Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
November 19, 2004
Universal/ Miramax
Comedy, Drama, Romance
DVD
C

The faults of Bridget Jones 1-- notably the manipulative soundtrack and directing choices-- are even stronger here in the three-years-later-made but set-the-following-year sequel.  (And Bridget is now born in '72, which makes her a year younger than last time.)  Renée Zellweger as Jones is back, as are her two men, Colin Firth as Mark Darcy and Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver.  And so are a whole bunch of mostly under-used perfomers, among them Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones as Bridget's parents; James Callis, Shirley Henderson, and Sally Phillips as Bridget's friends; James Faulkner and Celia Imrie as Geoffrey and Una Alconbury; Neil Pearson as Richard Finch (Bridget's boss at Sit Up, Britain); Donald Douglas as Admiral (formerly just Mr.) Darcy; and Dominic McHale as Bernard.  I was pleased that Phillips as Shazzer (looking quite fetching, especially in a Beatles cap) has more to do this time, but at that, even she disappears for chunks of the movie at a time.

What we're left with is a mix of unfunny slapstick and uneven drama.  Although the film is ostensibly (and Austensibly, this time influenced by Persuasion) about what happens after Happily Ever After, it's never really that convincing that Bridget and Mark are happy together.  So it's hard to care when they have a pregnancy scare or break up.  And when Daniel returns, it seems she may as well get off (and go off) with him instead.  I almost went with a C- on this, but I don't think it's bad, just disappointing.  And at that, it's sort of nice to see everyone again, although I wish they'd been given more to work with.  (I've read but don't own the book this is based on, although at the time of my reading blog I thought I did.)

Ray Donn was a Limo Driver in Bride & Prejudice, is a customer here, and would be a Policeman in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Campbell Graham returns as Hamish and would be a Ministry Wizard in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,  while Sam Beazley is Very Old Man here and would be Everard in Order of the Phoenix, and Jessica Stevenson is Magda here and would be the voice of Mafalda Hopkirk in Phoenix.  Tom Brooke, who plays a Production Assistant, would be Thick Kevin in Pirate Radio.

Bride & Prejudice

Bride & Prejudice
October 8, 2004
Miramax etc.
Romance, Musical, Comedy
DVD
B

This has obvious, surface similarities to Monsoon Wedding (2001) in that both are about large families living in modern-day India, and both films show the influence of Bollywood.  Also, as the titles suggest, weddings are important in both stories, although Wedding covers a shorter span of time, just the days leading up to and including a wedding, while here, in the Jane-Austen-inspired plot, much more attention is paid to how couples get together, and how they are sometimes separated, perhaps temporarily, perhaps not.  Besides the change in settings (not just India, but also London and L.A.), and such touches as email, the major differences from Pride and Prejudice are that Mr. Kohli is much more sympathetic (if still very comical) and the exact nature of Wickham's seductions and attempts is changed.  Other changes, such as the omission of Kitty Bennet, serve to streamline the movie, as the omission of various characters did in Sense & Sensibility (1995).

This came out shortly before the Keira Knightley P & P.  As with Paltrow's Emma vs. Clueless, I prefer the movie that is stylistically less faithful but more truly faithful to the spirit of the original novel.  The themes and the essence of the Austen novel are captured well, but there's also, particularly in the first third of the movie, a lot of what one song calls "color, light, and sound," the same dazzling elements seen in Monsoon, but with much better music.  The definite stand-out is "No Life Without Wife," where the four pajama-clad sisters are playful, romantic, and, well, sisterly, and the song is very catchy to boot.

Aishwarya Rai as Lalita (the Lizzy equivalent) is almost too perfect: witty and clever of course, but also devastatingly beautiful and of course musically talented, including playing the guitar.  She's also both feminist and proudly traditionally Indian.  In contrast, Martin Henderson as Will Darcy (equivalent to guess who) is a little bland.  It's a romance where I don't mind the main couple getting together but I don't feel terribly invested in it.  Luckily, as in the original novel, there are so many interesting side characters that it doesn't ultimately matter.

Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget Jones's Diary
April 13, 2001
Miramax/Univeral/etc.
Comedy, Romance
DVD
B-

My review of the book is here:  http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2013/10/bridget-joness-diary.html.  And, yes, I'm giving the movie the same grade, a B-.  Due to the time it took for adaptation, and the decision to put Bridget in her "32nd year" (actually, she turns 33 later that year), she is in this incarnation very close to the age I was at the time I first saw the movie.  (Well, first and second, since I went with two different sets of friends.)  So I am to some degree looking back at pre-middle-age and shaking my head.  That desperation to please is not exactly something I relate to anymore.  And even at the time, well, Helen Fielding's heroine was more of a screw-up than anyone I knew.  She's based on Lizzie Bennet, but Lizzie never fell off an exercise bike.

Renée Zellweger makes an appealing lead, yes, despite being the wrong weight and nationality.  She brings out Bridget's vulnerability, and the movie is much sweeter than the book.  To balance this, much of the entertaining cynicism, including against the Smug Marrieds, is lost.  I also found the soundtrack and some of the directing choices (as in the street-fighting scene) overly manipulative.  Like Bridget, the movie tries too hard to please, and ends up pleasing less than if it had relaxed more.

There's no question that you have to watch this one for the cast.  (And I had to pare down my tags due to space limitations.)  Whether it's spotting not only Salman Rushdie but J. K. Rowling at the literary party (Jo is in plaid and has no lines but it is unmistakably her, at a time when her face was not yet as internationally famous as it'd become), or savoring the Austensibly perfectly cast Colin Firth as a modern Mr. Darcy and the no-Edward-Ferrars Hugh Grant as his charming cad rival, there's always someone to watch in addition to Zellweger.  I would've liked more of Bridget's best friends:  James Callis as Tom, Shirley Henderson as Jude, and Sally Phillips as Shazza.  But they Zellweger, Firth, and Grant would return for the sequel, Edge of Reason, as would Gemma Jones and Jim Broadbent as Bridget's parents, and James Faulkner and Celia Imrie as Uncle Geoffrey and Aunt Una Alconbury.  Ms. Rowling aside, there are obviously some Harry Potter connections as well as Jane Austen connections, with the future Moaning Myrtle crying in the bathroom being the most notable.

Campbell Graham would also play Hamish in the sequel, as well as a Ministry Wizard in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  Ray Donn, who's a Journalist here, would be a customer in the sequel, as well as a Limo Driver in Bride & Prejudice.  Donald Douglas, who plays Mark's father Mr. Darcy, would be promoted to Admiral Darcy for the sequel.  Neil Pearson would return as Bridget's boss at Sit Up Britain, Richard Finch, while Dominic McHale would be back as Bernard.  Crispin Bonham-Carter (distant cousin of Helena) isn't in any my other movies, but TV's Mr. Bingley can be spotted as one of the delighted office workers in the scene where Bridget tells off Daniel.

Fielding, Richard Curtis (who also wrote The Tall Guy), and Andrew Davies (of Firth's P & P) would all co-write the BJD sequel, but Sharon Maguire (the sort of inspiration for Shazzer) would be replaced as director.

Good Will Hunting

Good Will Hunting
January 9, 1998
Miramax
Drama, Comedy, Romance
VHS
B

This is generally well-written and well-acted by real-life best friends Matt Damon (as the title character) and Ben Affleck (as Chuckie Sullivan).  They are ably supported by Minnie Driver as love interest Skylar, Ben's brother Casey as Morgan O'Mally (providing much of the comic relief), Stellan Skarsgård as Prof. Gerald Lambeau, and of course Robin Williams as Sean Maguire, the tough but kind therapist.  This film got much acclaim (including awards) on first release and it holds up well.  But there's just something missing that keeps it from crossing over into greatness.  Maybe it's the way that the therapy is presented as an act of both friendship and rescue.  Maybe it's that we're never actually shown the reunion between Will and Skylar.  Or maybe it's that awful title.  No, really, even at the time, I thought it was dumb, like it's about the hunt for goodwill, or Goodwill.  And do we need to be told that Will is good?  I guess if it was just Will Hunting, we'd think it was about an inheritance.

