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Reviews
American Playhouse: The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters (1982)
This is one of the all-time, greatest short films ever made!
From start to finish Jean Shepherd's voice carries us through a marvelously nostalgic and hilarious remembrance of one small-town, American Fourth of July that lives in his memory. Matt Dillon plays the young Shepherd brilliantly and the momentum of the story gathers and builds to a completely marvelous ending which resonates in your mind for hours. This is the best kind of humor, rooted in reality but viewed with the skewed perspective of a true humanist who is totally aware of and who thoroughly enjoys the folly and foibles of human nature...in this case, the nature of American citizens out to enjoy themselves. James Broderick (Matthew's father) is truly wonderful as the father and is an actor I sorely miss. I wish he had had a longer career or that I had started watching him sooner. (Watch for the "face cloths" and the "lamp"...you'll have a real good time.) This one is a winner! It may be hard to find as it doesn't play on TV much, if at all.
The Magic of Marciano (2000)
This is a marvelous story, well acted, written and directed.
This story of a mentally ill mother and her steadfast son is realistic, touching and unsentimental. Rather than the melodramatic circumlocations that this theme tends to engender, this is a rock-solid, realistic representation of what probably would or could happen in the real world. It even has an upbeat ending which is not the full blown Hollywood fantasy, but the best that life can offer when it's functioning well. Miss Kinski is terrific in it, Robert Forster is a gem of a warm and intelligent actor and Cody, who plays James, is a wonder. If what you want to see is an excellent film, with a real story, artistically done, with some fantasy scenes to flesh out some inner feelings, and held together with superb acting...then this is for you. If you prefer Hollywood glamour, sentimental soporific themes and ridiculous action, find any readily available commercial film instead.