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dpenzel
Reviews
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Night (2005)
Misleading portrayal of Asperger's Syndrome
In this episode, Alfred Molina's character bases his defense on having Asperger's Syndrome, a condition on the autistic spectrum. Its major features involve intense focus on narrow areas of interest and social awkwardness, but not criminal or assaultive behavior. People with this condition appear to lack empathy, but are no different in the level of their concern for others, only difficulty in showing it. Asperger's has received a fair amount of publicity in recent years, but there is no evidence that it causes anyone to commit violent crimes. In fact, "Aspies", as they sometimes call themselves, have a strong inclination to follow rules and obey the law. Aspies have no greater propensity to commit crimes than so-called neurotypicals. After this episode aired, major autism advocacy organizations protested to NBC, and continue to demand that it be withdrawn from syndication.
Apocalypse Now (1979)
A movie that asks one question...
The one question that "Apocalypse Now" should leave in the minds of everyone who sees it is "Why was this movie ever made?". For starters, it is a direct lift from Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", which is a short story that makes its points briefly and without fuss. It proposes to examine the disaster that was the Vietnam war, but takes forever to make its points, and then makes them with a bludgeon. It is a collection of setpieces and lacks a natural feel. It also features the worst performance Marlon Brando ever turned in. From the moment he appears on the screen he affects the movie the way a rotting whale carcass washed ashore affects a beach party. I missed the opening credits the first time I saw it and was shocked at the end to see that Harrison Ford had been in it. And for a final over-made point, listen to the code word Martin Sheen uses to call in the airstrike. That is not to say that there aren't some good things in it. The Philippine scenery was used well. Frederick Forrest was as good as he can be, and that little scene with the tiger is a gem. Robet Duvall was excellent, and the helicopter assault is one of the best flying sequences ever filmed, a real triumph of editing. My own recommendation is that even if it is pretentious and overblown, it is still worth seeing - a superb failure.
Screen One: A Foreign Field (1993)
Not a war film, but a great film about war.
"A Foreign Field" is an odd film in many ways. It is a film about war, but not a war film. It has a touching, brilliant performance by Sir Alec Guiness, but nearly a silent one. It has a cast of stars, solid actors all, but not a bit of glamor. It is the story of elderly veterans returning to Normandy for the 50th anniversary of D-Day. It is told with humor and pathos, with wit, subtlety and with an unsparing and unsentimental eye for the flaws of real human beings. There is a bit of a twist ending, but neither shocking nor entirely unguessable. My father, a veteran of many invasions, cried when he saw it. That is a greater tribute to this film than anything I can say about it.
A Walk in the Sun (1945)
A great story of men in war
When "A Walk in the Sun" came out in 1945 it made a strong impression on the home front. It showed more of the reality of war than the string of patriotic we-can-do-it slap-the-Jap stun-the-Hun movies, mostly nonsensical tripe made during the war years. There are no John Wayne heroics here, no superhuman commandos, just the "poor bloody infantry". They are just a platoon of fairly ordinary men on a mission to march to a farmhouse and occupy it. It is not that Hollywood staple of "the mission that could change the course of the war". They lose their lieutenant. They take casualties from planes, maybe even their own planes. The sergeant who takes over the lead breaks down. They keep going. They talk - a lot. But what talk it is! It is the talk of soldiers. Commonplace stuff, where do you come from, what are you going to do after the war, do the brass know what they're doing, gimme a cigarette. The song that opens and closes the movie makes a point that is perhaps the point of the movie when it links them to soldiers of other places and times.
Incidentally, it is fun to look at the cast. Most of the major players in this movie were at the beginning of long and successful careers, notably Dana Andrews, Lloyd Bridges and Norman Lloyd. (Just another thought - after seeing "Saving Private Ryan", I realized that Steven Spielberg has seen "A Walk in the Sun" at least as many times as I have.)
My uncle, a veteran of Tunisia who went into Salerno as a Ranger, hated most war films, but not this one. He also told me that his company had a fight with a German armored car very similar to the one with the halftrack in this film.
The Godfather (1972)
Kind of a shame...
"The Godfather" is a good movie that should have been a much better one. It has almost everything it needs: a stellar cast, a story based on a bestseller, great music, lush cinematography, etc. It makes a kind of visual poetry out of many of its scenes. But in the end it lacks a soul. As a movie about the Mafia, it made its characters too lovable, whitewashing the brutality, hypocrisy, stupidity and sleaze of real gangsters. We like the characters too much; we want to be like them, deliver their lines. It leaves out even the few ideas that the book had. In the end it is a story well told, but eventually, a story about nothing (not in the Seinfeld sense, either.).