The Ace Black Movie Blog

Showing posts with label Parker Posey. Show all posts

Wednesday, 10 July 2024

Movie Review: Best In Show (2000)

Genre: Mockumentary

Director: Christopher Guest

Starring: Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey

Running Time: 90 minutes

Synopsis: Dog owners across the United States are getting ready for the annual Mayflower Dog Show in Philadelphia. Leading contenders include dogs owned by Florida couple Gerry and Cookie (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara), stressed-out yuppies Meg and Hamilton (Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock), trophy wife Sheri Ann and her dog handler Christy (Jennifer Coolidge and Jane Lynch), gay partners Scott and Stefan (John Michael Higgins and Michael McKean), and fishing aficionado/aspiring ventriloquist Harlan Pepper (Christopher Guest). Once the competition starts, anxiety levels rise as the contestants navigate unexpected mishaps.

What Works Well: This faux documentary takes aim at the bizarre world of dog shows, and delivers a slice of Americana drawn from society's arcane corners. From Harlan's swamp to Sheri Ann's mansion, dogs are the equalizers in a competition without non-subjective rules. The scattershot comedy approach occasionally hits the intended targets, with cluelessly dysfunctional couple Meg and Hamilton generating the most effective chuckles.

What Does Not Work As Well: With the dogs sidelined into bewildered observers of their owners' eccentricities, the humour bounces along at average levels in a futile search for stand-out moments. An over-emphasis on sex is a diminishing reservoir for laughs, as exemplified by Cookie's over-played history of vigorous coupling. In the final act, the show's master of ceremonies overindulges in uninformed boorishness.

Conclusion: Both the dogs and their owners put on a show, but the dogs are much more dignified.

All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.

Thursday, 4 March 2021

Movie Review: Irrational Man (2015)

A drama, comedy, romance, and crime mystery, Irrational Man is a bright Woody Allen outing with a judicious mix of ingredients.

Preceded by a reputation for rampant womanizing and heavy drinking, philosophy professor Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix) starts a new job at picturesque Braylin College in New England. He immediately attracts the attention of two women: married chemistry professor Rita Richards (Parker Posey), and his student Jill Pollard (Emma Stone), who has a serious boyfriend Roy (Jamie Blackley).

Both women find Abe depressed and lacking a purpose in life, and Rita soon discovers he is also suffering from erectile dysfunction. Jill persists with a friendship that evolves towards love, although Abe resists her sexual overtures. But when they overhear a stranger's story about corrupt family court Judge Thomas Spangler, Abe decides killing the judge will provide him the spark he needs in life.

Written and directed by Allen and clocking in at just 95 minutes, Irrational Man is a breezy mix of existential angst, blossoming love, and crime most foul. Focusing on just the three characters but surrounding them with an idyllic milieu at a relaxed college campus where anything seems to go, Allen is free to explore themes of depression, motivation, infatuation and ultimately how far friendship and loyalty can be tested, all with sly humour.

When Abe is in his initial gloomy state, the philosophical babble about life's futility is kept short and on the accessible side, although Allen can't resist having even Jill profoundly familiar with dense references to philosophers, poets and artists. The narrative delightfully curves to a reawakening of Abe's soul and spirit, thanks to a Hitchcockian murder plot carrying winks towards both Strangers On A Train and Dial M For Murder. Instead of escaping dysfunctional relationships, here murder is a tool to break away from psychological hopelessness, and Abe's transformation triggers cascading consequences for Rita and Jill.

Joaquin Phoenix loosens a floppy belly and transitions between Abe's two modes with light switch efficiency. Emma Stone gets the more complicated role and is radiant as the smart student, already in a relationship but gradually drawn into a lustful emotional rescue mission.

The ending is a bit abrupt and perhaps a stretch even for Abe's warped sense of passion, but with a Randy Lewis soundtrack providing a bouncy jazz soundtrack, Irrational Man provides smooth unpredictability.

All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.

Saturday, 30 January 2021

Movie Review: You've Got Mail (1998)

A romantic comedy with would-be lovers on either side of the corporate fence, You've Got Mail delves into the emerging online world to update a story of virtual friends and real-world foes.

Using the online pseudonyms Shopgirl and NY152, New Yorkers Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) and Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) correspond through daily emails, having met in a chat room. In the real world Kathleen owns a small children's bookstore she inherited from her mother, and is in a relationship with newspaper columnist Frank (Greg Kinnear). Joe runs the giant Fox Books megastore discount chain and is romantically attached to book publisher Patricia (Parker Posey).

With Joe about to open a new Fox Books location and drive Kathleen's store out of business, they meet and she shuns him as a heartless businessman. Meanwhile their daily emails develop into a deep friendship, until Joe discovers that his online soulmate is also his real world nemesis. He has to find a way to turn a digital romance into a true love affair.

Updating 1940's The Shop Around The Corner and taking advantage of emerging social media trends, You've Got Mail pulls off the far-fetched central premise with practised ease. Director Nora Ephron co-wrote the script with her sister Delia, and reunites with Hanks and Ryan from the 1993 hit Sleepless In Seattle. The pre-established chemistry is evident and helps navigate the bumpy patches, especially a rather prolonged final act.

The dichotomy between real-world sparring and on-line friendship drives the narrative. Ephron establishes Kathleen and Joe's physical proximity early: they navigate the same streets everyday, oblivious to each other and their digital friendship, virtually connected in a practically disconnected world. The difference in their behaviour is stark. Benefitting from on-line anonymity and a "no telling details" rule, the emails represent their truer selves, full of honesty and self-doubt. In person Kathleen's shield goes up and she understandably rails at Joe's corporateness before giving herself a chance to know him as a person.

A sparkling New York is scrubbed clean and serves as a typically idyllic rom-com backdrop. Consistent with the small store/big corporation conflict, Ephron allows street-level businesses to provide the city's heartbeat, scenes of shutters opening to start the day serving as the source of streetscape vibrancy.

Hanks and Ryan radiate star power and next-door genuineness. Although Ephron at times appears to encourage theatrically ditzy performances from both, they settle down and excel in two separate modes: in-person clashes and behind-the-keyboard narration.

Meanwhile the edges of the story are kept busy, with a strong but over-elaborate supporting cast. In addition to a funny and hyper Parker Posey as his girlfriend, Joe Fox is surrounded by a best friend (Dave Chapelle), as well as a father (Dabney Coleman) and a grandfather who both have young children. Greg Kinnear's caustic newspaper opinionist is a good match for Kathleen, and she also has three store employees (Jean Stapleton, Steve Zahn and Heather Burns) to worry about. Unsurprisingly, several of the side-characters fade away or are just unceremoniously dropped due to crowding.

But despite some well-intended bloat, You've Got Mail succeeds in parsing togetherness apart, and delivers a breezy romance.

All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.