Academy Awards

Tomorrow is the Academy Awards, and predictions abound as the night draws near. Who will win the big honors?

I haven’t seen all of the nominated films. After all, I work full-time, and movies are an average of two hours long, sometimes longer, and there is only so much time. But I have seen all of the Best Picture/Best Director nominees (they are one and the same). Looking back at what I saw, I realized that the five nominated films have in common that each illuminate people struggling with moral dilemmas.

It’s tough to pick just one film to win the top honors as Best Picture, but my award would go to Crash. To me, it is the most ambitious of any of the films, showing Los Angeles as the community of diversity it is, and what the challenges are to individuals caught in their divergent as well as interconnecting lives.

Best Director I’d give to George Clooney for Good Night, and Good Luck. It amazed me how the actors’ scenes could be mingled with live news footage from the era depicted. I think it took a strong vision to make that work, and the director is best given credit for it.

I think Philip Seymour Hoffman should win for Best Actor in Capote. The nuances of his performance as Truman Capote gave substance to a film that could have been just another biopic. We see Capote change as he researches and writes his book, and as he grows to know his subjects and mourn for them.

Best Actress is something I don’t know much about as I only saw one of the actresses in a nominated film, Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line. But let’s give it to her. She won the Golden Globe for her performance, and it was well deserved. Speaking of Walk the Line, Joaquin Phoenix was amazing as Johnny Cash, and it is one of my favorite films of the year.

All that said, Brokeback Mountain is likely to win top honors. It was a groundbreaking film because of its subject matter, but in retrospect, I wanted more from it. It never told me why these two men fell in love, only that they did. Still, it showed the ramifications of their relationship in a society that does not value or accept diversity, and is an important film.

Lastly, don’t miss The Constant Gardener. I was surprised it did not snag a nomination as Best Picture. Whereas Munich left me feeling rather hopeless about the state of the world, surprisingly The Constant Gardener did not. If you only rent one of these movies, make it that one.

Capote

Capote is nominated for five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Director, Actor (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Supporting Actress (Catherine Keener) and Adapted Screenplay. Dan Futterman, who had read The Journalist and the Murderer by Janet Malcolm, and then Capote: A Biography by Gerald Clarke, was inspired to write the screenplay. The film is about Capote as he researches and writes his most famous book,
In Cold Blood, a work that redefined modern non-fiction.

Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Truman Capote, who is an already famous writer for the New Yorker in 1959, when he reads a news article about a family of four senselessly murdered in Kansas. He heads to Kansas to research and write the story of the crime. His traveling companion and friend is Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), a famous author in her own right, who penned the classic To Kill A Mockingbird. Chris Cooper plays the Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent whom Capote wins over during his research.

Capote ends up developing a friendship with one of the murderers, a young man named Perry Smith. Capote witnesses his humanity, and is forever changed by having met and learned to know him. He discovers that he and Perry came from similar backgrounds of maternal abandonment, and says to Harper Lee, “It's as if Perry and I grew up in the same house. And one day he went out the back door and I went out the front.” Despite this identification, Capote shamelessly lies to Perry in order to get him to disclose the story of the murders, stopping at nothing to get his story.

The film is rated R for some violent images and brief strong language. It is just 98 minutes long, and perfectly constructed from beginning to end. Mr. Hoffman gives his best performance yet as the quirky celebrity Capote, whose initial self-centeredness gives way to compassion and grief when the executions finally happen. He paid a high price for getting the story In Cold Blood down on paper, and Mr. Hoffman is able to portray Capote’s turmoil very effectively. In fact, at the end of Capote, I and the rest of the audience sat stunned and quiet as the credits began to roll, collecting our thoughts after a film that illuminated both Truman Capote’s life and the tragedy that became his own.

Good Night, and Good Luck

The historical drama Good Night, and Good Luck is nominated for six Academy Awards: Best Picture, Director George Clooney, Actor David Strathairn, Original Screenplay written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Cinematography, and Art Direction. The film evokes the era of the 1950’s in America, from its black and white cinematography, to the constant cigarette smoking by nearly everyone who walks onscreen. Laced throughout the action is Dianne Reeves singing jazz that is not only beautiful to listen to, but also helps illustrate the times.

The cast worked well together and featured such renowned actors as Robert Downey, Jr., Patricia Clarkson, George Clooney, Jeff Daniels, Tate Donovan, and Frank Langella. It is rated PG, and gets its story told in a sparse 93 minutes. Central to the film is David Strathairn playing Edward R. Murrow, the famous broadcast journalist who would not compromise his values while delivering the news.

In the early 1950’s, communism was made to be a serious threat to the United States, and fueling the paranoia was Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin. CBS reporter Murrow and producer Fred Friendly (George Clooney) agreed to launch fair and accurate reporting on McCarthy, even though it could have had serious repercussions for the network.

