FATAL ATTRACTION

Glenn Close and Michael Douglas

FATAL ATTRACTION (1987). Director: Adrian Lyne.

Lawyer Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) is happily married to wife Beth (Anne Archer) and the two have a small daughter. One night at a party Dan meets Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) and sparks immediately strike between the two. A second chance encounter leads into dinner and a heated sexual liaison, then an intense weekend fling. Alex knows that Dan is married but she is not to be put off when she demands that he see her again. Dan wants to think of this as just a pleasant interlude, but Alex is already making marriage plans. Before long she is phoning and stalking Dan and getting personally involved in the lives of his family. It's a question of who will break first, angry husband or angrier paramour.

Bad boy: Michael Douglas

Fatal Attraction is a well-made and absorbing picture although one could argue that it skirts the tougher questions. The picture also has an old-fashioned tone to it in that the wife in this is pretty much expected (after some initial anger) to meekly put up with her husband's peccadilloes, especially when you consider what Alex puts her and her family through. Then there's the fact that Dan shows not the slightest trace of hesitation or guilt as he throws himself pell mell into an affair when his trusting wife and child are out of town  -- he hardly ever seems remorseful. Some of this is due to Douglas' performance, a glibness that may inadvertently give a clue to Dan's (lack of) character. Anne Archer is more than solid as Beth, and Ellen Latzen makes an adorable young daughter.

Alex having a bad moment

And then there's Glenn Close, who steals the movie. Close herself has remarked how the film does not delve enough into the events or psychological traumas that might have made Alex the unwrapped person that she is, but Close does her best to vividly bring the woman to life in spite of it. Whether she's being flirtatious or murderous, giving vent to a psychotic rage or almost engaging the audience's sympathy due to her loneliness and unrequited feelings, she is always on top of things (she was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar).

Glenn Close

But let's not be too sympathetic for her. While women who have affairs with married men often say, rightfully, that the husbands are worse because they are married, the mistresses (although Alex never quite becomes a mistress) shouldn't be let off the hook. Alex enters into the relationship with Dan even though she knows he's married -- it is possibly her sheer narcissism that convinces her that Dan will almost immediately drop his wife for her. The punched-up ending involving a bathtub and a butcher knife is like something out of a slasher film only not as gory. The film is compelling enough on its limited terms that it probably would have worked with its original wind-up. Considering that Dan is a prick -- not for how he treats Alex so much but for how he treats his wife -- I would not be so quick to say that the film has a happy ending. Dan may choose his next paramour with more care, but there will be more paramours in the future, you can bet. Cheaters cheat.

Verdict: Not exactly Hitchcock, but well-made and occasionally suspenseful and exciting. ***.

ROUND UP OF NEW AND RECENT FILMS PART FIVE

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

The Unborn (2009). Written and directed by David S. Goyer. Casey (Odette Annable), a self-absorbed young woman, discovers not only that she had a twin brother who died, but that she is being haunted by a malevolent spirit called a dybbuk. Somehow this production managed to ensnare such name players as Jane Alexander (as the young lady''s grandmother) and Gary Oldman as a rabbi who tries to exorcise the dybbuk, but it's an illogical rehash of every horror movie ever made. There is an interesting sequence in a nursing home where an old man is transformed into a monster, and the closing theme music is snappy. **.

The Wife (2017). Director: Bjorn Runge. Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce co-star -- and are marvelous -- in this study of a long-term marriage when the couple travel to Stockholm where the husband is to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. But simmering tensions over the possible true authorship of his novels begin to boil over. Unlike a lot of modern-day movies, this film does not shy away from dramatic confrontations and is all the better for it. It's a good film all around, although one may come off with the nagging feeling that it could have been better, that some things don't quite jell. ***.

Dismissed (2017). Director: Benjamin Arfmann. High school English teacher Mr. Butler (Kent Osborne) comes into conflict with a bright and ambitious -- and unfortunately sociopathic -- student named Lucas Ward (Dylan Sprouse). Lucas takes serious exception when Butler gives his lengthy paper a B plus instead of an A, and Butler finds his life spiraling out of control. Dismissed is suspenseful and well-acted, and demonstrates how anti-social personalities can figuratively and literally destroy the lives of innocent people, but it can't exactly be considered a modern Bad Seed. **1/2.

