Review: Riveting "WOMEN TALKING" is a Film That Speaks Directly, Even to Us

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 19 of 2023 (No. 1908) by Leroy Douresseaux

Women Talking (2022)

Running time:  104 minutes (1 hour, 44 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for mature thematic content including sexual assault, bloody images, and some strong language

DIRECTOR:  Sarah Polley

WRITER:  Sarah Polley (based upon the book by Miriam Toews)

PRODUCERS:  Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, and Frances McDormand

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Luc Montpellier

EDITORS:  Christopher Donaldson and Roslyn Kalloo

COMPOSER:  Hildur Guðnadottir

Academy Award winner

DRAMA/RELIGION

Starring:  Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, France McDormand, Judith Ivey, Emily Mitchell, Kate Hallet, Liv McNeil, Shelia McCarthy, Michelle McLeod, Kira Guloien, Shayla Brown, Vivien Endicott-Douglas, August Winter, and Ben Whishaw

Women Talking is a 2022 drama film from writer-director Sarah Polley. The film is based on Miriam Towes' 2018 Canadian novel, Women Talking.  Both the film and the novel are inspired by real-life events.  Women Talking the film focuses on a group of women who must decide if they should do nothing, stay and fight, or leave their isolated religious community where sexual abuse of girls and women is common.

Women Talking opens in the year 2010 in an unnamed, isolated Mennonite colony.  The colony's women and girls have discovered that some of the men in the colony have been using livestock tranquilizer to subdue them in order to rape them.  Although other men in the colony have had these attackers arrested and imprisoned in a nearby city, they are also seeking bail for the attackers.

The men have left the women by themselves for two days in order for the women to determine what they will do going forward.  However, the men expect the women to forgive their attackers or be expelled from the colony.  The women gather in a barn to discuss and to vote.  They have a young man named August (Ben Whishaw) sit in the meeting in order to take the minutes.  When he was a boy, Ben's mother was expelled from the colony.  Ben returned to become the colony's sole teacher, but he only teaches the boys because women are not allowed to attend school.

Elders like Agata (Judith Ivey) and Greta (Sheila McCarthy) lead the discussion, but young women like Ona (Rooney Mara), Salome (Claire Foy), Mariche (Jessie Buckley), and Mejal (Michelle McLeod) have strong opinions.  Should the women do nothing... forgive... stay and fight... or leave the colony?  As they grapple with the brutal reality of their faith, the time to decide is running out.

Almost four days out from watching Women Talking, and I find myself still thinking about it, dear readers.  In the wake of the of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, it feels like a supernaturally timely film.  The “Dobbs decision” held that the Constitution of the United States did not confer a right to abortion.  It is just the latest in a more than three-decade assault on women's rights to reproductive freedom and choice.

Women Talking effectively delivers a valuable message.  The women of the Mennonite colony that this film depicts must confront not only the violence against them, but also a religion designed down to its bones to give men all the power over women.  Their faith essentially renders women and girls indentured servants and non-citizens.

I quibble that writer-director Sarah Polley's direction and Oscar-winning screenplay bury the actresses of Women Talking beneath the scenario and story.  There is a lot of genuine talent here, and I wanted to see more of them, in a broader sense, although no one can really keep Rooney Mara from shining.  In a way, however, that is good thing.  The way Polley presents this makes Women Talking as timeless as it is timely.

Women Talking is truly an exceptional and spectacular film because the women at the heart of its story are talking.  What they say crosses over into our real world.  Because what is depicted in this film is real, it matters.  Women Talking is based on something that happened not that long ago, in this century, so women struggling for equality and human rights must keep talking.  And this movie, Women Talking, is entertainment, educational, and hopefully, inspiration for future generations.

9 of 10

A+

★★★★+ out of 4 stars

Thursday, May 4, 2023

NOTES:

2023 Academy Awards, USA:  1 win: “Best Adapted Screenplay” (Sarah Polley) and 1 nomination: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Jeremy Kleiner, Dede Gardner, and Frances McDormand – producers)

2023 Golden Globes, USA:  2 nominations: “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Hildur Guðnadóttir) and “Best Screenplay-Motion Picture” (Sarah Polley)

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" is Still Fresh and Vibrant

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 38 of 2022 (No. 1850) by Leroy Douresseaux

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
Original title: Mujeres al borde de un ataque de "nervios"
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Spain; Language: Spanish
Running time:  89 minutes (1 hour, 29 minutes)
MPAA – R
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Pedro Almodóvar
PRODUCER:  Pedro Almodóvar
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  José Luis Alcaine (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  José Salcedo
COMPOSER:  Bernardo Bonezzi
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/COMEDY

Starring:  Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, Rossy de Palma, Maria Berranco, Kiti Manver, Guillermo Montesinos, Chus Lampreave, and Fernando Guillen

Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios is a 1988 Spanish comedy and drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar.  The film is also known by its English release title, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (the title I will use for this review).  The film focuses on a television actress who encounters a variety of eccentric characters as she tries to make contact with her lover who recently and abruptly left her.

