SLEUTH (1972)

Lawrence Olivier and Michael Caine

SLEUTH (1972). Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Screenplay by Anthony Shaffer from his play.

"Sex is the game; marriage the penalty." -- Andrew

"You are the complete clown." -- ditto

Mystery writer Andrew Wyke (Lawrence Olivier) receives a visitor at his country estate: Milo Tindle (Michael Caine), who owns his own hairdressing salon and happens to be the lover of Wyke's wife. Milo is hoping that Andrew will agree to give his wife a divorce, but Andrew has other plans. He wants Milo to steal some of his wife's jewelry -- Milo can sell the jewels and have enough money to keep his lover in style, and Andrew will get a huge insurance pay-out. But Andrew may have a more sinister scheme in mind than insurance fraud. It isn't too long before Inspector Doppler comes a calling ... 

Inspector Doppler deals with Andrew

Based on Anthony Shaffer's stage play, this is a twisty mystery-thriller that provides two good actors with some juicy roles and real opportunities for scene-stealing. While Caine is marvelous, Olivier is outstanding, putting on a thespian show of grand proportions. That's what makes the film entertaining even if you've seen it before and remember the plot twists (although it's a bit more fun when you're seeing it for the first time). The film is overlong at over two hours, and I confess this business at the very end with police showing up out of nowhere makes little sense, but the movie is certainly worth one look. The play is intelligently opened up by Shaffer, and Mankiewicz's direction is inobtrusive and keeps things moving. The picture is quite amusing until things get serious -- and even afterward. 

Verdict: Perhaps not nearly as wonderful as people remember -- even back then one of the twists seemed obvious -- but memorable in spite of it. ***. 

X, Y AND ZEE

X, Y AND ZEE (aka Zee and Co./1972). Director: Brian G. Hutton. 

"I got expelled at school because I fell in love with one of the nuns." -- Stella. 

Zee (Elizabeth Taylor) and Robert (Michael Caine of Dressed to Kill) have a toxic marriage that seems to run on ennui and liquor. At a party Robert meets the widow Stella (Susannah York), and while he hopes for just another cheap affair winds up supposedly falling in love with her. Zee seems to have a casual and world-weary reaction to this, but then comes to see Stella and her two small boys -- she and Robert can't have children -- as a threat. Robert makes up his mind to move out and have a life with Stella. What's a wife to do?  Wondering exactly how old Stella might have been when she kissed a nun and got expelled at school, Zee pays a call on her when Robert is out ... 

Frankly X,Y and Zee is over just when it starts to get interesting. For most of its length, it is a fairly dreary marital drama -- wife vs. mistress with a cad caught in the middle -- that has good performances and some good dialogue along with two-dimensional characters. Unlike the "bisexual" comedy Score, which came out the following year, X, Y and Zee turns coy and basically cops out at the end. Made only three years after Stonewall X, Y and Zee has a fairly negative attitude towards homosexuality, with stereotypical gay characters being referred to as "fags" (even right in front of them), so it's hard to think of it as ahead of its time (now if the trio had turned into a "thrupple!"). One also has to remember that Susannah York had already starred in The Killing of Sister George, which was much more explicit on lesbian matters and was released four years earlier.

Liz on the rampage!

Another problem with the movie is that none of the characters are likable. While we can imagine how she became that way, Zee is overbearing and superficial. Stella is, in a word, stupid to even begin a relationship with a man like Robert, who is -- in another word -- a pig. The movie doesn't so much as explore sexual options as exploit them, although many might find the ending amusing. Margaret Leighton (of The Winslow Boy) provides a little bit of fun as an intoxicated party host. Taylor and director Hutton also worked together on Night Watch. 

Verdict: Who's Afraid of Virginia Mayo? Heads in an interesting direction, and then completely muffs it. **. 

HANNAH AND HER SISTERS

Farrow, Hershey, and Weist

HANNAH AND HER SISTERS (1986). Written and directed by Woody Allen.

"I particularly love the mother, just a boozy old flirt with a filthy mouth." --Hannah's mother basically talking about herself.