Hereditary (2018). Written and directed by Ari Aster. A tragic and gruesome death in an already dysfunctional family causes a mother (Toni Collette) to seemingly go off the deep end, but are her problems really caused by the fact that her recently deceased mother was a Satanist? With its slow pace and off-putting style, Hereditary tries to disguise the fact that it's just another devil/possession movie masquerading as a family drama. When the spooky stuff starts late in the picture, it seems somewhat absurd and almost comical. Collette and some of the other actors give good performances, but stick with the less obtuse and more entertaining The Omen instead. **.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018). Director: J.A. Beyona. It turns out that the public zoo of Jurassic World was inexplicably built on an island with an active volcano, so the two leads of the last film decide to try to rescue the remaining dinosaurs. Unfortunately, some greedy people want to sell the monsters off to the highest bidder (would these savage beasts really make great weapons?) but it is no surprise that they wind up getting loose. JWFK is a pretty bad movie, with a terrible and stupid script hampered by dumb animal rights aspects and obnoxious characters, only one halfway memorable sequence, and moments that we have already seen over and over again. Chris Pratt seems so bored with the material -- and who can blame him? -- that he barely gives a performance. Terrible, despite some amazing and fluid FX work. *1/2.

Deadly Runway (aka Fatal Fashion/2018). Director: Doug Campbell. Jennifer (Linsey Godfrey), a disgraced fashion photographer now working in a high school, takes a shy, nerdy guy named David (Joshua Hoffman) to hand and manages to turn him into a top male model. But trouble begins when she gives the same treatment to Caitlyn (Ellen Michelle Monohan), and David becomes attracted to her. Meanwhile David's mom (Jamie Luner) worries about the relationship between Jennifer and David, as Jennifer goes full-out psycho. The cast in this is appealing and the film works as a decidedly minor thriller. **1/2.

Three Identical Strangers (2018). Director: Tim Wardle. This is the true story of three boys, triplets, separated at birth and who grow up in different households until they come across each other during their college years. They later learn that they were part of a study on twins and triplets that was done without their knowledge or consent. While the movie is nowhere near as "astonishing" as the hype would suggest, and I don't necessarily buy the thesis that being separated leads to depression and suicide (sadly, lots of people kill themselves without being separated in childhood), the documentary does have its interesting and poignant aspects. **1/2.

The Little Stranger (2018). Director: Lenny Abrahamson. In 1948 England a young doctor (Domhnall Gleeson) becomes involved with a once-prosperous family, including the mother (Charlotte Rampling), her disfigured veteran son (Will Poutler) and especially his sister, Caroline (Ruth Wilson). The film begins well, is well-produced and photographed with some good performances, but it abruptly turns into an unconvincing "ghost" story. With all of the elements the plot embodies, surely there could have been a stronger storyline to pin them to? Gleeson's performance plays a bit like a stunt. Based on a novel. **.

Replicas (2018). Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff. After his entire family is killed in an automobile accident, a scientist (Keanu Reeves) and his colleague (Thomas Middleditch, the nerd in the Verizon commercials) clone them and use special technology to transfer memories and personalities into the new bodies. The movie could have gone in several interesting and thoughtful directions, but instead turns into a mere "action" film with the family running from the stereotypical evil corporate executives -- which we've all seen a thousand and one times before. Often very illogical and comparatively shallow, the film takes intriguing notions and doesn't do enough with them. Reeves and Middleditch are okay, but Mona Foster, playing the wife, doesn't even appear to be an actress. Like a long and mediocre episode of The Outer Limits. **1/4. 

WHEN MICHAEL CALLS

Elizabeth Ashely gets a call

WHEN MICHAEL CALLS (1972 telefilm). Director: Philip Leacock. An ABC Movie of the Week.

Helen Connelly (Elizabeth Ashley of The Carpetbaggers) begins getting phone calls from a boy who claims he is her nephew, Michael -- unfortunately Michael died in a blizzard fifteen years before. Helen tries to dismiss the phone calls and what they may signify from her mind, but then some of her friends and acquaintances wind up dying in mysterious ways. Did Michael somehow survive and is he out for revenge, or is someone else carrying out a grudge plot against the townspeople? Based on a novel by John Farris, When Michael Calls is minor but suspenseful and well acted, with good performances from Ashley, Ben Gazzara [Bloodline] as her concerned ex-husband, and especially Michael Douglas [The China Syndrome] as Michael's older brother. John Farris turned to directing the same year for Dear Dead Delilah with Agnes Moorehead.

