Reviews

  • 4 for Texas (1963)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, June 2022) There’s a reason why some Rat Pack films get mentioned all the time (such as Ocean’s Eleven and, to a lesser extent, Robin and the Seven Hoods) and others, not as much – such as 4 for Texas. Here, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin headline as two men of dubious morals fighting it out over a money shipment and then a riverboat casino. It’s certainly light-hearted, and having such notables as Anita Ekberg and Ursula Andress in supporting roles (plus Charles Bronson and The Three Stooges) certainly helps to make the film more interesting. But there’s a difference between a light-hearted romp and a comedy, and there’s a sense that writer-director Robert Aldrich never quite gets the mixture right – the jokes fall flat, the events never cohere into a compelling narrative and the actors don’t get to showcase what they’re best at. The writing is sexist even by the standards of the time, and the conclusion happens so quickly that it feels as if something’s missing. Dean and Sinatra certainly seem to have fun “fighting” against each other, but that energy doesn’t quite carry to the rest of the film. A misfire, a waste of talent and a surprising bore, 4 for Texas may best remain forgotten, except for obsessive Rat Pack fans.

  • Stan & Ollie (2018)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, June 2022) One of the pitfalls of asking name actors to incarnate well-known historical figures is whether they can (or should) convincingly portray the figure rather than forgo their usual persona. Stan & Ollie offers an interesting case in that Steve Coogan is still a bit too much Steve Coogan when playing Stan Laurel, but John C. Reilley is wonderfully unrecognizable as Oliver Hardy. (Which is saying a lot, considering how few actors have the bulk to play Hardy.)  The film itself is not quite as remarkable as the character work, though. Set toward the twilight of the duo’s career (with a short flashback to the 1930s as introduction), Stan & Ollie focuses on the complex relationship between creative acts, especially when one half of the equation pulls away. It’s a bit glum even when dealing with the comic process (and allowing both Coogan and Reilly to re-create a few comic routines) – this is clearly the behind-the-scenes kind of biography contrasting between public and private personas. It’s certainly very watchable: the historical re-creation is believable, the temptation to cram everything with a short span is largely resisted, and there’s even a pair of good supporting performances from Shirley Henderson and Nina Arianda as the wives of the leads. (Plus, Danny Huston as Hal Roach!)  Stan & Ollie isn’t quite true to the letter of the real-life events, but is generally close enough when it comes to the characters and their evolving relationship. The result should be fascinating to fans of the comedy duo, and interesting to anyone in the right frame of mind for a character study featuring two world-class comedians.

  • Burglar (1987)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, June 2022) I’m not too sure of the real state of Whoopi Goldberg’s persona these days – depending on whom you talk to, she’s either a respected actress, a loudmouth commentator with a skill for saying regrettable things, a progressive icon or a reactionary wag. One tag that’s not often applied, however, is “sexy street-smart young woman.”  This makes Burglar remarkable even if it’s not that good of a film – in this minor early-career thriller, she’s cast as a hustler manipulated into going back to a life of crime where she accidentally witnesses a murder… but not the murderer. Goldberg gets to crack wise, act tough, look attractive and affirm blackness: an interesting combination for her fans of later years or more respectable productions. Alas, the rest of the film isn’t quite as fascinating: While the film’s best bits clearly reflect its origin in one of Lawrence Block’s series of Bernie Rhodenbarr novels, the film is executed in a perfunctory manner – the usual beats in the usual places (such as a car chase), not that many thrills despite a workable premise, and not enough attention paid to its lead character. Sometimes, it’s even irritating – The French dub grates by asking the voice actor doing Bobcat Goldwaithe’s character to use the same squeaky voice as in Police Academy, but I would not be surprised to find out it’s the same in the original English version. Burglar still gets replayed in Canada due to its status as a Canadian production (a rare live-action production for animation studio Nelvana) but otherwise would be forgotten: it’s watchable thanks to Goldberg, but not exactly worth remembering fondly.

