Gideon58's Reviews

Legs was a relatively entertaining TV movie that revolved around the auditioning process for the legendary Rockettes, the world's most famous chorus line, focusing on three women auditioning for the famous chorus line for the first time. Deborah Geffner, Maureen Teefy, and Shanna Reed head the cast as the three hopefuls who seemed to have pinned their entire lives on getting into the Rockettes. Geffner, who was so memorable a few years prior in All that Jazz, as Vicky, the dancer Joe Gideon only cast because he wanted to have sex with her and Reed are well-cast in this movie and are wonderful dancers. Teefy, a very talented actress but not really a dancer, just seems a little out of her element here. The film also benefits from appearances by former 20th Century Fox dancer Sheree North as a former Rockette and Broadway legend Gwen Verdon as the Rockettes choreographer. For those fascinated with anything dealing with musical theater and/or the dance, a must...others be forewarned.

Though made near the end of MGM's Golden years, 1957's Les Girls was a stylish and entertaining musical that brought to mind the Japanese tale "Rashomon" where we are given one story told from three very different points of view.

The film opens with Lady Sybil Wren (the late great Kay Kendall), an elegant British bombshell, being taken to court for libel after the publication of a book she wrote about her experiences as the member of a song and dance troupe known as Les Girls.

What we then get is a flashback where we meet Barry Nichols (Gene Kelly)the leader of the act and his girls, the aforementioned Sybil, a bubbly American named Joy (Mitzi Gaynor)and an exotic French beauty named Angele (Taina Elg). According to Sybil, Barry toyed with her affections, making her think he loved her, but Angele's version of the story reveals he made her feel the same way, but Barry, now married to Joy, does finally take the stand and tells his version of what happened, which is apparently what really happened.

Stylish direction by George Cukor, a surprisingly meaty screenplay for an MGM musical, and some great musical sequences make for an offbeat but nonetheless richly entertaining film, which, if truth be told, is effortlessly stolen by Kay Kendall, whose luminous performance as Sybil lights up the screen, especially in a riotous comic duet she performs with Kelly called "You're Just Too Too.." Kendall was a supremely gifted actress taken from us much too soon and this film is ample proof of that. A nearly forgotten and underrated MGM classic.

Attachments

     

Jim Carrey does what he does best in Liar, Liar, a clever and amusing comedy about a divorced workaholic lawyer who keeps disappointing his young son to the point where, at his 5th birthday party, he makes a wish that his dad can't tell a lie for a whole day and the wish actually comes true, and losing the ability to lie turns out to seriously impede his chances of winning a big case. With the help of a smart script and sure-footed direction by Tom Shadyac, Carrey turns in one of his most entertaining performances as the poor sap has to avoid a whole lot of people who he didn't realize he lies to on a regular basis. There are some effective supporting turns from Maura Tierney as Carrey's ex, Jason Bernard as a judge, Anne Haney as his secretary, and especially Jennifer Tilly as his voluptuous client. Young Justin Cooper is adorable as Carrey's son,Max. This film also gets my vote for funniest outtakes shown during the closing credits...they're almost funnier than the movie.

Attachments

   

There have been a lot of show business biographies put on film, but for the most part, they are sketchy and fictionalized. Judy Garland was a show business legend, who even though much has been written about her, a definitive film biography has alluded us. An NBC TV movie was made in the 80's called Rainbow, but it only covered Garland's childhood to the time she was cast in The Wizard of Oz.

At long last, we finally were gifted with a surprisingly factual and lavishly produced TV movie called Life with Judy Garland: Me and my Shadows, a two-part mini-series, based on a book by Garland's daughter, Lorna Luft, who also serves as the film's narrator, which chronicles Garland's life from her first audition for MGM to her tragic death in 1969.


Most show biz biopics tend to fictionalize material for dramatic effect or lack of knowledge of the facts, but I trust the facts presented here because there are several events recreated here that I have actually heard Garland herself talk about in interviews.

Some things are omitted and/ or glossed over (Her first marriage to David Rose is barely mentioned), but when you only have 2 hours and 45 minutes to tell the story, some fact-trimming is necessary.

