Film Pairing — Two Takes On American Gangsters

Close your eyes.  Let’s travel back in time to the 1940s. And when you’re done with Tommy Guns in Los Angeles and a sharp divide between good and evil, go to New York for a glimpse of smaller-time gangsters and an abundance of angst in the 1970s. One film is an all-American shoot ‘em up. The other is American with a French twist. It’s a great contrast in filmmaking barely missing the obvious cultural clichés.

Gangster Squad – This is a graphic novel of a film – not quite to the extent of Sin City, but pretty damned close and almost as good. In this case, heroes and villains are intentionally paper–thin characters engaging in a violent, action-packed bio of gangster Mickey Cohen’s reign in Los Angeles and a dirty half-dozen gang of cops determined to take him down. Directed by Ruben Fleischer, and beautifully photographed by Dion Beebe, the movie was released in 2013.  Sean Penn (Cohen) and Josh Brolin play the main adversaries.  Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte and Emma Stone are also among a large and talented cast.

Blood Ties — Despite its blue-collar roots, the film relies on story and character as much as plot. In other words, if you are looking for an action film, you’ve come to the wrong place. This is a tale of two brothers — one a decent cop and the other a guy who just can’t walk a straight line. The family bond brings them together and their shared past tears them apart.  Both of their lives are in danger.  Love, honor and loyalty are explored in depth.  “What would you do?” is the question you are left with.  Leave it to the French influence to make you work and not tie it up in a neat little bow at the end. The film, also released in 2013, was directed by Guillaume Canet, based on Jacques Maillot’s Les Liens du sang.  Clive Owen and Billy Crudup play the brothers. Marion Cotillard, Mila Kunis and Zoe Saldana also star.  James Caan is excellent as the brothers’ father.

A little sustenance while you watch?   For Gangster Squad, pretend you are at a table at the nightclub, Slapsy Maxie’s, and order the cocktail of your choice. Shirley Temples are okay.  There’s nothing highbrow about Blood Ties (except for its philosophical questions), so break out a six -pack of something.  For both films, stay alert for new and innovative ways of saying the F-word.

Film Pairing — Breaking Up May Be Hard To Do, But Murder Might Speed Up The Process

Oliver Stone, unlike such directors as Spielberg or Capra, has nearly as many detractors as fans.  I’m a fan.  And as such, I understand that I will not necessarily get an uplifting message in the end.  I also understand I might get a flawed film. However, I am pretty much guaranteed a film that will keep me glued to the screen until the credits start rolling.

Some writers have said this was Stone’s homage to the genre, and I’m guessing that U Turn fits the strictest definition of “noir.” Stone manages to turn blinding sunlight into noir.  And you don’t know what having a bad day is compared to these couple of days in the life of small-time operator Sean Penn on his way to pay off his debt to some gangsters.  He cruises down a desolate Southwest highway in his 1964 and1/2 red Mustang convertible.  Penn’s punk character, under a deadly deadline, gets stalled in Superior, Arizona.

The film is based on a book by John Ridley who, along with Stone, wrote the screenplay.  The film is inhabited by an incredible collection of characters — a most disgusting mechanic played almost too well by Billy Bob Thornton, an abusive husband played by Nick Nolte, a game-playing siren embodied by a sexy, sultry Jennifer Lopez and the town tough-guy wannabe, played by Joaquin Phoenix.  John Voight, who was skewered by the critics in this one, plays the wise (or crazy) possibly “blind” Greek chorus in Native American clothing — a kind of “artistic” flourish, possibly. With all the other strange characters, I would ask, “why not?”

We witness greed, betrayal, violence, murder and a whole lot of bad luck. U Turn was released in 1997 to mixed reviews.  I say go for it.  Next time I think I’m having an unbelievably long run of bad juju, I’ll think of Mr. Penn in U Turn, yell an obscenity at the universe and count my blessings.

Body Heat (1981) is modern noir as well.  There is also less disagreement among the critics about it being a genuinely good film.  While not based on a book, the film has its roots in the classic novel and legendary film Double Indemnity.  Fortunately, Body Heat stands on its own with extraordinary performances by Kathleen Turner and William Hurt.

Both U Turn and Body Heat are steamy films and not just because they are in Arizona (not a dry heat in this case) and Florida, respectively, but because the sex approaches soft porn.  You may not want to watch either of these with your kids. 

Again, in Body Heat, we have a nasty, wealthy husband (Richard Crenna), a sex-hungry wife (Kathleen Turner) and a horny man (William Hurt), not tethered by responsibility, who has a compromised sense of morality that is easily tempted into further compromise.  A young Mickey Rourke and a young Ted Danson have supporting roles in this excellent film, written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan.

In both films, killing the spouse, seems to be the expedient solution.  So take a few hours off from winter and enjoy the sweaty bodies dealing with lust and greed.  If you turn the heat up at your place, maybe you can make one of those drinks with umbrellas in it to enhance the dark fantasy.

