Liane Curtis rocks the Hell out of Satan

GIRLFRIEND FROM HELL (1989)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"I wish I picked a different line of work" - Satan

Great line delivered with puckish wit by Liane Curtis, who clearly relishes the role of Satan who has taken possession of a geeky girl. If only the movie had more delectable lines of wit and less sexual biplay that leads nowhere. And less wine drinking courtesy of Curtis.

The plot is fairly simple. The girl-next-door-type who can't stomach a date with anyone or look them in the face is being set up at a birthday party for a louse named Rocco. The date is not Rocco but an extremely shy, meek-looking Carl (Anthony Barrile) who is given advice by his dad (hilarious cameo by James Karen) on how to pick up women that might not fly in today's oversensitive millennialized climate. Curtis plays the geeky girl, Maggie, who doesn't know how to wear fake eyelashes though her lacy leggings with lipstick designs suggest a different kind of girl. Sooner than expected, Maggie steps out of the party and is consumed by some red flash of light from the sky. Yep, she is possessed by Satan and you know Satan is no kind of repressed teenager, no way. Maggie suddenly sports a pouffed-up hairstyle, seduces every man and then sucks their souls out of their bodies, tries to run down a group of gun-toting nuns (!), embarrasses everyone at a restaurant, drinks wine by the gallon, you get the picture. She is the 1980's own Party Girl who grows bored easily.

Meanwhile, Dana Ashbrook ("Twin Peaks") is Chaser, who literally chases Satan hoping to extinguish her to hell and damnation, but not before apologizing for not being the best boyfriend to her all those ages ago. He is constantly teleported from what looks likes the desert to the house party, to a nightclub, back to the desert - it gets repetitive in the second act all this mindless teleporting.

"Girlfriend From Hell" is a shapeless disaster, neither comical enough or sexy or funny enough to qualify as anything other a dry hump of a cinematic experience. Liane Curtis is the best thing in the film (her sole leading role) and it is always fun to watch Lezlie Deane (who later appeared in "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare") as a more sophisticated friend of Maggie's who smacks and punches men without blinking. Fact is that women in this movie kick and punch men and the men are as apologetic as ever, until they decide to keep focusing on breasts and lower extremities. Women are also seen as nothing but sluts and if they aren't, they sure as hell will turn into one (except for Lezlie Deane). Most of this film could offend women overall (80's movies never gave young women a fair shake) but the biggest offense in "Girlfriend From Hell" is that it is likely to put the viewer to sleep. Teleport me out of here.

Collette and Diaz in Sibling Rivalry

IN HER SHOES (2005)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Original review from 2005

A chick flick from a chick lit bestseller? Both of these terms have recently been entered into the Webster's dictionary. I despise the terms because they limit what both may offer. Does chick flick describe all romantic comedies, movies about women bonding, female empowerment or all the above? I don't see how "Pretty Woman" and "Thelma Louise" fit in the same category, but never mind. "In Her Shoes" could've been cliched, sentimental glop that pushed the tearjerking mechanisms down the throat of your average moviegoer. Instead it is a heartwarming, regaling tale of two sisters who are at extreme polar opposites in their relationship and attitude.

Based on a novel by Jennifer Weiner, "In Her Shoes" stars Cameron Diaz as a flirtatious, alcoholic, dyslexic woman, Maggie, who has no desire to do anything except to party and screw. At the start of the film, Maggie is seen at a high-school reunion screwing some unnamed guy in a bathroom (Conservatives take note). She arrives at her parents' home only to be thrown out. Now she must live with her prim and proper sister, Rose (Toni Collette), a Philadelphia attorney who has her own man in bed! Talk about an inconvenience, Maggie takes wind and has a romp in the hay with him as well. Before that happens, Rose insists that Maggie find a job but it is a downhill struggle - Maggie is kicked out of Rose's house and is forced to find her own way. While moving her things from her parents' house, she finds birthday cards addressed to her and Rose from her grandmother in Florida. These letters were concealed for reasons I'll not reveal, but it is the precedent for Maggie's migration to Florida to mooch off her grandmother.

Ella is the grandmother (played by Shirley MacLaine), living in a retirement community where she assists older folks. She is no dummy and can see through Maggie. Ella points out that Maggie's option is to work at the retirement home and, if she succeeds, Ella will match her pay dollar for dollar. If not, Maggie is back on the street. And you can imagine what the retired older men think when they see a nearly naked Maggie sunbathing while they play poker.

Meanwhile, Rose is pursued by Simon (Mark Feuerstein), a co-worker who is seriously smitten with her. She also quits her job and becomes a dog-walker! However, just like Maggie, she can't communicate her feelings about her sister and lies to everyone, including her parents. Of course, her father (Ken Howard) has his own deep secret.

Nothing too surprising happens in "In Her Shoes" but it is the movie's confidence in the characters of Maggie and Rose that helps raise this a few notches above the usual term I hate, "chick flick." Thanks to screenwriter Susannah Grant and director Curtis Hanson ("L.A. Confidential"), the movie offers ample time invested in these characters so that the highly emotional finale wrings true with tears well-earned. This is simply a story of sibling rivalry and each sibling learning from each other. Rose builds confidence and learns to communicate her emotions, which are always kept in check. Maggie turns from a dyslexic floozie to a respectable, poetry-loving woman who learns to appreciate life and what it has to offer. This doesn't mean she'll feel differently about wearing good shoes.

