Dispatches From TV Land - "Doctor Who: Spearhead From Space"

Greetings, students, and welcome to the John Maxwell Film School.  Class is in session, so let's get to it.  As you can see, it's time for "Dispatches From TV Land", where we take a look at the things from television that aren't sitcoms.  This week, on "Dispatches From TV Land", we make our way back to 1970, the furthest we've been so far at the Film School, to see how a Doctor gets his start.  Yes, it's a look at probably the most-famous sci-fi show in the world (next to "Star Trek").  It's "Doctor Who" and the debut story of my favorite Doctor in the series' run, Jon Pertwee.  Why is he my favorite? 

 

First, a little reason behind this.  Last weekend, the BBC made a grand gesture and put on a internationally-televised show to reveal the name of the twelfth person to play the Doctor.  It was Peter Capaldi, a man who once was in a punk band with Craig Ferguson.  It was nice to finally see a old face running the TARDIS after all the years of young bucks.  Hard to believe that back when Jon Pertwee got announced, all he got was his face on the six o'clock news.  Seeing how the world is still got that new Doctor glow, I thought it would be nice to see how the show was a long time ago.

 

January 4, 1970: the show has been off the air for six months since Patrick Troughton had finished his time as the Doctor in the last episode of "The War Games".  Excitement had been building for Pertwee over that time frame.  Then, as the opening titles roll, some people notice a change.  The show is now in color and suddenly, it has entered a new era.  Indeed, the Doctor had been exiled by his people the Time Lords and the TARDIS rendered non-functional.  He was now trapped on a world with a new face and new enemies.  However, our story doesn't start with where we left off.  Where do we?  Follow me and find out where Jon Pertwee's era begins.

 

The story opens with a swarm of meteorites entering Earth's atmosphere, coming down over a specific area of Britain.  This gets the notice of the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, or UNIT.  In the midst of the swarm, the TARDIS materializes in the middle of the forest.  Out steps the Doctor, fresh from his forced regeneration...  and down he goes into the grass.  Boy, being suddenly turned into a different person can take a lot out of you.  Back with UNIT, we meet Dr. Elizabeth Shaw, of Cambridge, who is being hired by UNIT as a scientific advisor.  As she arrives at UNIT HQ, she meets with a familiar face: Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, formerly of the British Army.

Naturally, he tells Dr. Shaw, or Liz, as we all know her as, about the recent influx of alien invaders and how UNIT was formed to fight them.  Of course, she doesn't believe it at first and needs some proof, which the Brigadier has in his desk.  However, the meeting is interrupted by the news of the discovery of the TARDIS by meteorite-seeking troops.  Quickly, the Brigadier and Liz head off to a country hospital, where the press is there after a attention-seeking janitor alerted them to the strange goings-on.  This being the fact that their new patient has two hearts and blood that isn't human in the least.  It's as if he wasn't from here...  Maybe call in an expert on these things... he's already here.

The Brigadier and Liz breeze pass the press and into the room where our new Doctor is being kept.  Of course, the Brigadier knows the Doctor.  He looks like Patrick Trou...  Oh, wait, this man doesn't like that in the least.  The Doctor knows who he is and tells the Brigadier that.  He also gets a good look at his new face with help from Liz's compact.  Biggest complain?  The nose is too big.  Back to the story, it turns out there's a strange man among the reporters, who don't get their big scoop.  Back with the Doctor, he searches for his shoes and finds them... just to get the TARDIS key in them.  However, before he can enjoy his key, two men come in and kidnap him.  I know UNIT likes him but this is too far.

Of course, it's not UNIT but as they try to load the Doctor into a van, he makes his escape by wheelchair.  Fact: Pertwee did the stunt himself.  His escape leads him, after ditching the wheelchair, back to the TARDIS.  Part One ends as the Doctor gets close but is shot by a trigger-happy UNIT soldier.  Part Two starts with the news that the bullet only grazed him but he's put himself in a self-induced coma.  I don't blame him, he's had a rough day.  Back at UNIT HQ, Liz has been given a lab space and pieces of one of those meteorites that fell to Earth.  Meanwhile, we cut to a plastics factory, where we see dolls of all sorts being made.  Eventually, we see a secretary leading a man to the offices of the boss man.

It turns out that this man, named Ransom, has been getting a lot of help from the company in producing a doll for the American market... only to be fired without a reason, just a notice.  Naturally, he wants to know why.  The boss gives some silly excuse and Ransom is shown out, with him wondering what happened to his office space, now termed off-limits.  Back with the Doctor, he's had enough of the hospital and he makes another escape.  Here, he does something he'll do again: borrowing some clothes from the hospital.  He even takes the car belonging to a bigwig doctor and off to the TARDIS he goes.  It turns out the TARDIS has been moved into Liz's lab space.

The Doctor, with the help of his TARDIS-locator watch, finds his way to UNIT HQ.  He meets up with the Brigadier and meets Liz for the first time.  He, right away, inserts himself into the meteorite investigation.  He informs them that the pieces infer that the meteorites were hollow and that what was inside was taken somewhere.  Cut to the plastics factory, where Ransom breaks into his old office space.  There, he see mannequins on display and some large thing in the middle of the room.  Before he can really see what it is, one of the mannequins comes to life and springs on him the end of Part Two.  Part Three starts with Ransom escaping death.  We then learn that the strange man and the boss are in league together and learn Ransom was there.

Back with the Doctor, he and Liz are running test after test and getting nowhere.  After complaining that the latest in Earth tech is no good, he says he has a piece of tech that might help in the TARDIS.  However, the Brigadier has the key, so Liz decides to get the key when the Brigadier is interviewing Ransom about what he saw.  However, it turns out that the Doctor played a trick, as he tries to leave once inside the TARDIS.  He then learns that when the Time Lords ground you, they mean it.  Unable to leave, he goes back to the testing.  The Brigadier then decides to involve the Doctor and Liz as they visit the plastics factory.  Naturally, the company denies anything Ransom says but the Doctor thinks that what he said was the truth.

Meanwhile, the plastic factory is busy producing a new kind of mannequin: life-sized versions of real people.  One of the people chosen is General Scobie, the Brigadier's superior and connection to the Army.  In the midst of all this, we have seen scenes of a commoner hiding one of the meteorites in a trunk as one of the moving mannequins, called Autons, tries to locate it.  The commoner decides to tell UNIT about it, in the hopes of reward money.  They go to his house, where the Auton has arrived.  After a fight which shows UNIT is unable to kill a non-living thing, the Auton retreats.  The meteorite is taken back to UNIT HQ, where tests by the Doctor and Liz show it to have part of a life-form inside.  I was hoping for a chocolate center.

In quick order, the Auton makes its way to a UNIT tent and dispatches Ransom and heads off to... somewhere.  With this turn of events, the Brigadier decides to ask Scobie for some troops to guard the plastics factory.  However, before the order is made, an Auton replica of Scobie arrives at the real one's place to end Part Three.  Part Four has the Doctor and Liz decide that it's time to come up with a defense to the Autons.  Their work includes a visit to Madame Tussuad's, where they come across the real Scobie, subbing for his Auton replica.  They also meet up with Ransom's boss when he and the strange man come to collect the other Autons in the place.  They tell him that he needs to overcome the Autons' mind-control over him.

Back at HQ, our duo work the rest of the night on a weapon against the Autons.  However, as the sun rises, mannequins come to life in store windows in one of the show's most famous scenes.  Autons then starts blowing people away without care.  The country is under attack and UNIT is quick to move.  However, Auton Scobie won't hand over any troops.  Indeed, as the Brigadier, the Doctor, Liz, and a select group of soldiers descend on the factory, Auton Scobie tries to stop them.  Meanwhile, he has taken the remaining meteorite from HQ and taken it to the factor, where whatever's inside it join its friends in the giant box.

The Doctor, outside, tries his new weapon on Auton Scobie and it works.  The assembled groups of soldiers then must fight off Autons.  Of course, it's like shooting air but they give it a try anyway.  Meanwhile, the Doctor and Liz make their way into the Autons' own HQ.  There, they meet the strange man, who has done away with Ransom's boss.  He reveals that the box contains the Nestene, a living consciousness who like to take over worlds.  Not wanting to let them add Earth to their collection, the Doctor gives a good fight while he tries to activate his weapon.  Finally, he does, the Nestene dies, the Autons follow, and the Doctor decides to join UNIT as their scientific advisor... I hope he told Liz about that.

This story began the seventh year of the show's life.  Over the last six years, the show had gone through tons of story and two lead actors.  With this opening story, the tone changed from the days of old to a new start.  A few things about this story.  Until the series was revived in 2005, this was the only story to be done totally on film.  The reason was that there was a techicians' strike and the decision was made to take the production elsewhere in the meantime.  To me, that give it a movie-like quality.  I'm surprised that the BBC didn't edit the four parts together and release it as a film.  That's also one reason I love this story.  It looks nothing like "Doctor Who" of the time.

The Autons are a superb villain, in the level of modern-day foes.  The scene where the mannequins come to life and have a rampage is forever etched into the minds of British television viewers.  If you want the moment "Doctor Who" evolved past being a kid's show, it's that moment.  The Autons and the Nestene were so good that Russell T. Davies used them in the first episode of the revived series back in 2005.  Out of all the foes the Doctor encountered in his first 26 years, those were the one chosen to begin his new adventures in the 21st century.  Hopefully, Moffat might catch the hint and bring them back as Capaldi's first foes.  If they were good enough for Eccleston, they're good enough for an ex-punk rocker Scotsman.