Hannah (Mia Farrow) has a happy life with her husband, Elliot (Michael Caine). but she's unaware that he has fallen in love with her free-spirited sister, Lee (Barbara Hershey of Black Swan). As Lee and Elliot begin a guilt-wracked affair, Hannah's other sister, Holly (Dianne Wiest), a struggling actress, starts a catering business with her friend, April (Carrie Fisher), and the two both fall for married architect, David (Sam Waterston). Hannah's ex-husband, Mickey (Woody Allen) is drawn to Holly years after they had a disastrous first date. Like most of Allen'\s films, Hannah and Her Sisters is quite entertaining, with some fine acting from virtually the entire cast, but Allen himself -- who comes off like a stand-up comic sprouting lines, many of which are admittedly amusing -- doesn't really fit that neatly into the picture. I\m not sufficiently interested in exploring Allen's psyche to delve into any so-called deep meanings in his movies, but Hannah is engaging enough but no real masterpiece, despite its popularity. The business with Mickey thinking he may have a brain tumor is tasteless. As usual, many of the characters, admirably cultured, do what's expedient, not necessarily what's right. Max von Sydow shows up briefly as an older man that Lee discards once things heat up with Elliot, and Maureen O'Sullivan [Tarzan Escapes], Mia Farrow's mother in real life, plays Hannah's mother, with Lloyd Nolan [Portrait in Black] as her husband. Julie Kavner, who has a small role as a co-worker of Mickey's, does the same tiresome shtick she's been doing since she played Rhoda's sister on TV.

Verdict: Interesting and fun, but also kind of minor all told. **1/2.

ROUND UP OF NEW AND RECENT FILMS PART THREE

Blown Away: Nicole Eggert, Corey Haim

Here we are again, with reviews-in-brief of movies that are less than twenty-five years old.


Blown Away (1997). Director: Brenton Spencer. Predictable thriller about a young man (Corey Haim) caught in the spell of a young woman (Nicole Eggert) who wants to kill her father. Corey Feldman makes more of an impression as the man's older brother. There's a fairly good final twist. The Canadian film almost approaches porn at times. **.

Red Eye (2005). Director: Wes Craven. A young Miami hotel manager (Rachel McAdams) meets a seemingly nice guy (Cillian Murphy) at the airport only he turns out to be a creep involved in a terrorist plot, and threatens her father's life during the flight unless she does as he demands. The two leads give notably effective performances and the film is suspenseful and exciting. Oddly, the last third of the movie and the climax itself take place on the ground. ***.

Scoop (2006). Writer/director: Woody Allen. In this whimsical black comedy a magician (Allen) and an aspiring reporter (Scarlett Johansson) are contacted by a dead journalist (Ian McShane) and team up to find out if a prominent Britisher (Hugh Jackman), son of a lord, is the notorious Tarot card serial killer. Cute and suspenseful, with some very funny dialogue and good performances, the movie is basically just an entertaining throwaway for Allen. ***.

State of Play (2009). Director: Kevin Macdonald. Based on a BBC mini-series, this follows a reporter (Russell Crowe, looking like something the cockroaches dragged in) who teams up with a blogger (Rachel McAdams) to investigate the death of a congressional aide who was also the mistress of his friend (Ben Affleck), and butts heads with his editor (Helen Mirren) as more murders occur. The leads all give very good performances, as do Robin Wright, Jeff Daniels, and Jason Bateman in smaller roles. Suspenseful, but somewhat predictable. ***.

The Social Network (2010). Director: David Fincher. The movie tells the more-or-less true story of the founding of Facebook and the behind-the-scenes legal battles that went on when the social media site promised to turn into a real money-maker. The movie is well-acted by a mostly youthful cast, and it certainly gets points for making an entertaining film out of something that (in certain instances) can be as dull as Facebook. ***.

Thin Ice (aka The Convincer/2011). Director; Jill Sprecher. An insurance salesman (Greg Kinnear) and a psychotic locksmith (Billy Crudup) wind up in a deadly situation together when the former decides to cheat an elderly client (Alan Arkin) out of a valuable violin. This black comedy is quite entertaining and unpredictable, although it turns out to be quite far-fetched as well. Bob Balaban scores as a violin dealer. ***.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012). Director: Brad Peyton. This sequel to the less effective Journey to the Center of the Earth  (2008) suggests that Jules Verne's books are actually non-fiction, so a young man and his stepfather manage to journey to the island of Verne's Mysterious Island. This in no way compares to the 1961 version, but it has its own charms, including good performances (especially from Michael Caine), excellent special effects featuring an assortment of colorful creatures, and superb scenic design. If only it didn't have that "cutesy" tone throughout. This has even less to do with Verne's book than the 1961 film. ***.

