Olive Films Blu-ray Review: Mermaids (1990)

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From the firing of filmmakers Lasse Hallstrom and Frank Oz as well as the lawsuit that resulted from actress Emily Lloyd’s dismissal on the second day of the shoot (all after alleged clashes with Cher), in anyone else’s hands the offscreen turmoil surrounding the Oscar winner's 1990 vehicle Mermaids could've easily overwhelmed the drama that unfolded onscreen.

Yet when you consider that the 1960s period piece based on Patty Dann’s eponymous novel centers around an impulsively free-spirited single mother of two famous for her packing up and leaving men and homes behind as soon as conflicts arise, perhaps any clashes that might’ve happened on set just further anchored Cher in her role.

Featuring an equally excellent Winona Ryder in a pivotal turn which garnered the actress her first Golden Globe nomination and helped usher in her transition into more adult roles, in Mermaids Ryder stars as Cher's socially awkward introverted daughter Charlotte who rebels against her mother’s flirtatious and flighty ways with a fierce commitment to Catholicism.

A frequent sparring partner to her mother whom she refers to as Mrs. Flax throughout the film, Charlotte is long-past finding her mother’s penchant for everything from affairs with married men to her compulsive need to serve most of her meals appetizer-style on sticks charming.

Protective of her younger sister Kate (played by Christina Ricci in her first role), teenage Charlotte –who also serves as the film’s narrator – is soon tempted out of a life of celibacy after she catches sight of Joe (Sixteen Candles star Michael Schoeffling), the handsome caretaker of the women’s newest home on convent property in Massachusetts.

Like an orchestra conductor striving to balance all the highs and lows while keeping everyone in the right key, My Favorite Year and Racing With the Moon helmer Richard Benjamin does his best to meld the at times darkly comedic, almost Gothic edge of Dann's book and script by June Roberts with the picture’s lighter moments.

Though its second act threatens to spin out of control most likely due to missing scenes involving Charlotte that must’ve been left in either an earlier draft of the script or on the cutting room floor, the film’s performers remain consistently authentic.

And this is especially true of brilliant British character actor Bob Hoskins, whose role as a Jewish shoe salesman and amateur painter from the midwest with a heart as big as the sea offers unexpected laugh filled harmony to his scenes with love interest Cher.

But as great as Hoskins is in Mermaids, Benjamin knows that the film's real love story is between the mother and her daughters and he directs the hell out of the title’s bittersweet third act, before a trendy, tacked on ‘80s kitchen dance party scene tries to meander it into Big Chill territory. Fortunately in spite of that, Cher and Ryder ensure that it swims to the surface.

One of many female coming-of-age movies of the era, now that it's been released on Blu-ray by Olive Films in time for Mother’s Day, Mermaids would fit right in as part of an impromptu Girl’s Night Film Festival of underrated titles alongside Man in the Moon, Mystic Pizza, Rich in Love, and Gas Food Lodging, just to name a few.

Text ©2018, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited and in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I may have received a review copy or screener link of this title in order to voluntarily decide to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique.

Blu-ray Review: Mona Lisa (1986)

Even if a client requests her back, high class call girl Simone (Cathy Tyson) has no illusions about their relationship, telling her new driver George (Bob Hoskins) that “sometimes they fall for what they think I am.”

And quite possibly, had recently released ex-convict George been listening much more closely to Simone, he wouldn't have gotten as “In Too Deep,” as the film's gorgeous Genesis track reminds us while serving as an inner monologue for Hoskins' antihero character.

Or maybe for George, the problem was just the opposite. Namely, despite the fact that he hung on every single word Simone shared, somewhere deep inside – no doubt deluded by a deepening affection for the woman – George felt that this time it was different.

Given a “bleeper” by the sleazy crime boss Mortwell (Michael Caine) on whom he never rolled over to lessen his prison sentence and sent to escort the “tall thin black tart” from one hotel or posh flat to the next, George wasn't one of Simone's clients but rather caught up somewhere between life as her employee and her partner.

