Reviews

It is frequently noted in reviews of this film that Sally Field, who plays the title character's mother, is less than 10 years older than Tom Hanks. But when you look at the three actors who reportedly turned down the lead, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and John Travolta, you'll see that all three are older than Hanks. Chase is, in fact 3 years older than Field.

My personal opinion is that Travolta would have been a natural as Gump (although Hanks probably appeals to a larger audience) and that Chase would have ruined the movie with his hammieness.

A nearly perfect movie musical with one flaw that brings my rating down to an 8. Several songs were omitted or shortened from the Broadway version, mostly because they were too long for a movie or too risque for a 1950's audience. One number, however was dropped because it was out of Tab Hunter's vocal range: "A Man Doesn't Know." In my opinion this was the best song in the Broadway musical. The reprise was a powerful closer for the show. Sheldon Harnick wrote the replacement, "There's Something About an empty Chair," solo (collaborator Jerry Bock had died a few years earlier), and the difference was painfully obvious. Abbot, Donen and the producers made a grave mistake in not retaining the original song for the reprise which would have been sung by Robert Shafer, not Tab Hunter.

Whenever "Damn Yankees" is staged these days (it's less dated than most musicals of its day) "A Man Doesn't Know" is in its proper place and "Empty Chair" is justifiably and mercifully forgotten.

I was surprised to learn that Paul Bettany was not nominated for best supporting actor by any recognized organization. He gave the most sympathetic performance in the film, in a perverse sort of way. He is the reason that the film stays on my mind after more than a decade.

But I'm equally surprised that "The DaVinci Code" did not receive a Razzie nomination for worst on screen couple. There was absolutely no chemistry between Hanks and Tautou. It's not the 20-year age gap; that's common in movies. I suspect that a major problem is that the French actress is not comfortable acting in English-language films (which she rarely does).

I made a last-minute decision to see "The Mortal Instruments: COB" with younger members of my family. I had never heard of this film or the book upon which it was based. The movie held my interest, i.e., I was wide awake the whole time. The story was confusing and the motivations of many of the characters were not fully explained, although this is not necessarily bad in a movie intended to be the first of a series. The main problem I had was with the casting. The movie is set in New York City, but the cast is mostly British. I found this to be a major distraction. The producers of the sequels should consider recasting some of the roles.