Jersey Boys (2014). Director: Clint Eastwood. Based on the Broadway show, this traces the rise and fall of the singing group The Four Seasons. Initially the sound these young actors reproduce sounds much like the originals, but then you realize (especially when you hear the real group over the closing credits) that the Four Seasons can't really be duplicated. The acting in this is okay; producer- lyricist Bob Crewe is played as a gay stereotype, and there are tiresome Italian-American cliches as well. The best scene in this long movie happens just as the closing credits begin: a terrific production number with great dancing set to "Oh, what a night!" Not a great movie, but entertaining enough. ***.

Before I Go to Sleep (2014). Director: Rowan Joffe. As in Memento, a young woman (Nicole Kidman) has a condition in which her memories disappear overnight and she has to be reminded of her own life every morning. She has a loving husband (Colin Firth) and a caring doctor (Mark Strong), but is frightened to learn that she was nearly beaten to death some years earlier and that she had a son who died. Things get more sinister and twisty after that. Well-acted by all, this is a rarity: a poignant thriller. ***.

Meadowland (2015). Director: Reed Morano. A couple's little boy completely disappears at a gas station. The movie isn't concerned with an investigation into the crime or even what happened to the child, but rather reveals the emotional unraveling of the two parents as they try to deal with their grief. By trying too hard not to be a "mere" thriller or suspense film, Meadowland -- another of these "minimalist" pictures -- doesn't become much of anything, and while well-acted, is never as moving nor as riveting as it should have been. **1/2.

Self/Less (2015). Director: Tarsem Singh. In a variation of the vastly superior Seconds, a billionaire (Ben Kingsley) buys himself what he thinks is a new young body that was grown in a lab. But complications ensue when it turns out said body actually belongs to a soldier (Ryan Reynolds) with a wife and child, and whose memories are slowly returning. Nice conclusion, and some interesting developments, but the movie tries too hard to be an action movie with a high body count and isn't all that it could have been. **1/2.

Hello, My Name is Doris (2015). Director: Michael Showalter. Doris (Sally Field), a woman of a certain age (Field was about 70), falls for a much, much younger colleague (Max Greenfield) and hopes for a real relationship with him, to the consternation of her best friend (Tyne Daly) and the delight of said friend's grand-daughter. Frankly, you have to take this likable comedy-drama with a grain of salt, as a lot of it doesn't ring true, but Field gives an outstanding performance and the others are all terrific. The film does explore the fact that seniors can fall hard for much younger people and still hope to find that certain someone. ***.

The Program (2015). Director: Stephen Frears. The rise and fall of Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor, seven time winner of the Tour de France, and a complete phony and cheat who used drugs (and pressured his teammates into same) to help him win. This operates on the level of a TV movie, with little depth or psychological probing, but Ben Foster is quite effective in the lead. ***.

Confirmation (2016). Director: Rick Famuyiwa. Fictionalized film about the Supreme Court confirmation hearing for conservative Judge Clarence Thomas (Wendell Pierce) and the charges of harassment made by former co-worker Anita Hill (Kerry Washington). This whole she said/he said scenario remains fascinating and controversial after all of these years. The movie suggests objectivity, but seems slanted in favor of Hill. 50% of the American public thought that both Thomas and Hill weren't telling the whole truth, and that's the impression I got as well. In any case, the film is well-acted and completely absorbing. ***.

Sacrifice (2016). Director: Peter A. Dowling. Tora, an American doctor (Radha Mitchell), moves back to her husband's childhood home, an isolated island, where she discovers a corpse on their property and new ties to an ancient sect with murderous capabilities. This nominal horror film/thriller is well-produced and acted, even if it's plot is fairly obvious and TV-movie like. However, it does have a suspenseful and exciting climax. **1/2.