Daniel Olsen was a Wounded Soldier in Little Women and is an MIT Student here.  Steven Kozlowski is Carmine Friend #1 here and would be Lump in Holes.

Two guys from Southie

Chasing Amy

Chasing Amy
April 4, 1997
View Askew/ Miramax
Comedy, Romance
DVD
B-

I don't think has held up as well as Clerks, ironically because it attempts more.  Clerks was a surreal day-in-the-life story, while this attempts to say things about love and life.  Also, when you're making a rom-com, even an indie rom-com, it helps if the main couple is likable, and Holden and Amy aren't really, separately or together.  Nonetheless, it is interesting to see how many ways they can screw things up, and I like the supporting performances, in particular Dwight Ewell, who was part of the He-He-Hello Trio in Party Girl but has a much more substantial role as Hooper X.  Alyssa (the "Amy" equivalent) is played by Kevin Smith's then girlfriend Joey Lauren Adams.  There are times when the character shows wisdom, but other times when she is as stupid as main character Holden, played by 24-year-old Ben Affleck, who would soon break through in Good Will Hunting among other movies.  Jason Lee is actually more intriguing, as Holden's conflicted best friend Banky.

This movie has narrative and casting connections with Clerks and Mall Rats.  (E.g. Alyssa had a crush on Caitlin Bree in high school.)  I still haven't seen the latter movie, and I still don't know if I will be adding it or anything else to my View Askewniverse collection.  I like Kevin Smith, but I'm just not a super-fan.  That said, if I saw Clerks II marked down, I'd probably get it.

I should also note that I saw this movie the summer after it came out (I think when it went into wider release), at a time when I was meeting more bisexuals.  (Until that point, I knew two: myself and my best friend.)  The film never uses the B-word, and it is misleading how Alyssa describes herself to Holden as a lesbian.  I get that it's a political/personal label choice, but a more LGBT-savvy writer/director could've brought up the whole "bi-dyke identity thing," which was a real issue in the mid to late '90s.  (I don't know about these days.)  Still, Smith gets points for trying to deal with the complexity and fluidity of sexual orientation, from the perspective of a tolerant straight man.

Affleck's real life bestie, 26-year-old Matt Damon, plays Shawn Oran.  This time, Brian O'Halloran plays Jim Hicks, presumably some relation to Dante Hicks in Clerks.  (He'd be Grant Hicks in Dogma.)  Since it's a Kevin Smith movie, Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith) return.

Walter Flanagan, who was Woolen Cap Smoker/ Egg Man/ Offended Customer in Clerks, is simply Fanboy here and would be Protestor #2 in Dogma.  Bar Patron John Launder would be Priest with Buddy Christ #1 in Dogma.  Ernest O'Donnell was a Trainer in Clerks, is a Bystander here, and would be a Reporter in Dogma.  Vincent Pereira, Startled Pinball Player here, had been Hockey Goalie and Engagement Savvy Customer in Clerks, and would have an uncredited role in Dogma.  Virginia Smith (Kevin's sister) was Caged Animal Masturbator in Clerks and plays Con Woman here.  Ethan Suplee, who's a Fan here, would be the voice of Noman in Dogma.  Guinevere Turner, who's a Singer here, would be a Bus Station Attendant in Dogma.  Smith's producer Scott Mosier, who was William the Idiot Manchild/ Angry Hockey-Playing Customer/ Angry Mourner in Clerks, is a Collector here and would be Smooching Seaman [!] in Dogma.

Carmen Llwelyn, who's Kim here, would be Rob's Girlfriend in Never Been Kissed.  Affleck's 21-year-old brother Casey plays Little Kid [sic] and would be Morgan O'Mally in Good Will Hunting.

A more unsolvable triangle than in "Threesome" or "Design for Living."

