Responses to Peary’s “must see” movie reviews, as well as my own “must see” movie reviews up to and after 1986 (when Peary’s book was published).
“All I can see is a million frogs on tiny crutches.”
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Review: Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
Must See? Categories
(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) Links: |
“Chance is too tricky — the wrong people might win; we’ve got to be logical.”
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tasked with taking charge — though naturally, not without contention. At just 75 minutes long, the pithy script (co-written in part by none other than Nathaniel West and Dalton Trumbo) wastes no time at all in presenting each of the characters and allowing them to interact with one another in strategic ways, so that we’re easily able to see the shifts that take place once they’re plunged into survival mode — i.e., while Ball was once judged too “loose” to help care for the gangster’s son (Johnson), she’s soon entrusted with this role:
… Smith’s browbeating wife (Risdon) is “domesticated” in the jungle:
… etc. Watch for the nicely handled final scene, which packs a true emotional punch, and is seamlessly directed. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
Must See? Categories
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“Nobody’s interested in turtles — except the keeper, me… and you.”
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Review: Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“You are not fit to raise a son in this world.”
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Review: Will romantic entanglements ensue? Absolutely — though again, the script is too undeveloped for the situation as played out to feel anything but contrived. With that said, the performances by O’Connor, Cummings, and Sorvino are all top notch. Cummings — an enormously popular Canadian rock star who I’ll admit I knew nothing about before watching this film — gives a refreshingly natural performance; while his character isn’t anyone we feel sympathy for, he’s at least highly believable. The scenes in which he struggles to compose new songs come across as particularly authentic — and it helps that the score is filled with his catchy ballads. Fans of his music will certainly want to locate a copy of this film, the only one he made — but it’s otherwise only must-see for O’Connor fans. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“I heard this little story… And while it was fresh in my mind, I thought I’d borrow it, for just a few minutes.”
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Review: However, it’s Grimms’ fairy tales themselves that most viewers will be eager to see brought to life — though the stories selected to showcase here are lesser-known, and none are particularly compelling. The first tale (“The Dancing Princess”) primarily functions as a vehicle for Tamblyn’s dancing, as well as for the Cinerama process itself, with an extended carriage chase sequence far-too-obviously designed to show off what virtual reality tricks the camera could manage (i.e., Tamblyn dangles precariously down from a broken bridge hovering thousands of feet above a roiling river). The second tale (“The Cobbler and the Elves”) is primarily a vehicle for George Pal’s puppetoons, who come to vivid life during a modestly enjoyable musical sequence.
The final tale — “The Singing Bone” — possesses a strong narrative arc and a nicely handled twist ending, but relies far too heavily on cartoonish slapstick for laughs (i.e., when the animated dragon breathes fiery air onto Hackett’s metal suit of armor, and hot steam emerges from Hackett’s nostrils). With all that said, TWWOTBG is the type of colorful, escapist fantasy fare that just might appeal to kids of a certain age — at least those not jaded by more sophisticated animation styles. Unfortunately, it’s not yet widely available on DVD, most likely because the only surviving print (which suffered from water damage during a studio fire) shows distractingly clear evidence of the dividing lines between the three filmed “panels”. Interestingly, this visual artifact is somewhat fascinating at first, given that it helps us more easily imagine seeing the movie projected onto a much larger, curved screen — but it’s ultimately too distracting, and definitely merits “cleaning up” by a restoration team. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“If God made me perfect, I might as well show it — you know what I mean?”
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— is nicely cast as the lower-class girl Boyd is smitten with, though her performance eventually becomes a tad too predictably sullen; much less successful is Neill Barry in a key supporting role as Harvest’s rugged older brother, whose actions and attitudes throughout feel scripted rather than authentic.
Meanwhile, Silver’s rambling script is better at establishing a mood than providing an interesting storyline for the characters. We’re eventually drawn into a subplot involving Harvest’s father (Danny Aiello) and the sexy new tenant (Roxanne Hart) he may or may not be having an affair with, but this simply feels like a distraction from the central tale of Boyd and Harvest’s evolving friendship, which never quite resolves in a satisfying fashion. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“If anybody ever finds out he passed away, they’ll take us to the county home for sure.”