Film Pairings — The Razor’s Edge: Between Comedy And Tragedy.

Fargo is far more gruesome than Affliction, but one leaves you with a smile even as a body goes through the wood chipper.  The theme here is winter, one last look at snow as irises bloom in our gardens and the barbeques dot the green lawns of suburbia.

Nolte, Coburn and Dafoe

What we have for your frosty double bill today are two Academy Award winning films — Affliction and Fargo.  Part of the interest, I think, in seeing these two in tandem is looking at both sides of the mask — tragedy and comedy — as they are presented in stories of similar tones, in relatively similar settings, and with highly talented actors, directors and writers.  The interest for me is, given the darkness they reveal about human nature, how the two are actually very different? 

Affliction, based on the novel by Russell Banks, is actually less gruesome, but far darker.  Not better, but more “serious.”  Nick Nolte and James Coburn give extraordinary performances as a troubled failure as a son and a cold, brutal father, respectively. Willem Dafoe gives a masterful understated interpretation as Coburn’s other son. Both sons, even as adults, were cowed by their abusive alcoholic father. Dafoe’s character escapes, physically at least.  Nolte’s character doesn’t. He   remains pretty much badgered by the father and also, as the part-time cop in a small town in New Hampshire, by the town manager. Paul Schrader wrote and directed this powerful and relentlessly fascinating drama. The movie is about a deal gone wrong, a murder, integrity friendship and power.  But the central focus is becoming whole. And what the cost of that might be.  Sissy Spacek, as Nolte’s loyal girlfriend, is excellent.

Speaking of a deal gone wrong and a murder, well several of them, let’s end the evening on a lighter note  — sort of.  At least we will laugh. A lot.  Of all the Joel and Ethan Coen’s great films, this might be at the top of the list.   Where Nolte and Coburn propel the story in Affliction, Frances McDormand and William Macy are the essence of this one.  Steve Buscemi gives us still another well-drawn, well-acted character.

Macy’s character wants to rid himself of his wife.  He hires two goofballs to carry out the plan.  McDormand, from all appearances, including being seven months pregnant, isn’t exactly fear inspiring and, at first, one might not believe she has the savvy to ferret out the culprits as incompetent as they are.  But first impressions are deceiving.  Much like Affliction, we’re not in urban America. No subways, traffic jams and high-rises. Instead, we get cafeterias, used car lots, tacky motels, long lonely snow-laden highways, lots of blood and glimpses of our police chief with her stay-at-home poet of a husband.

Fargo won a ton of awards, including multiple awards for McDormand and the Coen Brothers.  Affliction was recognized as well.  Coburn picked up an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.  Nolte was nominated for best actor awards, including the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Actor.

The drink of the night?  Brandy, preferably brought to you by a big St. Bernard.

Film Pairing — Cape Fear Times Two

All right, it doesn’t take a genius to pair an original film with its remake. And in this case, it might have been more interesting if Nick Nolte had taken Robert Mitchum’s role in the remake of Cape Fear. We could have compared real life “bad boy” actors in bad boy film roles. However, that was not to be, so the obvious pairing of the same movie in different decades (1962 and 1991) had to be viewed in some other manner. And that manner is the gentlemanly and ungentlemanly manner of the films.

Gregory Peck, usually cast in decent guy roles, is a generally decent guy in the earlier version of Cape Fear. He plays a man who testifies in a trial that convicts a clearly indecent guy, played by Robert Mitchum. When Mitchum is released, he wants retribution. Clearly this is Mitchum’s movie and he plays the ex-con with cool, lizard-lidded, understated menace. The lines of good and evil are pretty clearly drawn and while there is some violence, the suspense comes from anxiously anticipating what we know will happen.

The first film was based on The Executioners, a novel by John D. MacDonald. The second was an adaptation of that first screenplay. Therefore, it’s not odd that the basic plot and the essence of the characters are remarkably similar. But while the first Cape Fear was high on suspense, the second is high on horror. It has been described by some as a “slasher film.” That may be an exaggeration. However the second film, directed by Martin Scorsese, is far more violent. The Scorsese version also blurs that line between good and evil. Nick Nolte, who assumes the Gregory Peck role, is not a genuinely decent guy. As the ex-con’s defense lawyer, he didn’t do everything he could to defend his client and in fact may have violated the law by excluding evidence that would have helped his client. This gives Robert DeNiro, in Mitchum’s role, greater motivation, though not justification, for his acts of vengeance.

One of the great things about Cape Fear (II) is that Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum and Martin Balsam all do cameos in the remake. Both DeNiro and supporting star Juliet Lewis (who was exceptional) were each nominated for Golden Globes and Academy Awards. Perhaps the most interesting part of this double feature is watching Mitchum and DeNiro interpret the same role. Of the two, Mitchum, no lesser talent, is definitely the minimalist.

I’d suggest doing the films in order, not just because of chronology, but also because number two steps up the intensity significantly. For drinks, I’d suggest shots of anything as each film begins to reach its climax.