The Least Dangerous Game

 THE CLEARING (2004)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Viewed on July 17th, 2004 

Anyone remember an old "Incredible Hulk" TV episode where David Banner wore bandages while trekking through the woods with his old nemesis, Mr. Jack McGee, a reporter who knew of the Hulk's existence? Well, what about "The Defiant Ones"? Or "The Most Dangerous Game"? I am a sucker for two footloose men on the run or in hiding in the woods - it always allows ample opportunity for a
psychological profile, especially if a good writer is on hand. The trouble with "The Clearing" is that barely much time is focused on the footloose men in the woods. Instead, we are treated to endless scenes that would be at home in your own home, inside your own television.

Robert Redford is Wayne Hayes, a millionaire and former CEO, now an executive, who lives in a nice home with his wife in Pittsburgh. The kids are grown-up and have their own lives. Helen Mirren is the dutiful wife, Eileen, who prepares for dinner parties and goes for a swim, even on overcast mornings. Wayne is so rich that he merely smirks when he sees a check for 42 million in his desk
drawer! Got to love him. One morning, he picks up his Wall Street Journal in his driveway before getting kidnapped by Arnold (Willem Dafoe), a complete stranger. Wayne is kept in Arnold's trunk until they arrive at their destination, the woods leading to some cabin where they will meet some group.
Arnold forces Wayne to wear sneakers, and they are off to see the group, the wonderfully mysterious group! Of course, Wayne has no idea what the heck is going on. Arnold remains elusive for details. We slowly discover that Arnold used to work for Wayne and was fired, as were many disgruntled employees (how timely).

Meanwhile, Eileen is deeply worried. She has her kids stay with her, as well a couple of FBI agents. We eventually discover that Wayne has been hiding one or two things in his life. I will not reveal what they are but ask yourself this question when the penultimate moment arrives, are the revelations so
surprising? All Eileen can do is sit around, stare out the window, and look consistently worried. This is such a thankless role for someone like the grand Helen Mirren.

The problem is there are too many scenes of Eileen, and not enough between Arnold and Wayne, which should be the crux of the film. We learn almost too much about Eileen and learn next to nil about Arnold and Wayne. Something is wrong here. Arnold comes across as a less-restrained kidnapper than norm (though my first impression was that he was a CIA agent) but his intentions, when discovered, hardly evoke the desperate man we first see. Is he upset at Wayne for making too much money or for having worked for a company that Wayne later owned? And Wayne is nothing more than the blandest, most boring CEO ever shown on film - no attempt is made to make this man remotely engaging. Same
with Arnold. We are just stuck for one hour and a half looking at anonymous ciphers, not human beings. Tough task considering they are played by Willem Dafoe and Robert Redford.

"The Clearing" is directed by producer Pieter Jan Brugge, and he does a competent enough job with individual moments. Some scenes truly sparkle, such as Eileen running around from one phone booth to the next while trying to make contact with the kidnapper. I also like the nicely understated breakfast scene with Mirren and Redford. And the wordless bridge and dark tunnel sequence towards the end is stunning. The charismatic Dafoe does wonders with his underwritten role, always suggesting more than the screenplay has to offer. And the golden boy Redford seems adrift through most of this movie. Perhaps that is the message but I'd rather get lost in the Yellow Brick Road.

Ethan Hunt vs. The Apostles

 MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT (2018)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Just like "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" (still the best of the series by far), "Fallout" is an elongated, explosive chase picture designed to rattle your senses and bury your eyes with epic action of a magnitude that might never be improved. Hopefully you can keep all the multiple characters and situations straight as well. I haven't figured it all out but it was a pleasure trying to and, even after five movies, "Mission: Impossible" series continues to be top-notch entertainment. 

The unbreakable IMF agent Ethan Hunt is back (the sprightly Tom Cruise, of course) and he is hoping to be in possession of three stolen plutonium cores before they are used in three nuclear bombs! Of course such a terroristic plan can't be thwarted so easily as the extremist group, the Apostles, are ready to give up the cores for money until they decide during a shootout to steal back the cores. The Apostles had also taken hostage the IMF's most trusted hacker, Luther (Ving Rhames), until Ethan saves him which makes the cores easy pickings (this scene was far too unbelievable but, then again, so is the movie. Still, didn't Ethan think for a millisecond that the cores would be stolen?) I have made it a habit of not questioning logic in movies like this because, as long as I am entertained and involved, I don't care. 

