Movie Review: Congo Crossing (1956)

Genre: Adventure  

Director: Joseph Pevney  

Starring: Virginia Mayo, George Nader, Peter Lorre, Michael Pate, Rex Ingram  

Running Time: 85 minutes  

Synopsis: The small West African country of Congotanga has no extradition laws, and therefore attracts fugitives from justice. Colonel Arragas (Peter Lorre) is the local law keeping an eye on all the shady characters, David (George Nader) is an honest land surveyor, and Dr. Gorman (Rex Ingram) runs a medical clinic. Into this milieu arrives the stunning Louise Whitman (Virginia Mayo), who is escaping accusations of murder. Her life is soon in danger, as David and slimy hitman Bart (Michael Pate) compete for her attention.

What Works Well: It's impossible not to admire the bravado of Virginia Mayo's Louise Whitman parading in a succession of jungle inappropriate outfits, challenging even the mosquitos to cease biting. Elsewhere Peter Lorre stumbles around reading from a different script, the vague Casablanca vibes spiked by vivid Technicolor and a preposterous plot about an instantaneous international border realignment sparked by a shifting river.

What Does Not Work As Well: This is a B-movie with rudimentary production values, plastic dialogue, overclocked torrid emotions, stock characters, and Miami subbing in for Africa. The action scenes are cheaply directed and edited, including two hilariously awful attacks on a river boat, one by screen dots representing insects and another by a group of mostly undefined gunmen. More bad men with guns appear for the climactic shootout, hiding behind bright red barrels boldly labeled "gasoline".

Key Quote:

Colonel Arragas (addressing newcomers): But alas, I'm also the custodian of the law! You have to behave my children - or I have you shot!

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Movie Review: One From The Heart (1982)

Genre: Romance  

Director: Francis Ford Coppola  

Starring: Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Nastassja Kinski, Raul Julia, Harry Dean Stanton  

Running Time: 107 minutes  

Synopsis: In Las Vegas, mechanic Hank and travel agent Frannie (Frederic Forrest and Teri Garr) are a bickering couple in a stagnant relationship. After one argument too many, they go their separate ways for one night, seeking romantic flings. Accompanied by his friend Moe (Harry Dean Stanton), Hank is infatuated by alluring circus acrobat Leila (Nastassja Kinski), while Frannie is pursued by performing pianist and waiter Ray (Raul Julia). The couple's promising affairs may have unexpected consequences.

What Works Well: Director Francis Ford Coppola's passion project reimagines Las Vegas on a studio lot as a pristine, vividly dreamy, and neon-drenched test ground for romantic commitments. Hank and Frannie's adventures over one night are narrated by the music of Tom Waites and Crystal Gale, with an emphasis on surrealistic visuals often superimposing the couple's emotionally attached but physically separated movements. Thematically, the narrative contrasts the thrill of novelty with the unheralded joys of a long-term commitment.

What Does Not Work As Well: The triumphant and audacious style is undermined by minimal content, flat characterizations, and flimsy emotions. The over-reliance on music to tell the story relegates the script to bullet points, exposing Hank and Frannie as uninteresting characters floundering in misguided expectations of change to salvage the relationship. Nastassja Kinski and Raul Julia fare worse as empty impressions of fantasy lovers. 

Key Quote:

Leila (to Hank): If you wanna get rid of a circus girl, all you've gotta do is close your eyes.

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Movie Review: Crossing Over (2009)

Genre: Mosaic Drama  

Director: Wayne Kramer  

Starring: Harrison Ford, Ashley Judd, Ray Liotta, Jim Sturgess, Alice Eve, Mahershala Ali  

Running Time: 113 minutes  

Synopsis: In Los Angeles, illegal immigrants either evade the law or do what they can to obtain legal status: 

• Veteran Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Max Brogan (Harrison Ford) reluctantly arrests Mexican factory worker Mireya (Alice Braga), who gets lost in the system while he has to care for her young son.

• Brogan's partner Hamid has a sister Zahra, whose behaviour clashes with her immigrant family's traditional values.

• Australian wannabe actress Claire (Alice Eve) falls into the clutches of corrupt immigration officer Cole (Ray Liotta), whose wife Denise (Ashley Judd) is a well-meaning lawyer trying to find a home for a Nigerian girl held in a detention centre. 

