Once again, I've tried to get this out before the holidays, and this time I've finally succeeded... This time, I have Jill to thank for her peerless professional editorial help. I also can thank Dave Lichtenstein, who has come through with yet another review (of Three Kings--I still hope to review it in a future issue). In order to make clear which reviews were written by me, and which were written by Dave, I have noted each title with "TDP" (indicating that I am the author) or "DL" (indicating that... well, I'm sure you can figure it out). By the way, this and all past issues of this film newsletter (going back to its inception, in 1995) are now available on my web site (http://home.earthlink.net/~porcos/movierev.html). If you would prefer to read the reviews on my site, send me an email to that effect and I will stop sending you the emailed newsletter. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the following...

ON FILM:

THE INSIDER (TDP): This movie is based (very loosely, one suspects) on the true story of Jeff Wigand (Russell Crowe), a scientist at a tobacco company who became a leading whistleblower in the industry lawsuits of the mid-1990's, and Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino), the ex-radical-turned-60-Minutes-journalist who coaxed him into talking, having no idea what a battle he was getting them into. This is tried-and-true territory for Pacino; he has been the idealistic crusader many times before (And Justice for All and Dog Day Afternoon come to mind), but he still holds the power behind his ever-more-deeply-etched face, and we still cheer for him. Crowe has a more subtle role--a (seemingly) ordinary family man, put under unimaginable stress--and his acting is a masterpiece of careful control and release. Of course, it was the Mississippi Attorney General's office that set the lawsuits in motion, and one clever surprise is AG Michael Moore playing himself--and it really is a pleasure to see a movie in which white Southern politicians are among the good guys! In addition to the tobacco country ambiance, the atmosphere of a big TV news show is conjured effortlessly. An important part of this atmosphere is Christopher Plummer, playing Mike Wallace as a tough journalist who refuses to take guff, even from tobacco companies or (I am not making this up) Hezbollah terrorists. If there isn't a Best Supporting Actor nomination waiting in the wings, there should be. The movie's largest drawback is that it is almost too suspenseful, especially in the first 40 or so minutes; endless soundtrack noodling exacerbates this, but the plot alleviates the problem as it picks up. What makes this film great is that it offers more than suspense for its own sake--it dares to make us think.

THREE KINGS (DL): When I look at a movie like Casablanca (*****) and try to figure out why, after many years, it is still one of my favorite movies, I keep coming back to one underlying principle. In addition to all of the quality acting, sets, music, direction, and the like, Casablanca has a plot and a story that are just brilliant. And part of the reason for that is the "it's more complicated than that" feel of that plot. What that means is that the movie establishes a situation for its starting point, but somewhere along the line, the situation changes, becomes more complicated and less clear-cut. This happens in some of the best movies in all genres--three of my favorite examples are Blade Runner (*****), Back to the Future (*****), and Angel Heart (*****). An "it's more complicated than that" script doesn't guarantee a wonderful movie, however, as in The Craft (***) or The Game (**1/2), to name two.

Three Kings definitely has an "it's more complicated than that" story. Four US soldiers in the days after Operation Desert Storm discover the location of some of the Kuwaiti gold that Iraq stole. They decide to steal it back for themselves. If that is all the film had been about, I'd be giving it a big raspberry. But it's more complicated than that.

The Iraqis have signed a cease-fire agreement with the UN forces, but that doesn't stop them from harming other Iraqis. The four men, led by George Clooney, witness some human cruelty, and are changed by it; their mission is changed, too. But it's more complicated than that.

Three Kings has a few small problems. The direction is uneven, and some of the dialogue is stilted. But on the plus side, this movie will show you how to blow up a helicopter with a Nerf football. And when guns are drawn and bullets start to fly... it's more complicated than that. (111 minutes **** out of five stars)

ON TAPE:

CAN'T HARDLY WAIT (TDP): Jennifer Love Hewitt is a very pretty young woman. She is also a competent actress, and has at least one extraordinary entry on her resume (the TV show Party of Five, in case you've been on Mars). Now, of course, she is angling for her promotion to the big-time of Hollywood; one result, tragically, is this piece of stale doughnut that I made the mistake of inserting into my thoroughly unprepared VCR. The plot consists of all the usual high-school-graduation-and-party BS that we've all seen a million times, in movies that were just as bad. All the idiotic, tired stereotypes are here--the nerds, the jocks, the princesses, the moronic foreign exchange students, even the white kids trying to be black, all take insufferable bows. (The nerd cliché is the most offensive of all; according to this movie, anyone that surfs the internet, likes The X-Files or Star Wars, or does not drink is a nerd, which means that nerdism afflicts roughly 85% of the U. S. population.) Hewitt manages to emerge with most of her pride intact, but only because she does not really have all that much screen time. The same cannot be said for Jenna Elfman (who has an inexplicable small role that seems to be intended largely to expose substantial quantities of her body) and a fine young actress named Lauren Ambrose, who has the only interesting relationships in the film and cries out plaintively for a better role, selected with more judgment. Films like this are the reason we have MST3K, and this dog is begging for it!

THE DREAMLIFE OF ANGELS (TDP): Two very different working-class women (the waifish but effervescent Isa, played by Elodie Bouchez, and the gorgeous but unapproachable Marie, played by Natacha Regnier) form an unusual friendship in French director Erick Zonca's first feature. The two of them end up squatting in the apartment of a mother and daughter who were victims of an accident. Through reading her diary, Isa soon forms an attachment to the comatose daughter, whom she visits in the hospital in several arresting sequences; meanwhile, Marie keeps a tough exterior that is a mask for a deep depression and self-loathing, expressed in her relationships. The reason why the two protagonists are drawn together is not quite clear, but the characters are real enough to keep us thoroughly engrossed, and to try to piece together that puzzle. Intriguingly, Zonca and his cameramen keep a realistic tone until the very end, which sears itself on your cornea almost as surely as that of The 400 Blows (in fact, the style begs a lot of comparisons to Truffaut) and inspired quite an interesting conversation among some of us on our way out of the theatre. See this movie.

BIG NIGHT (TDP): Two Italian immigrant brothers struggle to keep their little restaurant afloat on the Jersey Shore of the early 1950's. One, Primo (Tony Shalhoub, who is known for his television work) is a chef devoted to his art; the other, Secundo (Stanley Tucci) is a manager who has to reconcile this gift with the public demands of their business. A rival restauranteur (who is also a good, jovial friend) promises to give them a big break by arranging a dinnertime visit by bandleader Louis Prima--giving the brothers a chance to make it big, and giving the movie its title. Tucci and co-director/star Campbell Scott (whom some of you may know from Singles and Dying Young) made the film mainly because the former was tired of the endless mafioso roles that seemed to sum up Italian-Americans' presence in movies. After seeing it, that objective seemed insufficient to describe the many levels on which it succeeds: here we have a movie that is both interesting to think about and easy to love, a posed question that is also an merry old tarantello to joy. Part of that joy comes from the sheer delight that the filmmakers (especially the cinematographer) take in the appearance, texture, and preparation of food, which has invited comparisons to Babette's Feast, although it's not a perfect comparison in my opinion--Big Night is a lot more fun. Even the ending moved me with its quiet dignity. See this!

As always, let me know any movie comments/suggestions, and I hope everyone has a great holiday season and a great new millennium!
 
 

TONY %)