johnfide Reviews

Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

A couple falling into the abyss of addiction

[8/10 · 8 June 2021]

"Days of Wine and Roses" is one of the best films ever to have dealt with the theme of alcoholism, together with Billy Wilder's "The Lost Weekend", starring an extraordinary Ray Milland. Here to face the dramatic problem is a couple, formed by Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick, both very good and convincing in their respective parts (Joe and Kirsten).

The film begins in a comedy style, with funny romantic moments: Joe and Kirsten know each other, he courts her, she seems to deny herself but deep down she's in love too, they get married, they have a daughter. Everything seems to be going well, but already in the early stages we notice some potentially worrying signs.

So, slowly but surely, the story plunges the two protagonists into the abyss of addiction. Lemmon's character introduces Remick's one, initially almost a teetotaler, to the habit of drinking. He's already used to drown his frustrations in alcohol and wishes to do it in her company. Gradually she too finds herself immersed in addiction and, as we'll see in the last minutes, it will be even more complicated for her to get out of it.

The story is touching and engaging, realistic but with a touch of poetry, without ever falling into dullness. It's clear how difficult is to get rid of an addiction, both physically and psychologically. There are many memorable scenes, some of which are still chilling today. You can feel the skilful and modern hand of Blake Edwards, a director of great quality, so valid even on a dramatic level.

The excellent Lemmon and Remick are well supported, especially by Charles Bickford (Kirsten's father, a very touching character) and Jack Klugman (who tries to help Joe by making him participate in the sessions of the Alcoholics Anonymous).

Last thing, I think the ending is very apt. I'm not here to spoil anything, but for me it was the best way to end the story, leaving the viewer to deeply reflect on what has just seen.

The Letter (1940)

An engaging and exotic noir

[8/10 · 16 January 2020]

An excellent movie, less known than other ones directed by William Wyler, but also worthy of the right attention. Magnificent are the opening scene, with the murder in the plantation, and the ending. Cinematography is brilliant, a vibrant black and white, with meaningful nocturnal chiaroscuro. Dialogues are very accurate.

The acting is brilliant. The interpretation of the main character Leslie Crosbie by Bette Davis is very good and intense (but there was no doubt about it). Of the same high level are James Stephenson, who plays the lawyer Howard Joyce, with his profound moral dilemmas and internal conflicts, and Herbert Marshall, in the role of Bette Davis' husband: he plays very well the different moods of a man in love with a wounded heart.

The exotic settings and the atmosphere are suggestive, with interesting and enigmatic characters who come into contact with the main ones, creating ambiguous and exciting situations. Maybe the plot is not so original, but the way it's presented is very efficacious and engaging.

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)

A declaration of love for cinema

[9/10 · 29 October 2019]

A sincere and passionate declaration of love for cinema. "Once upon a time in Hollywood" is a fantastic film for all the people who know and appreciate that magical time for the world of cinema. 1969 is the year in which traditionally it's said that an era ends, and it's no coincidence that Quentin Tarantino sets his film in it, telling us his version of a tragic and disturbing event that went down in history as the Tate murders.

The brilliant Quentin does it his way, having fun creating an alternative version of the story, maybe like a fairytale, and enriching it with fictional characters. Cinematography, costumes and scenography are magnificent and make perfectly the climate of those years. The interpretations of the protagonists (Leo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt above all, but also Margot Robbie and the other ones) are excellent. We laugh a lot (it's important to know as much as possible the references), we reflect a little and we let ourselves be drawn into that inexhaustible vortex that was the Hollywood of that period. Funny to see the portraits of real characters like Steve McQueen and Bruce Lee, in my opinion also the teasing are done with obvious affection and there is no intent to offend anyone.

Then, in the last part, Tarantino delights us with a series of scenes in his typical style, up to exalt us in a couple of moments. The ending is very liberating, and in a sense reconciling, I found it very apt and also exciting. Then, of course, everything is carried on with humor, something is left purposely pending (like the story involving Cliff Booth and his wife) and we can't know what will happen after the so much desired final meeting between Rick Dalton and his neighbors. But I can say that, after almost three hours flown in a moment (impossible to take your eyes off the screen), I left the cinema with a big satisfied smile on my face: I think that making these effect on viewers is a great achievement for a movie.

The 39 Steps (1935)

An early Hitchcock's masterpiece

[10/10 · 31 January 2019]

"The 39 steps" is one of the early masterpieces of Alfred Hitchcock, still in his british period. The film is based on the novel by John Buchan, in which Sir Alfred especially appreciated what he used to call "understatement", the ability to tell dramatic events maintaining a light tone. Buchan's book was also a great success, so much that even today theatrical pièces are often taken from it.

