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Reviews
Maverick (1994)
Underrated and forgotten classic from Donner
As TV show adaptations go, "Maverick" is a movie that excels because of a rollicking sense of fun and good humor. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and I think everyone involved is perfectly chosen for the job.
The film opens with Mel Gibson's eponymous gambler, out to prove he's the best poker player. He's $3,000 short of the $25,000 buy-in, and his quest finds him in an unlikely partnership with like-minded gamblers Annabelle Bransford (Jodie Foster) and Marshall Zane Cooper (James Garner). And it's a journey that will see our hero tangle with rattlesnakes, renegade Indians and even a runaway stagecoach.
"Maverick" is an Action/Adventure/Western/Comedy that runs high on likability and even a few great setpieces. Everyone involved is clearly having fun, and it goes a long way in inviting the audience in on the laugh. It's the kind of TV show adaptation that doesn't require the viewer to have seen the original show. There's enough here in the engaging protagonist to keep the audience interested in the free- standing story. And what an affable hero Maverick is, a role that greatly benefits from Mel Gibson's trademark boyish charm and joking sense of humor. It's not just Gibson; Foster and Garner also show an unexpected flair for comedy.
Maybe the real star of "Maverick" is William Goldman's terrific screenplay; one that infuses the movie with a delightfully wry sense of humor and lightheartedness. In almost every scene, things aren't always as they seem; and it's usually played to great comedic effect. This is the movie that made me a Goldman fan (in my defense, I haven't yet seen his greatest hits, so to speak).
I found myself constantly grinning from ear to ear. You don't even have to be a Western fan to appreciate "Maverick". It's just an overall likable movie.
Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
Risky
This is a period picture that takes place in 1971, but there are no references to Vietnam, the flower power movement, Kent State or any other issues or events of the day. This is because the characters have nothing to do with that world. Bob's thoughts revolve around drugstores like planets around the sun. His family of dope thieves lives in almost total isolation. Even junkies who come to do business are admitted to their home with reluctance and then rudely sent on their way. Their only contact with the "other" world is its drugstores and its cops. They live in a world not ruled by the authorities, but by "the dark forces that lie hidden beneath the surface, the ones that some people call superstitions: howling banshees, black cats, hats on beds, dogs, the evil eye..." In his world, Bob's lunatic logic makes perfect sense and serves him as a guide for living better than any "sane" worldview.
When the crew goes "crossroading" to the tune of "the Israelites" we realize that they, too, are like children of a different god; wanderers whose only contact with others is hostile confrontation. They are either "attacking" drug stores or being attacked by ball-breaking cops.
Kelly Lynch, who plays Diane, said in an interview that, "The first take was terrible and Matt (Dillon) said he wouldn't support the film." It is not surprising that a film this ambitious should run into some snags. A great film like "DC" is a tightrope act. The best scenes in the film are also the riskiest; they would have fallen apart in the hands of lesser actors.
If you like the film you might get a kick out of the autobiographical novel on which it is based, by James Fogle, the original drugstore cowboy. At the time of the film's release (1989) Fogle had spent "thirty-five of his fifty-three years in prison on drug-related charges." I wonder what ever became of him.
Milk (2008)
Masterwork
This movie is one of the best, if not the best, movie biopics in Hollywood history. Besides being superbly directed and well-acted, the movie tells a story about determination and the affirmation of those values that made the United States great. Although Harvey Milk is the central character of this movie, the story is about much more than Mr. Milk's political career or his tragic death. Rather, it is a statement about courage in the face of extreme adversity and for standing up to what you believe is right. Harvey Milk could have played it safe, played ball with the powers that be, cut his deals with the other politicos and in the process become just another politician. But he believed in action and meant every word he said and for that he paid the ultimate price. For a public official to take an unpopular stand takes a lot of courage and guts and Harvey Milk had both those qualities. Yet the movie also contains the negative message, that by taking an unpopular stand one puts everything on the line, including one's life. It's a fact that the movie boldly examines. The deaths of Harvey Milk and George Moscone is a dark chapter in American political history. Hopefully neither man died in vain.
The Lost City of Z (2016)
Glorious from A to Z
It's an old school adventure yarn, and I guess what that means is that it explores remote locations here on Earth before they were ever explored before. Because now they've been explored, so the only way to make a modern day equivalent would be to somehow discover a new place on Earth or something...
Anyway, in that sense this is a glorious, gorgeous, deeply transfixing journey that's sometimes best appreciated from a distance. It never quite finds a way to make Percy's madness and desires ours -- we enjoy the journey and appreciate it but we aren't quite transformed by it. But that's best reserved for the bona fide masterpieces and regardless this is still a great work.
Finch (2021)
Well done hanks
I'm confident the last time i gushed over a Tom Hanks film was about 1994. Hold off the hate, i'm just not a fan of his modern work/choices/genres.
This however was exactly what it should be and really satisfying to get that feeling of adventure from a movie. It was equal parts action, love and humour all whilst a man was on his mission to achieve a personal goal in a world decaying around him, as he is himself.
Ad Astra (2019)
Only 2 stars here
I have to admit, the first 5-10 minutes of this movie was pretty epic. Brad Pitt trying to fix the space station, and falling down to Earth. It was a cool thing to watch.
It could have been a metaphor with the downhill path the rest of the movie would take though. I couldn't get past 20 minutes. Brad Pitt is a horrible actor in this movie. I thought he might be on a roll after Once Upon A Time, but he disappoints once again. Reminds me of Moneyball in how bad this film was.
Watch it if you want.
Vengeance Is Mine (2021)
Razor Sharp Thriller
Harry is a loner and, to anyone who would perceive him, a total and utter failure on the bottom rung on society. Living and working in a church as a handyman and cleaner, he occupies his time by reading The Count of Monte Cristo and contemplating suicide in all sort of gruesome ways, throw in visions of his wife an daughter runner in a getaway car by some vicious thieves, you have man at the lowest ebb of his life. Then a private detective he hired brings him news that shakes him from his life ending low. He has been so badly wronged in the past that his life derailed that this is light at tend of the tunnel. The authors of his downfall have now been found. He makes a decision to seek vengeance.
This means having to buy a gun and ammunition, stalking the killers and attacking them although he is completely untrained and totally out of shape an entering a world he does not belong in. Once in this world he sets in motion a chain of events that will build up its own momentum, essentially driven by vengeance, lost love and pure emotion.
Harry is played by Con O'Neill, an outstanding actor. He excels as the frightened, yet driven man, who is essentially a good person, who has been forced into the role of vigilante avenger. He is able to convey so much tormented emotion in his facial expressions and the use of his eyes that his performance on its own would make this a 5 star film. All of the supporting actors are also excellent, one of the villains played bt Anton Saunders is skin tinglingly scary, but O'Neills performance just dwarfs all around him.
This is edge of seat stuff, with brutal violence - intentionally gratuitous, it is the messy sort and sometimes glammed up which at first I thought was strange but then as I watched this over the top violence that SOMETIMES occurred I realised that the film maker was telling us something , THIS IS EITHER A DREAM OR REAL OR BOTH, in that Harry is perhaps committing these acts and exaggerating them in his mind OR in that it is his final thoughts as he lies dying in his room in the church when he tries to commit suicide with a knife strapped to a stool.
The movie has a brooding quality that makes the whole thing have a kind of intense effervescence that just grabs you and takes you along for the ride - and that means the whole journey. I was blown away by this, small film. This is a master class in how to make a thriller. I can not recommend highly enough.