Yet even though the two initially got off on the horribly wrong foot with George misunderstanding that in addition to being Simone's chauffeur he was also supposed to play the role of her beard or date, sipping drinks in lobby bars while he waited for her to finish her transactions, soon the two outsiders began to transcend their differences, thrown together by both their loneliness as well as their innate understanding of one another.

However, their dynamic, which to George at least has started to deepen considerably, threatens to explode after Simone hires George to try and track down a younger prostitute about whom she's desperately worried.

And in the process, filmmaker Neil Jordan's Oscar nominated and multiple award winning work begins to wander ever so slightly into the same terrain as Scorsese's Taxi Driver along with twinges of Bunuel's Belle du Jour as Hoskins' George explores the seedy underbelly of London's sex trade.

But because Jordan is overall far more fascinated by the relationships of his lead characters rather than any desire to turn the admittedly dark effort into just another British crime picture in the tradition of Hoskins in Long Good Friday or Caine in Get Carter, he remains true to George and Simone's plight throughout.

Of course, given the players involved and the world in which we’re navigating alongside George in Neil Jordan and David Leland’s screenplay, it’s inevitable that the action will escalate into a sudden burst of gun violence in an old-fashioned Film Noir standoff handled in an unromantic matter-of-fact way.

The violent showdown is admirably executed by Jordan following some clumsily over-the-top handling of George’s ultimate realization about Simone’s true goal, which is dragged out a little too much as the two characters pull each other around the boardwalk in childish sunglasses in a tonally awkward confrontation that never fails to make me cringe each and every time.

Nonetheless, to Jordan’s immense credit, since the emphasis was always on the “journey” instead of the finish line, we’re therefore more wrapped up in the emotional impact than the one presented to us via bullets and bloodshed.

Thus aside from the penultimate misstep, Mona Lisa stands head and shoulders above a majority of other underworld prostitute dramas, due to its obsession with character-driven plotting and emphasis on realism in a film that helped usher in cross-genre UK films such as My Beautiful Laundrette to introduce us to other points-of-view as well as foreshadow some of the thematically similar and intelligently produced material that Jordan would deliver over the next two decades.

One of four pictures from former Beatles musician turned movie producer George Harrison’s company HandMade Films to arrive on Blu-ray recently in an impressive high definition transfer, Mona Lisa makes a particularly fascinating companion piece to watch directly following The Long Good Friday to illustrate the unparalleled charisma of Bob Hoskins onscreen.


Text ©2010, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited and in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I received a review copy of this title in order to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique.

Blu-ray Review: The Long Good Friday (1979)

Quite possibly the best British crime film of all time, The Long Good Friday remains a staggeringly complex, startlingly violent, ingeniously paced, and technically dazzling work that continues to pack an explosive punch more than thirty years after its production ended in 1979.

And long before young filmgoers became introduced to Bob Hoskins as the serious straight man opposite the fast talking Roger Rabbit in the Hollywood smash, he turned in some truly masterful, understated performances as a sort of old-fashioned, authoritative descendant of the men who populated Warner Brothers gangster films in the 1930s and '40s.

Yet while it was his work in Neil Jordan's underworld saga Mona Lisa (which was also recently released on Blu-ray from Image Entertainment) that earned him an Academy Award nomination, he's in a class all his own as ambitious mobster Harold Shand in John Mackenzie's The Long Good Friday.

Determined to transform his shady “corporation” from illegitimate to legitimate with his plans to develop the docklands of London in time for the Olympic games, Harold and his longtime love Victoria (Helen Mirren) find their goals for wealth and respect threatened by a growing body count as his loyal crew members wind up dead one-by-one and bombs are discovered in his territory.

Uncertain whether or not he's in the midst of a gang war, needs to root out a traitor among his own ranks or if any of these explosive events have something to do with the arrival of a New Jersey mobster and his lawyer, essentially the only thing Harold knows for certain is that he's running out of time.