The film not only documents the showdown between Murrow and McCarthy, it also subtly illuminates the parallels between the political climate of the 1950’s and today. Murrow makes some observations about television that ring true even now; how the medium can entertain, amuse and insulate the public, or if used in another way, can serve to teach, illuminate, and inspire. The choice is ours.

This is a thoughtful and well-executed film, at turns humorous, sad, and inspiring. If you don’t get to see it before its run is through at the theaters, by all means go out and rent it. George Clooney did an amazing job directing this film, sure to be a classic. Interspersed between the acting is actual footage of Senator McCarthy from the 1950’s, so no actor had to portray him in the movie. The exquisite black and white cinematography pulls the actual footage and the film together seamlessly. Good Night, and Good Luck is yet another film from this year worthy of showing to students on campuses everywhere.

Munich

Munich is nominated for Best Picture, and Steven Spielberg for Best Director. It is rated R for strong graphic violence, some sexual content, nudity and language. The screenplay was based on the book
Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas, and the film’s most notable actor is Geoffrey Rush.

Eric Bana is Avner, the leader of a group of five men instructed to assassinate the men believed responsible for planning the murders of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Note that the film was “inspired by real events,” which means some liberty was taken to make a film that would make the story cinematically appealing, and not just a documentary.

It is a long movie, 164 minutes, and I didn’t like it much at first. Spielberg drew me in though, slowly and inexorably. I was only 17 years old when this happened, and so I didn’t know much about it. The message I was left with at the end of the movie is that an eye for an eye, or more violence as payment for violence, has no end. There is also a disturbing segment near the end of the film where the violence toward the Israelis’ is juxtaposed with images of Avner having sex with his wife. I don’t think a film should ever have violence and sex put together that way, and I think Spielberg made a mistake in doing that. If he was trying to make the viewer feel unsettled, it worked. In retrospect, perhaps he was trying to make a point about the contradictions in an assassin’s life.

The film would be put to good use by showing it on college campuses in philosophy or history classes. What it did well was show the ambivalence the assassins had for the job they were carrying out. The sets, costumes and music are impeccably rendered to evoke the early 1970’s. Watching it on DVD would be the way to see it because there are some interesting things being said in subtitles that go by very quickly in the theater. At home you could skip back to read it again more slowly if necessary.

At the end of the film Spielberg shows the twin towers as seen across the river from Brooklyn, and it confirmed for me that 35 years later, the killing continues to go on and on and hasn’t solved anything.

War of the Worlds

Tom Cruise, Tim Robbins, and Dakota Fanning head up this science fiction/ action/adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is based on H. G. Wells
The War of the Worlds.

It’s loud, suspenseful, scary, and those creatures from outer space really test the Ferrier family: Tom Cruise is Ray, a divorced father of two; Dakota Fanning is his daughter Rachel; and Justin Chatwin is his son Robbie. The film is rated PG-13 for frightening sequences of sci-fi violence and disturbing images. Tim Robbins appears as Harlan Ogilvy, a crazed survivor of the attack that Ray has to deal with later in the film.

Ray is taking care of his children while his pregnant ex-wife and her new husband go away for the weekend. Ray is a working class man, who lives beneath a bridge in New Jersey. The unthinkable happens, as repeated lightening strikes energize alien tripod fighting machines buried beneath the earth. Panic ensues, people are dying (really being vaporized so just their clothes are left, an interesting sci-fi special effect), and Ray heads out of town with his children.

Ray is not a super hero kind of guy. He hasn’t been the greatest father, and the mass hysteria really challenges him. Robbie however, rises to the occasion and attempts to save people. They are separated, and Ray is then solely in charge of Rachel. They meet Harlan at that point, and hide in a basement hoping the aliens won’t find them. Ray and Rachel’s goal is to make it to Boston to where the children’s mother is staying.

I liked that War of the Worlds wasn’t a movie about superheroes in the face of a dire emergency. These were regular people who have problems, and are sorely tested in a time of crisis. The movie is very suspenseful, had my attention from beginning to end, but any creatures from outer space just look stupid to me. Despite my problems with fake aliens and machines that walk around, the drama of the family fighting for survival was what kept the film interesting. Morgan Freeman’s distinctive voice handles the narration, just brief segments prior to and at the end of the film. And a clue for you (I hardly ever give clues): What ends up being humans’ salvation is what lies within us.

Walk the Line

I must confess I am not a fan of country/western music. But I am interested in the history of American music, and because Johnny Cash is a musical legend, I went to see Walk the Line. I was entertained and very impressed.

It is no wonder Joaquin Phoenix was nominated for an Academy Award this year, as was his costar Reese Witherspoon. Both actors give extraordinary performances; Joaquin sang and played the guitar as Johnny, and Reese as June Carter Cash also sang and played the autoharp.

