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Reviews
Enchanted (1998)
Watch out, Ed Wood!
Sometimes, the movie business can be a sick, sick venture. No, that's the the point of this painfully lame ego-fest about a recent film school grad who has troubles with life and celluloid. That's the impression you get after viewing this self-important bundle of cliches that is as tired as it is arrogant. After all, it's a mystery of epic proportions that something this bad could ever get produced.
I'm not so sure what's more offensive, the film's constant use of soft focus, or the fact that most porns have better acting, better dialogue, and more suspenseful plots.
David the filmmaker wants a girl. She wants stability. His responsible (read: bad) friend tries to swiper her away. Along the way, we learn that it's better to be a navel-gazing spewer of trite truths and drop casual and ineffective references to "Star Wars" and "A Few Good Men" because, gosh, those are movies no one thought to spoof. It reeks of "I just watched 'Good Will Hunting,' and now I want to be a screenwriter!"
Paris - When It Sizzles (1964)
Hit and miss, but surprisingly contemporary
This self-conscious tale about a screenwriter and his assistant might be a little skinny on plot, but it's wink-included self-consciousness feels surprisingly modern. As it stands, "Paris When it Sizzles" is an unrecognized godfather to movies like "Spaceballs" (think "dissolves") and "The Naked Gun," where everyone seems in on the fact that a movie is on screen, and not reality.
Two for the Road (1967)
Charming and witty, with first-class dialogue
"Two For the Road," like most other marriage-on-the-rocks tales, relies on quaint memories, snappy one-liners, and incessant flashbacks to tell its story. So what sets this apart in a tired genre? It's dialogue is, by far, the strongest element of the film -- indeed, it's screenplay is among the finest in this regard.
Take the movie's most popular refrain: "What sort of people sit with each other at a restaurant without even thinking to talk to one another?" "Married people."
Writing like this is simple, witty, and flexible. It becomes all the more stronger when it bounces back at us like a comic idee fixe.
It's a shame that the story itself can get a bit stale, using the traditional marriage-fearing male who becomes too caught up in his work, pitting exaggerated cultural stereotypes against each other, and trying desperately to reach some happy ending. And, outside of a few cutesy moments and some fashion exhibitionism, the film fails to take advantage of Ms. Hepburn's charm and radiance.
But Hepburn is talented enough to carry a film on her own, even with trite dialogue (witness "Love in the Afternoon," for instance), and "Two For the Road" stands out as one of her more poignant performances. It's too bad that the rest of the movie could not be as consistent.
Rating: 8/10
101 Ways (The Things a Girl Will Do to Keep Her Volvo) (2000)
Light, witty, and (at times) refreshingly creative
If calling a film "light" and "refreshing" smacks somewhat of a soda pop commercial, it is for fairly good reason. "101 Ways" is consistently humorous, without reaching belly-aching proportions. When it ventures away from quick quips and fast puns, it never becomes offensive. In a nutshell, it is satisfying and well-worth the viewing, but not always the most substantive choice.
It is, after all, a movie about a girl's quest for romance and a career -- pretty standard fodder for many romantic comedies. Without love and without a job, Watson (played very adeptly by Wendy Hoopes) must find a way to make the payments on her beloved Volvo. But "101 Ways" does turn the genre on its head, narrowing the focus of Watson's love life to a supermarket check-out clerk, and (as the title implies) keeping her material hopes limited to the Swedish import sedan.
(The potentially confusing title is a reference to those pesky flyers seen all over college dorms, entitled "101 Ways to Make Love Without Having Sex." In this case, Watson seems to find that she encounters "101 Ways to Get F***ed Without Having Sex," which is pretty much the running joke of the entire movie.)
It is this balance of the absurd -- blending a healthy dose of paradox in a normally predictable setting -- that gives "101 Ways" its edge. The airline captain Dirk (Gabriel Macht), who reminds us that airline captains are long overdue for a good lampooning, is an especially welcome example of this. But Connecticut suburbs, brand new Volvos, and gargantuan supermarkets can only take a movie so far before dysfunctions on a Todd Solondz-type level can push it further.
High Fidelity (2000)
Don't bother if you've read the book
Romances and comedies end with marriages. Tragedies begin with a marriage. Or so the saying goes, more or less.
And "more or less" is the overriding feel of "High Fidelity." It's like the book, more or less. It explores life and love, more or less. It's okay, more or less, but pretty formulaic in the end.
What Nick Hornby accomplished in his marvelously witty and fresh London-based book has been transmuted, more or less, into a distilled and sometimes lifeless form by John Cusack and his screenwriting cohorts. It lacks the sharp personal speculations, the unconventional blend of story-telling and fantasy-telling, and the charming mock-period-piece feel of the book. Championship Vinyl feels eerily out of place in contemporary Chicago, not unlike watching a Mini roll down Interstate 95. The film-makers can drop as many references to Sam Raimee as they'd like, but this is no beauty in America.
Alas, Mr. Cusack is also the weakest link amongst the cast -- which might be a bit understandable given the outstanding performances Todd Louiso and Jack Black offer.
The movie does offer a few new subtle jokes to the tale. The worst of these is the film's inability to take advantage of a Bruce Springsteen cameo; the best of these is an early mockery of Mr. Cusack's "Bill Cosby" approach to fashion -- followed by an appearance by Lisa Bonet.