  • Red Rocket (2021)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, June 2022) After Tangerine and The Florida Project, writer-director Sean Baker has already acquired an enviable reputation as a filmmaker with an interest in off-beat character studies, and Red Rocket only reinforces that title. Once again heading to the American South (this time: rural Texas), Baker aims to spend a few weeks alongside a sex worker trying to find their footing. It begins as a former male pornstar returns to his native small town in the hopes of reuniting with his wife and finding a job after being mysteriously run out of Los Angeles. Our protagonist is, not to put it nicely, charismatic but terrible– talking his way back into his estranged wife’s house, but quickly plotting to turn a local 17-year-old girl into a ticket back to the porn industry. It may sound dreary, but it’s a partial measure of Baker’s skill in that the film isn’t too bad of a time even when spent with a monstrous character. There’s a bit of dark humour running through the entire film (for instance; the montage sequence showing how being a freshly-retired pornographic actor isn’t a ticket to gainful employment), and the plotting does have this elusive I-wonder-what-will-happen-next quality. The film isn’t afraid to go ironic (as with the repeated use of N-Sync’s “Bye Bye Bye”), aesthetic (as in showcasing the strange beauty of an industrial plant), empathetic (in making obvious the impact of the protagonist’s actions on the “supporting” character) and even surreal (in concluding on an imaginary sequence, much like The Florida Project). It’s not exactly a fun or likable film – Simon Rex is almost too good in depicting a charming con-man and the film ends right at a moment of crises with unpleasant consequences—but it’s a remarkable one. Perhaps a touch too cynical to be as effective as The Florida Project, but an impressive third entry in a filmography that is bound to become even more imposing.

  • Les scènes fortuites (2018)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On TV, June 2022) Look: I’ve been honest about how I’m markedly more favourable to local French-Canadian cinema, but my patience has limits, and Les scènes fortuites skated right on the edge of exasperation for much of its running time. A low-budget personal statement from writer-director-star Guillaume Lambert, it’s a film focused on a budding filmmaker who, even in his thirties, seems unable to accomplish anything and has to settle for a single hardscrabble life with a miserable job in the dregs of TV production, perennial conflicts with the rest of his family and psychosomatic illnesses. A narrator (François Perrusse, who also pops up in a minor role later on) tries to contextualize it within a bigger omniscient perspective, but there’s no fooling viewers: this is the kind of aimless quasi-art-house personal filmmaking that quickly becomes as unbearable as its aimless character. A few good sequences set up promising plot line that could have blossomed into an interesting film, but are consciously cut short before they amount to anything. (You keep rooting for the protagonist to hook up with his cute co-worker? But HA, YOU FOOL – NO FUN ALLOWED HERE!)  The ending itself is abrupt and unsatisfying, but by that time we’re not expecting much more than table scraps from Les scenes forfuites. The film makes a lot of meta-comedy out of the protagonist aiming for “an intelligent comedy,” and that’s as pretentious as the rest of this self-consciously frustrating film.

  • K.G.F: Chapter 1 (2018)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Netflix Streaming, June 2022) Either the selection of Indian movies that has come to my attention lately is completely off, or I’m overdosing on the “lone action hero fights against powerful organized crime cartels” formula. KGF’s first chapter is another take on this, except that instead of battling terrorists, redwood cartels or drug dealers, this protagonist fights against a gold-mine magnate. There’s some interest in featuring dual timelines, with the modern one focusing on a banned book and a media interview, but the bulk of the story is the same old stuff, with Yash ably playing an action hero whose chances of succeeding are never in doubt (even as we wait for KGF: Chapter 2). Writer-director Prashanth Neel sets the story in 1978 and clearly has fun repurposing classic Hollywood Western cinematography in the historical context of India, but much of the film plays like a very contemporary action movie, with the protagonist beating down scores of enemies along the way. Still, at 155 minutes, there is a lot of slack left in the film – especially for an action movie that should snap from one sequence to another. There are highlights (such as a fight around burning oil drums) and some really good cinematography, but while the film was hailed as the biggest production to date from the Kannada film industry, it does end up feeling like far too many other Indian films. Maybe Chapter 2 will be more distinctive… but I’m not all that hopeful. Like this first chapter, it will most likely be watchable, yet instantly forgettable.

