Death Wish-lite

VIGILANTE (1983)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Before Bernard Goetz, a real vigilante who shot at some black youths in a New York City subway, we had a little film called "Death Wish" and its repugnant sequel, not to mention a variation on the same theme called "Fighting Back" with Tom Skerritt. "Vigilante" is another disposable NYC revenge flick, though the revenge is largely muted until the filmmakers decide to call out all the stops.

Robert Forster, in a largely emotionally mute role, is Eddie Marino, the factory worker whose wife is brutally attacked and his son killed with a shotgun blast to the head. The culprit is a Puerto Rican gang who run rampant in NYC and with brute force. Eddie's pals are also factory workers and sometimes drive around in a van, viciously beating and occasionally killing the deviants of society such as drug pushers and pimps (all staples of 70's and early 80's exploitation pictures). All this leads to confessions about a politician in the mayor's office who is the drug supplier. When Eddie can't seek justice for the killers responsible, he attacks the judge, goes to jail, comes out and does his Charles Bronson imitation.

I always enjoy watching Fred Williamson, with his contractual cigar in his mouth, as one of Eddie's main allies - he is "judge and jury" (of course, how many times have we heard that line before?) It is also nice seeing the late Richard Bright as another ally and part of the vigilante force. Rutanya Alda is Eddie's wife who even slaps the gang leader at one point! The main flaw is that for large chunks of screen time, we do not see Eddie who ends up in jail for contempt for assaulting the judge. Instead there are endless scenes of the vigilante group targeting random people in the street (at least random to the viewer since we are never given any real clue who these deviants are). When we finally get to Eddie's release from jail, all momentum is lost and the man is as indifferent as he was in the beginning.

Often crudely directed by William Lustig, "Vigilante" has a lively car chase, an interminably silly foot chase that involves knocking over a guy in a wheelchair, and some counterproductive banter and cheaply staged violence in most of the jail scenes. I do not mind gritty, low-budget suspense pictures of this kind but a coherent screenplay and a vigilante with some personal rooting interest would've been nice.

Dear Ndugu

ABOUT SCHMIDT (2002)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

(Originally viewed and written in 2002)

"About Schmidt" is a curious hybrid of the road picture, black comedy and drama. It is all those things and then it ends up being none of them. The film has been advertised as a comedy. Truthfully, it is anything but. This is one of the saddest, bravest films ever made about growing old with age and what life has to offer in what are supposed to be the "golden years."

Warren Schmidt is the 66-year-old actuary of the Woodman of the World Insurance Company in Omaha, Nebraska. The first shot of Schmidt establishes everything we need to know about him. He sits in his office with packed file boxes, waiting for the clock to get to the minutes leading to his dismissal. This is not just another day at work for Schmidt - he is finally retiring. He lives with his wife, Helen (June Squibb), a woman he has been married to for 42 years. He is still unsure of who she is, questioning her minor eccentricities with car keys and that she forbids him to urinate standing up in their beloved bathroom toilet. Schmidt also questions her private collection of figurines and trinkets, and he also hates to be interrupted by her when they have company. When Helen suddenly dies of a blood clot, Schmidt is left fending for himself. His daughter (Hope Davis) is about to get married and can't take care of him (nor does she want to). The real question is: what kind of life is there to look forward to now? He knows he may die in twenty years or less - what has he done in his life that is remotely valuable? Will anyone remember him? When Schmidt visits the office and sees the new hotshot who replaced him, he is surprised that this new worker (who graduated from Drake) has no questions for him. Schmidt is also deeply disturbed to see his file boxes are being discarded.

Since he has no one to take care of him, Schmidt takes a trip in his Winnebago Adventurer to see his daughter. He meets her soon-to-be-wed son-in-law, Randall (Dermot Mulroney), a balding, goateed waterbed salesman with pyramid schemes in mind. There is also Randall's mother, the feisty, vibrant Roberta (Kathy Bates), who is as blunt as a whistle. Schmidt is not pleased that her daughter is marrying a buffoon and unsuccessfully tries to talk her out of it. Roberta is pleased as punch that they are getting married, and is extremely proud of her son (no doubt it has something to do with perfect school attendance records that proudly hang on his wall). Roberta comes on to Schmidt in a jacuzzi scene that is the biggest highlight of the film, and possibly of Schmidt's life. He also has to wrestle with his son-in-law's waterbed in a truly funny scene - waterbeds are tough to sleep in based on my own experience with them. What appears to be sitcom variations on "Meet the Parents" is nothing less than window dressing - the movie has bigger issues to fry.

