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.

TV on DVD: Tracey Takes on... (The Complete Final Seasons)

Now Available on DVD



View Video Clips of Ullman's State of the Union

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Since Kay Clark-- the British bank teller who moved to California in order to become the caretaker of her invalid mother-- was acknowledged legally and due to copyright reasons as the only character wholeheartedly created by the show's star, it's Kay who made the lonely leap from FOX Network's The Tracey Ullman Show to HBO's eight time Emmy award winning smash Tracey Takes on...for its four season run.

Rounding out the rest of the series, the talented, diverse comical actress, singer, dancer, and chameleon-like force of nature that is Tracey Ullman-- along with her gifted writers-- crafted a roster comprised of eighteen primary and countless secondary main characters and this time without the limits of censorship and free from corporate sponsors, they relished in the freedom to go to the extreme in some truly daring sketches.

While E.R. was widely praised as the first narrative and solidly structured show that successfully juggled several plotlines in any given episode to make it suitable for those of the channel changer generation-- Tracey Takes On... essentially worked the same way.

However, unlike Saturday Night Live which kind of stayed current and then dumped a skit to run with whatever was next, Ullman revisited not just frumpy caregiver Kay Clark-- who teams up with Cheech Marin to experiment with marijuana to try and give her mom some pain relief only to test it out herself first-- but other characters' storylines that didn't always end with a comedic zing but an internal chuckle, picking up the narrative thread she dropped later on in the strangest of ways when her many characters found their lives colliding. Sometimes the humor is abandoned completely in favor of pathos or melancholy or getting a point across that she'll use later (for the sake of wit) down the road as the shows meander (mostly) in and around the two coasts of the United States.

Often inspired by those she's come into contact with working in La La Land like one of her early Hollywood agents blended together with the Menendez Brothers lawyer for the downright hideous character of attorney Sydney Kross who can bully death row inmates into doing what she wants or a real life cab driver named Chic-- Tracey Takes on... is loosely strung together by a given topic from "Loss," to "Agents" to "Dating," which she manages to skewer in the most intriguing of ways.

She does so by first opening with an interview styled confessional anecdote as Tracey Ullman herself-- in person and out of makeup, wigs, and fake teeth-- shares a story about each one before she tackles the subjects and all the possible meanings they could incorporate which definitely goes beyond what most of us would probably first come up with in an average game of Password, Scattergories or Taboo.

Although, watching this show just months after viewing the much more recent and vastly superior first season of Showtime's Tracey Ullman's State of the Union Season One (also released by Eagle Rock Entertainment) makes Tracey Takes on... seem noticeably dated and also far less vital than the comedy from State of the Union since in between her impressions of Dina Lohan and Helen Mirren on the latter, she managed to address some of the issues facing our globe but this aside, Tracey Takes on... is still impressive.

While unfortunately, I do have to admit that more than half of her characters were unlikable in this particular show and her impression of the Asian-American character Mrs. Noh Nang Ning struck me on the same cringe-worthy level as Mickey Rooney's in Breakfast at Tiffany's--and I do wonder if she would've made this decision today-- it's still a solid work of entertainment.

And this is mostly due to the extraordinary gifts of our leading lady for not just her incredible versatility but also the way she's able to move right into the demands of any given skit from portraying an Australian stunt woman whose dwarf husband had died, taking part in a rigorous Fosse like dance routine, singing her heart out, and then reenacting the finale of Titanic with Psych's Corbin Bernsen.

Although when it comes to Ullman, I'm still going to tune into her particular State of the Union far more often than Tracey Takes on... despite some great guest work and funny turns by a game Jennifer Jason Leigh and Helen Mirren just to name two-- it's enjoyable for fans of the comical actress who (much like this reviewer) have also relished her turns in the movies of Woody Allen and her willingness to take risks in offbeat projects like Nancy Savoca's Household Saints and Lawrence Kasdan's masterful I Love You to Death as well.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

New on DVD & Blu-ray for the Week of 2/22/09

Jen's Pick of the Week:

What Just Happened

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Enemy at the Door



Painted Lady



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What Just Happened




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DVD Review: Painted Lady (1997)

Brushes its Way From
Masterpiece Theatre To DVD
On 2/24/09

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Long before she was known as "The Queen"-- twice over (in The Queen and Elizabeth I) and aside from her recurring role in the critically lauded British import series Prime Suspect-- the blunt, attractive, and risk-taking Helen Mirren never shied away from daring work that showcased the inherently seductive sway she holds over men (a la The Thief, the Cook, His Wife, & Her Lover).

