Tuesday 17 April 2012

Douglas Fairbanks, Dogtooth and lots and lots of pirates - Reviews #110

Swashbuckling - silent style - a couple of trips to the cinema and one of the most unsettling films I've ever seen. The odd rude word, so if that offends, skip this one.


*SPOILERS*
Robin Hood (Allan Dwan, 1922) – The Earl of Huntingdon (Douglas Fairbanks), who's ace at jousting but scared of girls, goes off to fight in the Crusades as Richard the Lionheart's (Wallace Beery) second-in-command. Then his new bird (Enid Bennett, who’s a perfect Marian) sends word that replacement monarch Prince John has turned into the most terrible tyrant, inspiring our hero to leg it back to Nottingham – though not before being shot and imprisoned in a tower. Once home, he reinvents himself as the bouncy, proclamatory, green-wearing outlaw of the title, robbing from the rich, giving to the poor, and generally running around imploring people to chase him. This lavish, wonderfully entertaining swashbuckler offers a different and arguably more realistic portrait of the hero than the more well-known talkie versions – not even introducing the "Robin" alter-ego until the 74-minute mark – but myth-makes through moments of spellbinding imagery. The film is set in “the time of faith” and its arresting visual sense draws memorably on Christian iconography, particularly when Robin and Marian are reunited in the grounds of a nunnery under shafts of light streaming through the trees and, later, when she cowers by an altar in Richard’s castle. Such artistry is complemented by a serious sense of fun, with Fairbanks in irresistible form and his usual fondness for a good stunt much in evidence – the scene where he leads John’s men on a merry dance around the castle is a delight, and the climax spotlights both his athleticism and his idiosyncratic swordsmanship. "Five-year-old in the back yard” – that’s all I’m going to say. The music by Victor Schertzinger might not quite match Erich von Korngold’s famous score for The Adventures of Robin Hood (the 1938 film, with Errol Flynn in the lead), but it’s pretty damn great. Old movie nerds will want to know that the costumes were made by cult ‘30s and '40s director Mitchell Leisen, while fellow helmer Robert Florey has a rare bit-part as a peasant. Alan Hale reprised his role as Little John in the 1938 film where, unlike here, he got to fight the hero while standing on a log. (4)


*MAJOR SPOILERS*
The Black Pirate (Albert Parker, 1926) – A mysterious black-clad stranger (Douglas Fairbanks) with a curious aversion to piratical pursuits joins the gang of plunderers who killed his father, planning to exact revenge. Then a sexy, virginal laydee (Billie Dove, let’s just say tastes have changed) enters the picture, and our hero is forced to think – and climb, and swim – very fast. This staggeringly ambitious silent, the first to be shot entirely in two-strip Technicolor, is gripping, visually opulent and full of devastating stuntwork: including the classic set-piece in which Doug takes a merchant ship single-handed. There's also a bit where he rides to the rescue on a massive fucking longboat. Donald Crisp, sporting some slightly unconvincing glued-on facial hair, is wonderful as his only ally. (4)

See also: I've also written an excited review of Fairbanks's first swashbuckler, The Mark of Zorro.

***


Dogtooth (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2009) – Audacious, unsettling, deadpan black comedy about a father “protecting” his three grown-up children by keeping them captive in the house, where he fills their heads with nonsense and their lives with bizarre rituals. This Greek film may be tough to like, and its subtext is truly alarming, but it’s disarmingly, outrageously funny – the only other film I’ve seen that walks the horrifying/hilarious high-wire so expertly is Todd Solondz’s Happiness. (4)

***


*SPOILERS*
CINEMA: 21 Jump Street (Phil Lord and Chris Miller, 2012) is a post-modern comic update of the ‘80s cop show, from the directors of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – one of the best animated features of all time, and perhaps the only other film to employ YouTube to such hilarious ends. Fresh-faced officers Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are sent undercover to a high school to bust a drug syndicate. There, Hill experiences for the first time what it’s like to be a popular kid, while Tatum gets a crash-course in being an outsider. The laughs are frequent and from unexpected sources (“Fuck you, science!”, eyebrows that snake around a man’s face, a Korean Jesus), Tatum gives an unexpectedly fine comic performance, the relationship between Hill and Brie Larson is nicely realised and there’s even an appearance from Ron Freakin’ Swanson – in perhaps the film’s funniest scene. The only real missteps were Ice Cube’s unfunny supporting part, which just consists of him swearing in various yawn-worthy ways, and the cameos near the end – which stop the film in its tracks. That’s perhaps why it’s not quite as good as The Other Guys. But hey, what is? (3.5)

***


CINEMA: The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (Peter Lord and Jeff Newitt, 2012) - An ineffectual pirate with a glossy beard, a pet dodo and an obsession with ham tries to win the coveted Pirate of the Year award - setting him on a collision course with rough, tough Queen Victoria. Also along for the ride is neurotic naturalist Charles Darwin - who just wants a girlfriend - and a Gromit-esque silent clown of a monkey, who delivers his dialogue by flicking through title cards, like Bob Dylan in Dont Look Back. Aardman has followed up last year’s Arthur Christmas with another minor classic, an animated gem so fast, so funny and so full of ingenious comic touches that you can forgive its rather slight story. As The Pirate Captain, Hugh Grant makes a seamless move into voicework, and he’s ably supported by Martin Freeman - who has become one of the best actors in the country - playing his second-his-command, and the heart and soul of the picture. Built around Grant’s gleeful performance, The Pirates! is genuinely hilarious, with a constant barrage of irressistible one-liners (“The friends you make after you become famous are so much better than the ones you have before”), quick-fire visual gags (the fish in a hat) and exuberant genre spoofery, like the silly way the characters mark their journey on a map. The pirates’ laborious explanations each time they slip into disguise are also breathtakingly funny. A few of the jokes are in questionable taste - one about leprosy was changed after complaints over the trailer - which is distracting and seems unnecessary given the boundless invention elsewhere, while the performances of Lenny Henry and Salma Hayek aren’t great, and there’s no denying that the narrative is a bit thin. But The Pirates! is such great fun I can’t imagine anyone would care. Fantastic title too. (3.5)

