Patrick Dempsey

  • Can’t Buy Me Love (1987)

    Can’t Buy Me Love (1987)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, December 2020) If teenage rom-com Can’t Buy Me Love feels so familiar, I’m guessing it’s as much for how it whole-heartedly embraces the most familiar clichés of the high school romance genre as for how it’s been imitated later on by a slew of similar films. Here we have the usual buzzwords and tropes: jocks-versus-nerds, sensitive teenagers writing poetry, fake-pretence love turning real, social ostracism as the overriding value, etc. In other words, it feels incredibly predictable and familiar even when it’s not too badly handled. Much of the lingering trouble, seen almost twenty-five years later, had to do with the film’s refusal to even acknowledge its own limitations in playing high school social status-seeking straight: more recent similar films would poke at their own assumptions. But Can’t Buy Me Love doesn’t – it’s as conventional as you can imagine and that does take away from the decent work by the actors, the straightforward narrative rhythm and its basic likability. Patrick Dempsey and Amanda Peterson do rather well as the lead couple, which saves the film from further indignities. Not all high school movies are created equal, obviously, and 1980s ones don’t have the perspective that later examples benefit from.

  • Flypaper (2011)

    Flypaper (2011)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On-demand video, April 2012) Here’s my new life pro-tip for cinephiles: “Get premium cable TV channels for the big Hollywood movies; keep it for the smaller films that you wouldn’t have seen otherwise!” Flypaper may not have been seen in theaters, but on the small screen it makes for a clever and satisfying crime mystery.  The film does take a while to find its footing, as a quirky savant finds himself in the middle of two simultaneous bank robberies: for a while, Flypaper’s tone remains fuzzy as it veers between a serious crime film and a more light-hearted comedy.  But such initial sputters a common in dark comedies, and Flypaper soon finds itself on firmer footing as the real nature of its convoluted plot becomes more apparent.  Patrick Dempsey is the anchor of the film as a troubled genius investigating the crime in which he’s being held hostage, while Ashley Judd makes for a compelling heroine.  Some of the supporting characters do the best work, though, as with the banter between blue-collar bank robbers played by Tim Blake Nelson and Pruitt Taylor Vince, or a small-but-showy part for Jeffrey Tambor.  The dialogue is occasionally witty, the script is a cut above most crime comedies, and the inspired direction has its moments.  Flypaper is a dark-horse, hidden-gem kind of low-budget film: small cast but a capable script and well-handled filmmaking.  It wraps up on a high note, and leaves a great impression.