So while those who only know her as her royal highness may have a tough time seeing Mirren play a longer haired, sexy, nose-pierced, former junkie and Woodstock era rock sta--, she manages to disappear right into the role in Brideshead Revisited and Becoming Jane director Julian Jarrold's Masterpiece Theatre miniseries Painted Lady.

Upon first glance, it seems that Maggie Sheridan (Mirren) never moved past the free love and laid back lifestyle of her heyday as she works on new material with a much younger boy toy named Aiden (Karl Geary) in a rented guest house on a sprawling Irish country estate. However, when she hears a gunshot in the distance, Maggie rushes off to the main house to find the owner and father figure, Sir Charles Stafford murdered in what appears to be an art robbery gone terribly wrong as one of his paintings has been cut from the frame and removed.

Although she tells Detective Sergeant Fagan (Barry Barnes), "I make music, but I don't make a living," when he returns the next day for further inquiry, the audience has already ascertained that Maggie has a number of other skills hidden beneath her hippie exterior as she coolly took Charles Stafford's gun for her own and interrogated her boyfriend Aiden who fled on his motorcycle when the crime occurred.

Withholding details from the police and vowing to find out what really happened-- as a convict, Maggie Sheridan realizes she'd be unable to leave Ireland but our savvy heroine has kept a duplicate passport for years under her birth name which she uses to escape into London to visit her half-sister Susie (Lesley Manville).

An art expert who penned a book about Artemesia Gentileschi, Susie and her boyfriend Oliver (Michael Maloney as one of many men harboring a crush on Maggie) help Mirren's rock star pose as a wealthy and connected art dealer upon learning that not only was Stafford's missing painting possibly a Gentileschi but that the dangerous community of the seedy art underworld could somehow be involved.

Upon the realization that Stafford had recently taken out a large insurance policy on the paintings for the exact amount his troubled, off and on drug addicted son Sebastian (Iain Glen) owed to a deadly criminal, Maggie realizes she may be in slightly over her head as she and Sebastian find their lives at risk all in the name of art and money.

What starts as a straightforward robbery and homicide quickly gives way to a riveting mystery that-- true to form-- leads you down a number of possible paths involving a few shady characters before it throws you in another direction altogether from Prime Suspect 2 and veteran television screenwriter Allan Cubitt.

And although it takes a rather dark turn towards the end of the first part of the two episode miniseries--it nearly begs you to watch it as a marathon when one character's life hangs in the balance in a twisted scene that will have viewers looking away. Despite a few shocks here and there, it's an intelligent and high caliber mystery featuring a tremendous musical soundtrack (of what we assume are Maggie Sheridan's "songs") that stands out in my humble opinion as not only director Jarrold's most satisfying work thus far but a must-see for Mirren's fans who are only accustomed to her more recent royal work.

Although unrated, it's most likely the equivalent of a strong "PG-13" or light "R" due to some rather intense moments and sexual situations and Painted Lady-- which will hit shelves this coming Tuesday-- has been given an impressive digital transfer to DVD by Acorn Media and Granada International.



An acclaimed Masterpiece Theatre miniseries (which was shown both in 1998 and 2000 on PBS) that's been preserved in its 4:3 full screen aspect ratio with stereo surround and subtitles for the deaf or hearing impaired (or for fans who want to make sure they catch every word of the accented dialogue), Painted Lady which winds up at just around two hundred minutes on one beautifully packaged DVD also boasts a biography of the talented and diverse Mirren as well.

Helen Mirren

Inkheart (2009)

Now Available on DVD & Blu-ray

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Much like Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder described his role as "I'm a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude," director Iain Softley's Inkheart is a movie that plays off a book disguised as another book.

Upon its publication in 2004, bestselling author Cornelia Funke's Inkheart, spent "a total of 70 weeks on the [New York Times Bestseller] list" and was "translated into 37 languages." The first cinematic entry of her Inkwork trilogy-- Softley's film arrives in theatres today as a light snack for those awaiting the postponed release of the next installment of Harry Potter on the big screen this summer.