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown introduces television actress, Pepa Marcos (Carmen Maura), who was recently dumped by her lover, Ivan (Fernando Guillen).  They are both voice actors who dub foreign language films into Spanish, and Ivan's sweet-talking voice is the same one he uses in his work.  Pepa knows that Ivan is about to leave on a trip … with another woman.  He has even asked Pepa to pack his things in a suitcase that he will pick up later.

However, Pepa just wants to talk to Ivan.  She really needs to talk to him, but he seems to be avoiding her.  She never catches him at home and leaves messages on his telephone answering machine.  He leaves voice messages on her machine, always seeming to call when she is unavailable.  Her life is spiraling out of control, especially as an ever increasing number of eccentric characters, some connected to Ivan, start gathering around her.  Their lives are apparently spiraling out of control, too.

There is her friend Candela (Maria Berranco), who is afraid of the police because she had a brief sexual encounter with a man who turns out to be a “Shiite terrorist.”  He later returned to her, bringing a few terrorists colleagues, and they are planning a terrorist attack.  Candela is more afraid of going to jail than having had a sexual relationship with a terrorist.

Ivan's son, Carlos (Antonio Banderas), arrives at Pepa's penthouse, with his snobbish fiancée, Marisa (Rossy de Palma).  They are apartment-hunting and are interested in Pepa's place.  Pepa meets the feminist and lawyer, Paulina (Kiti Mánver), who has a past with Ivan's family and may be connected to them now.  Carlos describes his mother, Lucia (Julieta Serrano), Ivan's previous lover, as “crazy,” and she is apparently out of her mental hospital and on the way to Pepa's for a confrontation.  Meanwhile, what is Ivan up to?

The original Spanish title of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown – Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios – is evidently not about a “nervous breakdown.”  The “ataque de nervois” is more about women showing excessive negative emotions via panic attacks, fainting, and bodily gestures when they get upsetting news or see something that disturbs them.  This is about agitation and stress instead of a full breakdown, which actually seems possible with some of the film's characters.

I can see why so many film critics, fans, and audiences were taken with Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at the time of its original release.  There was nothing like it in U.S. contemporary film at the time.  Its costumes, art direction, and set decoration have stylish references to the past and present and hints at the future.  If one ignores such things as the types of telephones and answering machines and the operation of the airport, the film does not seem to be set in any particular time, past or present.  The decorations in Pepa's penthouse and all the characters clothing are a riot of beautiful colors and color design.  However, things like the taxi cab that Pepa frequently uses and its lovable driver (Guillermo Montesinos) add an earthy street-level touch to the film.  Even Pepa's menagerie of animals (chickens and rabbits) are a nice addition to the film's oddness

For most of the 1990s, there were rumors of an American remake of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, with Jane Fonda often listed as a potential cast member (as I remember it).  I am not surprised that American actresses would be attracted to this kind of film.  Even with Pepa as the lead, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown has five supporting female roles with significant speaking parts, to say nothing of a few smaller parts that all actresses to show themselves.

No one female character is like another, and each woman has her own reason for “ataque de nervois.”  Pepa and her eccentric friends and acquaintances are a delight, and the actresses make the most of their time on screen.  They turn their character types into showy, gaudy, and captivating women, and I wanted more of them.  Also, a young Antonio Banderas, as Carlos, deftly fits in with all these females, never dominating the screen, but always complimenting with uncanny skill.

I have seen Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown described as a black comedy.  It is too wildly exaggerated to be anything but a farce.  For Pedro Almodóvar, it was his calling card that introduced him to a wider audience outside of both Spain and of the devoted international film audience that already knew him.  I like it as a comedy, but I am really fascinated by its characters and the actors playing them.  The women on the verge of a nervous breakdown are some amazing women indeed, and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is an amazing film.