Something nagged at me during the movie though. According to a reliable source who read the book (my wife), Rose is quite fat in the novel. In the movie, Toni Collette hardly looks like a fat ugly duckling (this is the same woman who lit up "Muriel's Wedding"). Reportedly, Collette gained 25 pounds for the part but you can hardly tell (at least I couldn't - shades here of Zellweger's slim weight gain for "Bridget Jones's Diary"). And so the highly charged scene where Rose finds her sister in the throes of her boyfriend that leads to Maggie calling Rose a "fat pig" doesn't register as anything except as a verbal insult. If Collette represents a fat woman in this day and age, then where does that leave the formerly heavy Kirstie Alley? The debate continues.

"In Her Shoes" is a pleasant, often entertaining film with truly engaging performances by Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette. Diaz is so good that you forget she's acting, and is truly moving in scenes where she reads an Elizabeth Bishop poem to a blind professor. Diaz also has good chemistry with Collette and their rickety relationship is believable. Collette is an underrated actress (who was Oscar-nominated for "The Sixth Sense") and she provides all the dramatic weight that colors Rose. She can be sweet, enraged, demure and loving - her smile at the end is quixotic and unforgettable. I also love Shirley MacLaine as Ella, the sharp, tough grandmother who is still tickled pink when asked out on a date. Mark Feuerstein is a capable romantic lead and has a certain charm - I wish there were more scenes between him and Rose. Also worth mentioning is Brooke Smith's equally sharp turn as Rose's best friend, Amy, whom Rose confides in. And there's also Ken Howard as the loving, understanding father who realizes he can't hide things from his daughters forever.

For laughs and some revelatory truths about sisters, "In Her Shoes" is highly recommended. It doesn't hit you over the head with messages or how to become a better person. The movie is slinky and sophisticated in its mood and tone and gives you comfort - just like wearing a good pair of shoes.

Conventionally unconventional rom-com

BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY (2001)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Originally viewed on July 3rd, 2001

Renee Zellweger is an actress whose sprightly charm and quivering, cutesy smile can melt moviegoers' hearts like no other. She is the girl-next-door type but her irresistibility breaks some new ground here - you get the feeling that she can be embarrassed and impish at the same time. She is the unique joy of "Bridget Jones' Diary," a fairly amusing if slightly misguided romantic comedy with ample charm and considerable laughs. It just lacks the extra leap to take it beyond conventionality.

Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) is the neurotic, lonely, uncouth heroine of the 1996 bestseller by Helen Fielding. She is so lonely that she drinks heavily while listening to Eric Carmen's "All By Myself" (a touching, heartbreaking moment). At first glance, no one seems to take a gander at Bridget. She is plumpish and tends to say exactly what is on her mind, including at book receptions where everyone looks at her with slight bemusement. At dinner parties, she confronts men who see her as an unappealing spinster, including the rich Mr. Darcy (Colin Firth). Her boss, however, takes a liking to her (he is played with irresistible glee by Hugh Grant), and the two begin having an affair. Of course, Mr. Darcy gets jealous since he does like her.

It is no surprise where the film is headed when we know Mr. Darcy will inevitably change his mind about Bridget. But the film takes on a knowing, self-conscious style at the beginning where we begin to think that it will poke fun at romantic comedy conventions. There is a moment where Bridget makes an error in judgment at work and we see her unsaid obscenity splashed across the screen. "Bridget Jones' Diary," however, does not take as many unconventional routes as one might hope. Bridget loves the two men but has to decide between one. Bridget also tries to bring her parents back together after a brief separation. Some of these episodes work better than others but they hardly figure cohesively as a whole.

I have not read Fielding's book but I've been told that it truly maps out Bridget's insecurities and messy lifestyle with more depth. The film does show her drinking and eating and smoking too much and we sense she is real obsessive and has trouble finding the proper man (she is also a bad cook, witness the strange coloring of her cooked meals). But all these qualities are painted in broad strokes. Bridget's biggest flaw seems to be her uncouth quality but I was not clear why everyone seemed so perturbed whenever she made a speech (I found her speeches funny and engaging). As played by Zellweger, she has charm and an affable quality but her weight gain (reports say she gained as much as 20 to 40 pounds for the role) does not exactly put her on the same scale as Conchata Ferrell (who I love no matter how much she weighs). In other words, I get the sense that the film has been sanitized from its written form to accommodate all women in the audience. Where does this leave the women who are perhaps uncomfortable with their weight or who need someone like Bridget Jones as their role model, essentially saying it is okay to be fat and still have Hugh Grant as your suitor?

"Bridget Jones' Diary" has Zellweger at its center and she is as convincing and delightful as one can imagine. Kudos also go to Hugh Grant and Colin Firth in witty supporting roles (I could have lived without a cliched fistfight between them). There is also a funny cameo by Salman Rushdie as himself no less. The film has pizzazz to offer but compare this to any other romantic comedy, and I dare you to find the difference.