Beyond the Ram

THE WRESTLER (2008)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia 

My Choice for Best Film of 2008

One of the reasons I like director Darren Aronofsky's films is that they are alive and completely conscious, similar to his contemporaries such as Martin Scorsese and Oliver Stone. "The Wrestler" is more than a film - it is a firecracker of a movie that explodes and implodes with so much emotion, it leaves you burned out, exasperated and exhausted. This film quickens the pulse, radiates your nerves and leaves you with one of the greatest performances of the 21st and 20th century by the remarkable Mickey Rourke. High praise, indeed.

Rourke is the long-suffering, physically scarred and emotionally spent Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a pro-wrestler who has succumbed so heavily to the world of wrestling, he no longer feels joy from anything other than pleasing the audience. He can't please himself, though he tries with a local stripper named Cassidy (Marisa Tomei, in a truly spellbinding performance) who smiles and clearly loves the guy but she can't get involved (we know she will). There is the Ram's estranged daughter, Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood) who wants nothing to do with him and deeply hates him, especially since he has forgotten every single birthday of hers. Meanwhile, The Ram takes punishment in the ring with a variety of defensive weapons that will make most audiences flinch. There are staple guns, barbed wire, razors hidden in wrist paddings and much more. If any of you have seen such matches in hotel lobbies or in union halls, not to mention seeing the horrifying "Beyond the Mat" documentary, you'll have a good idea of what lies ahead.

The Ram has a heart attack at one point, and decides to retire and work at a deli department at the local supermarket. He has to make enough money to pay the rent for his trailer, give a few 20's to his confidante, Cassidy, and perhaps buy a nice jacket for his daughter. The question is how long can the Ram stay away from the ring.

"The Wrestler" is greatly focused on the Ram, from one battle on the ring to the next to fighting his restrained emotions in the suburbs and nightclubs of New Jersey, specifically Rahway. He can't connect to his daughter, claiming he is nothing "but a piece of meat." She feels sorry for him but she can't forgive him. Then there is Cassidy who helps him find an appropriate gift for his daughter. They have a scene in a bar where they sing to Ratt's "Round n' Round" that proves a song can speak volumes for the characters' sake more so than just having a good song on a soundtrack.

Rourke has always been a fascinating presence in films ranging from "Rumble Fish" and "Pope of Greenwich Village" to his very underrated work in "White Sands" and his superb cameo in "The Pledge." He has had his own personal demons to fight, reducing his beatific visage to a squished rubber mat due to his boxing days and alleged plastic surgery. It is as if he hated his matinee idol look, turning away from it and crushing it because he was an actor first and foremost.

Such a parallel to Rourke's own life and career leads director Darren Aronofsky and Mickey Rourke to never shy away from the Ram's personal hell, a man who is bent on self-destruction without knowing it. He has the wrestling ring - it is his playground of emotion where he can feel loved by his peers and his fans. He just can't feel love from anyone else. Rourke shows such a depth and range of emotions that it will burn a hole through your heart. "The Wrestler" is not just powerful cinema - it is transcendental and contains quite possibly the most unforgettable and deeply personal performance of any actor since, dare I say, Harvey Keitel in "Bad Lieutenant." A unique and hellish masterpiece.

The Web-Crawler does Queens proud

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (2014)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

It is unusual for a mainstream Hollywood movie to surprise me, to take me away from the comforts of the expected and the conventional. Sequels surprise me less, not to mention sequels to the endless barrage of comic-book movies in our cinematic landscape. The first "Amazing Spider-Man," a 2012 remake of the Sam Raimi 2002 blockbuster was not just unnecessary, it was the kind of a movie where a sedative was also unnecessary - the movie practically put me in sleep mode. Not one frame of that movie felt genuine or inspired - same old, same old. Andrew Garfield was the web-crawler but with an unconvincing touch of post-Christopher Nolan grit. Emma Stone was always fun to watch yet, overall, mediocrity in the land of spider webs. So, to my incredible amazement, I have to pause for a second, okay, there it is, and say that "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" is a vast improvement in all departments. This is pretty much the best Spider-Man flick since the 2002 dazzler - emotionally enriching, wonderfully acted, surprising and enlightening at every turn with special-effects, used sparingly enough in this day and age of overstuffed CGI, that wow us and show the most agile web-crawler ever. I am in shock and awe all at the same time, and Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone make their Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy the sweetest young couple you could ever hope for in this franchise.

Talk about surprises, this sequel begins with a flashback sequence involving Peter Parker's parents (Campbell Scott, Embeth Davidtz). All you need to know is the cryptic video message left for Peter by his dad, some equally cryptic information in a laptop, and a out-of-control plane that will leave you spooked. Flash forward to high-school graduate Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) who still tries to save the day as our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man involving a chase with a thief who stole some plutonium vials. This will make Peter late for Gwen Stacy's valedictorian speech (Gwen once again played by Emma Stone), though he gets his diploma in the nick of time. Confusion sets in when Peter keeps thinking about Gwen's late father police Captain George Stacy (played in a series of long stares by Denis Leary, one of the few false notes in this movie), who had asked Peter to promise to keep Gwen out of his Spidey business (she knows his secret identity after all). Peter dumps her (or does she), then they become friends again and the romance still blooms. It is all complicated for Peter, and that is what we expect for the good old Parker boy - his relationships with Gwen and Mary Jane were always fraught with tension and unease. Meanwhile, there are some funny asides about Peter's Aunt May (Sally Field, far more alive than in the last installment) who washes his nephew's laundry and wonders why the colors of his laundry run red and blue colors (time to use color-safe bleach).

But, hey, this is not just a cutesy romantic soap-opera or a domestic family drama. We got villains here, including Jamie Foxx as a clumsy electrical engineer who gets into an electrical accident at Oscorp Corp. The accident results in a mutation where he glows (almost as brightly as Taimak in "The Last Dragon") and thus becomes Electro, a supercharged villain who triggers one of two blackouts in New York City. There is also Harry Osborn (played by the creepy Dane DeeHan with a steely, unsettling presence), Peter's childhood friend, who is in town to see his dying father (an equally creepy Chris Cooper). Osborn's father dies from a hereditary disease that has now affected his son, and the search is on for a cure that involves Spider-Man's blood (some of this links to Peter Parker's father).

Amazingly, this new Spider-Man flick doesn't overdo the action quotient - the emphasis here is on Peter and Gwen, Peter's slow realization about what his father was up to, and Peter's acceptance of his Aunt May as more than just a family relative. It left me choked up, thanks to Sally Field's strong performance, but mostly thanks to my years of reading Spidey comics back in the day that reminded me why I loved those comics - the characters were first, the action second. And it is hardly a surprise to anyone concerning Gwen Stacy's predicament - [SPOILER FROM 1973] if you have read "Amazing Spider-Man" comic issue #121 then you'll see what I mean.