9 of 10
A+
★★★★+ out of 4 stars


NOTES:
1989 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Foreign Language Film” (Spain)

1990 BAFTA Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Film not in the English Language” (Pedro Almodóvar)

1989 Golden Globes, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Foreign Language Film” (Spain)


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD" is Still Alive and Kicking

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 16 of 2022 (No. 1828) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
Running time:  91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)
MPAA – R
DIRECTOR: Dan O'Bannon
WRITERS:  Dan O'Bannon; from a story by Rudy Ricci, John Russo, and Russell Streiner
PRODUCER:  Tom Fox
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Jules Brenner (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Robert Gordon
COMPOSER:  Matt Clifford

HORROR/COMEDY

Starring:  Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Thom Mathews, Beverly Randolph, Miguel Nunez, John Philbin, Jewel Shepard, Brian Peck, Linnea Quigley, Mark Venturini, Jonathan Terry, Cathleen Cordell, and Allan Trautman

The Return of the Living Dead is a 1985 comedy horror film written and directed by Dan O'Bannon.  The film is indirectly related to the seminal 1968 zombie movie, Night of the Living Dead.  The Return of the Living Dead focuses on a small group of people trying to survive a riot of brain-hungry zombies that are raised from the dead by a strange poison gas.

The Return of the Living Dead opens early on the evening of July 3, 1984 in Louisville, Kentucky.  At the Uneeda Medical Supply warehouse, owner Burt Wilson (Clu Gulager) is leaving work for the Fourth of July holiday weekend, leaving his employee, Frank (James Karen), behind to close-up shop and to also train new employee, Freddy (Thom Mathews).  Frank tries to impress Freddy by showing him some old container drums that the U.S. military mistakenly shipped to Uneeda and are now stored in the warehouse basement.

What Frank does not know is that the drums also contain a toxic gas called “2-4-5 Trioxin.”  Frank accidentally unleashes the toxic gas from one of the tanks, which knocks him and Freddy unconscious.  When the two bumbling employees awaken, they discover that the gas has reanimated a medical cadaver stored in the warehouse's cold locker.  Frank and Freddy call Burt back to the warehouse, but everything they do to solve their “zombie” problem makes matters worse.  That includes asking Ernie Kaltenbrunner (Don Calfa), owner of Resurrection Funeral Home, for help.

Meanwhile, Freddy's girlfriend, Tina (Beverly Randolph), and his friends: Spider (Miguel A. Núñez Jr.), Trash (Linnea Quigley), Chuck (John Philbin), Casey (Jewel Shepard), Scuz (Brian Peck), and Suicide (Mark Benturini), arrive to meet Freddy at his job.  But they don't know what's about to happen at the Resurrection Cemetery, next door.

As long as I can remember, I have read print and online articles and commentary that refer to The Return of the Living Dead as a cult movie.  I never had much interest in watching it.  Over the past year, however, one of my cable movie channels started showing its sequel, Return of the Living Dead II (1988), which I have found to be mildly entertaining.  But that channel never shows The Return of the Living Dead, so after a long stint on the waiting list, I got it from DVD.com (a Netflix company).  Wow!  I wish I had watched it a long time ago.

The Return of the Living Dead is like no other zombie movie.  It is apparently the first to feature zombies that run and also talk.  Its zombies only want to eat the brains of living humans and not the rest of the body.  The Return of the Living Dead's mood and pace are accented by its musical score (by Matt Clifford) and by its soundtrack (which was also released as an album in 1985).  The Return of the Living Dead is a punk rock comedy and rock 'n' roll zombie movie driven by two punk rock sub-genres, “death rock” and “horror punk,” that emerged during the late 1970s and early 1980s.  The songs give the film a freewheeling spirit that carries it through any narrative bumps and inconsistencies.

The film owes much of his identity, spirit, and success to writer-director, the late Dan O'Bannon (1946-2009).  He was one of the most imaginative and genre-busting screenwriters in the history of American science fiction, fantasy, and horror films, writing for such films as Alien (1979) and Total Recall (1990).  O'Bannon produces a film that acts as if it owes nothing to the zombie fiction and horror storytelling that came before it, while gleefully cutting and pasting bits and pieces of American pop culture all over itself.

The casting of this film is an accidental work of brilliance.  All the actors are pitch perfect:  tongue-in-cheek, over-the-top, comically straight, and slyly satirical.  James Karen and Thom Mathews are perfect as Frank and Freddy, respectively, the bumbling employees that release the gas which turns the dead into zombies.  Actor Clu Gulager, who always played the “White Man” boss/leader type, plays Burt Wilson with a artfully satirical edge that is easy to miss.  Linnea Quigley personifies a kind of punk sex goddess and later a deadly sex creature.  As “Spider,” actor Miguel A. Núñez Jr. creates what is one of my favorite male African-American horror movie characters.

