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.