Enter "Fallout's" few new characters that keeps the movie rising in its thrill meter and they include Henry Cavill as August Walker, a CIA assassin whom you just know will reveal a darker side, and Angela Bassett as a very forthright new CIA director keeping tabs on Ethan and August. You start to wonder if she trusts them or will she believe Walker's assertion that Ethan is far more dangerous than anyone dared think. Uh, oh, will Ethan be disavowed yet again? For tremendous sex appeal, we get Vanessa Kirby as White Widow, a curly blonde arms dealer who flirts with Ethan in one stunningly erotic moment. For sheer villainy, we get the cold, evil stares of Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), the leader of the Apostles who has a complete indifference to humanity. Returnees include Alec Baldwin as Hunley the new IMF Secretary, formerly CIA Director and he has a few tricks up his sleeve; Michelle Monaghan as you know who, if you have seen previous "Mission: Impossible" movies; Rebecca Ferguson as the disavowed MI6 agent from the last sequel who is also a bit unbreakable and can't stop herself from following Ethan and, of course, for some comic relief is Simon Pegg as Benji, the IMF technical field agent who also has a couple tricks up his sleeve.

"Fallout" is densely layered with a lot of characters and motives and I couldn't quite keep track of all them - I also wondered why the Apostles, formerly the Syndicate, want to blow up so many countries. Still, for hair-raising spectacular action including an endless motorcycle chase in Paris and two helicopters racing through the Himalayas that had me almost ready to break off the armrests of my chair - they delivered a major sonic boom to this critic - "Fallout" is as spectacular on every level as you can imagine. Tom Cruise is a reliable action star and plays this role to the hilt, whether he is running, jumping or receiving a kiss from the White Widow. The man is a relentless action toy, always on the run and never stops moving. "Fallout" certifies Tom Cruise as one of the greatest action stars of the 21st century.   

Not going anywhere, do you mind if I come along?

 AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)

An Appreciation By Jerry Saravia

George Lucas's "American Graffiti" is an explosion of good-natured nostalgia with a killer soundtrack of rock and roll songs that have, since 1973, been utilized in films so often that they have become cliches. So have coming-of-age films being swathed in nostalgia, whether it is a film set in 1962 or the 1950's - for the baby boomers, they were the last truly innocent decades (though history shows they were anything but). The movie is a rollicking good time, a reflection of an era when no high school graduate had any idea what the future held. They knew their present and that is all they had to go on. Watching the film you get the impression that these Modesto, California teens wouldn't mind staying in town forever listening to Wolfman Jack, cruising in their cars, and making out.

In a sense, that is the film's charm because would anyone really want to become an adult? No, no teenager wants to grow up yet they know they eventually have to. Richard Dreyfuss's Curt is the one who is ambivalent - can he go to college out-of-state and become a great writer or is he premature in assuming a future that might lead to something else? No one else really struggles with that notion, outside of his best friend Steve (Ron Howard). Curt also has a night where he sees a mysterious blonde woman (Suzanne Somers) driving by in a white Thunderbird, cruising as everyone else does, who says something to him but Curt can't make out what she says. He spends the rest of the film looking for this blonde and feels, for the first time, that his life has purpose. It is a singular mission to find this elusive beauty, but who is she and what did she say to him? 

"American Graffiti" takes place during one long night where cruising teenagers drink and make out and it is largely episodic as we float in from one group to another. Charles Martin Smith is the nerdy Terry who gets mixed up with another blonde girl (Candy Clark) and pretends the car he is borrowing is his, yet he has trouble getting liquor with no ID (how he finally gets some Old Harper's produces one of the biggest belly laughs in the entire film). Meanwhile, there's the aforementioned Steve and his long-term girlfriend, Laurie (Cindy Williams), and Steve has no ambivalence about going to college and suggests that he and Laurie see other people. Naturally this causes some tension despite them dancing and pretending to have a good time while The Platters' "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" is played by a cover band at one of those sock hops. Then there's the cool John Milner (Paul Le Mat), a drag-racer who is challenged by fearless Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford) to a drag race. While John tries to avoid Bob, he reluctantly gives a ride to a precocious 12-year-old girl (Mackenzie Phillips) and their brief moments together suggests a softer side to John who acts like her big brother, a protector of sorts. 

"American Graffiti" ends with title cards indicating certain characters' fates but it is not needed. The film exists as a moment in time before the Cuban Missile Crisis and JFK's assassination - a vastly entertaining mood piece of nostalgic reminders of great cars, great music and a white 56' T-Bird with an enigmatic blonde. Curt sees her car as he's flying to college and smiles - a momentary pause where such a great night ends and evaporates though it is retained as a memory. One of the saddest and yet most exhilarating endings of all time. I only wish Lucas made more films like this.