I had forgotten or not realized that Johnny Cash came along in the same era as Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison. Walk the Line is thus a trip to the roots of a new time for American music in the 50’s and 60’s, and I enjoyed the film from beginning to end.

Like Ray, Johnny’s early life had a tragedy that continues to haunt him. Johnny’s life was also complicated by a troubled relationship with his difficult father, an addiction to prescription drugs, and the stress on his marriage to first wife Vivian because of his long absences while on the road.

June Carter deals with her own trials, including ostracism from her religiously fanatical fans that condemn her for getting a divorce. The film is also very much about the romance between Johnny and June, a love story that takes over a decade to resolve, and that never follows a straight line.

I liked seeing how Johnny created his music, and my feet were tapping as the songs I realized I really did know rolled off Joaquin’s lips. He does such an incredible job playing Johnny. His voice is so like the legend. It gave me chills watching him sing Folsom Prison Blues for the very first time in the recording studio. Clearly, Johnny Cash had things he needed to express through his music, and fortunately for us, he did.

The film is rated PG-13 for some language, thematic material and depiction of drug dependency. It really should have received a nomination for Best Picture at the Academy Awards this year. It’s a beautiful romance about soul mates Johnny and June finding a way to be together, and about what Johnny overcame to be the musical legend he remains today.

March of the Penguins

March of the Penguins is nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the upcoming Academy Awards. It is a short 85-minute film narrated beautifully by Morgan Freeman. Rated G, it is appropriate for the whole family.

The emperor penguins that live in Antarctica are creatures of instinct. They march up to 70 miles inland every year in order to mate at the breeding grounds that have been their annual destination for centuries and beyond.

The film is unique in that it shows in close-ups how these penguins care for the egg that will quickly freeze if it has prolonged contact with the ice. The fathers have to shelter the egg in a sort of nest atop their feet, warmed by the fat of their bellies, while the mothers march back to the sea to eat.

Once the mothers are fattened up again, they return and take over. The baby penguins by now have hatched and need the mothers’ food to survive. The fathers return to the sea to eat, and the parents take turns doing these for weeks.

Antarctica is a desolate place, and dangerous even for the penguins. It made me think about the mysterious world we live in, and if there is a purpose in animal behavior beyond reproduction. The narration suggests that the penguins perform these rituals and bear their young, and then care for them under these dire circumstances out of love. Is this just anthropomorphizing that humans tend to do with animals and their actions? Tell me what your philosophy on this is.

The music is very fitting for the film, and I appreciated seeing briefly at the end, footage of the brave souls that went to Antarctica to film the penguins. Another good film I reviewed some time ago is Winged Migration, and I actually liked that film better, and is the one I’d watch over again. It has more incredible scenery and variety of avian species, whereas March of the Penguins of course focuses on one particular species. It is a good film though, and the whole family will enjoy it.

Donovan's Reef

Donovan's Reef from 1963 was directed by John Ford, and stars John Wayne. I read this was the last romantic lead John Wayne played, and it would have been better if the role had been played by someone else. He was far too old to be playing this type of role at the age of 56. Cary Grant can get away with a romantic lead at 60, but John Wayne could not.

I remember watching this movie in my childhood and being fascinated by the culture of the South Pacific. Unfortunately, now I am an adult, the film leaves something to be desired.

John Wayne is Guns Donovan, the owner of a saloon on an island in French Polynesia. Several of his WWII wartime buddies remained on the island after the war, including Dr. William Dedham (Jack Warden), who married a Polynesian woman and had three children. His wife died and he continues to provide medical care for the inhabitants of the island while raising the children on his own.

Dr. Dedham also has a grown daughter Amelia (Elizabeth Allen) who lives in Boston. Legal matters make it imperative that she visit the father she’s never met, and Amelia shows up on the island. Since Dr. Dedham is away, Donovan decides to have the doctor’s three children pretend they are his own, in order to protect the good doctor.

What is interesting about the film are the references to race. Amelia at one point refers to the children who are in reality her half-siblings as “half-castes.” Knowing of the prejudice towards inter-racial marriages is the reason Donovan tries to protect all of the Dedham’s.

There are too many fight scenes about absolutely nothing in this film, one which features Lee Marvin as Gilhooley in a brawl that apparently occurs once a year between him and Donovan simply because they share the same birthday. And Donovan taking Amelia over his knee to spank her is so ridiculous and uncalled for I could hardly bear to watch it.

Pluses are the costumes by Edith Head, and a really cute Christmas Eve service. Cesar Romero and Dorothy Lamour also show up in this film, and they are fun to watch. You might enjoy Donovan's Reef just to see what the early 60’s promoted in the movies, or to see the beautiful South Pacific, but as a romantic comedy, it falls far short of the others I’ve reviewed recently.

