Movie Review: The Getaway (1994)

Genre: Crime Thriller  

Director: Roger Donaldson  

Starring: Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, Michael Madsen, Jennifer Tilly, James Woods, Richard Farnsworth, Philip Seymour Hoffman  

Running Time: 116 minutes  

Synopsis: Master thief "Doc" McCoy (Alec Baldwin) and his wife Carol (Kim Basinger) join fellow criminal Rudy (Michael Madsen) to free a drug cartel member, but after the job Rudy abandons Doc, who spends time in a Mexican jail. Carol trades sexual favours with crime lord Benyon (James Woods) in exchange for Doc's freedom, and Benyon again partners Doc with Rudy to hold up an Arizona dog racing track. The theft turns violent, Rudy attempts a double-cross, but Doc and Carol end up with the heist money and on the run to El Paso, hotly pursued by Rudy and Benyon's men.

What Works Well: This faithful remake of the 1972 Sam Peckinpah original offers sun-scorched southwest locations, well-staged action scenes, and an enjoyable collection of bad and worse criminals doggedly plotting against each other. Kim Basinger is a significant upgrade on Ali MacGraw, and the heat between real-life couple Baldwin and Basinger is intensified by Doc's understandable annoyance at his wife's sexual liaison with Benyon. 

What Does Not Work As Well: While the production is slick and competent, it's also hard to justify. Alec Baldwin tries to exude a sense of cool but is no match for Steve McQueen, and many of the weaknesses carry over from the original. These include Rudy's cartoonish ability to escape death, and his prolonged side-quest romance with a veterinarian's lusty wife (Jennifer Tilly). Doc's pursuit of an unworthy low-level train station thief only serves to prolong the running time.

Key Quote:

Rudy Travis: It's been my experience that having friends is overrated.

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Movie Review: Bullets Over Broadway (1994)

Genre: Comedy  

Director: Woody Allen  

Starring: John Cusack, Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Tilly, Chazz Palminteri, Jack Warden, Rob Reiner, Mary-Louise Parker  
Running Time: 98 minutes  

Synopsis: In New York City of the late 1920s, up-and-coming writer David Shayne (John Cusack) is desperate to have his latest play funded. His producer Julian Marx (Jack Warden) secures backing from mobster Nick Valenti (Joe Viterelli), on condition that Nick's talentless girlfriend Olive (Jennifer Tilly) lands a meaningful role. When rehearsals start, Nick appoints his goon Cheech (Chazz Palminteri) to keep an eye on Olive, who nevertheless encourages the lustful attention of past-his-prime and overeating actor Warner Purcell (Jim Broadbent). Meanwhile, David is falling in love with his leading lady Helen Sinclair (Dianne Wiest), while Cheech starts to make unsolicited suggestions to improve the play. 

What Works Well: Woody Allen's mixture of behind-the-curtain chaos, mobster violence, and artist insecurities is a blast of fun entertainment. The script maintains razor sharpness and consistently finds quirks and twists within personalities and events, including Cheech masterfully gliding from edge-of-the-screen non-entity to a central character. Allen extracts deliciously loquacious performances from both Dianne Wiest (a fading diva desperate for continued relevance) and Jennifer Tilly (a gangster's moll ruthlessly exposing her deficiencies) as diametric opposites exploiting the stage for self-delusion. The clash between civility and crime nurtures commentary about academia and reality, and the separation of art and artist.

What Does Not Work As Well: In a rare example of a movie that could have benefitted from being longer, both Rob Reiner (as Sheldon Flender, a prolific but never-published playwright) and Mary-Louise Parker (as David Shayne's wife) deserved larger roles.

Key Quote:

Nick (to Julian, about Olive): Let's avoid confusion. She'll get some lines, or I'll nail your knee caps to the floor.

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