Looking Back At Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein

(review contains spoilers)

Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder struck comedy gold with this hysterical send-up of the horror classics Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein.

Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein (1974) has aged extremely well. It's still just as sharp, entertaining and hilarious as it was when it first appeared on the big screen nearly 40 years ago. It's without a doubt one of the funniest and well-crafted comedies ever committed to celluloid. Very few, if any, comedies released today will have the type of longevity and continued relevance that Young Frankenstein has enjoyed over the years. For the most part, today's comedies are a lot like fast food; they satisfy your appetite but are quickly forgotten after the meal is done. Not so with Young Frankenstein, as it's a five-star meal of a comedy that you continue to savor long after the credits have rolled.

Brooks Updates And Puts Comedic Twist On Horror Film Classic

The film stars Gene Wilder as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, a young neurosurgeon and a respected lecturer at an American medical school. He is the grandson of the infamous Dr. Victor Frankenstein, who was vilified for his highly controversial reanimation experiments in which he attempted to bring the dead back to life. For years, Frederick has tried to live down his eccentric grandfather's much-maligned legacy. He believes his grandfather was mentally unstable and a disgrace. Frederick is so ashamed of his family name that he tells people that it's pronounced "Fronkensteen" instead of Frankenstein.

However, Frederick's negative view of his grandfather gradually changes after he inherits his family's estate in Transylvania. The estate houses the laboratory where his grandfather conducted his reanimation experiments. Before long, Frederick is continuing his grandfather's work in reanimation. And after many failed attempts, he successfully brings back to life a massive man, which he and his assistant, Igor, exhumed at the graveyard. Frederick's plan is to make his reanimated subject the perfect human specimen who possesses tremendous physical strength as well as superior intellect. Unfortunately, Frederick's experiment goes terribly awry when he learns that Igor mistakenly gave him a defective brain to put in the monster. The film follows Frederick's attempts to civilize his behemoth creation and even teach the monster a few dance steps and show tunes along the way.

Film Has Look And Atmosphere Of An Old Horror Film

One of the most striking things about Young Frankenstein is its look. Much detail and thought was put into the set design and photography to give the film an authentic classic horror movie look and atmosphere. Brooks shot in the same castle that the James Wales' 1931 classic Frankenstein was filmed. He also used the same electrical apparatus for the laboratory scenes that was used in the horror classic. Additionally, Brooks filmed the entire movie in black-and-white, and he used1930s-style opening credits as well as period scene transitions, such as iris outs, wipes and fades-to-black to give it that old classical look. Cinematographer Gerald Hirschfeld and set decorator Robert De Vestel did a tremendous job on this film. Everything about the film was immaculately done, from the set design and cinematography to the costumes, the writing, the acting and the music score. Brooks' longtime composer John Morris provided the film's exquisite period score. The music evoked a classic horror film ambiance.

Film Boasts Incredible Cast

Brooks assembled a sensational cast for this film. The cast is uniformly strong down to the smallest roles. There are an inordinate number of stellar performances to be found in this film. Marty Feldman is flat-out brilliant as Frederick's droll hump-backed assistant Igor; Cloris Leachman is a howl as Frau Blücher, the strange caretaker of the Frankenstein castle; Madeline Kahn is extremely funny as Frederick's neurotic fiancée Elizabeth. With this role, Kahn illustrated what an amazingly gifted comedic actress she was.

Additionally, Wilder is terrific as the frazzled, slightly unhinged Frederick Frankenstein. And Peter Boyle does a great job at humanizing the monster with sly, knowing looks and hilarious double takes. His expressive face and body language convey so much that no words are necessary. And Teri Garr sets the screen on fire as Frederick's Swedish bombshell assistant Inga. In this role, Garr proved that she was not just another pretty face but also a very talented and funny actress. And Gene Hackman does a bang-up job in his cameo as a lonely blind man who befriends the monster. Brooks had so much confidence in his cast members that he allowed them to ad lib in a number of scenes, which greatly increased the spontaneity and humor of the film. And there are several other great supporting performances in the film.

Brooks and Wilder Capture Comedy Magic With Young Frankenstein

Brooks and Wilder collaborated on the film’s excellent screenplay, which is filled with clever one-liners and hilarious dialogue. The two manage to keep the story entertaining and interesting while continuing to deliver big laughs. In many comedies, the plot is just a vehicle through which comedians can do their funny shtick. However, in this film Brooks and Wilder take the plot very seriously and infuse it with not just very funny comedic scenes, but a great deal of emotion and pathos as well. With Young Frankenstein, the two have created a bona fide comedy masterpiece. The movie should be required viewing for any film student who has aspirations of becoming a comedy director or writer.