Jon Pertwee adds his own spin on the Doctor right off, by taking an outfit from the hospital that Matt Smith would be jealous of.  The ruffled tie, the starched shirt, the cape, the whole thing shows that this Doctor has one heck of a fashion sense.  At the same time, he has a love of gadgets and science.  Most importantly to me, he will fight.  He's not afraid to get down and dirty to save the day.  The very fact that Pertwee was up to doing his own stunts shows that this choice was not the producers' and by the end of his first year, they managed to talk him into getting a stunt double so their star wouldn't break a bone.  He's my favorite Doctor because he has all the elements I want in a hero: great fashion, love of gadgets, cool car, and a smart sidekick.

Speaking of which, Liz Shaw is my favorite companion, even though she never traveled in the TARDIS.  Unlike most female companions, she has a brain.  The way she instantly warms up to the Doctor shows she sees his intellect and would side with him instead of the military thugs she was hired by.  Over the four stories she was part of, she see her earn a place by the Doctor's side.  However, the producers felt that the Doctor didn't need a smart sidekick and replace her the next year.  In this story, she shows her stuff, brain combined with beauty.  The attempts they made to make her look like the average companion in the later stories would fall flat.  Do me a favor, Moffat, and give me a scientist for the Doctor.

This very season gives me my two favorite "Doctor Who" stories, this one and "Inferno".  They serve as bookends to the season.  It's nice to see the Doctor paired with someone who isn't a frighten mouse or bone-breaking lion.  She has her fun at the Doctor and his gadgets and he has his fun at taking it in stride.  Jon Pertwee and Caroline John make quite a team and it's a shame that wasn't carried over into the next season.  Don't get me wrong, I haven't watched much of Pertwee with Katy Manning or Elisabeth Sladen, so my opinion might change.  In the meantime, I will take Liz Shaw over the others any day.  The 25 episodes she was in mark the first year the show was taken seriously by people and the starting point for the modern success the show has had.

In conclusion, this story I would show to anyone wanting to watch classic "Who".  If you're a fan of the current show and want to see the original, this is a good place to start.  It has all the marks of Moffat and the man himself has been unabashed in his love for the story.  Every time I watch, I love it ever more and I lament at an opportunity lost, to keep making the show on film out of the studio.  It's how the show is made now and seeing this in 1970 makes me wish other stories were made in this fashion.  Now, over the next two weeks, I'll be posting installments of "Movies I Haven't Seen"  Now, what do you get when you put Burt Reynolds and Jerry Reed in a film that doesn't have the word "smokey" in the title?  Next week, music takes the stage here as we play host to "W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings".


Until then, this is John Maxwell, saying CLASS DISMISSED!!!!!!


 

Animators' Alley - The Rescuers

Greetings, students, and welcome to the John Maxwell Film School.  Class is in session, so let's get to it!  The types of movies I reviewed vary in genre and content.  They, however, have one thing in common: they are live-action.  Live-action is basically a movie made with flesh and blood people.  This week, however, we take a dive into the world of animation.  Now, I consider myself a part-time animation historian for I love anything to do with it.  I collect cartoons like no one's business.  Of course, the mainstay of animation is Disney.  So, we take a look inside the world of Disney as I look at probably my favorite of their films.

 

First, a little background.  In 1966, Walt Disney died.  What a note to start on.  Anyway, after Walt's death, the studio named for him struggled.  While a run of low-budget live-action comedies and their prime time TV series kept the studio afloat through the late 1960s and 1970s, the animation was a different story.  The first two films after Walt's demise, 1967's "The Jungle Book" and 1970's "The Aristocats", were somewhat successful.  It was 1973's "Robin Hood" that showed the studio's troubles, with constant reuse of animation from earlier films.  The next film down the pipe would change the game.  That film was 1977's "The Rescuers"

 

As always, we begin our look with a summary.  For those who want to know, I'm doing this mostly from memory, I've watched it so many times.  Anyway, the film begins with a little girl, who we later learn is named Penny, throwing a message in a bottle from the deck of a old decaying Mississippi River steamboat.  The bottle takes a journey through opening credits, finally winding up in New York City, where it is found by a mouse.  Cut to... the United Nations.  Here, we see ambassadors from many nations doing whatever job the theory nuts think they're doing at the moment.  We then see mouse versions of them emerge from their luggage and make their way to the dark depths of the place.

 

An old steamer trunk is where the mice go.  It turns out that the trunk is actually the headquarters of the Rescue Aid Society, founded two thousand years ago by Euripides Mouse.  Apparently pulling a thorn from a lion's paw will lead to a international organization that survives all the ups and downs of human history.  Anyway, we meet here the two main leads of our story.  As the society members enter, they pass the HQ's janitor Bernard, voiced by Bob Newhart.  As the meeting begins with a song, we meet the female lead Miss Bianca, voiced by Eva "Get me off this farm, Oliver" Gabor.  Appropriately, she is the Society representative from Hungary.  Typecasting, anyone?  No, then on with the story.

 

The purpose of the meeting is the bottle.  With Bernard's help, they manage to remove the message from it.  The message is to Morningside Orphanage, New York.  The message tells that she wants to be rescued from her current situation in the bayou.  Curious about Penny's plea, Miss Bianca decides to mount a rescue.  When told to choose a partner, she chooses Bernard.  You see, she caught him singing the Society's song when she arrives, revealing that he wants to be part of the organization.  However, he objects, stating that he isn't actually up to it.  Miss Blanca convinces him otherwise.  This is Bob Newhart, the man who once dreamed an entire series, so I think he's up to the task at hand.  Then again, I could be wrong.

The trip to the orphanage begins with a bus ride and a walk through a zoo.  Naturally, knowing what certain animals eat, Bernard would like a new route.  Miss Bianca stirs him into the zoo.  However, his false bravery leads them into the dark depths of the zoo, where he tries to see what's around.  One growl and off they go!  Eventually, they go with Bernard's original route.  If I was a mouse, I'd take it, too.  At the orphanage, they find a box with Penny's things, with a notice on it saying "Hold until further notice".  They also find a cat, an old one.  The old cat is a nice character, worried that a pair of mice will result in job loss.  He does manage to talk about Penny and where she went.  He remembers that a weird lady tried to pick up Penny one day.

This piece of information leads our heroes to a pawn shop owned by a lady named Madam Medusa.  There, they find a first grader reader in Penny's name.  Speaking of Bob Newhart, they catch sight of Medusa herself.  Her appearance is Carol Kester, plus twenty-five years.  Medusa receives a phone call from her friend Snoops, telling her he has found a diamond.  However, his demand for more time is met with her saying she'll get down to where he is.  After a bit of fun with a suitcase and reckless driving, the two decide to follow her.  Their search for transportation leads them to a rooftop heliport.  Here, they find Orville the albatross, a clumsy bird who is their only means of getting to their destination, Devils Bayou.

Down in the bayou, as the song once went, we see Penny once again attempting escape.  Her disappearance does not go unnoticed.  Here, we meet Snoops.  My research on this film tells me that his design was based on a noisy art historian and he looks it.  Medusa is quick to organize a search, complete with fireworks to light up the place.  These fireworks end our heroes' flight with a spin dive and a near crash landing.  At this point, we meet the Devils Bayou chapter of the Rescue Aid Society.  They are provided with a dragonfly-powered leaf boat.  To make it clear his task, the dragonfly is named Evinrude.  Evinrude, powering leaves for many years.  Alas, Penny's escape ends in failure. 

Here, we learn of Medusa's evil plan.  You see, she's after a diamond called the Devil's Eye.  Its apparent location is in a cavern that fills up with water.  Snoops has been trying to use Penny to retrieve it.  However, he removes her from the cavern before the water gets too high.  Medusa's answer to this problem: simply leave her down there until the diamond is out.  Tell me that doesn't give you nightmares.  Meanwhile, our heroes deal with Medusa's two pets, gators named Brutus and Nero.  The two end up getting discovered.  However, they manage to evade capture and digestion.  Our heroes wonder how they can rescue Penny from certain death.  They decide to present themselves to the victim in question.

Sure enough, Bernard and Miss Bianca reveal themselves to Penny and tell her that she will be rescued.  However, Penny points out the odds of two mice rescuing her with two alligators guarding the way out.  The three of them discuss a escape plan.  The planning discussion is a nice scene, pointing out the pros and cons of each idea.  Eventually, they decide that it's time to involve the swamp dwellers, so they send out Evinrude to tell them.  However, a bat waylays him and the plan is stalled until they show up.  The dwellers, meanwhile, decide to wait for a signal.  In the meantime, the sun rises and back down the hole into the cavern.  The task is clear: get that diamond and no retrieval until the diamond is out of the hole. 

To add an incentive, Medusa decides to take Penny's teddy bear and hold it until she's done her job.  The heroes have joined Penny in her task.  They see that it's a pirate's cave and that the Devil's Eye might be on the other side of a large hole that leads the water in.  Naturally, the two mice are sent across.  The mice manage to discover the Devil's Eye in a skull.  Penny relays this discovery as the two mice try to remove the diamond from its holding.  However, the water starts filling the cavern.  Penny's pleas to be removed from the cavern are turned down.  With water slowly filling the cavern, the three of them work to remove the diamond.  Eventually, the diamond is retrieved and, after a brief moment of peril, Penny is pulled to the surface.