• Claire's notionally Jewish musician friend Gavin (Jim Sturgess) tries to exploit his religion to secure a visa. 

• 15-year-old Taslima is from a Bangladeshi family, and causes a stir at school for an essay about the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. FBI agents descend on her home and identify Taslima's parents as illegal aliens.

• South Korean teenager Yong Kim comes from an immigrant family, but falls in with gang members and jeopardizes his future.

What Works Well: This brisk and engaging multi-story drama tackles the desperate plight of illegal immigrants from various corners of the globe, living at society's margins and unified by the desire to make the United States their new home. Without sacrificing emotional depth, writer and director Wayne Kramer's excels in keeping the wide-ranging and cross-cutting plot lines coherent. Families at risk of being torn apart and individuals willing to sell their soul all interact (reluctantly) with an imperfect, strained, and at times exploitative system, as the mini-stories work their way to a satisfying range of resolutions.

What Does Not Work As Well: With six worthwhile stories unfolding simultaneously and within a relatively short running time, it is understandable that most of the characters are drawn quickly and remain confined to limited arcs. 

Key Quote:

Claire (to Gavin): We can't make a go of it without status. I've got to get legal and so do you.

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Movie Review: To The Devil A Daughter (1976)

Genre: Occult Horror  

Director: Peter Sykes  

Starring: Richard Widmark, Christopher Lee, Denholm Elliott, Nastassja Kinski, Honor Blackman  

Running Time: 92 minutes  

Synopsis: In London, occult author John Verney (Richard Widmark) accepts a request from Henry Beddows (Denholm Elliott) to hide Henry's daughter Catherine (Nastassja Kinski). She was raised as a nun in seclusion by excommunicated priest Father Rayner (Christopher Lee), who has plans to unleash a version of Satan with a ceremonial baptism on Catherine's 18th birthday. John has to protect Catherine and find a way to stop Rayner's plot.

What Works Well: This low-budget Anglo-German Hammer adaptation of Dennis Wheatley's book benefits from a high caliber cast. A beady-eyed Christopher Lee revels as a dark side priest, Denholm Elliott is sweaty and flustered as a father trapped in a Faustian pact, Richard Widmark is serviceable, and Nastassja Kinski suitably mysterious. Director Peter Sykes conjures up some effective moments of sexualized suspenseful disgust. 

What Does Not Work As Well: Some plot details appear to be either incoherent or made up on the fly, the sinister conspiracy is barely explained, and after 20 years of plotting and with apparent supernatural powers at their disposal, the evil doers are all too easily stumped by a stuffy author. The budget limitations are exposed by choppy or inconsistent audio, editing, and cinematography.

Key Quote:

Verney: 98 percent of so-called Satanists are nothing but pathetic freaks who get their kicks by dancing naked in freezing church yards. They use the Devil as an excuse for getting some sex. But then there's that other two percent. I'm not so sure about them.

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Movie Review: Stanley & Iris (1990)

Genre: Romance  

Director: Martin Ritt  

Starring: Robert De Niro, Jane Fonda, Swoosie Kurtz, Martha Plimpton, Stephen Root  

Running Time: 104 minutes  

Synopsis: In suburban New England, widow Iris (Jane Fonda) works at a large baking factory. She meets Stanley (Robert De Niro), who works as a cook at the same facility, after he helps her scare off a purse snatcher. They strike up a friendship that evolves into a romance, until Iris discovers that Stanley does not know how to read or write. He is nevertheless helping his father through old age, while Iris is raising her teenaged daughter (Martha Plimpton), and housing her unemployed sister (Swoosie Kurtz).

What Works Well: This low key romance benefits from two reliable stars and a ramshackle small town blue collar milieu. With both Iris and Stanley dealing with economic strains and personal stresses, their romance is tentative, the plot progress taking time to uncover the hidden struggles of broken dreams, less than ideal childhoods, and pay cheque to pay cheque existence.

What Does Not Work As Well: Although Jane Fonda and Robert De Niro are watchable reading the phone book, this is almost what happens here as Iris decides to help Stanley read and write. The pacing is almost painfully slow, the secondary characters fail to register as meaningful, and after all the investment in the granular details of imperfect lives, the final act rushes towards a windfall resolution of all issues. 