Young Frankenstein at Amazon

Spike Lee Reminisces about his Youth in Crooklyn

Spike Lee takes a nostalgic trip back to his childhood in this touching semi-autobiographical film about the struggles of a Brooklyn family in the early 1970s.

Crooklyn (1994) is probably Lee’s warmest and most sentimental film. It’s a big departure from the films he typically directs. His films usually address controversial subjects and are politically charged. In this semi-autobiographical film, the director slows down the pace a bit and takes a warm look back at his youth in Brooklyn, New York during the early 1970s. It's a simple, straightforward story with no social or political agenda to be found. Much of the film has the same slice-of-life appeal as his landmark film Do The Right Thing but sans the controversial themes. As in the Do The Right Thing, most of Crooklyn takes place in one neighborhood and focuses on the events and residents in that area.

The film immediately draws the viewer in with its exhilarating opening sequence. It opens with a vibrant scene on a block in a multiethnic Brooklyn neighborhood where numerous children are out playing; some kids are jump-roping, some are playing stickball and others are playing hopscotch among other lively games and fun activities. The block is alive with youthful energy. And the opening is set to the gorgeous strains of "People Make The World Go Round" by the Stylistics. Lee has always had a good ear and eye for setting scenes to music, and this is a perfect example of it.

The film's protagonist is ten-year-old Troy Carmichael (played by Zelda Harris). Troy is a spirited and outspoken young girl. Growing up in Brooklyn and living with her four rowdy brothers has given her a thick skin and made her tough. She can dish it out as well as any of her brothers. Troy is in constant battle with her oldest brother Clinton (Carlton Williams), who is as hardheaded as they come. Clinton loves to tease and bully his little sister for fun when he's not watching his beloved New York Knicks play on television. Clinton is clearly based on Spike Lee, right down to the slight build, big glasses and the filmmaker’s devotion to the Knicks. Troy devises different ways to get back at her older brother. On one occasion, she uses his prize collection of buffalo nickels to buy ice scream for herself and her friend. Harris does an excellent job of portraying the plucky young Troy. Lee was so impressed with her work in Crooklyn that he later cast in his 1998 film He Got Game.

Critically acclaimed actress Alfre Woodard plays Troy's no-nonsense mother Carolyn. She is the parent who lays down the law in the dysfunctional household. Delroy Lindo (Malcolm X , Get Shorty) plays Troy's father, Woody, who is much more lenient with the children. Woody's an unemployed jazz musician who's constantly at the piano composing his original music. He refuses to play popular music (which he thinks is mostly garbage) any longer and only focuses on his own music. Woody's stubborn refusal to play the type of music that could bring more money to the household upsets Carolyn, as the family's forced to get by on her salary as a teacher and the rent from their border. This and his leniency with the children cause acrimony between the couple, and they are separated for a short time.

Troy Experiences Culture Shock When She Visits Her Relatives In Virginia

Towards the end of the film, Lee shifts gears and has Troy visit her relatives in a Virginia suburb for a month. The move from Brooklyn to a Virginia suburb is a huge culture shock for Troy. Initially, she hates everything about the South and her Southern relatives but eventually starts to warm up to her surroundings. She learns to appreciate the slower and quieter way of life during her stay, and she develops a close friendship with her young cousin Viola (Patriece Nelson). It was a good idea to have Troy visit Virginia, as it provides a nice contrast to the chaotic scenes in Brooklyn. And Frances Foster is a hoot as Troy's flighty Aunt Song.

This film has a number of memorable scenes. One highlight has all five kids dancing along with the Soul Train dancers on TV as they groove down the legendary Soul Train line. Another great scene has Troy and her friends making fun of each others' hairstyles while sitting on the stoop in front of her house. The scene is at once funny and touching and will no doubt remind many viewers of the silly arguments they would get into when they were kids. In addition, there is an extremely funny scene in which Carolyn wakes up all the kids at four in the morning to clean up the mess they left in the kitchen.

Oddball Characters

The film has an array of oddball characters, including the family's annoying, weird neighbor Tony Eyes (David Patrick Kelly), whose house is a pigsty and reeks so bad that his neighbors are constantly complaining, and the wild-eyed, glue-sniffing Snuffy played by Lee.

Talented Young Newcomers Do A Great Job Playing The Carmichael Children

The young actors who play Troy's siblings do a marvelous job. In addition to Carlton Williams, they include Sharif Rashed, Tse-Mach Washington and Christopher Knowings. Also, Alfre Woodard and Delroy Lindo are terrific as the Carmichael parents. Both bring strong, nuanced performances to their respective roles. The remainder of the cast is also quite good.

