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Reviews
Warm Springs (2005)
Realistic up to a point
Having been a a patient at Warm Springs for many years during the 1930s and late 1940s, I feel qualified to critique the HBO movie, Warm Springs. The feel of the period and the scenes of the Warm Springs area were fairly realistic. The Meriwether Inn and the surrounding grounds were located on top of a hill, and not on flat ground. The pool where everyone swam was the authentic pool that FDR asked his friend Edsel Ford to build for him, after he acquired the property. I have swum in the pool many times. FDR was a man of great humor, and this is what is lacking in Kenneth Branagh's portrayal. Branagh completely missed the essence of the man, but so would any actor who attempted to portray FDR. Fred Botts was a great friend of mine, and when he arrived in Warm Springs, it was in the baggage car of the train. His brother accompanied him, and had modified a packing crate for him to rest in. He couldn't sit up for very long without experiencing great discomfort. He could stand up, or he could lie down, so he asked his brother to build him the crate so he could ride in comfort from Pittsburgh to Warm Springs. FDR's first words to him upon Fred's arrival were, "You must be the skeleton from Pennsylvania." Fred was tall and very thin. In 1916, Fred was working toward his debut with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Among his admirers and supporters was Enrico Caruso. When polio struck him, his singing career ended, and he returned home to Pennsylvania, where he remained a prisoner in his family home for 10 years. When he arrived at Warm Springs, he and FDR immediately became great friends, and he remained as the registrar of the hospital until his death in the 1950s. He was FDR's favorite singer, and he used his great bass voice to lead the Companions (the term for the first patients of Dr. Roosevelt) in singing at the many picnics that FDR had up on Pine Mountain. He was not the callow youth portrayed in the movie. Tom Loyless was, in fact, the co-owner of the Columbus, GA Ledger, and not a failed newspaperman as portrayed in the movie. Doctor Lovett was the first doctor at the hospital, and he did much good work among the patients. The report he supposedly wrote about FDR's condition is a fiction, as far as I know. The trip to the medical convention in Atlanta was mostly Hollywood propaganda. The pushboys were FDR's invention, and not Helena Mahoney's. FDR's appearance at the Democratic Convention in Houston happened much the way it was portrayed in the movie. Overall, the movie portrayed FDR's family situation fairly accurately. He experienced great pressure from his mother to come to Hyde Park and hide in the family home. It is to his great credit that he did not do this. A final note, it's a pity that FDR's law partner in New York, Basil O'Conner, was left out of the film. FDR persuaded O'Conner to become the Chairman of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. It wasn't long until the March of Dimes became the major funding effort for the National foundation, and Warm Springs was on solid financial ground. Comedian Eddie Cantor came up with the March of Dimes idea.
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Not your father's Manchurian Candidate
The 1962 film version of Richard Condon's novel, The Manchurian Candidate is a brilliant but flawed film. The plot can be easily summed up: The Chinese Communists want to place their own candidate into the White House as president. In order to do this, they execute a complicated plan. They take a platoon of U.S soldiers captive during the Korean War, and subject them to brain washing. The platoon falsely remembers that one of their own, Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) heroically saved them at the risk of his own life. Shaw returns to civilian life a celebrated hero. Shaw's stepfather, U. S. Senator Iselin (James Gregory), and his mother (Angela Lansberry) are Communist agents in the United States, but are hiding behind a façade of patriotism. They have a murderous scheme to manipulate the Party's National convention to persuade them to nominate Iselin as the candidate for president. Shaw's former platoon leader, Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra) has been having nightmares, in which he recalls the brainwashing techniques. He is still in the army, and uses his connections to arrive at a plan to thwart the Communist plot.
