Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) [PG-13] ****

A film review by James Berardinelli for ReelViews.net





It's vaguely disconcerting to admit that, less than 24 hours after seeing Under the Tuscan Sun, the thing I remember most clearly about it is neither the characters nor the situations, but the photography. This is a beautifully shot motion picture, and there's no doubt that the lush scenery upstages the actors. The real star of Under the Tuscan Sun isn't Diane Lane, but the Italian countryside, with its rich, varied hues, as filtered through the lenses of cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson. So, if you're looking for pretty, postcard-like settings, this movie offers plenty of them. If the narrative is more of a concern, you may find this film lacking.

The movie is freely adapted by director/screenwriter Audrey Wells from Frances Mayes' book of the same name. However, because the source material is essentially a travelogue, Wells reworked the material to provide a structured narrative. The main thread of the story, while not original, is interesting enough. Unfortunately, Wells didn't think this was sufficient, so she added a number of cliched, poorly developed, uninteresting subplots to highlight various quirky secondary characters. And, of course, there's the obligatory rushed, optimistic ending which is as false as an old man's dentures.

Diane Lane, elevated to the level of movie star as a result of her Oscar nomination for Unfaithful, headlines the film as Frances Mayes, a newly divorced writer/book critic who is having a hard time dealing with the breakup of her marriage. Her concerned best friend, Patti (Sandra Oh), suggests that she spend some time out of the country, and buys for her a plane ticket to Italy. Once there, Frances decides she doesn't want to return to the United States, and plunges all of her available capital into a crumbling Tuscan villa. As she's fixing it up with the help of some immigrant Polish workers, she meets her neighbors and begins her search for a new romance.

The part of the movie that centers on Frances' rebirth in Italy (a process that parallels the revitalization of her 300-year old home) is Under the Tuscan Sun's most compelling aspect. As I said, it's not terribly original, but it is well-done. Frances' obligatory romance with Marcello (Raoul Bova) seems to have been included primarily to satisfy those who are looking for something more than a woman trying to figure out how to get her plumbing to work. The subplots vary from unnecessary to annoying. Instead of enhancing the film by adding color and depth, they are so poorly realized that they detract by stealing away time that could have been used to probe deeper into Frances' character. She's the only interesting individual in this movie, and demoting her to the level of match-maker and problem-solver during the film's second half causes the story to lose focus and momentum. Does anyone really care about the self-absorbed English actress Katherine (Lindsay Duncan) who constantly quotes Federico Fellini? Or the star-crossed lovers who don't speak the same language and can't marry because her parents don't like him? Or the pregnant friend who decides to have her baby in Tuscany after she is abandoned by her lesbian partner?

The nice thing about Lane's performance is that there's a natural, unforced quality to it. This has always been the actress' trademark, and it turns out to be one of Under the Tuscan Sun's strengths, at least for as long as Wells keeps Frances at the undisputed center of events. Of the supporting actors, only two are worth mentioning. Sandra Oh brings a nice, cynical edge to the proceedings. Oh makes Patti a bluntly outspoken individual who shows an inner core of vulnerability. Meanwhile, Raoul Bova is suitably rugged and handsome as Marcello, the first Italian guy with whom Frances decides she wants to do more than flirt.

I am of the firm opinion that the term chick flick (which manifestly applies to this film) should not automatically disqualify men from enjoying the production or offering an opinion about it. The best entries into this genre, such as Fried Green Tomatoes, can pluck at the heartstrings of males and females. Unfortunately, Under the Tuscan Sun, despite starting out strong, never gets to a level where it can be considered universally appealing. It's a little disappointing to watch a strong character arc crumble, but that's the price of a lost focus. Under the Tuscan Sun isn't special enough to warrant a trip to the local multiplex unless you're in desperate need of an antidote to the lingering aftereffects of this past summer's testosterone overdose. In such a case, viewing this movie is understandable, if not entirely worthwhile. [Berardinelli's rating: 2.5 out of 4 stars = 62.5%

Labels: comedy, cross-cultural, Diane Lane, drama, romance
IMDb 67/100
MetaCritic (critics=52, viewers=73)
RottenTomatoes (critics=62, viewers=78)
Blu-ray

Paris Can Wait (Bonjour Anne) (2017) [PG] ***

A film review by Roger Moore for rogersmovienation.com on June 2, 2017 (and edited by the blogger).

All genre pictures pander, serving up conventions and clichés that faithful horror, romance, comic book or Furious fans relish and devour like comfort food.

So why not a European travelogue about a lonely wife seeing France for the first time? And who better to star than Diane Lane, of Under the Tuscan Sun, an actress whose later career often features her as a woman ignored, looking to get her groove back?

Eleanor Coppola, wife of Francis, director of Hearts of Darkness, the classic The Making of documentary about her husband’s Apocalypse Now, wrote and directed Paris Can Wait, which shamelessly panders to women of a certain age, easy-chair Travel Channel/Food Network addicts whose ears perk up at the mere mention of four magical words.

France. Frenchmen. Wine. Chocolate.

