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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 10 July 2003

The story of Robert Edward Crane epitomises the truth behind Hollywood.  Bob’s career began on the radio and after a number of small roles, landed the part that would make him famous – the title character in Hogan’s Heroes.  The series ran for six seasons between 1965 and 1971 and despite initial controversy, became the success that still sees it screened in syndication today.  With a wife of 15 years, Crane’s career was at its highest point – he was a leading celebrity.

On the set he became friends with a Sony representative named John Carpenter.  Carpenter frequented strip clubs and engaged in sexual orgies.  The film has us believe that the straight shooting Crane was lead into this seedy underworld entirely by Carpenter but I’m sure it wasn’t as black and white.  Soon enough, Crane was picking up girls at clubs and bringing them back to Carpenter’s place for sex.  John Carpenter’s job saw him have the latest in video technology and he used it for his own benefit.  Crane took nude photos of the girls he slept with for his own personal album and Carpenter videotaped the sexual escapades so they could watch it again later.

Crane’s marriage disintegrated but he found a new wife on the set of Hogan’s Heroes.  Once the show finished up, the world was at Crane’s feet but his reputation as a dirty sex-aholic had spread through Hollywood and the roles didn’t come.  His only major role after the show was in Disney’s aptly titled Superdad which flopped at the box-office.  Turning to small theatrical productions to make a living, Crane was murdered in a hotel room in 1978.  Carpenter was suspected for the murder and eventually charged but a lack of evidence led to his exoneration.

Auto Focus scratches the surface on many aspects of Crane’s life but doesn’t dig very deep.  It isn’t a particularly emotion film and doesn’t sufficiently show how dark his life became following Hogan’s Heroes.  We see very little of his wives, his children and his friends and the effect his troubled life had on them.  The film’s “focus” is on the quirky relationship between Crane and Carpenter which begins with interest but tires in its repetitiveness.

Director Paul Schrader certainly has an appreciation for the era as the sets and costumes are remarkable.  Every detail from the couch fabric to Crane’s sunglasses just reeks of 70’s tackiness.  There’s much colour in the film although this symbolically disappears in the final scenes.  Schrader’s no stranger to strong storytelling having written screenplays for Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and American Gigolo but he simply does not generate enough passion for Crane’s character to make Auto Focus interesting.

Once a reporter on a trashy cable TV show, Greg Kinnear shows his worth as a dramatic actor alongside the talented Willem Dafoe.  The make-up artists show their own talent in transforming them from clean-cut gentlemen to sleazy perverts.  You can sense my appreciation for many of Auto Focus’s finer details but the passion, Crane’s story doesn’t fly.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 29 June 2003

Lee is a brilliant director who rose to fame with The Ice Storm (one of my all-time favourite films) and Sense & Sensibility.  Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is his highest-grossing film to date and it also earned him the best director prize from the Directors’ Guild Of America.  His choosing of a project like The Hulk came as a complete surprise to me but from the very beginning of the film itself, I could see his reasons for doing so.

With a filming budget of $120m, it would be so easy for a director to take a conservative path to ensure box-office success.  Instead, Lee has mixed up the standard screenplay with some wonderful camera and editing techniques.  There are some magical fade-ins between scenes but my personal favourite touch were the split-screen shots where up to four camera angles appeared on screen at once.  Ang Lee is not a Hollywood sell-out and this proves he’s willing to take a risk to further his work.

The brilliance of Lee’s direction has not been matched by the script.  I expected a much shorter time in the theatre and the film would have been better served without the heavy padding at the very end.  There’s also a distinctive lack of adventure.  The focus of the film is on Bruce Banner’s (aka The Hulk) discovery of his past.  His parents died when he was young (or so he thought) and with the help of semi-love interest Betty Ross, he will uncover the mysteries which plague his dreams.  All well and good but the general public may be let down by the lack of a serious villain.