  • PK (2014)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Netflix Streaming, June 2022) I was expecting the worst from PK. Indian cinema tends to be hit-and-miss for me: I like the colour, the energy, the sense of being somewhere else, but a lot of Indian cinema feels formulaic, overly deferential to authority and often a bit naïve compared to American productions. A quick look at PK’s logline wasn’t much of a reassurance, as it boldly promised a film in which Aamir Khan played an alien stranded on Earth. Khan, known for overacting, is sometimes terrific and sometimes unbearable. As far as aliens-on-Earth comedies go, it feels as if I’ve had my lifelong fill of them decades ago, as they all feel like a twee retelling of the same kind of jokes. PK’s beginning didn’t inspire much confidence, but then – almost magically – the film became substantially better. Much of it had to do with writer-director Rajkumar Hirani going after surprisingly worthwhile targets, as the protagonist “innocently” comments on the god-men charlatans of Indian society, with some fairly pointed satirical moments about whoever claims a direct connection with God. We also get a tour of India’s major religions – I particularly enjoyed the scenes set in a Catholic church. Khan’s performance is about as weird as the film needs it to be, and that’s a compliment – his otherworldly character needs a strong quirky performance and that’s exactly what he delivers. I wasn’t quite taken by the female lead (the short hair doesn’t help), but the romantic subplot involving her and another male character is not too bad. In other words – no, I didn’t quite like PK, but it was far from being as terrible as I anticipated. Mark this as a success of sorts.

  • The Missouri Breaks (1976)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, June 2022) While I’ll never deny the appeal of an intriguing cast, it’s not a guarantee of success. If you know about 1970s Hollywood, the top-line cast and crew of The Missouri Breaks sounds like a wonder:   Director Arthur Penn! Stars Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Randy Quaid and Harry Dean Stanton! What’s not to like? Well, plenty:  With Brando in the cast and a script intent on being a downbeat revisionist western, this is one film where the making-of stories are far more interesting than the film itself. According to legend, Brando was almost uncontrollable on set, going in his own bizarre eccentricities at the expense of the film’s tonal integrity. The production was plagued by bad weather, harsh on-location shooting, and a horse died while filming. Much of this is imperceptible in the finished product… except for Brando’s eccentricities, which are enough to make anyone wonder what was going on there. The rest of The Missouri Breaks doesn’t fly particularly high: intent on rejecting decades of Western tradition, the film doesn’t have much to offer instead. It plays like dull wallpaper whenever Brando is off-screen, never quite fulfilling the promise of its marquee names.

  • Cinderella Liberty (1973)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, June 2022) Back in 1940s movies, sailors on leave could be counted upon to tear up the town in perfectly acceptable ways, peck a lovely girl on the cheek and have themselves a few great dance numbers. By the early 1970s, however, movie sailors on leave had complex romantic problems with pregnant prostitutes, became surrogate fathers to biracial boys, dealt with wartime trauma and spent days untangling the absurdity of military bureaucracy. If that almost feels like a good time, just wait until the ending for a mix of motherly abandonment, infant death and identity fraud. (And yet people wonder why I despise New Hollywood movies…)  Cinderella Liberty is glum through and through, although it offers a good dramatic showcase for James Caan as the sailor stuck in Seattle while his military records are nowhere to be found. The gritty, rainy atmosphere of working-class Seattle is rendered in almost too-convincing detail, and director Mark Rydell (working with novelist/screenwriter Darryl Ponicsan) wants to make sure you feel all of it. It’s not badly made, although the quasi-melodramatic accumulation of one thing after another reaches an almost-ridiculous point if you’re not on-board with Cinderella Liberty’s intentions.