"About Schmidt" is based on a novel by Louis Begley and adapted to the screen by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor III. Payne and Taylor have previously collaborated on "Citizen Ruth" and the marvelous "Election." Payne is also the director of those earlier films, and his genius is in articulating nuances and subtleties in the most minute of expressions in his characters. He has a field day with Warren Schmidt who shows degrees of sadness in every scene, not to mention shock and regret. Payne and Taylor sometimes get sidetracked a little, particularly with the inclusion of a trailer park scene involving a married couple that seems a little heavy-handed (though the wife does illustrate how sad Schmidt appears to be). I would have preferred a little more time with Schmidt's best friend, Ray (Len Cariou), whom he discovers had a thing for Helen twenty years earlier. There is a moment when we think there will be a payoff where they can at least discuss their problems, but it is never followed through. It might have led to some illumination about Schmidt and how others feel about him. The only big scene Ray has is when he makes a speech at the retirement party about how superficial it all is, or when he is pelted with letters by Schmidt. Nicholson is the perfect actor for the role, and has given similarly laid-back performances before. Here, though, he avoids his usual arched eyebrows and arrogance in his demeanor (not to mention his typical sunglasses) and gives a measured performance of quiet charisma and the absolute boredom the character feels with his life. At times Nicholson disappears into the character so well that we forget it is good old Jack.

The supporting cast is excellent as well. Hope Davis, a usually bland actress, brings some reality and pathos to Schmidt's daughter. I also liked Dermot Mulroney (one of my least favorite actors) for his mullet-shaped hair and for his deft delivery of dialogue. Kathy Bates is the greatest of all scene-stealers and even shows up in her birthday suit - her Roberta character is as full of life on screen as anyone in the movie. Also worth noting is Howard Hesseman (best know for TV shows like "WKRP in Cincinnati" and "Head of the Class") as Robert's ex-husband who shares his own sadness, though it doesn't run as deep as Schmidt's. Watching and hearing Roberta fling insults at her ex is one of the few strange delights of this movie.

"About Schmidt" is not on the same scale of elevating social satire and delectable wit as Payne's previous "Election," but it is a memorably enlightening story of one man's loneliness and detachment in a life carefully arranged from the beginning. When he discovers his life might have some meaning after all (involving a certain Mr. Ndugu), we realize it is never too late, even at the age 66.

Killer Father Knows Best

A KILLER IN THE FAMILY (1983)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

No matter what role he ever had, Robert Mitchum stood tall. He was a muscular, vigorous actor who always gave off the vibe of someone who had lived. Sometimes haggard, sometimes sleepy-eyed but always giving off a blazing amount of dynamism, Mitchum held his own in noir tales from the 50's onwards. With the 1983 TV movie "A Killer in the Family," it is more than a summation of the man's career - it is the nuances by which he denotes sympathy, apathy and a tremendous presence where you are never sure what he will do next. Mitchum is one of the very best reasons to watch "A Killer in the Family."

The film is based on a true story about a convicted killer in prison serving a life sentence, Gary Tison (Mitchum), who is hoping to break out with the help of his three sons. One of his sons, Donny who is studying law, is a little reluctant (James Spader) to partake, but does so anyway to protect them. The other sons, Ray (Lance Kerwin) and Ricky (Eric Stoltz), are somewhat ignorant of their father's true nature and want nothing more than to be with him. The prison break goes without a hitch, and along for the ride is Gary's cellmate, Randy Greenawalt (Stuart Margolin, a terrific character actor delivering a most wicked smile). Tison's hope is to get to Mexico but trouble follows when the car breaks down, followed by the murder of an unsuspecting family by Tison and his accomplice. The kids stare in horror and realize their dad is not the kind man they had thought he was (an early sequence shows them having a family picnic outside the prison and Gary seems gentle and caring). This one murder sequence (the only one in the film, though there is another that leaves more to the imagination) is extreme even for television, all the more effective for not showing blood and gore. 