Inferno (2016). Director: Ron Howard. This second sequel to Da Vince Code has Tom Hanks rather wasted in a thriller that has him hopping around Europe to some admittedly interesting and colorful locations in order to stop a deadly plague from being unleashed by a psychotic billionaire (Ben Foster). The picture has some exciting sequences, but it just misses being a really excellent suspense film. **1/2.

The Girl on the Train (2016). Director: Tate Taylor. Rachel, an alcoholic (an excellent Emily Blunt) who can't deal with her ex-husband dumping her for a new wife, begins to bond with another woman she sees from a train window. When this woman -- who resembles the ex's new wife -- disappears, Rachel wonders if she herself may have been somehow responsible. The bouncing around in time may have worked in the source novel, but it doesn't work that well in the movie, which eventually becomes tedious. The only halfway likable character is a lady detective played by Allison Janney. The "sisterhood is powerful" sub-text doesn't quite work considering how unsympathetic most of the characters are. **.

A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM

A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM (1990). Director: Jan Egleson.

Graham Marshall (Michael Caine of Alfie) works in the marketing department at a large Manhattan firm. He is sure that he is next in promotion after his current boss, George Brewster (John McMartin), but to his horror and rage learns that has has been passed over in favor of a younger, slick asshole named Robert Benham (Peter Riegert). Adding to Graham's irritation is the presence of his wife, Leslie (Swoosie Kurtz), who is not sensitive enough to his needs, and whose response when he is passed over is not exactly supportive. When Graham is nearly frazzled in an electrical accident in his home, he comes up with an idea for solving his problems ... Based on a far superior novel by Simon Brett, A Shock to the System is well-acted by all, holds the attention, and is probably more entertaining to those who have never read the book. Andrew Klavan's screenplay makes many unnecessary changes -- including switching the story's locale from England to New York! --but has stupid moments, eliminates characters, jumbles sequences, and emerges as an acceptable "Lifetime" movie and not much else. (Klavan is typical of a minor screenwriter who thinks he can "out-clever" the original author, and fails.) Jan Egleson, basically a television director, covers the action adequately but there is no inspiration in the presentation of events, and even the suspense is comparatively minimal. Barbara Baxley [East of Eden] is Graham's mother-in-law (a highly interesting character in the novel who is virtually a non-entity in the film); Will Patton is a detective (also a much less interesting character than in the book); and Elizabeth McGovern of Downtown Abbey plays an office worker who dallies with Graham.

Verdict: Okay enough on its own terms, but you'd be better off reading the novel and skipping this adaptation. **1/2.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

Tom Hardy as Bane and Christian Bale as Batman

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012). Director: Christopher Nolan.

"You're not living. You're just waiting -- waiting for things to go bad again."

This is the sequel to The Dark Knight and the third in a trilogy of films made by Christopher Nolan about Batman, and probably the worst of the three. Bruce Wayne/Batman (Christian Bale) has been laying low since the events of The Dark Knight but has to come out of retirement to take on the threat of Bane (Tom Hardy), a grotesque killer that he thinks is the son of old enemy Ras Al Ghul. Bane not only manages to kidnap and imprison Batman in a hole called the Pit, but takes over Manhattan Island -- uh, I mean Gotham -- and holds everyone hostage with a nuclear bomb that is going to go off eventually whether he detonates it or not. [This leads to a mini-revolution that makes Occupy Wall Street look like a walk in the park.] This a perfectly workable plot and this might have amounted to a thrilling movie if Nolan was content to make a satisfying and exciting action film with good characterizations and acting [which this has for the most part]. Instead Nolan drags his meandering movie out for nearly three hours, has lots and lots of talking and brooding, and fails to craft one single memorable set piece throughout the entire movie -- yes, there is not one really memorable sequence. The Dark Knight, which started out very badly, eventually became compelling and entertaining, but The Dark Knight Rises never really amounts to much despite all the busyness and the pretentious stabs at profundity. Even the Batman comic books have had more meaningful stories than this. Worse, The Dark Knight Rises isn't especially well directed, edited or photographed, and at times you get the impression that the music [Hans Zimmer], as is often the case, is doing most of the work [at keeping the audience awake, for one thing], although even the score is nothing special.

