Movie Review: Honeymoon In Vegas (1992)

Genre: Comedy  

Director: Andrew Bergman  

Starring: Nicolas Cage, James Caan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Pat Morita    

Running Time: 96 minutes  

Synopsis: Four years after promising his dying mother (Anne Bancroft) that he will never marry, New York-based private investigator Jack Singer (Nicolas Cage) has studiously managed to avoid commitment. But when his girlfriend Betsy (Sarah Jessica Parker) issues an ultimatum, he agrees to marry her in Las Vegas. Professional poker player Tommy Korman (James Caan) falls in love with Betsy at first sight because she reminds him of his dead wife. He dupes Jack into losing $65,000 at a private poker game, and demands Betsy's company for the weekend as payment. Tommy and Betsy jet off to Hawaii, with Jack in hot pursuit to try to save his relationship.

What Works Well: The collective talent of Nicolas Cage, James Caan, and Sarah Jessica Parker is sufficient to maintain a base level of engagement. The Las Vegas and Hawaii settings offer decent eye candy, punctuated by the neat involvement of flying Elvis impersonators.

What Does Not Work As Well: Writer and director Andrew Bergman sacrifices character cohesion to serve the whims of a mostly moribund and always contrived script. Tommy oscillates between charming, clumsy, and mean; Betsy falls in and out of love every other scene; and Jack snaps from commitment phobe to desperate-to-commit in a heartbeat. Most of the laughs are ho-hum, and the obsession with Elvis impersonators grows stale. Pat Morita makes a welcome appearance as a taxi driver in Hawaii, but deserved a bigger role.

Key Quote:

Jack: People get married, and then they do the most hideous, unbelievable things to each other.



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Movie Review: Blue Collar (1978)

Genre: Heist Drama  

Director: Paul Schrader  

Starring: Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Kotto  
Running Time: 114 minutes  

Synopsis: In Detroit, car assembly line worker Zeke Brown (Richard Pryor) is experiencing financial hardship and is unhappy with the union leadership's dismissive attitude. His friend and co-worker Jerry (Harvey Keitel) is also struggling to provide for his family, while their colleague Smokey (Yaphet Kotto) has a hefty criminal record. The three disgruntled men plot a seemingly simple heist of the union office safe, but the outcome is not what they expect.

What Works Well: Writer and debut director Paul Schrader taps into working class frustrations and emerges with a forceful story of economic malaise, racial tensions, worker exploitation, and power imbalance. The themes are nurtured organically through the granular experiences of three ordinary men pushed into crime, where they find both less and more than they bargained for. Richard Pryor delivers an energetic career highlight in a mostly dramatic role, and is ably supported by Harvey Keitel and Yaphet Kotto. Assorted supervisors, union reps, and oily bosses represent an entrenched system, and Schrader punctuates the drama with sweaty images of life on the assembly line set to the thumping sound of Jack Nitzsche's Hard Workin' Man. 

What Does Not Work As Well: Smokey's backstory and personal life are deficient compared to Zeke and Jerry, and their wives are reduced to afterthoughts.

Key Quote:

Smokey (voiceover): They pit the lifers against the new boy and the young against the old. The black against the white. Everything they do is to keep us in our place.



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Movie Review: The Brink's Job (1978)

Genre: Heist Dramedy  

Director: William Friedkin  

Starring: Peter Falk, Peter Boyle, Warren Oates, Paul Sorvino, Gena Rowlands  

Running Time: 104 minutes  

Synopsis: In Boston of the late 1940s, life-long thief Tony Pino (Peter Falk) stumbles onto the headquarters of the Brink's armored car company, and finds it lightly guarded despite a reputation for being impregnable. He plots a heist to infiltrate the building and steal the safe contents. His co-conspirators include his dim brother-in-law Vinnie (Allen Garfield), fence Joe McGinnis (Peter Boyle), unhinged army veteran and self-proclaimed explosives expert Specs O'Keefe (Warren Oates), and daytime accountant Jazz Maffie (Paul Sorvino). The men are hardly competent, but the theft makes history.