Sharply edited and lensed with some artistically daring decisions to change up perspective and make us feel as tense as Harold does throughout, whether that involves filming from upside down to illustrate the point-of-view of men hung on meat hooks from their ankles, the effect of a surprise slap across the face, or the doom of being taken on a one-way drive, it's moodily atmospheric, gritty and daring as hell.

Obviously a major influence on the oeuvre of Guy Ritchie among others, Friday is compelling from the get-go thanks largely to a taut and downright risky screenplay by playwright Barrie Keeffe (his first and only film script) that deals with race, class and sexual orientation in a blunt matter-of-fact manner in addition to Francis Monkman's chillingly pitch-perfect synthesizer based score.

While it's usually a thankless task to play the woman in a male-centric crime drama, Helen Mirren's quiet determination and unwavering loyalty is a marvel as her one-dimensional glamor girl character Victoria soon evolves into an increasingly fascinating and methodical second protagonist who is the absolute equal of Harold.

Boasting a nastily convincing performance by Pierce Brosnan in his feature film debut as a coolly detached hitman, Mackenzie's audacious criminal opus is given a scratch free, polished Blu-ray transfer that is sure to draw you in for the Long Good ride whether you've taken it before or are finally getting tuned in to Friday.


Text ©2010, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited and in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I received a review copy of this title in order to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique.

Blu-ray Review: Enemy at the Gates (2001)

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“I am a stone,” Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law) repeats meditatively while on sniper patrol in director Jean-Jacques Annaud’s most unusual World War II film-- 2001’s Enemy at the Gates.

Despite the way it soon veers into unique territory--shortly into the work there’s an obvious nod to the opening sequence of horrifically intense combat devastation that puts viewers right in the midst of battle as witnessed in Steven Spielberg’s bravura opener to Saving Private Ryan which was the most effective and tightest piece of cinematic craftsmanship contained in that particular film.

However, Annaud’s contemplative work fixates more on the individual experiences of Law’s “lone wolf” sharpshooter Zaitsev in a stark contrast to the more traditional devotion to one specific Band of Brothers that we’re repeatedly presented with throughout the genre.

Despite its absence of a traditional credit, the film co-written by Annaud and Alain Godard drew inspiration for the title from as Variety reports William Craig’s book by the same name which centered on “a duel between a Russian shepherd and a German nobleman during the Battle of Stalingrad (1942-43)." Yet when the screenwriters discovered several differing accounts throughout the official Zaitsev files, they decided to employ artistic license in basing the work on actual individuals but presenting the narrative in a way they saw fit.



Much to its benefit, this decision resulted in the creation of an ideal rival for Zaitsev’s sensitive but naturally gifted shooter who’s racked up well over two hundred kills. The "villain" of the piece arrives in the form of Ed Harris’s brilliantly acted (yet most likely composite character) Major Konig who is brought over from Germany to try and put a stop to Zaitsev. His goal in doing so is not just because of Zaitsev's talent but because he’s been crafted into a Russian propagandist folk hero in order to rally Stalingrad into what would become one of the greatest turning points of the battle to halt Hitler’s Germany from gaining even more territory.

However, on the less effective "creative invention" side, the film fumbles in its development of a believable and engrossing love triangle. Although again they based the participants on real people including Law’s Zaitsev who was in fact romantically linked to Rachel Weisz’s highly educated scholar turned soldier Tania-- and you can never go wrong by inserting a Fiennes brother into the romantic mix (in this case Shakespeare in Love’s smoldering Joseph)—the movie screeches to a halt whenever this becomes the main focal point. It's exacerbated sadly by the awkward dialogue with which Fiennes’s political soldier turned expert journalistic propagandist Commisar Danilov is saddled that weakens his characterization considerably.

Following a breathtaking and overwhelming battle sequence that rivals Saving Private Ryan for its authenticity and ability to transport us right into the start of the earliest battles in Stalingrad as soldiers are ominously advised that one man will get a rifle and the other one will follow until the first dies and he takes over—Zaitsev and Danilov encounter one another underneath a pile of corpses.

