Robert Zemeckis’s return to live action filmmakers makes for one of the year’s most pleasant surprises. Denzel Washington’s achingly honest portrait of an alcoholic anchors what turns out to be Zemeckis’ most modest film to date (mostly) without the special effects razzle-dazzle he’s been known for. A couple of heavy-handed moments, and a bloated running time not withstanding, it’s one of the most satisfying films of the year.
Showing posts with label Robert Zemeckis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert Zemeckis. Show all posts
Thursday, 20 December 2012
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Back to the Future
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Crispin Glover, Lea Thompson, Thomas F. Wilson
****
By Alan Bacchus
BTTF is one of those films that transcends time, a movie of pure cinema pleasure. A film which technically is not immune to the father of time, hell the special effects seem rudimentary in a 1980’s kind of way, but there’s so much joy and love of cinema storytelling, it's destined to remain a classic in the tradition of King Kong, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Wizard of Oz, Jaws, Star Wars.
I mean, check out the perfectly appropriate character names, such as Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and George McFly (Crispin Glover), father-son characters complete opposites of one another in personality and ambition but who manage to some closer together and bridge the generation gap via the time travelling Delorean.
Looking back on all three pictures recently on Blu-Ray I'm struck by the blockhead sense of obviousness of what is going on. The parallels and repetitions of action across time and generations are made none too obvious, but herein lies the fun and shear joy of the process. Zemeckis sets up all his jokes, gags, and all the cross generational connections with a strange blatancy, but a tone consistent to the artificiality of the Hill Valley Town. We know Hill Valley is not a real city, but a obvious studio backdrop. But it creates an insular world closed off from anything else going in the real world – kind of like an old studio Hollywood fantasy world – were we are free to let go of our expectations and accept the films’ rules of engagement.
And so none of this would succeed if the Zemeckis/Gale script weren’t iron clad tight. Time travel is a tough beast to crack, and even Zemeckis himself admits writing the screenplay was not fun, but once everything fits together and the rules established, most of the heavy lifting is done.
The second key to success are the lead actors, Christopher Lloyd, Crispin Glover and of course, Michael J. Fox. And really, what courage shown by Zemeckis, Spielberg, Kennedy/Marshall and the studio for biting the bullet on Eric Stoltz, who was originally cast as Marty and who shot for 5 weeks(!), which is about a quarter of the movie, before deciding to scrap most of it and start fresh with Fox (who was moonlighting after Family Ties wrapped). This is what deep pockets and go-for-broke cutthroat Hollywood attitude will get you, the balls and guts to cut loose your lead actor and reshoot the entire movie.
These films were made between 1985 and 1989, during, arguably the greatest period in film scoring in cinema history. Apart from a handful of films like Back to the Future the great scores of the 80’s is just about the only trend we can cling onto from the 80’s. And Alan Silvestri’s music for Back to the Future is still magnificent. A bold sound elevating what could have sounded like a quirky coming of age sci-fi rom-com into pure big blockbuster entertainment. I’d even go as far to say the Silvestri’s score of Back the Future 2 is even better.
The sequels have just as much pleasure as the memorable original. Part 2, which contains almost none of the resonant qualities of character and romantic and heartfelt reflections of generations past, but taken as an purely plot driven exercise in style, Part 2 is a thrill ride. Going into the future produces some decent though mostly kitschy fun predicting where technology might head to, but doubling back to the alternate present and even back into the first movie in 1955 from a different point of view is one of the once-in-lifetime strokes of genius. Part 3 serves to develop Doc Brown’s character only, but it’s connections to parts 2 and 3 make the entire journey across three films worth while.
"Back to the Future Trilogy" is available on Blu-Ray from Universal Home Entertainment
Friday, 24 October 2008
ROMANCING THE STONE
Romancing the Stone (1984) dir. Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny Devito
**1/2
“Romancing the Stone” is an important film for both Michael Douglas and Robert Zemeckis. Michael Douglas, whose greatest success as an actor was still the 1970’s cop TV show “The Streets of San Francisco”, had yet to break out as a leading man on the big screen. His rugged adventureman character Jack Colton won over hearts of female audiences and elevated him to the A-List. As for Mr. Zemeckis, it was his first big budget action film, and the film which would catapult him to an A-list director and ready him for his next outing, “Back to the Future”.
Despite this pedigree it’s still just Indiana Jones-lite. A romance novelist finds the man of her dreams while on a quest to bring a lost treasure map to a nasty group of Columbian kidnappers. Mediocre adventure, mediocre comedy and a pretty decent romance are the ingredients of this fluffy Indiana Jones knock-off of the 80’s.
Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) is a romance novelist, who is first seen typing the last words of her latest novel and then weeping at the romantic finale she's created. While her characters are wistful ladies of love and adventure, her own life is uneventful and boring. She's single and lives alone in a small apartment in NY. But when she gets a call that her sister has been kidnapped in Columbia and the only way to save her life is to bring her captors a lost treasure map to the jungles of South America in exchange for her life, suddenly Wilder's in one of her own adventures.
She's a fish out of water in Columbia and sticks out like a sore thumb. When her bus is ambushed by a nasty Columbian thug, Wilder is dramatically rescued by the handsome Jack Colton (Michael Douglas), an American wanderer with a machete and a shotgun. He's the type of man she's been writing about for years and now they're combing the jungles of South America for buried treasure. Along the way they get into a number of adventures with corrupt officials, Columbian drug lords and Danny Devito.
For fans who want to see the seeds of a great director for he became big time, there’s little evidence of the ambitious Zemeckis would become famous for. His direction is unflashy, and instead lets the chemistry of his stars command the screen and move the film forward. If anything it's a hallmark of Zemeckis' gift with comedy and action, but with both in unimpressive doses.
A crutch on the film is some surprisingly dated 80’s cringe-music from Alan Silvestri. Silvestri’s music sounds like a mix of Harold Faltermeyer synth with sickening saxophone solos. On the new Blu-Ray edition this music plays over the main menu screen, certainly a disincentive to click play and watch the film.
The technical aside, "Romancing the Stone" was always meant to be a vehicle for its stars. And Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner make a great on screen romantic pairing. Turner, one of the 80’s screen goddesses, is a plain Jane in this film. She’s dressed down, wearing little make-up, yet her charming affability and sultry husky voice shines through. Sadly she didn’t have a long career as a leading lady, but in the 80’s there were few more desirable.
Michael Douglas, who produced the film as well, found for himself the ideal vehicle to turn him into a leading man. His Jack Colton is manufactured with the exact same Indiana Jones-like charm, toughness and mystery. Colton is supposed to be part hero, part con man and Douglas has enough untrustworthiness to sell us both these qualities. A series of roles after “Stone” and it's sequel "Jewel of the Nile" would lead up to his Oscar win for “Wall Street” solidifying his place equal to his father in cine-history.
"Romancing the Stone" and "Jewel of the Nile" aren't bad films, but they certainly hasn't added any lustre added to it since 1984/85. These films serves best as nostalgia-pieces of 80's romance and adventure in the time of Indiana Jones. Enjoy.
"Romancing the Stone" and its sequel "Jewel of the Nile" are available on Blu-Ray from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
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