What Works Well: Lovingly detailed glistening sets recreate mid-century Boston and breathe life into the true story of what was at the time the largest and most audacious robbery in the history of the United States. The sense of place complements a group of none-too-bright rogues and mavericks stumbling onto the theft of a lifetime, with an engaging Peter Falk as Tony Pino acting as the glue that binds the gang together.

What Does Not Work As Well: Despite the best efforts of a cast filled with sturdy character actors, the Walon Green script fails to build depth and settles for superficial representations. Director William Friedkin never gets the balance right between heist fundamentals, crime drama, and wry humour, and occasionally surrenders to unworthy slapstick. Already compromised by Falk's fading influence, the wayward third act is cluttered by the underdeveloped involvement of the FBI, and finally sunk by basic inattention to timeline clarity and important events. Gena Rowlands as Pino's wife Mary is sadly sidelined.

Key Quote:

Tony (to Mary): The building is asleep, and all that money is in there, and they're being held prisoner. And it's screaming at me through the walls. And it's yelling "Hey Tony, come in and grab me! Get me outta here!"



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Movie Review: The Last Boy Scout (1991)

Genre: Buddy Action Thriller  

Director: Tony Scott  

Starring: Bruce Willis, Damon Wayans, Halle Berry  

Running Time: 105 minutes  

Synopsis: In Los Angeles, former Secret Service agent Joe Hallenbeck (Bruce Willis) is now a lowly private investigator. His wife Sarah is having an affair, and his teen daughter Darian hates him. Joe inherits an assignment to protect stripper Cory (Halle Berry), but she is soon gunned down. He teams up with Cory's boyfriend Jimmy Dix (Damon Wayans), a disgraced former star quarterback, to investigate. They uncover a plot mixing blackmail, political corruption, and sports betting, with pro football team owner Shelly Marcone and senator Calvin Baynard deeply involved.

What Works Well: The Joe Hallenbeck character is a terrific throwback to deeply flawed film noir protagonists convinced that societal darkness is closing in. Bruce Willis wears the role like a trench coat on a dark rainy night, and revels in writer Shane Black's often razor sharp and eminently quotable script. The interplay between Willis and Dix is smooth as they build rapport, chase down smug baddies, and clash with goon armies, while director Tony Scott generates and sustains admirable levels of stylish energy. 

What Does Not Work As Well: The excessive coarse language is eventually numbing and starts to betray a lack of imagination, and Joe's ability to talk himself out of tight situations is overused and wears thin. The plot gallops from incredulous to ridiculous, with the final third just a blur of repetitive and continuous car chases, gunfire, punch-ups, stunts, and near-misses. Behind Willis and Wayans, the secondary characters are disposable sketches, and Joe's young daughter (played by Danielle Harris) is the best that writer Black can come up with in the form of a relatable female role.

Key Quote:

Joe: All private detectives are scumbags.



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Movie Review: Weekend At Bernie's (1989)

Genre: Comedy  

Director: Ted Kotcheff  

Starring: Andrew McCarthy, Jonathan Silverman, Catherine Mary Stewart, Terry Kiser  

Running Time: 97 minutes  

Synopsis: Junior analysts Larry and Rick (Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman) uncover financial irregularities at the giant Manhattan-based insurance company where they work. Their boss Bernie Lomax (Terry Kiser), who is secretly pilfering the money, invites the young men to his Hamptons house for the weekend with intentions to kill them, but his Mafia associates murder him instead. At the Hamptons, Larry and Rick find Bernie's dead body but pretend that all is well, and proceed to enjoy a party weekend while Rick pursues a romance with intern Gwen (Catherine Mary Stewart).

What Works Well: Terry Kiser delivers one of the all-time-best performances as a movie corpse, and the few good laughs feature the dead Bernie's inopportune appearances at awkward moments.

What Does Not Work As Well: This is an interminable one-joke comedy mostly consisting of a corpse being shuffled from here to there and back again, with satire too haughty a concept for the juvenile antics. Brought to life (and death) by systemic over-acting, the witless script runs out of steam quickly and is hopelessly dependent on caricaturish behaviour and abject stupidity. The material leans heavily on poor taste and is probably hilarious for pre-teen boys (although the gag involving unintended necrophilia may mercifully fly over their head), but for everyone else, this is one long and lost weekend.

