Swing

I saw this film last monday at a NY Film Festival.Its an infectious romantic comedy with two very appealing leads: Innis Casey and Constance Brenneman.

Its also the story of a generational conflict between a father who wants his son to find security in the family business and his son who wants to be a musician.The young man's grandfather was a great swing musician who gave it up for a boring conventional life but the young man has an unusual muse who inspires him to have the courage be true to himself and his dream. The music is hot, the dancing exciting, and the story lovely.

Saw this film Last monday at NY Film Festival. It has 2 very appealing leads and a solid cast. Its a romantic comedy that tugs at the heart strings and serves up some hot swing music. Its a winning combination that is definitely a chick movie and will also pull in the crowd hungry for nostalgia. What more could you ask for?

Take 1 part real swing music [Dorsey, Miller], 1 part enthusiastic dance, 1 part veteran talent [Bisset, Bostwick, Winters], 1 part youthful charm [Casey], and mix with a sweet storyline and a lot of San Francisco talent. Season with the late-great Nell Carter and some chocolate chutney. The result is pure magic. This could be the next Indie surprise hit.

I just saw the movie Swing this morning at a showing in Palm Springs, CA. I was surprised at the fine quality of the movie, and the fact I had never heard of it before - since it was made 2 years ago. Fortunately it will be out on DVD in January 2006.

It was a great movie, with great performances. Jaqueline Bissett, Jonathan Winters, Nel Carter, and Barry Bostwick were among my favorites. For an independent film, it was chock-full of veteran actors, each performing at their very best.

I love angel-themed movies, and this was clearly a movie which tugs at one's heart. It sort of reminded me of a sophisticated version of Touched By An Angel - which was a great TV show. It was a movie for all ages, since angels are of course ageless.

I was fortunate in that Jacqueline Bissett & the screen writer did a Q&A after the movie. It really has nothing to do with my impression of the movie, except to say that they were fabulously gracious people.

And speaking of fabulous, the soundtrack is incredible. A combination of old and new songs make for a great soundtrack, and help to weave the fabric of the story between the younger characters and the older characters.

The few pros? Tom Skerrit and Mindy Cohn do what they can with the meager crumbs of characterization that they are given. The settings, indoor and out are lovely and vibrant. Shots of San Francisco are beautiful, if over used. The indoor sets have good color and period dressing -- with the exception of the cookie cutter performance sets. I think that they were supposed to look like several different gigs, but ended up looking as though they were different POV of the same space.

The many, many cons: The leads lack the skills to carry the movie. The directing and editing are terrible. The scripting feels like it was made up on the spot by an eight year old. The cast mugs and hams and then does what it can to get from one line of the script to another.

Uniformly terrible.