It’s a dithering little nothing of a movie which takes Lane, as the wife of a workaholic film producer husband (Alec Baldwin, wasted here) from the Cote d’Azur home of the Cannes Film Festival, to Paris, a distance of some 900 kilometers, or about 565 miles.

Anne is in Cannes with husband Michael, and Michael’s ever-ringing cell-phone, for the Film Festival. She dutifully takes care of his little life details (packing, etc.) while he deals with incessant calls about his latest film project.

No, he’s not listening when she sighs at being left alone in one of the most romantic corners of Europe, or complains of an earache. So when their private plane pilot says the cabin pressure will make her earache worse, she decides not to jet off to Budapest with Michael and plans to take the train to Paris and meet him when he’s done putting out film fires.

But she cannot take the train. Oh, no, no, no. Michael’s colleague Jacques (Arnaud Viard) will DRIVE her. He insists. And even though Michael blinks at this impulsive decision - He is FRENCH, remember! - He acquiesces.

You’ll be there by dinner time!

As that wouldn’t make for much of movie, dinner times come and go as Jacques leads Anne on the trip of a lifetime, making memories - and photographs - instead of deadlines, really diving into France with an expert, and flirtatious tour guide.

Jacques knows, seemingly, everybody. He has been everywhere, eaten every restaurant’s specialty and tasted every wine. He’s a You MUST try this, Let me show you that guide - the best kind, because he knows the best market in France, the best Roman aqueduct, the best roses, the best view.

And seeing France takes time. None of which is openly apparent to Anne. But when he grabs her luggage to toss into his car she gets her first clue. It’s a vintage, early 1970s Peugeot 504 convertible, unrestored and in deplorable condition. And you don’t make 565 mile road trips in a car like that without a few unscheduled stops.

Jacques needs to take a break from driving every hour. Forty-two minutes, Anne corrects him. There’s a cigarette to be smoked, and a radiator to be refilled. He is French, and so, alas, is his car.

But as they drive, the chatter and detours evolve from the birthplace of Cinema (Place Lumiere, Lyon) and the cathedral where Richard the Lionheart took up the cross for the Third Crusade (Vezelay Abbey in Burgundy) to Are you happy? Is he faithful? What makes you dance in the street?

As the wines, cheeses, assorted dishes and mad parade of chocolate delights arrive in this swank eatery or that riverside picnic, romance fills the air. Or would, if these two had even a hint of chemistry and this script was anything more than a wan, under-developed tease.

Coppola takes Jacques’ life-lessons a little too much to heart, and Paris Can Wait ambles along, 90 minutes that feel like 150. The sights are lovely, the sentiments adorable.

But there’s no spark to it, and far too little wit. Viard, a French actor-director, gives barely a hint of the rogue this charming/disarming rogue Jacques is meant to be. He subtly reconnects with women he has known, and has sex with two of them while Anne remains oblivious. A trip with Jacques, one says, is to be savored. Don’t be in such a hurry to get to Paris.

Often Jacques communicates with waiters, sommeliers, auto mechanics and old girlfriends in French, and we experience this as Anne (whom he’s nicknamed Brûlée, after the French dessert Crème brûlée) does. She’s an American woman trapped in a foreign land with a take-charge French sexist, who orders for her, decides where they stop and picks out the hotels.

Which she can only counter with a raised eyebrow and the protestation: Jacques, I am not French!

Neither Jacques nor the film are overbearing. But for all the lovely, out-of-the-way sights, for all of Coppola’s and Viard’s (he’s a French actor/director) efforts, for all the reliable Lane’s charms, Paris Can Wait delivers too little on the promise of its alluring title.

Movies, life and love, Jacques says, are like soufflés - all about timing. And Coppola’s timing is just… off. Paris Can Wait could have been a perfectly adorable wish-fulfillment fantasy for the over-40 American audience if she had simply chosen a more engaging leading man. [Moore’s rating: 2 out of 4 stars]

Blogger’s comment: Paris Can Wait opens at the 68^th Cannes Film Festival, which Michael and Anne are attending. The dates are May 13-24, 2015. We know this because there are several shots in the opening scenes that show the 68^th Cannes Film Festival poster, featuring a photo of Ingrid Bergman. This was the hundredth anniversary of her birth (August 29, 1915) and the showing of a special documentary on her life: Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words.

I mention this because writer/director Eleanor Coppola has created in Arnaud Viard’s character, Jacques, an almost exact copy of Bergman’s second husband Roberto Rossellini, in physical form, temperament and profession. Both men were sensualists, living life to the fullest, incapable of being faithful, seducing one woman after another and always desperately in debt. The fact that Diane Lane’s character, Anne, realized early on who Jacques was, and yet chose to enable him, and even pay for his philandering, makes her a mirror for Ingrid Bergman herself. When looked at from this perspective, Paris Can Wait becomes a richer, more satisfying, even satirical experience.

Labels: comedy, Diane Lane, drama, Ingrid Bergman, romance

Internet Movie Database 58 

MetaScore (critics=48, viewers=50) 

RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=54, viewers=57) 

Blu-ray 

Man of Steel (2013) [PG-13] ****

A film review by James Berardinelli for ReelViews.net on June 13, 2013.

