Movie Review: Dragonfly (2002)

Genre: Drama  

Director: Tom Shadyac  

Starring: Kevin Costner, Kathy Bates, Linda Hunt, Susanna Thompson  

Running Time: 104 minutes  

Synopsis: Chicago-area surgeon Dr. Joe Darrow (Kevin Costner) is still grieving the death of his wife Emily (Susanna Thompson). She was a doctor dedicated to field service, and died while pregnant in a South American conflict zone. Emily had a dragonfly birthmark, and Joe starts experiencing supernatural episodes involving dragonflies. He visits the hospital's oncology ward, where two children report encounters with Emily during near-death experiences. Joe's colleague Dr. Dickinson (Ron Rifkin) and neighbour Miriam (Kathy Bates) worry about his mental health as he becomes increasingly certain Emily is sending him an important message.

What Works Well: The sense of mystery wrapped in fantasy, grief, and secrets of the afterlife is compelling. Joe's journey from non-believer in heaven to a forced reckoning with spirituality is careful and deliberate, propelled by deep love and sudden loss. Director Tom Shadyac creates a path filled with quiet and small but telling supernatural moments, none of them obvious but all of them contributing to a mounting sense of intrigue. 

What Does Not Work As Well: The mood is overwhelming morose, and Kevin Costner wallows in Joe's caustic bereavement. The supporting cast is talented but given relatively little to do, to the extent that Joe's pet parrot emerges as the most memorable co-star. The final act changes gears and locations abruptly, swapping subtlety for adventure and abandoning the earned surroundings of Joe's life in favour of a whole different environment.  

Key Quote:

Miriam (to Joe): Take down the vacancy that says "Emily's ghost is welcome here". You got to do the hard stuff. Got to clean out closets and get on with your life without her.



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Movie Review: A Family Affair (2024)

Genre: Romantic Comedy  

Director: Richard LaGravenese  

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, Joey King, Kathy Bates  
Running Time: 114 minutes  

Synopsis: In Los Angeles, Zara (Joey King) is the assistant to action movie star Chris Cole (Zac Efron), and still lives with her widowed mother Brooke (Nicole Kidman), a published writer. Zara has ambitions to become a producer, and quits her job when she realizes Chris is a terrible boss. A passionate romance ignites between Chris and Brooke, and he hires Zara back as an associate producer. With Brooke starting to fall in love, Zara knows her boss is not kind to women.

What Works Well: Joey King and Kathy Bates (as Brooke's mother-in-law) demonstrate some acting spirit.

What Does Not Work As Well: Shallow and inconsistent characters, a contrived romance, flat writing, languid pacing, sappy music, and very few laughs combine into an instantly forgettable experience. The entire premise revolves around Zara, Chris, and Brooke pairing off into scenes of arguing followed by scenes of reconciling, set on an endless repeat loop. Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron generally embarrass themselves, while director Richard LaGravenese prolongs the agony by somehow pushing the skimpy material towards the two hour mark.

Conclusion: A calamity affair. 



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Movie Review: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (2023)

Genre: Comedy Drama  

Director: Kelly Fremon Craig  

Starring: Rachel McAdams, Abby Ryder Fortson, Kathy Bates, Benny Safdie  

Running Time: 106 minutes  

Synopsis: In 1970, 11-year-old Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) is upset when her parents Barbara and Herb (Rachel McAdams and Benny Safdie) relocate the family from Manhattan to New Jersey. Herb's mom Sylvia (Kathy Bates) stays behind in New York. At her new school, Margaret is befriended by classmate Nancy (Elle Graham), who rules over a small clique. While maintaining short conversations with God, Margaret navigates pre-teen topics including her first kiss, first crush, first period, and first bra. She also stumbles upon a religion-driven dispute involving Barbara's long-estranged parents.

What Works Well: The adaptation of Judy Blume's young adult book sparkles with the humorous awkwardness inherent in the maze of burgeoning womanhood. In the expansive suburbs Margaret finds a bigger world opening up, where relationships with others, discovering more about herself, and sharpening her own opinions become imperatives in the complex growing up process. Peer pressure, physical changes, and understanding parents as people all add to the challenge. Director and writer Kelly Fremon Craig uses breezy pacing to sprint across a lot of ground, helped immensely by a wonderful Abby Ryder Forston performance as Margaret. Rachel McAdams contributes to the warm glow of an anchored mother-daughter relationship. 