Younger audiences may also be disturbed by some of the violence.  There’s one scene where The Hulk battles three mutant dogs and it’s considerably violent.  You can see though that an effort has been made to eliminate any human casualties which are a bit silly but necessary for the audience they want to attract.

By now everyone should know that Australian Eric Bana is the next “it thing” in America with his role as the leading guy.  More people seem to focus more on the fact that he is in the movie rather than how good his performance actually is.  In my mind, he’s good but not great and in the final hour, he’s replaced by a scary looking green visual effect.  It can’t have been the most mentally challenging task for Bana and it’s his bank balance that will receive the most benefit.

I haven’t focused too much on the plot since that’s not why you pay your admission fee.  Like all these mega-blockbusters of late, the finale sets up an expected sequel.  So if you want to save yourself time, money and effort, wait until the next instalment is due.  By then, The Hulk will be on free-to-air TV and you’ll be one of the few to say that you haven’t contributed to the box-office success of a film that probably doesn’t deserve it.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 06 July 2003

In an unnamed Latin American country, Augustin Rejas (Bardem) is a decent, modest man who will soon be thrust into the spotlight.  He worked as a lawyer for a short time but found a more honest way of enforcing the law – by becoming a police officer.  His wife and daughter supported his decisions but others could not understand why he would give a lucrative career and a rewarding salary.  Now, the family struggles just to pay the rent.

After a number of terrorist bombings, the chief of police appoints Rejas to lead the investigation.  Signs written in blood start appearing on the streets with the message of “Ezequiel for president” but no one can identify Ezequiel or any members his underground organisation.  Rejas is confused as to why Ezequiel is causing a revolution – he is never seen in public nor has he released a mandate.  It’s suspiciously secretive and this terrorist group has the upper hand.

Time passes and Rejas is no closer to bringing down the network.  He finds comfort in a dance instructor, Yolanda (Morante), who teaches his daughter.  The two spend much time together and the friendship may have developed into something more serious.  Rejas does discuss his work with Yolanda and she becomes one of the few escapes from the pressure he is continually finding himself under.

The love story particularly riveting but Rejas’s hunt for Ezequiel is why everyone should see this movie.  It’s a realistic journey and you actually see the huge effort put into the case by Rejas and his team.  This isn’t a cheap Hollywood plot where one detective knows can ascertain all the answers from a freak clue.  The precisely logical plot of The Dancer Upstairs comes from Nicholas Shakespeare who adapted the screenplay from his own novel.  The film also marks the directorial debut of actor John Malkovich who brings the most of his cast, crew and setting.

Leading the performances is Javier Bardem.  Many will be unfamiliar with this Spanish actor but just two years ago he received an Oscar nomination for his work in Before Night Falls.   His accent is sometimes tricky to understand but he is a talented actor who I’m sure will receive more work outside his home country.  His solemn portrayal of Augustin Rejas holds the story together.

The Dancer Upstairs is very disturbing in places but this only adds to its emotional intensity.  With Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle being the only other cinema release this week, there’s doubt which film is work recommending.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 26 June 2003

It begins with Vince (Hawke) silently passing time in his hotel room by sculling a few beers.  Jon (Leonard) then arrives and the two embrace.  Vince and Jon were best friends at school but ten years has passed and they now live different lives.  Both are Michigan to catch up on old times and to celebrate a defining moment in Jon’s career.  A budding filmmaker, Jon’s first major film is to screen at the local film festival tomorrow afternoon.

Vince is a drug dealer who passes himself off as a volunteer fire-fighter in California.  After the initial pleasantries, Jon does what comes naturally and suggests to Vince, as his friend, that it’s time to find a new line of work.  This sets of a carefully planned chain of events for Vince that lead to the unexpected developments and the ultimate conclusion.  Reflecting back, I have doubts as to whether Vince could have planned the next hour with the precision he does but it is a minor criticism.