That Touch of Mink

That Touch of Mink is a romantic comedy from 1962. Doris Day was 38 years old when she made this film that won Best Motion Picture-Comedy at the Golden Globes, and the Writers Guild of America Best Written American Comedy for that year. The romantic male lead is Cary Grant, who was 58 at the time of the movie.

Cathy Timberlake (Doris Day) is a beautiful woman looking for work in New York City. Her best friend Connie (Audrey Meadows) gives her advice about her love life, sometimes at the curious restaurant where she works.

One rainy day Philip Shayne (Cary Grant) is being chauffeured in his car, and it splashes a puddle of water on Cathy quite badly. He wants to apologize to her and so sends his associate Roger (Gig Young) to find her. Roger is a very funny character in this movie, constantly in analysis, which was really big back then.

Roger finds Cathy and brings her up to Philip’s offices. Philip quickly invites her to spend the day with him, and Cathy goes along, as she is completely smitten with him. During this day with Philip, Cathy watches him deliver a great speech to the United Nations, and they attend a baseball game where three famous Yankees have cameo roles in the movie.

At the end of the day, Philip invites Cathy to accompany him on a trip to Bermuda and then to Paris, etc. Cathy has to think this over, because what Philip is lacking in his invitation is a marriage proposal. She eventually decides to go through with it, and Philip sends her shopping for clothes. This story is a bit like Pretty Woman, but without the sex. Cathy must get really tired defending her virtue all the time, whereas Julia Roberts never had to.

John Astin has a role playing Mr. Beasley at the unemployment office who has his sights on Cathy, and he figures prominently at the end of the film. It is a cute, funny comedy, and if you just want some light entertainment and a reminder of what the world was like in the early 60’s, That Touch of Mink is the one for you.

The Constant Gardener

The Constant Gardener is well worth the price of a rental or purchase of the DVD. It is a suspense thriller with elements of romance. Rachel Weisz won a Golden Globe for her performance in the best supporting actress category, and is nominated for an Academy Award as well. She is luminous in her role as Tessa, an outspoken idealist married to Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), a member of the British High Commission. Quayle’s assignment leads them to Kenya, where Tessa soon becomes involved in social justice issues, and her involvement places her in danger.

Tessa gets too close to the truth about the drug testing being performed by pharmaceutical corporations that use poverty stricken natives to further their corporate agendas. As a result, Tessa is murdered, and her husband seeks to find the truth about her, both as his wife, and as a murder victim. Justin is the gardener in the title who uses this avocation to modulate his feelings and order his life.

The cinematography in The Constant Gardener is unique and filled with movement, the images of the people of Kenya haunting and real. The film is rated R for language, some violent images and sexual content/nudity, but it is really not an objectionable film at all. The allusions to violence are more disturbing than what is shown, and the sexuality is not explicit, really just showing the loving relationship between Justin and Tessa. So I wouldn’t be concerned about the R rating. This is an important film, and one of the best I’ve seen in the last few months.

Bill Nighy ( love actually) plays Sir Bernard Pellegrin, an evil and soul-less man, and Mr. Nighy shows how diverse an actor he is when you see both his performances in these two very different films. The film is also nominated for adapted screenplay at the Academy Awards (from the John le Carre novel).

Ralph Fiennes gives an amazing performance as a man first in shock, and then grieving the loss of his wife. In his search for the truth, he comes to appreciate his wife for who she really was, and it changes him in the process. I found that I wasn’t feeling depressed by the film at the end, but rather more hopeful that there are people in the world who will risk their lives to expose corporate greed and abuse of innocent people. This is a must see film.

love actually

The British film love actually received two Golden Globe nominations, one for best screenplay, and one for best motion picture (musical/comedy). It is rated R for sexuality, nudity and language and was released in 2003. I had forgotten that Christmas figures prominently in this film, and I think it would be a good film for adults to watch at Christmas time. But don’t wait till the season is upon us once again. Get it for Valentine’s Day.

This romantic comedy stars so many great actors, it is hard to know where to start. The ensemble cast swirl in and out of each other’s lives, each one having a different lesson to learn about love. I counted at least nine story lines in this movie.

Daniel (Liam Neeson) has lost his wife, and becomes the sole caregiver for his stepson, who has a bad case of puppy love. Jamie Bennett (Colin Firth) is sent reeling from his relationship into relative seclusion at a villa where he meets a beautiful Portuguese woman. Neither of them speaks the other’s language. Hugh Grant is the Prime Minister who finds Natalie, one of his domestic employees, to be very distracting. His sister Karen (Emma Thompson) has two children and is married to Harry (Alan Rickman) who is sorely tempted by a young woman at work. Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) is an aging rock star whose long-suffering agent has devised a Christmas comeback for him. Juliet (Keira Knightley) marries and discovers that her husband’s best friend has a crush on one of them. Sarah (Laura Linney) is not so secretly in love with a co-worker, but is the sole comfort of her mentally ill brother. And possibly my favorite is the young British man who decides American women would embrace him because he is British, and flies off to Wisconsin of all places to meet the women of his dreams. Billy Bob Thornton has a cameo role as the President of the United States, and Denise Richards and Claudia Schiffer also appear briefly.

