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Classic Movie of the Week OnM - June 29, 2002 ******* I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which, when you looked at it in the right way, did not become still more complicated. ............ Poul Anderson ******* I am for integrity, if only because life is very short and truth is hard to come by. ............ Kermit Eby ******* The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. ............ Allan K. Chalmers ******* Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great. ............ Comte DeBussy-Rabutin ******* One of the most common 'new' film genres to emerge within the last half-century is the so-called 'teen film'. I tend to think that this is primarily due to the fact that at some point in time, the demographics of theater attendance shifted in such a way that persons below the age of 25 or so became the predominate attendees at movie screenings, at least in the United States. Adolescence and young adulthood has always presented a challenging situation to live through, and so like any potential drama, it can become the source of artistic inspiration. Unfortunately, over the last decade or two, artistic inspiration has increasingly taken a back seat to commercialization, since the major difference between the kids who were kids when I was a kid (the 50's and 60's) and the kids who would be my kids if I had had kids is that the latter have more discretionary income to spend. Going to see a movie was big deal when I was in my late zeroes and early teens. There were no such things as videos-- VCR's didn't exist on the consumer market until the mid-70's. So, you either saw a movie on TV, which is where I saw most of mine, or once in a rare while-- maybe every month or so-- the family packed up and headed out to the local movie house. When videotape did start to become popular, it spawned an attitude in the hearts and minds of Hollywood's PTB that still exists to this day in one strangely permuted form or another, an attitude pretty much summed up with the simple words WE'RE DOOMED!!!. Yes, paranoia strikes deep-- into their lives it did creep. It starts when you're always afraid that someone's going to take the money away. You've heard me rant and rave on numerous occasions about the perversion of the original intent of a movie's creative vision by subjecting widescreen films to the editing knife of the so-called 'pan and scan' method that makes the image fit onto our narrow, squarish TV screens. What you may not know is that the whole concept of widescreen movies first came about circa the 50's because Hollywood was completely and totally freaked about this new medium called 'television', and how it could theoretically make theater audiences vanish faster than a board post sucked into the Voy Archive Vacuum. The producers and other money-fronters were positive that no one would go out to see an movie in a theater if they could watch it 'for free' at home on the tube. So, one of the results of this competition led filmmakers to do something that the viewer couldn't get within the teensy confines of his or her domicile-- a really large, very wide screen, that made for a far more significant visual involvement for said viewer. Also, there was this clever new sound thing called 'stereo', and the film industry also rapidly embraced this reality-enhancing technology, and went on to become one of the earliest purveyors of the concept in the public domain. This give and take between the film industry and it's technological competitors has gone on ever since, in a pattern very similar to Elisabeth Kubler Ross' 'Stages of Dying'. You know-- Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Acceptance, etc. It would be nice if all this was about supporting the artists who make film creativity possible, but actually it's more about glomming onto the cash that large theater audiences bring in. And today, the audience is increasingly younger and younger, and wealthier and wealthier. So, we shouldn't be surprised that we get to see so many youth films that are boring, repetitive and derivative, because that's the monetarily 'safe' way to make them-- formula sells, that's why it's 'formula'. Take a little adolescent angst, mix in some sleazy sex, the occasional random banal 'insight' and pretensions of 'growth', and there you be-- rollin' in moola. But it isn't always so. Some filmmakers, like Cameron Crowe, the writer and director of this week's Classic Movie, Say Anything... not only understands the mind and heart of the youth of today, they care enough to treat that mind and heart with intelligence and respect. The same elements are there-- angst, sexuality, insights, growth-- but they are portrayed with the understanding that the events of adolescence and early adulthood act to direct powerful forces that shape our later lives for better or worse. Joss understands this also, of course-- even while setting his 'morality plays' within the classic structures of the fantasy and horror genre, he infuses his visions with 'reality'-- acknowledging the fact that at the time, surviving high school is an ordeal, not getting a date for the prom is the end of the world, and all those other things many adults tend to snicker self-righteously about because they've effectively repressed all of their own horrific memories and so can no longer identify with their own children. Crowe, like Whedon, seems to have never grown up completely, and so can still write very effective descriptions about what it is like to be young and vulnerable and attempt to make sense of a typically non-sensible world. Further, not only can he write brilliantly, but he can successfully integrate the power of the word with the power of the image, and then complete the cinematic triad by choosing some of the more subtly skilled actors to portray his protagonists and the others that interact with them. This man has a great gift, there is no two ways to it. Say Anything... plays out a classic dramatic motif, namely a love story between a young man and woman. The lead male role is played by the very talented actor John Cusack. His character, Lloyd Dobler, has just graduated from high school, and isn't really sure what he wants to do with his life career-wise, (other than emphatically not buying, selling, or processing anything), but one thing that he does know for sure is that he is irrepressibly drawn to the considerable charms of one Diane Court, played with glorious craft and subtlety