Hi, Mom!

Just rented and watched HI, MOM! and am blown away by parts of it which are so ahead of its time as to seem contemporary, given today's post-MTV-era approach to film-making.

I would say 80% of this film is utterly brilliant and 20% is merely so-so; scenes with extended dialog sometimes have you checking your watch since the characters may seem to drone on about this-or-that, but there are enough funny moments in these sorts of scenes to keep your attention. And, believe me, you want to stay tuned for the "Be Black, Baby" portion of the film which is nothing short of side-splitting.

The way the film is made, with its occasional fast-paced editing, sped-up footage, and other visual tricks (so dePalma) will appeal greatly to the short-attention-spans of today and seem to anticipate the way films will be made by mainstream producers and directors who cut their teeth creating music videos for MTV. I'm not saying this film feels like a music video, but it uses various visual devices which would become standard fare in music videos and part of today's cinematic vocabulary. Again, I can't reinforce how ahead of its time this film is, apparently foreshadowing things like "reality TV" in the "Be Black, Baby" guerrilla theatre piece.

It's astounding and frightening to see how far we possibly HAVEN'T come past these notions of entertainment, or how they've become scarily mainstreamed by Hollywood.

DeNiro gives a terrific performance and it's a real treat to see him doing something like this at a young age. Kudos to DePalma for this film, also -- it's a filmmaker's dream with all the film-within-film devices and you can see he's working out his fascination with optical and split-screen-type manipulations in a very youthful, bravura sort of way. I would say this is DePalma at his most innovative, aside from his shamefully underrated film SISTERS...before he became bloated and weighed down by the mainstream Hollywood ethic. That's not to say DRESSED TO KILL or CARRIE are bad pictures or bad reflections on DePalma, but they don't reflect the liberated genius that is clearly evident in HI, MOM! or SISTERS.

HI, MOM! is an absolute MUST-SEE for any DePalma fan, general cineaste, film student, or comedy devotee. There are still lessons to be learned from watching this film, even today when it seems all the tricks DePalma used have been exploited ad infinitum. HI, MOM! manages to feel fresh in an era when -- by rights -- it really ought to feel stale.

It's also a tremendously valuable look at pop culture from 1970 and contains some great moments in an adult movie theater. My favorite line occurs there, when a porno producer is counseling DeNiro (a would-be amateur porno producer himself, using his Super 8 mm camera). The two men sit in the back row, discussing the film they're watching and how it's made (and, for the uninitiated, this is typically where men-who-seek-the-company-of-other-men will congregate). Suddenly we have a rapid cut which shows another theater patron has sat himself next to the men, and the patron puts his hand on the leg of one of the men (DeNiro, I think, who brushes it off with some shock and embarrassment). The porno producer (mentor) says very sympathetically, regarding the gesture of the patron, "...he means well." Boy, ain't that the truth! Meanwhile, in the background, another patron is being thrown out of the men's room (presumably for having made a pass at someone homophobic).

Another scene involves a pharmacist opening a condom package and demonstrating its strength and elasticity. Hilarious.

These are issues you would likely never see addressed today in a mainstream Hollywood film because of America's prudishness, or they would be handled in a way that was purely condescending. Instead, DePalma takes you *into* the circumstances, humanizes them, and permits them to be funny on their own merit (he doesn't clobber you over the head with bad, smarmy, self-conscious jokes the way today's writers would).

What is disappointing about this film is that it shows how DePalma's work ultimately suffered as he became a victim of the Hollywood machine -- the studios and execs who no doubt had a hand in reigning in his talent and vision, styling it for a perceived audience.

Again, I can't recommend this film enough -- please rent it and see it and revel in its good-naturedness, it's incredibly edgy foreshadowing of things-to-come, and it's hilariously genuine humor.

I liked this movie a lot. Part of what is so good about it is its unique story and style. It seems like so many movies tell the same old boring story over and over again. The ones that end up feeling original usually do so by telling the same old story in a new way. Hi, Mom! succeeds doubly, however, by telling an original story in an original way.

