$ (Dollars) - 1971

Plot:  A Hooker and a Security Expert rob a Hamburg Bank
Stars:  Warren Beatty, Goldie Hawn, Gret Frobe

Yeah $, is right.  A throw-away film* by everybody involved and done only for money. No doubt Director Richard Brooks needed a new pool in 1971. Its not bad, its not good - its just another bank heist film. Yawn.

Nobody has to stretch their acting skills. Beatty is the clever, charming leader, Hawn is the adorable, child-like Prostitute who's a key player, and Gret Frobe is the pompous bank manager.  We get a very slow build-up, hard-to-follow heist sequence, disjointed 30-minute chase scene, and a tired cynical ending**.

A Comparison to other Heist/Comedy Films
When compared to the Comedy Heist Films  that proceed it (How to Steal a Million, Topkapi, Oceans 11,  The Italian Job, etc.)  $(Dollars) is noticeable for its cynicism and vulgarity. There's nothing particularly likable/admirable about the two lead characters.  If we root for them, its only because they're played by likable actors.  Nor is there any romance - after all she's a prostitute. And the 3 villains are low-class ciphers - a corrupt Army Sargent, a minor drug dealer, and Mafia Hit man. Its labeled a "Comedy" - but the laughs are hard to find.

Summary: They've probably made 30-40 Heist films since 1960, and $(Dollars) is at bottom third of the list.  Its 47 year-old disposable "plastic" entertainment. If you love Beatty and Hawn, seek it out. Otherwise, don't waste your time.

* - Beatty's authorized 500 page biography devotes a paragraph to the $(Dollars) !
** - Hawn, supposedly a nice bubble-head,  double-crosses Beatty and takes all the money, but then explains she knew the bad guys wouldn't kill him.  Really.

Splendor in the Grass (1961)

Plot:  In 1928 Small-town Kansas, two young lovers battle their disapproving parents .
Stars:  Pat Hingle, Warren Beatty, Natalie Wood
Moral of the Movie:  Let the young'uns have sex, or they'll go crazy!

Beautifully shot and well-directed, Splendor in the Grass  has two great looking leads and a good supporting cast. Natalie Wood gives one of her best performances.  She really upped her acting game on this one. Unfortunately, I found the story ridiculous.  Obviously aimed at the teenage market, we get the usual "Parents bad, Teenagers good" trope that started with  Rebel without a Cause and went all the way through late 1960's.  We get the following characters:

The Bad Dad (Pat Hingle) - He's the father from hell, demanding, money-mad, and oblivious to the needs of his sensitive son. He pressures Beatty into ditching poor Natalie and going to Yale. Why did every playwright in 50's and 60's hate their father?

The Bad Mom (Audrey Christie) - A super-puritan, she hovers over Natalie, telling her that "Good Girls" don't have sex and interrogating her after every date. Materialistic, she's happy Natalie is dating Beatty, since he's from a rich family.

The Good Boy (Beatty) - A sensitive lad, he has no desire to go to Yale or join his Dad's Oil Business. Who cares about money?  He loves Natalie - but when pressured by Bad Dad  -breaks up with her and goes anyway. He wants sex, but feels guilty about it.

The Good Girl (Wood) - She's in love with Beatty but wants to be a "Good Girl" too - so no sex. Frustrated and repressed, she tries to "go bad" but can't - and attempts suicide. After being released from the loony bin - her mother apologizes.  Thanks Mom!

The Bad Girl (Loden) - A peroxide flapper, she's the only non-standard and interesting character. Back from a year in Chicago, she's forced by Bad Dad to stay at home.  Disdainful of the small town, she spends most of her time looking for booze, smoking, and almost getting raped.

Summary: A very good movie of its kind - but not my cup of tea.   A hot date movie in 1961 - it now seems rather quaint in this age of non-stop sex and profanity.  Someone labeled it "Kazan sneering at the Squares" which isn't completely wrong. Becomes less interesting after Natalie goes crazy.  Rating **1/2  

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Plot: Remake of Here Comes Mr. Jordan.  An Angel takes an athlete to Heaven by mistake - and returns him to life in the body of a murdered Millionaire.
Stars:  Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Jack Warden, Charles Grodin, Dyan Cannon

Background
Produced, co-written,  and co-directed by Warren Beatty, this was his most popular film, earning $80 million in domestic Box-office alone.  The Film earned nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director. However, the critics were less enthusiastic, with Roger Ebert giving the film 3 stars, and Kael dismissing the film as a "bland, safe choice". Today it has a mediocre 6.6 IMDB rating from the "Top 1000 Reviewers".