"A Killer in the Family" is a hardcore, unsettling thriller, dependent on the psychology of a family unit that is slowly breaking apart. The Tison matriarch (Lynn Carlin) is as forgiving of her husband as the sons are. The truth is that Gary Tison was a cold-hearted, vicious killer who still loved his family, and Mitchum evokes the tragedy of a man whose murderous ways governed the rest of his life. Also effective is an early performance by James Spader as the one son who sees beneath Gary's exterior - there is deep-seated anger there, thrillingly paired off with Mitchum in the various scenes they have together. Lance Kerwin's Ray is the son who will do anything for his father, likewise Eric Stoltz's Ricky though both are thrown off course by their father's mercurial personality. There is also a brief part with Catherine Mary Stewart as Donny's girlfriend - you wonder why Donny leaves her behind for a father he can barely trust. It is Mitchum though who gives us the humanism of a killer, and how pathetic and disorganized he was (what kind of life did he hope to have in Mexico with his sons and a killer accomplice?) The magnificent Mitchum and especially a spellbinding Spader give "A Killer in the Family" a pulse. 

A Holy Sci-Fi Mountain of Staggering Possibilities

JODOROWSKY'S DUNE (2013)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

There are many "what if" films - films that never came to fruition for one reason or another. David Lean never got around to filming the epic Joseph Conrad novel "Nostromo," for example. Stanley Kubrick never got around to his version of "Napoleon." Orson Welles has one too many films that never got beyond the writing stage - never mind the films he never completed. What is indelibly fascinating about Alejandro Jodorowsky's "Dune" is that we see the blueprints for a phantasmagoric, spellbinding, absolutely beautiful and mystical sci-fi film that could have changed the genre forever, that could have shown filmgoers that "2001: A Space Odyssey" was a mere footprint in what could be accomplished visually with science-fiction. It never happened but this riveting documentary shows what might have been.

Frank Herbert's epic 1965 book, "Dune," was floating around the Hollywood barn, optioned by one producer who died before it lifted off. In the early 1970's, Alejandro Jodorowsky bought the rights to it, sensing a film that would approach the level and visual sensation of hallucinogens (much like the drug of choice in the book, the fictional "spice"). Jodorowsky makes it clear that he hoped to transport audiences to something truly out-of-this-world and transcendent and, in fact, we do see illustrations of what might have been in a thick book he keeps in his office. The colors look psychedelic (lots of pink), the erratically designed ships look like something out of a heavy metal cover album, the characters look otherworldly - in short, I am not sure any actual sci-fi films since look anything like Jodorowsky's vision. I can go further and say nobody else made films that look anything like Jodorowsky's actual films whether it is his most famous film, the most bizarre, religiously symbolic western ever made,"El Topo," or his hallucinatory "The Holy Mountain." They are films made by a, for lack of a better phrase, eccentric genius or simply a genius stuck in a drug-fueled state of his own mind.

The hope for the Chilean visionary was to cast people like Orson Welles as the obese Baron Harkonnen, Mick Jagger, David Carradine, and Salvador Dali as the Emperor (who had wanted to be paid $100,000 a minute so that he could be the highest paid actor in history). Dali, by the way, also requested a burning giraffe be on the set (now that sounds like a Jodorowsky invention). The hopes of this most ambitious artist were dashed when the executives liked what they saw in terms of pre-production and extraordinarily visual detail but did not see dollar signs in terms of box-office, especially if it was to be 15 hours long! Jodorowsky didn't understand why the financiers backed out, and why Dino DeLaurentiis bought the rights and instead made a hideously boring "Dune" in 1984 with director David Lynch at the helm.

There is a strong case here to be made that those visuals, meticulously drawn and detail-oriented by supreme talents like H. R. Giger, Chris Foss, and Jean Giraud, were the inspiration for similar shots in films such as  "Star Wars," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Prometheus," etc. Most telling is Jodorowsky's description of the opening shot of the film, an unbroken take through the universe and its cosmos (Robert Zemeckis' "Contact" opens with such a similarly splendid sequence). Director Frank Pavich gives us a strong, healthy, ripe for rediscovery, 84-year-old Alejandro whose vision had to be that of a madman - the implied message that only a madman could make "Dune." It is sad to note that we never got that madness on screen.

Everyday is a Winding Road

ERIN BROCKOVICH (2000)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

(Originally reviewed in 2000)

There is no other female star as watchable as Julia Roberts - no matter what film she is in, she is indeed the sparkling star whom can't take our eyes off. She sometimes makes good films ("Notting Hill," "My Best Friend's Wedding") and rotten films ("Runaway Bride," "Sleeping With the Enemy"). Count her latest "Erin Brockovich" as one of her best, a conventional but unquestionably spirited and entertaining romp showcasing Julia's qualities to full flowering effect. She burns on screen with such radiance, beauty and toughness that the film will leave you beaming in phosphorescent delight.