One story line has an X-rated movie being filmed where the two stars shyly begin a relationship. My sister took two elderly women to the theater to see this film when it first came out, and they all indignantly left when these scenes appeared. That’s an R rating for you. If that sort of thing doesn’t bother you, rent love actually. It would be a shame to miss such beauty and fun and really touching moments because of that one small part of the movie. The only unsatisfying story for me was the one about Sarah and her mentally ill brother, which is totally sad.

I loved how Hugh Grant played the Prime Minister. He has to really stand up to the President, and I feel like cheering every time he makes his speech. He also has a wonderful scene when he is searching for Natalie and some little girls get him to sing some “carol songs.”

There is a message to this movie and it is that

love, actually, is all around. Have your tissues handy.

Three to Tango

Matthew Perry, Neve Campbell, and Dylan McDermott star in this light romantic comedy with a message. Three to Tango was released in 1999, and is rated PG-13.

Oscar Novak (Matthew Perry) and Peter Steinberg (Oliver Platt) are architects bidding on a multi-million dollar project funded by wealthy and eccentric Charles Newman (Dylan McDermott). They get a chance at the job, and Charles then asks/tells Oscar to spy on his mistress Amy Post (Neve Campbell). Charles believes that Amy is safe with Oscar, as he was told that Oscar is gay. Oscar does not realize when he agrees to the task that Charles thinks he is gay, which he is not.

Amy is a glassblower, and Oscar first meets her at an exhibition of her artwork. They hit it off right away, but Oscar can’t pursue her as everyone thinks he is gay, and if he told the truth about his being straight, he thinks it could cost him and Peter their job. So Oscar pretends to be gay, and becomes friends with Amy. What follows is a very fine, funny, romantic comedy. The message in the movie has to do with Oscar gaining notoriety as an openly gay professional, and him feeling what it must be like for gays who hide who they truly are from the world.

Graeme Revell wrote the film’s music, which features wonderful big band dance music for most of the film. Mr. Revell also wrote the score for The Saint, a very different soundtrack, but also beautiful. The actors have great chemistry, particularly Neve and Matthew, and Dylan is so charming and odd at the same time. Kelly Rowan of The O.C. fame has a small role as Charles’s wife. The Chicago skyline is awesome day and night, as are the scenes along the waterfront. This movie really makes me laugh, and though not a typical Valentine’s Day romantic comedy, it is playful, and just plain great entertainment.

Shall We Dance?

Shall We Dance? is a remake of a 1996 Japanese film of the same name. The Japanese Shall We Dance? film is excellent, and I highly recommend you watch it, as long as you can follow along with the subtitles. Japanese society is much different from American society, and the plot works better coming from that culture.

Having said that, I still appreciated Shall We Dance? released in 2004. Richard Gere is John Clark, a successful attorney who spends his days helping people write their wills, and who has a lovely family. He’s been married to his wife Beverly (Susan Sarandon) for 19 years, and all seems perfect for him out in suburbia: the beautiful house, two wonderful children, and a loving marriage.

But John feels something is lacking in his life. He notices a beautiful woman standing alone in the window of a dance school each night when he commutes home from Chicago on the train. Finally, his curiosity gets the better of him and one night he ventures into the school owned by Miss Mitzi (Anita Gillette). The woman in the window turns out to be Paulina (Jennifer Lopez), who continues to be the mysterious draw for John.

John begins ballroom dance lessons along with two other men, and watching them learn together is delightful. John also discovers that his coworker Link, brilliantly played by Stanley Tucci, is an avid ballroom dancer who keeps his passion for the art secret.

Beverly begins to be suspicious of the changes she and her daughter are seeing in John, and hires Devine (Richard Jenkins), a private detective to trail him. Devine and his classics spouting assistant Scott (Nick Cannon) discover what John is really up to. What happens next is never predictable, and the dancing is wonderful to watch.

When I first saw the film in the theatre, I didn’t like Jennifer Lopez’s performance much. Upon watching it the second time, I appreciated what she did a lot more. Her character is quite depressed when we first meet her, and she brightens up as the story progresses. She is truly an incredible dancer, and shows John and his dance partner Bobbie (Lisa Ann Walter) how to Rumba. She also dances a really great Tango with John.

Other dances they learn are the waltz, the quickstep and the Paso Doble. If you like dancing, you will like this film. It also is very thoughtful about the relationship between John and Beverly. Beverly has some outstanding insights into why people marry that she shares with Devine. It’s a great film for Valentine’s Day, and who knows, may just inspire you to dance.