A Pleasant Romantic Comedy
And an overall improvement on Here Comes Mr. Jordan. But then, it should be, given the large budget and all-star cast. Only 104 minutes, its rarely laugh-out loud funny, but it moves quickly and is consistently amusing. Beatty dominates the movie - he's in almost every scene - and is charming and likable. The biggest flaw?  No chemistry between Julie Christie (in a terrible frizzy hair-do) and Beatty. Which is odd, given their long-term relationship.

Didn't Deserve Nine Oscar Nominations
The Oscar nominating committee seems to have loved Warren Beatty. While Heaven Can Wait is a nice Rom-Com, its not "Best Picture" or "Best Director" material.  Was 1978 a slow year?

Going through the other major awards.

• Best Actor - Nothing special here.  Beatty plays the same character he usually does: a quiet, nice, stumbling, average guy.  Only slightly different from "George" in Shampoo.
• Best Screenplay - Another puzzler. The movie's overall story and characters, even individual scenes, are lifted from the original play and Here Comes Mr. Jordan. 
• Supporting Cast - One deserved (Warden), one undeserved (Cannon). The one for Dyan Cannon makes no sense. She has few lines and is more shrill then funny. 

Cast Comparison  Here Come's Mr. Jordan vs. Heaven Can Wait

• Leading Man - Winner? Beatty. Not only is Beatty more charismatic, but Montgomery is hampered by the requirement to be a "dem and does" low-class boxer. It hampers his performance.
• Leading Lady - Advantage Keyes.  Her love affair with Montgomery  is much more better & powerful. 
• Mr Jordan - Rains wins.  Not only is James Mason "low-energy", Mason is incapable of being unambiguously good. 
• Other Supporting Actors: Warden outshines his 1941 counter-part, while Grodin and Cannon are more memorable villains.  
• Buck Henry - The only real stinker.  He wins the "Carl Reiner Award for worst performance by a comedy writer performing his own material". 

Round Midnight (1986)

Plot: Set in 1950's Paris, an old, alcoholic Jazz Great is helped by a worshipful French fan.
Stars:  Dexter Gordon, François Cluzet

The two best things about Round Midnight are the music (we hear a lot of Jazz) and Dexter Gordon.  An amateur actor, Gordon is completely believable in the role, and with his halting raspy voice, has a great screen presence.  Unfortunately, the story has little drama/conflict and moves at a snail's pace. When Gordon isn't playing jazz, he's drinking at a bar or being helped by his French fan (who's not very interesting).  The plot is repetitive -and way too thin - to cover  2 hour and 14 minutes.

Summary:  With a better script and story, this could've been a contender. Too bad.  Jazz fans might forgive the dull story and enjoy the atmosphere and fine musical score.

Bird (1988) - Eastwood

Plot: Biopic of Jazz Great Charlie Parker
Stars: Forest Whitaker,  Diane Verona

A labor of love by Clint Eastwood, who produced and directed, this mostly covers Parker's last years (1950-1955) with his common-law wife, Chan Parker. The great lead acting, and fine music score, is let down by a mediocre script with minimal focus on Parker's Jazz music & the birth of "Bebop". Instead, this dark, somber film concentrates on the Parker-Chan  relationship (neither of whom are physically attractive), Bird's heroin addiction, and his suicidal tendencies. Its dull - when its not depressing. Adding to the dark mood is Eastwood's direction,which places every scene at night or in dimly lit rooms. Way too long at 2 hours and 41 minutes.

Summary:  More a movie about Charlie Parker, "Junkie", then "Jazz Giant". - skip Bird and go buy a Charlie Parker CD.