Julia stars as Erin Brockovich, a real-life crusader who went against all odds and came back as a winner of justice. At the beginning of the film, Erin is desperately trying to get a job and uses her persuasive, feminine skills to get one (she fakes resumes to obtain interviews). She fails, ends up in a car accident, and gets a lawyer (Albert Finney) who fails to get her compensation for her neck brace. Erin is so overwhelmed with anger that she confronts the lawyer, Ed Masry, and convinces him to give her a job in his shabby L.A. office. She is after all a divorced, single mom with starving kids, but her attitude and flashy clothes, not to mention excessive cleavage, causes her fellow employees to take notice. After sifting through a pro bono case involving the company Pacific Gas & Electric in a nearby town named Hinkley, Erin discovers that deposits of a lethal substance called chromium had been placed in the water causing various tumors and other afflictions in the townspeople. She investigates and questions the townsfolk, and before you know it, she is knee deep in the water literally pulling a dead frog out as evidence.

Erin's personal life has its ups and downs. She reluctantly has a babysitter named George (Aaron Eckhart from "In the Company of Men"), a biker with multiple tattoos, a bandana and a big grin, but he is also a very nice guy and falls in love with Erin - the character is refreshingly cliche free of what we expect to see from hardcore bikers. After a while, George becomes the caretaker rather than the boyfriend since Erin is on her endless adventurous crusade against PG&E. Will Erin realize that her work is less important than her family, or will she fight to the bitter end and lose the multi-million dollar court case? This may be the stuff of a Lifetime TV drama, and I only wish that writer Susannah Grant devoted a little more attention to this inevitably fractured relationship. There is an uneasy balance between Erin's case and her home life, especially since George almost disappears from the story.

What makes "Erin Brockovich" special is Julia, and she cuts a dazzling figure out of this character. She is tough, funny, sexy, charming, rude, obnoxious, warm, caring, tender, flirtatious - my goodness, what a delight to see such a real, intoxicating woman on screen for once! Julia disappears into the role so well that we forget it is Julia, the movie star. For the first time in years, Julia acts with tremendous, dramatic force.

Albert Finney is also pleasurably engaging as the haggard Masry, and his double-take reactions to Erin's behavior and inappropriate language are priceless. Another miraculous performance is by Marg Helgenberger as Mrs. Jensen, one of the Hinkley townspeople afflicted with cancer - her porch scene with Julia is as moving as one can expect.

Director Steven Soderbergh, known for nonlinear puzzles like "The Limey" and "Schizopolis," effectively taps into Julia's high-wire act to keep things afloat. If the screenplay took more chances with such a conventional storyline, it might have been a more winning character study. As it is, Soderbergh allows for some occasional jump cuts during Erin's frantic moods, and a burnished glow to the desert scenes in L.A. that makes one feel the heat and humidity. And Julia creates an inspiring character - an uneducated, strong, honest woman who used her brains and beauty to uncover corruption and to save people whom she cared about. Inspiring indeed.

Making an unbreakable promise

THE PLEDGE (2001)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Originally reviewed in Jan. 2001

After seeing Sean Penn's latest directorial effort, "The Pledge," I am convinced that Penn can work equally well on both sides of the camera. He is an exceptionally superb actor but his first two films as a director, "The Indian Runner" and "The Crossing Guard," showcased his stunning ability to write sharply defined characters and to know how to get the most out of his actors. He has had the macho ethic of actors like Dennis Hopper, Charles Bronson, David Morse and, yes, Jack Nicholson diminished in favor of showing men grappling with the sins of their past. Nicholson is the star of "The Pledge," and it is his most gripping portrayal yet in what remains Penn's best film by far.

Nicholson is the retired Nevada cop Jerry Black, a man torn by the latest savage murder of a little girl. The night of his retirement party is the night he chooses to investigate the case, despite the averse reactions of the hotshot detective Stan Krolak (Aaron Eckhart) and his former boss (Sam Shepard). A mentally challenged Indian (Benicio Del Toro) is seen at the scene of the crime and is forced to confess to the murder but Jerry doesn't buy it - he feels the real killer is still on the loose. And to temporarily relieve his retirement, Jerry makes a pledge to the dead girl's mother (a devastatingly fierce Patricia Clarkson) to find the killer.