The filmmakers wisely chose two actresses to play the teenage and adult Garland. Tammy Blanchard and Judy Davis both won Emmys for their work as young Frances Gumm and the adult Judy Garland. Davis, in particular, is astonishing in a powerhouse performance that just gets richer and more complex upon repeat viewings.

Another wise decision to dub original Garland recordings for Davis' singing voice further enhances the power of the piece. I read that prior to shooting, Davis watched every movie Garland made and as much concert footage as she could get her hands on and her homework pays off in spades here. Her recreations of "The Trolley Song" from Meet Me in St Louis and "The Man that Got Away" from A Star is Born are positively spooky.

Victor Garber gives the performance of his career as Judy's volatile third husband, Sid Luft. Hugh Laurie is a little too masculine as Judy's 2nd hubby, Vincente Minnelli, whose rumored bisexuality prior to meeting Judy is part of Hollywood folklore.

There is also solid work from Sonja Smits and John Benjamin Hickey as Judy's good friends, Kay Thompson and Roger Edens and by Dwayne Addams as a young Mickey Rooney. There is also a memorable turn from Marsha Mason as Ethel Gumm, Judy's hard-nosed mother. A hauntingly accurate look at the tragic life of, arguably, Hollywood's greatest creation, whose very human troubles never allowed her to live up to the creation.

Attachments

         

Michael J. Fox's considerable on screen charm was used to good advantage in Life with Mikey, in which he played the former child star of a sitcom called "Life with Mikey" who now is partnered with his brother (Nathan Lane) in running a children's talent agency, even though his brother does most of the work. Things look up when Mike literally bumps into 10-year old shoplifter (Kristina Vidal)who Mike sees as a possible gold mine for their agency and does manage to get her a lucrative commercial deal as cookie salesgirl.

This movie is watchable thanks to a charming performance by Fox, who imbues his own experience as a former child star into this character and this performance.

It's very sad whenever you watch Mike go into one of his stories about his days on the sitcom and how whoever he's sharing it with looks completely bored. Lane offers comic relief as Mike's brother and Cyndi Lauper steals every scene she is in as the agency's receptionist.

There are also some laugh-out-loud hysterical sequences of children with varying levels of talent auditioning for the agency. Between these scenes and Fox's performance, this film can hold your interest.

Attachments

 

Life in suburbia is never as it seems. Lurking not far behind the doors of those identical little ranch houses with the picket fences and the perfectly manicured lawns are lost ambition and dead passion. Even at the local playground, the parents playing with their children are not always living the portrait of domestic bliss they are trying to present.

Life is full of dreams deferred and buried secrets and this seems to be the crux of Todd Field's Little Children, the haunting and powerful story of a cross section of people who, somewhere along the way, gave up, settled, compromised, or erred and cannot find their way back to the lives they originally planned.

Todd Field's bold and evocative screenplay focuses on five characters: Sarah is the embodiment of the term "Desperate Housewife", a lonely woman trapped in a loveless marriage, the possessor of a Masters Degree in Literature, the obvious product of an ambition that got lost along the way to her marriage and raising an adorable daughter; Brad is a husband and father whose desire to be a lawyer has begun to fade due to two failed attempts to pass the bar and now seems content being Mr. Mom, raising his son and allowing his wife Kathy, a documentary filmmaker, to be the family's primary breadwinner; Ronnie is an emotionally shredded pedophile trying to eek out a viable existence in a neighborhood where he has been publicly labeled a sexual predator; Larry is an ex-cop trying to forget an accidental shooting that derailed his career by making Ronnie's life a living hell.

Kate Winslet received an Oscar nomination for her Sarah: a woman whose discontent with her own life has her screaming on the inside. Patrick Wilson (Phantom of the Opera; Hard Candy) offers one of his best performances as Brad, the emasculated house husband who finds release in an affair with Sarah: Jennifer Connelly turns in the performance of her career as Brad's wife: and in the movie comeback of a lifetime, Jackie Earle Haley, in his first film in decades, is mesmerizing as Ronnie, a shell of a human being who is trying to start over again. Haley'astonishing work here earned him an Oscar nomination as well.