Key Quote:

Stanley: I like you, Iris, just about as much as I love you.

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Movie Review: Jurassic World (2015)

Genre: Science Fiction Action  

Director: Colin Trevorrow  

Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D'Onofrio, Nick Robinson  

Running Time: 124 minutes  

Synopsis: Teenager Zach (Nick Robinson) and his younger brother Gray (Ty Simpkins) are dispatched by their mom Karen (Jane Greer) to a vacation at the Jurassic World island resort, where dinosaurs have been brought back to life through DNA technology. The boys' aunt Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) is Jurassic World's operations manager, and she is soon confronted by a crisis when Indominus Rex, the park's latest genetically engineered creation, breaks free and goes on a rampage. Claire has to team up with Velociraptor trainer Owen (Chris Pratt) to stop the carnage and protect her nephews, while corporate head of security Vic (Vincent D'Onofrio) spots an opportunity to test dinosaur weaponization.

What Works Well: The fourth installment in the franchise features a generally light-hearted and tween-friendly attitude, dinosaur versus dinosaur combat, and stock human villains with evil intentions to militarize dinosaurs. The action is maintained at a constant (and largely bloodless and goreless) level, the editing is mercifully coherent, a few quips of humour add buzz, and the special effects are good.

What Does Not Work As Well: The path of maximum risk is always the preferred path (for example, with a very angry massive dinosaur on the loose, let's not evacuate the park), character definitions are wafer thin, deaths generate no emotion, and interesting perspectives are summarily truncated (including those of the chief DNA scientist and the park's owner). 

Key Quote:

Owen (referring to Indominus Rex): That thing out there... that is no dinosaur.

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Movie Review: The Adventurers (1970)

Genre: Epic Drama  
Director: Lewis Gilbert  

Starring: Bekim Fehmiu, Ernest Borgnine, Candice Bergen, Fernando Rey, Alan Badel, Olivia de Havilland, Rossano Brazzi, Leigh Taylor-Young, Charles Aznavour  
Running Time: 177 minutes  

Synopsis: It's 1945 in (fictional) Corteguay, South America. With a violent revolution underway, ten-year-old Dax witnesses rape and slaughter. His nobleman father Jaime Xenos (Fernando Rey) is loyal to revolutionary leader Rojo (Alan Badel), who seizes power but quickly turns to corruption. Jaime is appointed ambassador to Italy, where Dax (Bekim Fehmiu) grows up as a driven young man. With Corteguay again in the grips of revolution, Jaime and Dax return to the country but are manipulated and victimized. Dax retreats to Europe with nothing and starts life over again as a gigolo, intent on achieving wealth to settle scores.

What Works Well: Packed full of incident, characters, and action, this epic and engrossing adaptation of the Harold Robbins novel (inspired by the life of Dominican diplomat and playboy Porfirio Rubirosa) leaves almost nothing out from the book. The scope and scale resemble a David Lean project, but without the polish. Director Lewis Gilbert excels in grand scenes of combat and ceremonial set-pieces featuring armies of extras, and does not flinch from the intense violence and sexual exploits that underpin Dax's emotional detachment. The powerful context nails the futility of caring about a troubled country in a constant state of upheaval, idealism devoured by corruption while the populace endures persistent misery.

What Does Not Work As Well: The editing can be messy, and while the script contains the occasional sparkle, the acting lacks subtlety and most of the the dialogue is obvious. At almost three hours in length, the middle act does drag.

Key Quote: 

President Rojo: A man must use what weapons he has to defend his country, Dax.

Dax: Treachery?

President Rojo: Treachery is a weapon.

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Movie Review: Postcards From The Edge (1990)

Genre: Dramedy  

Director: Mike Nichols  

Starring: Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine, Gene Hackman, Dennis Quaid, Richard Dreyfuss  

Running Time: 101 minutes  

Synopsis: Movie actress Suzanne Vale (Meryl Streep) is abusing drugs, and is eventually checked into rehab by her mother, Hollywood legend Doris Mann (Shirley MacLaine). After recovering, Suzanne moves in with her mother as an insurance requirement as she tries to rebuild her career with an unbecoming role in a low-budget film. She has to deal with her mother's alcoholic narcissism and a deceptive suitor (Dennis Quaid), but finds support from a caring director (Gene Hackman) and an emergency room surgeon (Richard Dreyfuss).