I know what you are all going to say - the same old story about a cop resting on his gut instincts to solve one last case. "The Pledge" stars off as a routine cop story but what unfolds afterwards is stimulating, haunting and unpredictable. This is no ordinary movie-of-the-week and it is no action thriller - it is, my goodness, an existential character study of one man's pledge and obsession leading to madness and despair. Sounds too depressing? Well, yes, but who says all movies need to end in happy endings?

As the film progresses, Jerry buys a gas station following a hunch that the killer resides in a nearby county. There is also the suspected car model deduced from the dead girl's drawing of a tall man who gave her porcupine chocolates. I will not say much more except that Jerry meets the local town waitress (Robin Wright-Penn) and his intentions with her and her own daughter are not what they seem.

"The Pledge" is full of symbolic montages, beautifully lush scenery, and Penn's typical slow-motion scenes punctuated by moments of silence. One terrific moment is likely to be missed where a long shot of Jerry fishing on a lake with a rainbow in the distance mirrors one of the dead girl's drawings. I also love the scene where Jerry breaks the news to the girl's parents in a turkey farm - a typical scene, powerfully executed.

Nicholson uses admirable restraint as Jerry Black, in lieu of his trademark persona, for a complex portrait of a man who may be losing his marbles investigating a seemingly no-win case. He shares some great scenes with actors like Vanessa Redgrave as the dead girl's teacher, Helen Mirren as a child psychologist, Tom Noonan as the local Reverend, Harry Dean Stanton as the owner of a gas station, and Mickey Rourke in a heartfelt performance as the dad of one of the murdered girls in town.

"The Pledge" begins with Nicholson scratching his legs and muttering to himself, and the frustration the character feels slaving away at this murder case is felt by the audience. "The Pledge" is a pessimistic, tough-minded film that stays on course through its existential journey. For the last year or so, I've been saying that in this postmodern world of cinema, irony has replaced existentialism and that stories are now bereft of the risks they used to take, particularly with characters as unsentimental as Jerry. "The Pledge" is proof that some directors are willing to take the plunge into the sea of despair without making compromises. Bravo Sean Penn!

Worn-out tequila sunrise

THE BORDER (1982)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Tony Richardson's "The Border" is two movies in one - a scathing criticism of the border patrol agents in El Paso, Texas and a human story of salvation. The criticism works in spades, the salvation story just barely.

Jack Nicholson plays Charlie Smith, an exasperated border patrol cop from L.A.,who has just accepted a new job in El Paso, TX after living in a trailer with his money-hungry wife (Valerie Perrine). Of course, her idea of money-hungry is living in shared quarters with another border cop and his wife, and revitalizing their rather cramped quarters into a dream house by buying a new plastic-sealed couch on credit. The fellow border cop is Cat (Harvey Keitel), a man involved in shady dealings with the illegal immigrants. There is no real dilemma on immigration presented here - it merely states the corruption of these cops with dollar signs when it comes to smuggling people and buying newborn babies for wealthy families. Cat and his superiors are involved (including a far too brief performance by Warren Oates) and it pays their way, including allowing some illegals do work as day laborers, but it is all a front - money is the motive and murder is occasionally a necessary evil. The Rio Grande is the dividing line.

Charlie wants nothing to do with it - his conscience is put to the test. Should he turn a blind eye and allow such injustice, including the selling of a baby from one unfortunate, caring mother (Elpidia Carrillo, who says more with a look than a line of dialogue)? Or will Charlie kowtow to their efforts and keep doing a job that is useless and uncertain so as to keep his wife happy? Unfortunately, the symptomatic problem of this illegal operation is barely given much depth. The illegals, with the exception of Carrillo, become background fodder and the movie never illuminates the issues. It is all in the service of a suspense thriller by the end with two unsatisfactory freeze-frames that seemingly resolve the salvation of a character, yet further dim the narrative.

Nicholson works up a fever pitch of a performance, especially scenes with Perrine where he begins to wonder about the status of his life. Mostly Nicholson is watchable but rather forgettable in the role - had he switched parts with Harvey Keitel, I would have had more sympathy with Keitel as Charlie. Still, for a film that touches on the immigration problem at all (and let us not forget that it is still an issue today), it is passable entertainment but it just misses the mark of making the most of a pressing issue.