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Tim-97
Reviews
Screen Two: Mothertime (1997)
Touching
A good, creative storyline keeps this interesting, and high production values make it easy on the senses. Acting is excellent throughout, with Gina McKee turning in a strong, unsettling performance as a divorced alcoholic mother. Kate Maberly is very sensitive in her unusual leading role as McKee's daughter, and she really makes the story work. She also plays piano briefly in this film. Well-directed and scripted, the film moves along quickly and doesn't seem to bog down anywhere. The moral of the story? Well, love is not always where you expect to find it.
This film is now available in parts on You-Tube. Why this award-winning film isn't available on DVD / Blu-ray is just baffling
Friendship's Field (1995)
One of the Very Best Films You Will Ever Ser
.Other reviewers have already done an excellent job of covering this film's worthwhile messages and themes. That said, I'm not often fond of "family" films because, all too often, they are unrealistic and too sugary sweet. Friendship's Field is none of that. Moreover, it is graced with excellent direction, fine cinematography, and unbelievably great acting. For these reasons taken together, over time Friendship's Field has become my favorite film, and like most people reading this review, I've seen many really fine films.
Let's talk about the acting first, as this is the most outstanding feature of this film. Although every single actor in the film was excellent, I'll mention only some. Jonathan Hernandez plays a solid role as the likable young Mexican boy, Oscar, who becomes a close summertime friend with the film's lead character, Ira. His role is complex, his mood often flashing between a cheerful disposition with a winsome smile, to being deeply hurt by the racist events that surround him. Jonathan plays his part so well the viewer quickly forgets this boy is acting. Oscar's mother and brother, played superbly by Maria Carr and Mark Hardy, though their parts are shorter, add a lot of depth to the film.
Ira's three older sisters, Jane, Afton, and Rene, very well-played by Melissa Moor, Jennifer Buckalew, and Jessica Giauque, respectively, capture the time and place of the film in their own way and very believably for their ages. Dialogue with the girls is not window dressing but instead adds quite a bit of dimension, especially to the lead character, Ira. Melissa has a longer, more developed role in the script and, as the oldest child, appeals in a casual rather than heavy-handed way as a good role model for her other sisters. Melissa easily convinces us of her character's integrity and sense of responsibility, and is particularly good at facial expressions that often convey more meaning in the film than a lot more words in the script would. Ira's parents, played by Randy King and Carolyn Hurlburt, show patient restraint with all their children.
Finally, let's talk about Ira, a very complex role played brilliantly by Kate Maberly, a truly gifted person of extraordinary talent. As a young person, Kate is better known for her exceptional performance in "The Secret Garden," but I personally think Friendship's Field was her very best performance to date. In this role, there's no doubt whatsoever about the fact Ira is a sun-kissed short-hair tomboy of the first order. Ira is on a journey learning about life, some of it good and some not so good, which will likely be a journey that doesn't end: "life is like a river." Close to her patient parents, Ira is at an age where she explores outside her family now, and develops unlikely friendships, like with Oscar. Ira lives on a farm in Idaho, so the energetic, athletic kid regularly gets a little dust and dirt on her well broken-in clothes. In spite of her friskiness, Ira is often quiet and introspective. Although a child, she's a real person, with all the complications of a real person. Overall, the character is drawn with a warmth that can melt the coldest heart.
So what makes Kate's performance so special in this role? For starters, the role is so natural for Kate she just seems to be playing herself. Maybe that's really the case here, maybe this role wasn't so much of an act for the real Kate Maberly. Second, one of Kate's greatest strengths as an actor is that she doesn't overact, and this tomboy role is one that could have been very easily overacted, even by other good actors. Now, Kate is British, and I've heard her talk in interviews and in British films with a delightful Surrey accent. The best actors can manage taking on believable dialects and accents, which is what Kate does here. We might say she delivers her lines with a flawless American dialect of English, which she does. But it goes even farther, because there happen to be many accents of American English. Idaho is one of the Rocky Mountain states, these states have a unique sound to them, and Kate nails that in this film. Kate intentionally delivers one line in the film with a charming Scots accent, and she's obviously got that down, too. (Is there anything this girl can't do?) In the entire film, young Kate Maberly never missed once on the delivery of a line, an expression, a motion, or emotion. Her performance was perfect throughout. Other actors, including the high-paid Hollywood superstars today, should watch Kate Maberly's performance in Friendship's Field; some of them could learn a few things they may not have known about acting.
