Gotham

"Eddie Mallard" (Tommy Lee Jones) is a down-on-his-luck private detective who is about to be evicted from his office for failure to pay his rent. Needless to say, he is surprised when a wealth man by the name of "Colin Bruce" (Charlie Rand) walks into his office and offers to pay him a considerable amount of money to simply convince his ex-wife "Rachel Carlyle" (Virginia Madsen) to agree to leave him alone. But what really stuns Eddie is when Colin tells him that Rachel has been dead for ten years. Now, normally any private detective with an ounce of integrity would turn down the job because their prospective client is obviously insane. But being that he is in serious financial straits Eddie takes the job anyway. However, once he finally meets Rachel things begin to take a horrifying turn from that point on. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a strange film which at times didn't seem to flow well from one scene to the next. Even so both Tommy Lee Jones and Virginia Madsen played their parts quite well and--strange as it was--I enjoyed this film for the most part and have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

I thought the storyline was provocative, and the writing was good but not superlative (Kevin Jarre is a wonderful writer, and I'm willing to bet the script would have been lots better if the director had left it alone.) Tommy Lee Jones was fantastic, as usual- his leading lady was a beautiful woman but a mediocre actress. Liked the Russian Orthodox priest, too; a fun addition. Really liked the lady singer doing 'Where Or When' in a club where the couple met. 'Danny Boy' was lovely, as well, as was the Latin piece the leading lady danced on the roof to. Fun movie to critique and "improve" in your mind as you're watching it. the soap opera crowd would probably love it without reservation. The meticulous might very well cringe. All and all very entertaining.

I first saw Gotham in 1989 and then in 2001 and it stood up well: Gotham is on the one hand an ironic tribute to hard-boiled detective movies, but it chooses to keep its irony under the surface rather than over-the-top, telling a susupenseful and carefully unfolded story with real twists and turns even as it tosses the occasional wink taht we've seen the set-pieces before. There is real suspense as we watch Tommy Lee Jones get in way over his head--he takes it well enough when he discovers, early on, that he is indeed dealing with a malicious ghost--but from there on he is forced to watch with his own investigators detatchemht as he fall in love with this ghost, going down hill physically and every other way step by step--at the end, he is faced with a battle for his soul as serious as Sam Spades faces at the end of "Maltese Falcon"--and, even at the end, the wry humor returns to wrap it all nicely up. By the way--keep yuour eye out for spooky oddities at ther corner of your vision--they are there!

What REALLY happens inside a man when he "falls in love"? If you want to begin to get a clue, or - better yet - if you are tearfully trying to grasp what on earth has happened to you in particular, you should see "Gotham" - again and again. It is an American classic of the Inner Landscape.

I wonder how much idea Tommy Lee Jones and company had of just what they were enacting. Only as much as writer/producer/director, Lloyd Fonvielle, was able or willing to tell them. Siskel & Ebert, etc., totally missed the point. Why? Because people in our culture are not prepared for a movie whose plot/premise barely holds together as a tale of what occurs in the world but which, as an inner story (dream- or myth-like), works quite beautifully. (In that sense the movie's plot is rather like our lives!)

Your enjoyment/comprehension of this movie will be much enhanced if you have at least some familiarity with the Jungian Anima (I mean conceptually - we men all do experientally, although depressingly few know much about, or acknowledge, Her!). If you don't, I don't want to put you off. It will do quite nicely if a woman's image has - in whatever way - just devastated you, or some man you know, inside. I've never seen a movie where this is so graphically depicted. The decline and Fall. "How will I find you?" Eddie quaveringly asks. "Don't worry," she wryly replies, "I'll find YOU." Oh, yes.

This movie is incredibly rich in symbols and insight, and really repays multiple viewings. Even if you don't understand why Eddie's name is Mallard; why Rachel's face has suddenly become chalky white as she turns and emits her spine-chilling anger when challenged by Eddie on a matter of historical accuracy; the Doorman; why it is death to "sleep with a ghost"; what the pirate's sword is all about (re-read your Tristan & Isolde, the chapel); why She MUST emerge from the mist, at the brazier, to warn Eddie not to embark on his own destruction, before herself taking the executive role in bringing it about ("I've KILLED you, Eddie…and I'm GLAD I did!"); the role of the psychic detective (that's you - or could be); the splitting of the male psyche into Charlie and Eddie, as separate disastrous approaches to Her; the jewels (and this IS pretty murky!); the themes of watery immersion, pugilism, paganism vs Christianity, etc., EVEN THEN…something will scratch at you as watch this movie.

As you can probably tell, I'd love to bend your ears with a full-scale analysis, but the 1000 word limit protects you from people like me! Feel free to e-mail me if you want to talk about Gotham, I never found anyone on my wavelength (what a shock).

How do you stop your dead wife from harassing you? Hire a good detective who can tell her to stop. Tommy Lees Jones portrays a down on his luck gumshoe is approached by a man who is being followed by his dead wife. Jones figures if the man is crazy enough to offer his money, he's just crazy enough to help him. Is she dead? Check the refrigerator, take a cruise but stay out of the church. This made-for-tv film keeps you going, wondering just who is seeing things. Don't close your eyes for too long or you just might miss something. If you like a good mystery, this one is a sleeper-keeper. You might have to look on the back shelf of the video store to find it but however it's worth the search. A great movie for a rainy weekend afternoon.