The Parallax View (1974)

Plot:   Political thriller. When witnesses to a political assassination start to die,  a reporter decides to investigate. He uncovers more than he bargained for.
Stars:  Warren Beatty, Hume Cronyn,  Paula Prentiss.
Best Quote: When I agreed to take you back in January I made two suggestions. One was about your drinking. Well, you seem to have licked that. The other was that you curb your talent for creative irresponsibility: you can start working on that right now.

Only 102 minutes long, I enjoyed Parallax View.  A thinly disguised riff off the Kennedy assassination (there's a white-washing Commission, and an assassinated Senator called "Carroll")  it starts out well, but soon gets bogged down in implausible situations.  And in the last half, Parallax View moves too slowly for a "thriller" thereby giving us time to dwell on the gaping plot-holes.  For example:

• How does Beatty survive the boat explosion? 
• Why is it so easy to become a contract killer?
• That super-secret assassination conspiracy, wasn't very secretive was it?
• Why assassinate someone at the Space Needle restaurant?  There only two ways down. Jumping or using the three - very slow - elevators. The police could easily isolate everyone at the restaurant, and identify/search them.  

Warren Beatty:  I'm not a fan, but Warren is good in this one. Sporting the fashionable 70's longhair, he's believable as a reporter, and doesn't have to do much acting.

The Seattle Location a Plus:  It was good to see Seattle circa 1974 and the surrounding countryside. However, the "country bar" where Beatty fights a Deputy belonged in Arkansas - not in a lumber town called "Salmon-tail"

Best Scene:  Beatty fights an evil Sheriff while being swept downstream by released Dam water.

Worst Scene:   We see a fake long-shot boat explosion with Beatty and two others on board. Next scene? We see Beatty onshore in street clothes , no worse for wear, and learn he's the sole survivor.  Say what?

Summary:  Part of the JFK assassination paranoia of the early 70s,  Parallax View covers the same ground as Executive Action, but is much better/entertaining. However, its sometimes sluggish pace - and implausible plot holes - make it no more than an agreeable trip down memory-lane.

Bulsworth (1998)

Plot: A political comedy.  A US Senator decides to "tell it like it is" before he's killed by his own hit-man*
Stars:  Warren Beatty, Halle Berry, Jack Warden
Typical Joke: Murphy, Feldman, you're lookin' pretty beat / I thought you might feel better with some ribs to eat / Eat 'em, gentlemen, you'll think they're really fine / And if you want a couple more you can get 'em anytime! - Bulsworth

Background
In 1998, Bulsworth scored with most critics, who liked its political message and it received numerous award nominations.   Box office-wise, the film did good business, and was popular overseas. Today, the critics still like it, but its mostly forgotten and scores a 6.4 IMDB Rating with the "Top 1000 Viewers". Politics date a film.

The Most Embarrassing Political "Comedy" Ever 
The central conceits are:

• 61 year-old Beatty is such a hunk, beautiful 25 y/o Halle Berry falls for him
• black folks need Beatty - The Great White Hope - to save them from themselves 
• people are shocked that Corporations pay off Politicians.  

Even worse, Beatty "turns black"
And we get a rapping Beatty, who stays in Compton, fights off racist cops, and helps a black drug lord go straight.  At the end, Beatty dies in a manner evoking the MLK assassination.  Talk about bad taste! And the dialogue given to the black actors is fake, fake, fake.  Most of the film's black people are rappers, drug dealers and street people - black politicians don't seem to exist.  Maybe Bulsworth should have talked to a few.

Incredibly, the poor script got an AA award nomination! 

All the so-called humor comes from: "Beatty acts black - LoL" Warren is rapping -LoL**" and "The stuffed shirts are upset - LoL". But Beatty isn't personally funny - so all the humor comes from the situations. BTW, if you find profanity hilarious, you'll laugh your head off. 