The Return of the Living Dead is now one of my favorite zombie films, and perhaps, it is a coincidence that one of my other favorites, George A. Romero's underrated post-apocalyptic jewel, Day of the Dead, was releases the same year, 1985.  [Or maybe something was trying to warn me about the future.]  I highly recommend The Return of the Living Dead (which is available in a “special edition” DVD) and its soundtrack.  This is the most fun I have ever had watching a zombie film … or zombie anything, for that matter.

8 of 10
A

Wednesday, March 23, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: Original "Robocop" Still an Amazing Film

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 32 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Robocop (1987)
Running time:  102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)
MPAA – R
DIRECTOR:  Paul Verhoeven
WRITERS:  Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner
PRODUCER:  Arne Schmidt
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Jost Vacano (D.o.P.) with Sol Negrin
EDITOR:  Frank J. Urioste
COMPOSER:  Basil Poledouris
Academy Award winner

SCI-FI/CRIME/ACTION

Starring:  Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer, Robert DoQui, Ray Wise, Felton Perry, Paul McCrane, Jesse Goins, Del Zamora, Steve Minh, Ken Page, and Laird Stuart

Some believe that “standing the test of time” is a mark that a work of fiction, entertainment, art, etc. is of the highest-quality, most important, or just plain good.  Of course, for some people, the best stories get better with age.

Robocop is a 1987 science fiction, crime, and action film from director Paul Verhoeven.  Twenty-seven years later, Robocop is still a fantastic film, and maybe even better now than it was when it was first released.  The film is set in a dystopia, a near-future version of Detroit, Michigan and focuses on a policeman who returns from the dead as a powerful cyborg cop that might be the future of law enforcement.

Robocop opens in the future and finds Detroit beset by crime and on the verge of collapse because of rampant crime and a severe financial crisis.  To keep the city alive, the mayor signs a deal with Omni Consumer Products (OCP).  The deal allows OCP to take over the Detroit Metropolitan Police Department and to also build a high-end real estate development called “Delta City,” by demolishing rundown sections of Detroit.

Meanwhile, Alex J. Murphy (Peter Weller) arrives at Police Precinct Metro West as a transfer from a precinct that is much nicer than the busy and troubled Metro West.  Not long after his arrival, Murphy and his partner, Officer Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen), confront a vicious criminal gang.  Murphy is killed in the line of duty, but OCP revives him as a cyborg – part man and mostly machine.  Murphy is now “RoboCop,” the future of law enforcement, but this future is haunted by submerged memories of his past life.

With Robocop, writers Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner wrote one of the smartest and best screenplays in the history of science fiction films.  Robocop includes themes regarding corporate greed and corruption, identity, mass media, urban decay and gentrification, among many.  The film is clever in the way it satirizes a news media that trivializes even the most serious and tragic events (murder, natural disasters, civil unrest), turning them into junk news for “entertainment consumers.”  At the time of Robocop’s release, television news was already coming under heavy criticism for being “infotainment.”  Robocop was dead-on in predicting where television news was headed, as current real-world TV news is, in many ways, like what Robocop depicts.

Watching Robocop for the first time in ages, I noticed that the film is stylistically like a Western.  Thematically, Robocop bears a resemblance to Westerns that focus on the lone lawman, fighting against a corrupt system and the vilest bad guys.  This film is also similar to Westerns that focus on a good guy returning from near-death or grave injury to deliver payback to the evil-doers that hurt him.  Basil Poledouris driving and colorful score for this film is the perfect musical accompaniment for scenes featuring RoboCop when he is man on a mission.

And Robocop is simply a damn good movie.  Compared to his other films, director Paul Verhoeven delivers a film that is clean and straightforward.  He relies on the screenplay to be clever and complicated, while his direction is sparse and matter-of-fact.  The result is a science fiction movie that looks more like a crime film and cop action movie than it does a film about the future.  In fact, Robocop seems less a prediction of the future and more like a message from the actual future.

This film has a number of good performances, but Peter Weller stands out.  He plays Murphy as being barely noticeable as a person, but Weller employs mechanical affectations to turn RoboCop into a magnetic personality.  I couldn’t take my eyes off him, and Weller left me wanting more of Robocop, the movie and, indeed, the man.