While the nervous yet determined Danilov secures a rifle-- determined to pick off a handful of German soldiers to avenge the deaths of the hundreds of his comrades within close range-- the lower-ranking Zaitsev intervenes, offering whispered advice, admitting he can shoot “a little” before he takes over the assault. And in a dazzling feat of bravery, he manages to stay calm under pressure in his stoic or stone like level-headed approach, executing them coolly and quickly at precisely the same moment explosions go off to ensure their survival.



Forming an instant brotherly bond and intellectually daring to go against the traditional wisdom of trying to use fear and threats to spur his countrymen onward, Danilov decides that in the darkest time what Stalingrad really needs is hope and a hero in which they can believe. Working in tandem with Zaitsev as they respond to scores of fan letters-- sort of like an early, war-time version of an agent or PR man and similarly in a way that makes them seem at times like one individual with two heads—Danilov continues his mission by printing off a series of articles complete with tallies of Germans killed, and photogenic black and white hero shots of Zaitsev.

While the more humble Zaitsev worries that his friend is exaggerating his skills far too much and he can’t possibly live up to the legend circulating throughout the ranks that garners a favorable response from Bob Hoskins’ Nikita Kruhushchev—he’s persuaded by Danilov that he believes in him completely. Although the highly effective propagandist tool instantly gives everyone something to believe in and the idea that they can stop the menacing force of Hitler’s better-equipped and more experienced soldiers, it also raises not just Zaitsev’s anxiety level but the stakes as well when Germany sends in Harris’ daunting Konig to take him down.

Despite the fact that this is a stellar set-up and that Weisz is always a welcome presence, Enemy at the Gates loses its momentum when Danilov and Zaitsev set their sights (romantic rather than rifle-based!) on Tania which finds Danilov growing increasingly more unlikable as the lovely Weisz gravitates physically and emotionally to Law’s quiet sniper.

Like a one-man roller-coaster, Fiennes’ Danilov soon resorts to foolish attempts to try and point out Zaitsev’s inferior education and their differences in class as reasons why his own survival as well as Tania’s are far more important than Zaitsev that goes against his earliest character development.



And while personally this seemed merely unpleasant and implausible as the film moved along and Danilov became so irrational that he felt more suited to a weekday soap opera-- intriguingly and with solid logic-- The New York Times pointed out that (although I feel it was probably not their intention) his evolution personality-wise “comes close to anti-Semitic caricature,” which “evokes some ugly, ancient prejudices,” that nonetheless even the journalist notes was most likely not the purpose of writers Annaud and Godard.



However, much to his credit--while quietly Harris manages to steal the whole movie especially in a series of escalating sequences where he bribes a child he knows is working both sides for information-- Fiennes soldiers on indeed. Surviving the enemy of the ridiculous of script, his performance is an admirable achievement that seriously displayed his first-rate skills opposite a (then) newcomer Jude Law whose mind-boggling talent has grown over time and was best evidenced in another “cat and mouse” effort opposite Michael Caine in Kenneth Branagh’s remake of Sleuth.

Still upon seeing it again for the first time since it’s theatrical run and aside from the fact that the romantic plot should’ve been caught in the crosshairs of a sniper in its screenplay form--there’s more than enough plot here for the filmmakers to utilize for the film that salvages it and then some.

While the sound balance is a bit off and you find yourself reaching to adjust the volume often to find a suitable mixture of explosions and dialogue, the Blu-ray which also contains some standard edition bonus features is most effective as a sort of chess match. Or, a war film as whittled down to its essence as many have likened—a “cat and mouse” situation as Law and Harris are filmed in extremely tight, blue-eye filled close-ups which comprise an eerie mirror image as they try to find an opening for a clear shot, reminding themselves like Law’s “I am a stone” mantra to remain perfectly still in the meantime.