What Does Not Work As Well: While not all of Margaret's questions are answered, the beautifully executed ending is just another step in the journey, and perfectly consistent with the reality of life's untidy corners.

Conclusion: Growing up can be hard, weird, and oh so funny.



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Movie Review: Failure To Launch (2006)

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Director: Tom Dey

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Baker, Bradley Cooper, Zooey Deschanel

Running Time: 97 minutes

Synopsis: Tripp (Matthew McConaughey) is 35-years-old and still living with his exasperated parents (Kathy Bates and Terry Bradshaw). They hire interventionist Paula (Sarah Jessica Parker) to fake a romance with Tripp and encourage him to move out. 

What Works Well: Director Tom Dey adds plenty of breezy fun and frolic to the otherwise standard rom-com standard. Paula has a caustic roommate (Zooey Deschanel) at war with a mockingbird, while Tripp has two friends (Bradley Cooper and Justin Bartha) equally comfortable living with their parents. Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker make for an attractive couple, with Terry Bradshaw and Kathy Bates adding depth to the supporting cast. A running joke about Tripp being out-of-alignment with nature and his profession as a boat broker provide opportunities for good laughs and wind-swept scenery.

What Does Not Work As Well: The central premise is as flimsy and unlikely as can be expected.

Conclusion: Lightweight entertainment enlivened by high-voltage star power.



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Movie Review: The Highwaymen (2019)

A chase drama and thriller, The Highwaymen follows two enforcement officers recruited to stop the carnage caused by Bonnie and Clyde. The film is patient, rich with details, and infused with grizzled humanity.

It's 1934 in Texas, and violent criminals Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker are folk heroes. After the pair embarrass Governor Miriam "Ma" Ferguson (Kathy Bates) by orchestrating a prison break, she reluctantly agrees to call upon retired Texas Ranger Frank Hamer (Kevin Costner) to hunt down the couple. He teams up with his ex-partner Maney Gault (Woody Harrelson) and despite advancing years and limited physical abilities they hit the road to try and intercept the elusive outlaw couple.

Working on the theory that criminals always go home, Hamer and Maney focus on the Dallas area, but the locals are protective of the famous couple and close ranks. Bonnie and Clyde's killing spree continues, with several police officers murdered and the FBI helpless. Hamer and Maney maintain a dogged pursuit and cross into neighbouring Oklahoma then Louisiana, and gradually gather enough clues to close-in on their targets.

An essential antidote to the romanticism of Bonnie And Clyde (1967), The Highwaymen is the other side of the story. Here the criminals are infrequently spotted bloodthirsty killers, ambushing and murdering police officers for fun, including Bonnie applying the final shotgun blast to the head of already fallen men. The John Fusco script demonstrates no sympathy towards any societal or economic justifications. Clyde's father (William Sadler) gets one long scene to try and explain his son's actions, and is summarily deflated by Hamer.

As for the folk hero status of the two murderers, The Highwaymen adopts an exasperated shake-of-the-head stance. For deep-seated reasons, this is a society that venerates anti-authoritarianism. Men like Frank Hamer and Maney Gault can do little other than bypass the nausea and get on with the job. 

And so director John Lee Hancock settles down to tell the story of two former Texas Rangers, themselves no strangers to bloodletting. They carry deep emotional scars, and at the start of the movie are hiding behind domesticity (Hamer is more successful) to bury the pain. Through Department of Corrections Chief Lee Simmons (John Carroll Lynch), the state calls upon them to unretire and sanctions two more killings.

Hamer and Maney are old, unable to run after suspects, and well past their sharp shooting days. What they do have is guile and experience, and gradually they recreate their partnership dynamic and make progress. Their quest is long, mistakes are made, and more people die. Through a draggy middle act, Hancock struggles to justify 132 minutes of running time, although the stark vistas of Texas and a landscape dotted with ramshackle depression-era migrant camps offer good visuals.

