Movie Review: Twins (1988)

A buddy comedy about mismatched men discovering they are brothers, Twins draws some laughs from its kooky premise but otherwise struggles to build a meaningful narrative.

Julius Benedict (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is the perfect human being, a product of a US government science experiment mixing the DNA of six carefully selected men with one remarkable woman, who unfortunately died in childbirth. Physically superior, emotionally mature and well educated, Julius has spent his sheltered life working with scientists on a tropical island.

Julius is shocked to learn he has a twin brother Vincent, an unwanted byproduct of the experiment who was sent to an orphanage upon birth. He ventures to Los Angeles and finds Vincent (Danny DeVito), a scrappy car thief owing money to loan sharks. They eventually team up and learn that not everything they were told about their parents is true. Meanwhile, Vincent steals a car with valuable merchandise in the trunk, and has an opportunity to finally get rich.

After firmly establishing his credentials as one of the world's premier action movie superstars, Arnold Schwarzenegger branches out into his first comedy role. Twins is built on a simple big-man small-man buddy concept, adding in simple themes of nature versus nurture and the benefits of a privileged upbringing.

Of course director Ivan Reitman isn't too interested in seriously exploring of any social topics. Twins goes after pretty basic humour portraying Julius as strong and book smart but naive and Vincent as a street survivor with a chip on his shoulder because life offered him nothing. The MacGuffin item-in-the-trunk leads to poorly defined bad guy Webster (Marshall Bell), and some bland action in the final quarter to satisfy Arnold's core fan base.

Enroute, plenty of momentum is lost with a sidequest romance featuring Vincent's girlfriend Linda (Chloe Webb) and her knockout sister Marnie (Kelly Preston). Once Vincent learns Julius is a virgin, setting him up with Marnie becomes an obsession occupying way too much screen time. The two women are overall treated badly by a script surrendering to male fantasy exploitive tendencies.

Schwarzenegger is quickly at ease in the lighter milieu, more than adept at making fun of his own image and deploying his muscular presence to serve a steady stream of humour. The partnership with DeVito is a natural fit, the two immediately sharing chemistry built on having nothing in common and therefore everything to learn from each other.

Twins is a classic exercise in broadening a star's audience, the quality of the content less important than the appeal of the concept.

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Movie Review: Casino Jack (2010)

Based on the true story of uber lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Casino Jack is an eye-popping look at the money that greases the gears in Washington DC. Both those who give and those who receive are exposed in the startling tale of money, influence and blatant vote-buying.

It's the 1990s, and Abramoff (Kevin Spacey) buys and sells influence in Congress. By raising cash conceivably for election and re-election campaigns, Abramoff and his partner Michael Scanlon (Barry Pepper) can push for any cause willing to pay the right price. With close ties to influential Republican Tom DeLay (Spencer Garrett) and the Bush family, Abramoff can pick up the phone and swing votes in the desired direction.

Despite the protestations of his wife Pam (Kelly Preston), Abramoff is always blurring the line between personal self-interest and clients' pet projects. Not satisfied with arguing for slave labour practices in the Mariana Islands and cashing large cheques from several Indian tribes to protect their casino interests, he embarks on an ill-advised adventure of his own to invest in an ailing Miami-based cruise ship casino business with the unsavoury Adam Kidan (Jon Lovitz). Soon personal threats are escalating into a gangland-style hit. Meanwhile, Scanlon's persistent womanizing turns his fiancée Emily (Rachelle Lefevre) against him. Eventually Abramoff faces the frigid shoulder of a Washington DC abandoning him and his toxic dealings.

Casino Jack paints an ugly picture of a political system with a veneer of respectability rotting at the core. Abramoff the individual is almost irrelevant. A lot more depressing is a structure that allows the Abramoffs of the world to thrive by channeling money to the right jacket pockets and requesting key votes in return.

Kevin Spacey dominates Casino Jack with a performance filled with slick bravado. Oozing an attitude of superiority and unbridled greed, Spacey gives Abramoff an insatiable urge to chase after ever increasing dollars to fund self-aggrandizing projects. Restaurants and schools become pet businesses, Abramoff eager to see his name in print as a respectable businessman, perhaps to cover the sordid truth about his distasteful real lobbying career.

Jon Lovitz delivers his usual slippery persona as the way-over-the-edge-of-corruption and equally way-past-caring Adam Kidan, adding the certainty of a bad ending and comedy in equal parts to Abramoff's adventure.The rest of the supporting cast is distinctly low key.

George Hickenlooper directs with enough panache to elevate Casino Jack above a cable television production, but sometimes it's a struggle.  It's not easy to create a compelling cinematic experience out of men in suits seeking the next stuffed envelope, but Hickenlooper leans heavily on Spacey to humanize Abramoff and drag the movie through the bumpy parts. Although Abramoff the man is beyond ever being likable, the Norman Snider script keeps him engaging in the way a large trapped insect can be highly watchable just before it gets squished.

Casino Jack is what happens when a lobbyist firmly shakes hands with corruption. His grim destiny is surely just the prelude for the doomed collapse of the system that spawned him.

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