9 of 10
A+

Saturday, July 12, 2014


NOTES:
1988 Academy Awards, USA:  1 win “Special Achievement Award” (Stephen Hunter Flick and John Pospisil for sound effects editing); 2 nominations: “Best Sound” (Michael J. Kohut, Carlos Delarios, Aaron Rochin, and Robert Wald), and “Best Film Editing” (Frank J. Urioste)

1989 BAFTA Awards:  2 nominations: “Best Make Up Artist” (Carla Palmer) and “Best Special Effects” (Rob Bottin, Phil Tippett, Peter Kuran, and Rocco Gioffre)

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review "Excalibur" is Epic, Unforgettable (Happy B'day, Liam Neeson)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 77 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Excalibur (1981)
Running time:  140 minutes (2 hours, 20 minutes)
MPAA – R
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER:  John Boorman
WRITERS:  Rospo Pallenberg and John Boorman; from an adaptation by Rospo Pallenberg of Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Malory
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Alex Thomson
EDITOR:  John Merritt with Donn Cambern (no screen credit)
COMPOSER:  Trevor Jones
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/FANTASY/WAR

Starring:  Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi, Paul Geoffrey, Nicol Williamson, Robert Addie, Gabriel Byrne, Keith Buckley, Katrine Boorman, Liam Neeson, Corin Redgrave, Niall O’Brien, Patrick Stewart, and Clive Swift

The subject of this movie review is Excalibur, a 1981 drama and fantasy film from producer-director John Boorman.  The film is mostly based on Le Morte d’Arthur, the 15th century Arthurian romance written by Thomas Malory.  Excalibur focuses on Merlin the magician, King Arthur, and Morgana Le Fey.  It depicts how Arthur unites a land, creates the Round Table, and builds Camelot, while forces conspire to destroy it all.

John Boorman’s Excalibur is the acclaimed director’s lushly filmed take on the Arthurian legend as adapted from Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur.  Early in the film, we see Arthur’s illicit conception when his father, King Uther Pendragon (Gabriel Byrne), use magical trickery to seduce, Igrayne (Katrine Boorman), another man’s wife, and impregnates her with the child that would become Arthur.  Later, Merlin (Nicol Williamson) claims the infant Arthur as the price Uther must pay Merlin for providing the magical disguise Arthur used to seduce Igrayne.

Later, young Arthur (Nigel Terry) pulls the sword of kings, Excalibur, from a stone, which makes him King Arthur.  The film tells the story of the rise of Arthur’s kingdom and the righteous birth of The Knights of the Round Table.  Then, things go bad when Arthur’s wife, Guenevere (Cherie Lunghi), takes Arthur’s best, bravest, and most favored knight, Lancelot (Nicholas Clay), as her lover.  Arthur’s sister, Morgana (Helen Mirren), a crafty sorceress, connives until the balance of power shifts from Merlin to her.  The film concludes with Arthur’s final battle, this against his son, Mordred (Robert Addie), whom Arthur fathered with Morgana.

Boorman, his screenwriting partner Rospo Pallenberg, cinematographer Alex Thomson (who earned an Oscar nomination for his work here), composer Trevor Jones, and costume designer Bob Ringwood (who earned a BAFTA Award nomination for his work in this film) came together to create an exquisite rendition of the tale of King Arthur and Camelot.  The film is full of Christian symbolism, in particularly dealing with Christianity supplanting the old gods and necromancy in favor of men.  There is also a lot of sexual subtext, much of it is surprisingly gay; there is lots of man love and admiration of the virility, honor, bravery, and skill of men.  Men really admire and love great men in this story, and women, for the most part, are trouble in this film.

Boorman wanted to emphasize the story over the characters in his take on the Arthurian myth, and he uses the stunning visuals to evoke feelings, but to also get the viewer to think about the things for which the stories of King Arthur and his kingdom stand.  However, the actors really don’t surrender and play the role of puppets.  They play up to the symbolism and imagery.  They don’t treat their roles as figurative, but as interpreters of the things that this myth teaches us about the better parts of human nature – humility, charity, bravery, and sacrifice, and an understanding to forgive the trespasses our friends, loved ones, countrymen, and fellow humans make against us and we against them.

In Excalibur, John Boorman composes his scenes and photographic shots as if each were a giant painting, a series of representational works meant to tell a powerful tale about universal ideals.  There is something grand in Excalibur, and in spite of its faults:  some poor dialogue, the tendency for the film to suddenly take big leaps forward in the narrative time, and Boorman’s assumption that we should be familiar with these characters and their motivations, it succeeds.