I do have some reservations about this sequel, namely that I was not crazy about Electro's insatiable need to destroy Spider-Man - just because Spidey stole his clout in the news? In the comics, Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson (a wonderful character not to be found in the new movies) wanted Electro to defeat Spider-Man and that would have made more dramatic sense. Also, I quibble regarding the Rhino character who appears in a cameo (although there are hints here of a possible Sinister Six in future Spidey installments) - too brief and used as a teaser for what's to come.

But these are such minor quibbles. "Amazing Spider-Man 2" coasts along at furious speeds, slowing down on occasion just enough to make sure we catch our breath. It is relentlessly and breathlessly entertaining and the shots of Spider-Man swinging around NYC are just as thrillingly staged as ever before. Kudos must also go to Andrew Garfield who brings a sense of joy and fun to Peter Parker and to the Web Crawler - the grit is replaced by genuine pathos and solemnity during the film's stirring finale. Emma Stone's bright angel on Peter's shoulders made my heart break - that it supersedes any love interest we have seen in previous Spidey flicks is definitely something to write home about. Garfield and Stone already proved they had chemistry before - now it burns and intoxicates thanks to writers Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Jeff Pinkner. The villains snarl and place just enough chaos and urgency to make Spidey sweat. In short, "Amazing Spider-Man 2" is an awesome sight to behold.

Go with God my troubled antiheroes

HARLEY DAVIDSON AND THE MARLBORO MAN (1991)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Some movies are meant to be enjoyed with beer and pizza. These movies are ostensibly junky, fast-food entertainments that provide no value other than watching antiheroes joking with each other, shooting at bad guys, cavorting women or lost loves, and a decent soundtrack with songs that remind you of being out on the road to nowhere. "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man" is one of those movies. It is unpretentious and devotedly and stringently buddy-buddy in a genre that was on the way out in the early 90's.

Mickey Rourke is Harley, the biker who lives for nothing other than the thrill of the chase, I gather. He is seen cavorting with women in some hotel room, late at night. When he sees thieves attempting to rob a convenience store, Harley tackles them single handedly, reminding us of the cliche line: "You know this is not the first time that a gun was pointed at my head."

Don Johnson is the Marlboro Man, a former rodeo star who duct tapes his worn-out boots. He pines for a female cop named Virginia Slim (I shat you not!), played by Chelsea Field, who can't endure his absence much longer from her lonely bed.

The bare minimum of a plot has Harley and Marlboro Man robbing an armored truck carrying 2.5 million dollars that will help save a friend's biker bar (this bar still has the body of a cargo plane trapped in it). The bar apparently owes to the very bank Harley and Marlboro are robbing. Only problem is that our less than dynamic duo has robbed the wrong truck since all they acquire are bags of a new synthetic drug hitting the streets. This corrupt bank headed by a young Tom Sizemore leads to his minions, dressed in black and bulletproof trenchcoats, to try to whack the smoking duo. Yep, Harley and Marlboro Man smoke a lot in this movie. And everyone's name is a cigarette brand. You can thank screenwriter Don Michael Paul for all the cigarette references.

This is probably a movie that I should despise yet Rourke and Johnson have good chemistry and keep us awake in the midst of cliches you have seen a million times before. A death-defying jump into a pool from a hotel roof that is at least 70 stories high is hard to swallow, especially when they emerge unscathed from the pool. Harley can't shoot straight at all until the plot requires him to shoot straight. You also know Marlboro Man and Virginia Slim will end up together (A sentence I never imagined constructing in my life). It is also sweet to see Daniel Baldwin as a bad guy who seems geared to appear in a "Terminator" sequel (yes, Virginia Slim, he is that robotic). There is also a strange coincidence concerning Chelsea Field's Virginia who has a line that goes something like this: "You weren't around. I was lonely." This is her response to why she is getting married, which Mr. Marlboro ain't happy about. What is odd is that Chelsea Field later appeared in "The Last Boy Scout," released a few months after this movie, where she utters the same exact lines!

"Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man" is neither too trashy or exploitative, nor too serious or too unintentionally comical. It is what it is and makes no apologies. Pure junk-food entertainment.

In a 100 years, who's gonna care?

THE TERMINATOR (1984)

An Appreciation by Jerry Saravia

For relentless, exciting, edge-of-your-seat action sequences alone, "The Terminator" would fit the bill neatly as an adrenaline pumping action picture. Only James Cameron's 1984 sci-fi picture is more than that, it is a love story between two opposites who hold the key to the future, a future that is not so bright. And there just happens to be a killing machine in between them.

As with any appreciation for a film thirty years old that was extraordinarily influential (and where fantasist author Harlan Ellison rightly got his credit where it was due), there is nothing I can say about "The Terminator" that hasn't been said before. "The Terminator" led to four sequels (new sequel has Arnie back as the Terminator again), a famous catchphrase "I'll Be Back," and it put Arnold Schwarzenegger and director James Cameron on the map in a major way. When I first saw it in 1984, I approached the film as a gritty futuristic noir, namely Tech Noir (the name of a nightclub in the film), where a soldier from the future, the emotionally battered and bruised Kyle (Michael Biehn), travels to the past to prevent a cyborg killing machine (Schwarzenegger) from killing sweet waitress Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), the future mother of a resistance leader of a post-apocalyptic future. That is right, sometime in the near future, nuclear bombs are dropped and result in a world where the machines rule everything.

As relentless as "The Terminator" is, writers James Cameron and Gale Hurd also invest wisely into the developing relationship between Kyle and Sarah. Kyle and Sarah are two lost souls who have found each other through the unfortunate experience of a killing machine who makes Michael Myers look like a weak Mummy knockoff. Sarah can't get a date on a Friday night, can't balance her checkbook and has difficulty waitressing - she is not exactly prime material for the mother of a future leader. Yet that is what makes the character work so well - Linda Hamilton plays her as a soulful, caring woman who has found out her singular purpose. Kyle is a wreck of a man who has seen too much death and too little love - his world is grim and his visions of destructive machines and an array of skulls littering up roads is scary and poetic. The love story that develops lends the film weight and we root for them to survive the throes of the Terminator.

Schwarzenegger has the accurate look of a mean machine - his body language and his voice are as purposefully robotic as ever. When he kills innocent victims, as in the chilling scene where he shoots the wrong Sarah Connor, he brings fear into all of us because the murders are so realistically done. He is unstoppable and every scene of Arnie works up a feverish sweat.

Cameron's "Terminator" is not perfect but it is a lean machine of a movie, mutually scary, thrilling, poignant and quite funny (check out the two cops played by Paul Winfield and Lance Henriksen). It lead to bigger spectacles in its sequels and more epic action scenes, but nothing beats the original for its dark vision of a world where a family gathers outside in a nuclear apocalypse and watches a television that has a fire inside to keep them warm. What a vision, what a movie. 

