An American Affair

Starring:Corbin Bernsen, Jayne Heitmeyer, Maryam d'Abo, Robert Vaughn, Thomas G. Waites, Rob Stewart, Pierre Lenoir (II), Daniela Akerblom, AimÃ©e Castle, Rick Miller, Marc AndrÃ© Bisson, Andrew Campbell (VII), Arshad Shah, Steve Francoeur, Sally McQueen, Howard Rosenstein (II), Lyla McQueen-Shah, Sebastian R. Proctor-Shah
Director: Sebastian Shah
Studio: York Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Fantastic
This is BY FAR the best movie that I have had the chance to lay my eyes on!
Heavy Irony on Amazon
not my genre
Not an "American" issue...

American Beauty (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Annette Bening , Thora Birch , Chris Cooper , Peter Gallagher , and Sam Robards
Director: Sam Mendes
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00003CWL6
Release Date: 2000-10-24

Amazon.com essential video

From its first gliding aerial shot of a generic suburban street, American Beauty moves with a mesmerizing confidence and acuity epitomized by Kevin Spacey's calm narration. Spacey is Lester Burnham, a harried Everyman whose midlife awakening is the spine of the story, and his very first lines hook us with their teasing fatalism--like Sunset Boulevard's Joe Gillis, Burnham tells us his story from beyond the grave.

It's an audacious start for a film that justifies that audacity. Weaving social satire, domestic tragedy, and whodunit into a single package, Alan Ball's first theatrical script dares to blur generic lines and keep us off balance, winking seamlessly from dark, scabrous comedy to deeply moving drama. The Burnham family joins the cinematic short list of great dysfunctional American families, as Lester is pitted against his manic, materialistic realtor wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening, making the most of a mostly unsympathetic role) and his sullen, contemptuous teenaged daughter, Jane (Thora Birch, utterly convincing in her edgy balance of self-absorption and wistful longing). Into their lives come two catalytic outsiders. A young cheerleader (Mena Suvari) jolts Lester into a sexual epiphany that blooms into a second adolescence. And an eerily calm young neighbor (Wes Bentley) transforms both Lester and Jane with his canny influence.

Credit another big-screen newcomer, English theatrical director Sam Mendes, with expertly juggling these potentially disjunctive elements into a superb ensemble piece that achieves a stylized pace without lapsing into transparent self-indulgence. Mendes has shrewdly insured his success with a solid crew of stage veterans, yet he's also made an inspired discovery in Bentley, whose Ricky Fitts becomes a fulcrum for both plot and theme. Cinematographer Conrad Hall's sumptuous visual design further elevates the film, infusing the beige interiors of the Burnhams' lives with vivid bursts of deep crimson, the color of roses--and of blood. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic.......2007-06-22

American Beauty is the greatest movie ever made.

If you haven't already, watch American Beauty by yourself and give yourself some time afterwards to think it over. You will never, ever look at life the same way. It does exactly what movies are meant to do - give us a window into ourselves, and American Beauty does that better than any other film has ever done. No word of dialogue is unnecessary, no character exaggerated, everything is perfect...but if you have seen American Beauty you should know that already. Once you look closer at this movie, and see Beauty in every frame, it becomes so much easier to look closer and see Beauty in everything around you. You think I'm waxing poetic? Then you must not have seen the movie. Every character is a part of each of us: the Lester Burnham of change, the Carolyn of uncertainty and failure, the rebellion of Jane, the defeated Barbara, the false control of Angela and the Colonel, and the real control of Ricky. To me Ricky, not Lester, is the center of this story; he somehow controls or sets in motion the heart of Lester's rebirth and downfall. There are several parts of this movie where I lose control every time I see it, and none more so than the paper bag scene. To me that scene is simply the greatest monologue ever written.

I listened to the message of American Beauty - look closely and you can find Beauty in anything - and it changed my life. I rose out of a long, deep depression and started out into the world. Sometimes there is so much Beauty in the world, I can't even stand it, and it feels like my heart is going to burst.

This is the most beautiful movie I have ever seen.

This is BY FAR the best movie that I have had the chance to lay my eyes on!.......2007-06-15

Let's get this out of the way: Annette Bening (Carolyn) totally steals the show. She shows so many different sides to a human being, especially the extreme. She's super peppy and I almost loved to hate her in the movie. Kevin Spacey was pretty good. He plays a depressed man named Lester who's highlight of the day is pleasuring himself in the shower in the morning. In many ways I could relate to this character. Actually, most of the characters are relate able. Lester and Carolyn have a daughter by the name of Jane. She's pretty mean to her parents and wishes they would just disappear. I liked her character, but Mena Suvari's character was even better. I like the scene where some girl says "You're no goddamn Christie Turlington." Her response to that was very funny.

The ending was quite exciting with many things going on so I was definitely sad when it was over...I'm glad they never made a part II to it too because they probably would have tainted the name.

I left a lot out but I'll just say that if you haven't seen the movie, you really need to. Rent it, buy it, borrow it from a friend; whatever. Just get your grubby paws on it. It shows how beautifully messed up life can be. Bittersweet really. :)

Heavy Irony on Amazon.......2007-06-06

I'm always surprised by how many people do not appreciate this movie. The reasons people give for not liking it ARE OFTEN INCREDIBLY IRONIC.....think about it.

The movie says that morals (and pretty much everything else in life) are relative and subject to being perceived in every possible way...

Hell, Shakespeare said "there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." -Hamlet

Society is often so focused on nonsense that we all accept it without really stopping to think.

People read beauty magazines so they think people will love them more, and in turn people loving them will make them love themselves (Caroline). Many women have ingrained themselves so strongly in this that eating disorders have become a rampant problem in the U.S. With television shows like "The Swan," "American Idol," and who knows what else...it's no wonder this is the case.

Who says that smoking marijuana is "bad?" Who says that being fat is "bad?" Who says that being a homosexual is "bad?" Who says that never being afraid of anything is "bad?" In fact, why are we all so afraid of everything?? WHO is telling us to always be afraid? I think this is a very very important question in today's society.

Who says that a bag floating in the wind (litter) is necessarily "bad?" To really be content in life you have to perceive "reality" the way you want to. Not the way people (and the media) tell you to.

The fact that Lester Burnham chose to work at a fast-food restaurant, smoke pot, and lust after an underage girl (was she under 18?) is irrelevant.

He could have done anything other than what he was doing. He could have chosen to get up and follow his dream of starting a business, take over the world, become a monk in the mountains...IT DOESN'T MATTER. Was what he really did that "bad?" That's what made him content because that is the role HE WANTED to play in this world, but never had the guts to actually play out for himself.