This film did not direct itself. Bruce Niebaur directed it and, as the acting attests, he was able to bring out the very best of every performer, with the result being an amazingly good film. Following Friendship's Field, Kate would later play in "Gulliver's Travels," which also included the legendary Omar Sharif, and Bruce Niebaur would direct Kate again in "Mysteries of Egypt," in which the girl appears as Mr. Sharif's granddaughter. These later opportunities for Kate are likely not mere coincidences, but undoubtedly stem from her incomparable talent at a young age.
My only complaint about Friendship's Field is that it could have been somewhat longer, but I'm sure the budget had something to do with that. More scenes with Ira and Oscar would have always been welcome. It would have also been interesting to develop the characters of Rene and Afton a little more, as was done for Jane.
Friendship's Field is not going to turn the world upside-down. It's not going to blow you away. But, it has become my favorite film, it's remarkable for its well-directed acting, and it's great entertainment. Give it a try, it's well worth it.
Joan of Arc (1999)
A Brilliant, Sparkling Performance
What kind of teenaged tomboy would be able to lead grown men into battle against tremendous odds in 15th Century France? Watch this film to find out -- Milla Jovovich delivers an absolutely splendid performance of the unlikely person whose story would smolder for 500 years before she was canonized a saint. Perhaps this isn't a very glamourous role for the multitalented (actor, model, musician, to name a few) Milla, but it is without a doubt one of her best. And without out a doubt, the free spirit of Joan of Arc in Milla Jovovich that brings this film to life. Definitely worth seeing again and again.
Cookie's Fortune (1999)
The Liv Tyler Transformation, by Robert Altman and Liv Tyler
Robert Altman's roving camera is a bit more restrained in this hilarious comedy, but I especially liked the role of Emma Duvall, played by Liv Tyler. Who else but ol' Bob would have cast such an extraordinarily beautiful person as the affable, albeit a bit raffish, tomboy? With the catfish and all, it's just not a glamorous role, but Liv seems right at home here. Perhaps she's simply more comfortable romping around a Mississippi town in grungies, eyes sparkling bright with just a touch of southern accent in her whiskey-soaked (literally) voice, than all the other fluffy stuff other directors have tried to pull off. I thought Liv Tyler was perfectly cast in this film, and I think Robert Altman showed his usual flair for the unusual in selecting her. Moreover, the film is filled with great performances by the whole cast, and carefully crafted by the director and crew with the usual winning combinations one soon comes to expect from Robert Altman.
Liv, Robert, ... *** ENCORE!! ***
Joan of Arc (1999)
15th Century France Goes to War Inspired By a Teenage Girl??
Yes. It wouldn't happen today, that's for sure, but it really did happen once upon a time in France, some 580 years ago. A nation managed to unite against an occupying power, inspired and led by a girl who responded to the request of her mysterious "voices" to do something about it when she was about seventeen years of age. Growing up in Domremy in what was then Lorraine, this girl clearly ended up quite the tomboy, typically dressed in jerkin, doublet and hose, her hair cropped short, ready upon instruction from her voices to don armour and wield the sword if necessary to raise France like a phoenix from the ashes. The film doesn't show this, but in Domremy she was called "Jeanette," when she arrived in France she was called "Joan," and in the actual transcripts of her trial she states, "as for my surname, I know of none," unlike the title of this film which borrows the popular English version of the name by which she is known today.
The story of Joan makes for a daring plot, and were it not for the fact that the transcripts of Joan's trial still indeed exist today -- making her one of the best known persons in history -- and attest to the events described as being most certain in fact, we might otherwise think such a story line to be quite incredible, if not simply ridiculous.