Of course, with the diamond in her hand, her true nature starts shining through.  She refuses Snoops' idea to cut it up as he was promised part of it.  Meanwhile, Evinrude attempts a flight from the bats and manages to arrive at where the dwellers are waiting.  With a gasping breath and some moonshine, he gives the signal... CHARGE!  The dwellers make their way to the riverboat with no time to waste.  Back at said boat, Medusa lines Snoops and Penny against a wall, promising death if they try to follow her.  She has placed the diamond in the teddy bear, so when the dwellers attack, she loses it to the bear's owner.  Meanwhile, the plan is put into motion and Penny finally makes her escape with the help of the dwellers.

In the aftermath, Medusa is defeated, the riverboat destroyed, Penny free at last, and the Devil's Eye in safe hands.  In an added bonus, the gators have turned on their master.  In the end, Penny is finally adopted, the Devil's Eye goes to the Smithsonian, and the Rescue Aid Society receives its first credit in human history.  Evinrude, however, brings another letter, and the cycle starts again.  The end.  So, what have we learned from this classic film from thirty five years ago?  To me, it's a prime example of a kind of story Disney should tell more often.  It's not a musical and it's not a fairy tale.  Does that mean it's better or worse?  Let us look at some elements and see how they add up against other films.

The movie, like many other animated films, was based on a book.  In this case, a series of books from writer Margery Sharp.  However, if you think that this is based on one of those books, you're wrong.  The movie is rather a hodge-podge of elements from the books, specifically the first two books.  To me, that doesn't subject from the story being told here.  It's just the minds behind the film wanted to tell an original story, instead of adapting one from the books.  With some films based on books, this is a plus, others a minus.  I feel that this is a plus, for it gets to stand on its own instead of being available for comparison to something else.  In this regard, being a fan of the books is second to being a fan of the story.

The major thing for me here, the reason I love this film, is the villain.  Madam Medusa doesn't rank high on most people's list of Disney villains.  However, she deserves a spot.  She is truly an evil mind.  Nothing will get between her and the diamond.  The key piece of evidence is the scene near the end where each are lined up against the wall.  She tells them that if they try to follow her, it's death.  Let me remind you that one of these people IS A LITTLE CHILD!  The fact that Medusa is carrying her teddy bear leaves us with one thought: that death awaits Penny.  The idea that killing a little girl would be bad never crosses her mind.  Luckily, the intervention of the dwellers and our heroes stops this.  So, before you list Disney villains, remember Medusa.

Another element is the music.  As I said, this is not a musical, like most Disney animated films.  There "are" songs.  They are part of the soundtrack, not the scene.  Truly some good mid-1970s soft pop in here.  The opening credits have a song, so does our heroes' flight to the bayou, and even a song for when Penny is feeling truly alone.  This separates the film from the dozens of Disney musicals by being just a film with a story, not a film with music that happens to have a story.  The incidental score is also good.  Some good cues are when Orville takes off and lands.  That is accompanied with "The Air Force Song".  This actually helps the comedy, as our flyer is in no shape to fly in the wild blue yonder, let alone serve our country.

Speaking of comedy, in the 1960s and 70s, Disney had something called the gimmick comedy.  These were live-action films featuring well-known television stars made for a low budget that were based on a gimmick.  A classic example is "The Shaggy Dog".  Here, I think Disney has made an animated gimmick comedy.  The gimmick here is that a pair of rescuers set to rescue a little girl happen to be mice and that they belong to an international organization going back to Ancient Greece (a look at their banner reveals a founding date of 408 B.C.).  Think about it, you have people like Bob Newhart, Eva Gabor, Bernard Fox, George Lindsey...  the list goes on.  We will feature some other gimmick comedies here.

One final element is the talent used to create this.  Now, for those of you who think Walt himself had nothing to do with it, think again.  It was Walt who bought the rights to adapt Sharp's book back in 1959 and had actually came up with the original story idea.  Also, this was "the" transition film for Disney.  It had the old talent and the new talent that would lead Disney to its second golden age in the 1980s.  The quality of animation wasn't bad, either.  I have an HD screen, and the film holds up, even in 1080p.  This film puts paid to the myth that 1970s Disney was bad.  True, the previous film reused animation to the point of why bother drawing new poses.  Here, that's not the case.  A high-quality film, for sure.

Now, let's add up these elements, and what do we get?  A true classic.  With the film now thirty five years old and counting, it hasn't lost its shine, much like the Devil's Eye.  It's easy to forget it in the sea of Disney musicals past and present.  However, this film deserves a place alongside "Snow White" and "Aladdin".  After all, it was the only Disney film to have a sequel that went to theaters, not shelves.  Before I tell you next week's selection, let me congratulate Peter Capaldi on becoming the Twelfth Doctor.  So, in honor of the event, we will look at a Doctor's debut story.  Next week at the Film School, a TARDIS will materialize in the classroom and out will fall Jon Pertwee as we look at his debut story as my favorite Doctor, "Spearhead from Space" 


Until then, this is John Maxwell, saying CLASS DISMISSED!

 

 

 



Movies I Haven't Seen - The Big Lebowski

Greetings, students, and welcome to the John Maxwell Film School.  Class is in session, so let's get to it!  Now, if you had a chance to look at my DVD collection, you would notice a lack of films that many would consider basic for any collection.  One of them is this week's movie, "The Big Lebowski"  Now, while I have been meaning to watch this movie for some time, it was when the Dude, in a way, made an appearance that forced me to see this film at last and actually get the idea behind it.

 

Two weeks ago, Jeff Bridges appeared on the same episode of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" that a certain San Francisco band made a reunion appearance.  Anyway, on the show, Jimmy said that it was only within the last couple of days that he finally saw the film, claiming that he was the last human to have seen it.  Naturally, now having such a title myself was the last straw.  A check of Netflix told me I had already placed it in my queue.  So, I moved it to the top to be the next one to be sent out, interrupting another hobby of mine, watching old "Doctor Who" stories in order.

 

So, I have finally laid my eyes on the film and watched the whole thing.  Let me tell you, I can why this film is considered to be a classic.  It is one of the best films I have ever seen.  The way it's constructed, the acting, the music, the settings.  Just a nice mix and enough weird imagery to make you turn your mind on.  Trust me, your second viewing will be to find all the stuff you missed the first time, and then keep repeating until the movie and you are one, just like the Dude.  What kind of world do we find?  Well, here at the Film School, the Dude has allowed us to look at this weird piece of his life from twenty years earlier.

 

The film begins...  with a tumbleweed and the voice of Sam Elliot.  With the wit of the cowboys of old, he guides us to Los Angeles around late 1990.  Here, we meet Jeffery Lebowski, played by the one and only Jeff Bridges, who calls himself the Dude because he doesn't like his birth name and it just fits him.  One night, he's visited upon by two cronies, who berate him into giving him money over debt owed by his wife.  However, he's the wrong Jeff Lebowski.  The one they're supposed to berate is a millionaire.  Apparently, these cronies have 3-watt IQs and can't figure out the right person to mess with.  To all to whom debt is owned, hire smart cronies.  They'll get the job done.

 

Anyway, one of the cronies pees on the Dude's rug, so he shares his problems with his bowling buddies: Walter, played by John Goodman, and Donny, played by Steve Buscemi.  Walter sees an opportunity, as he points out that he can ask the other Lebowski to pay for a new rug.  A visit to this other Jeff Lebowski doesn't go well, as this one is a Korean War vet, who lost the use of his legs in said conflict and looks down upon people like the Dude.  However, he manages to scoop up an antique rug and meet the missus, Bunny, played by Tara Reid.  Bunny seems to have a vacant mind.  Then again, she is a trophy wife, so brains are not a pre-set option.

After some bowling alley antics, we learn that Bunny has gotten herself kidnapped.  Naturally, her husband turns to the most logical choice to locate her: the Dude.  He tasks himself to follow the orders of the kidnappers in order to recover her.  The kidnappers soon call and ask for a million dollars.  This is then followed with orders to deliver said money to a freeway overpass.  However, Walter joins us and offers a most genius plan: sub the million dollars for a ringer, he calls it.  The ringer is a bag filled with laundry.  As you might expect, the whole thing falls apart.  The operation fails and no Bunny is returned.

Naturally, Mr. Lebowski is upset, because the kidnappers have now sent him a severed toe, apparently from Bunny.  However, before the Dude sees this, he is visited by Mr. Lebowski's daughter Maude, who reclaims the rug the Dude took from her father.  Then, as if things couldn't get worse, his beloved car is stolen from under him.  If I had a day like the Dude, I might consider just giving up on the whole thing, which he tries.  However, Walter again pushes him to find Bunny so they can have the money.  Why not?  More stupid things were done in the name of wealth.  They do mention the whole mess with Kuwait.  Make what you will with that.

As if things couldn't get any more worse, the supposed kidnappers visit him and threaten him with the loss of that certain organ all males share.  At the same time, the police locate his car, minus the suitcase with the million in it.  After a moment of being followed, he discovers a kid's homework.  This leads him to the home of a former television writer, whose son is the one who left the homework.  Some more pain comes to the Dude's car when Walter thinks a pricey car was purchased by the kid with the money.  It, however, belongs to a neighbor, who takes his rage on the Dude's ride.  Let this be a note to you: never let your friends damage some one's car.

