alexcams Reviews

The Real McCoy (1993)

Bank robber forced into another job to rescue son.

[6/10 · 3 April 2008]

Not sure why this film gets trashed as much as it does, since it's pretty good. It's worth watching for the cast alone -- Basinger, Kilmer and Stamp. But it must be said that the British film upon which it's based is better. That would be Bellman and True (from an old English song) starring a cast of people that you probably never heard of, headlined by Bernard Hill as the computer geek who has to go along to keep his son safe. Bellman and True also serves as something of a time capsule, taking us back to a grotty, depressed and depressing London that is barely visible in British films any more. We can probably put the change in tone down to the Four Weddings effect. The comparison of these two movies serves as an excellent example of one of the more interesting questions of popular culture: why are the Brits generally so much better at movies that feature crime than Hollywood? Think of Cracker, State of Play, Prime Suspect, Behind The Lines, and Mobile.

Trial (1955)

A bright line on 50s America

[8/10 · 4 March 2008]

This great film will come as a great shock to anyone who thinks of 1950s America in Leave It To Beaver terms, and that's a very good thing. An exaggerated but not misleading portrait of a hugely racist and sexist nation at its worst, with a feel-good conclusion that rings false in light of what we've just seen and generally know to be true about the US at the time. The performances are good for the most part, but the things these people say and do may give you the creeps. The scene in front of the city hall when the local white men are about to use nitro to blow up the front door is absolutely frightening. The 50s will never seem the same again, and that's a very good thing. This movie should be part of history courses.

Smile (1975)

This is one of the great undiscovered comedies of all time.

[10/10 · 18 December 2006]

Twenty-five years after this film about the Young America Miss contest was filmed in Santa Rosa, California, the fates sent me to that lovely town on business. During lunch in a local restaurant, I did an impression of one of the film's lines: "What does Santa Rosa think about that?" and half a dozen heads turned to stare at me in shock and anger. If a single line from a movie can still upset the local power structure of a self-satisfied town a quarter-century later, it must be doing something right. In fact, writer Jerry Belson, director Michael Ritchie and a great cast of veteran or young actors did about everything right. Funny, insightful and true. What more can a smart viewer want from a movie?