The 1962 version had some major problems, such as, why did the Communists ignore Marco's interference? They had ample opportunities to remove him from the scene, but did not do so. The 2004 version solved this problem convincingly in that the antagonists (in this case Big Business) needed Marco to advance their plot. The major flaw in the 2004 movie is that, by changing the bad guys from Communists to a Mega Corporation (Manchurian Global), they traded a logical adversarial force for a questionable one. A belligerent foreign government would gain much by having its own person in the White House. They would have instant access to strategies, placement of forces, and countless other secrets which presidents keep, and which nations would like to have. It is unclear what advantages a corporation would have by going to such extremes, that it doesn't already have. Governments rely on information to plan for war or other factors, but corporations are interested in the profit and loss statement. Anyone who believes that, by having its puppet in the White House, a corporation would have access to billions of dollars through the obtaining of contracts doesn't understand the government's procurement process. Presidents are not involved, but Congress is, in spades, as the controller of funds. Presidential involvement in awarding contracts would cause a reaction that would make the Clinton impeachment look like a picnic. I spent nearly thirty years working in government contracts with the army, so I know what I am talking about.
The problem of politicians in both major political parties being owned by corporations and other extra-governmental interests (i.e., labor unions) is also not unknown. Nor is the problem of industries and other entities going to extremes to manipulate political races. For example, some in the film industry have cast themselves as the propaganda proponent for one of our two major political parties (see Fahrenheit 9/11). This is ironic, because an industry that is noted for manipulation, fiction, and distortion is assuming a position as one of the nation's `king makers.' A much more interesting and plausible plot would be to make the film industry the bad guys. If Manchurian Global was the arm of a belligerent government, it would be a more logical adversary, but all of the management of MG appeared to be red, white and blue Americans.
That Manchurian Global would employ such extreme measures as shown in the film to `own' a president is ludicrous, and makes me think that the film's producers don't understand the political process. Our government is one of checks and balances. Any president who would be seen as being owned by a company, industry, or union would be faced with strong opposition from the other party, as well as from members of his own party and the general public. Owning one branch of the U.S. Government doesn't guarantee control of the Government. Ask any Republican or Democrat senator or Congressional representative.
Another change from the 1962 version is that Shaw becomes the candidate. The audience is left to wonder until the end of the picture, is he a victim or villain? When the answer finally comes, it is done in a way that completely changes the flow of the film. Whereas in the 1962 version, Marco has the support of the army to rely on, in the 2004 version, he is on his own, facing seemingly unstoppable forces. Just when you think all is lost for him, his precarious situation is changed with the click of a computer mouse button.
The acting in the 2004 version is very good. Denzel Washington (Marco), Meryl Streep (Shaw's mother) and Liev Schreiber (Shaw) are outstanding. Streep would vehemently deny it, but her role as a strong U.S. senator reminded me of a real U.S. senator from New York. The supporting cast is strong, and the action sequences are realistic and gripping.
In 1945, 9-year-old Dean Stockwell played in Anchors Away (his second movie) with Gene Kelly, Katherine Grayson and Frank Sinatra. Sinatra owned rights to The Manchurian Candidate, and his daughter, Tina, is one of the producers of the 2004 version. In one scene, at the end of the picture, Stockwell looks like a nine-year-old child who has been naughty and made to sit in the corner. The Manchurian Candidate is Stockwell's 124th picture, making him the most successful child star in motion picture history.
Where the Rivers Flow North (1993)
Almost like watching a train wreck
After we watched it, my wife turned to me and asked, 'Why did they think anyone would want to see this movie?' I had to agree, although we were both absorbed by it as it played out. As I watched it, I felt like a person who sat on a hilltop, looking into a valley. He can see two locomotives speeding toward each other at 50 miles per hour, on the same track. He can do nothing to stop the inevitable collision, but he is powerless to look away from it. As a Southerner, I know something about lost causes. This movie is about a lost cause.
The central character, Noel Lord (Rip Torn) is a tough, mean, old logger, who has a lifetime lease on a piece of wetland property in Kingdom County Vermont in 1927. In place of a left hand, he has a wicked looking metal hook, which he uses to great advantage in a powerful scene toward the end of the movie. Electrification is coming to Kingdom County. The utility company has bought all of the leases except for Lord's, and he refuses to consider the company's offer of $2,000 to surrender his lease. Later, the offer is raised to $5,000. Lord still refuses to release his rights. Electrification is inevitable. A huge dam will soon be built, and within a year, Lord's property will be under 50 or 60 feet of water. Lord appears to have a much better offer in mind, not of money, but of a trade of land. The utility readily agrees to lease him the land he wants, and also to move his cabin to the new site. Lord has secret plans for his property that he has told no one about.