If you've seen Fight Club the concept is pretty much the same (also came out in 1999, coincidence?) I like Fight Club, but this movie is much better. I believe Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) makes a statement like, "People do it everyday. They look into the mirror and see the person they'd like to be, but don't have the guts to run with it like you did."

The point is that THIS is what LESTER wanted to do. NOT Caroline, not his boss, and most importantly NOT SOCIETY.

Of course there are limits to this. Hurting people is never a good route. I doubt the movie was advocating people with the dream of being a serial killer to become a serial killer...Though of course Shakespeare's quote also applies here. Think about it...

The movie is saying that people need to stop being robotic automatons and become the person that they want to be, not what everyone else "thinks" they should be.

THINK. It's the greatest gift you'll ever have.

not my genre.......2007-05-24

I really liked "existentialist" lit and those Russian literary genres (pathetic character dramedy) when I was a teenager but can no longer stomache them. I never cared for the work of Kaiser Soeze. I find mid-life crisises to be a boring subject. Many of the details are absurd and hard to swallow. I'm not a fan of fractured plots esp. plots that start with the ending - what could be more played out? starting with the main characters death is not new or clever (like in "The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas"from the 1800s -or a more direct cinamatic comparison "Sunset Boulevard" with the main characters voice over and sympathetic conclusion to the love triangle before the big finale).

But I do appreciate that amalgam of literary, theatrical and clean cinematic/TV writing styles that went into the story. And I liked the look of the film. I'm sure it deserves all it's praise.

Not an "American" issue..........2007-05-05

I enjoyed all the feedback and interesting comments and points of view about the "issues" this movie conveys. But a sad truth that we all seem to miss is that the United States is a huge country with people from many different races and cultures all mixed and blended together. Add to this mix a society and culture that thrives on materialism and self-centeredness and you have what American Beauty attempts to communicate and raise our awareness about.

Needless to say, this movie does not portray an "American" issue, it effectively raises our awareness that IT IS a world issue because of the fact that most nations around the world make up what we like to call our "American Society and Culture." I DO agree with Mrs. Walker when she stated, "...it's a sad day when a movie likes this says something this important about who we are as a culture. A sad day indeed..." People like to say that this movie displays an "American" issue and it thrashes its culture, but it is a sad world out there where all nations and cultures have been "sedated" with its own desires for personal gain and power. BUT, thank the Lord that there is still "good" out there, around the whole globe...but we are just too "blind" to see this subtle beauty that surrounds us daily...

The Last Picture Show (Definitive Director's Cut Special Edition)

Average customer rating:

It has aged well
The death of innocence in 1950's Texas
Well made film but................
Do your self a favour - Check this out
One of the Best Movies of All Time

The Last Picture Show (Definitive Director's Cut Special Edition)
Starring: Sam Bottoms , Timothy Bottoms , Eileen Brennan , Jeff Bridges , and Gary Brockette
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 0767827902
Release Date: 1999-11-30

Amazon.com essential video

Like Easy Rider, Bonnie and Clyde, The Wild Bunch, and The Graduate, The Last Picture Show is one of the signature films of the "New Hollywood" that emerged in the late 1960s and early '70s. Based on the novel by Larry McMurtry and lovingly directed by Peter Bogdanovich (who cowrote the script with McMurtry), this 1971 drama has been interpreted as an affectionate tribute to classic Hollywood filmmaking and the great directors (such as John Ford) that Bogdanovich so deeply admired. It's also a eulogy for lost innocence and small-town life, so accurately rendered that critic Roger Ebert called it "the best film of 1951," referring to the movie's one-year time frame, its black-and-white cinematography (by Robert Surtees), and its sparse but evocative visual style. The story is set in the tiny, dying town of Anarene, Texas, where the main-street movie house is about to close for good, and where a pair of high-school football players are coming of age and struggling to define their uncertain futures. There's little to do in Anarene, and while Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) engages in a passionless fling with his football coach's wife (Cloris Leachman), his best friend Duane (Jeff Bridges) enlists for service in the Korean War. Both boys fall for a manipulative high-school beauty (Cybill Shepherd) who's well aware of her sexual allure. But it's not so much what happens in The Last Picture show as how it happens--and how Bogdanovich and his excellent cast so effectively capture the melancholy mood of a ghost town in the making. As Hank Williams sings on the film's evocative soundtrack, The Last Picture Show looks, feels, and sounds like a sad but unforgettably precious moment out of time. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

It has aged well.......2007-06-30

Nobody needs more superlatives about this movie. All I can add is it remains one of the definitive movies about the teenage experience, even after almost 40 years, and does not appear the least bit dated. Just as important, it isn't easy to categorize simply as a "Coming of Age movie" since it deals just as relevantly with the issues of having one's best years behind oneself (Sam the Lion, and by extension, the town itself) not to mention the struggles of being trapped in a loveless marriage (Ruth Popper & Lois Farrow being two strikingly different sides of the same coin). It continues to strike a chord on multiple levels.

A true classic, made all the more remarkable by the fact that Bogdanovich made perhaps two more movies after this which were remotely worth a damn. But I guess having one classic to one's credit should be enough.

The death of innocence in 1950's Texas.......2007-05-21

The Last Picture Show is a film adaptation by Peter Bogdanovich of Larry McMurtry's novel of the same name. The two-hour film follows Texas high school seniors as they graduate and move on to military service, college, or get stuck in the soon-to-be ghost town of Anarene. Anarene is an actual ghost town in Texas, but the movie was filmed 8 miles to the north, in McMurtry's hometown of Archer City, which was fictionalized as Thalia in his 1966 novel. The setting is evocative of many American small towns in the dust bowl during the Korean War. In fact, Bogdanovich chose the name Anarene for his film version to pay homage to Howard Hawks' 1948 Red River, set in Abilene, Kansas.

You can taste the dust and desolation as you view The Last Picture Show. Two high school seniors (Jeff Bridges and Timothy Bottoms) lust after the teenage temptress (Cybill Shepherd) and get advice from the old-time owner of the town's movie theater. The young generation of Anarene residents is confused about their future and jockeying for position in the social strata, while the older generation feels the desperation of life in a dying one-horse town. Reportedly, Orson Wells recommended that the movie be shot in black & white, and I can't imagine it any other way. As a younger viewer, I was surprised by the amount of full-frontal nudity and sexual scenarios in a film nominated for eight Academy Awards. It gives me hope to know that American cinema wasn't always as prudish as it has been in the recent past.