Key Quote:

Larry: What kind of a host invites you to his house for the weekend and dies on you?

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Movie Review: The Paper (1994)

Genre: Dramedy  

Director: Ron Howard  

Starring: Michael Keaton, Robert Duvall, Marisa Tomei, Glenn Close, Randy Quaid, Jason Robards  
Running Time: 112 minutes  

Synopsis: In Manhattan, Henry (Michael Keaton) is the dedicated Metro editor at the scrappy Sun newspaper. He is embarrassed when his team fails to cover a late-night and seemingly racially-motivated double-murder. Nevertheless Henry is being interviewed for a role at the prestigious Sentinel paper, a career move encouraged by his pregnant wife Martha (Marisa Tomei), a former reporter. Meanwhile Henry spars with rival editor Alicia (Glenn Close), who is dealing with personal financial issues, and managing editor Bernie (Robert Duvall), who has health concerns. When two innocent black youths are arrested in the double murder case, Henry sacrifices everything to uncover the truth, but he only has a few hours before the next edition goes to press. 

What Works Well: Taking place over roughly 24 hours, this is a madcap, high-energy, multi-storyline, humour-infused celebration of newspaper office dynamics. A malfunctioning air conditioning system, complaints about office chairs, petty coverage of parking disputes, career decision points, personal and family pressures, debates about which stories to cover, and the scramble to obtain photographs, all get in the way - or provide fuel for - the business of uncovering the truth and reporting on the biggest stories of the day. Ron Howard maintains a remarkably firm grip on the barely organized chaos, and an excellent cast invests in the disparate characters inhabiting the newsroom.

What Does Not Work As Well: A few too many long tracking shots within the newsroom creep into the final cut, and some of the attempts at humour degenerate into unbecoming physical slapstick or just pure shouting.

Key Quote:

Henry: A clipboard and a confident wave will get you into any building in the world!



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Movie Review: 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

Genre: Teen Comedy  

Director: Gil Junger  

Starring: Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Allison Janney  

Running Time: 97 minutes  

Synopsis: Anti-social Kat (Julia Stiles) and her younger flirty sister Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) attend the same Seattle-area high school. Their over-protective father (Larry Miller) stipulates that Bianca can only see boys if Kat is also dating. Classmate Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his rival Joey (Andrew Keegan), a self-absorbed but rich teen model, are both desperate to get close to Bianca. They decide to pay bad-boy Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) for the trouble of trying to get Kat interested in dating.

What Works Well: This busy reimaging of Shakespeare's The Taming Of The Shrew does not lack in ambition: multiple well-drawn characters energetically compete for space and time in pursuit of romance, high-school style. Most of the humour is sharp, Heath Ledger finds a highlight commandeering the public address system at the school's stadium, while Julia Stiles and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are other future stars shining in early roles. The conceited Joey strikes impressive poses in pursuit of oily villainy, and the energetic soundtrack features an eclectic rock mix.

What Does Not Work As Well: The obstacles placed in the path of Kat and Bianca's happiness by their father are contrived mechanisms to activate the plot. Director Gil Junger has trouble finding and maintaining cohesive focus: Cameron is introduced as the initial protagonist, but is eventually sidelined in favour of Patrick, who is late to join the proceedings. Cliques are introduced for no useful purpose, while Allison Janney as the dismissive guidance counselor fades away completely.   

Key Quote:

Patrick (to Cameron): See, first of all, Joey is not half the man you are. Secondly, don't let anyone, ever, make you feel like you don't deserve what you want. Go for it!



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Movie Review: Moonlight And Valentino (1995)

Genre: Drama  

Director: David Anspaugh  

Starring: Elizabeth Perkins, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kathleen Turner, Whoopi Goldberg  

Running Time: 105 minutes  

Synopsis: College poetry teacher Rebecca (Elizabeth Perkins) is devastated when her husband is killed by a car while jogging. She receives emotional support from her neighbour Sylvie (Whoopie Goldberg); younger sister Lucy (Gwyneth Paltrow); and ex-stepmother Alberta (Kathleen Turner). Sylvie's marriage is in trouble, Lucy is a morose loner with body image insecurity, and Alberta is an unlikeable Wall Street executive. The months pass, and Rebecca finally perks up when a handsome housepainter (Jon Bon Jovi) appears in the neighbourhood.

