Clubland - Stars and Secrets

I had my doubts about this one since it is about agents and not only that but family stability of a father son agent team to boot. Well my worries were quelled almost immediately. Alan Alda does great as the father who is struggling to make it as an older more broke down agent with his son constantly in his face. I know this is a shorter review, but it' late and i'm tired. Point is, try to see it if you can. It's only on showtime right now i think, but if you can, see it.

NeCRo

This was written by Steven Weber of "Wings" fame, so I was a little worried at first, as it seems that the more actors move into writing and directing, the lousier films get, but this one surprised me. Well crafted, nicely written, it's really a father/son story, and Alan Alda all but steals the film. Weber is strong, and the score is lovely. The camera work is very fluid, but sometimes I felt as though it was showing off instead of helping the story. Supporting roles are all good, featuring lots of recognizable faces including Peter Reigert as a Rabbi. Worth a look.

"Club Land" tells of a bitter, small time, aging New York nightclub talent booking agent (circa 50's), played by Alda, who has family issues with his son/protege (Weber). Claustrophobic, noir'ish, and plaintive, this solid, well scripted and acted story relies heavily on an excellent performance by Alda for entertainment value. A must see for Alda fans and an okay watch for all else.

Still in search of the late Heath Lamberts I watched my VHS of Club Land. In this film Heath plays a mediocre comedian in Alan Alda's stable. Like most of this movie he got his innings mostly into one cameo appearance, which he of course did superbly, like everything else he ever did. And everyone else did their cameo appearances superbly well too. It would take an essay to describe and praise every actor's/actress' brilliant cameo as each followed the other throughout this wonderful movie. A great film like this doesn't come along too often and when it does it needs more treasuring from your viewers and commentators. I see that Alan Alda garnered his share of nominations and awards for his role as the agent, and rightfully so. It's one of the finest examples of the actor's art I've ever seen, practically Olivier, who played a similar role as a broken down vaudeville comedian in his 1960 movie, The Entertainer. Writer/actor Steven Weber seems to have credits a mile long since 1984 and no doubt equally well deserved. This film is one of his few solely written scripts, and boy, should he be doing more of this! Such a touching, beautiful story superbly told, with psychological, ethnic, social, and historical nuances of the "old days" woven through and through. He should be the next Neil Simon. I'll look for more of his work.