Defensive of Jon’s criticism, Vince turns the table on Jon by recalling a fateful night in their final year at high school.  Vince dated sweetheart Amy Randall (Thurman) but the two broke up just prior to graduation.  Jon then had a one-night stand with Amy which surprised Vince since he and Amy never slept together during their full relationship.  Vince always suspected Jon raped Amy but nothing was ever said.  Now, Vince wants the answers and is willing to risk his friendships to uncover the truth…

The history of director Richard Linklater’s shows a man with great creativity.  In 1993, he made crazy drug comedy Dazed And Confused which seems to get better with age.  It’s a film Entertainment Weekly rated in the top 20 cult films of all time.  His last work was the trippy animation flick Waking Life that left critics in awe of its complexity and originality.  Trivia fans will be interested by the fact that Tape marks the fourth time star Ethan Hawke has starred in a Linklater film. 

Tape has been shot with only two simple hand-held camcorders and thanks to seamless editing by Sandra Adair, it looks like one continuous take.  I am unsure the screenwriter’s intentions as varying interpretations exist as to the “goodness” presented in each of the characters.  In my eyes, Vince acts insanely and Jon is very harshly treated but others may share a differing opinion.  I won’t ramble on with a detailed analysis as it may influence your own objectivity.

Beginning it’s life as a play, the cinematic equivalent of Tape was released in the United States over 18 months ago  It has since done its run on the film festival circuit with major showings at Sundance and Toronto.  The small cast, budget and release are in no way correlated to the film’s success.  Like good dinner conversation, it is always interesting.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 03 July 2003

For a while, I thought Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle was a soft porn film.  How so?  Well the leading actresses walk around with practically nothing on.  The dialogue in horribly cheesy.  There’s an abundance of sexual innuendo.  There is no plot.  Unfortunately, I soon realised that Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu weren’t going to provide the “money shots” and this left the film in limbo – there’s not enough nudity for it to be a porno but there’s not enough story for it to be a motion picture.

If you’re not a fan of “plots” and you’re seeing this film because of the action factor, you’ll also be disappointed.  The action sequences are filled with outrageously far-fetched special effects and poorly selected body doubles.  The director, known only as McG, shows no creativity in the action moves.  I was bored with the continual backflips and Matrix-like effects after just 5 minutes.

Columbia Tristar produced this junk and used its clout to secure a few cameos.  In a move I cannot explain, John Cleese appears as Liu’s father in a mere handful of scenes.  He does next-to-nothing and why he’d be attracted to the roll dumbfounds me.  Did Columbia put a gun to his head?  It seems the most likely explanation.  The same could be said for Matt LeBlanc and Luke Wilson who reprise their roles from the original as the Angel’s boyfriends.  Tom Green is the only boyfriend who did not return for this film but that’s likely to have something to do with the fact he both married and divorced Drew Barrymore in 2001.  It just wouldn’t work having them both on the set with their “irreconcilable differences”.

One actor who deserves praise is Bill Murray who has not reprised his role as Bosley.  Instead, the character is played American comedian Bernie Mac.  I can’t be too critical of Bernie since I couldn’t understand much of what he said.  He has a new sidekick too – a kid called Max who wins the award for the most useless person in a supporting role.

During the closing credits, we get the now familiar look at all the outtakes.  These aren’t amusing in the slightest and it highlights just how ignorant these actors are.  Just because you are having fun on the set doesn’t necessarily mean your audience will.  The credits close with Diaz, Barrymore and Liu laughing hysterically.  I believe those scenes were shot when the day they received their multi-million dollar pay checks.

Action aside, the film gets really nasty when it goes for the heart-strings.  A sub-plot involves Barrymore leaving the Angels because she doesn’t want her own past jeopardising their lives.  I can put up with bad action but if you’re going to trivialise it with sappy emotional stuff, then that’s the final straw.

I have never seen the Charlie’s Angles television series but I’m positive that it was more interesting that this tripe.  Action is a popular genre but this is pure overkill.