Malpractice and murder

THE HOSPITAL (1971)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

The best satires play it straight and to the point, and are concise and controlled in tempo and black humor. Most scenes in "The Hospital" are played so straight that you almost think the filmmakers are being serious until you catch the exaggeration that is practically hidden. The movie is not on the same high of hilarity mixed with serious topical issues as "Network" (both written by the brilliant seriocomic mind of Paddy Chayefsky) but it is unnerving and often funny in a way that feels like life. You won't come away bored by "The Hospital" but you will get a mild headache due to its brazenness and humorous asides - probably the way anyone would feel after visiting a hospital.

A New York teaching hospital is coming apart at the seams. Patients clog the main artery of the building, the emergency room, seeking help while only one nurse asks each and every one of them if they have health insurance. Two doctors and a nurse are murdered though nobody knows who did the deed - one young doctor is found dead after having had sex with a nurse. To top it all off, protesters gather outside the building knowing that the hospital annexed an adjacent slum building to expand their quarters, and the protestors include some Black Panthers. George C. Scott is Chief of Staff Dr. Bock who is going through a crisis - he wants to commit suicide, is divorced and impotent, and his kids (one who is a Maoist) hate him. Enter Diana Rigg of all people, as the sexy former nurse who is at the hospital for her comatose father (Barnard Hughes) and wants to take her dad back to Mexico to be among the natives. Cue Dr. Bock whose impotence is relieved after a one-night stand with the ex-nurse, and she tries to convince him to go to Mexico as well. 

"The Hospital" is messy, a little disorganized yet never less than blisteringly funny with an ache that stays in your head. George C. Scott has some magnificent scenes of dialogue as the tortured Dr. Bock, mostly with Diana Rigg that results in some of the best work he's ever done. A lot of scenes perk up when Scott and Rigg appear but the movie piles on too much of a killer subplot that detracts from the satire yet the inner workings of this disastrously managed hospital keeps one's interest - will this place ever be up to standard? Scott's Dr. Bock character adds a lot of flavor and meaning and his occasional outbursts come out of the hysteria of his own life and the hospital - both are in shambles. Chayefsky and director Arthur Hiller might be working overtime to entertain with a few extraneous scenes but you can't say that you won't come away from this less than drained with a little smile on your face. Just make sure your insurance is airtight if you visit this hospital.

Friedkin made your heart skip and your blood pressure rise

WILLIAM FRIEDKIN (1935-2023) : 

A LOOK BACK AT 1987's RAMPAGE 

By Jerry Saravia

William Friedkin has passed away at the age of 87, a formidable director who reawakened people's senses with two iconoclastic 1970's films that challenged their respective genres. Those would be "The French Connection" and "The Exorcist," two major classics with one featuring one of the best car chases ever filmed and the other featuring some of the scariest supernatural thrills of all time. Of course what made these films so furiously alive and vivid in our collective imaginations is that Friedkin made them feel grounded - they were realistically conveyed and "French Connection" almost felt like a documentary with some hair-spinning hand-held camerawork. "The Exorcist" felt like an examination of evil in the least likely place - a pre-teen girl's bedroom. 

It would not be fair to highlight only those two films because his talent was evident elsewhere, especially his early documentary work. A Friedkin film that is still underappreciated and has been lost in the shuffle is 1987's "Rampage" which features a dynamic, scary performance by Alex McArthur as Charles Reece, a serial killer. This was no average killer (based on a true story of the Vampire Killer of Sacramento) - he went into people's homes and mutilated his victims and drank their blood (in one truly spellbinding scene, shot in slow-motion, he slathers blood over his body). Eventually, he's caught and sent to prison and Michael Biehn plays an idealistic District Attorney/prosecutor who seeks the death penalty for Charles despite being initially against it. Meanwhile it is determined by doctors and a psychiatrist that the killer is mentally insane and should be in a mental hospital. 

All sorts of legal questions are raised in "Rampage" and some of them are uneven and not always convincing, particularly Biehn's switcheroo with respect to what he considers ethical punishment. Still, the root of the film's success is Alex McArthur's chilling, persuasive performance as a seemingly innocent-looking man wearing a red windbreaker who suddenly reveals an animal bent on blood lust. Director Friedkin once again keeps the material grounded in an unshakable reality that occasionally brings up similarities with the monumentally frightening "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer." And just like "Henry" which couldn't find a distributor for years, "Rampage" had been completed in 1987 through DEG (De Laurentiis) company until it went belly up. Released through Miramax Pictures five years later in limited release, "Rampage" still held its own against any exploitative slasher flick - this was serious, urgent material given a boost by its death penalty vs. insanity defenses. There are also scenes of such unbridled, unhinged madness from the killer's point-of-view that your heart will skip a few beats. William Friedkin was that in a nutshell in his best films - he made your heart skip and your blood pressure rise. 

