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Reviews
Endeavour (2012)
Final episode is flawed
Unfortunately, the final episode of'Endeavour' is flawed because there are too many subplots needing to be wrapped up (and tidied up), which significantly undermines the nuances of Endeavour's relationships. The imaginary love professions and kissing between Endeavour and Joan Thursday is particularly egregious as it overshadows Joan's actual emotions. Joan had expressed to fiance Jim Strange that in marrying him she was never more certain of anything in her life. Remember, there's an episode the original Morse series which centers upon John Thaw being reunited with his first true love (at Oxford University) who'd dumped him and married a brilliant professor, sending young student Endeavour into a deep depression as well as him quitting university and eventually becoming a police officer. Of course, Morse's widowed first-love rejected him a second time. Colin Dexter's final Morse novel, 'The Remorseful Day' has him die while solving another homicide and never having been married. Accordingly, I'll accept Dexter's judgement that Morse, after leaving the university with a broken heart, was no more suited to marriage than Sherlock Holmes.
Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946)
A greatly undervalued Mickey Rooney entertainment improves with age.
Please don't let the low IMDb rating prevent you from enjoying the last Hardy Family film in which Andy is still a young (characteristically callow) fellow dealing with another romantic adventure after returning from military service in WWII. In fact, Rooney had served in the army with distinction, so aspects of the situation here parallel his real-life return to Hollywood.
Although its storyline proves as intriguing as earlier dilemmas that Andy had faced, the dialogue is not quite as sparkling this time around. Perhaps the toning down was unavoidable in a badly-disquieted America so soon after the unspeakable horrors of NAZI and Japanese atrocities as well as the new terror of atomic warfare weighing heavily on audiences' minds.
Rooney loved being a performer, and notwithstanding his rusty timing in the slapstick scenes such as when he locks himself out of the house on a freezing night in mid-winter, he still displays more charisma than a dozen other post-war young actors combined. Above all, he turns many serious conversations here that were potentially maudlin or dreary into genuinely involving moments.
None of the Andy Hardy films were steeped in profundities. All the same, the Hardy Family saga propelled by its invariably strong supporting casts constitutes one of Hollywood's finest entertainments ---- and "LLAAH'" has improved with age to a greater extent than most of the entries in this series. Enjoy!
Girl Crazy (1943)
Wasted the talents of its stars
Thanks for so many interesting reviews. Alas, wasting the talents of its stars meant I feel compelled to give it such low score despite Judy Garland's delightful number, "But Not for Me".
This has badly dated both in terms of its excessive slapstick (Rooney doing a Lou Costello ride on a wild horse), silly slang gags ("snerdy") and a plethora of lame wisecracks from Rooney ("I'm free, white and ready ...") taking up almost half the dialogue.
And it's little wonder that Garland agitated for Busby to be replaced as its Director, given how unimaginatively his big finale scene is staged.
Remember, this was made at least a year after the Pearl Harbour attack, yet it conveys nothing of the massive changes sweeping through American society during that era.
Robin Hood (1991)
Splendid Robin Hood portrayal by Bergin, but too bad about Uma.
Patrick Bergin displays just the right blend of charisma and intelligence as Robin, but I join many other reviewers in pointing out the woeful miscasting of Uma Thurman, an actress of limited range who's perfectly suited to embody Quentin Tarantino's cartoon characterizations.
The rest of the cast do their best in a vain attempt to had some heat and light in an overly drab period re-creation made worse by its sluggish plot. One almost begins to yearn for the unrealistic Technicolor and bogus Sherwood Forest of the old Flynn/Rathbone version. Even the castle interiors in this film are so dark and misty that they might as well have filmed those scenes in a London pub clogged with tobacco smoke.
The ideal situation, in my view, would have been for Director Kevin Reynolds to have swapped Bergin for Costner, who was as badly miscast in the contemporaneous "Prince of Thieves" as Uma Thurman was in this one.
Inspector Morse: Deceived by Flight (1989)
One of the most riveting episodes of this brilliant series
"Deceived in Flight" has a pun title, as this is cricket terminology (in baseball the equivalent phrase is to be thrown a curve) relating to a basic motivation for murder. There's also a pertinent connection with Zen philosophy made in the enthralling script written by Anthony Minghella, who later went on to become an Academy Award winning director (English Patient, Cold Mountain). The acting is some of the best in the series, especially Daniel Massey's superb early scenes with John Thaw playing Chief Insp. Morse. As always, Kevin Whately's performance is impeccable as Morse's long-suffering, but solid and loyal deputy, Sgt. Lewis, who is given the chance to display his prowess as a cricketer as well as to go undercover for the only time I can recall in the series.
