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Reviews
Charms for the Easy Life (2002)
Lovely adaptation of a fabulous novel
No offense to anyone who reads this, but I sometimes wonder if it helps to be from the South when viewing films adapted from Southern writers. I thought this was a lovely film -- faithful to the novel as possible. Gena Rowlands is stunning as Charlie Kate. Less strident than in the novel, but flamingly over-the-top characters like Charlie Kate, in my opinion, can easily come off overdone in film, whereas on the written page or even on the stage they are in their glory. These women were stereotypes and predictable as are many characters in Southern literature, that is if you are familiar with the "categories" into which Southerners, especially women, are divided -- especially by Southerners. Mimi Rogers was wonderful as Sophia, a woman bound by the "rules" of Southern society (in spite of or perhaps because of her unorthodox mother and upbringing). But at the same time Sophia is equally entranced by the words of John Steinbeck as she is by a new hat and Rogers portrays this very real duality beautifully. Susan Mae Pratt, an overlooked young actress, was perfect as Margaret, another Southern stereotype, well-mannered and proper, but not slavish like her mother, with a highly developed intellect like both of the women who raised her, confident in many things, but shy in others -- such as leaving home and with men, from whom she has been relatively isolated. I find her "we just knew" relationship with Tom completely believable and his Christmas gift to Margaret of "all his teasures" is truly one of the most romantic gestures in literature. I begin to ramble -- But as one reviewer commented, some of the funniest bits may be missed as well as some of the traditional bits that flavor the film. Unless you know that if the Bible Belt had saints, Margaret Mitchell and in turn David O. Selznick would be two of them, thus the incredible shock value of Charlie Kate's dislike of "Gone With the Wind." And unless you know the reverence held for Douglas Southall Freeman and his voluminous works on Robert E. Lee, thus Charlie Kate's immediate softening and acceptance of Richard upon his perfect Christmas gift. And unless you know that Southern women smoked, a lot, just NEVER on the street and unless you realize that only life and death could make even Charlie Kate leave the house without her hat, well..... It is impossible to include the detail and background necessary to catch all the nuances of the novel in movie form, so it may fall a little flat for you. Personally, I've made myself want to watch it again! Garlic toast anyone?
Center Stage (2000)
Destined to be a cult classic
For lovers of ballet, this is destined to be a cult classic. WARNING -- MAY CONTAIN A SPOILER -- The plot is a little thin and cliched, some of the acting unpolished, and if "Jody" used the word "amazing" one more time, I thought I would scream. Using newcomers and real dancers was a great move and the efforts of the non or no longer dancers were very believable, use of dance doubles smoothly handled.
Yes, all the cliches were there from the gay male dancer to the womanizing male principal, to the emaciated prima, to the "Balanchine-esque" director with his emphasis on thin, cookie-cutter-body-type ballerinas. But, it is all worth it for the beautifully executed and filmed dance footage. In fact, the plot could have been worse and it would have been worth it just for Ethan Stiefel's magnificent, heart-stopping leap in the jazz class.
The movie never pretends to be academy award winning quality in script and acting, the dancing is another story. From the class scenes, to the salsa club, to the jazz class, to "Cooper's Ballet," the dancing is terrific and high energy and the lyric dance scenes are lovely.
Nice detail in the credit class scenes--the "Cooper Neilson Ballet Company" poster behind Jody shows a scene from Cooper's "so not ABA...ballet for the people." And a missed great quote is Erik's "I do ballet because it has nothing to do with the people; give me tiaras and boys in tights any day." The moral of the story -- heart and dedication (even with bad feet and turnout) win out over perfect but stilted technique -- is predictable, however, in spite of Amanda Schull's classic beauty you can't help cheering for her as a ballet underdog. A great romp of a dance movie.
The Bone Collector (1999)
Whatever happened to "willing suspension of disbelief"
I found this to be a stunning movie. Yes, it requires "willing suspension of disbelief," a concept I first encountered in a Shakespeare class, but most movies do. And no, that doesn't mean I compare this film to Shakespeare!
Perhaps it is my personal prejudice as a cultural resource historian, but the "old" clues and reliance on knowledge of details of New York history were fascinating. WARNING -- MAY CONTAIN A SPOILER -- Yes, the clues were obviously placed, but not obvious. The research to unlock the information in the "clusters" was realistic, the interweaving of clues and history, their hidden meaning and the ultimate discovery of the old crime story from which the movie gets its name is nearly ingenious. I found myself urging Rhyme and Ortiz to recognize oyster shell land fill and nitrate rich cattle-related sites.
The unusual, but stellar, casting made the story line more believable and the movie as a whole more interesting. They portray an NYPD crack investigative team (not to diminish the wonderfully quirky casting of Queen Latifah who is actually the one that solves the puzzle of the woman's face) the way I would like it to be with members of all flavors working outside the box (but hey, I only know history, not New York). Actually, I found the continued utilization of Rhyme as a forensic genius, in spite of his paralysis, an astute move rather than fantasy.
This has become one of my favorite films, every time I watch it there is something new. I think to enjoy it one has to appreciate the ways Rhyme finds to defend himself, believe it is possible Amelia has a gut instinct for forensics, to understand there are real people who have the cerebral database Rhyme works from, to go with the movie rather than fight against glitches in reality.
The versatile Luis Guzman, great as Ortiz, has been a favorite of mine since "True Believer," and Washington and Joile have an onscreen chemistry that imbues the choreography of their characters' talents.
I highly recommend this movie to mystery and history buffs.