Despite the title, this is a truly adult film, not for the squeamish or the faint of heart, but for those who are game, a challenging and gripping film that haunts long after the credits roll.

Attachments

     

Little Manhattan is a surprisingly clever and adult romantic comedy, with a clever screenplay in the tradition of some of Woody Allen's best work, except that the protagonists are children. Josh Hutcherson plays Gabe, a 10-year old New Yorker who falls head over heels in love with Rosemary (Charlie Ray), an 11-year old girl in his karate class. The romantic ups and downs between these two are delightfully chronicled here, thanks to a winning screenplay accentuated by Gabe's off-screen narration, which ranks with some of Woody Allen's best narrations. Hutcherson and Ray are completely convincing in their roles and you can't help but cheer for them throughout. Cynthia Nixon and Bradley Whitford co-star as Gabe's parents, who are separated, but still residing in the same apartment. A winning adult romantic comedy with children as the leads. Give this one a look, it might surprise you.

Attachments

 

The surprise hit of 2006, Little Miss Sunshine is a lovely little movie that took family dysfunction and delightfully stood it on its ear in this warm comedy drama that, if caught in the right mood, will bring up equal parts laughter and tears.

This is the story of little Olive Hoover (Abigail Breslin), a little girl who lives in Albuquerque who learns she is going to be a finalist in a California children's beauty pageant called Little Miss Sunshine and the road trip that Olive's family takes to get her there in a broken down VW bus that the family has to push to get started.

Michael Arndt's crisp, Oscar-winning screenplay brilliantly captures a family in shreds, on the edge of self-destruction, brought back to the possibility of life by having a potential beauty queen in the family. Directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris effectively put us right inside that VW bus and have created a family unit you feel for.

The cast is first rate: Greg Kinnear is Richard, Olive's workaholic dad who unknowingly has put a lot of unnecessary pressure on his daughter. Toni Collette, as always, is vividly real as Cheryl, Olive's mom and the family referee. I love Collette because she's one of those rare actresses you never see "acting."

Alan Arkin won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his amusing turn as Olive's foul-mouthed, heroin-snorting grandfather and Steve Carell is also Oscar worthy in a dazzling performance as Olive's gay uncle, who has just been released from a mental hospital after a suicide attempt. Newcomer Paul Dano also makes a strong impression as Dwayne, Olive's big brother who hates his family and is on a vow of silence until he gets accepted into the air force academy.

There are many laughs along this offbeat road trip and the story does take a couple of dark turns, but nothing out of the realm of reality for this story. The Hoovers do get to the pageant but the story even takes a couple of twists there that we don't see coming and, BTW, a bouquet to veteran character actress Beth Grant, who is hysterically funny as one of the pageant judges.

And needless to say, Abigail Breslin is a revelation as Olive, a performance endearing enough to earn her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The film was also nominated for Best Picture and after you see it, you'll understand why. Don't miss this gem of a sleeper.

Attachments

     

Living it Up is a reworking of the Carole Lombard classic Nothing Sacred now tailored to the talents of the 50's greatest movie team, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Lewis takes on the Lombard role as Homer Flagg, a small town schnook, who after exposure to radiation, believes he is dying and when word spreads all the way to Manhattan of his misfortune, a reporter for a big New York paper decides to treat Homer to a vacation in the Big Apple, sort of a final fling before Homer meets his maker.

Martin plays Steve, Homer's doctor, who discovers before the arrival of the reporter, that Homer isn't really dying, but agrees to play along so that Homer can go to New York and is even more willing to play along when he meets the reporter, played by the lovely Janet Leigh.

Growing up in the 60's, I had seen Jerry Lewis movies and I had seen Dean Martin movies, but I was almost an adult by the time I learned that they had made movies as a team. This laugh-a-minute comedy was my first exposure to them as a team and it is my favorite outing of theirs and is a part of my permanent video collection.

