Available: DVD-R (MGM Limited Edition Collection), Amazon Video
Posted in 70's Movies, Drama, Movies Based on Novels, Romance
Tagged Barry Bostwick, Chuck McCann, Entertainment, Erich Segal, George Roy Hill, Movies, Peter Bonerz, Review, Robert De Niro, Tippy Walker
The Electric Horseman (1979)
4-Word Review: Aging cowboy steals horse.
Sonny (Robert Redford) used to be a championship rodeo star, but those days are long behind him. Now he works as a spokesmodel for a cereal company and his next gig has him in Las Vegas where he's set to ride a horse on stage while he wears a string of flashing lights. Sonny though has become disillusioned with the business as well as upset to find that the horse has been drugged, which propels him to ride off with it while the authorities and an aggressive TV reporter (Jane Fonda) are hot on his tail.
The story can best be described as a lightly comical variation of Lonely are the Brave, but without any of the strong dramatic impact. The biggest problem is that it reveals its cards too quickly making it too obvious what Sonny is planning to do, so when he finally does y abscond with the horse it's not surprising or even interesting. I was intrigued at how he would get it out of the casino and past security, but the movie cheats this by cutting from him inside the casino one second to showing him outside on the street in the next frame, which takes away from potential action and excitement of having him fight his way out.
The chase inside a small town where Sonny and his horse outrun a mob of police cars and cops on motorbikes is fun, but it ends up being the only exciting moment in the film. Everything else gets toned down too much where even the bad guy, played by John Saxon, is boring because all he does is sit in a office while getting reports from others as to Sonny's whereabouts instead of having him actively chase after the renegade cowboy himself, which would've heightened the tension.
Fonda's character comes off like an unwanted house guest who tries to take over the place even when they weren't invited. Her character is too abrasive and while everyone else is laid-back she comes of as being quite aggressive and otherwise out-of-place with the tone of the movie. Valerie Perrine, who has a much smaller part as Sonny's ex-wife, does a far better job here and is more in step with the unglamorous, rugged western theme. Had she been the one to chase after Sonny then the romantic side-story that develops would've been cute and engaging, but having Fonda become the love interest just makes the whole thing seem forced.
Had the action and humor been more jacked-up than it might've been a winner as Redford himself is quite good. I was a bit surprised too because I initially didn't think this was the right fit for his talents, but his subtle country accent and brash attitude is fun and Willie Nelson, in his film debut, is quite good in support. Unfortunately the plot never catches its stride and in fact the more it goes on the boring it gets.
Runtime: 2 Hours 1 Minute
Director: Sydney Pollack
Available: DVD, Blu-ray (Region B/2)
Posted in 70's Movies, Cold Climate/Wintertime Movies, Dry Humor, Revisionist Western, Romance
Tagged Entertainment, Jane Fonda, John Saxon, Movies, Review, Robert Redford, valerie perrine, Willie Nelson
Pete 'n' Tillie (1972)
4-Word Review: Marriage and then tragedy.
Tillie (Carol Burnett) is a 33-year-old secretary still looking for 'Mr. Right'. Her friend Gertrude (Geraldine Page) sets her up with Pete (Walter Matthau) a lifelong bachelor. The two don't hit-it-off initially, but the other prospects are so dim they decide to make a go of it, so they get married and have a kid (Lee H. Montgomery) only to then be faced with terrible news.
On the onset this may seem like a misfire. The viewer expects, especially with these two stars, a very broad comedy of which this is not. Instead the script, which is based on the novel 'Witches' Milk' by Pete De Vries, relies heavily on dry wit particularly through the dialogue, which on a low key level is quite funny. The attempt to create a sort-of unromantic romance that goes completely against what we've come to expect in most other romantic films is commendable and for the first hour or so it kind of works.
Matthau again shines by managing to make an unlikable character likable and even downright engaging while Montgomery is fun as the kid by playing a child that seems far more mature and sensible than his two parents. Burnett's performance though doesn't work as well. She's known for her hammy performances from her TV-show and yet here plays a more serious part that barely has much comedy to it at all. The scene where she screams up to the sky in a fit of rage over her son's death is her best moment, but overall her appearance here is largely forgettable.
Her character's motivations are confusing as well particularly with the way she jumps into marriage with a man she really doesn't like and who would repel most other women and then she decides to stay with him even as it becomes painfully clear that he's cheating on her. It just seemed that a reasonably attractive woman such as herself should have other male suitors to choose from, so why she sells-out for this one and sticks with him when others would run is not clear and the movie should've done a better job at answering this.
Geraldine Page's character seems completely out-of-sync with the proceedings. She's personally one of my favorite actresses and even though she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance here I didn't see what her presence added to the story. Having her pass out at a courthouse simply because she doesn't want to reveal her age gets rather exaggerated. The physical altercation that she has with Burnett afterwards does not fit the tone of the rest of the film, which tried to be low-key while this bit becomes over-the-top slapstick and completely out of place.
Had the film focused entirely on the courtship phase this thing could've been a winner as it has a nice dry offbeat touch. Even the melodrama of the second act I could handle, but the crazy antics of the third act don't work at all and the ending leaves no impact at all making this an interesting experiment that ultimately fails.
Director: Martin Ritt
Available: DVD-R (Universal Vault Series)
Posted in 70's Movies, Comedy/Drama, Dry Humor, Movies Based on Novels, Movies with Nudity, Romance
Tagged Carol Burnett, Entertainment, Geraldine Page, Lee H. Montgomery, Movies, Review, Walter Matthau