Jon Lovitz

  • Mom and Dad Save the World (1992)

    Mom and Dad Save the World (1992)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, January 2021) It’s possible to be kind to Mom and Dad Save the World on purely theoretical grounds, but only to a point. If, like me, you like the idea of comedy being created out of the collision between the sublime and the ridiculous, there’s plenty to like about the premise of the film. Here, an utterly typical middle-aged couple is swept up in interplanetary intrigue when the authoritarian leader of an alien race is smitten by the very average looks of the wife (Teri Garr, embracing an unglamorous mousy side of her we didn’t suspect existed) and kidnaps her as she’s off to a weekend outing with her husband. Once transported to another planet, it’s up to her husband (Jeffrey Jones, also going for full-out Barbecue Dad characterization) to escape the clutches of the evil stereotype, join the resistance forces, rescue his wife and save the world. Intended to be ridiculous from the get-go (including its Flash Gordonesque production design), Mom and Dad Save the World does make a lot of mileage out of taking a grandiose science-fiction plot and smashing it to bits with dumb comedy. The primary weapon here would be Jon Lovitz, who brings everything down a few levels with a hammy, typically obnoxious performance as the housewife-loving alien dictator. Lovitz is a tricky actor to unleash even on his best days—his persona often leaps into irritability, and this film is no exception. As a result, while Mom and Dad Save the World may be clever on paper, it’s more of a chore to get through than most people would expect, accounting for its lack of box-office success and a reviled critical consensus. It could have been better in different hands and with a subdued or absent Lovitz… but that’s not the film we have here. There’s some mild interest in having a family film featuring parents are heroes (even despite the premise being based on alien lust for earth women), but the potential is largely unrealized beyond the log-line. There’s a long list of films to watch before making your way to Mom and Dad Save the World.

  • City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold (1994)

    City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold (1994)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On TV, August 2020) Whatever made the success of City Slickers is certainly revisited in its sequel… except mechanically and in diluted fashion. It’s not a real surprise to see Jack Palance come back to join Billy Crystal and Daniel Stern once again as they head out west. While the first film had all the clichés (or rather: familiar elements) of a cattle drive, City Slickers II goes for the clichés (or rather: familiar elements) of a treasure hunt. It works all the way to an upbeat conclusion, but there are quite a few plot cheats along the way, from a final revelation about this being a manufactured reality that is belied by previous events, and then another backflip in order to provide the kind of feel-good conclusion that its earlier twist prevented. Eh, whatever: once again, the real fun is in seeing Crystal and friends match squints with Palance and the indignities of the wild west so far away from the urban canyons of Manhattan. Palance himself has the panache of a veteran movie star, while Crystal is up to his usual standards. City Slickers II is indeed a slickly made film with a big-enough budget to shoot visually interesting scenes out in the far west, but it does mechanically move through its unconvincing plot and doesn’t have much to go in terms of having the characters develop their relationship – the best it can do is welcome a third partner played by Jon Lovitz, who doesn’t turn out to be quite annoying as first feared. That’s not a lot, although if you just want a few chuckles against a western backdrop, City Slickers II is not that painful of an experience.

  • Killing Hasselhoff (2017)

    Killing Hasselhoff (2017)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, June 2019) The popularity of novelty songs has waned through the years, but the concept itself is sound—a piece of music meant to amuse more than anything else, and where the musical qualities aren’t meant to be at the forefront. With Killing Hasselhoff, I’m wondering if we need “novelty film” in our vocabulary—a film meant to tickle memes and jokes around a piece of pop culture. Heck, maybe those films would even be better if they were even more self-aware of their intentions. Many of them could take lessons from Killing Hasselhoff, as it fully gives in to the enduring popularity of TV star David Hasselhoff in the twenty-first century. It’s meant to be a silly self-aware low-budget comedy playing around a two-word high concept and it doesn’t do too badly within that framework. There’s an interesting cast onboard: Ken Jeong gets a leading role as a nightclub owner who gets desperate to pay off his debt, Jon Lovitz is not annoying (for once), Colton Dunn is very funny as a gay assassin and then, of course, there’s The Hoff playing a caricature of himself. It’s not meant to be refined: The situations are usually contrived (how many Baywatch and Knight Rider references can you fit in a single film?) and the dialogue is far too blunt at times. But there are a few laughs here and there for those who enjoy low-budget comedies. That’s all a bonus, considering that most people will watch Killing Hasselhoff just because it happens to be available on cable or streaming service, and they won’t be able to resist the premise-in-a-title. Don’t expect much beyond the novelty aspect of the film and you just may be surprised.