Highly Entertaining Film From Start To Finish

Crooklyn is an underrated gem and a nice change of pace for Lee. It's poignant and funny as well as consistently entertaining. Some may complain about the near wall-to-wall music in the film, but Lee utilizes it so well in setting up scenes that it doesn't feel at all intrusive. Lee, his sister Joie Lee, and their brother Cinqué collaborated on the film's great screenplay. Lee should reminisce more often on film.

Crooklyn at Amazon

Related blog entry: Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing Revisited

Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train: Farley Granger and Robert Walker Star in Lauded Hitch Film

A chance encounter between two strangers on a train leads to murder in this classic suspense thriller.

(review contains spoilers)

Strangers on a Train (1951) is one of Alfred Hitchcock's most recognized and praised films and is considered one of the foremost suspense thrillers in cinematic history. The film is based on American author Patricia Highsmith's first novel of the same name. Famous detective novelist Raymond Chandler was one of the screenwriters who adapted Highsmith's novel for Hitchcock's film. The other writers involved on the screenplay were Czenzi Ormonde and Whitfield Cook.

Murder Swap Plan

The film begins with a chance meeting between two men on a train. Amateur tennis champ Guy Haines (Farley Granger) meets rich, spoiled socialite Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) after the two men accidentally bump shoes. Bruno immediately recognizes Guy from his pictures in the paper. Right away Bruno becomes overly familiar with Guy, asking him personal questions about his rocky marriage to his trampy, adulterous wife Miriam and his romantic relationship with Anne Morton, the daughter of a U.S. senator.

The scene has clear homoerotic undertones as it feels like Bruno is hitting on Guy. At first Guy is wary of Bruno's forward behavior but feels he's harmless enough and is cordial to him. During their conversation, Bruno tells Guy about his domineering, hard-nosed father who has recently been putting pressure on him to get a job and make something of himself. Bruno feels going to work and punching a time clock is beneath him and doesn't want any part of it. Bruno no doubt was a problem child and continues to be a burden to his father as a young adult. Bruno's worried that his father will eventually cut him off if he doesn't attempt to get a job and try to do something with his life. Thus, he feels he has to do something drastic before this happens.

In a half-joking manner, Bruno hypothetically suggests that the two exchange murders: Guy kills Bruno's father, and Bruno kills Mariam, "Crisscross." Bruno believes that the murder-swapping plan is perfect because neither would have any motive for killing a complete stranger, so there would be no connection tying them to the murders. Guy assumes that Bruno is joking and humors him, telling him it's a good idea. Guy gets off the train and doesn't give what Bruno said a second thought. Later on, to Guy's horror, Bruno tells him that he has indeed murdered Miriam and is now demanding that Guy keep up his end of the bargain and murder his father. Bruno's homicidal action sets off a psychological and suspenseful game of wits between the two men. It's compelling how Bruno keeps pulling Guy deeper and deeper into his dark, murderous plan to the point where Guy feels like a trapped prey.

Hitchcock Keeps The Tension High throughout Film

One of the things that makes the film so entertaining is that Hitchcock manages to sustain a high level of tension and suspense throughout. He keeps the audience on its toes with a number of unexpected twists and turns. Another significant component is that Hitchcock infuses the film with his trademark morbid sense of humor. His gallows humor can be found in most of the scenes involving his daughter Patricia Hitchcock, who plays Anne's younger sister Barbara ("Babs"). Babs is a kind of a strange girl who apparently has no filter and blurts out whatever she's thinking, much to the annoyance of her stern and rigid senator father. Bab's character is oddly charming. You can't help but like her.

Film Boasts Great Cast

The cast is uniformly good. Ruth Roman does a terrific job as Guy's romantic interest Anne Morton. Her character is all cool sophistication and haughty elegance. She just oozes class and style. She's the polar opposite of Guy's trashy wife Miriam. Kasey Rogers plays the role of Miriam with raunchy sex appeal, a bespectacled Jezebel with a devilish grin. The standout of the cast is Robert Walker as Bruno. Walker does a tremendous job in his role as the psychopathic Bruno. He's alternately menacing, desperate and vulnerable in the role. And Farley Granger is top-notch in probably the least colorful role in the film as the straitlaced Guy. His character is a great foil for the unbalanced and homicidal Bruno.

Subtleties

There are also some nice subtle touches in the film, for instance, when Guy gently straightens Bruno's tie after punching him in the face. It's a great moment as it shows the type of person Guy is in that he could still show kindness to someone who's attempting to ruin his life. And the scene also brings attention to the homoerotic undercurrent of the film. Or the scene when Miriam is flirting with Bruno at the amusement park the night he murders her. She looks over her shoulder to see if he's still following her, and when she turns back around, he' standing right next to her, seeming to appear from nowhere like an apparition.