So let's make no mistake about it: Leelee Sobieski had the nerve to play one of the most riveting characters in history, a risky role that many a great actor has already played with determined success. Yet, like the powerful personage she portrays, Ms. Sobieski achieves a major victory in the final scheme of things. Not that Peter O'Toole didn't turn in his usual stunning performance, or that Ms. Sobieski wasn't also well-supported by Neil Patrick Harris, Maury Chaykin, Maximilian Schell, Shirley MacLaine, Chad Willet, and all under the fine direction of Christian Duguay, but let's face it -- it really boils down to being pretty much a one-kid show.
For a change, Hollywood really did this one right. Joan was a teenager, Joan should obviously be played by a teenager, and Leelee Sobieski was clearly the right kid for the job. Ms. Sobieski captured Joan's many contradictions brilliantly. With Joan, pious spirituality took its place along with a frisky charm, a sense of things serious and urgent often relaxed to humor and a sharp wit, the relentless pain of arrows that pierced her body was surely dulled by her thriving desire to live and her unfailing commitment to lead France to its place in a free world that she herself would sadly never see. Leelee Sobieski wove all of these into the highly textured character of Joan, not leaving a single aspect untouched, even though Joan's personality could occasionally disturb those of us who are far less saintly. Ms. Sobieski captured the spirit of a teenaged girl who actually led France to war in the 15th Century, and managed to create a crystalline character that convincingly showed us how that just might happen.
This film borrows freely from history but, to its credit, it thankfully doesn't borrow much of anything from the many previous films about Joan. Leelee Sobieski goes beyond being the best "Joan" in film so far. She so superbly plays the role that one could rightly say that she is the only Joan so far. For this reason alone, don't miss this film.
We don't know much about what Joan looked like, as no portraits or detailed descriptions of her were made from anyone who actually saw her during her short life. We don't know if Leelee Sobieski physically resembles the historical Joan or not and, since it seems we'll never know, it also doesn't matter. Joan was in her teens at her finest hour, Leelee is a teenager, and that's close enough. Furthermore, there are so many interesting facts pertaining to Joan's life, her character, her family, her friends, her enemies, the logistics of the battles, and so forth and so on, that a film would need to go on for hours to even begin to capture most of it, so I think it's quite fair to forgive the film's several omissions. If viewers are inspired to know more about Joan (and after seeing this film they certainly should be), then I'd recommend perusing Regine Pernoud's book entitled, "Joan of Arc by Herself and Her Witnesses," (Scarborough House; Lanham, Maryland; 1994), still considered by many to be the best written work on the subject.
One final and perplexing thought: the mini-series "Joan of Arc" is but one of several films on this character that are being produced within the span of only a couple of years. It almost seems as though Joan (after several hundreds of years have gone by) has somehow caught our imagination as we approach the end of the millenium. Perhaps in our uncertain times when heros seem to be in short supply, we somehow hope that the spirit of a young teenage girl from 15th Century France will guide us and lead us to freedom as we enter upon a new age in history. At any rate, aside from mere coincidence, I just don't know quite how else to explain this phenomenon.
Pale Rider (1985)
Captures the spirit of the West
PALE RIDER is one of only a handful of films that has really been able to capture the dustiness of a gold mining camp in the "Old West." To Mr. Eastwood's credit as Director, the short, sharp delivery of lines by all the actors develops this sense the most, with different accents suggesting to the viewer that people have come from all over to find their fortune in Carbon Canyon. Acting is fine all the way around, with Sydney Penny bringing something a little different for a Western: a kid in an important and believable role. The screenwriting may seem simple but it's superb, and adds to character development. That viewers can learn the difference between gold-panning, sluicing, and hydraulicking is a plus. Beyond the characters and acting, one could almost forget to notice the cinematography, which is often breath-taking. PALE RIDER is original, all-around entertainment, still fun to watch a decade and some years after its release.