Tag Archive

Hindsight is 20/20, but my word does this movie feel like it was based on a play.  The biggest reason Proof failed (well, other than me not being cast as an extra) is that it basically was a filmed version of the play.  Not a knock against plays, they are just a different animal than movies.  Not saying movies need to be expansive, Driving Miss Daisy just lacked a certain…cinematic quality.  The disjointedness of the scenes, for example.  Or the way we are told and not shown too many things.  Mostly, though, the way that nothing really happens.

Not that I disliked the movie.  I wouldn’t say it was moving, but it was certainly entertaining.  I mean, shoot, any movie starring Morgan Freeman has better than even odds of being good, right?  Obviously, it is a defining role for him, one that set the tone for his roles ever since.  And sure, he’s amazing in it.  But to be honest, I kinda wish he was given more.  At least, less Bagger Vance, and more a character with some sort of depth.  Because any depth I saw was a direct result of the awesomeness that is Morgan Freeman.  Same goes for Jessica Tandy.  Her character wasn’t terribly notable to me, but I wouldn’t mess with her.

Call me crazy, but the standout in the movie, in my mind, was Dan Aykroyd.  He was nominated for an Oscar for the role, and you know the Academy absolutely dreaded having to do that.  Again, the character wasn’t terribly interesting, but it just seemed to fit Aykroyd like a glove.  Mostly a straight man to a dominant (though not domineering) mother, he had Southern charm, a little guy-next-door-who happens to own a factory, and sure, a few laughs.  In some ways, he’s the linchpin of the movie, bringing everything back to reality, and acting as a relief from seeing Freeman and Tandy square off.

1989 had a rather diverse set of Oscar-nominated movies.  Check them out.  I kinda feel like doing this blog during late 1989 would have been all sorts of fun.  I’ll save my gushing for another post, but it is safe to say I would have been dismayed at Driving Miss Daisy’s haul.  The movie is solid, and certainly watchable, but I can’t imagine telling someone they need to see it.  I totally get the Oscar appeal: Morgan Freeman, old respected lady, and it is “weighty” because it is historical, it deals with racism (but the toned down everybody is happy kind), and was based off a play.  Still, as is more often the case than not, the Academy got this decision wrong.  Driving Miss Daisy is a good film, but not a special one.

Trailer after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

I won’t give this one the full treatment. Just wanted to say that the references to Nintendo games are pretty much right in the sweet spot for my generation, so the movie is worth a look for that, if nothing else (Ninja Gaiden! Double Dragon!). In some ways, this is a perfect bridge from the 80s to 90s. The plot, in its barest form, is nothing short of ridiculous, but there’s an appealing blend of hokiness (Beau Bridges getting addicted to Nintendo, for example) and seriousness. The film is both a long-form commercial for Nintendo and a sparse, gripping, family drama. That may be the innate beauty of The Wizard, it is, ultimately, a serious movie that doesn’t take itself seriously. Yeah, there are plenty of cliches, like the bumbling evil guy or the nonsensical video game competition with an absurd host (and really, did the filmmakers think no one would notice the scoring announcements wouldn’t sync up with the visuals?) and bizarre scoring conventions. But that’s almost to be expected.

The cast is awesome. Christian Slater! Fred Savage! Beau Bridges! Luke Edwards plays the creepy kid who is a video game savant pretty well. Frank McRae is awesome. McRae, if you don’t know him by name, was the teacher in the opening of Red Dawn and Sharkey from License to Kill. So yeah, he rocks. And then there’s Jenny Lewis. Who is fantastic in the movie. One of the most striking things about the movie, to me, was how they dealt with her character’s sexuality, since Lewis was about twelve when the movie was filmed, and her character was probably meant to be right around that age. For the most part, she’s completely desexualized, assuming the role of mother figure to her little band, ostensibly partially in an effort to fill her own void from the mothering influence she never had in her own life. Not that mothers can’t be sexualized, they just aren’t in this sort of 80s movie, where the focus is on the kids and the parents are there to present some sort of obstacle for the kids. There is one scene, though, where in a last ditch effort to avoid the bad guy, she’s in a casino and screams out that he inappropriately touched her. And you can tell it is an 80s movie, because people immediately swarm around him, allowing Jenny Lewis to leave without anyone noticing. Now, I’m skeptical a movie today gets away with that (or even attempts it), just as I’m skeptical that the role wouldn’t be given to an eighteen year old (or someone playing eighteen, at least).

There’s also romantic tension between Fred Savage and Jenny Lewis, and I found their relationship rather poignant. They are two twelve year olds with no money or assets shepherding a nine year old on a road trip to California because “California” is the only thing he says (that and his frequent attempts to walk there alone have landed him in a home for mentally disturbed kids, from which Fred Savage springs him). Perhaps their struggle to persevere coupled with that age’s awkward method of courting isn’t anything new, though I might argue it is a particularly tender balance of puppy love and a marriage. But I think the evolution of their relationship on the journey contrasted their reversion to normal kids once everything has been set right, or at least as right as it can be, is very interesting. Just great bombastic 80s naivete, in my opinion, that these kids can grow so much as people, well beyond what kids their age “should” have to deal with, when facing these hardships; but once they’ve restored things to their natural order, they too are restored to the normal lives of twelve year olds.

I should probably stop talking about twelve year old girls before I become Brian. What? You really didn’t think that joke was coming? My point, or at least my intended point, is that The Wizard actually has some depth. Am I alone on that point? Would even David Chisolm, who wrote the screenplay, back me up? Beats me. Maybe. But I honestly think the movie is worth seeing on its own merits, not just because it introduced the world to Super Mario Bros. 3.