This House is too sweet for its own good

HOUSE OF D (2004)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
(Originally written in 2004)

David Duchovny is Tommy, an artist in Paris who is late to take his son for a bike ride to celebrate the kid's 13th birthday, or so I figure. Tommy can't get inside his apartment since he presumably forgot his keys or his wife has locked him out. His son stays sleeping on the bench in a patio. Only in France. Then Tommy tells his French wife the secrets of his teenage years in New York City that he never told her before. I wonder why.

It isn't that "House of D" is an insufferably saccharine film - it just compresses too much information in too short a running time. As the film takes us back to NYC in 1973, we see a teen in his twilight years. He is Tommy (Anton Yelchin), who attends a Catholic school and lives at home with a suicidal, widowed mother (Tea Leoni). She smokes a lot and has a habit of dumping her cigs in the toilet. She also has a habit of walking in on her son taking a shower. Tommy's best friend is Papass (Robin Williams, in a cringe-inducing performance), a mentally challenged assistant janitor at the Catholic School Tommy attends. Tommy and Papass try to save money to buy a bike, though most days are spent going to the movies. They do work at the neighborhood grocery store, making deliveries of various meats including bratwurst. There is also Tommy's crush on a Catholic schoolgirl (beautifully played by Zelda Williams, Robin's daughter); his frequent talks with an incarcerated woman named Lady (Erykah Badu) who can only see his reflection on a shard of glass; Papass stealing the very bicycle that he and Tommy were going to purchase; Papass growing jealous of Tommy because he is entering manhood, Tommy's mother in crying fits and taking pills, etc. None of these events are as credible as Tommy's relationship with his mother but we only get a trickle of their relationship, rather than a downpour. Then there is a tragedy that involves one too many episodes in such a short amount of time that you'll be gasping for air.

"House of D" wants to be a rich coming-of-age tale but it doesn't have much of a hold on any of its characters. We know Tommy can draw, loves his mother, and loves and protects Papass to the moon but there is nothing to chew on - these characters are devoid of any real emotional investment. However, there is a tangible sadness towards the end when we see Duchovny (who also wrote and directed this film) as the older Tommy, trying to settle his past or leave it behind him. But nothing comes of it since it simply assumes we will get the point. But what is the point when it gets drowned in forced sentimentality and has a much older (and boozed up) Papass saying all the right things in all the right places. Sounds like audience manipulation at its worst.

A few years ago, there was a nostalgic coming of age film that was told with such sweetness and sincerity that it refused to fold under the sentimentalist banner. That film was "A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries," one of the great films of the 1990's. "House of D" can't even approximate a tenth of what that film accomplished.

Divorced Family Ties

BYE BYE LOVE (1995)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

When a movie looks, acts and feels like a commercial, then it must be a commercial. When a movie looks, acts and feels like a sitcom, then it must be a sitcom. "Bye Bye Love" manages to be a commercial for a movie we never get to see, complete with an endless commercial product plug for McDonald's.

Three divorced dads (Matthew Modine, Randy Quaid and Paul Reiser) spend the movie picking up their kids at McDonald's and eating at McDonald's and arguing at McDonald's, sometimes with their kids and sometimes with their ex-wives. Quaid's character despises his wife (Lindsay Crouse) and nearly destroys her house; Modine's character cheated on his wife (Amy Brenneman) and asks all the neighborhood moms over to his house (though whether he intends to screw them all or not is unclear), and lastly there is Paul Reiser who just wants his wife back (played by Jayne Brook who brightened my "Chicago Hope" TV viewings). Reiser's dad doesn't get along with his insolent daughter (Eliza Dushku) and incidents involving a stolen car and a house party never evolve realistically - all it requires is a solution involving a heart-to-heart talk in a treehouse!

There is one character that rises above the mediocrity and that is the late Ed Flanders as a retiree who works at McDonald's - his character's wife had passed on and he lives all alone. There is genuine, implied heartbreak and pathos with this "geezer" that all these other stock characters could learn so much from.

I do not hate "Bye Bye Love" and it is a likable, harmless enough picture. But it is just that - simply likable sans gravitas (strange coming from "Family Ties" creator and writer Gary David Goldberg). The movie coasts by on being cute and sweet with the simple homily that parents loving their kids defines them - the women in this movie are somehow foreign, shallow creatures who can't comprehend a divorced man's world (Janeane Garofalo as Quaid's date from hell, as funny as it is, falls in that category). Dishonest is being kind.

Nolan's Nightmute noir

INSOMNIA (2002)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

(Original review from 2002)

Usually a promising independent director takes a wrong turn when he goes for the big leagues. Thankfully, that is not the case with director Christopher Nolan who made a big splash with the complex, suspenseful "Memento" in 2001 - the one film of the year that was talked about all year round. "Insomnia" is a remake of a 1997 Norwegian thriller unseen by me, but if it is half as psychologically complex or as thrillingly conveyed as this film, I suppose I will have to make a visit to the video store soon.

Al Pacino plays yet another cop, this time a veteran with a deeply troubling moral complex who has fostered a career of catching serial killers. As soon as Will Dormer (Pacino) arrives in Nightmute, Alaska, to investigate the brutal murder of a teenage girl, we already sense he has seen too much in his work and is exhausted by the sheer banality of the job. In this case, the town itself lends even more exhaustion to Will. You see Nightmute is a town where in the winter, the nights are always bright. Will can't take it, trying to cover his hotel windows with pillows and sheets but it is no use. He fails to sleep and develops insomnia.

Will arrives in this town with his partner, Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan, who appears to be in a somnolent state), both from the LAPD. Hap is ready to cut a deal back home with the Internal Affairs department over Will's tampering with evidence from prior cases. Will can't take it, and an accident involving Hap while searching for the killer in a rain-drenched, rocky, remote area of Alaska sinks Will even deeper into insomnia and moral dilemmas.

Two people catch on to Will's secrets. One is a smart, quick-learning rookie (Hilary Swank), who learns as much about Will's persona as she does about Will's police training. The other is the killer himself, a second-rate mystery writer, Walter Finch (Robin Williams), who discovers that Hap's accident was no accident at all, and tries to clear himself of the murdered girl by using Will. The twists pile up, Will's insomnia grows out of control, and an innocent person may go to jail instead of Walter. Where will all this lead? Somewhere between the murdered girl's ex-boyfriend and her own best friend, but that is just the beginning.