Additionally, there's an excellent scene in which a very angry Guy is talking to Anne on a phone from a phone booth about his wife Miriam, who refuses to give him a divorce now that he's made some money playing tennis. While he's venting about Miriam, the sound of a train grows louder and louder, and when he finally yells into the phone, "I said I could strangle her!" the train goes by him and nearly drowns his words out. The sound of the train is a reference to the conversation he had with Bruno earlier about exchanging murders, and it also foreshadows Bruno killing Miriam by strangulation.

The Master Of Suspense

This film illustrates why Hitchcock was such a highly respected and critically acclaimed director. He knew how to grab an audience's attention and hold it in a vice grip. He was a great at building tension and suspense and would always sprinkle ample doses of his twisted, dark humor in his films to help counterbalance their more gruesome and horrific moments. They didn't call him "The Master of Suspense" for nothing.

Strangers On A Train at Amazon

Peter Berg's Very Bad Things: A Very, Very Black Comedy

A bachelor party turns into a nightmare when a prostitute is accidentally killed during the festivities. Her death triggers all sorts of unforeseen calamities. (review contains spoilers)

Very Bad Things is a truly twisted black comedy that teeters way over the edge of good taste. It was a very risky move on writer/director Peter Berg's part to make this his first foray into feature films as a director. However, the 1998 film has gone on to become something of a cult classic.

The film centers on a group of friends who throw their buddy Kyle (Jon Favreau) a bachelor
party in Las Vegas. In addition to Kyle, the group includes Mike (Jeremy Piven), his brother Adam (Daniel Stern), Boyd (Christian Slater) and Moore (Leland Orser). The guys are having a blast—boozing, snorting coke and trashing the hotel room—while Mike is having wild sex with a prostitute in the bathroom. In mid-coitus, Mike accidentally slams her head into a towel hook, killing her instantly.

When the others find out what happened, they start to panic and don't know what to do. Adam immediately runs to call the police, but Boyd stops him as he's not so sure if that would be the best course of action considering their situation. The rest of the group agrees with Boyd. They feel that calling the police would bring down an avalanche of problems on their heads and would completely ruin Mike's life. Thus, Boyd suggests that they bury the prostitute in the middle of the desert. He tells them that no one else even knows she was there, as he made the arrangements directly with her. The others think that this would be the best way to handle the situation.

The only one who has any real reservations about the idea is Adam. Boyd and the others eventually convince him that burying the prostitute would be the most practical and expedient thing to do in this predicament and would save them a world of trouble. Right when they're devising the plan of how they'll bring the prostitute’s body to the desert, a hotel security guard enters the room and tells them that there had been complaints about the noise. He soon spots the prostitute’s lifeless body in bathroom. Without hesitation, Boyd stabs him to death with a corkscrew. Now the group has two bodies to bury in the desert.

In Its Attempts To Shock, The Film Becomes Too Far Removed From Reality.

The Vegas incident triggers a chain reaction of mishaps and more grisly deaths. As the film progresses, it grows increasingly more violent and outrageous with the body count steadily climbing. After awhile, it seems that Berg wants to shock viewers more than he wants to entertain them. The first half, while sick, was still funny and entertaining, but the latter half just feels forced, soulless and depressing. It's shocking and sick just for the sake of it with no rhyme or reason behind it. The film becomes so over-the-top and outrageous that it loses any semblance of reality as well as much of its humor.

Each Character Battles With His Conscience.

The film raises some serious moral and ethical questions, and each character is forced to wrestle with his conscience as he comes to terms with his actions. However, there is one person who doesn't appear to be at war with his conscience, and that is Boyd. The incident in Vegas revealed a side of him that his friends never knew. It turns out that he's a bona fide psychopath. And Boyd is not just your everyday, run-of-the-mill psycho. He's a psycho who spouts self-help jargon while chopping up and disposing of dead bodies; he's a psycho who views killing two people and burying them in the middle of the desert as a sign of personal growth for him and his friends and treats it like a male-bonding excursion.

Christian Slater is terrific in the role of Boyd. It's one of his most underrated performances. And it's quite chilling to watch him calmly rationalize each monstrous act he carries out. Even when the film starts to veer off course, his character still remains interesting to watch.

