smc71 Reviews

Pete's Dragon (1977)

Campy, Creepy Classic

[5/10 · 29 May 2007]

I know I loved this movie as a child, but I can't really understand why. Of course, it is meant to appeal to children, so perhaps it's only natural that it's lost its ability to charm me. On the other hand, there are plenty of kids' movies that are fun for the grown-ups in their lives. I think the main problem with this one is that it just seems awfully dated. And creepy. Now that's one thing about it that has never changed.

For starters, there are the Gogans. I can watch Deliverance without breaking a sweat, but years after I first saw Pete's Dragon the Gogans still make me feel all icky. They are impossibly dirty hill-folk who want to enslave a young child. Their antics, I'm sure, are meant to have a cartoonish quality to them, but they fall short of that goal and land squarely in the realm of "unsettling."

The same is true of the way-over-the-top medicine show duo of Dr. Terminus and Hoagie. For example, Dr. Terminus offers Pete a potion that will "bring on puberty two years early" if he turns over the dragon. That proposition is just loaded with ick factor, not to mention the fact that the word "puberty" is vile and should be used in a clinical or classroom setting ONLY.

Finally, there's the abusive school teacher who humiliates and beats her pupils. I realize that a lot has changed in the field of education, but I don't think there was ever a time when that was considered funny.

Actually, any of these plot elements could be funny, if handled correctly. Here they have too much of a inappropriate or nightmarish quality to pass as such. A person who is especially emotionally fragile would do well to steer clear of this one.

It is fun to play "film school" with Pete's Dragon, trying to figure out what the director/producers were thinking and trying to figure out what it was about that era that led to the birth of such a bizarre bit of movie-making.

The Break-Up (2006)

You Were Duped...

[9/10 · 17 June 2006]

If you went to see this thinking you were in for a light, breezy romantic comedy, you've been had. It's not your fault; that's exactly what the trailers make it out to be, and shame on whoever's decision it was to market the movie that way. But, no, this isn't How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and it isn't an extended Friends episode. It's a movie about people with real problems both in and out of their relationship. Watching this may not sound like a very appealing way to spend 2 hrs., but add in the fact that it's expertly cast, well-paced, and an ultimately satisfying story with some truly funny moments and what you have is something that is inarguably a good movie.

If your main complaint about this is that it isn't as fun or "funny" as you thought it would be, you have a legitimate complaint against the film's producers. Send them your angry letters. What you shouldn't do, however, is trash the movie itself, because it's actually a very solid and refreshing piece of film-making that deserves its credit.

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Great Art or Guilty Pleasure?

[8/10 · 6 February 2006]

I am never sure which Breakfast at Tiffany's is. I can certainly think of movies which more accurately portray the human condition, but of few that are more fun.

Neither Holly nor Paul seem to represent real people. Their attraction, which is the focal point of the movie, is a character unto itself. Paul sees Holly as scared, vulnerable, and in need of rescue and enjoys his role as potential knight in shining armor to her damsel in distress. She is drawn to him because he sees beyond her facade of fabulousness to the scared little girl she is inside and which she tries (not that hard really at all) to hide. Adding to her attraction to him is the fact that he stands up to her when she treats him shoddily. This probably does not happen to her too often, and it intrigues her.

These are mostly the tricks a romance novelist uses to keep readers baited and rooting for a fictional, possibly doomed romance to work and do not reflect the real nature of love. There is, however, enough chemistry, genuine affection, and respect between the two characters to keep the story from seeming utterly implausible.

Of course, a movie doesn't have to be realistic to realistically portray what is right and what is wrong with the world we live in. Breakfast at Tiffany's doesn't do a whole lot of that either, though. After watching I can never pinpoint one solid message from it.

What it does have a lot of, as many others have pointed out, is stylish, witty, good fun. This is almost always the movie I choose on the rare occasions when my husband is working late, my son is asleep, I have energy to spare and good bottle of wine just begging to be uncorked. Believable or not, it is well-told and compelling, and remains one of the better movies a gal can lose herself in.