  • Mr. Destiny (1990)

    Mr. Destiny (1990)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, May 2019) There’s a surprisingly strong subgenre of movies exploring what it would be like to rewrite your own history and see the outcomes of different choices. From the angels-driven plot of It’s a Wonderful Life to the more recent examples justified by quantum mechanics mumbo-jumbo, you can see the appeal of the plot device in order to deliver a statement on the human condition. But it’s the execution more than the premise that will determine the impact of the film, as Mr. Destiny clearly suggests. Clearly made for a mass audience, the film’s hackneyed approach to alternate realities for our everyman protagonist isn’t particularly impressive, nor is its cavalier approach to respecting the integrity of the parallel timeline (helpfully pointed out by the magical character, asking our protagonist if he isn’t behaving reprehensibly by wooing another woman than his now-wife). Moral issues aside (and it’s tough to put them aside, because they are significant and do lessen the impact of the lesson the film think it’s teaching us) Mr. Destiny’s biggest problem is the complete and unvarying predictability of the result as it goes through the expected paces. It doesn’t help that two of the headliners are Jim Belushi and Jon Lovitz, two actors who are obnoxious on their best days and actively irritating on all others. More fortunately, Linda Hamilton and Rene Russo are sights to behold, but they’re not quite enough to make the film interesting—and their place in the plot, as mere prizes to be juggled by the white male protagonist having a not-even-mid-life crisis, betrays some ugly scripting issues. Michael Caine is perhaps the only likable character, but he comes across as ineffectually pointing out basic problems caused by the protagonist’s selfishness before it doesn’t matter and we get out of the dream sequence anyway. There are some far better movies tackling more or less the same issues out there—there’s no need to even watch Mr. Destiny.

  • A League of their Own (1992)

    A League of their Own (1992)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, February 2017) There’s a good-natured quality to A League of Their Own that makes it hard to dislike, but that doesn’t mean the film is a solid home run. As a look inside all-women baseball leagues during World War II, it manages to thread a fine line between social concern and outright entertainment. You do have to be a baseball-loving American to get the most out of it, though, as the script quickly takes the familiar route of making baseball a national prism rather than a simple sport. At least Geena Davis is a good lead, with able supporting performances from Tom Hanks (in an out-of-persona turn as a boozy has-been) and (believe it or not) Madonna back when she was trying to be taken seriously as an actor. Jon Lovitz also shows up in a surprisingly non-annoying role. Much of the story will feel familiar, but the epilogue stretches our affection for the film by trying too hard for instant nostalgia for characters we’ve barely met. Thanks to Penny Marshall’s no-nonsense direction, A League of their Own is an effective, basic movie. Not too challenging, not too dry—just good enough to leave everyone happy but not bowled over.

  • Casino Jack (2010)

    Casino Jack (2010)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On DVD, June 2011) Casino Jack never played in more than a few dozen theaters, but this limited release had more to do with its specialized subject than any particular fault in the film’s execution.  Consider the total audience for a low-budget sardonic comedy about a real-life American lobbyist who ended up in prison after a few spectacular instances of fraud, taking along a few others with him.  It’s not exactly wide-audience stuff, but maybe that’s a good thing, because this fictional take on the Jack Abramoff story may not be able to afford much in terms of production values, but it can afford to be remarkably engaged about its subject.  For the facts, have a look at Casino Jack and the United States of Money, which covers the same ground from a documentary perspective.  For a surprisingly sympathetic portrait of a professional con man like Abramoff and a blackly amusing look at the way Washington really works, however, get this film.  Kevin Spacey shines as Abramoff, portraying a complex character with a lot of empathy.  Supporting players include Barry Pepper as a business partner, Jon Lovitz as a hilariously inept businessman with ties to the mob and Rachel Lefebvre as a woman scorned.  While the film does feel a bit flatter than it should be given the subject matter, it’s not a bad time at all, and one gets the feeling that Abramoff himself would like the result.  The DVD contains only a few special features.  Skip over the gag reel and deleted scenes, but sadly-deceased director George Hickenlooper’s written notes and pictures of the production give an intriguing glimpse of how a low-budget film shot near Toronto could double for Washington and Miami thanks to second-unit work and clever location scouting.