  • The Sheik (1921)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Youtube Streaming, June 2022) I started watching The Sheik fully intending to have something to say about its lead Rudolph Valentino (for whom it was one of the highlights of a surprisingly short career), but by the time the film was over, I had more to say about another film released a hundred years later – the critically panned but immensely popular erotic thriller 365 Days. If you haven’t seen 365 Days, don’t worry, because what I have to say also applies to 50 Shades of Grey, Twilight or many, many other movies released between 1921 and 2021, and the likely history of film going forward. None of the twenty-first century films I have mentioned have been favourably reviewed, and there are some perfectly valid reasons for that. But there’s another reason that is far less respectable, and it’s this idea that movie critics are ill-equipped to deal with films having to do with female desire, especially if said desires don’t reflect a progressive outlook. From The Sheik to 365 Days, a perennial female fantasy has to do with power and reluctance. A story exploring what happens to a woman when she’s reluctantly held by a powerful man intent on conquering her is not respectable… but apparently it worked a hundred years ago and still works today – audiences swooned at the sight of Valentino as a sheik with a crush on a headstrong woman, and many swooned (sometimes secretly) about more modern depictions of the same archetype. (And if you think The Sheik invented it, I have news for you – it’s based on a bestselling romance novel published a few years earlier… exactly like Twilight, 50 Shades of Gray and 365 Days.)  There are many ways in which the film is not so impressive today – blunt-force plotting, refusal to allow the protagonist his ethnicity (as he is revealed to be a British aristocrat raised in the desert, clearing the way for a happy ending) and shaky technical production values. On the other hand, you can see what charmed audiences about Valentino, and there are some impressive desert battle sequences in the mix. Still, what’s perhaps most notable about The Sheik is another reminder that nothing is really new, and while the setting may change, the same human quirks are what drive stories. Women have long been intrigued by the idea of being seduced by powerful men and will continue to do so well into the next century and beyond. (Important note — then, now and forever: Non-rich, non-powerful, non-attractive men should not apply, because what’s hot in a lavish fantasy setting becomes creepy horror when it’s in a mundane suburban basement.)

  • How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life (1968)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, June 2022) At this point, I’m pretty much committed to eventually seeing all Dean Martin films – despite his late-career laziness in picking unchallenging projects, a little Martin charm goes a looong way. In How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life, he clearly gets a role at the measure of his public Vegas show persona as a boozy womanizing bachelor – the kind of thing he could play without making much of an effort, but with remarkably good return on his effort. The film uses his character as a launching pad for further complications, as he sets out to save his married buddy from an affair by seducing the girl before his buddy does… but mistakenly romancing the wrong girl. As with many late-1960s films, there’s clearly a malaise here about the way American society was changing, and the role left to old-school males like Martin. Unlike other better-remembered films of the era, however, How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life doesn’t quite know what to do about it except playing up the absurdity of mistresses asking for a pension plan. Some better-than-average dialogue makes this characteristically chaste 1960s sex comedy go down easy – even if Martin looks too old and dishevelled to be perfectly credible as a romantic lead, his suaveness dominates the screen and makes the entire thing feel better than if another actor had been in it. A good measure of star power, even if the film itself isn’t particularly memorable nor striking.

  • How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, June 2022) Even though it’s dated 1967, I have more fun associating How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying either with the poppy bright optimistic style of the early 1960s, or the surprisingly satirical films of the 1950s taking aim at the way post-WW2 American society had restructured itself. This is not accidental, nor much of a stretch considering that the film is based on a 1961 stage musical that was itself based on a satirical 1952 book. Tony Randall (a fixture of both eras) would have been right at home here, but it’s Robert Morse who gets one of his two iconic roles (the other being on the Mad Men TV show, obviously inspired by this one) reprising his stage performance as a young man making his way to the top of a corporation. The opening moments of the film are nothing short of irresistible, as our protagonist shoots up from the mailroom to an executive position thanks to an improbably prescient book and ambivalent morals. (It’s both a strength and a problem of the film that we’re never sure if there’s a shred of sincerity to the way he acts.)  Bright colourful backdrops and musical numbers satirize the way big Manhattan-based corporations were seen in the popular imagination, and this broadly comic approach has helped the film age remarkably well: even when it’s depicting some horrifying sexism, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying feels as if it’s laughing at itself and the elements it wants to showcase as terrible. There are some very funny bits (although my favourite part, when the protagonist is confronted by someone who has read the same book, is a bit short) and the film keeps some energy even in its inevitable third-quarter lull. Michele Lee is quite good in the female role, but it’s Kay Reynolds that I liked best as a supporting character. I’m picky about 1960s musicals but How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is one of the good ones of the era – even if it’s not quite as well known as it should be, either as a colourful example of its era or as a remarkably enjoyable film by itself.