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Review: Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“Belonging to Max Herschel had a lot of advantages: it was fun and first class all the way.”
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To that end, Allen seems to get many of the details of this particular universe “right” — most notably in the way everything happens at a faster-than-expected pace, with King autocratically dictating orders left and right, pausing only to break down in temporary tantrums over minor details he can’t control. Indeed, King’s performance is spot-on throughout, indicating unexpected star power. Much more problematic is the key casting of Ali MacGraw as his lover, “Bones” Burton; though she tries hard, MacGraw simply isn’t up to the task of inhabiting this undeniably complex character — a powerful female television executive who is nonetheless content to live as King’s mistress for years on end.
As events get more and more complicated and treacherous in their relationship, she begins to exhibit the same forlorn expression far too often (and is shown digging for solace in a pan of homemade fudge at least one too many times). Where’s her bite? It comes in fits and starts (most notably during the infamous Bergdorff-Goodman’s brawl), but is never fully present or believable. Meanwhile, though the poster’s tagline proclaims, “They’re rich. They’re in love. They’re negotiating”, this isn’t quite accurate, given that it’s clearly King who holds the purse strings in the relationship, from beginning to end. In sum, we just don’t learn enough about “Bones” to really “get” her, other than on the most surface level — which makes it twice the shame that her character’s voiceover was chosen to bookend the film, rather than Loy’s (who would have been a MUCH more logical option). Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“There’s nothing wrong with him that being three days old wouldn’t fix.”
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Review: Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“I wish I could switch places with her, for just one day.”
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Better known for her work on Broadway than in films, this may actually be Harris’s best leading role onscreen: her no-holds-barred portrayal of an adolescent trapped in an adult body is a sheer pleasure to watch, from beginning to end. In early scenes, we see her luxuriating over the fact that she’s not only liberated from attendance at school but suddenly has a sexy, braces-free demeanor — only to quickly demonstrate how inadequately prepared she is to handle everything associated with the ’70s vision of womanhood/motherhood, from putting on false eyelashes (a great scene!):
… to preparing an impromptu meal for 30 to managing a household full of domestic assistants.
Fortunately, the film as a whole is mostly deserving of her stand-out performance, with the switched-identities element particularly well handled throughout. While we only see each character in her original body for the first 12 minutes of the film (and during the tail-end of the hectic finale), we nonetheless continue to believe in and understand exactly what’s happened to them, thanks to clever use of voice-over (plus, of course, the spot-on performances by the female leads). If there’s one slight downside, it’s that Harris’s travails as teenage “Annabel” are so much more intrinsically interesting and hilarious than Foster’s as the adult “Ellen”. Foster is primarily shown being humiliated time and again at school — either from her lack of knowledge about “modern” equipment (she has no idea how electric typewriters work):
… or her overabundance of knowledge in history class (where she’s viewed as a know-it-all), or her utter clumsiness on the hockey field (where she’s literally pummeled by members of the opposing team).
In sum, “Ellen”/”Mrs. Andrews” simply isn’t as interesting a character as “Annabel”. Regardless, the fast-paced screenplay (written by Rodgers herself) keeps us on our toes throughout, right up until the surprisingly enjoyable slapstick finale (involving a cop chase and an elaborate water-skiing revue). It’s also fun to see how cleverly Rodgers incorporates sly sexual innuendos without ever bordering on poor taste — i.e., the titillated reaction by Astin when Harris accidentally calls him “Daddy” a few times.
Meanwhile, both Harris and Foster learn important lessons in how to empathize with each other (naturally), but this thankfully isn’t hammered over our heads. Somewhat surprisingly, Freaky Friday remains worth a one-time look by all film fanatics — primarily for Harris’s performance, but also as a pleasantly enjoyable situation comedy. Watch for the inspired final shot/scene. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
Must See? Categories
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