Let me briefly summarize the last third: the Dude finds out that the whole thing was a scheme by Mr. Lebowski to rid himself of his wife.  At the same time, Maude visits him for the express purpose of making love to him so she can conceive a child.  Bunny returns home, no money was ever in the suitcase, the fake kidnappers set fire to the Dude's car, Donny dies, ashes scattered, the end.  The reason I summarize the last third because the last third is so weirdly constructed, it's hard to distill into a full plot summary.  I don't know anyone on Wikipedia could do it, but it's done.  Anyway, the story is excellent for many reasons, too many to go into.  Let us, instead, point out some of the best elements of the movie.

One thing I must point out is the acting performance of John Goodman as Walter.  I'm a fan of the show "Roseanne" (and that show will be put before the class in the future), and his performance is worthy of an Oscar.  That is, if the Academy recognized comedic performance.  He plays a converted Jew who obeys the Shabbos, which is Saturday, so much he raises a fuss when an important tournament falls on it.  Later in the movie, an important moment in the story forces Walter to disobey Shabbos, which he complains about as the Dude unravels the mystery of Bunny.  According to the Coens, the role was written for him and he delivers, without question.

Another point is the character of Bunny, Mr. Lebowski's trophy wife.  Her past is the usual porn star one.  In fact, the money that the thugs want in the beginning is to pay off debt owned by her for her career.  In the last third, we learn that the man following the Dude earlier was a detective searching for Bunny, who ran away from her parents in Minnesota.  As part of his task, the detective shows a picture he's been told to show Bunny.  The picture is of the most desolate farm ever, with nothing that could be called home.  The reason for the request is her parents think it might make her homesick.  It would make be board a boat to Hawaii, for the maximum distance from the dead farm.

Then, there's Donny.  Such a interesting person.  I mean, throughout the movie, he is told to shut up.  I read that the reason for this gag was that Buscemi's character in "Fargo" wouldn't stop talking.  Anyway, at the end of the movie, Donny suffers a heart attack and dies.  The characters then proceed to act like he was always with them even though he was told to keep out of their business.  The scattering of the ashes into the ocean, which ends with most on the Dude then in the ocean itself, is the perfect capper to our madcap ride, complete with a hug and then heading off to bowl once more.  Donny, you could have been more than a gag but we're glad you were.  Otherwise, how would we know the funny?

The whole thing with Maude also sums up the movie.  When she first appears, she's there with thugs to take the rug the Dude took from her father.  She then proceeds to invite him over to her place to discuss it.  There, she reveals not only Bunny's porn star past but the fact that her father is not the success story he claims to be.  Finally, she tells him that the money was from a charity and if he recovers it, he can use a small part of it to buy a rug that doesn't have meaning for her, as the one the Dude took is from her mother.  The capper for her character is appearing at his place, demand that they make love, and then reveal the baby scheme.  I wonder what she does when she's bored, if the events in the movie weren't the answer...

The thugs at the beginning of the movie are probably the dumbest characters in the movie.  I mean, it takes them having it pointed out to them that they have gone after the wrong Jeffery Lebowski.  I mean, their boss told them to follow and threaten a millionaire and they choose the wrong one without any question.  Later in the movie, they return and brag how the boss now wants to see the Dude and that they know they have the right one now.  This would mean that the thugs went back, told of their mistake, and probably got a dressing-down like no one's business, complete with naming of your favorite form of slow and painful torture.  Lesson: always double check before you threaten, because your own life may be on the line.

The other thugs in the movie, the kidnappers, are a trio of former German techno-pop singers who are nihilists.  A nihilist believes in nothing, as in life is nothing but matter interacting with matter until your set of matter stops moving.  The movie reveals that they came up with the kidnapping plot after hearing Bunny took off without telling anyone.  They then proceeded to ask for a million dollars in ransom and even cut a toe off one of their girlfriends in pursuit of the money.  I mean, these guys fail kidnapping 101 as they never ever had the victim in question.  Their torching of the Dude's car and the beating they get from Walter just shows that maybe it helps to actually believe in something.  Otherwise, you just fail even the basics of committing a crime: actually commit the crime.

As I said, there's too many reasons why this movie is funny.  Yet, this film wasn't a hit when it came out.  It's only over time that it has become part of the culture.  Recently, I've been writing a script for a film I want to make because I'm bored myself.  One of the things I was hoping with watching this film was to figure out how to really write 'weird funny'.  After watching this movie, I feel I need to rewrite my script because I came nowhere close to the 'weird funny' of this film.   All I mentioned above are things I would never have come up with.  Maybe I should pick another Coen Brothers movie if I wish to make 'weird funny' movies like them.  Not now.  I need time to recover from just one before I can take in films like "Fargo" and "Raising Arizona".

However, this end the week's review.  We find that "The Big Lebowski" is a true classic and it should be used as an example of when filmmakers used a genre they love to make a project they love.  The jokes, like a good comedy, come out of the plot and even make the plot work.  It made me laugh a lot and I'm now on a quest to buy a copy for my own collection.  Speaking of which, we head back there for next week's selection.  Over these first few weeks of the Film School, all our films have been live-action.  Well, that changes as the next film up for review is probably my favorite of the Disney animated  films.  It's not a musical and it's not new.  Back to the 1970s we go as next week, the Film School will receive a visit from those beloved mice, "The Rescuers"...

Until then, this is John Maxwell, saying class dismissed!!!

 

Dispatches From TV Land - Lisa, Bright and Dark

Greetings, class, and welcome to the John Maxwell Film School.  Class is in session, so let's get to it!  On this blog, we will feature the works of certain actors and actresses that I believe need mentioning.  Let's call these people Heroes of the Film School.  Our first Hero is an actress that, despite have a relatively short career compared to a lot of her co-stars, has left quite the impression of both viewers and friends.  She was quite the talent and this week's film shows that potential that eventually went unnoticed.  It's none other than Debralee Scott, one of the stars of "Lisa, Bright and Dark".

 

This week's offering for the class is a television film from 1973.  It was part of the long-running series of TV films "Hallmark Hall of Fame", a series noted for its use of high-quality talent and high quality stories.  Now, "Lisa, Bright and Dark" is based on a book, so it has some high quality already.  Beside Debralee, it has a nice roster of actors that have a list longer than my arm.  The title character is played by an actress named Kay Lenz, who has had a nice career in terms of roles.  Her parents are played here by Anne Baxter, one of Hollywood's best known character actresses and John Forysthe, a man best known for being just a voice on a speaker talking to three female ex-cops.

 

The running time of this film is a nice 75 minutes, which tells us that the film ran to a nice 90 when commercials are added.  Now, I mentioned last week that this film came to DVD only this year.  The quality of the footage is good for something 40 years old.  Besides that, there's a quality to this film in terms of the storytelling.  While there is a connected story, the way it's played makes it at times confusing.  Instead of hindering it, it helps it.  I should mention that the only reason I have this film in my collection is Debralee.  I am a fan of her work and will sit down to watch anything with her in it.  With that out of the way, let us summarize the film in question.

The film begins with a nice country drive for the opening credits.  Through this we met Lenz's character Lisa and her father.  The images we are shown tells us that there is a nice happy relationship, a healthy one between parent and child.  However, as soon as the credits ends, it starts.  We gets a scene of Lisa reacting negatively to her reflection in a mirror and hitting her head against the headboard of her bed.  I have the same problem with mirrors myself.  However, I just don't like my reflection.  Her problem is anyone's guess.  In fact, later in the movie, we'll see three characters trying to do just that.   

She covers up the mirror as we meet the next member of Lisa's family, sister Tracy, played by future "Happy Days" star Erin Moran.  When you have someone from that show in your movie that's not Ron Howard, don't expect an Oscar.  Lisa and Tracy proceed to deliver a birthday cake to their mother, played by Anne Baxter.  You can tell this is a high-quality production with money when "Happy Birthday" is actually sung.   If you have enough money to have the song for a throwaway moment, you must had have a budget.  I only hope I can get a budget big enough so one of my characters can have a birthday.

 Cut to a scene of Lisa and her father going horseback riding.  The two have a nice conversation about their past experiences riding and how Lisa could go back to those days.  In this scene, we learn that Lisa's father works for the State Department.  Yes, his job is directing three female agents to do stuff, with the directive of looking hot while doing it.  However, Lisa can't stop talking about the old days.  All this shows that Lisa is from proud parents.  So proud that they'll do anything for their daughter, except get help for her mental problems because of how other people will view this and how it will affect their image.  Other than that, they're very proud.

Cut to a party being held by the very reason we're talking about the film, Mary Neil, played by Debralee.  The party is a nice affair as Lisa attends with her boyfriend Brian, played by another "Happy Days" actor Anson Williams.  Anson and Lisa are having a nice time until she shouts at him for no reason.  If this were "Happy Days", I might say Potsie said something incredibly stupid.  Of course, this isn't "Happy Days".  However, this movie first debuted in November 1973 and "Happy Days" debuts in January 1974, so in a couple of months, America's view of Brian will change forever.   

Mary Neil and another friend, Betsy, go check on Lisa as she ran out of the party after the shouting.  However, Lisa doesn't act like anything happened and goes back to the party.  This raises a little concern in her friends but is quickly put on the back burner.  Back at the party, Lisa and Brian talk over what happened but she tells him to forget it.  The next day at school, Lisa and her friends discuss Brian.  This leads to a moment with Lisa and Brian, where Lisa tells him that she's breaking up with him, over some undefined reason, probably being a Potsie.  It's such a curse.

