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Reviews
Moby Dick (2011)
Watch At Your Own Risk
Hollywood has been making Moby Dick movies for almost 100 years. Why, after all this time, has nobody gotten it right? John Huston tried, and did the best of anyone. Peck was the right man for the job and the script was pretty solid. Enough cannot be said about Orson Welles' turn as Father Mapple. But it had its flaws. Richard Basehart was completely miscast as Ishmael.
In this version, there was a misfired attempt to to give Ahab a back story, complete with a wife and child and a kind disposition. It completely destroyed the core of the character. Ahab was reclusive, mean and bitter. We only should hear murmurings about him initially, not see him giving advice to his son at the dinner table or kissing his lovely wife as they relax in the parlor.
And what was that ridiculous nonsense about Ishmael saving Pip from his abusive owner at the beginning? Was it simply a device to get him to say the opening "Call me Ishmael" line? When the makers of these films try to give progressive qualities to the heroes... well, it simply comes off as forced. Melville does a wonderful job of it already. His interactions with Queequeg, especially in the beginning, are tremendously touching. This was almost completely ignored in this version, replaced by Ishmael acting as another clichéd White Savior.
Also, quite inexplicably, the location of the docked Pequod was changed from New Bedford to Nantucket. What was the point of that?, I kept asking myself.
The cast all seems happy to be there. Gillian Anderson does her best to continue to act like she's British. Hurt, as Ahab, is fairly impotent. Ethan Hawke's hastily grown mustache did the bulk of the heavy lifting as Starbuck. The rest came straight from Central Casting.
What does this have going for it? Weeeell. . . Charlie Cox was OK, if a little stiff. Slightly better at it than Henry Thomas, I should say.
Watch this if you love Moby Dick, but don't expect too much. Certainly don't watch this one if you're trying to write an essay for your high school English class. Your teacher will know right away you were too lazy to read the book.
The Big Sleep (1978)
An unfortunate retelling
I had mild hopes for this film from the start. Robert Mitchum, a great actor in his day, was a little long in the tooth to be playing the detective. And it was set, oddly, in London and not in LA. Soon into the picture, not only did it barely live up to my low expectations, but it made me groan on several occasions.
The ham-fisted acting, especially on the part of Candy Clark (was she directed to act that retarded or was it her idea?) and sterile scenery were especially hard to take. Some of the actors seemed like set dressings rather than characters. Richard Boone, looking as drunk as ever, plods through this movie for no apparent reason. The only thing memorable about Sarah Miles was her enormous triangle-cut hair, which did nothing more than annoy me.
And what was Marlowe doing in expensive clothes and wearing a Rolex watch? Apparently being honest pays far more than he lets on.
There are so many better Marlowes out there, so unless you're a real Chandler fan, avoid this one (same goes for Altman's The Long Goodbye and Robert Montgomery's Lady in the Lake).
Chocolat (2000)
Drivel (SPOILER ALERT)
Finally got around to watching this one. Figured it couldn't be that bad-- enough awards/nominations were sloshed its way. It's nothing special, so if you don't see it, you're not doing yourself any disservice. In fact, I would really recommend that you rent something of substance instead.
Written in the typical female idiom, it follows a woman who blows into a stuffy French town. She, of course, flaunts convention and is slightly puzzled when people don't like her. She has a small daughter and she is fiercely independent. The mayor doesn't like her because she doesn't go to church and her business, a Chocolatier, is open on Sundays. A dying old lady (Judi Dench), super-hunk gypsy (Johnny Depp) and an abused wife (?) rounds out the cast of characters, assuring academy awards and female viewers.
The story goes in a fairly predictable line. The chocolate maker isn't welcome but she wins people over one by one with her sweets (some of them possessing powers, of course). She meets a kind and handsome wanderer they, of course, fall in love. Along the way, a woman who is mentally ill is cured by chocolates and leaves her abusive husband, the grumpy old woman becomes friendly and then dies. In the end, the whole town becomes a haven of happiness.
All in all, not worth renting unless you intend to sleep through it while your girlfriend watches.