  • Demon Wind (1990)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, June 2022) In the sub-basement of bad movies, Demon Wind clearly earns an uncontested place: the film seems put together by writer-director Charles Philip Moore with twine and mercenary intentions, with unexpressive actors, a nonsensical script, medium-low production values and an indifferent execution going for speed rather than competence. But there’s also a craziness to it that makes it more watchable than many films in the same category. There’s an intention to ape Evil Dead’s subjective camera work, for instance, or a bunch of twists and turns that owe more to incompetence but still make the film more fun to follow than the same boring old approach. Definitely getting chummy with the “so bad it’s good” category, the film’s obvious shortcomings in matters of acting, writing and production can be entertaining in their own right… at least for a certain audience in the right frame of mind. I wouldn’t necessarily call the film worthwhile: after all, why waste time chuckling at substandard dreck when there are just as many good-to-great films yet to watch? But everything is relative, and in-between the prospect of watching Demon Wind ironically, or laboriously making your way through yet another dull by-the-numbers monster horror film (or worse, a slasher), there’s no doubt what’s more enjoyable.

  • Female Trouble (1974)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, June 2022) I started watching Female Trouble with a troubling question– while I really liked the John Waters’ films that I had seen, those (Hairspray, Cry-Baby, Serial Mom, Cecil B. Demented) were toward the bigger-budgeted, mainstream end of his career rather than the earlier, most transgressive era: What would I think of such fare as Pink Flamingos and Polyester? Well, if Female Trouble is any indication, I’m in for a few more great viewing experiences. Female Trouble is as camp as camp can be, deliberately heightening the ridiculousness of its execution, the extreme nature of its plotting and the melodrama of its ill-fitting actors. Some of it depends on having drag queen character actor Divine in the lead role, but not as much as you’d think – the particular nature of the character just becomes one more thing in an entire film built on self-conscious ridiculousness. I don’t think every viewer will be a good audience for this kind of material – but if you can make it past a particular point early in the film in which what’s essentially the worst thing in the world is shown in a way that makes you laugh, then you’re good to go for the rest of the film’s descent into pure lunacy and a final act of filicide that just caps it all off. Female Trouble is quite something, and rarely less than engrossing despite the bargain-basement budget and actors playing decades younger or older than their age. It has aged very well – but of course, what was transgressive back in 1974 is almost mainstream these days, and I’m not sure that the more-or-less-exact same film made today would be as remarkable. No matter – Waters’ iconoclastic sense of demented humour serves him well here, and I’m feeling upbeat about seeing the rest of his filmography.

  • Earthquake (1974)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On DVD, June 2022) In the pantheon of 1970s disaster movies, Earthquake is certainly not the first (Airport), not the best (The Towering Inferno), not the funniest (Airplane!) and it’s not the most ridiculous (The Swarm), but there’s a good case to be made for it to be the most disaster-esque. It understands the very specific form of the subgenre better than most – the high-concept, almost inevitable premise (an earthquake ravaging Los Angeles) acts as the main event, but there are plenty of portentous mini-crises and subsequent aftershocks to keep things hopping throughout the entire film. The usual ensemble cast of such films, bringing together new actors with Classic Hollywood stars, is also top-notch: In between Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner on one end, and George Kennedy and Richard Roundtree in the middle, and Genevieve Bujold and Victoria Principal toward the younger end, we get as much opportunity for star-spotting as an L.A. bus tour – including Walter Matthau in a very funny uncredited drunk role: yes, it’s him! The special effects keep going between credible and amateurish, with a specific mention of a cartoonish blood splash punctuating an elevator crash. The entire plot is handled with enough over-the-top craziness that it carries the film even when the rest of it doesn’t make sense. The vignette-oriented ensemble approach of the plot means that the film was put together in bits and pieces with plenty of reshoots and last-minute cuts. Some of the material apparently resurfaced in a longer, more complete TV version but the DVD edit doesn’t have that luxury: the film brings characters in and out of the plot without bothering to give everyone a satisfying climactic resolution – and if you think the biggest names are going to be at the happy ending, then you’ll feel Earthquake running out of steam moments before crossing the finish line. The rather disappointing ending doesn’t quite erase the discomfort of one of the main plotlines – with Heston’s character clearly telegraphing his intention to leave his age-appropriate wife for another woman twenty years his junior. The ending tries to be moral about this but only manages to feel cheap, which is at odds with the rest of this no-expense-barred extravaganza. Director Mark Robson has a multi-ring circus of destruction to manage but the scattered result would have escaped all but the best directors. What we’re left with is still a highly watchable (although increasingly unconvincing) disaster film and a time capsule of mid-1970s Los Angeles, often more promising than successful.