And Daniel Stern and Jeremy Piven are quite good as the bickering brothers Adam and Mike. Both have a number of great scenes. Probably the funniest scene in the entire film is when Adam nearly has a nervous breakdown in the middle of a gas station mini-mart. Overwhelmed with guilt and paranoia, he just about loses it completely. The scene is fraught with tension and dread, but it’s also extremely funny. And Stern displays a great talent for physical comedy in the scene.

Stellar Soundtrack

One of the best things about the film is its soundtrack. Berg does a tremendous job in choosing the right music to set up scenes. For instance, the scene where the guys are cleaning up the hotel room and cutting up the bodies is set to "Do It, Fluid" by the Blackbyrds. This is a wickedly clever song choice for this scene. And right after that scene, Willie Bobo's "Fried Neck Bones and Some Homefries" is played while the group drives deep into the desert to bury the bodies. The haunting Latin groove fits the scene perfectly.

Cameron Diaz Plays The Bride-To-Be From Hell.

The film also stars Cameron Diaz as Kyle's controlling bride-to-be Laura. It turns out that she's just as deranged as Boyd. Her obsessive and controlling traits are apparent early on in the film. Even after she learns of what really happened in Las Vegas, she's still adamant about going through with the wedding. She wants to get married at any cost, even if she has to literally kill someone to make it happen. Laura and Boyd are cut from the same cloth. Both are selfish and manipulative control freaks who have homicidal tendencies. Diaz does a solid job as the cold and calculating Laura.

And Jeanne Tripplehorn (Criminal Minds and Big Love) delivers a fine performance as Adam's exasperated wife. Retired porn star Kobe Tai plays the prostitute, and Russell B. McKenzie plays the hotel security guard.

Peter Berg Makes Bizarre Choice For First Feature Film.

This film is a pretty odd choice for a director making his debut into feature films. But you've got give Berg credit for having the cojones to stick to his vision and not try to tone it down to make it more palatable for mass-audience consumption. This film has some brilliant parts but just as many bad ones, especially the ending. The film's finale is flat-out terrible. It feels as though Berg and everyone else involved had run out of ideas and just hastily threw that scene together. Had the entire film remained as strong as the first half, it would have been a great black comedy.

The reception to the film has been pretty much divided. It's just as much loved as it is reviled.

Very Bad Things at Amazon

Boogie Nights: A Look Back at a Decadent Decade

Filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights (1997) is a compelling exploration into the adult film industry during the late 1970s.

Boogie Nights is a captivating snapshot of the late 1970s and early ‘80s and the adult film industry before video, DVDs and the Internet turned it into a $15 billion-a-year cash cow. Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson effectively captures the temper of the era in all its hedonistic decadence, from the casual sex to the illicit drug use to the loose morality that defined the decade. What could have been a depressing three-hour cautionary tale of the era’s excesses turned out to be a fascinating and thoughtful examination of a group of flawed individuals who form a familial bond in the most unlikely of circumstances and settings.

Strong Cast Brings Film To Life

The film boasts a stellar cast that includes Julianne Moore, Don Cheadle, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy and Philip Baker Hall. Screen veteran Burt Reynolds turns in one of his finest performances as adult film director Jack Horner. Jack has designs to be a “real” filmmaker, meaning he wants to be taken seriously as a director outside of the porn industry. He feels that his work will one day be respected by mainstream audiences and ultimately change people’s perceptions of adult films. His ambitions reveal how different things were back in the late '70s in that some thought that X-rated movies would eventually become a legitimate and respected genre in mainstream filmmaking. In Reynolds' hands, Jack is a compelling character, who is by turns charming, scary, paternal and sleazy.

In a star-making performance, Mark Wahlberg plays troubled teen Eddie Adams who stumbles into the adult film industry. Eddie’s an emotionally wounded kid who’s constantly belittled by his bitter, shrewish mother. His caring but browbeaten father provides him little help from his mother’s verbal assaults. Eddie’s in sore need of someone who will make him feel that he has some value and will provide him unconditional love. Jack and the crew of his production company take Eddie in and become his surrogate family and provide him the unconditional love that was missing in his real family.

It turns out that Eddie’s a natural, as he’s, shall we say, gifted in an area that would make him very bankable in the adult film business. He rechristens himself Dirk Diggler and has a short reign as the top male star in the adult film industry before drugs and ego take him down. Diggler’s character is loosely based on real-life porn star John Holmes who went from being top dog in the porn biz to a desperate drug addict, eventually dying from AIDS-related complications at 43 in 1988.