Originally a New Line Cinema presentation, now releasing domestically from Warner Brothers a.k.a. the same two studios responsible for both the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises, Inkheart seems like a natural fit for the production of a children's fantasy tale about characters dubbed "Silvertongues" who have the ability to bring the characters and events from the books they read aloud to life.

Obviously, the film and its original book by Cornelia Funke is meant as a celebration of children's literature, individual imagination, and the importance of parents reading books aloud to their children. However, nonetheless these valuable and worthwhile messages get a bit muddled via the contradictions of the plot which finds largely danger and unhappiness exiting the pages as characters vanish from the print and into our world in exchange for one of our own "humans" who get forced inside the binding to even out the transaction of fantasy switching into reality and vice versa.

The film begins as our hero Mortimer "Mo" Folchart (Brendan Fraser, upon whom Funke based the man) reads aloud to both his young daughter and loving wife, only to discover his cruel fate as a "Silvertongue" when his wife Resa disappears within the pages of Inkheart. Offering little in the way of an explanation as to his spouse's departure, we catch up with Mo several years later as the devoted book enthusiast and collector shares a love for the written word along with his now twelve year old daughter Meggie (Eliza Hope Bennett).

Although Meggie finds it odd that her father has never read aloud to her, she accompanies him on his continuous search for the increasingly rare and mysteriously disappearing copies of Inkheart. Fairly quickly, Mo manages to stumble on both the book and a man he'd read out of the text (played by Paul Bettany) who's as eager to get back into the pages of the book to be reunited with his wife (played by Bettany's real life love Jennifer Connelly in a brief cameo) as Mo is to return his wife to civilization.

As the men clash over the book and both try to dodge that terrifying master villain of Inkheart's book, Capricorn (Andy Serkis), Mo is grudgingly forced to bring Meggie up to speed on his perilous gift, only to discover that perhaps it's a familial trait. Eager to get Meggie away from Capricorn's clutches so that Mo can continue on his plight to bring his wife back, he journeys to bring the girl to stay with her estranged great-aunt Elinor (played by Oscar winner Helen Mirren).

Mirren, who mentioned in the production notes that she sought inspiration for the role from the "poet Edith Sitwell, who is famously quoted as saying that her hobbies were 'reading, listening to music and silence.'" An eccentric near-recluse who lives vicariously through the many collectible literary works she houses in her large estate, Mirren adds a great deal of blunt wit to the film, visibly having a ball and gleefully injecting Inkheart with some unexpected bursts of humor.

Featuring terrific cinematography and special effects which ultimately up the obvious "wow" factor of the work, sadly while it's creative and pro-literacy, its mixed message about the dangers of reading and words in general may confuse the youngest audience members who will also miss out on the many subtle literary references, textual jokes, and become frightened by some of its dark intensity.

Moreover, as the plot develops, Softley's interpretation of the novel-- penned by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire-- Inkheart evolves into an overwhelming homage to The Wizard of Oz both structurally and as one of many literary references laced throughout (and coupled with Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Arabian Nights, etc.). Additionally, it feels all too familiar, borrowing elements for numerous fantasy tales including not only the aforementioned classic titles but other genre related works of the past where suddenly books, paintings, toys, and board games spring to life as in The Pagemaster, Jumanji, etc.

Therefore, in the end, it's the type of film that made me seriously wish I'd read Funke's book instead in that--as far as I can tell-- the entire "focus" has changed from the idea of the Inkheart book in the film to the grandeur of Inkheart the movie. Or to use Downey's train of thought, we're more impressed with the "dude" being played than we are by the "dude" playing him or the movie's spectacle verses the content itself.

More specifically, we aren't invested enough nor develop enough of an understanding about the "story" within the story to feel as though Mo's Inkheart was anything more than a kiddie version of a Hitchcockian MacGuffin or "sword in the stone," which kind of defeats the purpose in wanting to inspire us to get lost in books.

Perhaps the world of the Inkheart story is better explained in the novel but sadly, much like Softley's overly chilly rendition of The Wings of the Dove, it's hard to feel that moved by many of the characters who all seem a bit bland next to the special effects, aside from the refreshing change of pace for Mirren who nails the eccentric diva role perfectly.

Read the Books of Cornelia Funke