Category: Reviews

140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

Fast Times director Heckerling strikes gold again with another high school movie, another star-making classic, this one also written by her.

Spoiler-free Movie Review of Clueless:

I’ve never read Jane Austen’s Emma or seen any of the 3,000 or so film or TV adaptations, but I feel confident this is the funniest interpretation of the story. One of my wife’s favorite movies, and her good taste is evident here.

I’m sure the movie wasn’t meant to be a 1990’s time capsule, but it certainly is a good primer on the decade. Not just another teen movie, although all the hallmarks are there. The difference has to be in the writing. When Amy Heckerling struck gold with Fast Times at Ridgemont High, she was helped by Cameron Crowe’s script. But her screenplay here shows a real depth of talent.

The acting is quite solid. No standout performances, exactly (although Silverstone is wonderful), but fresh new faces helped out by career character actors like Dan Hedaya & Wallace Shawn. Baby-faced Paul Rudd is a startling sight, but not more so than Donald Faison in braces.

I do have to say that I really didn’t care for the last five minutes. Got tied up really neatly, more or less out of the blue. Wasn’t expecting Rosebud or anything, but the Hollywood ending just came outta nowhere.

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

Pass

The Representation Test Score: A (11 pts)

(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

[schema type=”movie” name=”Clueless” description=”Jane Austen might never have imagined that her 1816 novel Emma could be turned into a fresh and satirical look at ultra-rich teenagers in a Beverly Hills high school. Cher (Alicia Silverstone) and Dionne (Stacey Dash), both named after “great singers of the past that now do infomercials,” are pampered upper-class girls who care less about getting good grades than wearing the right clothes and being as popular as possible. But Cher, who lives with her tough yet warm-hearted lawyer dad (Dan Hedaya) and hunky, sensitive stepbrother (Paul Rudd), also has an innate urge to help those less fortunate, like the two introverted teachers she brings together (“negotiating” herself improved grades in the process) and new friend Tai (Brittany Murphy), who starts out a geek and ends up a Cher prodigy. Cher also possesses her own sensitive side, and she is looking for the perfect boyfriend, whom she ends up finding where she least expected.” director=”Amy Heckerling” actor_1=”Alicia Silverstone” ]

Main Cast	Alicia Silverstone Cher Stacey Dash Dionne Brittany Murphy Tai Paul Rudd Josh
Rating	PG-13
Release Date	Wed 19 Jul 1995 UTC
Director	Amy Heckerling
Genres	Comedy, Romance
Plot	A rich high school student tries to boost a new pupil’s popularity, but reckons without affairs of the heart getting in the way.
Poster
Runtime	97
Tagline	Sex. Clothes. Popularity. Is there a problem here?
Writers	Amy Heckerling (written by)
Year	1995

#140RVW

They don’t make ’em like this anymore – they should. Gorgeous epic of land & sea. Possibly greatest footage of sea battle committed to film.

What’s more:

Peter Weir doesn’t make a movie very often, but when he does it is something truly special. What a remarkable film.

Based on the novels of Patrick O’Brian, this may be the most accurate depiction of  this era of naval warfare. Richard King justifiably won an Oscar for Sound Editing, as sound is such a crucial element of making these ships come alive. (DP Russell Boyd also won an Oscar for the beautiful cinematography.)

Long, but this sort of film should be. Doesn’t flinch from showing the cruelty of war. Great action, but even greater explanation of the tactics and the thinking.

I would have loved to see a sequel, but it doesn’t appear to be in the works. Crowe & Bettany are so good together. There were 20 books about Captain Aubrey, so there’s no lack of source material. Pity, but at least we’ve got this one…

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

FAIL

#140RVW

Heavy-handed but very funny roasting of “Christian values”. Rookie feature filmmakers show inexperience; comes off as a bit mean-spirited…

What’s more:

First off, this is a very funny movie. You need to be willing to laugh, of course. The topic and comic treatment of Christian values will keep many potential viewers away and send a lot of those who stick around in a tizzy. I can certainly understand those who have no interest in seeing movies like this. If you think you’re going to be offended, you’re probably right and should just stay away.

It’s a message movie, clearly. And I think that’s the problem. The creators seem to have an axe to grind. It keeps it from being entirely great. It’s not the irreverence; the close-minded and judgmental views of those portrayed in the movie are ripe for satire. The issue is that because the creators appear to be so invested in their message that the whole thing comes off as a bit single-minded. It’s really a one note story; there’s no depth. The movie has one thing to say and does so – repeatedly. The characters are rather one-sided. It’s all send-up and no subtlety. Again, there’s nothing really wrong with this, it’s just a missed opportunity. This subject matter is such a great source of potential material, but it is handled much better in films like Easy A or Juno, where there is a much more full-featured story.

My exhaustive 10 minutes of internet searching indicates that this is the first feature film from director Brian Dannelly, who also wrote the film with partner Michael Urban (this is also their first feature film as writers). All of his previous experience was in short films, which I think may shed some light on the approach to story-telling. This highly focused story would probably have made a great short film.

I don’t want to be too hard on Saved!, though. I really did enjoy it. It’s simply that by the end I was really hoping for an opposing viewpoint or a devout Christian character that was a bit more textured and less of a caricature.

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

PASS

#140RVW

Wish Sandler would knock off the crude stuff; he’s funny enough without it & it nearly kills good stories like this one. Real mixed bag…

What’s more:

Adam Sandler movies – you have a pretty good idea what you’re going to get.  Most people have decided by now if these appeal or not. The only surprise in these is whether or not they are successful at what he sets out to do.

I personally have a difficult time with his stuff; he’s unquestionably a very funny and talented comic. But with all comics I have a requirement that the straight funny outweighs the stupid funny. I love stupid funny; it just can’t be all you’ve got.The bigger problem, though, is that he’s just crude. I have such a low threshold for scatalogical comedy. With care it can be a great irreverent lightning bolt. Overdone it’s just stupid and off-putting.

With this movie, he’s demonstrating this problem. By this point in his career, he had shown that he could stretch into meatier stuff. He’s proven his ability to go for emotion, but it seems he feels he needs to include crude humor in order to either satisfy a perceived requirement of his fan base, or perhaps he simply just likes doing this crap. Either way, it’s disappointing, because this could have been quite a good movie.

You know, Jerry Lewis once advised Jim Carrey to keep the comedy clean; be as zany as you want, but be careful not to turn people off. Sandler could have used a mentor…

This was written by Steve Koren & Mark O’Keefe, tv writers who scored big a few years earlier with Bruce Almighty. In that film, they took a zany comic and used a supernatural twist to make him realize what’s really important. Well, if it worked once…

Despite being derivative of that film and having strong Capra-esque overtones, the premise of Click is rock solid. The execution may be clumsy and obvious at times, but it is a good story. In other hands it may have been better handled.

Through it all, I really like this movie, and often have a hard time explaining why. I can’t defend the fat jokes and the fart jokes and the Rob Schneider cameo and all the usual Sandler hallmarks. I can and will stick up for Kate Beckinsale doing great understated stuff, Walken being Walken, and a wonderful appearance by Henry Winkler. Most of the effects are great, the Hoff is in the haus, and there is a magnificent swing style version of The Cranberries “Linger”, sung by Dolores O’Riordan that slays me.

Here’s the main thing, though; this is a story about a good guy named Michael trying to do right by his family and really struggling with the work/life balance. At the time when it came out, it hit a nerve with me – it was a little close to home. So that’s why it gets a lot of leash from me. Feel no obligation to follow my lead…

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

FAIL