Verdict: Holds the attention. **1/2.

SIZE IS RELATIVE

Marvel's Ant-Man

SIZE IS RELATIVE.

This week we've got a round up of movies dealing with differences in sizes. While I hesitate to say this is in honor of the opening of Marvel's Ant-Man movie tomorrow -- the movie might be too awful to "honor" -- it has got me thinking about the size of things in movies and on television shows, especially the size of people. This blog has already posted on such films as The Amazing Colossal Man, War of the Colossal Beast, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, The Cyclops, Dr. Cyclops, Fantastic Voyage, and Attack of the Puppet People and this week we look at The Devil-Doll*, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver and TV shows World of Giants and Land of the Giants. There's also a look at classic Twilight Zone episodes that deal with the relativity of size.

As for Ant-Man, the original character from the sixties, Henry Pym, is being played by Michael Douglas in the movie. The younger Ant-Man is "Scott Lang," who is sort of Pym's protege. The old comic book stories from Tales to Astonish were ridiculous but charming. [For more info see The Silver Age of Comics.] Michael Crichton and Richard Preston wrote Micro, an interesting novel about miniaturization, but it has yet to be made into a movie.

* I actually watched this movie last night and wrote a review, only to discover I had already reviewed it on this blog some years ago. My opinion of it has gone down half a star. Both reviews are available on Great Old Movies.

ONE NIGHT AT MCCOOL'S

ONE NIGHT AT MCCOOL'S (2001). Director: Harald Zwart.

Bartender Randy (Matt Dillon) rescues a young lady, Jewel (Liv Tyler of The Incredible Hulk), from an abusive man outside the bar where he works, and soon finds himself entangled up in her life as she moves in with him. Jewel has an immediate mesmeric and sensual effect on most of the men she encounters, which includes Randy's married, S & M-loving cousin, Carl (Paul Reiser) and the portly, potato-faced Detective Dehling (John Goodman of Speed Racer), both of whom are instantly smitten. The three men tell their stories to people they know: Randy sounds off to Burmeister (Michael Douglas, who also produced) in a bingo hall; Carl tells his troubles to his shrink, Dr. Green (Reba McIntire); and Dehling confesses to an associate that Jewel reminds him of a lost love . The performances are okay, with Douglas [Behind the Candelabra]  -- with a puffed up mullet hairdo -- having the most fun. The trouble with this black comedy is that it's frenetic but not all that funny. The most interesting thing about it is some of the casting.

Verdict: Not so cool -- and not so hot, either. *1/2.

BEHIND THE CANDELABRA

Matt Damon and Michael Douglas

BEHIND THE CANDELABRA (2013 telefilm). Director: Steven Soderbergh.

There seems to be no way around the fact that popular entertainer Liberace (Michael Douglas) was a big, flamboyant, outrageous gay stereotype, and this telefilm makes no attempt to get around it. It is also based on the book by Liberace's [ex] lover Scott Thorson (Matt Damon), so really has to be taken with a grain of salt. Thorson appears to be a type of [supposedly bisexual] hustler who moves in on Liberace even as Liberace moves in on him -- and suggests he move in with him. The movie suggests that the promiscuous entertainer eventually wanted to replace Thorson with a younger model, making him little different from a lot of straight guys. The one thing the telefilm has going for it is the acting, with Douglas [The China Syndrome] giving an outstanding performance that almost makes Liberace likable, and Matt Damon [The Departed] is not far behind him. Rob Lowe is also quite good as the shady "feelgood" Dr. Startz. Dan Ackroyd and Cheyenne Jackson [The Most Happy Fella] also have significant roles, and Debbie Reynolds is fine as Liberace's mother. Soderbergh also directed Douglas in Traffic.

Verdict: It's well-acted and certainly holds your attention, even if it often comes off like a gay dirty joke. ***.

TRAFFIC (2000)

Michael Douglas as Judge Wakefield

TRAFFIC (2000). Director: Steven Soderbergh.

