geroldf

This monster classic comedy is an all-time great. Murphy and Aykroyd distill a comic chemistry of perfect symmetry - Aykroyd is possibly the greatest deadpan straightman of all time, and Murphy was just hitting his stride as manic genius. The storyline is superb: in fact, it's so classic that today's ignorant film freaks still fail to discern the origin of the tale. Trading Places is a modern retelling of the Story of Job, Old Testament style - read your bibles, folks. Bellamy and Ameche play God and Satan, respectively, putting the mortals to the test, only this time, the ending has been changed. In the original, Job the Straightman is properly chastened, but in Trading Places the power of the gods is broken, as the mortals corner the orange juice futures market. No respect for religion these days.

Some reviewers don't see the purpose of all the supporting characters: Jim Belushi, Franken and Davis etc. They are utterly necessary to complete the character structure of the film, however. Even the giant gorilla: it fills the warrior role for the protagonists, to balance the evil ape Beeks, the holy Warrior of God.

This review may seem a tad incomprehensible to those who didn't have a gold star attendance record at sunday school. No problem: whip out your bible, read the Book of Job (it's not that long, you can do it) then watch this movie. We've come a long way, baby.

10 out of ten: halleluyah, praise jesus and check out jamie lee in a hot mary magdalene.

Hang em High is a strange blend of excellence and mediocrity. Director Ted Post was clearly out of his league, saddled with both an actor and a script he couldn't handle. Eastwood is great, and the script had the potential to diagram a great film. Unfortunately, Post was out of his depth. Despite great performances from both Eastwood and Bruce Dern as a delightfully slimey desperado, the film wobbles at times. The script contains an astonishing array of characters: the hangin judge, as a slightly out-of-control sovereign for the lawless Oklahoma Territory; Clint as the warrior; nine vigilantes who mistakenly lynch Eastwood; and two ladies representing the productive estate: the respectful prostitute, Arlene Golonka, and Inger Stevens playing the raped fertility goddess. Perhaps most unusual of all are a Dioskouric pair who must be sacrificed in the name of justice - great stuff.

There are moments of magic, but also times when the movie loses its bearings. Well worth watching, despite the flaws. 9/10

*Enfants* is a work of genius. I won't say it's the greatest film of all time, because its scope is very narrow: the mystery of the heart, the wayward course of love, the bittersweet joy and sorrow of lovers. Maybe that isn't so narrow after all, but it doesn't cover quite as wide a spectrum as other great films (seven samurai, casablanca, mahabharata, key largo etc). Nonetheless, this film belongs in that same company, for an unsurpassed portrayal of loves lost and won, and also the passion of art, a form of love expressing itself in public creativity, enriching the lives of many. Love between lovers enriches them alone; art enriches the world.

The woman Garance is loved by 4 men in this film. Two of them, at least, are superb renditions of genius-in-creation: the mime Baptiste, and the actor Frederick. Both are geniuses, but while Baptiste is silent, weak, and sad, Frederick is loud, powerful, irrepressively optimistic, courageous and generous. He is one of the greatest characters ever to grace the screen. He has one flaw: his genius is so pure, he has a blind spot regarding the weaknesses of others. He cannot conceive of an emotion such as jealousy, and so can never play Iago - until Garance, the fallen woman, finally teaches him.

The other character who may be a genius is Lacenaire, but he is a criminal genius. Evil, twisted, burning with hatred, he has only one true and honest anchor in society - his love for Garance. It doesn't save him, but it keeps him from being as bad as he could be.

Without going into the whole plot (it's long and convoluted) the primary paradox relates to intersecting and disconnected paths of love between the characters. Garance is loved by 4 men, but she really only loves Baptiste. So does Nathalie, a sweet and simple girl, who has the courage to do what Baptiste can not: she declares her love, and so they marry and have a child. Baptiste lacks the strength to take Garance when he has the chance, and so no one is happy - except maybe Frederick, he lives as life should be lived, and even the pain of losing Garance turns to gold in the alchemy of his art.

But despite the pain, and the unhappiness, loss and death, the world of *enfants* is beautiful. It's a world where love and art mean more than success or failure, a world where money is irrelevant and the passion for life burns away the curtain between fantasy and reality. It's three hours of *paradis*!

10/10, with a bullet through the heart.