Man of Steel represents the latest attempt by Warner Brothers to revive a Superman franchise that, since its stunning 1878 revival, has been abominably treated for about 30 years (ever since Richard Donner was unceremoniously fired from Superman II). This movie certainly looks and feels a lot different than any of its predecessors, and that's not just because of the crappy 3-D. It's more of a science fiction/fantasy adventure than a superhero movie. In a way that's good, because it doesn't come across like a tired retread of every origin story we've ever seen. On the other hand, it's not good, because the sci-fi feel has been overly influenced by the likes of Independence Day and Transformers. That's right: blow everything up, real good! Pyrotechnics! Special Effects! CGI up the wazoo! For those who crave cinematic mayhem, Man of Steel is right up your alley (and it will make a ton of money). But something important has been lost along the way: heart. This is a cold, sterile motion picture. The characters are so thinly drawn that it's tough to get much feel for them. And one senses that director Zack Snyder is less interested in Superman than he is in the orgy of destruction he gets to rain down on Metropolis. Somewhere, Roland Emmerich and Michael Bay are smiling.

Man of Steel opens with the obligatory introductory Krypton sequence. It's some of the best material the movie has to offer; the dying planet is visually impressive and the acting by Russell Crowe as Jor-El is some of the best work the actor has provided in a long time. Gone is the flat, stilted interpretation offered by Marlon Brando sleepwalking his way through the role on the way to a fat paycheck. Crowe's Jor-El is heroic and charismatic. With Krypton nearing its end, he places his little boy into a spacecraft and sends him to Earth. Meanwhile, the hard-ass General Zod (Michael Shannon in full scenery-chewing mode) attempts a coup, fails, and is sentenced to spend some time in The Phantom Zone for his troubles.

The first time we meet Clark Kent (Henry Cavill), he's trying out for The Deadliest Catch. After saving some men on a doomed oil rig, Clark floats around in the water experiencing convenient flashbacks to his childhood living in Kansas with Ma and Pa Kent (Diane Lane and Kevin Costner). Once these are done, he heads north and, after paying homage to the diner scene in Superman II, reaches the Fortress of Solitude, which is actually a spaceship buried under arctic ice. In that frozen wasteland, he also meets intrepid reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams) who immediately falls for the big hunk after he saves her life. In the spaceship, Clark meets an avatar of his dad and gets his costume. It's around this time that Zod and his followers, freed from The Phantom Zone, reach Earth and Superman must choose between continuing to live anonymously or taking a front seat as the planet's defender. Unlike Zod in Superman II, who came to conquer, this Zod comes to destroy.

Man of Steel is, first and foremost, a great spectacle. The effects work is first rate and the action sequences, of which there are many, are delivered with a kinetic punch. The tone is dour - humor is at a premium and, on those rare occasions when it's there, the delivery is decidedly low-key. The movie wants desperately to be taken seriously and viewed as something more than a comic book film. Perhaps, in the end, that's one reason why Man of Steel rarely feels heroic and never truly soars. Sure, Superman eventually wins but at the cost of thousands of lives (we're not given a specific body count but it has to be very high).

Christopher Nolan's influence will be hotly debated, especially since the producer has been coy about the full extent of his involvement in the final product, stating only that it's Zack Synder's film. Indeed, Man of Steel is closer to Watchmen than to Batman Begins in terms of its look and feel. It's a style over substance thing, spectacle over heart. Snyder never ceases to amaze visually but one could make a compelling case that he misses what defines Superman's uniqueness. It makes sense for Batman to live in the dark but Superman has always been a figure of light and truth. That's one reason he's a difficult movie subject because there's no ambiguity about who he is and what he represents, and there's something about the darkness that pervades Man of Steel that feels wrong for the character.

The choice of Henry Cavill to don the cape is inspired; Cavill is easily the most accomplished actor thus far to fill the role and, while no one will ever fully eclipse what Christopher Reeve brought to the screen, Cavill uses Man of Steel as an opportunity to lay the foundation for what could be a long and memorable run. He combines the matinee appeal of Reeve and Brandon Routh with a stronger resume although, truth be told, the screenplay under uses his range. The main requirement for Cavill is to look the part.

As a cookie-cutter super-villain, Michael Shannon does a good job overacting. He snarls and yells and exudes menace. He rants and does all sorts of nasty things. In the end, however, it's the name Zod that puts Shannon at a disadvantage because it forces him to exist in the long shadow of Terence Stamp. Stamp's Zod is arguably one of the twenty most memorable movie bad guys and Shannon doesn't touch him. The other casting miscalculation is Amy Adams as Lois Lane; the part doesn't fit. [Blogger’s comment… I disagree. Amy Adams is excellent.]  On the other hand, there are some great choices, although most of them are sadly underused. Laurence Fishburne makes a terrific Perry White, although he has very little screen time. Kevin Costner and Diane Lane are great as Clark's Earth parents although Costner in particular deserves more screen time.

