(Movie Review)Whiskey Prajer mentioned this as a good John Cusak movie and a generation X classic in the comments section a couple weeks ago. Typical me, I had never heard of it before that, but afterwards I noticed my local video store had it, so I decided to check it out.
I’m not exactly sure what to make of it. Judged as a whole I would say I didn’t really like it, but taken as individual scenes or moments, there’s a lot to like.
I’ll start with the negative first. One of the big reasons I didn’t care for this movie is because it is another teenage romance that follows the typical boy-gets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl again format. I hate that format. I’m not a huge romance fan in general, but I can live with “the hero overcomes huge obstacles to get the girl at the end” type story. But to have the hero win the girl’s heart twice during the same movie seems needlessly repetitive to me. Whenever the hero gets the girl in the first half hour of the movie, you know you’re in trouble, because there will be some manufactured crisis that doesn’t make any sense that will cause them to split, and then there will be a lot of sappy emotions and fake crying, and then there will be another manufactured crisis at the end that will cause them to get back together again.
(At least this movie didn’t follow the boy-gets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl, boy-loses-girl-again, boy-gets-girl again, etc format. Like “10 Things I hate about you”, which could have been a great movie if it would have just ended an hour and a half earlier than it did.)
Also I didn’t really care much for the actress who plays the heroine of this movie. And I could have done without most of those father/daughter sappy scenes.
John Cusak however is great. He does a good job of playing up the friendly guy, but nervous talker who doesn’t know when to shut up.
Also at points I thought his character in this movie reminded me of my old roommate Rob. Which is why I think John Cusak is such a great actor. He does a great job of playing the everyman, and has a way of vaguely reminding you of somebody that you actually know from real life. And when you think about it, this quality is surprising rare in Hollywood actors. When was the last time Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt actually reminded you of someone you know?
Also the quirky humor in this movie is great if particular scenes can be isolated. Like the conversation about old people and the way their mouths move. Or the scene with the guys out in front of the drug store on a Saturday night. Or John Cusak as the awkward dinner guest. All of those scenes are enough to redeem this movie into the category of watchable and even re-watchable.
Useless Wikipedia Fact
An Englishman, a Scotsman, and an Irishman are sitting in a bar. All of a sudden, three flies dive into their beers. The Englishman says, "Barman, a fly just dived into my beer. Bring me another one." The Englishman got another beer. The Irishman says, "Ah, to hell with it," and empties his pint, fly and all. The Scotsman pulls the fly out of his beer and screams, "SPIT IT OOT, YA BASTARD!"
Link of the Day
Interview with Noam Chomsky: War, Neoliberalism and Empire in the 21st Century
Say Anything: Movie Review (Scripted)
4 comments:
I haven't see the movie in a while, but I'll still defend its storyline, with its predictable crises, as better-than-average. There are two stories at play in this movie, and perhaps the movie's greatest weakness is that the girl's story (the third story) is insignificant. The real drama is between the men, and I find as I get older and face my own daughters' adolescence, I have more and more sympathy for the girl's father (played with sensitivity and steel by John Mahoney). When you ask your daughter's suitor what his ambitions in life are, and the best he can come up with is, "I just want to make your daughter happy," a father can't help but cringe. In the case of Mahoney's character, securing his daughter's happiness was a handy excuse for his misdeeds. Like the boy he faces, the father is a charming, overly-protective guy; he's just charmed himself into thinking he's not doing anything wrong.
Cusak is, of course, the heart of the movie and you're right on with your assessment of his charm. He's said that he could relate to the character because he could easily contact his displeasure with the Reagan years - nuclear stock-piling, imminent annihilation and (his words) "here's this thing in the Oval Office." *Sigh* ... the more things change ....
I wonder if you had to see this movie when you were growing up to really love it. I know I do - but I haven't seen it in a long time.
Should add: we're waiting with baited breath to hear what you think of Grosse Pointe Blank.
Ah, Grosse Point Blank. When "High Fidelity" was on permanent repeat in our apartment, and I was confessing to my roommates that I didn't know who John Cusak was, this was the movie they couldn't believe I hadn't heard of.
It took me 5 years to finally see it, partly because I couldn't find it in Japan. I did spend many evenings looking for it in Japanese video stores, but, for whatever reason, no luck.
I finally saw it this past summer when I was back in the US.
I thought it was good, but not great. Definately some funny parts, not as funny as I thought it would be (although after 5 years, that is also a lot of built up expectations.)
It was right around the time of my own 10 year high school reunion when I saw it, which did add slightly to the enjoyment, although all the usual angst that comes with a milestone like that is also a distraction, and I found parts of the movie a bit depressing.
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