What Works Well: This adaptation of Carrie Fisher's semi-autobiographical book features two reliably excellent performances from Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine. The focus is on stardom-induced self-absorption translating into unintentional pressure passed down from mother to daughter, amplifying dysfunction in both generations. While the dramatic moments are genuine, director Mike Nichols also has fun portraying quirky on-set dynamics as Suzanne navigates the idiosyncrasies of directors and producers.

What Does Not Work As Well: A nonchalant attitude results in frivolous treatment of important topics, including addiction, parenting, workplace toxicity, and exploitive men. The absence of meaningful secondary characters and glorified cameos from Gene Hackman and Richard Dreyfus add to an overall sense of dismissiveness. Some bizarre narrative choices result in three songs being performed in full, betraying a lack of conviction in the core strength of the material.

Key Quote:

Doris: I was such an awful mother... what if you had a mother like Joan Crawford or Lana Turner?

Suzanne: These are the options? You, Joan, or Lana?

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Movie Review: Paris, Texas (1984)

Genre: Drama  

Director: Wim Wenders  

Starring: Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell  
Running Time: 147 minutes  

Synopsis: Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) walks out of the West Texas desert four years after abandoning his family. His brother Walt (Dean Stockwell) is summoned to fetch him, and the two men drive back to Los Angeles where Walt and his wife Anne (Aurore Clément) have been caring for Travis' son Hunter. After Travis tentatively re-establishes a bond with his child, he sets out to search for his wife Jane (Nastassja Kinski), who also disappeared four years prior. 

What Works Well: Director Wim Wenders and writer Sam Shepard take a long, and hard, look at the state of masculinity in the west. In the shape of Travis, they define a mostly silent crisis built on an inability to communicate and cohabitate, but also a deep conviction that a form of imperfect redemption is possible. Augmented by stellar Robby Müller cinematography and a comfortably nervous Ry Cooder music score, the desert terrain that forged a mythically heroic western persona now spits out a broken man who has lost everything but is still determined to make amends. In a career filled with character roles, Harry Dean Stanton achieves a captivating highlight as an emotionally battered average man, as does Nastassja Kinski as a young wife and mother doing what she must to survive.

What Does Not Work As Well: The final act is a compelling tour-de-force of vulnerability shared in separation, but also defaults to describing rather than showing the demons at the heart of Travis' crisis. 

Key Quote:

Jane (to Travis): I hear your voice all the time. Every man has your voice.

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Movie Review: The Hotel New Hampshire (1984)

Genre: Dramedy  

Director: Tony Richardson  

Starring: Jodie Foster, Rob Lowe, Beau Bridges, Nastassja Kinski, Wilford Brimley, Matthew Modine, Amanda Plummer, Wallace Shawn  

Running Time: 110 minutes  

Synopsis: It's the 1950s, and dreamer Win Berry (Beau Bridges) converts an abandoned school into a hotel. His teenaged children John (Rob Lowe) and Franny (Jodie Foster) are incestuously attracted to each other, while their brother Frank (Paul McCrane) comes out as gay. Bad-boy high school footballer Chip (Matthew Modine) inflicts a life-long trauma on Franny, and over the years the family endures many adventures, including a relocation to Vienna, and encounters with Win's friend Freud (Wallace Shawn), and a girl in a bear costume (Nastassja Kinski).

What Works Well: The adaptation of John Irving's novel is committed to an original assortment of unconventional characters, unexpected incidents, and challenging themes, riding on a foundation of tragedy as a foundation for life's journey. Death is the Berry family's constant, and often unexpected, companion, but this does not prevent the pursuit of dreams, pleasure, and sometimes miraculous achievements despite shocking setbacks. 

What Does Not Work As Well: In a case of stuffing too much of the book onto the screen, the outcome is too quirky for its own good, with serious incidents of rape, incest, terrorism, and suicide almost dismissively caught up in merriment. Director Tony Richardson rarely pauses long enough to allow true emotions to surface, and further degrades his work with some ill-considered and unworthy Benny Hill-like fast-motion sequences. 

Key Quote:

Multiple characters: Keep passing the open windows.

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