Bloodbath in every sense of the word

 EVIL DEAD RISE (2023)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

There are bloodbaths and then there are literal bloodbaths. "Evil Dead Rise," not unlike its 2013 predecessor, has its victims literally bathed in blood up to their necks. Blood fills the screen and spurts and spurts to the point of having its victims drenched in blood with perfectly bloodied faces. In terms of graphic disembowelment, stabbings, eating glass and eye gouges, the 2013 "Evil Dead" fit the bill more closely though that movie was a numbing bore. "Evil Dead Rise" is actually entertaining and has a very thrilling climax but you may want to take a shower after seeing it. Use some good bacterial soap to get those heavy blood stains off.

Alyssa Sutherland is a memorably wicked Deadite mommie who is so vicious and so psychologically torturous to her kids that you want to see her eviscerated. She is Ellie, a single mom raising three kids, one of whom discovers the Book of the Dead and a couple of cryptic LP's in the parking garage of their high-rise apartment building (this is after a brief earthquake that creates a hole in the garage). This building is the kind of creepy place where the hallways are barely lit and all I could think of is that someone needs to pay the electric bill or install more lights. Anyway, Ellie's DJ-aspiring son finds and plays the records and the incantations are read from the Book of the Dead and the usual demonic spirits are unleashed. 

Ellie is the first to get possessed and Sutherland makes her into a scary, demonic hellbreaker spirit - she is not someone you want to invite for a get-together. Aside from the kids who are scared beyond their wits, there is Ellie's visiting pregnant sister, Beth (Lily Sullivan), who is more than a little concerned about her sister's contorted body and ability to float and avoid blinking when a fly walks on her eyeball. We feel great sympathy for the family and for Ellie and I hoped Ellie was going to get this demon out of her body - no spoiler but, um, no chance.

"Evil Dead Rise" is quite a horrific ride and its new residential setting for evil spirits (which may bring up unwanted memories of the high-rise in "Poltergeist III") does work in the story's favor rather than the traditional log cabin of previous films. The movie is still a little too blood-soaked and I do miss the wicked humor of the original trilogy and the long-chinned star of Bruce Campbell. Still, this movie is in capable hands and it works right up to its last feverishly sweat-inducing last scene. I do recommend antifungal antibacterial soap after sitting through it. 

God's Children are not for sale

 SOUND OF FREEDOM (2023)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Tim Ballard sounds like someone I should trust if I want my child found. Jim Caviezel plays Tim as he's played most other roles since the heyday of playing Jesus in Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," a beatific and saintly figure in repose. Never mind that Tim is not a saint or sinner - he is a man on a mission to save "God's children" from child traffickers. "Sound of Freedom" almost sounds like a Mel Gibson movie yet Gibson might have made a ticking time bomb of a movie with urgency felt in your veins while watching it. "Sound of Freedom" is a low-key, somber affair yet somewhat indistinguishable from any movie that might play on TV on the same subject.

Caviezel's Tim works for Homeland Security as a Special Agent assigned to arresting pedophiles who make their presence known on the Internet. Tim finds and arrests many of them, but what about the kids who are kidnapped, bought and sold into sex slavery. This is a fascinating premise in a sense - can we ever find the missing kids (and adults) sold into these elaborate, profitable trafficking schemes? Since Homeland Security is not keen on finding the kids, viewed as an impossible task, Tim becomes the founder of Operation Underground Railroad, O.U.R., an anti-trafficking non-profit rescue organization.  One of their first goals is to find the sister of "Teddy Bear," a recently found Mexican kid who was found at the Mexican border. There is a short bit here where one of their mission is to convince these traffickers that they can bring children to a wealthy guy's island. Later on, there is far more dangerous terrain in a remote part of the Amazon jungle in Colombia where a rebel enclave exists and Teddy Bear's sister is possibly being held there.

I can hardly dismiss "Sound of Freedom" and the movie does have an understated power in its best moments, especially seeing one older man carrying a drink as he's ready to take advantage of that little girl, closing the red blinds as we know what unspeakable act is about to take place. Yet the movie plays it so low-key, the outrage is so muted and so softly rendered that you only feel a modicum of anger when you hear Mexican songs sung by child-like voices. "Sound of Freedom" never gives you a rush of adrenaline or intensity with regards to such disturbing subject matter. It assumes Tim's righteousness is enough, or least the tears on Jim Caviezel's beatific face.