Some more time with Lisa and her family is where we go next.  Lisa's mother discusses a upcoming family trip with her.  Lisa's behavior towards this is flat and emotionless, as if she's not even part of the conversation.  Lisa's mother is the opposite.  We then cut to a scene in Lisa's English class, where the topic is "King Lear"  The discussion is on the daughters.  Pay attention, because back-stabbing is a useful skill in later life.  For those who don't know, "King Lear" is about a man whose daughters go behind his back every chance they get.  Why?  Because they're women!  It was the 16th century, after all, not an enlightened time. 

We pan across the room to see Lisa cutting her own name into her arm with a paper clip.  This gets the notice of everyone.  Now that concern returns.  In the next scene, they refer to it as a tattoo.  Now, I'm not an expert on tattooing, or watch shows about the subject, or even books on it.  However, I know that when you carve your name into your flesh with nothing but a paper clip, it's not a tattoo.  It's just plain carving.  I've been bored many times in my life but I have never had the urge to sign my name in my own skin.  To tell the truth, I did stab a pencil into my hand once, but that was an accident.

In that next scene, Tracy discusses the event, while giving that she has no idea what the event was.  Tracy then has to leave as the parents enter.  They tell Lisa their own little concern over the event.  It's revealed that Lisa's father rushed from his job over the event.  I hope the Angels are alright.  It's also revealed that the mother is upset at the teacher for implying something more happened.  Lisa's father shrugs it off and tells Lisa that the next day, the two will go out for a little day out together.  Yes, because a day out with your father is a practical method for dealing with mental illness. 

A montage covers said day out, complete with a purchase and a nice brunch.  Lisa's father then heads off to a meeting.  Lisa then heads out on the town.  This leads to our next strange happening.  She proceeds to flag down a car for no reason.  She eventually succeeds in getting a ride with a nice gentleman by just getting in his car.  He tells her things but she doesn't say a word.  In other films, it's the reverse and usually ends with the many uses of rope.  Then again, this is a Hallmark movie.  I've seen a few other ones, and such things are only for when revenge is called for later in the script.

She finally says things that aren't true, like her father being a duke.  She also wishes he was a psychiatrist.  Maybe he is, he doesn't tell us what he actually is.  Finally, he makes a stop out of concern over his passenger.  Actually, he's a bit hungry and he asks if she wants anything.  His attempts at asking her what she wants while he's there fall on deaf ears and he leaves her in the car.  Yeah, that's the right thing to do when dealing with someone who just got in your car.  Genius.  For his next trick, he'll give a gun to a schizoid, tell him how it works, and just leave.  I'm sure nothing bad can happen with that plan.

Lisa then looks over her purchases and declares she's too young for them.  She then discovers a matchbook and proceeds to light said purchases on fire.  She watches the flames build until our man comes out, sees the sight, pulls Lisa from the car, and asks her what is going on.  Again, no answer and Lisa proceeds to walk away from the scene without another word.  I don't know what the problem was.  Maybe Lisa just took them at their word when they told her the dresses were part of a fire sale.  Then again, a lot of people think that's what a fire sale is, so I shouldn't make that joke.  Again, what do I know?  I'm just a man learning to make movies.

In the next scene, she tells her parents what happened.  The mother is concerned over Lisa's break-up with Brian, leading both parents to figure him the cause of Lisa's behavior.  Cut to lunch with Lisa's friends, discussing their friend's weird behavior as well.  The three friends: Mary Neil, Betsy, and Elizabeth, played by Anne Lockhart, talk about possible reasons for this.  Elizabeth brings up mental illness as a cause and the stigma attached to it.  After a discussing with a teacher that leads nowhere, like with most teachers, the three go to talk to Lisa's mother. 

The three bring up the subject of Lisa's behavior and that she might be mentally ill, with Elizabeth revealing her own fight with mental illness.  Who better to bring it up than someone who had it?  The mother feels, however, that Lisa needs is new friends.  The mother also states that they have Lisa's best interests at heart and they don't.  As someone once said, parents don't understand.  She says she has her best interests at heart.  Lisa's not the only one who's losing her mind.  The mother thinks that carving your name into your skin with a paper clip is of your best interest.  Just saying.

With no other way for Lisa to receive the help she needs, the trio decide to take a crash course in psychiatry.  Yes, because when your friend is suffering, don't just take her to a person who studied it for years, just do it yourself.  It works with home repairs and such.  The course includes a discussion of Lisa's possible symptoms.  When Elizabeth informs them that their efforts are useless, Mary Neil snaps at her.  Don't mess with Debralee, she's a redhead, after all.  I would never talk to Debralee like that.  I wanna be her friend, not her enemy.  I have an idea.  Just don't think you can become therapists after an afternoon of learning.  

However, all of this is interrupted by Lisa's arrival.  With her there, the trio proceed to perform a little therapy session on her.  Lisa tries to play games with them, with Elizabeth calling her out on it.  It's amazing that one of them didn't break out a watch and just start saying, "You are getting sleepy".  Actually, that might have sold the session for me.  I'm such a fan of hypnosis.  Maybe they can have cured things by having her think she was a seal every time they whistled "Dixie".  Eventually, the session ends with Lisa telling them how much she hates them for doing such a thing.  A job well done.  Maybe you can join Starfleet and become real starship therapists.

This leads to a bizarre scene where Lisa covers herself in paint for no reason.  Meanwhile, Mary Neil and Betsy discuss how they have begun watching Lisa, only for one to lose sight of her.  They find the paint-covered Lisa.   Rather than admire the newest work of art in school, we get another scene with Lisa and Brian, where she tells him to keep away from her.  That Brian, he was born to be a Potsie.  Maybe he can move to 1950s Wisconsin and make a career out of it.  Just call me a psychic, because I think I just saw Brian's future.  Then again, I'm just a man learning to make movies, so what do I know about these things?

We then get another scene with Lisa's family.  Lisa tells her mother of her view of recent events.  The mother replies that, in a few months, Lisa will be off to college for a fresh take of things, which Lisa criticizes.  This mother has mastered the art of ignoring problems that are in her face.  Then, Lisa suffers an episode on the stairs.  This leads to a scene where Lisa's parents now consider real help.  Not really, they just discuss what Lisa's new behavior will do for the father's image.  Of course, the stigma is again discussed.  Finally, the parents decides that the best for their image will be to wait on it. 

This leads to a nicely-bizarre episode.  Lisa sees a rag doll in a store window, buys it, and proceeds to act like it's her baby, even singing it a lullaby.  I can't help but be interested by her actions here.  Lisa seems to be both child and mother here.  All her lines towards the doll are in a manner of a little child pretending to be Mommy.  Then, in a case of bizarre going bizarre, Lisa decides to hide the doll to prevent it being taken away from her, burying in for safe keeping.  Here's a lesson to all you mothers out there, if you want to keep your child, bury them in a safe place.  I remember my times buried in soil.  I think I've gotten out most of the worms in my arms.

Back to English, where Gulliver and his travels are the topic.  All's well, it's a hap-hap-happy day, until Lisa is asked a question and Lisa whispers her answer in the teacher's ear.  The implication was that what was said was not good, as in not for primetime television.  Cut to a scene where the trio try therapy again, because if at first you don't succeed, try again.   This time involving themselves in it by having each state something honest about how they feel about the others.  The old Honesty Game, a favorite, to be sure.  A staple of therapy centers that are run by teenagers.  I'm sure no bad can happen here.

Betsy goes first, then Lisa.  Betsy talks about how Mary Neil is a little overbearing.  Lisa tells of the feelings and the problems she's been having.  She then proceeds to turn on Elizabeth, talking about her hateful feelings for her.  Two people with mental illness having an argument.  I'm sure nothing can go wrong.  Mary Neil decides to end the session.  However, Lisa and Elizabeth continue it.  As Elizabeth tries to leave, Lisa stops her, now wanting help.  What causes this?  Why, Lisa finally looked at her script and realized that it called for her to change her mind.  After all, we only have 75 minutes minus commercials to tell our story.  We already are closing on the ending, so we need to speed things up.

This then leads to Lisa attacking Elizabeth.  That's a natural thing to do when you disagree with someone.  Lisa's mother is then told by Mary Neil's parents that Lisa must seek help for her mental illness.  This causes an argument between the three.  Of course, the mother feels that all of Lisa's problems will go away.  Lisa decides not to go to school after what has happened.  Lisa pleads for help over what might happened to her.  This plea falls on deaf ears, a common ailment in these parts,  so Lisa decides to run away.  Lisa then goes out to where she buried the doll and retrieve it.  She then goes to Mary Neil's house.  What better place to run away to than the place you beat someone just a few hours earlier?

Lisa is afraid over what her mother will do, knowing that the help she needs is not waiting there.  Mary Neil's parents plead for her to go.  However, she refuses, eventually running through a glass door to escape again.  At last, Lisa's mother can't deny her daughter needs help.  So, she is checked into a hospital for treatment of both her injuries and her illness.  Lisa's friends visit and meet the doctor that will be handling Lisa's treatment of her mental illness.  The friends apologizes for what they have done.  With all that, the film comes to a nice ending.  So, what things can we learn from this film on mental illness based on a book?

Now, I consider myself a student of the study of mental illness.  Here, we see a nice study of it and its effects.  In the movie, they actually try to avoid telling us what exactly Lisa is suffering from.  The scene where Mary Neil, Betsy, and Elizabeth study psychology textbooks is a nice example.  They talk about various illnesses that she might have.  Plus, an added bonus for me, as a fan of split personalities, to hear Debralee say the word "split personality" thrills me to no end.  Anyway, this scene doesn't actually say what she has.  Indeed, the movie ends as Lisa is about to enter treatment.  A lot of other movies go out of their way to say what the illness is.  It's nice to see the opposite.

