Film
Hey kids! I'm Munzar and I'll be your reviewer! You see, I've got to review this movie, Adaptation - by the dudes behind Being John Malkovich, for a student rag called the Oxford Student. And boy am I stuck! This THING I'm writing, this interpretation, requires a lot of thought. I mean, here I am, stuck with this film, this big glaring mess of wholeness, of reality, and somehow I have to dip around, look for the bits that ring true, put it through a filter and serve it up to you - the reader - hoping that it gives ya something to mull over.
So here I am at my desk, sweating profusely, fingers hovering over my laptop. Man am I bored. And quite hungry.
The film's about this guy called Charlie Kaufmann. And dude, he's even more fucked over than I am! He's trying to adapt this book, The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean, for the screen. Only he's having trouble. This adapting, it's tough. So he ends up writing himself into the film, the film you're watching. So you're watching both the film he's writing (the orchid thief thang) and himself struggling to write the damn thing. And the screenwriter who actually wrote the film is called... Charlie Kaufmann!
Well, that's a half-truth. The other screenwriter credited is Donald Kaufmann, Charlie Kaufmann's fictional brother. And who, partway through the film, starts influencing the writing and the style of the film!
Crazy, eh?
Crazy and brilliant. We are treated to some wonderful parallels between the two stories and some discourse on the notion of adaptation, both in its literary and evolutionary senses. Acting is excellent too, Nicholas Cage reigning in his tendency to over-gurn, Meryl Streep competent as ever and Chris Cooper in perhaps his best performance ever.
Some may feel that the film ain't so great once Donald starts 'influencing' the film. They might feel it's all one big joke leaving the viewer feeling a little boned. Jonze and Kaufmann's is really a playful style after all, yearning with sincerity to sidle up to you, declare their love and then pinch your ass and run away. It seems to me, though, that all this movie is pitch-perfect. You'll love it or hate it I guess.
Phew! That was tough. I hope this is okay. It sort of worked. Yeah. I like this.
"I'm grieving... It's a process" Billy Crystal tells us in Analyze That. It's not particularly funny the first time, even less so the 43rd. But by the end of the film, we too are grieving - for the career of Robert de Niro.
In this unnecessary sequel to the watchable but hardly special Analyze This, de Niro reprises his role as Mafia boss Paul Vitti, getting in touch with his softer side with the help of neurotic shrink Ben Sobel, played by Crystal. What is meant as a hilarious parody of various de Niro hardman roles is instead the sad spectacle of a once-great actor going through the motions as another tough guy in another mediocre film.
Everything about Analyze That is substandard. Vitti is substandard Tony Soprano, Sobel is substandard Woody Allen. Neither is in the slightest bit convincing. Throw in the beleaguered housewife, the pervy 17 year old son, and a comedy Australian for good measure. Formulaic is an understatement. The plot, insofar as there is one, is predictable drivel. Of course, none of this would matter if the jokes were actually funny.
It's all there: how we guffaw when de Niro brings home a prostitute and wakes up the whole house. How we howl when Crystal slags off the mafia boss only to find him standing right behind him. And - oh! the delicious irony - the shrink is more psychologically messed up than the patient. Not to mention the one-liners: "I'm taking these pills to help my memory, and... I forget what else."
The inexplicable hilarity emanating from a few corners of the cinema suggests that maybe Analyze That does have a target group that finds it funny - but it's definitely not something to rush to the cinema for.
Will de Niro ever make another good movie? Let's hope so, but first he'll have to start being a bit more discerning in his choice of scripts.
This film traces the story of Robert Evans and his rise from aspiring actor to successful Hollywood film producer. After producing such timeless classics as The Godfather, Love Story and Chinatown, Evans's involvement with drugs brought him infamy and despair. He lost everything, but eventually pulled through.
This isn't a story of profound importance, and Evans never attempts to present himself as a role model or a hero, but his life makes for a very entertaining and informative film. Capturing the Hollywood vibe and vernacular perfectly, it puts us right in the middle of the cutthroat world of showbiz.
Evans' narration is excellent, his personality coming across as clearly as his perspective. Brutally honest about everyone, including himself, he gives us fascinating anecdotes and often-hilarious vocal impressions of movie stars and studio bigwigs. He even manages to convince us that the role of the producer in the filmmaking process is often underestimated.
Documentaries can get better than this (e.g. last year's superb Bowling for Columbine), but not much better. The story takes a while to really grab the attention, but when it does, it's riveting to the very end. The downbeat parts are often truly moving, and some of Evans' misadventures are recounted via the clever use of corresponding clips from his films.
Though it won't change your life, this film will keep you well entertained for 90 minutes. There are some truly memorable scenes (Evans ordering Coppola to lengthen his cut of The Godfather), but this is chiefly a gripping yarn that you might forget about soon after.
27th Feb 2003