Man of Steel delivers forcefully on its promise to take Superman in a different direction. Perhaps that's a good idea; after all, Richard Donner (with an assist from Richard Lester) has done the traditional Superman as well as it can be done. But a lot is missing, and the most telling absence is the element that makes Superman more the hero of his own story rather than the pawn of special effects. This is a less promising opening act than Batman Begins because it mines so little new territory. Remakes like Man of Steel are about intangibles like tone and style and how well the soul of the central conceit has been maintained. Snyder succeeds in making this movie sufficiently different to justify its existence. The open question is whether this Superman can spearhead a franchise that aspires to greatness or whether this new dark vision is merely window dressing. [Berardinelli's rating: *** out of 4]

Labels: action, adventure, alien-invasion, Diane Lane, fantasy, sci-fi

Internet Movie Database 

Metacritic 55/100 

RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=62, viewers=78)

Blu-ray 

Blu-ray 3D 

Go to Blu-ray.com for more versions

Secretariat (2010) [PG] ****

Secretariat is the incredible true story of the chestnut stallion known to his trainer and jockey as Big Red, and who was arguably one of the greatest thoroughbred race horses in the history of the sport. In 1970, housewife and mother Penny Chenery Tweedy decided to take over her ailing father's Virginia-based Meadow Stables. Against all odds, Penny bet the future of the family farm on Secretariat, an untested yearling. With the help of veteran trainer Lucien Laurin and jockey Ronnie Turcotte, Secretariat won theHorse of the Year award in 1972 as a two-year-old, and then won the 1973 Triple Crown, breaking records in both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, and winning the Belmont Stakes by a mind-boggling 25 lengths.

Written by Mike Rich (Finding Forrester, The Rookie, Radio), Secretariat features excellent lead performances by Diane Lane as Penny Chenery Tweedy, and John Malkovich as Lucien Laurin, as well as an impressive supporting cast including Otto Thorwarth as Turcotte, Dylan Walsh as Penny's husband Jack Tweedy, Margo Martindale, James Cromwell, Fred Dalton Thompson and Scott Glenn. Even if you are not a fan of horse racing, I invite you to watch this stirring, uplifting motion picture. 

Labels: Diane Lane, drama, family, history, sport   
Internet Movie Database    
Metacritic 61/100    
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=61,viewers=76)    
Blu-ray1    
Blu-ray2

Nights in Rodanthe (2008) [PG-13] ***

Dr. Paul Flanner (Richard Gere) is a cold, heartless surgeon; when a woman dies on his operating table due to a reaction to the anesthetic, Paul is incapable of talking to her husband and sends his surgical nurse instead. A year later Paul's wife has divorced him, he's estranged from his physician son Mark (James Franco), and he's facing a malpractice lawsuit from the husband (Scott Glenn), who has asked Paul to come to his home in Rodanthe, N.C.

Paul books a room at an oceanfront guest inn on the Outer Banks where he meets Adrienne Willis (Diane Lane), a friend of Jean (Viola Davis) the inn's owner. Adrienne is in her mid-forties, isolated, vulnerable, and in crisis. Her teenage daughter Amanda (Mae Whitman) resents her, and her husband Jack (Christopher Meloni), who had left her for another woman, wants her to take him back. To give herself time to think, Adrienne has offered to be Jean's weekend caretaker at the guest inn where, due to an approaching storm, Paul is the only guest. As the storm makes landfall, Adrienne and Paul find themselves turning to one another for comfort, conversation and, ultimately, for affection. Their passionate affair awakens both of them; Paul's heart opens to the pain he has caused, and Adrienne realizes she's been ignoring her own needs for years. But before they can begin a life together, Paul must fly to South America to reconcile with his son, who runs a clinic in the dangerous mountainous back country of Ecuador.

Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks (Dear John, The Last Song, Message in a Bottle, The Notebook, A Walk to Remember), the screenplay feels like a made-for-TV melodrama, the pacing is glacial, the romantic soundtrack is maudlin, the performances border on overacting, and the minimal chemistry between Diane Lane and Richard Gere makes it hard for us to believe that these two mature adults would fall in love over the course of a four-day weekend. Nevertheless, if you enjoy films adapted from Nicholas Sparks' novels, you will probably like Nights in Rodanthe. 

Labels: Diane Lane, drama, romance, tragedy
IMDb 60/100
MetaScore (critics=39, viewers=46)
Tomatometer (critics=30, viewers=52)
Blu-ray

Hollywoodland (2006) [R] ****

A film review by James Berardinelli for RealViews.net.

The question of whether actor George Reeves committed suicide or was murdered will go down in history as one of Hollywood's great unsolved mysteries. Allen Coulter's Hollywoodland, a fictionalized account (it uses both apocryphal stories and confirmed events) of an investigation of the death, presents the three most common scenarios but, taking a page from Rashomon, it never settles on one. The film is balanced in its presentation of the evidence for and against suicide. Ultimately, however, Hollywoodland is only peripherally about the life and death of George Reeves. The film's real main character is a seedy P.I. who attacks the mystery and, by chasing Reeves' ghost, finds his own path to redemption.

