Movie Review: Harry And The Hendersons (1987)

A family-oriented fantasy comedy with some dramatic elements, Harry And The Hendersons carries an environment-friendly message in a fun and frantic package featuring a lovable monster.

Amateur hunter George Henderson (John Lithgow), his wife Nancy (Melinda Dillon) and their kids are on a family trip in the Northwest wilderness when they inadvertently strike a Big Foot-like creature with their car. Thinking that the oversized animal is dead they transport him back home to Seattle. But Big Foot (actor Kevin Peter Hall as the suit performer) is very much alive. He wakes up and unleashes chaos and destruction on the family home, before settling down and developing an affinity towards the family.

The Hendersons name their new houseguest Harry. He demonstrates caring emotions and proves to be a vegetarian and lover of animals, and his empathy rubs off on George. Meanwhile obsessed big game hunter Jacques LaFleur (David Suchet) and cranky academic turned crappy museum curator Dr. Wallace Wrightwood (Don Ameche) are desperately searching for Harry and closing in on the Hendersons. When Harry goes loose in Seattle, George has to find a way to save his new friend and restore order to his household.

Directed by William Dear, Harry And The Hendersons is a lightweight but enjoyable variation on E.T. This time it's the mythical Big Foot that proves to be more friendly pet than alien threat, but otherwise the same primary theme of learning to live together despite (huge, in this case) superficial differences dominates Harry.

Dear also co-wrote the script, and it tilts towards some broad slapstick comedy, as well as a more clearly defined villain in the form of dogged hunter LaFleur. But as usual the more interesting quests are the quiet ones, and George's transformative journey is what ultimately matters. He starts the film as an avid hunter teaching his young son all about guns and killing animals. Along with his vegetarianism Harry's reaction to all the stuffed animals on the family walls is an alternative view of nature, nudging George towards a change of heart.

Harry And The Henderson is aided by a terrific Rick Baker monster creation. With his expressive face and lumbering stance, it's easy to develop affection towards Harry. Big Foot creates his own mischievous personality and helps carry the film over it's rather saggy midsection.

The performances are what can be expected in a relatively modest family entertainment package. Overacting is the flavour of the day from all involved, and the lack of nuance sometimes lowers the enjoyment level to sitcom standards. Not surprisingly, the film did spawn a television series.

Staying well within modest ambitions, Harry And The Hendersons is happy, harmless and hairy fun.

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Movie Review: Ladies In Love (1936)

A romantic comedy drama, Ladies In Love features an overpowered cast struggling with an underpowered script.

Three women move into a Budapest apartment as roommates. all looking for a better life. The poor but bright Martha (Janet Gaynor) is trying to get the attention of scientist Rudi (Don Ameche), but he is too preoccupied with his rabbit experiments to notice. Martha turns her attention to worldly magician Sandor (Alan Mowbray). Chorus girl Susie (Loretta Young) is seeking independence but falls under the spell of handsome nobleman Karl (Tyrone Power).

Yoli (Constance Bennett), who is less of a believer in love and is more about seeking riches, is carrying on an apparently loveless affair with John (Paul Lukas), and old but wealthy man. Their relationship gets complicated with the arrival of perky temptress Marie (Simone Simon) to distract John. The women experience ups and downs as they navigate the choppy waters of uncertain relationships.

Twentieth Century Fox threw almost all their stars into one film, and while the talent occasionally sparkles, they are hamstrung by a lacklustre script. Endlessly talky, limited to one theme and eventually tiresome, Ladies In Love explores women's romantic ambitions but fails to find a genuine spark.

The film does deserve credit for demonstrating courage as it conjures up a bittersweet ending. Not all the romances have fairytale endings, and indeed Susie's story takes her to a dark and near-tragic place. But otherwise Ladies In Love is very much stuck in its era. The women have no life outside of their obsession with men. Every scene features the women either trying to snare a man or endlessly talking about the imperative or consequences of succeeding or failing in landing a partner.

The limp screenplay claims to be an adaptation of a play by a Ladislaus Bus-Fekete, one of many pseudonyms for screenwriter Leslie Bush-Fekete. If there ever was a play, it appears to have never been produced. Director Edward H. Griffith adds nothing to the film, and keeps the action largely stage bound. The presumed Budapest setting provides a context for the assembly of exotic target men, but is otherwise wasted.

The talent-rich cast members do their best to pull the film towards respectability, and ensure that although the words are uninspired, they are delivered with conviction. Janet Gaynor in particular shines as the spirited Martha. Loretta Young and Constance Bennett quickly provide clear differentiation in the women's personalities. Tyrone Power, Don Ameche and Alan Mowbray are prominent among the men, and provide distinct shades of male behaviour, ranging from suave to possessive.

Lacking laughs and liveliness, Ladies In Love is largely listless.

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Movie Review: Trading Places (1983)

A social comedy set in the world of business, Trading Places is an early vehicle for Eddie Murphy's burgeoning talents and an entertaining romp through the lineage versus social environment debate.

In Philadelphia, filthy rich and racist brothers Randolph and Mortimer Duke (Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche) own a large commodities trading firm. To settle a bet about nature versus nurture, they decide to ruin the life of their firm's haughty general manager Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) while elevating streetwise bum Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) into his role. Valentine is bailed out of jail, installed in Winthorpe's swanky apartment, scrubbed down, provided with the services of butler Coleman (Denholm Elliott), and given free reign to run the firm.

Meanwhile, Winthorpe is framed for petty theft and drug trafficking, locked out of his apartment and has his accounts frozen. His fiancée Penelope (Kristin Holby) dumps him and he falls in with prostitute Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis), the only person to believe his story. Billy Ray thrives in his new environment while a desperate Winthorpe starts contemplating a life of crime. But once the two men learn of the Duke brothers' chicanery, they join forces and plot to turn the tables.

Directed by John Landis as a loose modernization of Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper, Trading Places followed 48 Hrs. to help launch Eddie Murphy into superstardom. The film enjoys plenty of laughs, foul language and a deep cast, while the Duke brothers enliven the villainy meter and present a boo-worthy representation of the worst that the 1 percent have to offer.

Murphy lets loose and dominates the film, easily upstaging the top-billed Aykroyd. The character of Billy Ray Valentine may be altogether implausible as a rough diamond too easy to polish from street bum to corporate suit, but Murphy makes the most of it, his motormouth and quick-witted presence overcoming any character gaps.

Trading Places is at its best in the scenes catapulting Billy Ray from a prison cell to the corner office, while Winthorpe is simultaneously drop-kicked from a cushy upper crust life to a prostitute's derelict apartment. The Dukes play the role of hidden puppet masters and dramatically change two unsuspecting lives, creating plenty of room for comedy. Billy Ray can't hide his instincts to steal property from his own new palatial home, while Winthorpe's downfall starts with a petty theft set-up at the stuffiest of men's clubs. As Winthorpe nears bottom, Ophelia offers hope that among the downtrodden, there is more and better humanity than within the ranks of back-stabbing crooks in suits.

The final third of the film gets away from Landis and drifts off-topic, leaving the social aspects dangling in search of more adolescent laughs. While the wild train ride featuring Winthorpe, Billy Ray and dirty tricks operative Clarence Beeks (Paul Gleason) is fun, it also has little to do with the premise. And Landis is caught with a climax on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange that may be technically feasible but proves beyond the director's capabilities to explain. Landis settles for not bothering, and is satisfied with a rush to retribution.

Despite moments of sloppiness Trading Places is edgy fun, a glossy rags to riches meets riches to rags laugh fest given extra spark by an emerging comic star.

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