Emma

Emma
August 30, 1996
Miramax
Comedy, Romance, Historical
VHS
C+

While on the surface this may seem like a faithful adaptation of the Austen novel, I find it much less in the spirit than Clueless, not to mention the contemporary Kate Beckinsale TV-movie.  I'm going to have to blame writer-director Douglas McGrath for the main flaws: general miscasting (especially of Harriet), a cutesy device of a sentence being started in one scene ("So then I said....") and then finished in the next ("How delightful!"), and the shafting of the Frank Churchill/ Jane Fairfax subplot.  (Enchanted April's Polly Walker and 25-year-old Ewan McGregor both do their best, but they're given little to work with and are misdirected in most of what they do get.)

That said, there are moments when the film forgets its own unnecessary flourishes and focuses on Austen's still great dialogue and plotting.  Even if the cast isn't quite right, it is an interesting assemblage, including 23-year-old Gwyneth Paltrow in the title role (sufficiently British but too pouty), 31-year-old Alan Cumming as Mr. Elton, and of course Emma Thompson's mother and 34-year-old sister as Mrs. and Miss Bates.  I have to note that Jeremy Northam as Mr. Knightley and Greta Scacchi as Mrs. Weston are both much more interesting and attractive than anyone else in the movie, and I would've actually rather have watched a far from canonical backstory of them being in love ten or fifteen years earlier.

Clerks.

Clerks.
January 1994
View Askew/ Miramax
Comedy
VHS
B

The low-budget film that launched a franchise, this Kevin Smith debut (as writer, director, and of course performer as Silent Bob) holds up very well.  Yes, it's dated-- how could such a mid '90s twentysomething movie not be-- but that has added to its bittersweet charm.  That Dante (as in circles of Hell) Hicks (Brian O'Halloran with his goatee and defeatist attitude) and Randal Graves (no need to explain that last name, played by a mostly straight-faced Jeff Anderson) are still stuck in their dead-end jobs a dozen years later (and apparently even beyond, since Shooting Clerks is in production), adds to the poignancy.  I haven't decided which Smith movies I don't yet own I want to get, but this movie is the then unintentional basis of them all, in the way that Sinclair Lewis didn't know he'd be returning to Winnemac when he wrote Babbitt.

There are continuity errors, including within just this movie.  (A heck of a lot of things somehow take place around 4 p.m.)  The movie is '90s proud of its budget, from the black & white simple shots to the sometimes off line delivery.  (I was surprised that Marilyn Ghigliotti has had the most mainstream success, because she's easily the worst of the leads, as Veronica.)  It has the nerve and cynicism of Generation X.  It is also college-age crude in its humor and sometimes characterization.

It is appealing in its What You See Is What You Get attitude, although I can also picture people hating it for those reasons.  It's also very witty, far too witty for its documentary-like feel.  (Juno would later be criticized for similar reasons, that no one, especially this young and working-class, could be that clever.)  But I don't think we're meant to take the movie that literally.  It's more like one day of Worst Customer Ever anecdotes, and if you've never found yourself thinking I'm not even supposed to be here today!, well, you're lucky.  It's an implausible version of relatable reality.

Besides the two pairs of bromantic friends (Smith and a raw 19-year-old Jason Mewes as Jay are of course the other duo), the movie has a number of supporting players who would be in either Chasing Amy and/or Dogma, as well as some other Smith movies I don't own at the present time.  Scott Mosier, who plays William the Idiot Manchild/Angry Hockey-Playing Customer/Angry Mourner; Vincent Pereira, who's Hockey Goalie and Engagement Savvy Customer; and Ernest O'Donnell, who is a Trainer, would all be in both sequels, as would the very versatile  Walter Flanagan (here Woolen Cap Smoker/Egg Man/Offended Customer/Cat-Admiring Bitter Customer).  Virginia Smith, who's the Caged Animal Masturbator here, would be a Con Woman in Chasing.  Kimberly Loughran, who plays Alyssa Jones's little sister Heather, would be Woman in Elevator in Dogma.