Martin and Lewis are a well-oiled machine and Janet Leigh makes a lovely leading lady There's also a great comic turn by comic veteran Fred Clark as Leigh's boss, whose character name is Oliver Stone! Sheree North also makes a memorable cameo at a jitterbug contest. But this is a Martin and Lewis show all the way, highlights including Dino's crooning of a love song to a photo of Audrey Hepburn and the duo's now classic "Every Street's a Boulevard in Old New York." This is Martin and Lewis in their prime and a comedy classic that's still funny fifty years later.

Attachments

     

Losing Isaiah is a moving and well-acted drama that takes a hot-button issue to an emotionally manipulative level but will involve you to the point of taking sides. Halle Berry plays a crack addict who, one night desperate to get high, leaves her newborn baby in a pile of garbage and when she returns after her mission, finds the baby gone.

The baby is rescued and is eventually taken home and raised by a sensitive social worker (Jessica Lange) who decides to raise and adopt the hyper-active, crack-addicted baby as her own. In the meantime, Berry gets clean, wants her baby back and takes Lange to court to regain custody of her son.

This is an involving story that provides a balanced account of an emotional issue and if you're really paying attention, you will find your alliance with the protagonists in this story switching from time to time.

Lange is solid, as always, and Halle Berry works hard at being convincing as a reformed junkie. Strong support is provided by Samuel L. Jackson and LaWanda Richardson (the real-life spouse of Jackson)as Lange and Berry's attorneys, David Straithern as Lange's husband, and Daisy Prince as Lange's daughter. No matter how hard you try to remain neutral, this film will suck you in and find you taking sides.

Attachments

     

Lost Horizon is the dreadful 1973 musical remake of the 1937 film classic about five passengers.on a snowy journey on a plane that crashes in an exotic fantasy land where the weather is always beautiful and no one ever grows old.

This idea probably looked a lot better on paper than the finished product, but it is a definite curio. It features static direction by Charles Jarrot and some really awful Burt Bacherach/Hal David songs like "The World is a Circle", "Share the Joy", "The Things I Will Not Miss", and "Reflections".

The obviously embarrassed all-star cast includes Peter Finch, Liv Ullmann, Michael York, Olivia Hussey, George Kennedy, Sally Kellerman, James Shigeta, Bobby Van,John Gielgud, and even Charles Boyer. I have never seen a musical put together with more non-singers and non-dancers in the cast in my life...what were these people thinking?

Attachments

 

Love Me or Leave Me was MGM's lush and richly entertaining biography of 1920's torch singer Ruth Etting.

Though not big on the facts, it is a wonderfully compelling drama with music chronicling the rise of the troubled young torch singer, who, according to this film's screenplay, had a trouble getting her career going until she met a gangster named Jimmy "The Gimp" Snyder (James Cagney), whose dangerous exterior melted in Etting's presence escalating to his Svengali-like grip on her career and her personal life. Etting tries to retain her independence until it is implied that Jimmy rapes her and Etting becomes,in Jimmy's mind, his possession.

It is the relationship between the two, slightly complicated by a warm-hearted pianist (Cameron Mitchell)that makes up the crux of the story here. Cagney has rarely been more electrifying on screen and received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor but Day matches him scene for scene, in what is easily the finest performance of her career,but for some reason,the Academy overlooked her.

Day, who was loaned to MGM from Warners for this, is smoldering, intense, and sexier than she has ever been on screen. The scene where she stands alone on a nightclub stage, in a tight, black dress, dripping in sequins and fringe,and belts out the classic "Ten Cents a Dance" is worth the price of admission alone.

If you're looking for facts about Ruth Etting's life, read a book, but if you're looking for supreme entertainment, don't miss this one. A must for Day and Cagney fans.

Attachments

   

One of Woody Allen's best films was the quietly beautiful Manhattan, an economic and cleverly mounted comedy drama which stars Woody as a divorced writer (Allen) who is having an affair with a high school student (Mariel Hemingway) but feels the relationship is dead-end and then drifts into a relationship with his best friend's mistress (Diane Keaton).

