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The Long Goodbye (1973)
Shame on you Mr. Altman.
The generous rating of 7.6 is likely skewed by the directors famous name. This one bears little resemblance to a true 7.6.
First the acting.
Jim Bouton was a good Major League pitcher, a successful entrepreneur and an Altmanesque subversive type. An actor, however he was not.
Sterling Hayden:
I've always idolized Hayden, another nonconforming type and rugged individualist. Unfortunately his performance in this one lacked depth and commitment. Not very believable. It felt as if he was late for a lunch date and it was "driving him crazy".
Nina van Pallandt:
Well done. Hers was the only performance that sold me.
Henry Gibson:
Like Bouton, out of his element.
Elliott Gould:
Solid performance but gimmicky script.
The movie seemed to be taken too lightly by Altman. Too many gimmicks and ridiculous scenes like trying to fool his cat into eating a different brand of food, gangsters getting naked, naked neighbors etc. None of it was very funny but mostly it was just silly. And none of it contributed much to the plot. "Noirs" should live and die by plot, accented by hip dialogue or visually striking scenery. This movie had it backwards. It tried to make a living on being hip and cool and cute. The director never seemed fully invested in the movie. It was as if Altman told his actors to just "do whatever you want". Or better yet, "Anyone free this weekend? What do ya say we make a movie!" It just didn't appear to work very hard as a movie. I see by the box office take it didn't pay many bills either.
The Man Who Skied Down Everest (1975)
Woody Allen-esqe
This oddball disappoints in classic fashion. Given the movie's rather impressive title, I had hoped for a well paced adventure documentary featuring a fearless "Bill Johnson" type, first battling to the summit of Mount Everest and then carving tight turns all the way to base camp. (Perhaps I expected too much given the stunts and daredevils of today) What I was actually treated to was a brutally slow slog of a movie narrated by a sleep inducing brooding narcissist who finally starts an ill-fated ski run nowhere near the summit. Comically, he dons a helmet, a pair of cartoon goggles, throws out a ridiculous parachute ( Im thinking of a cape at this juncture) and then snowplows, tumbles and skids on his arse a couple of thousand vertical feet. Quite funny actually given the serious nature of being high on Everest. While the ignominious pratfall was likely an Everest first, it apparently only rates a comical footnote in Everest lore. My advice for this forgettable film, use the fast forward button and simply watch the comic finish. Woody Allen would be proud.
Bloodline (2015)
Hmmm...
The acting and production are solid. The location and sets are superb. However the storytelling and pace are maddeningly slow. In all honesty, I am probably not the "TV Series" type. I just don't have the patience for long drawn out dramas. In this case, the character developments could have been fully accomplished in 'half the time', leaving the other half for something interesting to actually happen. I get it: "black sheep addict/dysfunctional family/dark secret". Do we really need 50 minutes of tedium to compose this hackneyed image??? The production is actually quite skillful at building suspense. And again the piece is 'professional and polished'. However in each case of heightened suspense the piece falls flat. It just doesn't deliver 'grist for the mill'. I will concede there is an audience for this one given the many positive reviews. C++
Straight Time (1978)
Something wrong with this one.
Wow, I am reading all the glowing reviews and I am completely flummoxed. This film just did not take me to the place. Try as I did, I just couldn't imagine Hoffman as a true 'tough guy'. Maybe it's my familiarity with his person but all I could see was a soft spoken, intellectual type of guy trying to act tough. Didn't work. The parole officer M. Emmet Walsh, who typically comes across as cartoonish in films, ends up tied to a fence sans pants. Really? The scene is so unreal in a film that tries desperately to be real. Two key roles, friend Jerry and friend Willy never really get developed. Why is a fellow criminal such as Willy so incompetent. And why would Jerry risk so much when Max is also time and again shown to be incompetent at crime. Hoffman is miscast. Screenplay is porous and predictable.
The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
The Lady of Shanghai is lost.
I've wanted to see this movie for some time now. What a gargantuan disappointment. While no doubt a very stimulating visual experience, "The Lady from Shanghai" is no less than a 'train wreck' of a movie. The film was doomed the moment Welles was chosen as the protagonist. His disheveled, middle aged appearance is at odds with physical descriptions of him as young and strong. His Irish brogue is laughable. His on screen Chemistry with Rita Hayworth is nonexistent. The acting is at times serious and intense, and at other times comically exaggerated. The storyline (which is highly implausible and even bizarre) meanders in a lost sort of way and never really 'holds water'. The only moment I brushed with plot satisfaction was the 'whodunit twist' at the end.
Agreed, the visual richness of scenery and cinematography are truly wonderful. So good in fact, that I would love to put this movie to a good musical score and make a hit Music Video out of it. Even better yet, I'd like to make a wall mural out the motion picture and hang it in the great room.
Regardless of who is to blame in the production drama, the film is frankly a 'stinker' (mirror scene or no mirror scene). There, I said it. But for its masterful visual effects, I'll rate the film a 'must watch' for connoisseurs. Just don't set your hopes too high.