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Chuck & Buck (2000)
A superb performance in a terrible screenplay
I watched "Chuck and Buck" last night for the first time.
The DVD cover presents this film as a comedy, but I found it deeply disturbing. It was actually hard for me to make my way through it... I was constantly tempted to skip scenes or stop the movie altogether. I didn't do either.
First, the good: the performance of Mike White, playing Buck, is truly amazing. You never catch him "acting," he has become Buck to a degree that's a bit scary. The soundtrack includes some great music. The production values are better than average and far beyond other low-budget indies.
The problem for me was the view it takes of gay people: the "arrested development" theory, the "they never grew up" bit. I understand that Buck is a single individual and I shouldn't over-generalize in this regard. But Buck is the only gay person we meet in the film, there is no gay or lesbian character in the script that would counter Buck's immaturity, to show he's as much an oddball to the gay community as he is to the straight.
And Buck is an extreme example. I read some of the comments on IMDb, who talk about Buck's "innocence." Innocence, my ass. Excuse my un-PC language: Buck is socially retarded to a degree that loses all charm and likability. Yes, he has the mental ability of an eight year old, and the concept has the potential to show a charming innocence. But Buck was and is an unlikeable 8-year old. I kept thinking that the screenplay would show us more about Buck so that viewers could come to care about him. All the screenplay is able to show is that he has no skills, no talent, no redeeming features. He's a one-dimensional character, striking the same note again and again, and I couldn't stand him, from beginning to end.
So here's a well-made film that includes an stunningly good performance, but its story is about a character that I wish I had never met, and certainly one I don't want representing gay people.
L'homme que j'aime (1997)
An unknown little gem
After seeing Brokeback Mountain, I've been adding to my film library more gay-themed films. Because I'm a collector, I've been buying films I haven't seen before.
Some of them are simply awful in their script, acting, and/or direction, but remain in my library because of the "piece of history" they represent. And once in a while, I hit upon a truly outstanding film that surpasses expectations in all these ways.
L'Homme Que J'Aime ("The Man I love") is one such hidden gem. The story is moving, the characters charming, the acting believable, and everything put together by a competent director.
Like Brokeback Mountain, the story involves an ostensibly straight man falling for another man, but this time, the object of his affection is an openly gay man. To Americans, that may seem to stretch the realm of possibility too far. I lived in France for a year, and the plot line seemed perfectly believable to me in the context of French culture. Note also that this film was made for French TV... which tells me that the story was considered "mainstream" enough to be broadcast in France.
This little gem of a movie is available on DVD, and I highly recommend it. In French, with optional English subtitles.
Hide and Seek (2005)
A huge disappointment
A truly terrible film drafted from Hollywood formula without a single redeeming feature.... let's begin with this: it's not scary at all.
Ever since the excellent "The 6th Sense" Hollywood has apparently decided that every horror movie has to have a similar twist, and so we got "The Others," "Secret Window" and now "Hide and Seek."
Who is alive and who is dead? Who is the killer and who is the victim? Both questions are variations of the same theme. Here's a clue to screen writers: This idea is no longer original and viewers will recognize it as ripped-off from 6th Sense.
When the audience can predict what's going to happen all sense of fear is lost. We can predict this film because it's so formulaic. Let's try something original, OK?
Wait Until Dark (1967)
While dated, still a great example of what "suspense" should mean
I saw the play on Broadway with Lee Remick and Robert Duvall as a kid and it scared me to death. Then the movie did the same to me and the nation. I remember clearly all the talk of the last ten minutes of the film, which were the most intensely frightening filmed to that time.
The script is dated in some ways: villains never swear and instead say things like "buzz off, kid!" The premise of a complicated scheme to locate a doll stuffed with heroin doesn't fly today when heroin is sent by the boat load.
Still, Wait Until Dark shows what's missing in suspense movies of today: a tightly knit structure in which the payoff is delayed. Instead of periodic screams followed by quiet (or humorous) scenes, the script slowly increases the dread experienced by the audience, so that when it's time to scream, the audience needs to scream to release the emotional pressure.
Think back to the movies that really scared you: Alien? The Exorcist? Jaws? Note that they all hold off showing what scares you, releasing little bits of info or images that heighten the dread. Contrast this to "horror" movies of today, like the recent remake of "Dawn of the Dead," in which you're shown the zombies in the first 10 minutes before you have time to care about the characters.
So don't let the dated nature of the material deter you: see Wait Until Dark and re-discover what constitutes true suspense.
Titanic (1997)
Showing Some Respect for Cameron's Titanic
I have a lot of respect for this movie, and not because of the love story or the actors. The level of detail Cameron achieved is truly amazing: the opening sequence is footage of the actual wreck, and the ship was recreated true to the original plans (tho' scaled down, of course). Interiors are exactly how the real rooms looked in 1912.
The sinking sequence have the best special effects I've ever seen; so seamless that you unaware of them, you're just watching the ship break apart and go down.
There are only two historical mistakes in the script, minor things really. Have you spotted them? These days, it's considered "cool" to be cynical about this movie, but I consider it "cooler" to make up your own mind. Perhaps watching it again will convince you that Cameron did an amazing job not only for lovers of romance, but for anyone fascinated with the historical event itself.