What Works Well: The talented cast delivers reliably steady performances, achieving small victories for quiet moments of discomfort and dry humour. The idyllic wealthy suburban setting is quaint.

What Does Not Work As Well: Based on the autobiographical book by Ellen Simon (Neil's daughter), this is an aimless and listless drama. Beneath the soft focus packaging is an unconvincing exploration of grief involving poorly defined characters who fail to transition from glib to genuine. The pacing is languid, few if any insights register, and some late-in-the-day revelations appear out of nowhere and smack of narrative desperation. 

Key Quote:

Alberta: I'd rather imagine a man than know him for sure.

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Movie Review: Teen Wolf (1985)

Genre: Creature Comedy 

Director: Rod Daniel  

Starring: Michael J. Fox  

Running Time: 91 minutes  

Synopsis: High schooler Scott (Michael J. Fox) is noticing some uncomfortable changes in his body. An average basketball player on the school's lousy team, he ignores the attention of girl-next-door Boof and pursues the more glamorous Pamela, although she already has a boyfriend. When Scott discovers that he can transform into a werewolf, his father explains that this is a family legacy. Scott-as-a-wolf is an awesome basketball player, and his team becomes dominant, but fame and popularity come at a price.

What Works Well: Michael J. Fox brings a winning personality to the central role, and rides the hairy ups and downs with natural appeal. The school society's easy acceptance of a werewolf in their midst provides a cool undercurrent, while Coach Finstock (Jay Tarses) maximizes the impact of his few scenes by mastering low-energy comic irreverence. 

What Does Not Work As Well: This defanged extrapolation of An American Werewolf In London and Michael Jackson's Thriller leverages the popularity of werewolves at the lowest possible budget. Here the creatures are reduced to a bad mask and a bit of fur on the hands, and they otherwise go about their business like everyone else. Director Rod Daniel has one surfing-on-top-of-a-van trick up his sleeve, and deploys it twice, to the same music. The "be yourself" theme is handled with the subtlety of incessant howling at the moon, while the antics of Scott's friend Stiles are sometimes funny but ultimately irrelevant and occupy excessive time and space.

Key Quote:

Coach Finstock: There are three rules that I live by: never get less than twelve hours sleep; never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city; and never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body. Now you stick to that, and everything else is cream cheese.

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Movie Review: Hackers (1995)

Genre: Crime Dramedy  

Director: Iain Softley  

Starring: Jonny Lee Miller, Angelina Jolie, Lorraine Bracco  

Running Time: 107 minutes  

Synopsis: As an 11 year-old, computer genius Dade unleashed a virus that disrupted financial networks worldwide. Now 18 and recently relocated to New York City, Dade (Jonny Lee Miller) meets the hacker community at his new school, including Kate (Angelina Jolie), Phreak, Cereal, Nikon, and Joey. While hacking a global conglomerate to prove his credentials, Joey inadvertently exposes the criminal activity of a computer security officer known as The Plague (Fisher Stevens), who has high-level contacts with the Secret Service. Dade, Kate, and their friends have to join forces to help Joey and expose the conspiracy.

What Works Well: This hybrid techno crime thriller romance includes doses of knowing humour, and is packaged within a distinctive cyberpunk-meets-skatepark milieu, the surreal outfits and set designs evoking surplus Blade Runner inventory. The Rafael Moreu script provides Dade with a decent-enough backstory.

What Does Not Work As Well: Hacking is reduced to cartoon-level pop-up screens and abstract video game imagery, while beyond the rad look of high-schoolers competing to out-cool each other, the plot is both incomprehensible and preposterous. The performances are just the one notch above high school year-end play material.

Key Quote:

Dade: Mess with the best, die like the rest.



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