The Wedding Singer

My sister and her husband introduced me to The Wedding Singer. They always told me about this song in the film they really loved, Grow Old With You (they are such a romantic couple). I was confused about the film at first because it takes place in 1985, and Drew Barrymore, who plays Julia in the film, was only 10 years old then! The film was actually made in 1998, and also stars Adam Sandler as Robbie who is the wedding singer. The film is rated PG-13, and received an award at the MTV Movie Awards for Best Kiss between Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler.

There’s a lot to like about The Wedding Singer. First, it makes great fun of the 1980’s. Think back to that time, and remember Madonna, Boy George, Miami Vice, big hair, and truly horrendous bridesmaids' dresses. People were still renting out bands to play at weddings back then. It was just before DJs took over the task of providing the music at weddings. The music throughout the film is classic 1980’s, and thrown in for good measure are some great songs, some funny, and some sweet, that Adam Sandler helped compose. The music is featured on two CD's: The Wedding Singer and The Wedding Singer 2.

Robbie is engaged to be married to Linda (Angela Featherstone) when he meets Julia at a wedding where he is the entertainment and she is serving as a waitress. Linda breaks it off with Robbie at a most inopportune time, and he is crushed. Julia tries to cheer him up, and he takes on the task of helping Julia plan her wedding to Glenn (Matthew Glave) as Glenn is much too busy making money (and doing what Glenn does), to spend time on something like planning for their wedding.

Robbie and Julia become friends, and Robbie sees Glenn for who he really is, and he’s not someone he thinks should be marrying sweet Julia. You’ll have to rent the DVD to see how it all turns out. The ending features Billy Idol as himself (remember his song White Wedding ?), and is simply great.

Jon Lovitz and Steve Buscemi have small cameo roles. Adam Sandler is just great, especially during his depressed scenes when he has to sing at a wedding, and when he shares a song with Julia that was inspired by the Cure (written half when he was with Linda, and half after she dumped him). Drew is sweet and charming and plays a great romantic lead. I highly recommend The Wedding Singer for your next romantic comedy. Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore later paired in 50 First Dates. Come back for that review some other time.

You've Got Mail

As you can see, I’ve been reviewing quite a few romantic comedies available on video or DVD. I thought that would be appropriate as Valentine’s Day is just around the corner in February.

You've Got Mail is my favorite Nora Ephron movie. It is rated PG and is a delightful romantic comedy set in New York City. Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks star along with Greg Kinnear, Dabney Coleman, Steve Zahn, Heather Burns, Dave Chappelle, and Jean Stapleton.

Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) and Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) have been emailing each other anonymously after a chance meeting in a online chat room. They have avoided revealing identifying details of their lives, yet have developed a strong friendship through their correspondence.

Joe owns Fox Books, which is a large chain of bookstores, and one is being built in the West side neighborhood where Kathleen’s children’s bookstore has existed for over 40 years. Joe and Kathleen meet and do not hit it off, as Fox Books is seen as being a blight to the quaint little neighborhood, and a threat to all independent booksellers.

Meanwhile, Kathleen is getting business advice from Joe via email, neither suspecting the other’s true identity. Neither of them are in satisfactory relationships, and they agree to meet at a café. Joe sees Kathleen waiting for him, and is faced with the realization that the woman of his dreams is Ms. Kelly. He knows she will not be happy to see him, so shows up as Joe Fox, not the man on the internet she’s been waiting to meet.

Kathleen’s bookstore eventually does have to close. While Joe is talking to his father (Dabney Coleman), he realizes that Kathleen is the one single person in the world who fills his heart with joy. So he sets out to win her over.

I appreciate the process of Joe and Kathleen realizing that the person they dislike for their many faults is also the person they are in love with for all the right reasons. The writing by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron is superb, the acting inspired. Tom Hanks plays probably his best romantic role in this film. Meg Ryan is cute and spunky as always while giving depth to Kathleen’s situation and the challenges it brings. I won’t give away the ending, but it is just how a romantic comedy should end, very touching, maybe a few tears shed. You've Got Mail is a great film to watch for Valentine’s Day.

Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain is receiving incredible buzz since it won four categories at the Golden Globes (Best Director for Ang Lee; Best Drama; Best Original Song; Best Screenplay for Larry McMurty and Diana Ossana). The film is rated R for sexuality, nudity, language and some violence.

It is 1963 when the film begins. Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) are two young cowboys sent out to Brokeback Mountain in Wyoming to tend a herd of sheep for the summer. The owner of the herd, Joe Aguirre (Randy Quaid), doesn’t want the forest service to see where his sheep are grazing and gives them strict instructions on how to perform their job in this isolated area.