Compressing a long BBC mini-series [Traffik] into a two and a half hour movie, this feature deals with different aspects of the drug traffic, from Mexican cops and dealers, to American drug lords and narcs, to a Judge or "drug czar," investigating the problem who discovers his own daughter is an addict. Michael Douglas is the judge; Steven Bauer is the businessman who turns out to run a drug cartel, and Catherine Zeta-Jones is his initially unknowing wife who ultimately proves as ruthless as he is, wanting to take out a witness played by Miguel Ferrer. Others in the cast include James Brolin [The Car], Albert Finney [Tom Jones], Dennis Quaid [Legion], Benicio Del Toro [The Wolfman/2010] , and Don Cheadle [Iron Man 2] as a cop. The acting is okay and sometimes better than that, but the movie is disjointed [you get a sense that an awful lot was left on the cutting room floor] and badly directed. The movie holds the attention but it should be riveting and it isn't. Worse, some of the developments stretch credulity; certainly there is enough drama in the subject without contriving improbable sequences, such as the judge hitting the streets instead of calling the cops to find his daughter? This is not great movie-making by any stretch of the imagination.

Verdict: A movie on this subject shouldn't be so blah. **.

BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT (2009)

Michael Douglas confronts Jesse Metcalf

BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT (2009). Writer/Director: Peter Hyams. From the 1956 screenplay by Douglas Morrow.

C. J. Nicholas (Jesse Metcalfe) is a young, ambitious reporter who thinks he's got a great story: he's convinced that district attorney Mark Hunter (Michael Douglas) has won a long string of cases because he and a cop confederate are manufacturing last minute evidence and convicting defendants regardless of guilt or innocence. C. J. gets help from Ella (Amber Tamblyn), an associate of Hunter's, and from buddy Corey (Joel David Moore), who plays a particularly important part in his scheme. C. J. arranges to get himself arrested for a murder he didn't commit, figures that Hunter will do his usual trick with fake evidence, and at the last minute Corey will rush in with proof that said evidence was manufactured. Obviously, things don't work out the way C.J. intended. This is a highly interesting and adept updating of the 1956 Fritz Lang movie of the same name. While Metcalfe may need a little more seasoning before he can carry a whole picture [Douglas is excellent but has only a supporting role], he has his moments, the other actors are fine, and the movie has some clever and ingenious twists and turns.

Verdict: A rare case of a remake being perhaps slightly -- and arguably -- better than the original. ***1/2.

THE CHINA SYNDROME

Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas and Jane Fonda

THE CHINA SYNDROME (1979). Director: James Bridges.

Reporter Kimberly Wells (Jane Fonda) is doing a routine story at a nuclear power plant in Southern California, when an "accident" occurs that has everyone working there quite nervous. Kimberly and her brash photographer, Richard (Michael Douglas), are convinced that there was more to the incident than anyone is saying, but Kimberly's superiors are understandably afraid of lawsuits or worse. Still, it develops that plant employee Jack Godell (Jack Lemmon) has uncovered certain unsafe conditions that could lead to disaster if the facility goes back up to full power, leading to a tense confrontation with the higher-ups and a delicate situation in the control room. The China Syndrome became famous when the incident at Third Mile Island happened not long after its release, turning the picture into a must-see at the time. Although it's well-made and well-acted -- Lemmon is especially good, with Fonda on the money as well -- time has somewhat blunted its impact. Scott Brady [Mohawk] is fine as one of Lemmon's associates at the plant, and for better or worse Wilford Brimley, as another plant employee, also got a higher profile from this picture. Michael Douglas is okay, but doesn't make that much of an impression. The Stephen Bishop song that plays over the opening credits is pretty awful and almost sinks the movie from the start.

Verdict: Has its moments. ***.

MICHAEL DOUGLAS Marc Eliot

MICHAEL DOUGLAS A Biography. Marc Eliot. Crown Archetype; 2012.

Michael Douglas, son of movie star Kirk Douglas, was under a formidable shadow until he found success as a producer of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and later even bigger success as a major star of such films as Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct and Wall Street. His father had coveted the role played by Jack Nicholson in Cuckoo and was not thrilled when his own son didn't give it to him [Michael was pressured by others] and the two had a rather distant relationship until a life-changing event had Kirk take stock of his life and come to realize what was truly important. This book provides an overview of Michael's career, his failed first marriage, relationship with son Cameron and his second marriage to Catherine Zeta-Jones, as well as his battle with throat cancer. Eliot seems to have had trouble getting interviews with true insiders, so this mostly comes off as a well-done cut-and-paste effort, but it's not without interest. Eliot also wrote a book on Cary Grant.

Verdict: Acceptable standard movie star biography. ***.