Bob Roberts

Bob Roberts
September 4, 1992
Miramax
Comedy, Drama
VHS
B-

This "documentary" about the imaginary title politician, a "rebel conservative" whose folk singing parodies Dylan, is not exactly dated, in that it's very specifically set 1990-91, so much as it's a time capsule.  It matters that it's not only set in the months leading up to that particular Gulf War, but that this is long before Sarah Palin and the Tea Party and the rest of the more laughable but scary elements of the modern Republican Party.

It stars 33-year-old Tim Robbins, who also wrote and directed it.  His political rival is perfectly cast, Gore Vidal, then 67 but looking older and more tired than that.  (The novelist and essayist was himself the grandson of a senator, and he provides an insider's viewpoint.)  More surprising casting is that of Roberts's power behind the throne, Alan Rickman, as Lukas Hart III, here sounding very American and fast-talking.

I would actually recommend this movie most for the cast.  Not that it's boring or anything, but the satire is never as sharp or as funny as it should be.  When the movie satirizes Saturday Night Live in the guise of Cutting Edge, it's a bit glass-housey, as is some of the political satire.  (The music satire is actually fairly savvy, as in the INXS-like music video.)  The movie also seems to want to be a mystery and a drama, or even a tragedy.  There is some good acting and some hmmm moments, but it's not up there with mockumentaries like Zelig or Spinal Tap.

Allan Nichols was Rough House in Popeye and plays the director of Cutting Edge here.  Brent Hinkley, who's Bif the Patriot here, was Larry in Zapped Again!  Joe Shelby, who has an uncredited role as a doctor here, would be an uncredited bus rider in Dogma.  Bob Balaban plays Michael Janes here and would be Morris Weissman in Gosford Park.  Robbins's long-time partner Susan Sarandon appears as a TV news anchor, while Helen Hunt is a reporter.  This time Peter Gallagher plays Dan Riley.

Both John Cusack (the Cutting Edge host) and Jack Black (obsessed fan Roger Davis) would of course appear in High Fidelity, which would have one of the vigilantes here, Brian Powell, as Middle Aged Customer.  And the screenplay would be by Steve Pink, who's the Penn State Professor here.

Enchanted April

Enchanted April
April 5, 1992
Miramax
Comedy, Drama, Romance, Historical
VHS
A-

In reviewing the book on which this is based, http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2012/04/enchanted-april.html, I said that I'd probably give the movie a B+.  But on this, my first viewing in about four years, I found it was even better than I remembered.  Yes, I'm still not entirely satisfied with how the husbands are handled, but the film is nonetheless, as Lottie puts it, a tub of love.  I kept thinking the word "beautiful" again and again.  The movie was shot for television but then released for the big screen, and of course I watch it on TV, on one of three VHS tapes that my ex-husband and I made (we were both big fans), but you could probably watch it on a smart device and still see how lush the scenery is, how the women (even Mrs. Fisher) look like living, breathing paintings.

And the dialogue and narration are in turns sweet, funny, and heart-breaking.  It may well be the movie I own with the least action (even what would develop into a fight scene or a robbery in another story has a happy or at least comedic ending).  It's a reflective, vacation-like movie, and yet there is an undercurrent of sadness, with these characters hurt by loss of love.  Yet Spring means rebirth.

I came to this movie originally because of my fanhood of Josie Lawrence (physically but not spiritually miscast as Lottie).  She's quite lovable on the British comedy-game show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and she's equally lovable here, although Lottie seems to have little in common with her, other than a tendency to say things she didn't intend to.  The rest of the cast is generally strong, but she still stands out as the heart of this movie.

This film is notable for beginning what I call the Three Degrees of Harry Potter and/or Jane Austen.  This is the rule that after a certain point, every British film has someone who was in a Jane Austen adaptation and/or a Harry Potter movie, or at least has someone who's a degree or two from someone who was.  Polly Walker (Lady Caroline) would show up in Emma, while director Mike Newell would helm Goblet of Fire, which has Miranda Richardson as the very un-Rose-Arbuthnot-like Rita Skeeter.  And Jim Broadbent, who's Rose's husband here, would appear as Professor Slughorn later in the series.