"The 39 steps" was shot immediately after the great success of the first version of "The man who knew too much". Here is one of the most cherished themes to Hitch, the innocent unjustly hunted that meets a thousand misfortunes to exculpate, along a real travel itinerary. We will find this theme in subsequent films such as "Young and Innocent" and "Saboteur", and it will find its apogee in "North by northwest".

Robert Donat is so good in the part of Richard Hannay, since the first scenes, when he is attending the show in a theater of Mister Memory (Wylie Watson), a man who can remember everything he's asked by the public, even the most abstruse. Suddenly, a shot echoes in the theater and immediately the crowd lurches toward the exit. In general confusion, Richard is approached by an attractive young woman (played by Lucie Mannheim), who says she is called Annabella Smith and asks him for hospitality that night. Annabella claims to be in danger, that some spies are stalking her, and Richard, though confused, agrees to take her to his house, evidently fascinated by her and by the situation. At night someone enters the apartment and stabs Annabella to death. Before her last breath, she manages to inform Richard of a plot in place to steal an aeronautic secret (the classic hitchcockian "Mac Guffin") and asks him to complete the mission, going to Scotland, where he will have to unmask the head of a criminal association called "The 39 steps", recognizable, among other things, because he misses the last phalanx of the little finger of a hand. So Richard is involved in an operation much greater than him.

During the various stages of Richard's journey, Hitchcock entertains us in fantastic way and also shows us the characteristic nature of the places Richard visits, especially in Scotland.

There are also ambiguous and subtly erotic situations: above all, when the protagonist, for a series of reasons, is handcuffed to the beautiful Pamela (Madeleine Carroll), who still considers him a killer, and the two have to spend the night together, in the same room in an inn, where the owners exchange them for a couple of newlyweds.

A scene that I like very much is the one of Richard's arrival in an isolated cottage in the countryside in the middle of nature, immediately after escaping arrest on a train. Here he finds hospitality from a couple of peasants: the man is much older than his wife and decidedly bigoted, he always keeps in his coat pocket a copy of the Bible (a detail that, later on, will be very important!). During the dinner he believes to recognize a sort of mischievous complicity between the young wife (played by the talented Peggy Ashcroft) and the protagonist, and he will act accordingly. It's a small episode told in an amazing way and played by all the actors with extreme credibility. I was struck, in particular, by the interpretation of Peggy Ashcroft, who, in a few minutes, manages to create a form of deep empathy with the viewer, who is involved in her sad situation of life, hoping in a better future for her.

Also the final stages of history are fully up to the expectations that are created, both for the originality and the way in which they are presented to the viewer. In short, the film is truly unmissable for everyone: the young Hitch was already a Master!

The Marc Pease Experience (2009)

Waste of good actors

[3/10 · 30 November 2018]

Having two of the best comedian actors currently available and making a film that define mediocre is a euphemism. This is what happened to "The Marc Pease Experience", directed by Todd Louiso. The screenplay isn't interesting, engaging, rich in content. As I said, this fact is more disappointing if we consider that as a pair of protagonists the production had recruited Ben Stiller and Jason Schwartzman, that are so good in many other movies, especially those directed by Wes Anderson.

The confusion reigns in this movie, that can not decide whether to turn the side of the comedy, the musical or what else. The problem is that it makes you very little laugh or smile, the choreography isn't so expressive, we don't identify with the characters, that don't give any particular emotion, and the plot is dull and not original. The basic intent would be, in a certain sense, wink to the various "Fame" or "High School Musical", adding depth thanks to the presence of the interpreters, but the goal is not achieved at all.

The hope, at the beginning, is that as soon as possible the movie will change gear and the tedium accumulated from the first minutes will acquire at least a sense in some way. As we proceed in the vision we understand that it's useless to expect anything else, that, despite the wishes, the story is really all there (at least it resolves in just little more than an hour and twenty). Even the ending, which could have made the whole thing shine with a slightly different light, seems predictable, patchy and unconvincing. At least, we don't find vulgarity, as sometimes happens in certain productions.

Not even Stiller and Schwartzman manage to save "The Marc Pease Experience": this time the two actors are absolutely wasted and remain below their usual recitative standards, but the fault can only be attributed to a script of non-high quality. The same can be said about Anna Kendrick, whose skills are evidenced by being nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for "Up in the Air", released in the same year!

As for me, the only consolation is that I bought the DVD in a flea market on offer for only two euros... Luckily at the same price I also found a wonderful film like "Groundhog Day", so in the end I can say that the "shopping day" went quite well!