Well made film but................ .......2007-05-20

Although this film is top notch in most respects it left me too sad and depressed to want to give it the full five star rating. The filmmakers certainly do an excellent job of portraying small town North Texas ( the Wichita Falls area is just below Oklahoma) life from the adults who obsess about the teenagers' football playing abilities to the petty cruelties and intrigues spawned by wind swept boredom. The actors are all well cast and bring their characters to life though I'll admit I was a little confused at first as to the family connections or lack there of for Duane, Billy, Sonny and Sam the Lion. It amazes me that when the film was released in 1971 it was portraying events that had happened only nineteen years previously (in 1952) since it seemed at the time it debuted it was all ready considered a movie about long gone days. One note it definitely does deserve the R rating.

Do your self a favour - Check this out.......2007-05-08

Having just seen this film for the first time what can I say, I'm totally
totally blown away. I won't bother going into any details as the reviews below heap more than enough superlatives on this little beauty. The pity is that in Australia this film is unknown, certainly no one I know has heard of it, and I only became curious when I saw it featured on a Doco of 70's movies. One of those rare movies where all the elements of the film making craft stand out brilliantly. Sure don't make 'em like they used to.

One of the Best Movies of All Time.......2007-03-11

When "The Last Picture Show" was first released, it was hailed as one of the best debut films by an American director since "Citizen Kane." Odd, since "Citizen Kane" is #1 on The American Film Institute's Top 100 list and "The Last Picture Show" is nowhere to be found. Since it is in the 400 nominees for the 10th anniversary edition of that list, maybe it will make it this time. It certainly deserves to. The film is based on a novel by Oscar winner Larry McMurtry (Best Adapted Screenplay, 'Brokeback Mountain') and is written by McMurtry and director Peter Bogdanovich. The movie takes place in a small, desolate Texas town where the only thing to do is go to school, play sports, and see a movie. No one knows this better than Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) and his friends. Sonny is a typical high school senior. He hangs out with his friends, usually Duane (Jeff Bridges), chills with his girlfriend, and worries about his future. Especially since almost no one in the town has much of a future. Bogdanovich hammers this message down, mostly with the black & white cinematography. Despite having a crush on Duane's slutty girlfriend Jacy (Cybill Shepherd), Sonny begins having an affair with his football coach's wife Ruth (Cloris Leachman, who deservedly won an Oscar her role). Probably the most memorable character in the film is Sam the Lion (Ben Johnson, who also won an Oscar for his role) the man who owns the movie theatre, the diner, and pool hall frequented by almost everyone in the town. Sam also, for the most part, acts as the moral conscience of the town. The character is given some of the best dialogue. The performances in this film are all so good. You can not imagine one other person playing the roles in the film. One thing I kept noticing while watching the film is how hot Cybill Shepherd was back in the day. "The Last Picture Show" is a masterpiece of cinema that deserves a lot more props for how good it is. It's regarded as a classic, but isn't a solidified one. The movie does everything so well to illustrate its story and the desperation of all the characters to get away. From the black & white atmosphere to the dull-ness of everything. Not a single scene in the film seems forced or un-needed (although it could be argued the film has gratuitous nudity, but who cares?). If you haven't seen "The Last Picture Show" you should, because it's a great film and it's very memorable, you won't regret watching it.

GRADE: A

Average customer rating:

I'm stuck on Moonstruck
DVD Quality
A different romance
One of my all-time favorites
Great Watch.

Moonstruck
Starring: Cher , Nicolas Cage , Vincent Gardenia , Olympia Dukakis , and Danny Aiello
Director: Norman Jewison
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
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ASIN: 0792838963
Release Date: 1998-06-30

Amazon.com essential video

Remember the outfit Cher wore to the Oscars when she won an Academy Award for her performance in this 1987 film? Ay-yi-yi. The actress' more retiring character in this infectious comedy leaps several psychological hurdles just giving her hair a permanent. But then the original screenplay by John Patrick Shanley (Joe Versus the Volcano) is a wonderful, gently satirical tale of an Italian-American family dealing with repression and dissatisfaction against a backdrop of cultural expectations. Cher is focused and funny as a widow who feels she should marry an older fellow (Danny Aiello), but then falls for his black-sheep brother (Nicolas Cage). Olympia Dukakis and Vincent Gardenia are perfect as her parents, and John Mahoney (of TV's Frasier) has a memorable, small role as a middle-aged man on the make who gets a lecture from Dukakis's character. Shanley's dialogue is comically stylized in a way that makes one appreciate how much words can inform an actor's performance. Taking its cues from him and director Norman Jewison (And Justice for All), the cast immerse themselves in a pool of hilariously operatic emotion. --Tom Keogh

Description

Fall under the delightful spell of Moonstruck, the mesmerizing romantic comedy from director Norman Jewison (Fiddler on the Roof) and OscarÂ(r) winner* John Patrick Shanley. Academy AwardÂ(r) winners** Cher, Nicolas Cage and Olympia Dukakis excel in this explosively funny tale which also features flawless performances by Danny Aiello, Vincent Gardenia and Frasier's John Mahoney. Cher is "devastatingly funny, sinuous and beautiful" (Pauline Kael) as Loretta, an unlucky in love Italian widow who finds romance through the intervention of the Manhattan moon. With her wedding to a close friend just weeks away, she meets and falls hopelessly in love with his younger brother (Cage)! Her dilemma and her equally passionate and hilariously eccentric family make for an unforgettable film you'll find "beguiling" (Time), "enchanting" (Newsweek) and "irresistible" ("Today Show").

Customer Reviews:

I'm stuck on Moonstruck.......2007-05-19

This is a delightful romantic comedy. Cher does a wonderful job of changing from a frumpy, overworked fiancee to a glamorous, sexy girlfriend of Nicholas Cage. Good performances by everyone.

DVD Quality.......2007-02-14

The first disc was defective. Returned it for replacement. The replacement is very slightly out of sync of video and audio at the end of movie. Shows poor quality control.

A different romance.......2007-02-12

A very good yet different comedy romance. Cher and Nickolas Cage are a great team in this movie!

One of my all-time favorites.......2006-11-10

I love this movie so much that I've watched it countless times and enjoy it every time I've seen it. I wore through my VHS copy, so it was time for a replacement. A very funny romantic comedy!

Great Watch........2006-10-28

I wanted to be Italian when I finished this movie.
Nick Cage did an award winning job at acting. Cher was unbelievable. Loved her. There were so many "stars" and stellar performances in this film that I can't mention them all. Sugar in champagne? Who knew?
I love that all ends up happy in the end.