Comparisons between Hollywoodland and Curtis Hanson's L.A. Confidential are perhaps inevitable. After all, both take place during the same time period (the 1950s) and in the same locale (Los Angeles). They both also contain mystery/thriller elements. However, the differences are as stark as the similarities. L.A. Confidential was a color homage to noir films while Hollywoodland is a more subdued drama and, while the new movie does a good job of capturing the period, it lacks the immersive quality of L.A. Confidential's atmosphere. Still, the savvy film-goer can be forgiving for flashing back to L.A. Confidential (or even Chinatown) once or twice during the course of Hollywoodland's proceedings.

The movie unfolds across two time lines. The primary one starts on June 16, 1959, the day of George Reeves' death, and continues through a period spanning roughly one week. It follows the trail of private investigator Louis Simo (Adrien Brody), a fictionalized representation of the real-life Jerry Geisler, as he convinces Reeves' mother to hire him to investigate her son's passing. The official explanation of the death is suicide but Simo puts forth an alternative. All the clues don't add up - maybe it was murder. At first, he really doesn't believe this. It's just a way to get his name in the papers. However, as he digs deeper and meets some of the principals of the case, he begins to wonder. Eventually, he attracts the ire of mob-connected film mogul Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins), and things go from bad to worse.

The secondary time line begins in the late 1940s and concludes in 1959. It introduces us to the handsome, charismatic Reeves (Ben Affleck) in his pre-Superman days. As his life story for the next ten years is told, we meet various people who circulate into and out of his life, including his long-time mistress, Toni Mannix (Diane Lane) - Eddie's wife - and his eventual fiancée, Lenore Lemmon (Robin Tunney). Despite starring in the immensely popular Superman TV series during the 1950s, Reeves is not a happy man. He has not been well-paid for the job, and it results in hopeless typecasting.

There have always been three primary theories about Reeves' death during the early morning hours of June 16, 1959. The first is that, in an alcohol-induced daze and despondent over the lack of movement in his career, he shot himself. This is what the official record indicates. Another possibility is that, during an argument, Lenore accidentally shot him, and then used the 45 minutes between Reeves' death and her call to the police to stage a suicide. A third possibility is that Eddie Mannix hired someone to eliminate Reeves because of problems the actor was causing in his marriage. Hollywoodland examines all three scenarios but in the movie, as in real life, no definitive answers are to be found. Unlike Auto Focus, another movie about the life and death of a famous TV personality (Bob Crane of Hogan's Heroes), Hollywoodland does not pretend to know the truth.

Hollywoodland's emotional impact comes not from the Reeves-centered flashbacks, which are dry although interesting, but from Simo's story. He and his wife, Laurie (Molly Parker), are divorced, but he has an ongoing love/hate relationship with her that characterizes the interaction between many ex-spouses. He loves his son, but there's an invisible wall interfering with their communication. He's living with a much younger women (Caroline Dhavernas) in a seedy motel, and his clients include riff-raff and sleazebags. His goal as a private investigator is to string along customers for as long as possible so they will keep paying him. Hollywoodland is about how Simo's biggest case causes him to re-examine his life and perhaps change its direction.

The casting is interesting. Adrien Brody has no difficulty portraying the unsavory P.I. Diane Lane appears comfortable in the part of an older woman. And Bob Hoskins is in familiar territory as the dangerous, loud-talking Mannix. Then there's Ben Affleck, who has chosen this project as his attempt to return from the brink of tabloid overexposure. There's no faulting Affleck's acting in Hollywoodland, but one can question whether he's right for the part. Even in full Superman costume or wearing Clark Kent's spectacles, he bears no resemblance to Reeves. For those familiar with Reeves' visage, it elevates the suspension of disbelief curve, although the strength of Affleck's portrayal should eventually win over doubters.

Director Allen Coulter is a TV veteran but a motion picture newcomer. His work here indicates he is someone to watch. The pacing is slow and deliberate, but the story never ceases to intrigue. There are a few narrative hiccups and there are times when changes between the time lines are not immediately apparent, especially as the older one dovetails with the present, but these are minor issues and do not erase the movie's compelling qualities. This is a fine opportunity to peer through a window into the unglamorous side of Tinseltown's golden years.

Labels: biography, crime, Diane Lane, drama, Fifties, history, mystery, romance, thriller

Internet Movie Database 

Metacritic 62/100 

RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=65, viewers=60) 

Blu-ray 

Must Love Dogs (2005) [PG-13] ***

Sarah (Diane Lane) is a forty-something preschool teacher whose husband recently left her for a much younger woman. She’s been going through a mourning period, but now her sister Carol (Elizabeth Perkins) has decided that it’s time for Sarah to get back out there and start dating. Carol creates a fake profile for Sarah on PerfectMatch dot com, including a must love dogs requirement, and the responses soon start rolling in. One of them is Jake (John Cusack) a craftsman who builds wooden boats and who is recovering from his own break-up. But then Bob (Dermot Mulroney) one of the dads at Sarah’s preschool begins to take an interest in her, and suddenly Sarah finds herself with a decision to make. There’s an amusing scene when Sarah arrives for an afternoon date at an outside café only to discover that her libidinous 71-year-old father Bill (Christopher Plummer) had responded to her profile and is her prospective date. Throw in Bill’s sixtyish girlfriend Dolly (Stockard Channing), various other members of Sarah’s family, and her pair of gay friends, and you have an overpopulated ensemble romantic comedy.