The two veteran actors help ride out the slow patches, the pauses for reflection well-paced to add texture without interrupting flow. Harrelson and Costner both co-produced and equally invest in their roles, Harrelson as Maney in particular showcasing a maturity to now discern the thin margins between right and wrong. 

The Highwaymen are destined to arrive at a well-known and culturally iconic climax. The joy is in the journey, and two seasoned experts ensure a worthwhile drive.



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Movie Review: Richard Jewell (2019)

A biographical drama about a simple man thrust into the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons, Richard Jewell examines the perils of over-zealousness.

In 1986, Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser) is a mail delivery clerk at an Atlanta law firm. Attorney Watson Bryant (Sam Rockwell) shows some compassion towards Richard, who is overweight and awkwardly over-intrusive, but also respectful of government institutions and planning a law enforcement career.

Ten years later Richard remains positive despite being fired from a campus security job for overstepping boundaries. Still living with his mother Bobi (Kathy Bates), Richard secures an Olympic Games security guard position and is assigned to Centennial Park where crowds gather for nightly concerts. FBI agent Tom Shaw (Jon Hamm) and ambitious Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde) are also covering events at the park.

During a concert Richard spots a suspicious package, raises the alarm, then helps move crowds away. The bomb explodes, causing casualties, but Richard's actions save lives. Initially hailed a hero, the FBI soon suspect Richard is the bomber with a personal glory motive. The suspicions are leaked to Kathy and she splashes the story on the newspaper's front page, turning Richard's life into a living hell. He reaches out to Watson, the only lawyer he knows, for help.

Based on real events, Richard Jewell is the tragedy of a well-meaning ordinary man caught in a maelstrom. Written by Billy Ray and directed by Clint Eastwood, the film maintains focus on Jewel, revealing a kind if slightly tactless personality, always seeking to serve even if his methods veer towards pushy. He achieves a moment of genuine heroism; it's snatched from him by officious incompetence.

Richard displays a life-long streak of over-eagerness. But the damage is caused by the toxic combination of an incompetent investigation adopting underhanded tactics, the unconstrained ambition of a newspaper willing to reveal the name of a suspect with no corroboration, and finally senseless media hordes respecting no boundaries and engaging in character assassination and conviction by innuendo before Jewell is even charged (he never was). 

The FBI's agent Tom Shaw is a composite, and Eastwood skips past the agency's detective work beyond suspecting the wrong man. Kathy Scruggs is the real journalist who ran with the story based on a leak, and here she deploys naked seduction in pursuit of a career-making story.

At 129 minutes, this is a weighty drama, and the pacing falters after the cloud of suspicion settles on Bobi's house. The subsequent defensive actions and fight-backs are orchestrated by lawyer Watson Bryant as Richard takes a back seat, his respect for law and order rubbing against the government-instigated wrath against him. But thanks to an elegant Paul Walter Hauser performance, Richard Jewell enshrines the legacy of a man who did right, only for others to fumble their responsibilities.

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Movie Review: P.S. I Love You (2007)

A romantic drama with some humour, P.S. I Love You explores the depths of grief with a polished wink. The romance is heartfelt, but the movie suffers from bloat and some drudgerous pacing.

New Yorkers Holly and Gerry Kennedy (Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler) have been married for nine years. They bicker about money, jobs and when to have a baby, but they are still very much in love. When Gerry dies due to a brain tumour, Holly is devastated and left without her soul mate. Her mother Patricia (Kathy Bates) as well as best friends Denise (Lisa Kudrow) and Sharon (Gina Gershon) do their best to console her. Bartender Daniel (Harry Connick Jr.) also offers a shoulder to lean on.

On her 30th birthday Holly receives the first of 10 pre-arranged letters from Gerry, encouraging her to be adventurous and visit his home town in Ireland. While the letters keep her emotionally tied to her deceased husband, she also starts to emerge out of her depression, reuniting with Gerry's parents and meeting his hunky best friend William (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). But finding her new calling in life will be a challenge.

Demonstrating courage to introduce the central couple then kill off the guy within the first 10 minutes, P.S. I Love You immediately dares to be different. Director Richard LaGravenese co-wrote the script adaptation of Cecelia Ahern's book, and allows the love between Holly and Gerry to wash over the grieving widow through a series of flashbacks as she follows his advice in the mysteriously delivered letters.