"Insomnia" does not submit to the usual cliches found in any typical thriller involving cops and serial killers. The climax also doesn't evolve in a typical fashion. The strength of the film lies in its psychological profiles of its two main characters, Will and Walter. Their cat-and-mouse game is strictly dependent on their personalities and their actions, not motivated by twists generated by the screenwriter to be as superfluous and precious as possible. Also worth mentioning is how the film deals with Will's immoral actions, as we sense that his flaws and screwy ethics could slowly conspire against him. We also begin to feel some measure of pity for Walter, despite his murderous, controlled rage. In short, Williams does not play the killer as a menacing psycho with obvious psychological and mental problems - he plays him as the recluse he is with some measure of restraint. Pacino has a few moments where he hollers but it all comes from his inability to sleep and to deal with his past indiscretions. To say that Pacino and Williams have never been better is to state the obvious - they have given their very best performances by far.

It helps that director Nolan knows how to handle the mood and atmosphere, as well as the actors. From slippery rocks to torn down cabins to floating logs to a stunning opening sequence involving snowy formations along the Alaskan border, "Insomnia" feels as close to a bleak noir thriller as "Fargo" did, using daylight as evocative of danger as the nighttime. In one gripping scene, we see floating logs that keep colliding and preventing the desperate Will from rising to the surface of the water - it is as riveting as scenes like it go.

"Insomnia" is a first-class thriller, expertly shot and staged and acted. Thanks to director Nolan, Pacino, Williams and the rest of the fine cast, this film is as good as mainstream thrillers can get. Rarely do character nuance and observation seem as thrilling as they do here.

Fargo in Alaska

THE BIG WHITE (2005)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"The Big White" is as much a homage to the Coen Brothers as it is its own movie. Still, ripping off "Fargo" with some clear delineations doesn't render it as a bad film - just a solid effort that could've been so much more.

Robin Williams is Paul, a near-bankrupt travel agent living in the icy world of Alaska. He has a wife, Margaret (Holly Hunter), who walks around the wintry roads with her pajamas, is disorganized around the kitchen and is afflicted with Tourette's Syndrome. One night, Paul discovers a dead body in the dumpster and passes it off as his long- lost brother so he can collect from an insurance policy worth one million dollars. Of course, he has hit a snag since the corpse is not his dead brother since the hitmen who killed this anonymous person are trying to find the body. Then there is the insurance agent (Giovanni Ribisi) who suspects foul play and, to make matters worse, Paul's real brother (Woody Harrelson) suddenly shows up in town. This definitely is Coen territory.

Unfortunately, director Mark Myloyd chooses to up the ante on riffs borrowed from "Fargo." The hit men are clumsy and stupid, just like the ones in "Fargo" (though one of them tries to be a good cook). Paul's character is not so different from William H. Macy's own Lundegaard, though Williams is far more restrained. And lastly there is the landscape, which is not as much of a character as Minnesota was in "Fargo."

The one refreshing aspect to "The Big White" is the dynamic, bouncy charm of Holly Hunter. She dominates the screen and proves her worth in gestures and body language - a character who is suffering yet she does a good job of hiding it. One wonders if the Tourette's is an actual symptom or just some other gradual mental illness. Her Margaret is an original that is coming from a better movie. I didn't dislike "The Big White" and I enjoyed the performances, but it is merely a faint echo of "Fargo." Had the movie focused on these characters instead of all this insurance and ransom business, it might have been a real offbeat winner.

Poop and Robin Williams spell trouble

RV (2006)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Predictable poop, both the overall movie and the content of one shot. It seems any movie about a family going on vacation or simply staying home or involving bratty teenagers involves some poop joke. We had it in "Meet the Parents" (which had correctly timed flying poop, if there is such a thing) and the "Shrek" movies (even "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" had Jar-Jar stepping on some feces, and let's not leave out Marty McFly in "Back to the Future Part III"). It is a desperate gag that seems to work best in "Family Guy" than it does in the movies. For a movie like "RV," you would've hoped for a little more inspiration considering Robin Williams stars in it. Then again, the poop out-stages Williams which is not a good sign.

"RV" starts off with a whiff of inspiration in the first scene. Williams plays Bob Munro, a devoted family man who does impersonations with plushy dolls to give his daughter, Cassie, a good laugh. She loves it and she says she doesn't want to get married. Bob tells her it is good to be married, and they will always be best friends. Then we flash forward to his daughter as a typical teenager (Joanna "JoJo" Levesque) who hates him. Rather than staying true to their relationship, the movie goes all over the map. Never content to be a family vacation movie like Chevy Chase's own "National Lampoon" films, the movie develops a plot that borders on idiocy. You see, Bob Munro's job is in jeopardy and in order to rescue himself out of losing his home and his family, he agrees to make a presentation in Boulder, Colorado for his sneakily mean-spirited boss Todd (Will Arnett, who at this point can play this role in his sleep). This means the planned vacation trip to Hawaii is off, so Bob tells his family that they are going to Colorado, in a rented RV no less! The wife hates the ideas, as does the kids.

There is a Murphy's Law in comedies starring Robin Williams, and this one starts off with one hazardous event after another. Bob has problems maneuvering the RV from his own driveway. He can barely drive it on the highway. They stay at an RV park which involves the dreaded poop joke - this time, involving some complicated hoses that need to drain poop and sewage (There is even a reference to a poop fairy). Then the Munro family meets one kooky, extremely friendly family, the Gornickes, specifically Travis and Mary Jo (both exceedingly well-played by Jeff Daniels and Kristin Chenoweth). They perform country songs together, live off of their mobile home that looks more like a bus selling franchise products. Their horn plays the first five notes of the "Star Trek" theme. This is a fun, original family that seem to be coming from a better movie, one that the Munros are unwisely trying to get away from.

To be fair, "RV" has some funny moments, mostly thanks to Robin Williams. I love when Williams is searching for a signal so he can email his presentation to his boss - not too many cell phone towers in the desert. I also like watching Williams struggling with a seatbelt or doing his "homeboy" routine. Also worth watching is a terrific scene where the RV is tilting and rocking back and forth on a peak in Diablo Pass - it is a Chaplinesque and Homer Simpsonesque moment.

But the movie never really carries itself and roars with comic possibilities. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, it too often feels flat and stillborn, something that you would not say about the early "National Lampoon Vacation" movies or even the recent and far superior "Little Miss Sunshine," a delectably funny road movie. The Munro kids look like superficial, well-fed, bland kids with little to no personality. Williams seems content to play it safe, which means a witless, stock family guy with no quirks other than pretending to take a dump in the woods. Huh? Why did they hire Robin Williams to play this role? And poor Cheryl Hines as Jamie, Bob's wife, appears as if she would rather join the Gornicke family. So would I.

Uneven sales pitch

CADILLAC MAN (1990)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

The pacing is off in the first unwieldy hour of "Cadillac Man," an alleged comedy of manners. Or is it a comedy of manners? I am not sure. Robin Williams is the Cadillac salesman but he is not the best at a sales pitch. He is desperate to sell cars, you see, because he has three different mistresses and an ex-wife to support. He also ignores his daughter (whom we never see). Some of this is prime comic material that could stretch in so many directions. The one direction the writers chose is unexpected and an altogether different movie.