The screenplay is fairly well written, but there’s nothing particularly original or memorable, nothing we haven’t seen numerous times before. Diane Lane reprises her grieving widow role from Indian Summer, John Cusack reprises his oddball boyfriend role from Say Anything…, Elizabeth Perkins reprises her irritating girlfriend role from Indian Summer, and Dermot Mulroney reprises his charming womanizer role from The Wedding Date. And, frankly, the third act, which should be upbeat and entertaining, is unfocused and disappointing. Regardless, if you are a dog lover, and you really enjoy starting-over romantic comedies, films like Definitely, Maybe, I’m With Lucy, Indian Summer, Notting Hill, Sleepless in Seattle, and The Wedding Date, you probably will be satisfied with Must Love Dogs.

Labels:  comedy, Diane Lane, romance
Internet Movie Database
Metacritic 46/100
Tomatometer (critics=35, viewers=51)

Searching for Debra Winger (2002) [R] ****

Written and directed by Rosanna Arquette, this revealing documentary is a series of interviews with various actresses about the sexism and ageism-related pressures women face working in the Hollywood film industry. The cast includes, among others, Patricia Arquette, Rosanna Arquette, Laura Dern, Jane Fonda, Teri Garr, Whoopi Goldberg, Melanie Griffith, Daryl Hannah, Salma Hayek, Holly Hunter, Diane Lane, Kelly Lynch, Julianna Margulies, Samantha Mathis, Frances McDormand, Julia Ormond, Gwyneth Paltrow, Charlotte Rampling, Vanessa Redgrave, Theresa Russell, Meg Ryan, Ally Sheedy, Sharon Stone, Tracey Ullman, JoBeth Williams, Debra Winger, Alfre Woodard and Robin Wright.

Rosanna Arquette titled her documentary Searching for Debra Winger because at age forty Debra Winger took a six year hiatus from acting. Ostensibly this was because Winger had reached her expiration date and was no longer being offered challenging film roles, but, while this explanation makes Rosanna Arquette’s case, it may not have been the only reason. Debra Winger began receiving film role credits in 1976 at age 21. By 1984, just eight years later, she was well established as an A-list actress, having received Best Actress Oscar nominations for both An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) and Terms of Endearment (1983). A decade later, she had received a third Best Actress Oscar nomination for Shadowlands (1993). Despite her obvious talent, and her accomplishments, after filming Forget Paris in 1995, at age forty, six years would pass before she took another role, in Big Bad Love. While the expiration date explanation may be correct, it is also true that Winger had a reputation as a difficult actress, that she had publicly named Ivan Reitman and Taylor Hackford as the two worst directors she had ever worked with, and that at one point in her career she had walked out on her agency, CAA, for several years. Also, Winger had a second son at age 40, so her six-year hiatus from acting may have been the lack of substantive film roles, but it may also have been her biological alarm clock going off, and her desire to focus on motherhood.

In any case, one of the most enlightening aspects of the documentary is the in-depth interview with Jane Fonda, which begins at about the eighty-minute mark. Jane describes the peak experience of film-making as the thrill and terror of making the pivotal scene of a film. She characterizes this scene as one with an intense flow of emotions between the actors, a scene that the director tries to capture all in one take. She describes the enormous pressure this puts the actors under, since the success of the film often depends on the believability of the pivotal scene. She paints a vivid picture of sitting in her trailer waiting for those dreaded words We’re ready for you now, Miss Fonda, and then having to walk the gauntlet from trailer to film set, between rows of cast and crew, all of whom are thinking This had better be good. You’re the big star; you’re getting paid the big salary, so prove you’re worth it, because we’re all depending upon you. Jane reveals that, when the pivotal scene is successful, it is better than the most intense lovemaking. But, she also admits that she remembers having had the pivotal-scene, peak experience fewer than ten times in making over forty films since 1960, which means that she did NOT remember a pivotal-scene peak experience in over 75% of her films. Does this mean that three-quarters of films released are mediocre, or worse? It’s an interesting question.

Jane’s description of the pivotal scene was so vivid that I found myself reviewing some of my favorite films, as well as some of Jane Fonda's films, to find the pivotal scenes as she described them. On Golden Pond, for example, has always been considered a cathartic bonding of Jane and Henry Fonda, since the fictional daughter-father relationship between Chelsea and Norman Thayer seemed to closely mirror the cool, dispassionate real-life relationship between Jane and Henry. In that film there's a powerful pivotal scene in which Chelsea tells Norman that she'd like them to be friends, reaching out to touch his arm and causing his eyes to well up with tears. And in The Electric Horseman, starring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford, there's a tender pivotal scene in which the two actors kiss, a scene director Sydney Pollack reportedly shot thirty times because he wanted to be sure he got it right.