Average customer rating:

A feel good film for ALL women!!!!!
Waiting to Exhale DVD
Understanding!
Desperate women who need to BREATHE.
Read the book and saw the movie!

Waiting to Exhale
Starring: Whitney Houston , Angela Bassett , Loretta Devine , Lela Rochon , and Gregory Hines
Director: Forest Whitaker
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
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ASIN: B00000ILEE
Release Date: 2001-03-06

Amazon.com essential video

Based on a novel by Terry McMillan, this weepy melodrama about four African American women and the men who wronged them became an instant cultural phenomenon when it was released back in 1995. It's easy to see why Exhale struck a nerve: the movie boasts an attractive cast of African American actresses and personalities, including Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, and Lela Rochon. Unfortunately, though, Exhale sags under the weight of its soapy, crisis of the week plotting and relentlessly cheery "you go, girl!" optimism. And African American men, cast here as insensitive lovers and pigheaded materialists, get the very short end of the feminist stick. Perhaps moviegoers were simply responding to the brilliant soundtrack by R&B superstar Babyface, who provided the movie's only real groove. --Ethan Brown

Description

Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett star in this funny and touching film about four women who find strength through their rare and special relationship. Savannah, Bernadine, Robin and Gloria are all searching for the Real Thing: true love. Bernadine thought she had it, until her husband left her for another woman. Savannah and Robin are successful in business but their love lives are bankrupt. And divorcee Gloria is getting back in the game by flirting with her new, very eligible neighbor. Based on Terry McMillan's best-selling novel, and featuring the #1 smash hit "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)," "Waiting to Exhale" is the film you and your friends have been waiting for! Original score by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.

Customer Reviews:

A feel good film for ALL women!!!!!.......2007-07-04

I have to say that this is one of my favorite films of all time. Everyone did a good job in this film, especially Whitney Houston. My favorite character in the film would definitely have to be Bernadine. This film makes you laugh, cry, and also makes you aware of the fact that you do need friends to get you through the difficult times, especially when it comes to dealing with no good men!!!!

Waiting to Exhale DVD.......2007-06-15

Great Movie! I am glad to have it as part of my collection.

Understanding!.......2007-03-09

As a female, I enjoy watching what men call Chick Flicks but never watched them more than I had to. I enjoy horror movies, suspense, actions...
Watching Waiting to Exhale when I was a bit younger, I did not totally understand the concept of their struggles, often wondering why it is that the one girl would repeatedly put herself through a man that obviously did not really want anything to do with her but for sex only to hook up with a man that she obviously is not attracted to just for him to treat her coldly in the workplace. I could not understand why Bernie would burn some of her husband's belongings even the car then have garage sale with the rest, I could not understand why Gloria was hung on her very gay son's father hoping he would come back to her, I could not understand why Savannah would not hook up with the hunky fine chocolate brother... I could not understand why most of the things happened, but going through life itself, having children and friends I now do understand, which is why I decided to purchase this movie for my collections. Because inside of every female, there is a Savannah, Bernie, Robin and a Gloria.

Desperate women who need to BREATHE........2007-01-23

At first I loved this movie, it was one of my favorites. As a young lady who just turned 21, at that time I completely related to their struggles. A year later, I re-watched the film with more maturity. Surprising, my perspective of it was totally different.

Essentially, it is the story of four horny black women who think men are the key to happiness.

Yes, everybody craves sex at some point, some people more than others. The audience can resonate with their lust for sex, the characters' weaknesses, and minor faults. Still, after watching the movie a couple times, I realized that the characters in this film are simply naive.

I'm not trying to imply that females should be totally independent, and should never desire to date. However, they need to have standards!

Since the four characters are desperate for sex and a stable relationship, they lower their standards. This compromises their self-respect, morals and personal interests in order to "get a man". Obviously, they lure the sleaziest men the world has to offer. Even the four characters know that the men they're dating are worthless, as they repeat to themselves throughout the film. Nevertheless, the ladies waste time on these dogs in order to fuel they need for sex and attention.

At the end, it seems that they find more solidarity and happiness amongst each other. Though they don't seem to have fully learned from their mistakes, and seem likely to repeat the immature behavior.

To conclude, they need to breathe first, and with that added energy, they should cultivate some sense.

Read the book and saw the movie!.......2007-01-04

Read the book and saw the movie! NEXT!

Average customer rating:

Having Read the Book I wanted to Satisfy My Curiosity About the Transfer to Film
Interesting plot-driven character study
Too good to have been an American hit in the theatres.
Great drama, but not a suspense.
Peak performances

The Human Stain
Starring: Anthony Hopkins , Nicole Kidman , Ed Harris , Gary Sinise , and Wentworth Miller
Director: Robert Benton
Manufacturer: Miramax
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The Human Stain: A Novel

ASIN: B0001XAPX8
Release Date: 2004-07-20

Amazon.com

Given the formidable challenge of adapting Philip Roth's acclaimed novel to the screen, it's a wonder that The Human Stain retains so much of what makes Roth's novel a masterpiece. As adapted by Nicholas Meyer, Robert Benton's film is inevitably a different animal altogether, and it's wide open to charges of miscasting and thematic diffusion. But at its core, this delicate drama succeeds in exposing the sins that stain all of humanity, forcing men like former welterweight boxer and esteemed professor Coleman Silk (Anthony Hopkins) to forsake family and career to conceal his African American heritage. Light-skinned and passing as a Jewish professor of classics in a tony East Coast college, 71-year-old Silk sinks into scandal when an innocent remark is misinterpreted as a racist slur, and this--along with his affair with an illiterate 34-year-old janitor (Nicole Kidman), and friendship with a reclusive novelist (Gary Sinise)--forms the crux of Benton's multilayered inquiry into the oppressive aftershocks of guilt, shame, and mourning, and the effects of judgment (internal and external) on our ability to connect. Roth's novel was one thing, Benton's film is another. Despite differing degrees of success, both are worthy of praise. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Academy Award(R) winners Anthony Hopkins (1991 Best Actor, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS) and Nicole Kidman (2002 Best Actress, THE HOURS) along with Gary Sinise (FORREST GUMP) and Ed Harris (THE HOURS) star in the provocative mystery THE HUMAN STAIN. Coleman Silk (Hopkins) has a secret. A terrible 50-year-old secret that the esteemed college professor has kept hidden from everyone — including his wife, his children, and his down-and-out young lover (Kidman) — and it's about to ruin his entire life.