Lord lives with Bangor (Tantoo Cardinal), a Native American housekeeper who appears to be half crazy. By the end of the movie, we discover that she has a greater grip on reality than Lord does. She and Lord have a longstanding relationship, but it is clearly platonic now. Her accent is so thick that it is difficult to understand her. She calls Lord 'Meester' throughout the movie. Lord's wife has died, and is buried on the property. The only tender moment in the movie is a scene where Lord is kneeling over his wife's grave, talking to her, telling her that he is going to have to leave. He kisses his hand and pats the earth in front of the headstone.
Michael J. Fox, wearing a cheesy mustache, plays a humorless utility company executive who is not above using force to get what he wants. Treat Williams plays a throwaway role as an itinerant fight promoter, whose champions are always defeated by Lord. The scenes of 1927 rural Vermont are authentic, and the acting is outstanding. Torn and Cardinal are superb. This is Jay Craven's first movie as a director, but he directed as if he had done it countless times. If you like well done period drama and good acting, this movie may be for you. If you like happy endings and beautiful people, stay away.
Tender Mercies (1983)
Honest and straightforward
Contains spoiler As I watched Tender Mercies, I couldn't help thinking of Hank Williams. Any Southern male who is over a certain age has some of Hank in his very being, even if he isn't a big fan of country music, and any movie about country music must measure up to that enormous legend. Even fifty or so years after his death, Hank is still spoken of in hushed tones throughout the South. In my opinion, Tender Mercies measures up quite well. Horton Foote wrote the screenplay for Tender Mercies, and he pays homage to Hank in at least one scene in the movie. I'll get to that later. The movie opens in 'Nowhere,' Texas. Mac Sledge (Duvall) collapses in a drunken stupor in a nowhere room, in a motel that is run by a young Viet Nam war widow named Rosa Lee (Harper), who has nowhere to go, and it is obvious that Mac has finally reached the bottom in his personal descent to nowhere. Mac is a broken down, formerly legendary country music composer and singer. Duvall did his own singing in the movie, and he did it very well. He was convincing, and that isn't an easy thing to do, because singing country music is more than just opening your mouth and shouting out the words. You have to have the voice quality, the inflection, the body language, and the ability to sing on pitch. It also helps to have a good band playing behind you. Duvall scored high on his four requirements, and the band was very good, indeed.
We don't know what caused Mac's descent into the bottle, and to obscurity, but it's obvious that he has lived there a long time. He is about 45, but looks at least ten years older. The movie is about Mac's return to life, respectability, and writing and performing his music. It is said that an alcoholic can't reform until he has reached the bottom of the bottle, and wants to reform. In the beginning of the movie, Mac has reached bottom, and intends to begin the long, arduous road up again. He has no money to pay his motel bill, so he offers to work it off. Rosa Lee warily agrees, but tells Mac that there will be no drinking on the premises. She has a young son of about nine years, who was one year old when his father died. Mac falls for Rosa Lee and asks her to think about marrying him. Rosa Lee says that yes, she will think about it, and pretty soon, they are married, but we learn about it only when Rosa Lee's son mentions his stepfather to a playmate. In many similar movies, the love and sacrifice of a good woman would be the vehicle for Mac's rehabilitation, but this movie is too honest to sink to that level of triteness. All is not rosy, and Mac returns to sobriety in fits and starts, with some backsliding along the way.
With one big exception, we learn this from a scene between Rosa Lee and Mac's daughter, Sue Ann (Barkin). Sue Ann asks if her father is still drinking, and Rosa Lee replies that he would drink on occasion away from home, but that he just put the liquor down one day and didn't take it up again.
