September 27, 2004

I was thinking about doing a Yom Kippur column, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought that inflicting The Day of Atonement on the film business was just too extreme for virtually anything that goes public in the business. Like a movie, hate a movie, have a tawdry celebrity affair, fail to succeed… it's just not biblical enough to be worthy of atonement.

But it did occur to me, especially after repeated chats with one of the brighter young lights of the film industry this weekend, that atonement for the many personal sins that occur behind the scenes could not be more appropriate. Making a bad movie is not a sin… being cruel to your assistant is. The politics of the greenlight is not a sin… screwing the talent at the heart of your greenlight is. Making a bad movie look good with clever advertising is not a sin… making a good movie bad by interfering too much is… well, I'm not sure that is a sin either. But it is a deeply sad choice to make.

It is so easy to get caught up in the "oh my god" of all of this stuff we chatter about every day. And I have to say, the "it's only a movie" argument doesn't really fly for me. Every movie is the work and aspiration and potential of dozens if not hundreds of souls. It's not "just a movie." But it is all too often that we, as journalists and as members of the public, get caught up in the least important parts of "The Movie" and forget to look at the other layers.

If movies mean nothing then nothing means anything. And if movies mean everything than everything means nothing. Amen.

Speaking of meaning nothing…

Shall We Dance sneak-previewed around the country this weekend, the obvious notion being that positive, not negative, word of mouth would be the result. Miramax is not a dumb company, so I must be missing the point.

I am a big fan of the original Japanese film, Shall We Dance?. Miramax released, succeeded with, and then kind of abandoned that film during its initial release. There was another gear available, in my opinion, but the remake plans were already underway and establishing the Japanese version too successfully could not help the English-language remake.

I am also a big fan of Peter Chelsom, who has been a good choice for both Town & Country and this film… in concept. But Chelsom's gifts are not terribly powerful in overcoming bad screenplays. And Audrey Wells' screenplay for remaking the original film is nothing less than disastrous.

The core of the original was ennui. Simply, almost every character in the film was suffering some form of it. And while there was always the subtext of a possible romance, the heart of the film was the power and emotion of the dance. Wells' screenplay is not only a grotesquely Hollywood version of the tale but, at times, a virtual cartoon.

One of the other big signs of trouble is the casting. Richard Gere not only started this movie after shooting Chicago, in which he became a known quantity as a dancer but, as was a major problem in his film Unfaithful, the idea that this guy is unhappy and needs dance to bring him to life just doesn't fly. Jennifer Lopez as a shy, retiring, broken dancer is like hiring Cindy Crawford to play a young woman who is emotionally damaged because she has a mole on her face. And Stanley Tucci, who seems to have little range as an actor beyond inappropriate machismo, is far too macho to play a guy who hides behind a wig. Truth be told, he not only seems more real without it… he actually looks much better without it on every level. (Seth Green might have been a great choice for the role.)

Lisa Ann Walter, who I have always liked as an actress, is another perfect example of how they missed on this film. Her character in the original is obnoxious and irritating, but she is an absolute necessity to the make dancers in the class. We never really believe that Ms. Walter can dance that well here. There is nothing to make up for her extreme obnoxiousness. Likewise, Anita Gillette who can act and dance like a trooper, is reduced to a flask-sneaking quick punchline.

The only part of the film that really sings is Richard Jenkins as a private eye who is hired to see what Gere's character is up to. He and Nick Cannon are a team that you wish was in I Heart Huckabees. They are funny and quirky and honest and clever. But they cannot fight the wave of dumb that sweeps past them.

There were two options in remaking Shall We Dance? You could do a film that worked to maintain the themes of the original. Or you could "go Hollywood" and tart the thing up real good. But Wells does neither. She has written a hybrid that is neither fish nor foul. And then it was cast about as wrong as wrong can be. These are good actors… but they are wrong for the roles. I always imagined - eight years ago when the Japanese film was in release in the U.S. - Harrison Ford as The Guy. You can feel the weight of the world in his face. And watching him transform into a ballroom dancer would be eye-popping. A taciturn actor like Viggo Mortensen would have been really interesting in the role. Jennifer Lopez might have worked in this role before she was "J-Lo," but not now.

Anyway… it is terrible unfortunate. The original was just so, so good. But there was no sin… just some bad decisions.

READER OF THE DAY: MJ HANDER writes: "I don't want to come across as some pissed off reader, but today's column (THB 9/24) left me really ambivalent. I just scrolled down after two or three graphs to look for another subhead item that was never there. Mainly because it was something that felt so inside, that the average film fan or reader had no idea what you're talking about. You just jumped into the column with little insight into the source of what got your dander up. By the time you presumably got to it, I was gone.

I think you're at your best when you champion certain films and pick out stars in films who have potential. I know I am going to sound two-faced, but I like your comment on industry box office and I think that's been sorely missing from the column. I miss the weekly Friday box office preview.

I know we're knee deep in the dregs of early September, but there's got to be something or someone really in film to talk about.

Sorry to bitch, man. Been a loyal reader as far back as the TNT days."

E-Me. Without bitching there would be no Hot Button. Sorry about the abrupt launch of that column, but with MCN and The Hot Blog going along each day, I sometimes forget to lay groundwork in The Hot Button. That said, the column goes in a lot of different directions every week… every month… every year. Your opinion is noted… and the beat goes on…