Drug-Fueled Violence

This film contains several disturbing scenes of graphic violence, most of them triggered by excessive cocaine use. However, these scenes are not gratuitous but are necessary to show the brutal reality of the environment in which the characters inhabited. Probably the most chilling and riveting scene in the entire film takes place when Dirk and his two buddies Reed Rothchild and Todd Parker (played by John C. Reilly and Thomas Jane, respectively) get in over their heads when they try to rip off wealthy and dangerous drug dealer Rahad Jackson (brilliantly portrayed by Alfred Molina). The scene unfolds like a great piece of music. The tension builds and builds until it reaches a crescendo of heightened emotion and violence. Anderson has said in interviews that the scene was inspired by the real-life 1981 Wonderland murders in which John Holmes was involved. Holmes was on the scene when the crime took place, but it was never confirmed whether he participated in the actual murders.

 Great Use of Popular Music In Setting Mood

Anderson deftly utilizes some choice tracks in creating the proper mood in his scenes. Like Martin Scorsese, he has a knack for picking just the right song to perfectly set up a scene. Some of the artists and bands featured on the film’s terrific soundtrack include Marvin Gaye, the Ohio Players, the Beach Boys, KC & the Sunshine Band, the Commodores, Electric Light Orchestra and Eric Burdon and War.

Paul Thomas Anderson Delivers With Boogie Nights

In only his second feature film, Anderson proved that he was filmmaker of great vision and talent. And although he was working with a large cast, he managed to make the viewer get emotionally invested in each character. Following Boogie Nights, Anderson continued to display his gifts as a writer/director with excellent films such as Punch-Drunk Love, Magnolia and There Will Be Blood. He always manages to get the best out of his actors. And when watching Boogie Nights, it’s clear that Anderson was a student of legendary director Martin Scorsese. Any Scorsese fan will notice the Scorsesian touches throughout the film. However, Anderson definitely has his own unique and original style of filmmaking, and he will no doubt continue to make compelling films.

Boogie Nights at Amazon

Related blog entry: Review of Paul Thomas Anderson's First Feature Film Hard Eight

Elisabeth Shue Stars in Adventures in Babysitting

Elisabeth Shue charms her way through this adventure/comedy about a suburban babysitter who gets thrown into a rough urban world of criminals and lowlifes.

(review contains spoilers)

Harry Potter director Chris Columbus made his directorial debut with Adventures in Babysitting (1987). It is a fun, highly entertaining comedy about the misadventures of a high school senior who gets sidetracked into a rough urban world of gangsters and assorted lowlifes while on a babysitting job. This was Elisabeth Shue's first starring role, and she didn't disappoint.

Adventures in Babysitting is sort of Risky Business lite. Both of the films' protagonists are naive, sheltered Chicago suburbanites who get a crash course in the real world and learn some important life lessons along the way. However, the PG13-rated Adventures in Babysitting is much tamer than the R-rated Risky Business.  The opening of the film even pays homage to the iconic Tom Cruise underwear scene from Risky Business. But instead of Bob Seger's gritty "Old Time Rock and Roll," Shue's character gets her groove on to the Crystals' hit "Then He Kissed Me." It's a really great way to open the film. You've got Phil Spector's famous Wall of Sound, the sweet voices of the Crystals, and a joyful Shue dancing around while she gets ready for her big date. It nicely sets the film's fun, playful tone.

A Babysitting Job Goes Awry

Attractive suburban high school senior Chris Parker (Shue) takes a babysitting job after her jerk of a boyfriend cancels on their date at the last minute. The little girl that she's hired to babysit is a spunky eight-year-old named Sara Anderson (Maia Brewton), who's a huge fan of the Marvel Comics superhero Thor. Sara roller-skates around the house wearing a winged Thor helmet, and posters of the hammer-wielding Norse god adorn her bedroom walls. Sara's older brother Brad (Keith Coogan) is a gawky15- year-old who has a mega crush on Chris.

While babysitting Sara, Chris gets an urgent phone call from her best friend Brenda (Penelope Ann Miller). Brenda ran away from home due to her contentious relationship with her stepmother, but lost her nerve once she got a peek at some of the derelicts, weirdos and perverts who hang out at the seedy bus station in downtown Chicago. Brenda doesn't have any money for cab fare to get home and wants Chris to come pick her up.  So Chris takes along Sara, Brad and his obnoxious best friend Daryl Coppersmith (Anthony Rapp) to get Brenda. The rescue mission is thrown way off course after Chris' car gets a flat tire on the expressway. In their peril-filled journey through the rough streets of downtown Chicago, they encounter a car thief, gangbangers, a young prostitute and assorted mobster types.

Elisabeth Shue really shines in this film, bringing a natural charm to her role of Chris. In addition to her good looks, she has a relatable appeal that connects with the audience. However, there is one problem, and it doesn't have anything to do with her acting abilities. Shue does not look like a 17-year-old high school student. The then 23-year-old actress seems much older than cast member Keith Coogan, whom she's only supposed to be two years his senior. It's not a big problem, but it does make you do a double take when it's mentioned that the two attend the same high school.