This is classic Woody, filled with snappy dialogue, unexpected plot twists and sparkling performances, especially by Keaton, Hemingway (who was nominated for an Oscar), and Michael Murphy as Woody's best friend...and it's all filmed in glorious black and white. I don't think the city that Woody loves so dearly has ever looked more glorious than it does in this film...this is definitely Woody's valentine to New York and it is a film made with delicacy and grace and, like most of Woody's films, features a beautiful musical score, a loving tribute to the magic of George Gershwin. If you're a Woody-phile, this one is a must.

Attachments

 

Martin & Lewis was the 2002 TV movie that traced the rise and eventual destruction of one of the greatest show business teams in Hollywood history. Even though I have always felt Martin and Lewis are worthy subjects of a theatrical biopic, I will take this over nothing.

This movie starts in the 1940's and showcases the beginning of both of these show business legends and implies that both were struggling and about to go under when, according to this film, both were booked at the same club and Lewis inserted himself into Martin's act and the audience thought they were so funny together that they became an act that sold out nightclubs and eventually segued into a lucrative movie career.

I don't know for sure how close it is to the truth, but this film depicts Jerry Lewis as an insecure, career-driven ego maniac who sincerely thought he was the brains of the act and that they would be nowhere without him and Martin is the guy who just sort of allowed Lewis to push and prod him through their success until Lewis' ego got to be too much for Dean to take. Whether or not this is what really happened, I guess only Dean and Jerry can say for sure, but it made for an immensely entertaining TV movie that had me riveted from start to finish.

Sean Hayes received an Emmy nomination for his nearly flawless recreation of Jerry Lewis, from an insecure unknown comic begging for his dad's approval to the egomaniac whose insecurities, paranoia, and control issues drove Martin and everyone else to the edge.

Jeremy Northam's powerhouse turn as Dean Martin matches Hayes note for note. Martin's singing voice is dubbed in for the musical sequences, but the rest is Northam, who brings Martin's easy and laid back persona beautifully to life here. He may not really resemble Martin physically, but Martin's personality, spirit and even his speaking voice were on the money for me here and the interaction between Northam and Hayes is kinetic here...a joy to watch.

Mention should also be made of Paula Cale as Dean's first wife, Bettya and to Kate Levering as Dean's second wife, Jeanne. This TV movie was a triumph and one of the few times I wished a film could have been longer. This one definitely left me wanting more. I'm still hoping it will inspire a theatrical look at this legendary team.

Attachments

     

Mask is the 1985 comedy-drama based on the true story of Rocky Dennis, a sensitive and highly intelligent teenager who, because of a debilitating disease, has a severely disfigured face that has made him an outcast outside of his family and the social circle surrounding them (basically a biker gang, who are savagely protective of Rocky).

The film focuses primarily on Rocky's relationship with his mother Rusty (Cher), a free-spirited independent woman whose history of drug and alcohol abuse and sexual promiscuity has been such a concern to Rocky that it's sometimes hard to tell who's raising who in the Dennis household.

The film basically unfolds as a series of vignettes, highlighting the ups and downs of Rocky and Rusty's relationship, which seems to rise above everything else that happens in their lives. No matter what Rocky and Rusty go through, their love for each other rises above everything and makes all their fallacies fade to the background.

Peter Bogdonovich's evocative direction is a big plus here, knowing where to mine the laughs and the tears and the film contains plenty of both. Cher gives the performance of her career as Rusty Dennis (even better than her Oscar winning turn in MOONSTRUCK) and an unrecognizable Eric Stoltz hits all the right notes as the soulful and intelligent Rocky. Sam Elliott is solid as Rusty's on-again, off-again boyfriend Gar and Laura Dern shines as a blind girl who Rocky falls for.

Mention should also be made of Dennis Burkley as a slow-witted family friend and of Richard Dysart and the late Estelle Getty who register in one scene as Rusty's parents. Don't miss this lovely emotional drama that perfectly blends laughter and tears to maximum effect.

Attachments

       

Mask is great.

Meet Me In St. Louis is a colorful and entertaining 1944 musical surrounding the oh-so-simple events in the life of the Smith family, in St. Louis, excited about having the World's Fair come to their sleepy little hamlet but worried about their impending move from St. Louis due to Mr. Smith's job transferring him away from their beloved home.