Customer Reviews:

Having Read the Book I wanted to Satisfy My Curiosity About the Transfer to Film.......2007-06-16

Philip Roth's book The Human Stain was a fictional examination of racial/social and sexual biases in American culture with more than a dose of hypocrisy thrown in. I expected it to be a difficult novel to translate to film and I believe I was partially right.
The casting is excellent and Nicole Kidman is very good as Faunia Farley a bit of a lost soul being stalked by her violent and insane ex-husband who gets involved with an older college professor who has just lost his position due to an abnormally ridiculous case of Political Correctness. Anthony Hopkins is fabulous in that role although as the plot unfolds it becomes a bit harder to see him as the older version of his younger self as portrayed in flashback sequences. (Trying hard not to give too much away here).
A real strong performance by Ed Harris ( The most underrated guy in Hollywood) as the crazed husband cements this as a film worth checking out.
It's understandable why this wasn't a huge hit at the box office because it is a literary and somewhat challenging film.

Interesting plot-driven character study.......2007-03-09

Classics Professor Coleman Silk (Anthony Hopkins), exasperated that two students have yet to show up for his class points to their empty seats and ask rhetorically, "Do they exist or are they spooks?" He should have chosen his words more carefully because the two absent students are black and Silk is subsequently charged with using racial slurs by the college.

Yes, this could definitely happen, although one would expect it to be cleared up once there was an investigation. However, Coleman Silk gets more than a little uptight. Something has hit a nerve. He has enemies. He doesn't cooperate and in fact resigns in face of the charge. His wife drops dead, and at the age of 71 Coleman gets involved in a Viagra-hyped love affair with Faunia Farley (Nicole Kidman), a 34-year-old cleaning woman and high school dropout with a past.

Turns out that Coleman too has a past, and that past partially explains why he got so uptight about the racial slur charge. Seems that Coleman has "passed." Seems that he was "colored" and didn't want to be colored and so forsook his family and passed into the white world and never looked back.

This is from the novel by Philip Roth, who has written many splendid novels. The adaptation is by Nicholas Meyer who did most of the scripts for the Star Trek movies. Robert Benton's direction is professional and clear. Anthony Hopkins is very good as one would expect and Nicole Kidman as a hardtack brunette with worry lines on her face is vividly real as the bitter, but vulnerable Faunia Farley. Ed Harris plays her also bitter, spaced-out, estranged husband, a twisted Viet Vet with malevolence on his mind.

The story is told in a straight-forward way with flashbacks to Coleman's past where we see that he was a welterweight prize fighter for a while and had his heart broken because his very blonde bride-to-be just couldn't stomach the thought of marrying into a Negro family. Wentworth Miller plays young Coleman and definitely looks and acts the part. Anna Deavere Smith plays his mother with the kind of dignity you would expect from a woman who raised the son of Pullman porter to become a classics professor at a small New England private college. Gary Sinise as Coleman's neighbor, Nathan Zuckerman (and Philip Roth perennial), narrates the story from the novel he eventually writes.

All in all an interesting movie that recalls an age gone by while at the same time reminding us that the politically correct postmodern world is upon us.

See this for Nicole Kidman who is on her way to becoming one of the great stars of the cinema as yet again she shows that she cannot be typecast, and for Anthony Hopkins, one of the more accomplished actors of our time.

Too good to have been an American hit in the theatres........2007-01-26

The Human Stain (Robert Benton, 2003)

Robert Benton does not often direct movies, but when he does, you can be pretty much guaranteed a knockout: Kramer vs. Kramer, Places in the Heart, Nobody's Fool. After five years of silence (the longest in his career since the gap between his first and second films), Benton emerged in 2003 with The Human Stain, based on Philip Roth's rather obscure (for Roth, anyway) novel, and comes up with an interesting, complex, well-acted little film that far too few people saw.

Coleman Silk (Anthony Hopkins) is a professor at a small New England university. As the movie opens, he is accused of racism and his tenure is revoked, leading to the death of his wife, Iris (Phyllis Newman, of the fine, cancelled-far-too-early show 100 Centre St.), from a heart attack. His resulting rage at this pair of injustices leads him to the friendship of a local writer, Nathan Zuckerman (Gary Sinise), and romance with a young woman who works as a janitor at the school, Faunia Farley (Nicole Kidman). Faunia's ex-husband Lester (Ed Harris) is not too thrilled about the latter. Underlying it all is a secret Silk has been keeping for half a century that might destroy him... or save him.

Screenplay writer Nicholas Meyer sure has come a long way since Invasion of the Bee Girls. Here he takes a Philip Roth novel and does it justice, though to be fair it's kind of hard to buy Anthony Hopkins, of all people, in this role. If you can swallow your disbelief once the secret is revealed (and while that does happen relatively early on, it's still a spoiler), you're golden. Kidman plays her role to the hilt, taking on, in essence, the role Susan Sarandon popularized in the similarly-neglected 1990 film White Palace. Roth swung the age difference, but the rest of the trappings of the romantic tale are in place, and work just as well here as they did there. Zuckerman, Roth's detached and somewhat bemused Everyman character, sits on the sidelines and observes everything. I can't imagine what temptation there must be for anyone adapting a Zuckerman novel to bring Nathan himself to the forefront, but it's got to be monstrous (Nathan Zuckerman, after all, is the enduring character of Roth's novels, while everyone around him just passes through). Meyer resists, though, and Gary Sinise acts the part wonderfully. In the one scene where Zuckerman's presence indirectly affects the plot, Sinise just sits there looking half-embarrassed to be an agent of change. It's great stuff. Hopkins, on the other hand, is huge and bombastic and chews as much scenery as did Edward G. Robinson in his prime, and it fits. A fine film. If you missed it in its theatrical release, and you probably did, check it out on DVD. *** ½

Great drama, but not a suspense........2007-01-22

Let me preface my review by saying (a) I have never read the novel and (b) I probably read too much about the movie before I saw it. I also watch movies for entertainment, never searching, and rarely stumbling upon, a much deeper meaning.

That having been said, I was sure that I would find this movie completely unwatchable. I watched it only because Wentworth Miller was in it. But I found that I was actually quickly captivated by the movie, even before Miller appeared. I don't find the premise of Coleman Silk's dismissal from the college completely unbelievable. I find it, unfortunately, all too believable that an esteemed academic COULD be quickly dimissed for innocent remarks made that had potential of being racist, even if they were not. What I did not find was the suspense that the description of the movie alluded to. I don't really see how the revelation of Coleman Silk's big "secret" was about to ruin his life. In fact, in consideration of the fact that the loss of his job was due to a racist remark, the revelation of his secret could have saved his life. His "secret" had much stronger impacts on his life in the flashback scenes of the movie.