Shue receives strong support from her fellow cast members. The standout among the supporting cast is Maia Brewton as Sara. The young actress has great comedic timing and steals a lot of scenes in her role as the scrappy eight-year-old Thor devotee. And Penelope Ann Miller is hilarious as Shue's frantic best friend Brenda. Also, Calvin Levels is impressive as Joe Gipp, the charming car thief with a heart of gold. Rapp and Coogan are also quite good in their respective roles.

 

 In addition, the late character actor John Davis Chandler is very scary as hardened mobster Bleak. With his raspy sandpaper voice and cold-as-death glare, Bleak is one guy you don't want to mess with. And keep an eye out for a very svelte Vincent D'Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket and Law & Order: Criminal Intent) as a surly mechanic who Sara thinks is Thor in his secret identity.

Columbus does a good job in his first outing in the director’s chair. He moves the film along at a nice, crisp pace and draws strong performances from his young cast. Columbus went on to a hugely successful career as a filmmaker with five massive blockbusters to his credit: Mrs. Doubtfire; Home Alone; Home Alone 2: Lost in New York; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The screenplay for Adventures in Babysitting was penned by writer/producer David Simkins.

Additionally, the film boasts a killer soundtrack. It’s filled with stellar blues, R&B and rock tracks. Some of the artists represented on the soundtrack include Percy Sledge, the Rolling Stones, Edwin Starr, Junior Walker, Iggy Pop, Muddy Waters and Sam Cooke. And the late legendary bluesman Albert Collins has a cameo in the film. The kids duck into his blues club while fleeing from mobsters. He tells them, “Nobody gets out of here without singing the blues.” The highlight of the film is the scene with Collins and the kids performing “Babysitting Blues.”

Columbus delivers the goods with Adventures in Babysitting. It’s everything a film like this should be. It has a charismatic and extremely likable protagonist; it’s very funny, has lots of excitement and a really strong group of supporting players. And as an added bonus, the film has an amazing soundtrack. What more could you ask for?

 

Adventures In Babysitting at Amazon

Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing Revisited

Spike Lee explores the racial divide in America and mob mentality in his controversial film Do The Right Thing.

(review contains spoilers)

It has been 25 years since Spike Lee's landmark film Do The Right Thing hit theaters in 1989. The film remains as relevant as ever and continues to spark heated discussion about race and racism in America. It stands as one of the most honest and uncompromising depictions on film of the problematic and sometimes volatile state of race relations in the United States. This is a very courageous film, especially for a young filmmaker who was just making a name for himself.

Probably the most significant thing that Lee accomplished with this film is that he reopened dialogue about race in America. Not many films at the time were addressing racial problems in the U.S. in such an upfront and contentious fashion. Although many critics hailed the film, others accused Lee of being reckless and irresponsible for releasing such an "inflammatory" work, which they felt reopened racial wounds that were better left closed. When Lee made this film, he knew full well that race problems were still very present in America and believed sweeping them under the rug and not addressing them just made the situation worse. He felt that open dialogue was the best way to address such issues. Therefore, Lee was doing the exact opposite of trying to fan racial flames as some had wrongly accused him.

Lee assembled an extremely talented cast for the film, which included Ossie Davis, Samuel L. Jackson, Ruby Dee, John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito and Danny Aiello. Aiello is superb as Sal, the Italian-American owner of a pizzeria located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant (Bed-Stuy) section of Brooklyn. Sal has run the pizzeria in the same location for the last 25 years, and he and his pizzeria have become neighborhood fixtures. Sal is basically a decent and caring man who works hard and makes an honest living. For the most part, he gets along with most of the people in the area, which is predominately African-American. However, he is not without his flaws; he still holds deep-seated prejudices and is a bit of a hothead. Aiello doesn't hit a single false note as Sal, probably the most complex and finely drawn character in the entire film. Lee originally wanted Robert De Niro for the role of Sal, but De Niro turned it down due to prior commitments. Lee has said that getting Aiello for the role turned out to be a "blessing."

Sal runs the pizzeria with his two sons Pino (John Turturro) and Vito (Richard Edson). Older brother Pino is openly racist, has contempt for nearly everyone he comes in contact with, and hates every minute of working at the pizzeria: "Every day I come to work, it's like Planet of the Apes," Pino gripes. Vito, on the other hand, is much more tolerant and open-minded. He is cordial and respectful to all the customers at the pizzeria and even befriends a couple of them.

