Reviews

"The Entertainer" is a fascinating film based on the play by John Osborne ("Look Back in Anger"); Osborne co-wrote the screenplay.

Olivier plays Archie Rice, a fading entertainer in a fading medium (music halls) in a fading empire (the Suez crisis of 1956 figures into the action).

Archie's speech to his daughter (Joan Plowright), onstage in an empty theater, about being dead behind his eyes, is especially memorable.

Along with other fine actors, Alan Bates and Albert Finney as his sons flesh out this film, which is a must-see for fans of any of these actors.

It was all I could have hoped for. An outstanding achievement - bringing to life such a deeply-detailed fantasy. Excellently cast. It all works. I even forgive them for cutting Tom Bombadil.

"Under Fire" is a well-written, well-acted piece, showing photo-journalists operating in the milieu of insurrections in Chad, then Nicaragua. Watching Gene Hackman, Nick Nolte and Ed Harris perform together was a treat. And the writers gave them terrific lines. "This is a great war: good guys, bad guys, and lots of cheap shrimp." I especially liked when Hackman's character asked if Nolte's character had slept with Hackman's woman when their relationship hits the skids, and Nolte answers directly, "Hell no, Alex. We're friends." And you just know Nolte's character meant it, man to man. Great moment. Also appealing was the way third-world conflicts were portrayed as global brushfires; put out one here, while another flares up over there. Using the real civil war in Somoza's Nicaragua gives the film unexpected credibility. And probably in keeping with reality, Ed Harris has several memorable scenes as a pure mercenary, a globe-trotting soldier-for-hire, who shows up where the gun-battle action is. His last line is something like "See you in Laos". The beat goes on. -ejpede

"Wonder Boys" is a very enjoyable movie, especially recommended for anyone who is interested in writers or academic campus life for adults. Novelist Michael Chabon's story deserves high marks for showing the central figure, a college writing teacher, as a comically beleaguered and decent man who is a pot-smoker, which may (or may not) be partly responsible for his dilemma. With fine work by the entire distinguished cast, this movie is well-paced and nicely filmed, and contains a number of intelligent, laugh-out-loud moments. A too-pat ending, probably different from what Chabon originally wrote, keeps it from being a perfect 10; still, this film is satisfying and eminently worthwhile.

I think that Polanski's "Macbeth" is truly an outstanding film. I wonder why I have never before heard how good it is (and I was a young adult when it came out in 1971). Maybe it was too bloody for most people. However, the gore is not gratuitous. The sights and sounds of this film are powerfully realistic, and greatly enhance the action. "Opening up" this play was for the best. The things Polanski added work: Showing the murder of Duncan (and others) and the remarkable hanging of the Thane of Cawdor are examples of how a film, in the right hands, can sometimes give more than the stage play. And what was taken away is not greatly missed. It is still essentially Shakespeare, excellently performed by a cast of non-stars. What is left is a movie with all the look and feel of a brutal, fierce Scotland of old, which is perfect for this story. It is hard to imagine another filmed version of the play surpassing this one; call this definitive. A perfect 10.