Summary:  Praised by critics for its left-wing politics - Bulsworth  fails as a movie. Unfunny, way too long, and full of cringe-worthy racial attitudes. Its Ishtar funny - with patronizing racism.  Rating *

* = The premise of someone hiring a hit-man to kill him, and then changing his mind after meeting the right woman - is stolen from "I Hired a Contract Killer" (1990)
** = As in Ishtar,  Beatty's bad singing/rapping is supposed to be hilarious

Bugsy (1991)

Plot:  The Story of Gangster Bugsy Siegel, who came to Hollywood and started Las Vegas in 1946
Stars: Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Harvey Keitel,  Ben Kingsley

Background
Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, and beloved  by the critics, Bugsy was less popular with the general public, doing middling box-office.  Today it has a 6.8 IMDB rating, with the Top 1000 reviewers rating it an astoundingly low 6.6.

And I didn't like it Either
The biggest problem with Bugsy can be summarized in two words: Warren Beatty.  Not only is 54 year-old Warren too old, he's unbelievable as a tough-guy Jewish Gangster.

 Outside of say, Jack Lemmon, its hard to think of another 20th Century leading man who was softer - and less macho - than Warren Beatty. The funniest parts of the movie - aren't the comic bits - but the scenes where Beatty is supposed to be scaring/threatening people. Its like a poodle pretending to be a rottweiler. Raymond Chandler appreciated  Bogart as "Philip Marlowe" because "he could act tough without a gun". Beatty doesn't just need a gun, he needs a howitzer.

Almost as worse, the movie assumes we care about a murderous, half-psycho Gangster and his actress/high-class whore (Virginia Hill). No attempt is made to whitewash or justify their amoral/criminal behavior. So, why make a film glamorizing them?   I don't know. Perhaps Hollywood could identify with Siegel/Hill - a couple of foul mouthed creeps, obsessed with $$$, and with no morals.

Summary
Anyway, the whole thing drones on for over 2 hours, and everything looks great and the supporting actors are good. So, its not all bad.  And when you've rolled snake-eyes at the Tropicana, say a little prayer for Bugsy - the Patron Saint of Las Vegas. Rating **

Too Late for Tears (1949)

Plot: Film Noir. A wife has to choose between her husband and $60,000** - and makes the wrong decision.
Stars: Lizabeth Scott, Don DeFore, Dan Duryea,
Best Quote: - Looking for Something?
-Just my lipstick
-Colt or Smith and Wesson? 

A well respected film-noir, and supposedly one of Scott's best movies, I just  couldn't get into Too late for Tears.

I kept getting distracted by Lizabeth Scott's looks. She was one of those actresses that either looks beautiful, or too severe (almost mannish)  depending  on the lighting/ camera angles.  The Director must have disliked her, because I kept noticing how weird her face looked. The chin was too big/heavy, the mouth was too wide, the eyes too vacant, and the rest of her way too thin. Which is odd, because I enjoyed Scott in Desert Fury, I Walk Alone, and Dead Reckoning.

Or maybe, her looks were so distracting - because the plot was so standard and it seemed draggy even at 100 minutes.  On the plus side, its well acted.  Rating **1/2

** =  $60,000 then = $3 million today.

Brubaker (1980)

Plot:  A new Prison warden goes incognito to uncover the abuses at a corrupt Arkansas Prison
Stars:  Robert Redford, Yaphet Kotto, David Keith, Murray Hamilton

Above-average prison yarn with Redford as the new Warden battling the corrupt prison board, while attempting to improve the prisoner's lives.  The first 30 minutes are a shocking display of Prison rape, torture, corruption, and sadism.  It makes Cool Hand Luke look like a boy's summer camp. The high-point occurs when Redford revels he's not a prisoner - but the new Warden - and is taking names and kicking butt. Unfortunately, the movie soon devolves into the standard "liberal reformer fighting the Corrupt System" trope.  It ends with a ludicrous gun battle and Redford shooting people in the city street.  The prison environment looks realistic - with Ohio standing in for Arkansas.

Acting
Redford does fine, although some of his "I'm taking this all in" reaction shots as an undercover prisoner are unintentionally funny. The supporting cast is much better, and quite believable in their parts. Hamilton replays the corrupt businessman - ala Jaws.

Best Scene
Redford talks Morgan Freeman out of killing David Keith, and revels he's not a prisoner, but the new Warden.