Ennis is a very quiet young man, but Jack eventually gains his trust, and they begin a sexual relationship one cold night. Ennis makes it clear to Jack that their relationship cannot continue beyond the summer, as he is engaged to be married to Alma (Michelle Williams).

They part at the end of the summer, and go their separate ways, Jack back to Texas, and Ennis to be married and start a family. Jack eventually marries Lureen (Anne Hathaway), the beautiful daughter of a wealthy family, and also starts a family. Jack contacts Ennis after a few years, and they begin to go on “fishing trips” together periodically up on Brokeback Mountain.

Their relationship is not without its trials. Ennis is more in love with Jack than he is with his wife, who discovers the truth the first time the two lovers tryst. Unfortunately, she does not confront Ennis with this knowledge until many years later.

Jack meanwhile cannot exist without sexual encounters with other men, and he frequents Mexico for these affairs. Ennis is jealous of this, and yet will not form any legitimate life with Jack, as he has haunting memories of the torture and murder of a gay man that holds him back from making any commitment to Jack. The cast is absolutely superb together, and I don’t doubt that we will see Academy Award nominations in several categories.

The film boasts incredible mountain scenery, and the original score by Gustavo Santaolalla fits perfectly with all we are seeing. I recommend this film, although it is not a happy film. It is sad, and sometimes disturbing, as the relationship between these star-crossed lovers is intense and sometimes violent. I predict that after you leave the theater, the film will have you talking to your friends about what you’ve just witnessed for many blocks down the street.

Sleepless in Seattle

I don’t think that Sleepless in Seattle is a great romantic comedy. I didn’t really care for it when I first saw it, and after watching it again, I still feel it is not Nora Ephron’s best screenplay. The film was released in 1993, and I remember that people really seemed to like it, but I never understood why. Ms. Ephron also wrote When Harry Met Sally, which you may recall starred Meg Ryan, who is in this film along with Tom Hanks.

Sleepless in Seattle is really about an 8-year old boy named Jonah (Ross Malinger), whose mother has died 18 months ago, and who is now ready to have a new mother in his life. However, his father Sam (Tom Hanks) is not ready for a new wife. This is the part of the film that worked, seeing the relationship between Jonah and his father as they deal with the grief over the death of their mother/wife, and the hope that Jonah gives to his father for a future with a caring woman in it for both of them.

Jonah takes control, and calls a radio talk show from his home in Seattle on Christmas Eve, and speaks to Dr. Marcia Fieldstone about their dilemma. He gets his father on the phone, and thousands of women across America are touched by their plight as evidenced by the letters that are delivered to their doorstep with offers to become their new wife and mother.

In Baltimore, Annie (Meg Ryan) hears the segment on the radio. Although she is engaged to be married to Walter (Bill Pullman), she is intrigued by what she hears. Annie becomes obsessed with this man she's only heard speak on the radio, and writes a letter to Sam that her helpful friend Becky (Rosie O’Donnell) mails without her knowing. She eventually ends up flying to Seattle and stalks him. There are some sappy scenes where Sam sees Annie in the airport, and then sees her standing in the middle of the road during her stalking him down. I just don’t buy this whole theme. It is just not real.

Annie explains why she's going to Seattle to meet Sam as her having to do it so she doesn't go through life wondering if he could have been the one. I could see this happening if she already knew him (like someone from the past from high school or college for example), but she doesn't. She's only heard him on the radio. It's the part of the movie that just doesn't work for me.

Annie flies back to the East Coast without meeting Sam. Meanwhile poor little Jonah, desperate for a new mommy, writes to Annie pretending to be Sam, telling her to meet him at the Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day. His friend Jessica gets him a plane ticket and Jonah flies off to New York alone to meet Annie. I was touched by Jonah’s confidence as he tells the taxi cab driver that he’s on his way to meet his new mother. Ah, the innocence and hope of a child.

Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks are together in this film for probably all of five minutes. And yet people say what a wonderful film it was for them, what great chemistry they had. Are we watching the same film? They do have great chemistry together as actors, but not until You've Got Mail, a far superior romantic comedy I’ll review very soon.

Other things that just don’t work are Jonah’s little friend Jessica. She seems far older than him, can type and book plane tickets. Not believable. And the way Walter is portrayed is insulting. His only vice seems to be that he is allergic to just about everything. There has to be something more there to make us not like him, and it’s not provided. I don’t feel sorry for Walter; I feel sorry for Annie. She is delusional, goes off to stalk this man clear across the country, and we never get to see what happens after she meets up with Jonah and Sam. Her main complaint about Walter is he’s too perfect for her, they like all the same things, etc. And that’s a problem?