Tim Robbins plays a delirious, insane madman who crashes into the Cadillac dealership and threatens everyone with a machine gun. He is mad as hell and will not take it anymore because he believes his wife (a thankless Annabella Sciorra) is cheating on him. Williams tries to calm him down, but none of this material results in comic fireworks. And with the exception of Williams throwing in some witty one-liners, there is nothing funny about it, not the staging nor the histrionic performances. Robbins exists in a vacuum of obscene screams - if he is not screaming, he is firing his machine gun at the ceiling. If he is not shooting, he is screaming and hollering and mustering something that is akin to cartoonish excess. Sometimes he does both and it grows wearisome and monotonous.

Directed like a frenzied comedy minus the humor by Roger Donaldson (a strange director to helm this travesty), the movie never builds into anything - it is simply frenzied. Williams is also more restrained than I expected. And though the film had potential with its first hour (and the far too brief appearance by Elaine Stritch as a widow that will leave you in stitches), the rest of the movie is a train wreck. And you know train wrecks are not funny. 

High-speed romp that is more than inept

A LIFE LESS ORDINARY (1997)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

So let's see what we have here. A dim bulb of a janitor (Ewan McGregor) has just been fired by his stern boss (Ian Holm). The boss's daughter (Cameron Diaz) loves to play a little William Tell with her orthodontist (Stanley Tucci). The daughter visits her father at his "Hudsucker Proxy" office. The janitor comes back asking for his job. Instead he kidnaps the boss's daughter, though he knows next to nothing about kidnapping or ransoms. He is also incapable of making a ransom phone call. Two pistol-packing angels (Delroy Lindo, Holly Hunter) are sent to earth to make sure the janitor and boss's daughter fall in love by any means necessary.

I am usually a sucker for offbeat romantic comedies but this turgid, lifeless film by Danny Boyle ("Trainspotting") has nothing up its sleeve. McGregor and Diaz barely pass a 2 on the electric chemistry scale so their eventual affair is unbelievable. Most of the dialogue is unfunny and, at times, barely audible. To make matters worse, there is an ineptly staged bank robbery and a car chase! It even has one of the most torturous of cliched devices, a karaoke duet! The tone is inconsistent, veering from melodrama to cutesy romance to black comedy. Jonathan Demme's "Something Wild" had abrupt shifts in tone but all in the service of a story - this movie is like a high-speed romp through an interminable void.

"A Life Less Ordinary" is a major comedown from Boyle's "Shallow Grave" and the electrically charged "Trainspotting." Boyle seems to be coasting on Coen Brothers territory with not a tenth of their style or pungent wit (it is no surprise that Coen regulars Holly Hunter and Dan Hedaya are in the movie). There is a clever, funny animated sequence that has more laughs than anything in the entire movie - unfortunately it is placed during the end credits.

Angela just wants to party

NIGHT OF THE DEMONS (1988)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Until the film picks up the pace during the last forty minutes or so, "Night of the Demons" is a sorry sight to behold - an amateurish horror film with blank automatons substituting for human beings. It is strange that the blank automatons gain a little sparkle in their eyes when they are possessed by demons. As high-school teens, they are about as interesting as watching makeup dry.

Directed by Kevin Tenney, the bare thread of a plot dangling on Linnea Quigley's nipple has a few select teenagers going out to a Halloween party at, get this, a mortuary! I am guessing it is an abandoned mortuary and for good reason - evil spirits reside there! Angela (Mimi Kincade) - the Goth queen who robs convenience stores while her friend (Linnea Quigley) shows her ass to dumb, entranced store clerks - is the party leader. These teens, including a beer-bellied jerk who just wants to PARTY!, are disposable, unlikable young jerks. Excepting the sole black kid (Alvin Alexis) and a vulnerable and virginal Alice-in-Wonderland-costumed girl (Cathy Podewell), the rest are soporific at best.

When the evil spirits start their possession duties, "Night of the Demons" excites and manages to be frightful. Some scenes with the monstrous transformation of Angela actually work (the makeup is extraordinary). Other scenes with Linnea Quigley leave a lot to be desired, including the insertion of a lipstick in her nipple! Don't ask me to explain that one! There is also the mean old man in the neighborhood who places razor blades inside of apples...but his actual purpose in this film left me mystified.

Essentially, this is "Evil Dead" in a mortuary and nowhere near as blood-curlingly fun. "Night of the Demons" could have used more demented humor and horrific shenanigans overall, and less Linnea Quigley though short-sighted males will enjoy seeing her breasts. Ah, the small pleasures of 1980's horror flicks. 

Heart-Felt

MUPPETS MOST WANTED (2014)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

When the Muppets hit their stride, they are as fun to watch as any animated film that contains copious CGI. I am happy to report that "Muppets Most Wanted" is as invigorating a treat as The Muppets from three years ago or any Muppets film in eons. It is cliched and contains a wisp of a plot that could be written on a candy wrapper, yet it is buckets of heightened, endearing fun.

This sequel picks up precisely where the last "Muppets" left off, now literally seeking a reason to do a sequel (Postmodernist winks have also become cliches). A new manager named Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) suggests that the Muppets take their show on a European tour. The Muppets are delighted though Dominic is not at all what he is cracked up to be (how many managers take calls from President Clinton and Rihanna in less than five minutes?). Badguy's boss is a world-class criminal named Constantine, who bears a strong resemblance to Kermit the Frog, and has escaped from the Siberian Gulag 38B. The Russian authorities are searching for Constantine who switches places with the unbeknownst Kermit the Frog - a fake mole makes all the difference. The plan is that for every stop on the Muppets tour, the dynamic evil duo get closer and closer to uncovering the location of the Crown Jewels of England! Walter (a Jason Segel created Muppet from the 2011 film) is suspicious of the heavy-accented Kermit though none of the other Muppets sense any trouble. Meanwhile, a French INTERPOL inspector (a hilarious Ty Burell) and Sam Eagle (who each compare the sizes of their badges) try to decipher the identities of the thieves.

Big questions remain - will Fozzie Bear ever be funny? Will Kermit, er Constantine, marry Miss Piggy before the reluctant Kermit? Can Kermit survive the throes of the Gulag? Can Tina Fey ever be unfunny? (the answer is NO!) Will Badguy and Constantine manage to get hold of those precious jewels? Can Usher ever be referred to as anything but an actual usher?

"Muppets Most Wanted" is pure rollicking silliness and super-duper family fun. The songs by Bret McKenzie are memorable and witty ("I am Number One" might be my favorite). The surprise cameos are a joy. I can honestly say that the movie made me laugh, thrilled me, and further renewed my faith in Hollywood's deep appreciation of those delightful members made of felt. "Muppets Most Wanted" indeed.