I'm sorry, but I can't stop thinking about Debralee being in this movie.  She was a great talent and this movie shows it.  She really becomes a central character in the story and earns that spot wonderfully.  It's amazing that her career didn't reward that talent.  If it wasn't for me being a fan, I wouldn't have even heard of this film.  I wonder what she thought of her performance in this film.  The DVD I have is bare bones, so no docs or commentary that might answer that question.  I guess I'll have to wait until I get a little famous so I can ask her co-stars, most of them still with us to discuss the wonder that was Debralee Scott.

Back to the film.  Now, I'm not gonna lie and say there's still a stigma attached to mental illness.  We all praise those who have strong minds and shun those with weak minds.  What is a mental illness is always changing.  However, in this movie, we see that Lisa's parents have built up an image in their community and the idea that something's wrong with her daughter is seen as a threat to that image.  That is a fact that has lasted to this day.  Many people suffer in silence because of the stigma mental illness still carries.  It takes the very breakdown of Lisa's sanity for the parents to finally get her help.  Even then, there is still a stigma but at least they realize it's better to do the right thing than to just ignore it and hope it goes away.

Now, to the case of our two people from the world of "Happy Days".  A fact that might be good to know is that it was this movie that gave us the Joanie we know and love.  In the original pilot for "Happy Days" from 1972, Joanie was played by a different actress.  In the meantime, Anson, who was in said pilot, took on this movie.  In the making of it, he met Moran, who he suggested to the producers of "Happy Days" for the role of Joanie when the show went to series not too long after.  I was kind of hoping Erin and Debralee would share a scene.  The closest is when Tracy goes to answer the door when Mary Neil, Betsy, and Elizabeth visit and the mother stops her short of opening it.  I guess any scene with the two will be left to my mind.

In the end, "Lisa, Bright and Dark" is a nice film.  It doesn't talk down to its audience and instead asks them to consider if something like this would happen to them.  I haven't read the book this is based, so I don't know if there is more to the story.  Rest assured, I will find out.  Now, onward to next week.  Now, I have a dark secret to share with you.  Ready?  Here goes... I have never seen "The Big Lebowski".  Seeing how great this film seems to be by what others say, I must seek this out.  So, I go back to my Netflix queue and finally see for myself what others enjoy.  Next week, the Film School will play host to The Dude and see if he abides by how things are done here...

 

 

 

Maxwell's Movies - Short Circuit

Greetings, class, and welcome to another session of the Film School.  For the third week in a row, no class questions, so I will not ask anymore for them.  Instead, let me instead guide you through the world of film and television as I see it.  The personal viewpoint of a man who set his life around the television and has seen a lot of things on it.  Think of this as a second beginning to this little blog.  So, let us begin again with a personal favorite from my collection of DVDs.  I have a rather large collection and you'll see the movies and TV shows I like to collect.

 

In 1986, robots have gotten themselves a kind-of bad reputation in Hollywood.  They were the villains out to destroy us or the comic relief to some human character.  Rarely did they get a moment in the sun.  That changed, with "Short Circuit".  This film changed how we view robots, made them characters we could side with.  All it took was a bolt of lightning and one heck of a personality to win people over, including yours truly.  One of my top ten films of all time, let us take a look at the adventures of Johnny Five, aka "Short Circuit"

 

Two weeks ago, in my review of "For Keeps", I noted how the opening credits showed a creation.  So does the opening credits of this film.  However, this is a better use, as it is the creation of our main character, Number Five.  We see his circuits being wired, his treads being laid out, and his body being constructed.  All of this tells us right off that this is a work of technology.  He is a machine built by man to be just a machine.  A military machine as we see once the credits are over and the movie itself can start.

 

The first image after the opening credits is a field, complete with flowers, which are soon crushed by a military truck as it and many other pieces of military transport roll toward a set of above ground bunkers.  We then see Number Five and his sibling robots fire their lasers at the convoy, destroying it.  We then learn that all of this is just a demo for a group of politicians and generals.  This is the proving grounds of Nova Robotics, a lab funded by the military and led by Dr. Howard Marner.  This scene hits home Number Five's intended purpose as a machine of war.

 

We also get our first bit of comedy as the scientists program one of the robots to make a cocktail for Dr. Marner.  The comedy bit here is to let the audience know that what they are about to see, above all else, a comedy film.  Suddenly, an oncoming storm sets the demo inside for a little party.  Dr. Marner decides it's time for the man behind the robots to show up.  He goes looking for him and finds our comic relief, the foreign stereotype Ben.  He informs Dr. Marner, in his heavily-accented ways, that said mastermind is sick.  Dr. Marner sees through the ruse and orders him to appear right away.

 

A quick cut leads us to the lab of Dr. Newton Crosby, Ph. D, played by that man of the eighties Steve Guttenberg.  This little lab scene shows the peaceful ways of robotics, with Newton teaching a robot arm the scales on a piano.  Ben comes in and tells Newton the order to appear.  He tries to get on it again.  The dialogue here tells of how Newton feels the military ways his creations are being used for are childish.  However, a phone call from Marner, picked up and put down by another robot hand, compels him otherwise and he heads off to the party with Ben.  Meanwhile, the robots are being debriefed before he heads off to have their lasers turned off and join the party.

 

It is here that the moment happens.  As Number Five recharges a bit, lightning strikes the overhead lines.  That lightning makes its way to Number Five, giving him the jolt of life.  At first, his handlers are upset that an expensive piece of technology has been fried.  Luckily, things are fine... or are there?  Now, let us track this movie in terms of Number Five's mental development.  At this point, Number Five is just forming his intelligence, so he still responds to commands, which is head off to have your laser turned off.

 

As we see Number Five follow his siblings to the disarming station, his new intelligence takes over and as they turn a corner, he doesn't, bumping into a wall repeatedly.  Meanwhile, we see scenes at the party Newton is forced to attend.  This scene helps to illustrate the point of Newton's real beliefs.  He listens to a general telling about turning one of the robots into a rolling nuclear delivery system.  He responds by joking his original intent for the robots was as a marriage aide.  You can just get his dislike of the ways his creation is being used.  A well-done scene, good humor with just enough substance to keep your interest.

 

Back with the robot, Number Five has developed into the intellect of an infant, curious about the world around him.  He soon becomes attracted to the plug belonging to a coffee pot being carried by another kind of robot.  However, his pursuit of the plug ends when he gets hit by a garbage-can-pushing robot and pushed into an elevator.  Back at the party, the other robots arrive and Marner notices the missing one, so a search begins for him.  However, Number Five is already out of the building as he ends up on a truck being its way out of the labs.

 

One of the best sets in this movie is the command center from which they first track Number Five.  Here, it comes out that Number Five has both left Nova and that his laser is still armed.  His intelligence is evolving a little and as he observes a butterfly, he seems to have the mentality of a two-year-old.  He chases the butterfly and gets himself off the truck.  He then heads down the road, further away from Nova.  This leads to our third of our leads, Stephanie, played by Ally Sheedy.  She's a lunch truck operator and caretaker to less fortunate animals everywhere.  She discovers Number Five and thinks he's a alien.

His demand for input is met with book upon book given to him by Stephanie.  He soon discovers television and the Three Stooges.  Believe it or not, this comes into play later.  Now, with the mentality of a five-year-old, he spews out things he has now learned.  Stephanie, convinced that the television will rot his brain, takes him outside for more input.  It is here she learns the true nature of Number Five.  He also learns about death when his attempts to mimic a grasshopper results in him crushing it.  He soon equals death with the act of disassembling, which Stephanie says the people at Nova will do to him.  Not wanting to die, he takes off in the lunch truck.

Meanwhile, Newton and Ben have been searching all night in their own Nova van for Number Five.  They come upon our robot's escape attempt and give pursuit.  Once having stop due to a short cliff into the ocean, Number Five informs Stephanie that he is alive.  Newton and Ben soon arrive and try to talk Number Five into going with them.  However, we soon encounter our villain, name of Schroeder.  His troops manage to subdue Number Five enough to turn him off.  Ben soon hits the road with the turned off Number Five.  However, Number Five turns himself back on, fixes himself, and maroons Ben on the side of the road, while he goes in search of Stephanie.

He manages to find his way back to her.  She is a little confused by the idea of a living robot.  However, she is soon won over, just in time for her ex-boyfriend to return, wanting now to collect Number Five because Nova is now offering a reward for the fugitive robot.  Number Five manages to save himself and Stephanie and the two then hit the road.  Newton and Ben, thinking that maybe Number Five is something more than a malfunctioning machine, sneak out of Nova and hit the road themselves.  With Schroeder after both the robot and them, the duo manage to make contact with Stephanie.

She tells them for Newton to meet her alone, which he does.  She explains to Newton what has happened to Number Five.  Of course, he refuses to believe it for a second.  However, Schroeder manages to get the drop of them.  Meanwhile, Number Five confronts three of his siblings in the woods.  He manages to outwit the non-living robots and reprogram them to be the Three Stooges, turning three war machines to the first robotic comedy team.  Number Five then rescues Stephanie, leaving Newton confused more than ever at what is going on.  He soon gets more confused when Number Five kidnaps him.