Additionally, a very young Robert De Niro plays the lead role very well, as always. This is a different sort of role than what we're used to seeing him in, but it's nice to see that even so early on in his career he was just as talented as he is today. His character is hilarious, often defies logic and leaves the viewers baffled about his intentions and decisions and wondering if he is a crazy person. The character is fun to watch but would be totally unbelievable in the hands of another actor. De Niro pulls it off!

Director Brian De Palma's inexperience is evident at this point early on in his career, but that's not a bad thing. I think most would agree that it was his later films that turned out to be the real stinkers, and his naiveté is put to good use here as it adds to the film's overall style and originality. The style changes to a documentary feel and then back again. Scenes are comically sped up and colorful intertitles are used sporadically. They at first feel out of place this far away from silent films, but then feel as if they could never have been more right. Just like a child learning to walk, De Palma is unsure what he can and can't do, and he doesn't care! He tries it all, and since he's not afraid to fail he only succeeds that much more. Unconfined by convention, he goes off instinct. The world is his oyster and he makes the most of it with what I consider one of his best films.

My favorite part of the film was the very last shot. I won't spoil it by giving it away, but it is totally unpredictable and unexpected, just like the rest of the film. I got the idea that the filmmakers could very easily have been making things up as they went along and not always following the script, making use of what they had available on their limited budget, which in this case worked out well. And the film's final shot is set up so well, from the camera angle to the colors to the overall setup. Then De Niro's perfect delivery to the perfect line makes it perhaps the greatest ending of any movie I've seen.

But the film is not perfect. Even despite its relatively short running time, it still feels slow at certain moments. It's a fun experience, but not everyone will enjoy it. Some may be frustrated by what could be perceived as nonsensical scenes and a disjointed, unrealistic plot. Some may not understand the film, but my advice to them would be to quit trying so hard. Just sit back and enjoy this fun, wacky movie and take from it whatever you will. It doesn't always make perfect sense or wrap up into a neat little bundle, but no one said it has to.

Long before either Robert DeNiro or Brian DePalma were famous, they teamed for this low budget satire on Urban Life in late 60s NYC. The resulting film was a mixed bag at best, with one truly brilliant sequence - the guerrilla theater piece "Be Black, Baby" - a few clever observations and a fair bit of dead time, where it seems as if nobody came up with much, and it got filmed anyway. DeNiro plays a Vietnam vet who wanders about NYC filming things 'peeping Tom' style, looking for a purpose in life or a personal mission. If this sounds like Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver) with a camera rather than a cab, it sure does, but unfortunately, DeNiro has less to do that is cinematically captivating here than in his "Are you talking' to me?" moments as Bickle. The character is less interesting on screen, less well-formed and thus less of a scene-stealer. Plus, DePalma was clearly so enamored of the film- making process that the viewer is supposed to find the voyeuristic act of simply filming stuff to be as orgasmic as the director thinks it is, even when nothing much very interesting is being filmed. I still recommend the movie but urge caution. The good parts here are really good. It would be a better movie, obviously, if there were more of them.

A very young De Niro incorporates his fresh muscles into acting. And he succeeds in an excellent scene, making the cop on his own, fighting the walls and some garbage cans, striking them very convincingly with the cop stick, anticipating somehow the famous "Taxi Driver" scene. A very good Allen Garfield and a very good Lara Parker. Some good music in the soundtrack too.

Robert De Niro plays a would-be filmmaker in New York City who is given $2000 by a porno producer to make Peep Art--filming the sexual exploits of his neighbors directly out his apartment window--but action is slow, so he gets to know the woman living across from him by pretending they had a date. Another of De Niro's neighbors, a white stage producer, promotes his show, "Be Black Baby", by stirring up the public with on-the-street commentary on what it's like to be black in America. Audacious early effort from writer-director Brian De Palma, a quasi-follow-up to his "Greetings" from 1968, has some very funny revue-style sequences with tricky staging, although the second-act (with white actors in black-face and black actors in white-face) is too hostile and ugly and shuts down the comedy. The two halves of the picture never really jell, anyway, and one begins to miss the easy, naturally comic dialogue from the opening. ** from ****