Movie Reviews
During the hot months of summer, I stop working around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. I go inside and shower, eat and see what my kids are doing. Many times, I try to find something interesting to watch while I check my email, fold clothes or play guitar. Here are some movies I remember watching in order of release date.
Nothing In Common, 1986
After Splash, Bachelor Party and The Money Pit Tom Hanks starred in this turd. It’s the story of a successful Chicago ad exec named David Basner played by an over energetic and eventually pensive Hanks. It starts fast and the Bosom Buddies opening scene sets a tone that fades. The movie bogs in a love triangle between Hanks’ high school sweetheart and a hot to trot lady exec he meets when working on a high-profile ad campaign. All of this distracts from the real story, which is him reconnecting with his recently divorced parents. His father is a grumpy, washed-up salesman played by Jackie Gleason. This would be Jackie Gleason’s final movie and the role is fitting. Throw in a solid performance by Barry Corbin and you’ve got just enough meat to get through a movie that never quite finds itself.
The Straight Story, 1999
Richard Farnsworth stars in this bio about an old cowboy who takes off on a 1966 John Deere riding lawnmower to see his brother who recently had a stroke. The challenge is that his brother lives in Wisconsin while he lives in Iowa. Farnsworth won an Academy Award for Best Actor at age 79 for this role. Sissy Spacek plays his retarded daughter, Rose, who makes birdhouses. David Lynch does a great job directing this. There’s a scene where he pulls his mower into the breeze way of an abandoned farm to get out of the rain and lights a cigarette. I especially enjoyed the scene as it doesn’t move the story forward but instead provides a Zen visual. I liked this movie, but I think I’d like any movie about an old man riding down the highway on a lawnmower to see anyone or anything.
Just Add Water, 2008
Danny Devito, Jonah Hill, Melissa McCarthy and Justin Long are all supporting characters in this low-budget miss. I could tell you the name of the star of this movie, but it wouldn’t mean anything to you. Trona, CA is a dusty town devoid of people, utilities and social structure. It never rains there. The white trash culture is over emphasized and cemented when you learn that the local meth dealer, Dirk, has purchased most of the houses in town and rules ruthlessly with his dirt bike gang. The main characters wife is a socially awkward shut in so he begins to think more about his high school sweetheart, Nora. She works at the empty grocery store. Something has to be done, but can the nicest guy in town defeat the meth fueled dirt bike gang?
Note: Hart Bochner wrote and directed this movie. He’s not good at either, but he did play a coked-up Nakatomi exec in Die Hard. That’s what he did best.
Old Henry, 2021
I love westerns. A modern Western starring Tim Blake Nelson and Trace Adkins are as good as any. This is a surprise ending movie with a familiar set up so I’m going to keep it short. You know, a sheriff’s posse is on the trail of a bank robber who is shot up. The outlaw holes up in a stranger’s desolate farmhouse who must help him in exchange for a cut of the cash. The entire movie is conflict, and Stephen Dorff adds something to a movie for the first time since Cecil B. Demented.
Dream Scenario, 2023
I’m skeptical of Nic Cage movies but will watch any A24 movie. This one reminded me of a Twilight Zone episode in the way it unfolds. It’s predictable, but still half interesting. An innocent college professor starts showing up in the dreams of his pupils, friends, relatives and strangers. He just stands there though. He’s approached by a social media company run by Michael Cera to do a commercial for Sprite. Nic Cage’s character has a very common name and I forget it, but he isn’t interested in a deal with Sprite. He wants someone to help him promote a book he hasn’t started writing. Very quickly things take a dark turn, and the professor can’t deal with it. The ending is sci-fi goofy, but comical and hell, it could happen.
Maggie Moore(s), 2023
Jon Hamm and Tina Fey star in this based on a true story murder for hire tale. When the owner of a sandwich shop is threatened with divorce he hires someone to kill his angry wife. The killer is played by a guy named Happy Anderson. I looked him up because he was my favorite character in this movie. Tina Fey plays the nosy neighbor (rather poorly) and John Hamm plays the local sheriff in the only way Jon Hamm plays any character. The wit seems forced in this dark comedy where the jokes are flat. The audience knows everything while we watch the cast fumble around trying to connect the dots.
Ballad of a Small Player, 2025
I’m a fan of gambling movies. My favorites are Rounders, Molly’s Game and The Cooler. Maybe it’s because I don’t gamble, but I’ll watch any movie that says it’s about gambling. There was a time I really disliked Colin Farrell, and it was because of his movie Phone Booth in 2002. I thought he was pretty good in Horrible Bosses in 2011, but then he did The Penguin and that changed things for me. The Penguin is one of the best things ever done with a DC character and Farell was great in it. Anyhow, Colin Farrell plays a high-stakes gambler who goes by Lord Doyle in Ballad of a Small Player. Doyle was forced to flee England for stealing money. He ends up in a fancy Macau casino down on his luck while trying everything he can to hit a run to get back into the money and the cops are on his trail. Tilda Swinton plays an interesting Wes Anderson type character to settle the movie some while Lord Doyle runs manically around trying to win one freaking hand of baccarat. Will his luck change?