8 of 10
A

Monday, May 23, 2005

Updated:  Saturday, June 07, 2014

NOTES:
1982 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Cinematography” (Alex Thomson)

1982 BAFTA Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Costume Design” (Bob Ringwood)

1981 Cannes Film Festival:  1 win: “Best Artistic Contribution (John Boorman) and 1 nomination: “Palme d'Or” (John Boorman)

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Alice" Wastes Outstanding Supporting Cast (Happy B'day, Joe Mantegna)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 156 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Alice (1990)
Running time:  106 minutes (1 hour, 46 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Woody Allen
PRODUCER:  Robert Greenhut
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Carlo Di Palma, A.I.C.
EDITOR:  Susan E. Morse, A.C.E.
Academy Award nominee

COMEDY/FANTASY with elements of drama and romance

Starring:  Mia Farrow, Alec Baldwin, Blythe Danner, Judy Davis, William Hurt, Keye Luke, Joe Mantegna, Bernadette Peters, Cybill Shepherd, Gwen Verdon, Julie Kavner, Bob Balaban, and James McDaniel (cameo)

The subject of this movie review is Alice, a 1990 comedy with fantastic elements from writer-director, Woody Allen.  The film tells the story of a spoiled Manhattan housewife who re-evaluates her life after visiting a healer in Chinatown.

Alice Tate (Mia Farrow) is rich and pampered New York housewife; married 16 years to Doug Tate (William Hurt) and bored, she dreams of having an affair with Joe (Joe Mantegna), a saxophone player she meets at her children’s nursery school and to whom she is surprisingly attracted.  Besides an unhappy marriage, various physical ailments beset Alice, including a bad back.

A friend suggests she visit Chinatown and see Dr. Yang (the late Keye Luke), an acupuncturist well known among her social set.  Dr. Yang quickly realizes that Alice’s back isn’t really bad, but that she’s just unhappy, so he recommends a number of mysterious herbal potions.  The magical concoctions alternately loosen her inhibitions, turn her invisible, and allows her to see and share tender moments with long, lost love ones, including a deceased lover named Ed (Alec Baldwin).  But will all this help Alice turn her superficial life into something more meaningful?

Woody Allen’s 1990 film Alice is a small and charming lost gem.  It was his final film distributed by Orion Pictures, the studio that had released most of his output of the 1980’s.  Orion filed bankruptcy, and another studio ended up releasing the last film he’d actually shot as part of his deal with Orion, Shadows and Fog.  Alice is occasionally a madcap comic fantasy adventure full of fun and mystery, and sometimes it is a whimsical fantasy that walks a thin line between broad comedy and poignant drama.

Although the film has some good performances, in particular the late Keye Luke as the movie’s philosophical center, Dr. Yang, Alice is about… well, Alice.  The narrative meanders when Alice meanders about the state of affairs in her life.  When she is overly emotional, the film becomes shrill.  When she’s happy, the film radiates vibrantly like the lush colors of the autumnal New York City in which she lives.  When Alice is sad, the film is dark and distressing, so the viewer can really share her discomfort.  Ms. Farrow’s gives a good performance, which epitomizes why Mia Farrow worked so well as a female stand in for Woody Allen in his films.

Alice will please fans of Woody Allen’s films, but people not familiar with his style will find their patience short with it.  The simply, beautiful cinematography that turns NYC in the fall season into a series of impressionist paintings.  The gorgeous Manhattan apartments, restaurants, and handsome outdoor locales are glorious eye candy for anyone who loves to look at pretty movies.  Sometimes, Alice drags, but the dialogue is smart and snarky dialogue.  There are sparkling musical numbers (Allen often chooses early to mid-century big band, jazz, and swing as the soundtrack to his movies).  The cast is all too happy to bury themselves into the character rolls for which Allen has chosen them – all the usual Woody fare.  Still, Alice is bit too much about Alice, and except for Keye Luke’s Dr. Yang, the rest of the cast is full of underutilized characters.  That’s a shame, and that leaves Alice short of being on the list Woody’s best work.

7 of 10
B+

NOTES:
1991 Academy Awards:  1 nomination for “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen” (Woody Allen)

1991 Golden Globes:  1 nomination for “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical (Mia Farrow)

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Updated:  Wednesday, November 13, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.