Dance to your heart's content

BREAKIN' (1984)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Breakdancing may have come and gone but optimistic, energized little movies like "Breakin" live on. Thirty years later, the movie still has electrifying breakdance sequences and three strong personalities that populate the screen - Lucinda Dickey, Adolfo “Shabba-Doo” Quinones and Michael “Boogaloo Shrimp” Chambers. There are mediocre elements here that deflect the grittiness but they are minor compared to the dancing that makes the movie.

Dickey is Kelly, a waitress and aspiring dancer who deals with a stern choreographer (Ben Lokey) who wants nothing more than her passion, eh, preferably between the sheets. One day Kelly witnesses the breakdancing moves of street performers with memorable names like Ozone (Shabba-Doo himself) and Turbo (Boogaloo Shrimp). They live to dance and amp up their ghetto blasters with pop techno music. Ozone is tickled pink by Kelly but he resists corporate interests and Broadway talent managers. Ozone and Turbo live to entertain the crowds, and perform competitions (with the help of an early performance by Ice-T as Rap Talker - the club MC) to outdo any rival crew's moves - one particular crew calls themselves "Electro Rock." Whoever wins has the audience gather and flock to the winner. Whoever loses, leaves the club in great haste. Why they nickname Kelly "Special K" is a question begging to be asked and borders on the level of parody.

Most of "Breakin" is chock full of upbeat dance sequences and in that spirit, it works. When the movie deals with Christopher McDonald as the agent who has a hard time signing up the trio for an audition, "Breakin" looks and feels as if it was assembled by committee, not by a genuine interest in the lives of street performers. Delete the mean choreographer and the too-good-to-be-true agent from another movie and we could have had a gritty expose of life in the streets. Shabba-Doo, Boogaloo Shrimp and Lucinda Dickey occupy a movie of heart, passion and ambition. The other elements occupy formula. See the difference? 

The World According to Robin Williams

ROBIN WILLIAMS - A SMILE HAS LEFT US

By Jerry Saravia

As fellow comedians Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal tweeted, there are no words to describe the passing of one of comedy's few geniuses, Robin Williams. Robin had the ability to improvise an idea and build it and build it, and then segue to another idea from left field and build it, and build it and make you laugh in spite of yourself. The difference is that Robin possessed a manic energy and a superhuman speed of delivering jokes, which may range from his kids' demands, to network censors, to the Falkland Islands, to ridiculing politicians and comparing them to Warner Bros. cartoon characters, to even ridiculing his alcoholism and cocaine issues, and so much more. His delivery was rapid-fire, his tone comical and yet just slightly serious-minded without ever sentimentalizing. This is not so true with some of his movies, especially "What Dreams May Come" or "Mrs. Doubtfire," the latter an outstandingly funny movie until it aims for sentimentalizing divorce and its consequences.

Some Robin Williams movies were rotten ("Hook," "Toys," "Popeye," "Father's Day"), some were solid ("Good Will Hunting," "The World According to Garp," "Aladdin") and some were magnificent ("Awakenings," "Moscow on the Hudson," "Insomnia," "Dead Poet's Society," "Good Morning Vietnam") and some were just odd yet intrinsically fascinating ("The Big White," "One Hour Photo"). But there is one film that went beyond expectations, that soared beyond our imagination and asked us to see the humanity of quirky, eccentric characters on a quest to find the Holy Grail. Yes, it is the one-of-a-kind original, Terry Gilliam's masterful "The Fisher King" which contains my favorite Robin Williams performance. In the film, Williams plays a homeless man named Parry who is searching for the Holy Grail, haunted by visions of a blood red knight on a horse in New York City. Williams is warm, humane, gets naked in Central Park for laughs, and shows a romantic who finds bliss and solace not just in the arms of a woman (Amanda Plummer) but also in nature and in the everyday. It turns out that Parry also has a love for humankind (this may also describe Mork in TV's "Mork and Mindy"). That might also describe Robin Williams. The smile may have left us but the memories have not. 

Soporific peyote trance

RENEGADE aka BLUEBERRY (2004)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

The idea of a psychedelic Western is nothing new, especially when one thinks of Robert Altman's dreamlike Western filled with opium smoke, "McCabe and Mrs. Miller." Then there is "Blueberry," a music-video montage of endless, pointless, cumbersome images that add up to nothing. The effort is admirable, the execution deplorable.

Vincent Cassel is Blueberry, a Man With No Attitude, who is marshal of a small town. Before becoming marshal, he was a young kid who witnessed the death of a prostitute who deflowered him. Eventually, his own uncle is killed, and he finds himself being nurtured by Chiracahua natives who call him Broken Nose. Years later, Blueberry is in a town where there are the requisite bevy of prostitutes, amoral gunslingers, and not much else. Juliette Lewis is the spunky, Annie Oakley-type who sings "Danny Boy." Geoffrey Lewis (Juliette's real-life father) also plays her father in this film. There is also Colm Meaney as Blueberry's friend, Michael Madsen as the amoral villain who's searching for Indian gold, Eddie Izzard as a Prussian mercenary who may be trying for Marlon Brando's "Missouri Breaks"-type of colorful acting, and the welcome addition of Ernest Borgnine.

The movie is a mess, a beautiful mess to be sure. Vincent Cassel is a less than charismatic, blank presence - registering nothing at all that seems vaguely human (what a disappointment when you consider his hellishly alive performance in "Hate"). The cinematography is gorgeous to be sure with its widescreen vistas, but then so were John Ford's and Sergio Leone's westerns and they had more to say than this film. The peyote, drug-fueled imagery towards the end goes on way past the level of patience. Since we know next to nothing about the boring protagonist, why should we care about his peyote trances?

Based on Jean 'Moebius' Giraud's comic books, "Blueberry" is a pretty disaster that follows on the heels of superior films such as "El Topo" and "Dead Man." To paraphrase Orson Welles's own paraphrasing of Kipling, "It is pretty, but is it art?"

Tired Cool Factor

THE WAY OF THE GUN (2000)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Christopher McQuarrie's "The Way of the Gun" is a noirish crime story without the post-modern irony of Quentin Tarantino. Although this may be a refreshing conceit, the film is nothing more than disposable, mean-spirited, one-dimensional hogwash with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

The convoluted story deals with two amoral sociopaths, Mr. Parker (Ryan Phillippe) and Longbaugh (Benicio Del Toro), who will either resort to petty crimes or minimum wage jobs. Thoroughly unsure of themselves, they head to a sperm bank where they overhear about a pregnant woman, Robin (Juliette Lewis), who has agreed to a $1 million fee to carry the baby of a wealthy oil tycoon and his desperate, gold-digging wife. The terminally stupid sociopaths decide there is a bargain here if they kidnap the pregnant woman for a fifteen million dollar ransom. Problem is they are new at this kind of crime, and have no notion on what to do next (heck, Robin is quicker at defending herself with a shotgun than they are).