There are some good things, however. There is an unexpected development late in the picture regarding one of the characters which I found to be a genuine surprise [and which I should have seen coming]. The acting is quite good, with Bale making an effective caped crusader, and Michael Caine a strong and sympathetic Alfred. I don't know what to make of the weird voice Tom Hardy uses in his turn as Bane [which could be his normal voice, of course] but it doesn't seem to suit the character. Anne Hathaway is good as Selina Kyle [never referred to as the Catwoman, although that's who she is], although her character is pretty unlikable, and Marion Cotillard [Nine] really scores as Miranda, who is involved in Wayne industries and dallies with Brucie Boy in the bedroom. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is fine as the cop, Blake, who sort of functions as an uncostumed Robin, and there are satisfactory turns from Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Matthew Modine, and others.

Verdict: Pick up a good Batman comic book instead. **.

THE WRONG BOX

Peter Sellers as Dr. Pratt

THE WRONG BOX (1966). Director: Bryan Forbes.

"My father was a missionary. He was eaten by his bible class." 

In this highly amusing black comedy, two elderly brothers are all that remain of a bunch of boys who were involved with a financial "tontine:" the surviving member of the group will receive all the money and the interest accrued. The film begins with a scene of these young boys, who seem to have no idea of what it's all about, gathered in a room with their guardians and being told about the tontine. Next follows a sequence showing how these now-grown boys meet their often untimely demises in generally comic and unusual ways. The main story follows the misadventures of Masterman Finsbury (John Mills), who has been in bed dying for decades, and his hated brother Joseph (Sir Ralph Richardson) -- a "boring pedantic old poop" -- as Masterman tries to murder Joseph [in a very funny sequence] and their assorted relatives conspire against each other or wonder what the hell is going on. Michael Caine is Masterman's nephew, and Dudley Moore and Peter Cook are the nephews of Joseph, with Nanette Newman playing Joseph's adopted daughter, who adores Caine and vice versa. There's a mix up with a dead body on a train and a corpse in a box, and while after a bit you may not quite follow everything going on, there are plenty of laughs in both the dialogue and performances. While his part is relatively small, Peter Sellers almost steals the picture in his hilarious, brilliant turn as drunken felonious old quack Dr. Pratt. The entire cast is marvelous, including Wilfrid Lawson, who died that year at sixty-six, as the butler Peacock. [Lawson plays a much older character and is very convincing]. The climax goes on too long, but this is a clever and very funny movie with a top-notch cast. Mills so loses himself in his character that you might not realize that it's him. And Sellers! Sublime!

Verdict: All this and Sellers, too! ***.

THE PRESTIGE

                                                                                   
THE PRESTIGE (2006). Director: Christopher Nolan.

"Just because you're sleeping with him doesn't mean he trusts you."

Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman), aka the Great Danton, and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) are rival magicians, both desperate to pull off the ultimate illusion and find out how the other does his tricks. While The Prestige has some fascinating and suspenseful elements, and is well-acted [especially by Michael Caine in a supporting part], Christopher Nolan tries a non-linear approach to the narrative that insures that that the viewer is almost continuously confused. Is this happening now, in the past, the day after tomorrow -- who knows? You may not like the picture enough to go for repeated viewings, but it's entertaining enough for a one-time looksee. David Bowie is a weird scientist type, and Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall are the ladies in the magicians' lives. The movie goes in odd, almost supernatural or sci fi directions, but the approach actually limits the effectiveness of these ideas instead of taking full advantage of them. It's almost as if Nolan was afraid of making a genre picture. Still, it's certainly something different.

Verdict: Perhaps too strange for its own good. **1/2.

DEATHTRAP

DEATHTRAP (1982). Director: Sidney Lumet. Based on the Broadway play by Ira Levin.

"I'll tell you how good it is -- even a gifted director can't hurt it."