Ironically, I also found the casting of Wentworth Miller as the young Silk every bit as implausible as the casting of Anthony Hopkins as the elder Silk, even knowing full-well that Miller is perfectly cast in the part. If only the Silk family had just one member that had skin nearly as fair as Miller's, I could have bought it. (Perhaps Miller's own family should have been cast.) But Miller looked like the adopted child in the family, clearly much fairer than his parents and both siblings, both an older brother, and a younger sister. I also found it implausible that Silk had developed an incredibly strong British accent, presumably from his time at Oxford, after growing up in New Jersey and attending NYU, and then retained that accent over many, many years teaching in New England.

However, it goes without saying that Hopkins played the part as well as it could be played, even if the casting on it's face was less-than ideal. Miller's casting was ideal on it's face AND his performance was strong, but I do wonder how much of it was "acting" per se, and not emotion based on his own feelings and struggles with his identity. In other words, he was great, but was it really that much of a stretch? Nicole Kidman was excellent, perfectly pulling off her character, as she always does. Somehow, she is always believeable, even if she is a beautiful, classy Australian playing a somewhat grubby, class-less American.

I watched this film on DVD, so I have to believe that nothing was left out of my version. But I feel like I may have seen an edited version based on other reviews. As mentioned, I found the movie to be far from suspenseful. While Coleman's secret may have had significance in his youth, I found it to be far less significant in his adulthood. I have no idea how people knew that Kidman's character was illiterate. I also have no idea what the scene with the crow had to do with anything other than allowing a means for Kidman's character to confess further details of her past. If that was it's purpose, it could have been much more cleverly achieved. Perhaps these were details that were in the book but not well integrated into the film.

Overall, the movie is very watchable. It is a good story that makes one pause to think about the struggles of people of color, especially for those who have never had to go through such struggles. But don't expect to be sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for some huge secret to be revealed or for it to come out and ruin Silk's life. It's a great drama, not a strong suspense.

Peak performances.......2007-01-08

This film grabs the viewer from the opening scene. Through a winter's bleak landscape, a car's easy progress along the dark road is enhanced by the sedate pace of the background music. Before the credits have stopped running, the car is rolling into the roadside stream, the occupants clearly lost. An oncoming vehicle has driven them off the road deliberately, then continues on. Why has such a murder occurred?

Coleman Sylk [Hopkins] a classics scholar, denies a student's charge of racism as "spectacularly false", yet resigns his college post in protest. He contacts Nathan Zuckerman [Sinise] to commission him to write the story of his life - the son of "the only Jewish saloon keeper in East Orange". Zuckerman, a writer suffering "block" is reluctant to undertake the task, but as he learns more about Sylk, he becomes fascinated by the man. The unfolding story is far more of "An American Tragedy" than Theodore Dreiser could have ever envisioned.

Sylk, whose real story is far more convoluted than that of the "son of a Jewish saloon keeper", is an angry man. His outbursts aren't violent - that aspect of his life is clearly under tight control. But the events of his youth are reflected in his dealings with others in his later life. To explain this, Sylk's early life [Wentworth Miller] is portrayed as a succession of deceptions, from his struggle to follow his own desires against his father's wishes, to that father's own role in life. Coleman wanted to be boxer - he was good in the ring. But he follows a different path to become a classical scholar. The "first Jew to teach classical literature in America" - according to narrator Zuckerman.

The source of Coleman's ire becomes clear when he tells Zuckerman about his first love. While in university, he meets a young woman and invites her home to dinner. The result is an act in a long-term tragedy. A tragedy that has yet to be played out both in the film and in real life. Convoluting Coleman's already bizarre existence is his unexpected encounter with Faunia Farley [Nicole Kidman]. In what is demonstrably her best role, Kidman is a woman beset by tragic circumstances. Their liaison, which should be completely out of character for both, proves stable and enduring. A cynical farm woman struggling for survival, she should have little to offer the classics scholar. But Coleman's own struggles provide a hidden bond. The two become lovers, mutually reinforcing and restoring a positive approach to their lives.

It's easy for Hopkins to impart tension in a film role - he's done it often enough. But here, he displays a new version of that emotion. There is the visible manifestation of self-control. While he can release his rage when he's relating his story to Zuckerman, a whole new aspect appears when he's with Kidman. In turn, while she might simply be grateful for his attention, Kidman becomes enamoured of his qualities. She discovers his strengths and capacities, leading her to develop a sincere affection for this stranger. Together, the endure challenges and overcome them. All but the last one.

There are many roles in this film deserving applause. Anna Deveare Smith's depiction of Coleman's mother, Ed Harris as Faunia's ex-husband and, of course, Jacinda Barrett as Coleman's university-days lover stand out well under Benton's direction. Hopkins and Kidman, however, rightly dominate this production. Kidman, in particular, exhibits a capacity hardly promised in her other roles. This film is reminiscent of two of Sean Connery's in which two co-stars, Lorraine Bracco and Catherine Zeta-Jones seem to suddenly blossom out of previous mediocrity. Was there an unforeseen magic between Hopkins and Kidman, or did Benton provide a catalyst needed to bring out the best these two could provide? However the formula worked, the product is something outstanding. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Average customer rating:

Excellent movie, stupid distributers
SHAMEFULLY NOT ON DVD!!!

Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!
Starring: Paul Newman , Joanne Woodward , Joan Collins , Jack Carson , and Dwayne Hickman
Director: Leo McCarey
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000P6XPX8
Release Date: 2007-07-10

Customer Reviews:

Excellent movie, stupid distributers.......2007-03-01

Distributers and Hollywood moguls take note, you could make a lot of money simply by making this movie available on DVD. This is an excellent sex comedy starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Joan Collins, Dwayne Hickman, Tuesday Weld and a lot of other really fine actors. Max Schulman was a genius at making us believe the unbelievable in his books and this movie carries on that wonderful trait. Please, dummies, make this available. Please? I found this for sale on DVDR on ioffer.com. If the idiots won't release it for commercial sale, then this is obviously the only way to get it.

SHAMEFULLY NOT ON DVD!!!.......2006-09-28

THIS IS ANOTHER GREAT CLASSIC STARRING PAUL NEWMAN,JOANNE WOODWARD AND JOAN COLLINS THAT UNFORTUNATELY ISN'T ON DVD.DISTRIBUTORS TAKE NOTICE!!PLEASE MAKE IT AFFORDABLE AND ACCESSIBLE!!