Worst Scene
Redford blows away a corrupt Trustee with a shot-gun blast.  All that's missing is an "Hasta la vista, Baby" 

Trader Horn (1931)

Plot: In 1870 darkest Africa, two traders are saved by a white "tribal goddess" and the trio try to reach the safety of the coast.
Stars:  Harry Carey, Edwina Booth, Duncan Renaldo |
Best Quote: -There are cannibals?
-Aye. A God-fearing race they are. Except, as you say, in the matter of diet.

Background Based on the *somewhat* true story of : "Trader Horn; Being the Life and Works of Aloysius Horn, an "Old Visitor" ... the works written by himself at the age of seventy-three and the life, with such of his philosophy as is the gift of age and experience, taken down and here edited by Ethelreda Lewis"
originally published in 1927.

In 1929, MGM sent the first Hollywood film crew to Africa and came back with some great location shots of African Tribes and the African flora and fauna. It cost MGM a fortune, but Trader Horn  was immensely popular and earned a AA for Best Picture. While filming in Africa, Booth was forced to wear a skimpy lion-skin, and caught malaria.  She sued MGM for negligence - and won.

The Good: The African scenery and native tribes are great to look at - the first hour is almost a travelogue. The fictional story then kicks in gear. We get the usual cliches, the white goddess (stolen from Rider- Haggard's She), encounters with dangerous animals, the jungle drums, and the escape and rescue. It has an old school charm to it. Harry Cary is a good fit, and gives off a Will Rodgers vibe.

The Bad: Many of animal scenes look fake, because they are. The Lion attacks, for example, were filmed in Mexico. In 1930 sound equipment was primitive, so the sound is sometimes bad or is obviously dubbed. The acting is primitive too - with the three leads often reverting to "Silent movie" facial expressions. Booth looks good in a lion skin - but Renaldo is wooden, and has little charisma. You wonder why he was cast.

Summary:  The location shots of 1929 Africa are great and its full of action. But the story is average and at 2 hours -its too long. But if you like movies about Africa - give it a whirl.  Rating ***

Nixon (1995)

Plot:  Oliver Stone's Biopic of Richard Nixon
Stars:  James Woods, Anthony Hopkins,  Joan Allen, Bob Hoskins,
Best Quote:  Always remember: others may hate you. But those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself.

I had a hard time finishing this one
Extremely dull Biopic with some good performances. Its too long (3 hours), rambling and aimless - no drive/energy. One problem - having Nixon and associates played by actors, while everyone else (JFK, Ike, LBJ, etc.) are only shown via news-footage. And the Nixon childhood scenes are faker than fake. Stone tries to jazz up the film with quick edits, flashbacks, and weird lighting and camera angles. But its still boring.

Anthony Hopkins Performance
Hopkins gives a good performance - but the *real* Richard Nixon was 10x better at playing "Nixon." Just watch the *real* Nixon's 1962 farewell press conference or  1952 Checker's speech.  Plus, Hopkins doesn't sound or look anything like "Tricky Dick".

But that's a longstanding problem with Hollywood biopics.  The actors don't measure up to the real-life politicians, Generals, or old movie stars.  The real Gable, Grace Kelly, Ike, MacArthur, FDR, Reagan, Monroe, etc. are way better actors then the movie stars who've played them!  The only exception: George C. Scott as Patton.

Was Nixon's Biography really Movie Material?
That's another problem,  Political junkies, like Oliver Stone, would disagree, but Nixon's life isn't that interesting.  Nixon, *the man*, was interesting.  His psychology, contradictions, hatreds, resentments, and views on JFK, the Press, etc.

But his marriage or the events of his Life?  Not really.  Unlike JFK, there was no PT-109 adventure, Jackie O, assassination, or Cuban Missile Crisis. Nixon just plugged away his whole life as a Lawyer/Pol**.   He was a moderate Republican, who never had a great foreign policy crisis..

Summary:  Don't bother - watch Altman's Secret Honor instead. For political junkies and Oliver Stone fans only.

** - Watergate has to be one of the dullest political scandals ever.  No sex, no violence, and it wasn't about money or even foreign spies. Nixon didn't resign over the burglary - it was the "cover-up". Its the sort of scandal lawyers find fascinating - and everyone else yawns.