Yet in spite of its structural flaws and a score that sounds all too familiar (Schindler’s List and Private Ryan came to mind but if anyone knows what it is, e-mail me since it’s driving me nuts), the film succeeds in its unusual approach. Instead of fixating on a group dynamic, comprising it as a man verses man battle-- not to mention featuring a woman in the part of a soldier as opposed to a worried wife-- and centering it in Stalingrad helps make Gates highly entertaining and quite distinct in a crowded sea of WWII movies.

Working with his The Lover cinematographer Robert Fraise in this exquisitely beautiful picture—that save for a few noticeable blood splatters which hit the lens and thus pulls you out of the moment, calling attention to the work as a “movie”—it’s a striking achievement in its sheer scope as the most expensive British production ever made (upon its release) and one that offers a unique Russian point-of-view of the fight to save Stalingrad.

Although at times the colors seem a bit soft in the visual transfer-- which if memory serves correctly were originally present in the film print as well since they were shooting without a large emphasis on artificial light to keep everything naturalistic with some tension filled moments of hand held battle shots—the Blu-ray excels in its three-dimensional picture quality.

Moreover, this is evident right from the start as the soldiers attempt to stay alive huddled in boats as they cross the sea only to struggle to stay alive on land in one of Annaud’s most riveting sequences that fortunately is addressed in a bonus feature indicating just how many explosions were actually going off (triggered by stunt men) at the time to fully immerse the actors, filmmaking team, and indeed the audience in what the chaos of war is like.

And while here, his film does as mentioned earlier draw comparisons to Ryan and several other epic battle pictures—Gates seriously entices once it settles into a suspenseful and more intimate (yet no less deadly) exploration of the side of the war waged by snipers who must stay awake for hours or days waiting for the right moment to squeeze the trigger before the other one does it first. Hence, "I am a stone. I am a stone."

Hollywoodland

Director: Allen Coulter

HBO director Allen Coulter (Sopranos, Sex and the City) made his film debut with this highly stylized noir based on the mysterious true events surrounding the death of George Reeves, the actor who was famous to millions of American families for his role as TV’s Superman. However, after the man of steel proves that he is not faster than a speeding bullet after all when found dead of a supposedly self-inflicted gunshot wound, other facts come to light indicating that the “suicide” may in fact have been murder. Fame and fortune hungry sleazy private detective Adrien Brody goes on the case uncovering some of Reeves’s dirty little secrets including his long-time affair with Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), the married wife of MGM studio boss (Bob Hoskins) and his relationship with the younger, manipulative, sexy and possibly dangerous fiancé at the time of his death, Leonore Lemmon (Robin Tunney). The film, which benefits greatly from not only the aforementioned performers but most notably from the impressively mature and astute performance of Ben Affleck as Reeves who proves once and for all to those who’d written him off in the past that he is a truly gifted performer, earning several nominations for the role including an award as Best Actor from the Venice Film Festival (giving him some promising early Oscar buzz that unfortunately never paid off). While it was never Coulter’s and screenwriter Paul Bernbaum’s intention to make Hollywoodland turn into a Reeves biopic, the finished product, while based on some intriguing facts, does end up as a relatively uneven and unsuccessful noir that works best when dealing exclusively with the flashbacks of Reeves and the questionable characters and events that surrounded his demise. However, too much time is spent on the usually excellent Adrien Brody, who was unfortunately given a clichéd role that bogs the film down with a far less fascinating storyline as he comes off as a sort of Humphrey Bogart meets Sam Spade archetype that calls more attention to itself as a cinematic noir entry when it should’ve been a far more natural and involving mystery in its own right. Overall, the actors save the film and keep viwers riveted, especially thanks to the female turns by the dominating and underappreciated Tunney and a fearless Lane as the vulnerable older woman. When the movie ended, however, I found myself doing some independent research on the Reeves mystery as the film, while well-constructed, ends up raising more questions than offering any kind of answer or resolution, opting instead to be just simply a showcase of mostly smoky noir-esque mood cinematography and shady characters.