The function of Rosa Lee is to point him in the right direction. She insists that he attend church, which Mac does, and eventually he is baptized. The movie presents a realistic portrayal of church people, avoiding the usual Hollywood clichés of venality and/or hypocrisy. Church people are just like everyone else, a mixture of good and bad, but if they are true to their calling they recognize and acknowledge the bad and repent of it. Mac is divorced from a famous country singer named Dixie (Buckley), who has made a career of singing his songs. Sue Ann is the focus of their mutual bitterness toward each other. After a bitter scene between Mac and Dixie, he recklessly drives away to find a drink. He comes home in the early morning hours and confesses that he had bought a bottle, but had poured it all out.
One day, a van carrying a group of young men drives up to the motel. They all get out of the van, and ask Rosa Lee for five dollars worth of gas, but they are musicians, and they are really there to meet Mac. Mac regards them warily, but eventually they become the vehicle for Mac's return to performing his music.
Toward the end of the movie, Mac receives word that Sue Ann has been killed in an automobile accident. As is the custom in much of the South, the body has been taken home before burial. Mac makes the trip to pay his last respects to Sue Ann, and, as he gets out of his truck, he looks for a second or two at the mansion, which used to be his home but now is occupied by Dixie. It is set on a small hill, and as Mac walks toward this Loveless Mansion On The Hill, Hank Williams' music came flooding back into my memory.
If you like country/western music, or are just a Bobby Duvall fan, see this movie.
Seabiscuit (2003)
Hollywood Soap Opera
I don't know what Hollywood has against Tom Smith, the highly talented trainer of Seabiscuit, but he has been both ignored and slandered in two movies about that remarkable horse (The Story of Seabiscuit 1949 and Seabiscuit 2003). In The Story of Seabiscuit, Barry Fitzgerald replaced him with an Irishman, whose daughter (played by a mature Shirley Temple) believed in 'the little people' (ugh!). In Seabiscuit, Smith was reduced to a character who said little and frowned a lot, and who added very little to the picture. In the movie's crucial scenes, when Seabiscuit was recuperating from a ruptured tendon in his right foreleg, Smith was absent. This wasn't one of Chris Cooper's memorable roles. For the record, Seabiscuit's success in racing and recuperation from a potentially career ending injury was attributable to Smith and not to jockey Red Pollard, as depicted in the movie. In reality, Pollard took orders from Smith about how to ride the Biscuit, and he rode Seabiscuit in grand style, but he wasn't the loose cannon and miracle worker as portrayed by Tobey Maguire. In the movie, Pollard blew a race at the finish line and blamed it on blindness in his right eye. The real-life Pollard blew the race also, but he never revealed his handicap to anyone as long as he raced because he knew his career would be over. A blind jockey is a danger to himself, to the other jockeys and to the horses. The real Charles Howard would never have allowed Pollard to continue to race if he had known that Pollard was blind. In the movie, Pollard was injured while exercising a horse, and the doctor was concerned that he would never walk again. In truth, Pollard was injured much worse. The doctors were afraid that he wouldn't live because of a crushed chest and other fractures. He and Seabiscuit experienced remarkable recoveries; Pollard because of the love and care of his nurse (whom he later married), and Seabiscuit because of Smith's knowledge and love of horses. While the match race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral was exciting, if you want to see the actual race, see The Story of Seabiscuit. George Wolf, the jockey who rode Seabiscuit during that race was believed by many to be the greatest jockey of his time. He rode Seabiscuit several times while Pollard was recuperating. The scene where Seabiscuit reacts to Pollard after they both were disabled is Hollywood at its worst. Seabiscuit loved to race; he didn't care who was aboard when the gates opened. After their deaths, bronze statues of both Seabiscuit and Wolf were dedicated at Santa Anita Race Track. Laura Hillenbrand, the author of the wonderful book on which Seabiscuit is based, is listed as the movie's technical adviser. I wonder how she feels about the soap opera they made of her masterpiece.