by folksinger Donovan Leitch's daughter, Ione Skye. Both these actors bespeak a brilliant casting choice from a standpoint of looks and personality. Even though early on in the film one of the other students refers to Diane as 'a brain in a model's body' or words to that effect, Skye most assuredly isn't a typical 'model', she's far too 'normal' looking for an attractive person, if that makes any sense. (It will if you see or have seen the film). The very same is true with Cusack and Lloyd-- he's quite handsome, but still within a range that makes him approachable, and sympathetic. That Crowe is 'daring' enough to depict Diane and Lloyd as 'normal' teens says a lot for his obvious willingness to put art before income, since here is very little present in this movie for a studio marketing department to relentlessly hype up. Lloyd is just a 'regular guy' who is driven enough to ignore the well-meant recommendations of his best friends (interestingly, two of the closest ones being female) and just go and call up the beautiful class 'brain' he is so smitten with. Diane, who is initially politely dismissive, becomes slowly charmed by Lloyd's quiet sense of humor and gentlemanly behavior. What starts out as a friendship based on mutual respect soon grows into what Diane only half-teasingly refers to as 'friends with potential', and then as the weeks of the summer pass by, goes farther yet. Crowe has the self-confidence in his story and his actors to 'ease back' and let things happen at a pace they naturally would, and so allow the viewing audience the chance to grow with and then inhabit the lives of these two young people. Even though Lloyd and Diane are of above average intelligence, their youth makes it only reasonable that they would still be awkward or nervous at times, as they examine the degree of love and trust they share. As such, we never get to see any scene that seems forced upon the characters purely for 'ratings'-- i.e., gratuitous sex, pointlessly raunchy language, or behavior wildly and erratically out of character just for the sake of a 'cheap laugh'. The various supporting characters are wonderful also, especially Lloyd's girl friends (not girlfriends, please note!) D.C. and Corey (Amy Brooks and Lili Taylor respectively). While technically a 'supporting' role, John Mahoney as Diane's father, James Court, is more of a third lead, as far as I'm concerned. His relationship with his daughter is of a type that is almost never depicted in the youth film market, namely one in which she loves and admires him, and he his daughter in return. James is never once made the butt of a stupid joke, portrayed as a mindless, clueless idiot, or shown as the stereotypical uninvolved or distant parent. This factor of and by itself is, sadly, enough to make Say Anything... almost revolutionary. If you've never seen this movie before, you are in for one of the best two hours in the dark you are ever likely to have. There are many reasons why several well-respected film critics have placed this flick on their 'best of all time' lists, and your own humble movie-man certainly joins them in that opinion. This is a film that can be viewed over and over, and gets better and better with each viewing. It is one of the best films I have reviewed since I started writing this column, and if you go back over the list, you'll see that's saying a lot. And I would never just 'say anything' like that if I didn't really feel that way, now would I?
"Honest Weight, No Springs", OnM
******* Technically I could say anything to you, but as usual I did actually look this stuff up: Say Anything... is available on DVD. The review copy was on laserdisc, unfortunately in a pan'n'scan version. (Ya take what ya can get sometimes, and p'n's laser is still way better than p'n's VHS, ja?) The original theatrical aspect ratio is 1.85:1, which very likely is preserved on the DVD version. Running time was 1 hour and 40 minutes. The film was produced by James L. Brooks, Paul Germain, Richard Marks and Polly Platt. Director Cameron Crowe also wrote the screenplay. Cinematography was by László Kovács with film editing by Richard Marks. Production design was by Mark W. Mansbridge, with set decoration by Joe D. Mitchell and costume design by Jane Ruhm. The original theatrical soundtrack was presented in standard Dolby Surround. The film contains quite a large roster of songs contributed by a raft of popular artists, and as usual with Crowe films, really work synergistically in conjunction with the cinematography and script work. Cast overview:
John Cusack .... Lloyd Dobler ******* Miscellaneous: While watching Say Anything again prior to writing this weeks column, and noting the truly wonderful performance by Ione Skye, I couldn't help but think that 'here was a very talented actress, and she seems to have almost disappeared from view' movie-wise. Did she get tired of the grind? Want to start a family? Is really really picky about choosing scripts? I wonder what's she's been doing all these years. Well, a quick 'ol visit to the IMDb sure set me straight-- Ione is making beaucoup flicks, just not many mainstream ones. Check out this list: Birth name Ione Skye Leitch, born September 4th, 1971, in Hertfordshire, England, UK Actress - filmography:
Angryman (2001) Wow-- now thassa lotta work, it just appears that we haven't seen very much of it. So, now you can go look up some of these and thereby annoy the rental store people who don't understand why you aren't renting the latest inane blockbuster of the month which, hey, they've got tons of in stock!. ******* The Question of the Week: So far, I'm still diligently waiting to view a film treatment that accurately illustrates my actual youth experiences. Oh, there are bit and pieces here and there that they get right, but mostly I look at movies like Say Anything... and then get all emotional and whimper "Now why can't that be me?? Why didn't I get to date Ione Skye?" (Better to have loved and lost, my ass... humph.) Of course, the fact that she was born about three months after I graduated from high school could be a factor there. Ah well... Have you ever gone into the dark of the theater and later came out, blinking and squinting in the bright light of day, saying to yourself, 'Self, that was me! Wow!' If so, what was the film, and why was it your life? That be it, dear friends, so until next week, by all means post 'em if you've got 'em, and take care! See ya!
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