Gerry's immense continued influence in Holly's life is also conveyed in his occasional post-death presence at their apartment and in her bed, her longing for his voice, touch and companionship emerging as palpable and painfully real.

But LaGravenese also overstates the strength and scope of the story. P.S. I Love You extend to a wholly unnecessary 125 minutes. The editing is flabby, and on several occasions songs are belted out almost in their entirety to pad the running time. The tired cliche of Ireland as a magically perfect place filled with nothing but rolling green hills and jolly salt-of-the-earth types is trotted out for another outing.

Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler try their hands at romance with mixed results. They convince as a committed couple, and Swank allows herself to drown in a sea of grief and seething anger at life's unfairness. But they are on much less secure ground in the flashbacks to their earliest meetings as 19 year olds. Both actors are well into their 30s and poor impersonators of footloose teens.

The supporting cast provides good touches of humour. Lisa Kudrow's Denise is on a single-minded mission to find a husband using a utilitarian checklist, and Harry Connick Jr.'s Daniel does not allow the missing filter between his brain and mouth to impede his confidence.

Mixing pathos with playfulness, P.S. I Love You is a poignant if somewhat ponderous postscript.



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Movie Review: Primary Colors (1998)

A political drama laced with humour, Primary Colors is an inside look at the raging turmoil within a fledgling election campaign.

Political activist Adrian Lester (Henry Burton) is drawn to the campaign of charismatic candidate Jack Stanton (John Travolta), a governor from an unfancied southern state making an unlikely run for the Democratic presidential nomination. Stanton is a seemingly genuine and idealistic people-person with a love for education reform. He is also a hopeless womanizer with a chequered past.

His wife Susan (Emma Thompson) is involved in the campaign, and Lester joins slobby strategic advisor Richard Jemmons (Billy Bob Thornton) and organizer Daisy Green (Maura Tierney) to bring some operational discipline. When allegations of Stanton's past infidelities are made public, the team turns to researcher Libby Holden (Kathy Bates) to investigate and preempt other skeletons in the closet. Meanwhile Governor Fred Picker (Larry Hagman) emerges as an unexpected dark horse opponent in the nomination race.

Inspired by Bill Clinton's campaign that culminated in his winning the United States Presidency in 1992, Primary Colors is half of a good movie. Director Mike Nichols and writer Elaine May adapt the 1996 book by Joe Klein (initially published anonymously), with Lester the fly-on-the-wall not quite aware how he is being sucked into his first presidential campaign. What he finds on the inside is disorganized chaos barely held together by a ramshackle team, but also a candidate radiating winning charm. Nichols excels in setting the context, introducing the characters and conveying the exhausting nature of a nascent campaign, clueless but enthusiastic workers always on the go, fighting fires and snatching sleep in cars, planes and nondescript motel rooms.

The film's second half shifts to the grind of gathering ammunition for the mudslinging wars. The focus moves away from the Stantons and towards Libby Holden, and the film loses most of its momentum. The narrative works its way to an almost quaint dilemma: the Stanton's outward idealism clashing with the ready appeal of dirty politics when Jack is being subjected to an intense smear campaign. His opponent Governor Picker is the convenient test case, and May chooses a too-easy target to aim at. A high price is incurred as Stanton searches for his moral compass, Primary Colors trying hard to have it both ways by leaving victims on the sidelines.

John Travolta imitates Clinton's mannerisms and excels in walking the fine line where it's always perfectly unclear whether the candidate genuinely cares or is just brilliant at pretending. Emma Thompson as his wife Susan is not given enough to do, her juggling act to keep both tolerance and ambition in the air frequently unconvincing. Billy Bob Thornton and Kathy Bates are colourfully dramatic but also almost cartoonish. Burton suffers in the role of a supposed protagonist who does little other than experience what others are instigating.

Primary Colors is never less than vivid. While the packaging sparkles, the inside machinations are not always as pretty.

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Movie Review: About Schmidt (2002)

A low key character study, About Schmidt combines pathos and humour to explore the vestiges of a colourless life.