Number Five then delivers him to where the lunch truck has run out of gas.  The robot reveals that his purpose was so he can talk to his creator.  So, a creator and his creation talk on top of a mountain?  Unlike last time, the conversation is all about convincing Newton that Number Five has truly become alive.  Finally, as the sun rises, Newton comes up with a way: a joke.  He tells a slightly bad one, to his credit.  However, it induces laughter in Number Five, proving his sentience.  As the trio of Newton, Number Five, and Stephanie celebrate this moment, Schroeder's troops arrive and, after some talking, seem to destroy the world's first living machine.  Marner promptly fires Schroeder.

Newton and Stephanie then drive off in the Nova van, with Newton having quit his job (if so, then why is he allowed to keep the van?).  As they wonder their next move, Number Five is revealed to have lived, having made a clone of himself out of the spare parts in the van.  With Number Five again taking the wheel, the movie heads off into the sunset (or sunrise) and ends.  Now, we take a look at all the things I didn't cover.  A good comedy, in my mind, is one where the laughs come out of the story being told or the jokes make the story.  This movie is both kinds of good.  Let me explain this by pointing out some examples.

One scene is when Number Five returns to Stephanie.  The scene is, she's in the bath as Number Five barges into the bathroom.  The music plays it serious until we learn it's just our favorite robot.  We get a good laugh and two characters get a much wanted reunion.  Another example are the scenes between Newton and Ben during the first search for Number Five.  We learn that Newton has been living at Nova for years, causing him to forget much about the outside world, including driving.  Ben eventually takes over the driving and Newton tries to figure where his friend is from, with no success.  The scenes add to the comedy and help us to understand these two characters.

Those scenes also save Ben from just being comic relief to being a much-loved character.  His misuses of common sayings are classic.  He also manages to imply certain things about other characters.  His energy never dims, even in the darkest moments of the film.  The sad thing is that he just drops out of the movie after Number Five kidnaps Newton.  Sure, he's there at the climax but it would have been nice to have him there as Newton proved Number Five was alive.  That's the best reason for a sequel, to find out the fate of Ben.  We did get a sequel with Ben, but maybe if they had worked at it, it would have been better.

How about the ways the human leads interact with Number Five?  Sheedy seems to interact with him as if he was a living thing, while Guttenberg is much like his character, it's a machine until proven otherwise.  With these interactions, the audience can believe in their characters and in Number Five.  The chemistry between the two human leads is also well-done.  In any other movie, Stephanie would just be present as a romantic item for the male lead.  However, the movie actually manages to downplay the romantic angle and present these two as just two people with a belief they totally believe in. 

I first saw this movie as a kid and it has remained with me ever since.  It's one of those movies that he have to watch if you want to be a nerd.  We all want the day a real Number Five shows up in the world, the first living machine that doesn't want to kill us all.  Until that day, "Short Circuit" will keep us company.  It's been almost thirty years and the film still holds up.  Despite the fact you can tell it is the eighties all around, it still manages to be timeless.  That's because the story itself is not tied into its era.  As technology marches forward, we can see more and more Number Five coming into existence.  Ultimately, I love this movie because it's just a story that will never get old.

This concludes this week's edition of the Film School.  Next week, we again pick an item from my vast collection of DVDs.  Next week's selection is a television movie from 1973.  Like "Short Circuit", it pretty much is covered in the signs of its era.  However, I like this movie because it contains a certain redheaded actress who will be one of our guide posts on the Film School.  Next week, we take a look at mental illness, the seventies, and television films about mental illness, you'll love this feature, which has arrived on DVD this year just in time for its 40th anniversary.  It's "Lisa, Bright and Dark", next week on the Film School.

Until then, this is John Maxwell, saying class dismissed!!! 

  

Movies I Haven't Seen - "Jekyll & Hyde... Together Again"

Greetings, students, and welcome to the Film School.  I hope you had a fun week, what with celebrating our nation's 237th birthday.  I did my best to enjoy this week but alas, I didn't.  The wrench in the machinery of my fun was this week's offering for the class.  Now, I mentioned last week that I would answer class questions at the top of the posting.  However, none of you left even one question, so I don't have to answer them.  I still want to answer so leave them at the bottom and I'll answer them next week, if possible.

 

Now, let us to this week's movie.  It's a film from 1982 called "Jekyll & Hyde... Together Again" and all reports say it's a comedy.  While I did laugh at the jokes, I also just watched in silence.  After watching it, I came to the conclusion that this film was part of the mass of movies that came out in the wake of the classic comedy "Airplane!".  Some history, in 1980, "Airplane!" came out and was a huge hit.  Now, other people tried to make films in the same vein.  However, most of those films died a slow death at the box office.

 

As usual, we begin our look at this movie with a summary.  This week, it'll be a short one for reasons I'll explain in a minute.  Our hero is Dr. Daniel Jekyll, who is trying to develop a new drug.  Unfortunately, he accidentally takes some of it and it turns him into a sex-crazed maniac named only Mr. Hyde.   That's the summary.  No, really, it is.  Any other plot point I might point out is just part of the gags that make up about 90% of the film.  I guess I should say more of the so-called plot, so I will do so.  Mind you, this plot will make no sense even in the context that the movie tries to provide with no success.

 

Dr. Daniel Jekyll is a renowned surgeon who has been asked to perform an operation on a Howard Hughes stand-in named Hubert Howes.  The operation is being termed the world's first total transplant, basically swapping old organs for new ones.  Anyway, Dr. Jekyll doesn't want to do the operation, preferring to retired so he can marry his fiancee Mary and also focus on his efforts to develop a drug to increase man's survival instinct so he can survive disease.  However, Mary's father is also Mr. Howes' lawyer, who is pushing Dr. Jekyll to give up his plans so he can do the operation on his client.

 

While on call one day, he meets a hooker named Ivy.  Dr. Jekyll is taken aback by Ivy.  However, his "love" for Mary is "stronger".  The reason for the quotes will come later.  That night, he is working in his lab on something I call super cocaine because that's what it looks like.  Anyway, Dr. Jekyll accidentally snorts some of it and ends up turning into this sex-crazed drug-fueled maniac named only Mr. Hyde.  He goes off in search of Ivy.  He finds her at her place of work, as an entertainer at some bar.  She takes him back to her place for some sex.  Some time later, Dr. Jekyll returns and, feeling shame, decides to throw out the stuff.

 

However, he can't bring himself to do it.  Instead, he takes it again and changes again.  Once again, he ends up with Ivy.  Again, Dr. Jekyll returns and feels more shame.  He goes to his fiancee, who offers some comfort.  However, he is confronted by Mary's father.  Dr. Jekyll tells Mary's father that he will do the operation on Mr. Howes.  The day of the operation, Dr. Jekyll tries to once more rid himself of the stuff, which he does.  However, he finds out he doesn't need it anymore as he changes into Mr. Hyde during the operation itself.  He first goes out in search of more super-cocaine.  However, he can't find any. 

 

Then, he receives a telegram from a committee who Mary sent Jekyll's notes on his super-cocaine research.  The committee has awarded Jekyll a $500,000 grand prize for his efforts.  The ceremony is in London, so Hyde heads off to find Ivy, so she can come with him.  He finds her but she refuses to go with him.  Hyde lets drop that he is Dr. Jekyll.  However, she believes that Hyde did something to Jekyll so she follows him to London.  Once Hyde arrives at the ceremony, he proceeds to make a mockery of the event.  This leads to a chase through the streets of London, ending on a rooftop, from which he falls from.  This causes Dr. Jekyll to be cured of Hyde.  Ivy and Mary fight over him and the two decide, after Dr. Jekyll tries to leave them both, to share him.  The End. 

 

Where do I begin?  I can't decide.  My summary here is all the real plot I can find after watching the movie.  I'm leaving a ton of things out because those things are the gags, jokes, and whatnot.  One joke that comes to mind is one as Hyde arrives in London.  As he enters the airport, there are two stations.  One is the usual "Customs" and the other, as a joke, is "Traditions".  The "Traditions" guy is pouring himself a cup of tea from a fancy tea service set.  The joke here is a play on the phrase "customs and traditions" and you know the old saying if the joke has to explain, it's not funny.  The scene also includes the following exchange:

 

Customs guy: Anything to declare?

Hyde: Man has not evolved from the primordial slime from which he came

Customs guy: Good, sir.  Enjoy your stay

(it's a paraphrase of the scene.  Some words may have been left out)

 

One area of the film that actually disturbed me was the first transformation scene.  When he changes into a chain-wearing maniac, he literally does just that.  Chains just form on him and rings literally pop out of his fingers.  The very transformation just creeped me out.  Luckily, I knew that once it was over, I wouldn't see it again.  The whole movie is just a collection of gags too numerous to name.  If you watch the movie, you know what I'm talking about.  Now, I pointed out that this film seems to have been in response to "Airplane!", what with all the gags and jokes.  However, this movie fails in that respect and I'll tell you why.

 

You see, in "Airplane!", the jokes and gags evolved out of the story and sometimes moved the story along.  A great example is when Leslie Nielsen's character is telling Elaine about the sickness striking the crew.  As he names what happens, the Captain is showing them.  Each item is followed by their actualization.  Eventually, the listing ends with the Captain out of commission and no one left to fly the plane except Elaine.  The plot is moved forward through the jokes and gags.  Here, it's all about the gags.  The jokes barely move the story along, if at all.  Plot is interrupted by gags and make no sense.