For an enhanced understanding of the filmmaking process, the pressures that actresses endure in the film industry, and the difficulty of finding substantive roles, I highly recommend this documentary. Rosanna Arquette is to be commended.  

Label: Diane Lane, documentary, filmmaking   
IMDb 64/100   
RottenTomatoes (critics=80, viewers=58)

The Perfect Storm (2000) [PG-13] ***/****

A film review by James Berardinelli for ReelViews.net.

I can still recall the power and fury of the storm now, nearly nine years after it struck - the rain playing an incessant staccato drum-beat on my windows, the wind shaking the shutters until they broke free and blew away into the mid-day's twilight gloom, and the lightning lancing the sky despite the chilly temperatures. The storm, which struck with a suddenness that wrecked almost every weatherman's three-day forecast, was given many names in the popular media, including the Great Halloween Nor'easter and the Storm of the Century. Meteorologists called it The Perfect Storm - an example of the kind of weather event that can only occur under the rarest of circumstances. In this case, it took the convergence of an eastward-moving cold front, a low pressure system off Sable Island, and a hurricane headed out to sea to create a monster.

In 1997, almost six years after the Great Halloween Nor'easter, journalist Sebastian Junger published The Perfect Storm, an account of some of the most dramatic and memorable events associated with the late-October 1991 weather system. His novel, which was uncompromisingly factual (he neither speculated on things that no living man had seen nor invented dialogue) gave insights into meteorology, the fishing industry, Coast Guard rescue operations, and how dozens of individuals were affected by the storm. The book, which is a taut thriller, became a surprising #1 best-seller. I read it based on word-of-mouth and concluded that it was not likely to be made into a movie, even though studios were trying to nail down the rights. I was, of course, wrong.

Given that I believed The Perfect Storm to be unfilmable, I approached the motion picture with a mixture of curiosity and skepticism. I was pleasantly surprised by the result. The movie is as faithful to the novel as a non-documentary could be, sticking close to the facts and excising few of the book's numerous subplots. Much of the detailed scientific jargon has been removed, but enough remains that we understand exactly what is happening and what it portends. And the sense of danger and urgency that compels a viewer to turn the pages of Junger's book is much in evidence throughout the 128-minute film.

When the summer is complete, Gladiator may stand out as the best mainstream release, but The Perfect Storm will almost certainly be the most intense. Directed by veteran filmmaker Wolfgang Petersen, who is responsible for the greatest submarine movie of all time, Das Boot, as well as American thrillers like In the Line of Fire and Air Force One, the film, which starts out slowly and calmly with 45 minutes of set-up, turns into a white-knuckle ride into a psychotic weather system. The Perfect Storm is not without flaws - there is too much going on and some of the invented dialogue is cheesy - but it is undeniably a thrilling experience.

The primary focus of the film (as well as the book) is the six-man crew of the sword-fishing vessel Andrea Gail -- Bobby Shatford (Mark Wahlberg), Dale Murph Murphy (John C. Reilly), David Sully Sullivan (William Fichtner), Michael Bugsy Moran (John Hawkes), Alfred Pierre (Allen Payne), and the captain, Billy Tyne (George Clooney).

After returning to shore with a poor haul that earns him less than $6000 (and members of his crew under $3000), Tyne decides to take the Andrea Gail out one more time this season, intending to head east past his usual fishing grounds, the Grand Banks, all the way to the Flemish Cap, which is almost off most North American fishing charts. The five members of his crew grumble (in fact, one backs out and is replaced by Sullivan), but agree to come because they need the money. Shatford, urged by his girlfriend Christina (Diane Lane) to stay behind, almost isn't on the boat when it sails. As he tells Tyne, I love the sea, but I can't stand to be more than two feet from my woman.

The trip to the Flemish Cap is relatively uneventful, but, as the Andrea Gail heads east, bad weather is brewing behind them, blocking their return home. Later, after they have filled their cargo holds and are on their way back, they lose radio contact and are unaware of the strength of the storm ahead of them. A Coast Guard rescue helicopter, dispatched to save the crew of the sailboat Mistral, is sent to look for the Andrea Gail and runs into more trouble than the experienced flying crew can handle. Meanwhile, Tyne is encountering the roughest seas of his career, with waves topping out at perhaps 100 feet.

The movie is at its best when it stays with the crew of the Andrea Gail, which it does most of the time. The opening half-hour, before the ship sails, does a good job introducing the characters and letting us know what makes them tick. The only piece of character interaction that isn't effective is the bickering between Murphy and Sullivan (which leads to more than one passage of badly written dialogue). The sequences with these six men braving the rough seas and bad weather represent some of The Perfect Storm's most suspenseful moments. For those who are unaware of the Andrea Gail's fate, there will be more than one nail-biting moment.

The secondary plot, featuring the efforts of the Coast Guard to save the three person crew of the Mistral, and then locate the Andrea Gail, is less compelling because we don't have much invested in these characters. At times, this part of the movie seems like filler. The Mistral scenes probably could have been cut without damaging the flow of the story. They're useful in the book, but don't add much (except about seven minutes of running time) to the movie. Towards the end of the film, Petersen effectively cuts back and forth between the Coast Guard and the Andrea Gail to build tension.

