Wednesday, 22 December 1999

continued...

THE HURRICANE:
This much is crystal clear. Denzel Washington is one of the few true movie stars left on this planet. I'm not talking box office. I'm talking raw kinetic power. And he gives his most mesmerizing performance ever in The Hurricane. He was great in Malcolm X, but there he had to keep his fury under wraps for most of the picture. In this movie, you look right into his soul in every close-up. Really remarkable.

So, how's the movie, you ask?

I feel like I'm giving the same review over and over this year. Great this, great that, but such and such is a problem. But these are the films I have seen this year. And I think it's why the Oscar race seems to be so open. Lots of really good film and few that seem to knock you out.

The Hurricane tells an incredible real-life story. It has all the twists and turns of any great drama. And it ends strong. But the way the pieces were put together left me frustrated throughout the film.

The movie, once called Lazarus & The Hurricane, its proper title, is the story of how a young boy named Lesra (short for Lazarus) buys Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's bio as the first book he ever owned outside of schoolbooks. And as he reads the story of how Carter had been railroaded into a murder conviction and a sentence of double -life, it inspires him to write Carter. Subsequently, it leads to a life-absorbing effort to free this man, wrongfully jailed for decades. Powerful, powerful stuff.

My problem is that the movie takes a full act and a half to really get where it's going. What does this kid have to do with Rubin Carter, whose life history we are getting served up as we see the kid and his support group intercut? It struck me as though the effort was being made to focus on Denzel, the star of the movie, from the first frames and "we'll get to the kid in time." And indeed, the third act of the movie is so powerful that applause and standing ovations seem to greet the ending in city after city. But I just didn't think that the editing was very creative. Director Norman Jewison told us at the junket that the structure was as written on the page and that there wasn't any restructuring from his 3 hour-plus first cut, just slimming cuts to the body. (There was a clear loss of meat from performances by Clancy Brown and the Canadian trio, fine actors all. At least Jewison got Rod Steiger to wear the complete wardrobe as Da Judge in this one, as opposed to his turn in Crazy In Alabama.) I would say, start the movie with The Kid and The Hurricane meeting for the first time and then work backwards and then forward. But they are the heart of the story. Their interaction. Their love.

And once again, after all that, I'll tell you that the movie is well worth your money and time. For a change, I don't envy an Oscar voter a decision. If Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe could share the bald guy for two extremely different performances, there would be justice in this world. (And yes, I expect to see all that Spacey e-mail. It is a great performance, but one we've seen before from Spacey, and one which we will see again. I love Spacey's work since Wiseguy and he will get his share of Oscars. But these two guys were working out of themselves and were mind-blowing in a way that Spacey's character was more than Spacey's performance was.)

THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY:
Ah, peace.

Word on the street was that Ripley was trouble. That Minghella was a one-trick pony. (I, of course, wasn't sure what trick they referred to, as I love Truly, Madly Deeply and really liked Mr. Wonderful as an imperfect film with some great moments.) That Gwyneth and Matt were about to be tarnished. Bzzt! WRONG!

The Talented Mr. Ripley is one of this year's best "movie movies." It is stylish. It is tricky. It is ostentatiously acted. In one word, it is absolutely terrific fun. Oops... couldn't restrain myself. You know the story from the trailer and the ads (which give away too much for the sake of marketing). Thomas Ripley is sent by a rich man to bring his rich son home from Europe to settle down and become a hard working domestic aristocrat. Ripley gets one taste of the good life and he is hooked and hooked bad. What will he do to maintain his newfound joy? Mwah-ha-ha!

I've never seen Rene Clement's Purple Noon, his 1960 version of the same Patricia Highsmith book. I bought the film on the Internet immediately after seeing Minghella's film, but I still haven't found 118 minutes to watch it. It will take a little longer than that to watch The Talented Mr. Ripley and some have objected to that. Not I. As I said to a friend almost immediately after walking out of the theater, "I might have wanted to cut out 20 minutes or so, but I'll be damned if I can tell you where I would cut a minute."

This is Damon's most challenging role and he pulls it off. Our Little Gwynnie fills the bill. But it is the supporting performances that are really worth price of admission all by themselves. Jude Law is a revelation. I know I'm late onto this train, as some of my female readers like to remind me. But wow! This guy should get the movie star leads. You wanna talk 27-year-old Annakin Skywalkers... this is your man. The only problem may be his height. (How tall is he?) Cate Blanchett continues to burrow herself into my heart as an actress of unlimited skill. She may be the Vanessa Redgrave of her generation (sans Palestinian activism, I hope). And Phillip Seymour Hoffman delivers yet again as a slimey, insidious, spoiled brat who is smarter than all the rest.

Minghella is doing his Hitchcock and he does it damned well, not losing any of his style but managing to find the hooks that made Hitchcock a master of the genre. If there is dark horse in the Oscar race this year, Mr. Ripley is the man. Couldn't get much darker... but you won't have a lot more fun in a darkened hall this winter either.

READER OF THE DAY:
The G-Man writes: "I just read your recap of the Golden Globes nominations, and wanted to write in about something you mentioned: the concept of an "Internet Movie Awards". There is such a thing, and the nominations will be announced on December 27th, 1999, with the awards themselves being announced in the first week of January. They are the Online Film Critics Society Awards, chosen by the 100+ members of this association of film critics who write primarily for an Internet audience. The URL is http://www.ofcs.org (or click here) where you can find an index of reviews by OFCS members, as well member profiles, opinion pieces, and interviews."

E ME: Okay, I'm busted. We have a little something in the works here at roughcut too. I can't tell you too much about it yet, but in the new year, TNT and roughcut will be giving the world a chance to offer its opinion in a big, big way. But don't let that stop you from e-ing me about today's reviews.

HOLIDAY SCHEDULE:
Thursday, 12/23 - Oscar Predictions
Friday, 12/24 - Twas The Night Before Christmas `99
Monday, 12/27 - Weekend Review
Tuesday, 12/28 - Top Ten Movies I Just Don't Get
Wednesday, 12/29 - The Worst Ten of 1999
Thursday, 12/30 - The Best Ten Films of 1999
Friday, 1/1/00 - New Year's Resolutions
Monday, 1/4/00 - Hot Button 2000 begins