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Reviews
NCIS: Los Angeles (2009)
Linda Hunt is miscast
I loved Linda Hunt in many movie roles, but assigning her as the commander of NCIS Los Angeles is possibly the most egregious example of miscasting in TV history. So tiny she is barely visible, she has NO power or authority.After Harmon/Gibbs defined the role in the original, she is an unbelievable let-down. The only thing less believable than Hetty being given that job is Linda being given that role. Surely a tough veteran actor such as Tom Selleck or Sam Elliott would have made the series come alive. The original NCIS is great because Gibbs is the rock-steady hub around which all the characters orbit.Without such a strong center, NCIS L.A. is like a boat flailing helplessly with no rudder to give it direction.
Double Harness (1933)
An Amazing Script
Much has been said, quite justifiably, about the brilliance of Ann Harding and William Powell's acting in this film, but what blew me away was the amazing contemporaneity of the script with its mature, open-eyed depiction of human relationships. The emotional frankness of earlier social dramatists such as Shaw and Strindberg are clearly woven into the fabric and dialog of this minor masterpiece. For 1933 Hollywood,the script by Jane Murfin from a play by Edwin Poor Montgomery was decades before its time. There is no pretense or hypocrisy but a good deal of intelligent calculation in Joan Colby's strategy to corral John Fletcher. She is adroitly using the only weapons women had in an era when women were seen as decorative accessories to men...her wits. Her plans attain complete fruition when Powell's playboy persona realizes that he loves her and owes much of his recent business success to her. When her connivance is revealed, she is abjectly ashamed, agrees to a divorce and refuses any alimony. But the denouement is quite satisfying.
Fat Rose and Squeaky (2006)
One of the best films of this genre: growing old.
"Fat Rose and Squeaky" is a super-sleeper that hasn't even surfaced on RT's horizon yet. But it's a great film with a powerful mix of fantasy and reality that delights even as it keeps you guessing. The script displays classic quality and Cicely Tyson's performance is nothing short of miraculous: an event of hallucinatory mystery and beauty.
The title characters almost steal the show as a couple of rambunctious, sarcastic troublemakers with a Keystone Kops kinetic and an engrossingly vicious streak.The clash between Bonnie (Louise Fletcher) and her opportunistic granddaughter, Christine, will be heartening and empowering to any senior striving to maintain his/her lifestyle in the face of family pressure to divest and move into custodial care.