Film Pairing — Elmore Leonard On Celluloid

Elmore Leonard is one of those writers whose books are regularly snatched up by Hollywood. 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Mickey Rourke

When I revisited the film Kill Shot, the 2008 film based on Leonard’s book, I was a bit surprised at the seriousness of the film.  True, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s powerfully agile performance as a dangerous fool offered some comic relief. Essentially, though Kill Shot is not funny. The film was intended to keep the viewer on edge as we witnessed the attempts on the lives of ordinary people Diane Lane and Thomas Jane by Gordon-Levitt’s character and the scary, professional hitman played by Mickey Rourke.  As is the case for most of Leonard’s characters, the bad guys are more interestingly drawn than the others.  My attention picked up whenever the killers were on screen whether they were killing or not.  Their interaction was well-drawn.  Rosario Dawson does a fine job as the not too bright Gordon-Levitt’s not too bright girlfriend.  The film, directed by John Madden, was released in 2008.

Dennis Farina, Scene Stealer

Unlike Kill Shot, Get Shorty, relies less on whether or not someone was going to get whacked, but on the humor surrounding the stupidity of the crooks.  This is the Elmore Leonard I enjoy most.  The story reaches a sort of believable absurdity.  The plot is convoluted, compared to Kill Shot, but it sets up a funny and clever end.  We watch a kindly, charming con man, played by a likable, laid-back John Travolta as he pits various gangsters against each other in a way that seems to right several wrongs.

For my money, as in Leonard’s books, the characters here make the movie.  And the cast is up to it.  Gene Hackman plays a shallow Hollywood director/producer.  Rene Russo is a B picture actress with ties to a major star, Danny DeVito.  The scene stealers, for me, were Dennis Farina and Delroy Lindo as gangsters with James Gandolfini who is supposed to be an enforcer, but is happily not quite up to the task. You’ll also notice Bette Midler in a small role and cameos by Harvey Keitel, Penny Marshall and Jane Fonda.  This film, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and released in 1995, is a lot of fun.

Incidentally, a couple of weeks ago, we talked about older writers.  It should be noted that the highly regarded, prolific Elmore Leonard is 86. His most recent novel, Raylan, was released earlier this year.

To accompany the movies, you might get inventive with some cocktails, moving from the serious to the light-hearted.  For inspiration visit Vince Keenan’s wonderful web site. Click on cocktails. Of course, you may wish to wander around the rest of posts as well.

Film Pairing — Hard Boiled Private Eyes

Standard American private eye requirements: Down and out, hard drinker, personal demons, undisciplined pursuit of the truth. Unexpected nobility of purpose, maybe. Meet John Rosow of The Missing Person and Harry Angel of Angel Heart. They both meet the requirements. There are other similarities in the films. Both private detectives are hired by mysterious clients to deal with missing people. And, as each film develops, it becomes clear that they might not want to do what they were hired to do.

The Missing Person (2009), starring a rock-faced Michael Shannon as a dissolute P.I., is a stunningly moody, artful film, heavy on style, but pretty damn good on content as well. A man, too strung out to even consider killing himself, takes a case that seems both easy and rewarding. All he has to do is follow a man on a train and report what he sees. The simple assignment gets more complicated as you would expect. What these complications include are a fascinating 9-11 connection and an important philosophical question. In the end the cynical P.I. must make decisions that calls upon a sense of right and wrong. Is he up to the task? I’m not sure where this film came from, or where Michael Shannon has been all these years for that matter. With very little exposure, the film and the actor nonetheless gather praise whenever they are noticed and rightfully so.

There is a philosophical turn in the second feature as well. But Angel Heart (1987) is infinitely more visceral and heavy handed. In light of Mickey Rourke’s considerable talent as revealed in his recent performances, The Wrestler for example, we might want to take a look at just how good he was early in his career. And he was. This is Mickey Rourke before whatever happened to him mid-career happened to him. As a scruffy and apparently not too successful P.I., Harry Angel is made a financial offer he can’t refuse though, in fact, his instincts tell him to refuse it. We move from New York to New Orleans, where the P.I. tries to find a missing person and where, it seems, at each turn there is a bloody corpse. It becomes clear to Angel that he is, in the eyes of the Big Easy’s homicide cops, the most likely suspect in each murder. His client, played by Robert De Niro, is obviously holding out on his young hire, and the Louisiana’s mysterious connections to voodoo makes Harry’s life an increasingly terrifying experience. Lisa Bonet (No Cosby kid here) provides enough steamy (and brutal) sexual energy to send a rocket to Mars. The film was based on the novel Falling Angel, by William Hjortsberg.

If you drink — and Michael Shannon’s early scenes might put you off the sauce forever — the mood set by both these films calls for whiskey on the rocks, or some form of hard liquor. No Chardonnay. And if you’re inclined toward something non-alcoholic, water for example, at least make it unfiltered. No fancy bottled stuff.

Film Pairing — Only The Shadows Know

In Night of the Hunter, Robert Mitchum arrives to court Shelley Winters, mother of two. He wants her to believe he is a righteous, religious man, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. The film, though almost worshipped now, was a failure at the box office, perhaps because it was unlike any film anyone had ever seen. It was a collaboration with renowned writer James Agee and the only film that actor Charles Laughton directed.

Night of the Hunter was story based on David Grubb’s novel of the same name. While there are still those who are critical of the melodramatic nature of the screenplay, its high rank on lists by film scholars is largely because of its ground-breaking, expressionistic cinematography. Deep, dark, angular shadows set the mood. Every moment of the film seems to suggest some deep, dark horror is only a few frames away.

With Sin City, if you want mood, if you want dark and harsh and brutal images, one after another, you’ll get it here as well; but it will be through advances in filmmaking technology. Nothing wrong with using the tools we have. And here they are used well. This is Frank Miller’s movie. It is based on his fine graphic novel, also of the same name. He directed with help from Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. Like Night of the Hunter, Sin City is shadowy black and white; but with strategic touches of bold color. Where Hunter is more fluid visually, Sin City has more sharp edges. Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Clive Own, Jessica Alba, Benicia Del Toro, Rutger Hauer and Josh Hartnett are among the talented stars rendered in graphic fashion. Sin City has its critics as well. For some, the characters didn’t seem quite human.

There is some truth, I think, in the criticism of both films —created half a century apart. However the truth in both these cases is what makes them the significant contributions to film history that they are. I don’t think either director set out to make a conventional film. And they didn't. That’s one of a number of reasons to see them.

How about Jack Daniels on the rocks for the double feature? Something rugged from Tennessee seems appropriate.