In Omaha, Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) retires from a middle management position at a large insurance company. Warren's career fizzled as he settled for mediocrity at work and at home, where the love has long seeped out of his marriage to the controlling Helen (June Squibb). He remains close with his daughter Jeannie (Hope Davis), who has relocated to Denver, although Warren does not think much of her fiancé Randall (Dermot Mulroney), a waterbed salesman.

Warren struggles to adjust to retirement, and dreads the impending road trips planned by Helen in an outsized Winnebago. He sponsors an African child in need and starts to express his frustrations in long letters to the young boy. An unexpected tragedy strikes Helen, and Warren finds himself alone. A road trip to Denver follows, where he meets Randall's quirky family including his mother Roberta (Kathy Bates).

Directed and co-written by Alexander Payne, About Schmidt is an adaptation of a novel by Louis Begley. Despite an over-reliance on narration (in the form of Warren reading out his own letters) and the absence of a traditional plot, the film settles down to experience the emotions of one nondescript man in featureless middle America. Payne may as well be sending a nostalgic note to his hometown of Omaha: immaterial and inconsequential, but ultimately meaningful and satisfying in unexpected ways.

Payne captures all that is charming about urban environments that have long since lost all their charm. The restaurants, offices, homes and banquet halls all carry the stench of 1960s decor and unimaginative stylings, places stuck in time serving people who don't know or care enough to notice. The glum aesthetic adds to Schmidt's downbeat mood, or maybe helped create it through years of sameness.

At the heart of the depressed urban environment is Warren Schmidt, a quiet man now facing a countdown to the end of his life, his insurance background heightening awareness of exactly how many years he has left. With not many (if any) achievements to look back on with pride, Warren is subdued, bored, listless and restless, all with the resigned air of pragmatism. In an absorbing performance Nicholson pulls back and bottles up his exaggerated tendencies, allowing Schmidt to observe, react and mostly just lament a life that amounted to very little.

Payne peppers his film with character-driven humour, with Randall and his family a rich source of chuckles. Waterbeds, pyramid schemes, a dim-witted brother and a libidinous mother all enter Warren's life, forcing him to ponder whether any texture is better than no texture at all.

About Schmidt is about the sands of time running out, but with a few surprises lurking in the deceptively featureless remaining grains.

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Movie Review: Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)

A drama about friendship and women's empowerment across the generations, Fried Green Tomatoes has a sprawling story and good performances, but lacks narrative focus.

The story is set in Alabama over two timelines. In the present, while on a visit to her husband's aunt at a seniors' care home, middle-aged and frumpy Evelyn (Kathy Bates) bumps into the kindly and elderly Ninny Threadgoode (Jessica Tandy). Evelyn is suffering from neglect in her marriage to Ed (Gailard Sartain), and over the course of several visits is comforted and inspired by Ninny's family history stories.

Just after the Great War in the tiny rural community of Whistle Stop, spirited tomboy Imogene "Idgie" Threadgoode lost her loving brother Buddy (Chris O'Donnell) in a train accident. She withdrew further from her family and church, and gravitated towards the edges of the community, enjoying drinking and poker. Her worried mother (Lois Smith) eventually calls upon Ruth Jamison (Mary-Louise Parker), Buddy's former love, to try and cajole the growing Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson) out of her shell.

After a rough start, Idgie and Ruth become best friends. But eventually Ruth gets married to the oily Frank Bennett (Nick Searcy) and moves to Georgia. Idgie later has to rescue the pregnant Ruth from an abusive marriage, and the two women open and operate the Whistle Stop Café. But with the Ku Klux Klan growing in influence and Frank determined to reclaim his child, trouble lies ahead.

Back in the present, Evelyn is empowered by the stories of the resolute and tenacious Idgie and Ruth, and starts to make changes in her life to seek he own happiness.

An adaptation of the novel by Fannie Flagg (who co-wrote the script) directed by Jon Avnet, Fried Green Tomatoes aims for a wistful story of women inspiring each other across generations, but is only partially successful. The episodic structure of Idgie's story, which may work well on the written page, translates into choppy cinematic presentation, lacking a cohesive arc. The jumping back and forth between the post-war depression era and the much less interesting modern-day story featuring Evelyn and her husband Ed does not help.