Naturally, a cleaner or "adjudicator" (essentially a smooth hitman played by James Caan) pursues the trio, along with two bodyguards (the appealing coolness of Taye Diggs and the tactful Nicky Katt, who played a grimier, similar role in "The Limey"). This leads them to the seediest kind of motel just south of the Mexican border where Parker and Longbaugh are holding Robin hostage. And, to remind some of good old Sam Peckinpah, there is an overlong, tedious shootout involving the antiheroes and bag men, culminating in an empty fountain with broken shards of glass.

The film starts well enough, particularly the kidnapping scene amidst gunfire where Robin makes the mistake of not following the bodyguards' orders. Unfortunately, as written and directed by McQuarrie (who wrote the superior "The Usual Suspects"), there is scant character development and the personalities of the sociopaths are nonexistent - they are merely cartoonish types used as props to advance the plot. There isn't a single character the audience could possibly identify with except for Juliette Lewis's humane Robin, faced with carrying a baby while evading bullets, and screaming and hollering with pain through the whole movie while in labor. Lewis makes her character sympathetic but since she is not the main focus of the film; we are left with far too many ugly, emotionally corrupted people taking center stage. Boy, do I miss Kevin Spacey's Verbal Quint from "Usual Suspects."

James Caan adds a touch of vulnerability to the proceedings and has some clever lines (Examples: "$15 million is not money. It's a motive with a universal adaptor on it. Let's just say I deal in the fine art of adjudication.") He also has a touching scene with Geoffrey Lewis, a suicidal drinking buddy. In fact, it was nice to see Geoffrey Lewis share one scene with his real-life daughter Juliette, though I would have hoped for more than seeing them in another typical shootout. As for the leading troublemakers, Phillippe hardly has much going for him except for a noticeable accent, and Del Toro seems to be in a leftover drug-stoked haze from "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." You want to see these two murderers rubbed out within the first half-hour, and that does not say much for McQuarrie. He makes the mistake of not instilling any humanity in these characters, so if he doesn't care, why should we?

Conflicted and burdened by repetitive shootouts and silly twists and turns, "The Way of the Gun" is an empty void with an ugly, interminable streak of meanness. Film noir at its most fatalistic tells us there is no escape from the world. Fortunately, you have the option of escaping from this travesty by way of the theater exits.

Xena: Warrior Princess The Movie! Or not?

DESATURATING OUR COMIC-BOOK HEROES

By Jerry Saravia

At the 2014 Comic-Con in San Diego, a new Wonder Woman still was revealed to eager comic-book fans. Who didn't love Wonder Woman from the comics and the Lynda Carter TV series of the 70's - the warrior princess with the red top, golden Lasso of Truth, the blue star-spangled shorts or culottes to some (used to be a long skirt in the "Sensation Comics"), the bright red boots, her tiara, her bulletproof bracelets, ready for action. Below are the original appearances of Wonder Woman, from her inception in the 1940's and the slight changes in appearance through the 1970's via the television medium.

At Comic-Con, the new cinematic Wonder Woman was unveiled and looked like this:

Granted, starting in 2011, desaturation of the Wonder Woman costume in a post-Christopher Nolan world of troubled superheroes began to take shape. Witness the Justice League comics from 2011 with the revamped look for Wonder Woman:

So why does the new Wonder Woman of the "Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice" film look like a warrior princess of the J.R.R. Tolkien world or a Xena wannabe than the American icon of primary colors of the past? We can ask the same question of the CW series of "Arrow" based on Green Arrow, accent on the green which is relatively muted in the new show, or the virtually burgundy red costumed look of the new CW "Flash" TV series? The old Flash from the comics, even the 1990's TV series, had the fiery red color of the very fast hero.

But what is going on lately with our comic-book heroes? Why desaturate the colors? I think the reason may be an international economic agenda. Most of these expensive epics, including "Iron Man 3," are released overseas first, specifically China where a lot of the money is made (witness "Transformers: Age of Extinction" which passed the worldwide 1 billion mark thanks to China's box-office grosses). Case in point with "Iron Man 3" - Tony Stark barely wears his red-gold plated armor costume through most of the film (although there is the Iron Patriot played by Don Cheadle). Marvel doesn't seem to extremely modify their heroes' costumes, except for the new Spider-Man, and the Avengers do stand pretty close to their original incarnations (Mark Ruffalo's super-sized Hulk is as green as the Hulk can be). The DC universe has taken the desaturation to its limits, however. Perhaps by muting the colors that so resemble our American flag and thus represent America (Wonder Woman, Superman, etc), it is an easier sell to foreign markets who are not keen on America and its standing in our world nowadays - in other words, nothing too American. Another odd circumstance regarding a high-profile franchise with a hero, Indiana Jones, was in the first teasers released for "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." The International teaser did not feature the American flag as seen during the convoy of Army trucks at Area 51 - in the U.S. version, a close-up of the flag during the same shot is present.

The notion is practically more economic than political...and perhaps the Man of Steel costume may reflect a post-9/11 America or maybe the costume designers forgot that the look was reminiscent of Bizarro or the evil Supes from "Superman III." We can make all the excuses we want and justify such glaringly wrongheaded revisionism in general - I say, forget what the world thinks of us, and bring back our primary colors. I mean, who wants a desaturated "Dick Tracy" movie unlike the primary colors so evident in Warren Beatty's 1990 version? 

Lloyd Dobler would not watch this movie

MUST LOVE DOGS (2005)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Now here is something that could have had potential. Diane Lane and John Cusack in a romantic comedy set in the world of Internet dating. Yes, potential indeed and, sadly, potential does exist, just not in this movie. "Must Love Dogs" is a forgettable sham, a black hole of a movie that perpetrates the belief that love blossoms between the right people, even if they are wrong for each other. Actually, it seems to indicate that the slightest flaw in the opposite sex is enough reason to dismiss that person.

Diane Lane is the lonely bird, Sarah Nolan, who has just been through a bitter divorce. She is a preschool teacher who lives alone in a big, expansive house and unsuccessfully searches for men at the local supermarket. Sarah's sister (Elizabeth Perkins) insists she go online and place an ad, though her sister has already done it and posted Sarah's graduation photo. Sarah meets a few men, including the typical crybaby date, and all prove fruitless. That is until she meets Jake (John Cusack), who builds racing boats out of wood and continually watches "Dr. Zhivago." They both have dogs, though they do not own them personally. The date doesn't go well, and Sarah has her eye on a guy with a PHD (Dermot Mulroney). By the way, Sarah thinks he has a good butt - I don't and could care less. I think we all know where this is headed.