Having read most of Colin Dexter's novels, his original screen story here is not quite as intriguing as those episodes based on his novels, but what's gained is that this episode has a stronger emphasis on characters and dialog rather than the customary propulsion from twists and turns of the plot. It rewards the attentive viewer with rich language and a profound exploration of human nature.
If you have not seen this Morse episode yet, you're in for a great treat as it's one of the most riveting in this brilliant television series, arguably the best UK series of all time.
Jim Thorpe -- All-American (1951)
A Golden Oldie, but not always accurate depiction of Thorpe's later years.
This biopic is one of my favorites, mainly because of the excellent effort Burt Lancaster puts into his portrayal of Thorpe as well as the strong supporting cast, including a few Native American actors.
However, you should go to the official Jim Thorpe website to learn that he didn't sink into quite the lower depths shown in the film. He became the first president of a professional football association, served as a director of recreation in the Chicago Park system, and performed in small, often uncredited, roles in films for decades until a few years before his death.
Nevertheless, his being technical adviser for this film would suggest it renders a fairly truthful characterization of him in what I consider one of the finest sports films ever made.
Lion of the Desert (1980)
A buried treasure
I was amazed at the first-rate production values and excellent and fascinating historical period recreation of "Lion of the Desert", which I'd never heard about before stumbling upon it in the DVD rental shop this week. For starters, it's director, Moustapha Akkad, employed the same cinematographer and soundtrack composer that David Lean had for "Lawrence of Arabia", which is the film both historically and thematically related to "Lion". The lead players are Brits or Yanks, diminishing the impact of the film considerably (at least "Lawrence" had Omar Sharif play its most significant character other than O'toole in the title role). Having said that, credit must be given to Quinn, Steiger, Reid and Gielgud for giving solid and credible performances. The action scenes are pulled off with considerable élan. It's one of the last of the films with thousands of real extras, rather than computer generated soldiers, being masterfully orchestrated to provide great verisimilitude and a sense of genuine chaos which would be inherent in such pitched battles. Well worth watching is the "Making of" bonus material in which Director Akkad discloses not only his meticulous devotion to historical accuracy (battle scenes were filmed on the actual locations where they transpired, costumes copied from the extensive Italian photograph and film archives of the period, and even Mussolini's old barber was hired to cut Rod Steiger's hair precisely as the "Duce" had his done.) Akkad and his cast obviously were passionate about making this film in very difficult desert conditions, and it shows nearly every scene. I was particularly impressed with Reid's ability to make the villainous General Graziani seem an interesting, if repellent character.
I recommend this film highly to David Lean fans or anyone who likes to see historical epics unstintingly produced and handsomely mounted.
Flying Leathernecks (1951)
Not one of Ray's Masterpieces, but a potent character drama
I saw this overlooked Nicolas Ray film for the first time this week and was surprised by the director's ability to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear within the tight limitations of the post WWII propaganda war genre. Of course, the jingoism, the low budget fx and the formula finishing lines are dated and tedious, but the core of the film is the fascinating relationship between Wayne, as the tough Major with a good heart, and Robert Ryan as his compassionate second-in-command with a tough mind. If you zapped past the battle and home front scenes, you would have a highly charged exploration of male-bonding issues. As well, the film seems to be covertly raising questions which go as far back in our literature as ancient Greece when officers initiated their men into rites of passage. The intensely rich Technicolor and the interior tent sets evoke a crucible environment which powerfully thrusts along the character development. Ray draws from Ryan a brilliant portrayal and from Wayne a solid effort that seems to prepare him for his splendid characterization in a similar conflicted relationship with Maureen O'Hara for his very next film, John Ford's "The Quiet Man", for which Wayne got an Oscar nomination in 1952.
"Flying Leathernecks" has the virtue of a director taking on a run of the mill commercial film project, infusing it with his idiosyncratic style and providing the audience with some thematic depth and many fine moments. The most interesting example for me is a scene two-thirds into the film when John Wayne receives orders to depart immediately for another assignment and seeks to explain to Robert Ryan why the command of the squadron will be passed to another officer and Ryan not promoted into the job. Instead of an explosive argument, the conflict is conveyed mainly through non-verbal signals that each man is unable or unwilling to read from the other. A frustrated Wayne finally shrugs his shoulders and strides out of the tent while a tight-jawed Ryan keeps his backed turned away from him. Fortunately, there are enough of such involving scenes to make this a worthwhile film, even though this is not in the same league as Ray's great ones like "Rebel Without a Cause".