***


*SOME SPOILERS*
50/50 (Jonathan Levine, 2011) – Powerful comedy-drama about a 27-year-old radio journalist (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who’s diagnosed with spinal cancer and muddles through the next few weeks with the varying support of his overbearing best friend (Seth Rogen), stressy mum (Anjelica Huston), sympathetic counsellor (Anna Kendrick) and fixed-smile girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard). It’s well-written, with some remarkable moments, if not without its flaws – particularly the subplot featuring Howard – but what really makes it are the beautifully-judged performances from Gordon-Levitt (arguably the best young actor on the planet), Rogen and Huston. The latter only gets two significant scenes, but boy does she make the most of them. (Just to clarify: yes she does.) The original ending was junked after negative test screenings, but it’s on the DVD and is seriously strong stuff. (3.5)

***


Girl Crazy (Norman Taurog, 1943) – One of the best musicals ever made, with femme-fixated Mickey Rooney sent to a college out west to get his mind off girls, only to meet steely, singing Judy Garland. The plot is strictly standard and the comic interludes are merely OK, but the leads are on top form and the music is simply sensational, including distinctive arrangements and stagings of numerous Gershwin classics. Busby Berkeley’s climactic, eight-minute I Got Rhythm is the most famous number – and that rootin’, tootin’, teeth-heavy Western-themed behemoth is admirably bonkers – but Judy’s tearful But Not for Me, slidey, glidey Embraceable You and unforgettable, laid-back Bidin’ My Time – complete with white guitar and close harmonies – are even better. There’s also a terrific version of Could You Use Me? with Rooney clambering all over a car, June Allyson does a rambunctious, mussed-up Treat Me Rough and, while Big Bands aren’t really my thing, Tommy Dorsey’s version of Fascinating Rhythm is pretty special. A jolt of pure joy. (4)

***


*MINOR SPOILERS*
Sunshine Cleaning (Christine Jeffs, 2008) - Unusual indie drama about two sisters - each with their fair share of problems - who establish a crime scene clean-up business and begin to appreciate one another's contrasting characters as their fortunes start to look up. It's a slow-burner, with an interesting story, memorable characters and an emotional pull that increases as it develops. Leads Amy Adams and Emily Blunt are both excellent in their well-scripted roles, and the film has an amusing, offbeat sense of humour - though that takes a back seat towards the end. It reminded me a little of Gas, Food, Lodging - one of the most interesting indies of the '90s - and it's actually somewhat more articulate and well-rounded than that film, if lacking in Fairuza Balk's emotional pyrotechnics. (3.5)

***


*MINOR POO-RELATED SPOILERS*
Hall Pass (Bobby and Peter Farrelly, 2011) is essentially the anti-Old School, as a pair of restless married men get permission to live the Frat Boy dream for a week... only to find out they're not very good at it. It's the usual Farrelly Bros cocktail of genuine sweetness and boring, gross-out excess, though at least the latter isn't quite as prevalent as usual: there is just the one instance of a drunk woman pooing up a wall. The story reminded me a bit of One Hour with You, the old Lubitsch musical, which deals neatly (if datedly) with the question of adultery - though I doubt that was intentional. There are some good jokes, appealing performances from Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis, and a more subversively mature outlook than you might expect from what looks like a typically laddish affair, with the leads' sexist bantering repeatedly undercut by their partners. Richard Jenkins - who gave one of my favourite ever performances in the superlative Thomas McCarthy drama The Visitor - is somewhat wasted as a wrinkly lothario with a Sherlock-like ability to read strangers. If you do see it, hold on for a post-credits sequences that's the funniest scene in the film, with Stephen Merchant imagining what would happen if he was given a hall pass. (2.5)

***


"Your body says 'no'/But your mind says 'sexy'..."
Semi-Pro (Kent Alterman, 2008) - This is a below-par Will Ferrell vehicle, set in the world of basketball: a strange mixture of silliness and sincerity, with his usual shouty schtick coupled to a story about bruiser Woody Harrelson enjoying a final shot at success. Harrelson is very good, but his segments really don't fit here. He is essentially just doing the film Invincible, starring Mark Wahlberg, and that's not terribly funny. There are plenty of minor pleasures: Ferrell telling a burnt-out druggie that he needs "a big bank" to cash his oversized cheque, or lying in a skip eating an old pancake, or performing the worst novelty song of all time: Love Me Sexy. The pay-offs to the caged animal-wrestling scene - a joke that's at least 67 years old, as it's in Road to Zanzibar - are nicely delivered ("Your refund is getting out of here alive") and he does that usual bit where he runs around in a circle, while the commentators, a nervy, weirdly-bantering host and an underused Will Arnett, are worth a few laughs. But the story is essentially uninteresting and there are long stretches between laughs, with entire scenes that add nothing: like an accidental shooting in a bar that seems like it's only there to pad out the running time. These Ferrell sports comedies have thrown up the odd classic of sorts - Blades of Glory is a very funny film - but they're a mixed bag and overly samey. This one's also quite a lot like Dodgeball, which is not a compliment. (2)

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