Average customer rating:

Yanks Review
Fine Film
For Lovers of the British Life
Haunting, Mature Wartime Romance
HEARTFELT BUT TEPID

Yanks
Starring: Richard Gere , Lisa Eichhorn , Vanessa Redgrave , William Devane , and Chick Vennera
Director: John Schlesinger
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0006IIPM6
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Customer Reviews:

Yanks Review .......2006-08-07

A fine WW2 story of our troops awaiting the Normandy invasion in a small English town --
Excellant for adults who remember those times, the "Little darlings" wouldn't understand it.

Fine Film.......2006-01-17

A fine film that rings true in its detailed depiction of American soldiers in Britain during wartime. The casting of Richard Gere is a weak link, but the other performers compensate for his narcissistic posing. My DVD from Amazon presented many frustrations, with the screen continually freezing and this was the first viewing of a new disc!).

For Lovers of the British Life.......2005-08-11

This is one of my favorite movies because of the convincing portrayal of life in Britian during WWII. The story is romantic, about Americans coming to Britian to help fight in England and their love affairs with the women of England. What is truley special here is the attention to detail in period dress and atmosphere (except for Richard Gere's 1980s hair) and the explictness of atmosphere of life in England at this time. This is a grown up movie like we rarely see anymore. It is made for audiences that know a little bit about love and life. The movie is character driven and based on a fine script. Every aspect of the production is finely mounted. Great performances also. Especially by the British players.
There are no extras on this DVD which is fine with me. It's not the greatest movie ever made and no one needs to know much about it. In my opinion, unless a movie is a time tested classic, the extras are just that. Extras. Sometimes the extras even spoil the illusion of our favorite movies.
You can lose yourself in this story and go back in time for a couple of hours.

Haunting, Mature Wartime Romance.......2005-07-07

I've always liked this film. It's not for those who like their movies full of cyborgs blasting one another with death rays, or for anyone craving fantasy escapism in a yarn peopled with gnomes and mad magicians. This is a leisurely, realistic film that haunts the mind long after you've seen it with its atmospheric settings and its depictions of love under stress. The acting is uniformly excellent, with Lisa Eichhorn standing out as the pretty English girl torn between two men, one her hometown boyfriend, now fighting in Burma, the other a US Army sergeant newly stationed in England, played by Richard Gere. Then there is the often repressed, adult relationship between US officer William Devane and musician Vanessa Redgrave, both of them married, yet finding in one another a much-needed, if temporary, attachment. These affairs are woven together with cinematic class and ease, and no doubt reflect the experiences of many American men and English women during the war. That it doesn't end with a conventional resolution to anything speaks well for it.

HEARTFELT BUT TEPID.......2005-05-25

This tame little film is marred by limp screenplay and one-note performances by both Richard Gere and Lisa Eichhorn. This movie is so deadly dull that even sensitive turns by William Devaine and Vanessa Redgrave as ill-starred lovers could not hold one's interest for long. Supposedly the story of Americans in England prior to D-Day, the period illusion is completely shattered by director John Schlesinger's disasterous choice of locations--most especially the "American training camp" filmed in the shadow of a nuclear reactor's cooling tower!?! Ridley Scott would never make such an error.

Average customer rating:

Trying to get things right
EVERYBODY'S ALL WORKED UP OVER TOUCHDOWNS AND FOREPLAY
Definitely not for romantic lovers of nostalga
Showcase for the often-underrated Dennis Quaid
A LOVE STORY

Everybody's All-American
Starring: Jessica Lange , Dennis Quaid , Timothy Hutton , John Goodman , and Carl Lumbly
Director: Taylor Hackford
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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ASIN: B0000TG94W
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Amazon.com

When the cheering and MVP perks stop, what then? This ambitious adaptation of Frank Deford's novel about three tumultuous decades in the lives of a Washington Redskins football star and his two biggest fans attempts to answer this question. Dennis Quaid has his rangiest role to date as Gavin Grey, who goes, De Niro-like, from sinewy gridiron Adonis to embittered has-been with sizable beer gut. Jessica Lange brings her customary class and inner strength to Babs, the Louisiana State homecoming queen who marries college sweetheart Gavin and forfeits her identity; Timothy Hutton is Donnie, Gavin's cousin who secretly pines for the neglected Babs. But it's big guy John Goodman in one of his first screen roles who blasts through in this cross between The Way We Were and North Dallas Forty. Taylor Hackford, no slouch at epic melodramas (The Devil's Advocate), directed from a script by Tom Rickman (Oscar-nominated for Coal Miner's Daughter). Gavin's two-hours-later epiphany? "There's more to life than making touchdowns." --Glenn Lovell

Customer Reviews:

Trying to get things right.......2005-07-28

Dennis Quaid plays a college football hero stuck in that role and incapable of doing anything else. Jessica Lange is the college queen who marries him, has lots of babies, and gets neglected by Quaid. Quaid goes on to the pros, passing by business opportunities along the way, and stays on too long (it's all he knows). When they are about to go bankrupt, Lange takes charge, getting a job and holding them together. More important, she grows as a person, taking on responsibilities and doing things she never thought she could do. Meanwhile, Quaid continues to live in the past. Then the best 20 minutes of the movie occurs: Quaid and Lange confront their dilemma and work it out. Whether their (and the movie's) solution is believable is questionable, but the acting here is very sharp.

EVERYBODY'S ALL WORKED UP OVER TOUCHDOWNS AND FOREPLAY.......2004-01-29

"Everybody's All American" is the story of Gavin Grey(Dennis Quaid)a guy who goes from stud-muffin to couch potato faster than you can say touchdown. In this endevor he's aided by Jessica Lange - the no-good-for-him love of his life. Taylor Hackford directs with slick style and lots of heart this story better suited for reruns of "General Hospital" than a big screen romance. Nevertheless, and happily so, the film works on all levels.
TRANSFER: Very respectable effort from Warner Brothers with rich, vibrant colors, deep blacks and some nicely balanced colors and contrast levels. On the down side, some scenes appear to have a slightly hazy look to them and there is considerable film grain in a few scenes and age related artifacts to contend with. Overall, however, an adequate remastering effort.
EXTRAS: The director gives us his personal insight into the making of this film which isn't really as insightful as one might imagine. There's also a trailer.
BOTTOM LINE: If you like schmaltz with your beer then this one has it all. If the only thing that excites you is touchdowns then Monday Night Football is a better fit.