What carries the film over its rough patches is a strong theme of friendship between Idgie and Ruth. In the book this is an unambiguous romance, but in search of a broader vanilla audience the film unfortunately reduces the relationship to coy hints of  love. Fried Green Tomatoes could have carried a memorable edge, instead it settles for bland instead of brave. Nevertheless, the soulful connection between the resourceful Idgie and the more circumspect Ruth radiates plenty of warmth at the heart of the film.

Other social themes pop up as expected in the nostalgic look back at simpler but still dangerous times. Racism, loss, abuse, and fiery religious sermons intermingle with plenty of family support and a sense of small community where everyone knows everyone and they all depend on each other to varying degrees.

The performances are uniformly good from the cast of mostly women, with Jessica Tandy and Mary Stuart Masterson notable standouts. Tandy finds the glint in the eye of an old woman with stories to tell, and is the only good thing in the modern-day episodes. Masterson is the rebel woman with a cause, pushing her tiny community towards the future by her sheer force of personality.

The final act of the film veers towards a half-baked investigation of a missing-person mystery introduced in the opening scene, and finally a mini courtroom drama complete with a surprise witness and spiritual payback of sorts. While the secret hidden within the lake near Whistle Stop keeps the fires burning, the further the film moves away from the core bond forged between Idgie and Ruth, the weaker it gets.

Like all side dishes, Fried Green Tomatoes taste better when surrounded by the genuine glow of family and friends.

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Movie Review: Midnight In Paris (2011)

A fantasy romance inspired by the confluence of wistful time and divine place, Midnight In Paris finds Woody Allen at his best, crafting a love letter to a city rich with passion and history.

Successful Hollywood screenwriter Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) still dreams of becoming a respected book author. On vacation in Paris with his fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams), Gil finds himself inspired by the city's rich heritage and starts to muse about living there permanently, an idea that Inez dismisses. With Inez enjoying sightseeing and partying with pompous professor Paul Bates (Michael Sheen) and his wife Carol (Nina Arianda), Gil starts to take midnight walks on his own.

He stumbles into an alternate reality of Paris in the 1920s, inhabited by the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein. They interact with him naturally, inviting him to parties and Stein even offering to review a draft of his novel. Gil moves back and forth between Paris of today with Inez in the daytime and the 1920s on his own after midnight, where he eventually meets Pablo Picasso's lover, the mysteriously attractive Adriana (Marion Cotillard). She is also seeking her true destiny in the company of her contemporaries, and an impossible romance flickers to life.

Midnight In Paris celebrates the city's charming magic, and toys with the nostalgia of the past always glowing brighter than the reality of the present. It is among Woody Allen's best films, finding the sweet spot where his favourite themes intersect: troubled love enriched by an enchanting cityscape prompting an examination of a man's path in life.

The opening montage, showing iconic Parisian scenes, noticeably lingers on for a good minute longer than the usual introduction, Allen sending the message that the city is one of his main characters. And throughout the film, Allen bathes the Paris of the past and the present, whether at night or during the day, with warm, comforting hues dominated by reds and yellows. Even the rainfall feels mild and soothing, while the numerous bistros emit an ever welcoming glow at all hours.

And Gil is drawn into this mystique, finding in the city the perfect match for his romantic soul. Gil is most at home when walking the streets of Paris alone, and he gradually realizes that his connection with the city will define his happiness much more so than his relationship with Inez.

Allen, who also wrote the screenplay, does not bother to explain Gil's frequent sojourns into the past, allowing the time shifts to be as natural as the human imagination. The theme, however, is clear. The glorious past is an inspiration for the present and the future, but pining to live there is an emotional cul-de-sac. The past is always the present for its generation, with the business of living and loving a constant and dominant requirement. Wistful sentimentality is what yesterday feels like, but only from today's vantage point.

Midnight In Paris is populated by a perfect cast, Wilson creating in Gil an articulate man still seeking his place in life. McAdams breaks away from her traditional perkiness to provide Inez with a pushy edge, a modern woman trampling over her man's tender vulnerabilities. Marion Cotillard ghosts into the movie as Gil's muse, his most direct expression of love for the past, and also the signpost for the future.