If only ... Playwright Sidney Bruhl (Michael Caine) is dismayed when his latest offering is trashed by the critics, even though his faithful and wealthy wife Myra (Dyan Cannon) remains his biggest booster. When he reads a play written by Clifford Anderson (Christopher Reeve), a student of his, Bruhl hatches a plot to steal away the script anyway he can. But things are a little more complicated than at first they seem. Caine and Cannon are superb, and Reeve offers one of his best performances, but while the film is entertaining and has a few twists, the characters remain one-dimensional and the film is, ultimately, just a psycho-sexual stunt. A better writer could have made something out of the generational difference between two of the protagonists and their perhaps divergent attitudes toward their sexuality -- all of which seems thrown in just for some added "shock" value and is never explored with any depth or intelligence. [Even in 1982 a film that basically traded off "nasty queers" was pretty dated; meaning the movie was hardly "hip" as its makers must have thought] Irene Worth is irritating as a psychic neighbor, but Henry Jones is, as usual, adept as Bruhl's lawyer. Lumet turns in one of his better directorial jobs although he's certainly no Hitchcock.

Verdict: Not as much fun as it sounds. **.

THE DARK KNIGHT

THE DARK KNIGHT (2008). Director: Christopher Nolan.

During the first half of this very long movie I was thinking how much more entertaining the average cliffhanger serial from the forties is than The Dark Knight. With low-budgets and decidedly low-tech, those old serials had better-choreographed fight and action scenes than this movie does. The Dark Knight is slow and disjointed, badly-edited or badly-written or both -- and director Christopher Nolan isn't much help -- but luckily the movie picks up tremendously in the second half and sends the audience home fairly happy. I don't mind that The Dark Knight is intense and serious (if not exactly intellectual) but I wish it had been more fun and had a few more thrilling action sequences. The only thing that comes close is when Batman saves a woman who's been shoved off of a building, but this doesn't last very long. There's nothing in here like the climax of the otherwise moronic Batman and Robin with George Clooney.

Still the movie is saved by two excellent sequences late in the picture. In the first The Joker plants bombs on two ferries -- one with innocent Gotham citizens aboard, the other with criminals -- and tells each ferry that they can save themselves by using a switch to blow up the other ferry before midnight. Diabolical. (Although it seems odd that no one on the non-criminal ferry reminds the other passengers that there are also cops and guards on board the ferry with the crooks.) The other memorable sequence is a suspenseful climax with Two-Face, Batman, Jim Gordon, and his family where Two-Face holds a gun to Gordon's terrified little boy as The Batman waits to make his move.

The most dynamic performance in the film comes not from The Batman's Christian Bale (who's fine) or The Joker's Heath Ledger (who's vastly over-rated) but from the Harvey Dent/Two-Face of Aaron Eckhart. Ledger tries too hard for a more subdued Jim Carrey kind of approach, over-using those flicks of the tongue; he's not bad, just not that memorable. I was more impressed with Michael Caine's Alfred, as well as Morgan Freeman as Lucius, Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon, and Eric Roberts as hood Moroni. Maggie Gyllenhaal is interesting casting in that she's not the "babe" you would think they'd cast in a movie like this, but she's undeniably effective in her own quiet way.

Although too long and slow, The Dark Knight has some good effects and amusing, even moving and surprising moments, to make it a good, if highly imperfect Batman epic. I have to say that it isn't quite as mindless as those great old serials, or at least it attempts to have a little more on its mind.

Verdict: You can't keep a good bat down. ***.

ALFIE (1966)

ALFIE (1966). Director: Lewis Gilbert.

The big surprise is that this, the original Alfie, isn't half as good as the remake with Jude Law. Michael Caine, a cruder, less charming and much less likable Alfie – not to mention a more immoral one -- never quite comes off entirely real in this, and the movie is at times a bit tedious. Alfie is an unfocused character and the many supporting characters are not well developed. Vivien Merchant makes an impression as the lonely wife who has a cheap affair with Alfie and gets pregnant, but Shelley Winters (as the rich older woman Ruby) and Michael Caine make a very odd pairing. [When Caine asks Winters what her new boyfriend has that he hasn't got and she says “he's younger than you are” they show the guy in her bed; in the remake he remains unseen.] There is a lively, funny – if typically unrealistic bar fight – but not much else to recommend it. Some may feel this early version of the story has more bite and is more faithful to the original play, but it simply isn't as entertaining as the remake, and has its own ill-conceived moments of sentiment. NOTE: To read a review of the Alfie remake with Jude Law, scan down the movie reviews page at HIGH AND LOW NY http://highandlowny.tripod.com/id27.html.

Verdict: Not so great. **.