Judy Garland was at her career peak and never looked more beautiful on screen than here portraying the second eldest Smith daughter, Esther, trying to deal with the idea of moving from St. Louis just when she has found love with the boy next door (the forever bland Tom Drake). Leon Ames and Mary Astor offer strong support as Esther's parents and Margaret O'Brien steals every scene she's in as youngest Smith daughter Tootie.

A meticulously crafted film, with Judy offering three of her finest song performances with "The Trolley Song","The Boy Next Door" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Her duet with O'Brien, "Under the Bamboo Tree" is also a delight. This was the film that first brought Judy Garland together with 2nd husband Vincente Minnelli and his love for her is evident here...this film is Vincente's exquisite valentine to Judy.

Attachments

     

Meet the Parents was the surprise hit of 2000 that firmly established comic credentials for dramatic actor Robert DeNiro and put Ben Stiller on the map. Ben plays Greg Focker, a male nurse who after becoming engaged to a schoolteacher (Teri Polo) nervously agrees to accompany her to her sister's wedding in order to meet his future father-in-law (DeNiro).

Greg is naturally freaking out and try as he may, once he and Dad meet, everything that can go wrong for Greg does and it just gets worse for him as the story progresses. Stiller is wonderful as the hassled and harried everyman whose intentions are always good but the end results are never what he planned.

But the real surprise here is two-time Oscar winner DeNiro in a deft comic turn as Jack Burns, the father-in-law from hell who turns out to be a former CIA agent. DeNiro proves to be equally adept at comedy here, instinctively knowing when to take center stage and when to let young Stiller shine. Polo is attractive as Pam, the woman caught between these two guys and Blythe Danner is lovely as Jack's wife and Pam's mother.

Owen Wilson also provides some grins as Pam's ex-fiancée who Jack adores. Though the misery that gets heaped on Greg throughout the length of the film seems to be a bit much, the smart screenplay and attractive cast make for an entertaining comic romp. Followed by a sequel called Meet the Fockers..

Attachments

   

Mermaids is an enchanting and heartwarming comedy set in the 1960's about a free-spirited (read: trashy)woman struggling to raise her two daughters (who have different fathers) in a small New England town during the early 60's, as seen through the eyes of the elder daughter.

Cher delivers one of the best performances of her career as the off-the-wall Rachel Flax, an independent, way-ahead-of-her-time, aging party girl who sometimes puts her own good time ahead of the welfare of her daughters. Winona Ryder is appealing as Rachel's elder daughter, Charlotte, who is so embarrassed by her mother that she refers to her in her off-screen narration as "Mrs. Flax" and Christina Ricci already begins to show the gifted actress she would turn into as Charlotte's little sister Katie. Bob Hoskins is also solid, as always, as the man who is smitten with Rachel but she keeps trying to keep at arm's length.

Director Richard Benjamin really hits a bullseye here...recreating a turbulent period in history by contrasting it with a central character who seems to be oblivious of all that is going on except for in her own little world and backing the whole story with some wonderful music from the 1960's and Cher's cover of "The Shoop Shoop Song" during the closing credits is the bomb. An absolute delight from start to finish. Don't miss it.

Attachments

     

A step above the average "chick flick", Message in a Bottle is a beautiful contemporary love story with characters that you come to care about and a story that is emotionally manipulative but richly entertaining. The story follows a divorced, Chicago newspaper researcher (Robin Wright Penn) who, while jogging on the beach, actually finds a typed message in a bottle that actually washed onto the beach.

The message in the bottle is so moving that our heroine is determined to find out who sent it and after some brief investigative efforts, finds out the note was sent by a widowed boat builder (Kevin Costner)who lives off the coast of South Carolina. The meeting of these two lonely people sparks the best love story since The Way We Were .

Costner is sensitive and enigmatic as the lonely widower and Wright Penn offers one of her best performances as the researcher whose heart is melted by the man. There's also a grand and stylish supporting turn by Paul Newman as Costner's father which is just icing on the cake to this beautifully photographed romantic drama that will induce tears if you catch it in the right frame of mind. A winner.

Attachments