I did enjoy the music in the film. There were lots of great songs sung by Nat King Cole, Ray Charles, Carly Simon, Louis Armstrong and others. Parts were enjoyable, but the romance part between Annie and Sam is not what it's about. As I said, it’s really about the little boy wanting a new mom after he loses his mother, and how his father reacts to this. The romance is total fantasyland, and doesn’t work. If you’re looking for a good romantic comedy, don’t rent it. Try one of the other ones I’ve reviewed recently. They are far superior to Sleepless in Seattle.

Honeymoon in Vegas

Honeymoon in Vegas was released in 1992 and is rated PG-13. It garnered two Golden Globe nominations, one for Nicholas Cage as best actor in a comedy/musical, and one for best comedy/musical that year.

Jack Singer (Nicholas Cage) is unable to marry his girlfriend Betsy (Sarah Jessica Parker) because his mother on her deathbed asked him to make a promise that he would not marry. His mother, played by Anne Bancroft, told him that no one could ever love him as much as she does, and she continues to haunt his dreams.

Betsy is growing weary of Jack’s stalling, and Jack further uses his clients in his private detective agency as examples of why people shouldn’t bother to marry; they’ll just cheat on each other.

Jack senses Betsy withdrawing from him, and so suggests they fly to Las Vegas to get married. Once there, he stalls yet again. Betsy meanwhile has been spotted by the professional gambler Tommy Korman (James Caan), as she is the spitting image of his deceased wife Donna. Tommy arranges a poker game and invites Jack to play, fixing it so he loses $65,000, and then tells him that if Betsy spends the weekend with him, he’ll erase the debt.

Little does Jack know that Tommy plans to fly Betsy away to Hawaii for the weekend. They leave and a frustrated Jack returns to New York. He finally comes to his senses and jumps on a plane to Hawaii in pursuit of Betsy. That’s where the fun begins. Pat Morita is a taxi cab driver named Mahi Mahi, instructed to delay Jack as long as possible from finding Betsy. He takes Jack to a run-down shack where Chief Orman (Peter Boyle) lives. It just gets crazier and crazier from there. Betsy is succumbing to Tommy’s manipulations, as well as the charms of Kauai, and part of her is just fed up with Jack’s refusal to marry her. She eventually agrees to marry Tommy. Jack ends up in a Hawaii jail, Tommy and Betsy return to Las Vegas, and Jack has to join the Flying Elvises in order to get back to Vegas in time to stop Betsy from marrying Tommy.

The songs throughout the film are Elvis classics, and the Elvis impersonators wandering through Las Vegas are just great; all nationalities and ages take a try at being the perfect Elvis. It’s a very cute and funny comedy. Nicholas Cage is just great, as is Sarah Jessica Parker in this pre-Sex and the City role. If you just want some light entertainment that will make you smile, Honeymoon in Vegas would be a good choice.

Fools Rush In

For all you romantics out there, Fools Rush In will give you what you’re looking for. Salma Hayek plays Isabel Fuentes, and Matthew Perry plays Alex Whitman in this excellent comedy/drama/romance from 1997. Alex has come to Las Vegas for work, and one night he and Isabel have a chance meeting in a restaurant. The attraction is immediate, and they end up spending the night together.

Three months later, Isabel comes looking for Alex. He is relieved to see her, as she snuck out after their one night together without telling him where he could reach her. Isabel tells Alex that she is pregnant with his child, and will be keeping the baby. Although initially shocked, Alex decides this is what he’s always wanted, and they are married in a Las Vegas chapel, Elvis giving away the bride.

Their cultural differences create some conflict for them, but nothing is more difficult than the fact that Alex’s work is in New York City, and Isabel’s family is in Las Vegas. Their families couldn’t be more opposite. Isabel comes from a large, colorful, Hispanic Catholic family who has dinner together every Friday night, and Alex rarely even speaks to his parents.

Central to the movie is Isabel’s and Alex’s differing takes on destiny or fate. During their first conversation when they meet, Isabel tells Alex about signs, and how she believes that one’s destiny has already been decided; you just have to read the signs. Alex is skeptical of this idea. Isabel jokes about there being an explanation beyond reason, beyond all logic, that brought them both to the exact same spot that night, and later it is clear that fate brought them together. They are clearly in love and meant for each other.

The scenery in this film is extraordinary, although I admit I am partial to the soulful desert landscapes of the Southwest. I have driven over the road at Hoover Dam where Arizona and Nevada meet. The Arizona/Nevada state line that appears on the road over Hoover Dam was painted there specifically for filming. It remained there for several years, but I read that as of September 2005, it is no longer there.

Fools Rush In is rated PG-13. Ms. Hayek and Mr. Perry are wonderful in their roles, as are the actors playing their parents. Jill Clayburgh plays Alex’s mother, and Matthew Perry’s own father plays his father in the film. The film is just sweet and hopeful and will leave you with a happy feeling all over. Watch for the signs. They are everywhere.