Definitely not for romantic lovers of nostalga.......2004-01-13

This movie's message is, simply put, don't go living in the past or the present may very well run over you like a very large lineman. Initially, it would appear that the movie glamourizes those bright college days, full of football heroism & social ascendancy on campus, but it becomes apparent soon enough that the film's main characters are real losers in the larger game of life. Jessica Lange in particular plays a southern belle who, as her life progresses, realizes that life really isn't a Homecoming dance, and that the culture that once put her on a pedastel has, in the long run, really screwed her over by limiting her options. Ahh, the life of the trophy wife. Meanwhile, Dennis Quaid (whose smart-alecky persona normally drives me crazy) comes across as a total loser in the bigger picture, as he remains mired in the increasingly long-ago glory days of his youth, unable to cope with his present-day, beer-gut-ridden life of mediocrity. Ahh, the life of a has-been athlete.

Meanwhile, the characters that remained on the fringes in the good old days focused on what they might do in the future rather than dwelling in the past, and had much more meaningful lives as a result. This is all very gratifying for people who weren't high school football heroes or prom queens. While not a great film, this is a pretty good film, and a worthy antidote for excessive exposure to rampant nostalgia.

Showcase for the often-underrated Dennis Quaid.......2001-10-30

This is an overlooked film from 1988, and perhaps the best performance in Quaid's career. Director Taylor Hackford has had an uneven career, but this stands as one of his best movies so far. Quaid is the a star college football player who marries the homecoming queen (Jessica Lange) and SLOWLY comes to realize that the fame and glory of his college days won't carry him in the real world of professional football and the years after. Lange gets top billing (contractually), but it is Quaid's movie. This should have been his Oscar-nominated performance.
Hackford (or careful editing) pulls back before certain moments fall into sappy sentimentality. But the period detail is meticulous and perfect, and certain pressings of this video come with the dialog-only (no music) trailer for 1989's "Batman", one of the unintentionally best movie trailers ever.

A LOVE STORY.......2001-07-25

I loved this movie. I'm not a big football fan, but there was enough sports and enough romance to keep both me and my husband entertained throughout the movie.

It's a peek into into the turbulent and chaotic life of a diehard, aging football hero who never let's the team down, and his beautiful, naive, trophy wife.

Throughout the entire movie, you are routing for both the team and the marriage. When you think that love has lost, it's just begininng.

If anyone knows who sings the ending song, I think it's called, "It's Forever", please email me with the artist's name.

Amazon.com

You've never seen a sex comedy quite like The Decline of the American Empire. That's because there's no sex in this comedy--just a lot of entertaining talk about it (and a few discreet flashbacks). The speakers are eight Montreal academics. For most of the film, the men--Rémy (Rémy Girard), Claude (Yves Jacques), Pierre (Pierre Curzi), and Alain (Daniel Brière)--fix dinner while talking about sex. The women--Dominique (Dominique Michel), Louise (Dorothée Berryman), Diane (Louise Portal), and Danielle (Geneviève Rioux)--work out while talking about sex. That evening, they all gather for dinner... and talk about sex. The Decline of the American Empire made the reputation of writer-director Denys Arcand, but his greatest success would arrive 17 years later with The Barbarian Invasions. In that 2003 Oscar-winner, Arcand revisits the lovably loquacious characters from the first film, all of whom are older, wiser--and just as obsessed with sex. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews:

Koch-Lorber DVD Review.......2007-07-01

I have the Koch-Lorber Films version of this DVD; I do not know about any others. This movie (and its rave reviews) stands for itself, and I am not reviewing the quality of the movie, which I think is at least 4/5 stars, but this DVD seems to have been made in fullscreen format though the movie must be wider than that because the credits get cut off at the sides.

I don't care about the credits, but obviously this means that the DVD was released in a format that was not as the filmakers intended; for instance, the "take me in your arms" scene between Louise & Claude, as well as some of the winterscape scenes at the end could have been much more beautifully effective--it is obvious that they were cut off at the sides...a pity! Since the DVD packaging references "17 years before The Barbarian Invasions..." (a movie from 2003), there is no excuse in the 21st century for DVD editing of this sort.

I give a low review not for the film, but for the editing of this DVD; buyer beware, though this may be the only version available.

The Decline of Canadien Cinema.......2007-03-17

OK, I think I get where the director was trying to go with this film. A premise is set up in the beginning saying that the decline of a civilization is directly related to the concern for personal pleasure those citizens of that society exhibit. Then the director sets up this intellectual society of a few men and women and we watch over the course of what seems like several days as these people get more comfortable talking about sex until at the end it creates a severe tension. That seems kind of clever on paper, but suffers many problems on screen.

First the initial premise is too easily proved to be improper logic. People have always been concerned with personal pleasure; in fact, it can be better argued that the drive for personal pleasure is what built most cultures. Since the U.S. is in the spotlight here, we only need to be reminded of Adam Smith. He is not the personal pleasure monger that most make him out to be, but he does strongly argue that this personal selfishness is what will build the society. As far as the U.S. goes he was much more right than wrong. The other problem with this idea is that personal pleasure does not necessarily exclude granting concern for others; one can have both. This bad logic, makes these "intellectuals" look like they must teach at the most underpaid community colleges in North America. So this begs to question anything "intellectual" they might say.

What is worse is that most of these intellectuals are made out to be sexual Napoleons that have created conquests in all of their worldly travels. What we see are a bunch of gawky, awkward men(?) who appear to have just left puberty yesterday. We are treated to a macho S&M stud later in the film whose characterization is utterly ridiculous. He comes off as an over-the-top drop out of a 70's disco movie. For all the brain power these individuals are supposed to possess, they don't often have anything intelligent to say. This film goes to prove that talking is not the prime method of providing a character with depth; these are the most shallow people one will come to painfully kind-of know.

The biggest problem about this movie besides bad characterizations, dumb dialog, and flawed logic is nothing really happens in real time. Stories, especially cinema, are action driven. I'm not referring to action genre movies, but a story is about actions that create tension for a character that lead into actions that resolve those tensions. Most of this film is about a bunch of wanna-be egg-head wanna-be sexual atheletes talking about supposed exploits. There is even a scene of contridictory dialog that brings into question everything that is being said.

I give this two stars only because it was interesting at times and was tolerable, although my wife was quite annoyed when it ended having "wasted" her time. Be warned that this film is just a bunch of people talking and trying to sound clever.

A classic comedy in the European mode.......2007-01-10

Although this film came out over two decades ago, it is still fresh and funny and right on target with the observations on the nature of human relations. The sequel ("The Barbarian Invasions") is more plangent in that we see the other side of that humor, but equally fabulous, and not without its own quirky humor. Get both films, some good bread, wine, and cheese, and have a fabulous evening.