Mookie (Lee) is a young black man who delivers pizza for Sal. Mookie lacks ambition and is irresponsible. He has a young son out of wedlock with his girlfriend Tina, a sexy, sharp-tongued Puerto Rican played by Rosie Perez, and he's a burden to his younger sister Jade (played by Lee's real-life younger sister Joie Lee), with whom he lives. He does his job in a lackadaisical, apathetic fashion and constantly complains to Sal about making deliveries. Mookie is well-liked by almost everyone in the neighborhood, and even though he constantly screws up on his job, Sal holds a soft spot for him. Of course, Pino thinks his father should have fired Mookie a long time ago.

With such a serious and polemical subject matter, one would think that this film would be a grim and heavy viewing experience. On the contrary, much of the film is an enjoyable slice-of-life piece that chronicles the events during the hottest day of the summer in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood. The film is filled with colorful and humorous vignettes of the characters coping with the heat and bantering back and forth. Lee adeptly balances humor and serious drama in the film. The comedic moments allow the viewer to warm up to the characters. It was a smart move on Lee's part to offset much the serious drama with ample doses of humor. This melding of comedy and drama can be found in the famous racial-slur montage, one of the film's most powerful scenes. In the montage, people of different races and ethnic backgrounds take turns spewing racial epithets directly at the camera. This scene is at once compelling and funny.

The main conflict in the film begins when Buggin Out (a militant young black man played by Giancarlo Esposito) notices that there are no African American on Sal's wall of fame at his pizzeria, only Italian Americans. Buggin Out's grievance is that the wall of fame should be representative of the majority of customers who frequent the pizzeria, which is largely black. However, Sal feels he can put on his wall whomever he likes, as it is his pizzeria. An argument ensues between the obstinate Buggin and the hothead Sal, with Buggin being kicked out of the pizzeria. This compels Buggin to call for a boycott of Sal's Pizzeria. Later that night, Buggin and Radio Raheem (a hulking and intimidating young black man played by Bill Nunn) storm into Sal's restaurant right before closing.

Buggin loudly demands that Sal put some pictures of "brothas" up on the wall, and Radio defiantly has his boombox turned up full blast, further exacerbating an already explosive situation. Sal finally snaps, first dropping the "N" bomb and then destroying Radio's boom box with a baseball bat. Then all hell breaks loose, with Radio attacking Sal while Buggin and some of the other customers get into it with Pino and Vito. When the police arrive, they immediately go for Radio and put him in a choke hold until they cut off his air supply, killing him. The large crowd of onlookers explodes like a nuclear blast, and the conflict between Buggin and Sal has erupted into a full-scale riot during which Sal's pizzeria is burnt to the ground.

In this explosive scene, Lee brilliantly illustrates how a seemingly insignificant conflict can escalate into a full-blown riot. He shows how mob mentality can take over in which people don't think or act rationally. When Mookie throws a trash can through the window of Sal's Pizzeria, he yells, "Hate!!," verbalizing what was going through the minds of all the rioters. Da Mayor (the sagacious neighborhood drunk excellently depicted by Ossie Davis) is the only voice of reason during the mayhem; he tries to calm the crowd down, but to no avail. Lee caught flack from some people for the violent climax, but more praised him for the brutal honesty of the scene and for not holding back and laying bare how people's emotions can get the best of them and cause them to do things that they later greatly regret.
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The film's conclusion has Mookie coming back to see Sal sitting in front of his destroyed pizzeria the day after the riot and asking for his last paycheck. The conversation they have is quite interesting. There are no apologies from either but a mutual understanding and an unspoken acknowledgement that both were wrong in their actions the previous night. The scene subtly shows that even after all that happened the night before, Mookie and Sal don't hate one other. Much credit should go to Lee for avoiding the temptation to infuse the scene with fake sentimentality or empty platitudes. The scene wouldn't have possessed the same authenticity and power if he had. The scene symbolically illustrates that there is still hope for a mutual respect and understanding between races--particularly between white and black--but will only be accomplished by acknowledging that there is a problem and addressing it through open dialogue.

Lee doesn't pretend to have all the answers with this film but merely opens the door for discussion about the issues of race and racism in America. He respects the intelligence of his audience enough not to spoon-feed them a pat ending wrapped up in a nice little bow. Lee challenges viewers to ponder and debate the issues rather than telling them what to think. 25 years later, Do The Right Thing still stirs up heated debate about racial issues in America,  which is a testament to the film's effectiveness and timelessness.


Do the Right Thing at Amazon

Related blog entry: Spike Lee Reminisces about his Youth in Crooklyn