The best thing in this movie is Diane Lane, a helluva good actress who can do better (consider "A Walk on the Moon," which was a far more poignant and romantic film). She is too good for this movie and supplies it with certain nuances that are not in the script. She has a few standout scenes, especially when trying to look alluring at a supermarket - the key is in which department. But her Sarah character is not developed - what kind of guy is she looking for? It is clear that she has no tolerance for 40-something guys who bed 20-something women (it is what caused her divorce). By the end of the film, you'll wonder if knowing that you love the same movie is all it takes to marry Sarah.

John Cusack is also too good for this movie, or even in fluffier fluff like "Serendipity." Cusack possesses a charm that comes from his own unawareness that he is charming. The beauty of Cusack in films like "High Fidelity" or "Say Anything" is that he is humble and uncertain - that is his gift, his special knack for playing men who are not too comfortable in their own skins. In "Must Love Dogs," he plays an average joe whose only uncertainty is that he doesn't want to sell a boat that can be cut in half and displayed in a wall. Jake's unerring eye for honesty and his confidence builds for a rather superficial role for Cusack.

"Must Love Dogs" was written by Gary David Goldberg, an executive producer and writer of TV shows such as "M*A*S*H," "Family Ties" and "Spin City." Unfortunately, he's also responsible for the unashamedly (and thickly) sentimental "Dad" (I can't think of another movie that was as purely puerile in its emotional states as that one) and the movie that reads and feels and sounds like a commercial sitcom with commercial tie-ins, "Bye Bye Love." "Must Love Dogs" is not as teeth chattering as those, but certainly doesn't evoke the wit and polish of his TV classics.

This movie is strictly by-the-numbers in every department. There is the gay best friend, the family sing-along (in this case, "The Partridge Family" theme), the Meet Cute scenes, the obligatory dim-witted blonde bimbo, etc. There is no surprise, no depth of emotion, no real risks, and any movie that stars John Cusack and Diane Lane should require all three. It doesn't say much for such good actors when the high point is their searching for condoms - that shouldn't be the highlight of a teen comedy.

You must really, really, really love any kind of romantic comedy to love this movie. For a purely soft, harmless safe bet, "Must Love Dogs" may be enough. For myself, I'll stick with risk-takers like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." Even Lloyd Dobler would prefer the latter.

Breaking the Walls of a Small Town

DOGVILLE (2003)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

(Originally reviewed in 2004)

Ten Best Films of the 2000's

"Dogville" is a masterpiece of theatre, and intrinsically flawed cinematically. How can a film be both things? Well, consider that this is the avant-garde work of Danish director Lars von Trier, who made one of my favorite films of the 1990's, "Breaking the Waves." He is the creator of Dogme95, a group of directors who use found locations, shoot on hand-held video, and so on. "Dogville" fits the bill to a tee. It is as experimental as one can imagine, as any film can be, but its theatrical staging limits its goals. Still, despite some flaws, this is a remarkable achievement and a near-masterful morality tale as only von Trier can make.

The town is Dogville, a Rocky Mountains hamlet so hidden from the world that it only has one major road to get there, Elm Street. There are fifteen denizens in this town, including a retired doctor (Philip Baker Hall) who's also a hypochondriac, a blind man (Ben Gazzara) who loves to talk about sunlight and shadows, and the town's lone sexpot (Chloe Sevigny). The most significant character is Tom (Paul Bettany), a would-be writer who holds town meetings to discuss the "goodness" of people. Into this sleepy hamlet comes Grace (Nicole Kidman), a woman on the run from gangsters. Tom takes her in because he likes her and doesn't want her to climb the surface of a mountain to escape. Tom persuades the townspeople to accept Grace and use their innate goodness to give her a chance. They give her two weeks - if they like her, she can stay. If not, she better buy some good shoes and climb that damn mountain. Grace offers to help the townspeople - they are reluctant at first, but then she starts getting paid for unnecessary work. All is fine and dandy until the police come into town looking for Grace, who may be a bank robber. Is she a simple bank robber who's holding some stash somewhere, or is she more dangerous than the people of Dogville might have thought?

As I mentioned earlier, Lars von Trier could never make a straightforward film without indulging in stylistic strokes. The difference is that, this time, von Trier has taken his Dogme rules and relied on a simple set. As evidenced by the opening overhead shot, we notice that this is simply a soundstage with chalk outlines of character names and streets (even a chalk-outlined dog named Moses). There are no visible doors or walls - the chalk outlines are the only geographical indicators of this town. Even a small rock formation stands in for a mountain. We do see a real car, a real bench, some real beds, and a wall that stands in for the window display of a small shop. Outside of that, one has to suspend disbelief and assume that this is a real town. The problem is that it obviously resembles a theatrical setting where a play is about to transpire. I admire von Trier for taking this big a step but it limits and robs us of any real visual images (even Ingmar Bergman's "After the Rehearsal," which used sets, was never this stagy). There are only three striking images in the film. One is of Grace in a truck from an overhead angle as she sleeps while we see her through a transparent tarp. The other is the introduction of Grace at night as she walks calmly down the road while everyone sleeps. Lastly, I love the use of overhead shots in general, though von Trier doesn't allow for more inventive camera set-ups.

Such theatrical staginess, though, doesn't diminish the story - in some ways, it enhances it. This is strange because I just said that, visually, the film fails to work as a visual poem. Yet the story and characters emerge so clearly and provocatively that I didn't mind too much. The reason I give it more credit is because I expect von Trier to do something like this. Other directors might have failed where von Trier succeeds admirably.

The most powerful performance is clearly Nicole Kidman's, the most adventurous actress of our generation. She evokes the fragile, human, emotional side of Grace so well that we can't help but adore her. She is like a lost puppy seeking sanctuary from killers. The town of Dogville slowly embraces her, but then they abuse her, torture her, rape her, humiliate her, and then deny they are doing such wrongdoing. Kidman evokes so many layers to Grace (including a shocking character revelation) that it is easily the most brave piece of acting she has ever committed to film.

I also admire Paul Bettany as the intellectual Tom who falls in love with Grace. Tom's dilemma begins to stifle him - does he love the townspeople more than Grace or vice versa? If the townspeople want to do away with Grace, will he be on their side or is he on Grace's side? Bettany is so good at camouflaging what the character might really be thinking that he'll keep you in suspense as to his inevitable decision.

The rest of the cast is also excellent, including Lauren Bacall, who is feisty over her gooseberry bushes, Stellan Skarsgard as a sexually repressed apple orchard farmer, Jeremy Davies as a dim checkers player, Patricia Clarkson as a mousy, strict mother who is fiercely protective of her children, and James Caan as a mob boss, among others.

"Dogville" is compelling and fascinating from start to finish. It is the kind of dazzling, experimental work we expect from Lars von Trier. The ending comes in huffing and puffing when it should have climaxed smoothly. Still, despite its minor faults, "Dogville" is a rare, brave, challenging work.