Making use of impressive visuals (many of which were enhanced, if not generated altogether, by digital technology), The Perfect Storm gives a sense of the awe-inspiring power of a raging sea. With mountainous swells that dwarf even large boats and no place to hide or take refuge, the ocean can easily become a very dangerous place. As the scenes with the Coast Guard illustrate, issuing a Mayday is a far different thing than actually being rescued, and there are times when the rescuers may end up needing to be rescued. The Perfect Storm is not the first motion picture to pit man against the sea, but this is not a common genre, mainly because of the difficulty of crafting believable action. (One of the reasons The Poseidon Adventure is regarded as a camp classic is because of the unconvincing nature of the special effects.) It has been four years since a movie even remotely like this, Ridley Scott's White Squall, has reached movie screens. (Titanic doesn't count - it's a different sort of water disaster.)

In choosing his cast, Petersen has gone for recognizable but not A-list names. He wanted performers who weren't afraid to look grubby and unkempt on-screen - like they had gone for weeks without a proper bath. George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg, re-united from Three Kings, top the marquee. Character actors like John C. Reilly and William Fichtner have significant roles. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio plays the captain of the Andrea Gail's sister ship, the Hannah Boden, and Michael Ironside is the man who owns both boats. Karen Allen, Bob Gunton, and Christopher McDonald all have small, supporting roles.

The Perfect Storm may be too much of a downer to become a huge summer hit, although that remains to be seen. Its box office potential relies more on the storytelling ability of Petersen than on the star power of a big name (unlike its chief head-to-head competition, The Patriot). The movie is exciting, engaging, and, at times, majestic, but it does not change the historical facts to make for a more crowd-pleasing story. For the first time since Das Boot, Petersen has taken his cast, crew, and cameras back into the water; the result is definitely not all wet. [Berardinelli's rating: *** out of 4 stars]

Admittedly, the film is a tragedy, however there's an early scene in which Captain Linda Greenlaw (Mastrantonio) comes into Captain Billy Tyne's wheelhouse on the Andrea Gail and suggests that he could have an entirely different life. It's a beautifully written scene and reminds us that we all have options in life if we would just listen and consider them:

TYNE: I smell Coppertone. That means that Captain Linda Greenlaw, a lady vain about her nose is in my wheelhouse.
GREENLAW: How about Hawaiian Tropic?
T: Well, at least I got the nose right.
G: Your guys are loading bait and groceries. Are you doing a turnaround?
T: No rest for the weary.
G: There you go, flaunting your work ethic.
T: I don't have a work ethic. I just have work, if I'm gonna catch up to you.
G: I love to watch you study charts.
T: Why?
G: Because you know them all by heart.
T: What's so special about today that you're blowing smoke up my ass?
G: I thought I'd make a pass. [laughs]. No, you see, the thing is, captain, I'm looking for a guy to come home to Maine with me, buy a house and raise a few kids.
T: And what does that guy, and you, do after?
G: Oh, now come on. Look, the thing is, I'm happy. I'm happy, I'm fit to do this. I just don't see the romance in it.
T: But you've got it, Captain Greenlaw. You do, believe me. I've seen them come and go. The day I laid eyes on you, I said to myself "She's gonna be a good one." Can't be good unless you love it.
Fog is just lifting. Throw off your bowline, throw off your stern. Head out the South Channel. Past Rocky Neck. Tenpound Island. Past Niles Pond where I skated as a kid. Blow your airhorn. And you throw a wave to the lighthouse keeper's kid on Thatcher Island. Then the birds show up - the Blackbacks, Herring gulls, big dump ducks. The sun hits you - you head north. Open up to twelve... Steaming now... The guys are busy, you're in charge. You know what? You're a goddamn swordboat captain. Is there anything better in the world?
The YouTube video link

Labels: action, adventure, Diane Lane, drama, thriller, tragedy

Internet Movie Database 65/100 

MetaScore (critics=59, viewers=61) 

RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=52, viewers=74) 

Blu-ray 

At the start of the film, there's a scene in which the crew of the Andrea Gail is paid for their last outing. I thought it was worth including because it explains the economics of swordboat fishing. Bobby Shatford (Mark Wahlberg) complains because his pay only totals $2221 and he expected around $3000. The boat owner, played by Michael Ironside, explains that they landed 21,000 of fish at $3.50 a pound for $73,500 gross (although he said $73,000). He then subtracted $35,000 for bait, tackle and fuel, leaving $38,500. As boat owner he gets half, leaving $19,250. Captain Billy Tyne (Clooney) gets a double share, four crewmen get full shares and Shatford gets a 3/4 share since he is a rookie. 
The problem is that Ironside's character did the math wrong. The only way Billy Tyne gets $5,923.76  as a double share, a full-share crewman gets $2,961 and rookie Bobby gets $2221 is if the $19,250 is divided by 6.5 rather than 6.75. If you divide $19,250 by 6.75, a share is $2,852, Tyne would get $5,703 and Bobby, with a 3/4 share would get $2139.