Michael Sheen, Carla Bruni and Léa Seydoux have small but memorable roles in Paris of the present, while Adrien Brody (Salvador Dali), Kathy Bates (Gertrude Stein), Corey Stoll (Ernest Hemingway) and Tom Hiddleston (F. Scott Fitzgerald) have a ball bringing the past to life. Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, Degas, Matisse, T.S. Eliot and Luis Buñuel are other celebrities of previous eras that cross paths in the dreamy mists of the night.

Embroidered with delicate humour, Midnight In Paris is a whimsical masterpiece.

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Movie Review: Prelude To A Kiss (1992)

A romantic drama with fantastical elements, Prelude To A Kiss cleverly delves into intriguing topics but ultimately falls short of its mystical targets.

In Chicago, publishing house manager Peter Hoskins (Alec Baldwin) meets and falls in love with free-spirited bartender Rita Boyle (Meg Ryan). Peter experienced a rough childhood but maintains a positive outlook on life. By contrast Rita had a loving upbringing but is an abject pessimist despite a bubbly personality. Although she finds happiness with Peter, Rita never wants to have children because the world is an ugly place. Peter meets Rita's parents Dr. and Mrs. Boyle (Ned Beatty and Patty Duke), and soon thereafter Peter and Rita get married.

At the wedding ceremony, an uninvited old man called Julius (Sydney Walker) asks Rita for a kiss. She obliges, and he kisses her deeply. As the newlyweds start their honeymoon in Jamaica, Peter notices his bride is suddenly behaving very strangely. Indeed, she appears to be a completely different person than the woman he fell in love with. Upon returning to Chicago, the marriage is already in trouble, and Peter connects with Julius to try and understand what has happened to his Rita.

Craig Lucas adapted his own play to the screen, and the film version succeeds in liberating the story out of stage confines. Directed by Norman René, Prelude To A Kiss is a refreshingly different romance, introducing two likeable leads and using their genuine love to ask some big questions. Peter is challenged to face up to what it means to be in a devoted lifelong marriage, and his commitment to the vows stated so easily during the ceremony is tested early.  The bond between physical presence and the essence of the human soul becomes a central question for Peter to grapple with and resolve.

These are not easy themes to delve into, and Prelude To A Kiss inevitably gets in too deep, despite the best of intentions. The film surrenders to fantasy elements that are an essential if metaphorical gateway to core ideas, and in doing so detaches itself too far from reality to achieve any emotional resonance. The film becomes an interesting vehicle to spark conversation, but without itself leaving any form of lasting impression.

The performances from Baldwin and Ryan are appealing, and they generate an amiable chemistry. Baldwin is sincere and manages to hold the centre of the film together as realism takes a back seat to an alternative and supernatural world. Ryan is her typical slightly over-bubbly self, the dream girlfriend with a potentially tiresome habit of over emoting. Despite her excessive bright-eyed expressions, the film does suffer when Ryan is absent for a prolonged segment in the second half.

Stage actor Sydney Walker delivers a moving performance as the old man seeking an unconventional new lease on life, and his scenes with Baldwin critically find the right tone, preventing the film from descending into tripe. Stanley Tucci and Kathy Bates appear in smallish roles.

Prelude To A Kiss thoughtfully explores the magic of romance, without necessarily creating magically romantic moments.

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The Movies Of Kathy Bates

All movies starring Kathy Bates and reviewed on the Ace Black Movie Blog are linked below:

Straight Time (1978)

The Morning After (1986)

White Palace (1990)

Misery (1990)

Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)

Prelude To A Kiss (1992)

Titanic (1997)

Primary Colors (1998)

A Civil Affair (1998, uncredited)

Dragonfly (2002)

About Schmidt (2002)

Rumor Has It... (2005, uncredited)

Failure To Launch (2006)

P.S. I Love You (2007)

Revolutionary Road (2008)

The Blind Side (2009)

Valentine's Day (2010)

Midnight In Paris (2011)

On The Basis Of Sex (2018)

The Highwaymen (2019)

Richard Jewell (2019)

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (2023)

A Family Affair (2024)

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The Movie Star Index is here.