Home Movies

After two highly successful commercial ventures in Carrie and The Fury, Brian DePalma apparently decided he needed a little fun and frolic. So Home Movies was made using the talents of a lot of people who appeared in DePalma projects.

Home movies is like a film casserole where a lot of his film students got to step to the plate and take their best shot. Roughly speaking the film centers around Keith Gordon the younger brother of Gerrit Graham. They are the sons of Vincent Gardenia a philandering doctor and Mary Davenport his clueless wife.

Graham is set to marry former hooker Nancy Allen. He's rather full of himself and also a latently gay individual. But he's the eldest and chosen one and Gordon is the nerdy younger brother who spends his time filming some of the private moments of the family, a little cinema verite for his film professor Kirk Douglas.

Watching Home Movies I got the impression I was not being let in on an inside joke. And I rather resented the situation.

It all seemed like a colossal waste of time for all involved. The name players must have owed DePalma big time to appear here.

I first saw Home Movies on cable TV in the early 80s, before I was even a teenager. I was drawn in by Nancy Allen being 'possessed' by a foul-mouthed bunny rabbit hand-puppet. I found it hilarious and watched the movie anytime it aired during that month or so. I could never forget it and looked for it on VHS later in the 80s when we got our first VCR. Then, I had a laserdisc of the movie, then the DVD (which appears to be a straight transfer of the laserdisc). Now in my mid-50s, I still adore this wacky movie from start to finish, right from the opening notes of the catchy string intro theme.

The characters are hilariously messed up. Mom is a drama queen faking suicide attempts due to being attention starved for her endlessly cheating and flirting husband, always finding a reason to cry and feel sorry for herself. James is the domineering older brother who is attempting to rehabilitate Nancy Allen's character from her prostitution past, which included the bunny hand-puppet. Taking it to extremes with a Temptation Marathon, subjecting her to weaknesses: "Can she resist". Denis is the nerdy younger brother, but the most normal of all of them.

Mom adores James as the perfect son, often pushing kind-hearted Denis aside suggesting he be more like James. But James has a latency presented during his alleged teaching of his sort of boy scout troupe how to be 'men' as he tries to get them to kiss each other under the guise of showing them how to please a woman. It's so funny and ludicrous as the students resist the direction.

From start to finish, the whole movie is like an adult cartoon of the most slapstick kind, and there are quirky touches everywhere, from out-of-nowhere sound effects, exploding tapes, to dramatic light breezes during key moments of dialog.

Nancy Allen as Kristina tries so hard to please James and become what he wants her to be, which is a requirement of their pending nuptials. That is, until she catches his antics with his troupe. That's when Bunny reappears in her life on the day of her engagement party giving a peek into her past to hilarious effect. Watching her stumble around the house sedated with that rabbit puppet handing out "glossies" and telling everyone to "Catch us at the Pussycat" has been seared into brain since I was 12 years old, and I love it!

I don't expect too many people will appreciate this student film, but I clicked with it instantly. The following year, De Palma would go on to further success with Dressed To Kill, also staring Nancy Allen and Keith Gordon from this film, along with a cameo of the amusingly dramatic mom Mary Davenport making disgusted faces at the end of that film when Nancy details male to female sex change surgery.

It's insane, it's very politically incorrect (especially by today's boring standards), and it's a lot of fun if you can appreciate it.

This little-known De Palma comedy (made right between some of his biggest hits like "Carrie" and "Blow Out") is notable as one of the earliest films to anticipate the "reality show" phenomenon, but otherwise it's mostly just a curio for his followers. His direction has less flair than usual (there IS one great shot from inside a popcorn bucket!), and the script, apparently written by seven (!) people, is all over the map. But the biggest problem is that it's not very funny. Saved, somewhat, by the sweet chemistry between Nancy Allen (at her prettiest) and Keith Gordon; De Palma obviously sensed that he struck gold there, and paired them again in the next year's "Dressed To Kill". I don't know, maybe see "Home Movies" as an appetizer for that one. ** out of 4.

"Home Movies" is an anomaly for a director who had already made top-quality pictures like "Carrie" and "Phantom of the Paradise." Stylistically, it's reminiscent of his earlier "Greetings" and "Hi Mom," except that those movies are brilliant social commentary, but this movie falls flat, with just a few good laughs at the end.

De Palma could blame his student crew, but De Palma takes credit for the story and the directing, which are clearly the weakest elements of the movie (along with the acting and lighting). The credits say it was shot on a Panavision camera - what a waste!

Perhaps the movie's only pleasure is how incredibly young Kirk Douglas looks - I kept double-checking the credits to see that it was really Kirk and not Michael. But unfortunately, his story element - the "wrap-around" - is by far the worst part of the story.

Also, the "Artiflx" DVD version of "Home Movies" looks like a home movie - blurry, dark, with video noise and ringing. The "official" version is hard-to-get and expensive. Save yourself the trouble and don't get either!

I gave this movie three stars on the prodigy of its actors and director, but without that context, this would be a one-star movie - at best!

Brian DePalma's "Home Movies" is a genuinely strange film. It is hard to believe that DePalma made this. It doesn't have the superb technical credits that you come to expect from him. It doesn't have a logical story (for DePalma that is). And it doesn't have the big budgets DePalma's films are accustomed to ("Sisters" has a budget of 500,000 bucks; this film was made on a few thousand)

What it does have is a goofy charm that most Hollywood comedies lack these days. The story is nonsense, but that's a good thing in this case. And the low budget is appropriate because it suits the story. Most of the cast are from other DePalma films, of which I'll let you know.

The film stars Kirk Douglas ("The Fury")as The Maestro (the video title), a teacher who films his life constantly. He attempts to have his prize pupil Keith Gordon ("Dressed to Kill")do the same, but he has problems of his own. The object of his affection is Nancy Allen ("Dressed to Kill", "Carrie", "Blow Out"), a hooker who has too many vices for her own good. The problem? She is attached to Gordon's brother (wonderfully played by Gerrit Graham, who appeared in most of DePalma's early films and just about stole "Soup for One"), who is a nut.

All this is established within the first 25 minutes or so and the film's success depends on all of the surprises DePalma sets up, so I won't reveal any more. Some people might be turned off of "Home Movies" possibly due to the content, but more probably due to the visual style. Today's audiences are accustomed to gloss and if they don't get it, they protest. If you are one of those people, I just want to say three words: SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!!! How dare you criticize a film just because it doesn't look glossy like Hollywood product does? "Pi", a film I admired highly, had the same dilemma. Made on a shoestring budget, the film's grittiness helped it more than hurt it and the same goes for "Home Movies".

DePalma shoots on 16mm and makes the film look like someone's home movies, which is appropriate since the Kirk Douglas character is constantly filming his own life (and others). Also, give DePalma credit for helping his students get a first credit (the film was made as a class project for Sarah Lawrence College). Robby Benson did a similar thing in 1990 with "Modern Love" and was heavily criticized, despite the fact that it was a good, strong film. "Home Movies" isn't as strong as his more accomplished thrillers, but it is a very entertaining movie that had me smiling most of the way. And how can you hate any movie that casts Gerrit Graham as a slimeball?

*** out of 4 stars