 

One example in this movie is when Hyde corners Ivy in an arcade.  She climbs into a simulator, where she drives a car.  Hyde comes in and tries to kidnap her to London with him.  As the two fight each other, the car on the screen is moving around wildly, with voices in the game reacting as if it was real, complete with gags like, "hey, you lost a hubcap", and a hubcap coming out of the simulator.  This gag doesn't move the story at all.  In fact, it stomps on the story, as any connection between this and the movie doesn't exist.  The movie literally ends with a shot of Robert Louis Stevenson spinning in his grave, lamenting the ruining of his tale.

 

Now, all this doesn't mean the movie isn't good.  It's actually pretty funny, with some moments worth the watch.  One great moment is the ceremony in London.  When Hyde comes in, he turns the thing into a performance.  He's doing stand-up comedy and tops the thing with a musical number, "Hyde's Got Nothing to Hide", complete with a all-female backing group.  The ceremony, before Hyde arrives, includes an Israeli couple getting an award for a gas that kills humans but not plants.  Dr. Jekyll's award is also given out by an actual Oscar-winning actor, who is credited as playing himself in the end credit.  The whole sequence is a fun ride. 

 

There's also a plastic surgeon character who, to me, is like the love child of Steve Martin and Charles Grodin.  He is so obsessed with his work that he has operated on himself.  He's also implied to be gay.  However, that is played more for laughs, than any actual attempt to give him personality.  One gag has him admitting to wearing ladies' underwear, with him claiming that he used to just wear it at home and now, he can't stop.  Clearly, he needs to seek help.  Another gag has him with Mary at the London ceremony, with an exchange of words ending with him saying that he doesn't like girls.  One final gag is him accepting an invite to go home with the host of the ceremony.

 

In conclusion, what makes a movie bad can also make it good.  A lack of real story is made up for by lots of great gags.  The movie's final shot, of Stevenson in his grave, doing what he all knew he was doing since this movie started playing, shows this movie knows it's bad.  It plays up that notion with gusto.  All in all, I ask you to watch this train wreck.  Now, next week, we move away from selections in my Netflix queue to a movie that I love so well.  If you love robots, the 1980s, Steve Guttenberg, the Brat Pack, and a cheesy foreign guy played by a white guy, you'll love next week's movie.  Next week, it's the 1986 classic "Short Circuit"!

 

 

Until then, this is John Maxwell saying class dismissed!!!

Movies I Haven't Seen - "For Keeps"

Greetings, students, and welcome to the first class of the John Maxwell Film School.  Class is in session and all have assembled.  We begin our school's run today with a film that was released the very year that I was born: 1988.  That film is "For Keeps", the film which brought to a close the Molly Ringwald teen film era of cinema.  The reason I choose this film first is for a very simple reason: it was the next entry on my Netflix queue.  As you will see, that very queue will influence the films we will see.

 

I should have told you this in last week's greeting, but I just forgot to add it in.  Now, a rundown on how this class will run.  First, a summary of events in the movie.  Then, a nicely-written discussion on the film by yours truly.  If there are any questions, please leave them in the comments section below.  I'll answer them at the top of next week's posting.  These questions is how all of us will learn about the film.  If you wish, you can watch the film as well.  I'll announce each week's offering at the bottom of last week's offering.  That way, we can all enjoy the good and/or the bad.

 

Now, with all of that out of the way, onward to the movie.  We begin with our star Molly and her on-screen boyfriend... at the moment of baby creation.  I'm not kidding.  This movie opens with the sex scene with only about a minute of set-up.  The sex (if you can call it that) takes place over the opening credits.  After that, we see Molly's character of Darcy looking at a nearby college.  Is it time to mention that the film's story takes place in Wisconsin?  It does.  Now, Darcy is trying to get in as a journalism major.  However, the school feels her essay isn't enough and ask her to write a new one.

 

Soon enough, the result of all that opening credit sex is revealed.  Darcy finds out she's pregnant and must tell the father, name of Stan.  Stan is, to say the least, surprised.  The movie's pacing brings us quickly to Thanksgiving, where the two are debating how to tell their parents.  Darcy's mother wants the both of them to go to Paris while Stan's father wants him to go to Caltech.  However, the news does come out and an argument takes place to decide what to do with the baby.  Finally, it is decided that the baby must die and an abortion is scheduled.

 

However, Darcy is unable to go through with it and soon enough, that piece of news is given to the parents.  The two lovers decide to move into their own place.  After some more time, the question of marriage is popped and accepted.  The two wed and they go through the paces, as they say.  Stan, after being fired from his father's shoe store, takes a job at one at the mall.  Meanwhile, Darcy goes through a series of jobs, even being fired from one when her growing stomach prevents her from doing her duties.  Eventually, the baby is born and given the name of Theadosia, or Thea for short.

 

Darcy, however, goes into post-partum depression and has a difficult time connecting with Thea, leaving Stan to do most of the baby chores.  Meanwhile, the couple try to mend their relationship with their parents for the baby's sake.  While Darcy's mother get very used to being a grandmother, Stan's parents are split on their treatment.  Stan's mother is also getting used to being a grandmother, while Stan's father has a hard time accepting being a grandfather.  Finally, one night, Darcy is left alone with Thea and the presence of a prowler turns on her material side and she protects the baby.

 

It turns out that the prowler was Stan's father, who has decided it's time to get over himself and being a grandfather to his granddaughter.  However, things again fall apart when Stan does gets accepted to Caltech.  However, they have no married freshman housing, so Stan decides to lie and say he was turned down.  The truth does come out, however, and Darcy decides that Stan needs to have a future so she leaves him.   Darcy's mother is happy that now, the three of them can go to Paris.  Stan, however, wants Darcy back.  Things, however, do their best to keep them apart.

 

Finally, as Darcy graduates from night school.... did I forget to mention that Darcy's school forced her to go to night school to save face?  Anyway, as she graduates, she is confronted by Stan, who tells her that he has applied to the same school she was and that if she comes back to him, they can go to school together and remain a couple.  The movie ends with Darcy and Stan having a reunion and the two deciding to be together forever.  All in all, this movie seems to be a very weird outing, even for someone like Molly Ringwald, who has gone on to some stranger pieces of cinema.

 

For starters, the film's opening is weird.  When I first saw the title card of the movie, it reminded me of the wormhole scene in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (Star Trek will figure a lot here).  It then dawned on me what it was.  The whole rest of the credits is scenes of sperm and egg meeting and floating away.  I take it that it is supposed to be the conception of the baby Thea.  However, unless you've watched the rest of the movie, it barely comes off that way.  Plus. it isn't much of a sex scene, both Darcy and Stan remain almost clothed during what we see of the two's part in it.  The rest is the weird images of the credits.

 

I must take point of the movie's idea of pacing.  In the first 30 minutes of the movie, the story covers the total of three months.  The movie, in five minutes, goes from Darcy at the college to the pregnancy test.  I figure that time span as at least three to four weeks, for her to notice her missing period and for her to get the test without warranting suspicion.  The best instance of this is when Darcy tells Stan that she didn't go through with the abortion.  The very next scene, by jump cut, is a street at CHRISTMAS!.  In one half-second cut, we jump three weeks. 

 

This kind of jump cut is also present when she tells Stan about the baby, the movie then jumps from early October to Thanksgiving.  Don't worry, the weird time-traveling jump cuts go away and are replaced by plodding.  To me, after Darcy has the baby, the movie suddenly loses attention of the story.  Scenes of Darcy going through her depression, Stan trying to take care of the baby, him dealing with the new grandparents, and just random scenes are edited together without any connection whatsoever.  This describes about 20 minutes of the movie.  I've heard that scriptwriters should manage screen time in service of the story.  This film fails at that.

 

One weird moment seems to make up for the film's lack of nudity during the opening sex scene.  It is a shower scene with our couple.  However, no real nudity is displayed as it is a PG-13 outing here.  However, it tries to have a laugh by saying that Darcy has never seen Stan naked before.  Let me remind you, these two are having a baby!.  She has never seen Stan's member but she has had it inside her long enough to make a kid.  This scene has no real purpose except for a laugh that makes no sense.  The Internet contains some real Ringwald nudity but this movie has none. 

 

The movie also wins a racial stereotype award for the wedding scene that, from my watching, is supposed to be a Korean-run church.  The preacher at the ceremony is nothing but a stereotype, as he talks in the usual "L is R, R is L" speech pattern.  "Rove, Hope, and Chality" might best sum up his whole speech in the movie.  The movie needs to learn how to deal with racism.  If you've watched the news lately, racial stereotypes have apparently cost someone their career.  In this case, the movie just a pass because no one is paying attention at this point.

 

That's another thing.  The movie fails to maintain constant interest in the goings-on.  Half of the movie can't decide if it is a comedy or a drama.  The very idea of teenage pregnancy is a serious topic in this day and age.  To see it in the 1980s is strange.  I did mention that Darcy's school forced her out due to her pregnancy.  The teacher who made her leave said that many girls look up to Darcy to set an example.  If that's the case, show them that having a child is not the end of the world.  Fear is not a form of birth control.  Darcy does seem to fight it but gives up because the movie decides to move forward.

 

I must mention the movie's idea of humor.  I've mention a couple of instances but there are a lot more.  Stan and Darcy both have a annoying little sibling to bring that comedic relief that's not needed.  In the summary, I said that Darcy gets fired from one job because her stomach.  That scene in the movie is Darcy working at a diner.  She hears the French fryer go off, telling her that the fries are done.  However, she can't shut off the fryer because her stomach is too big to let her reach the button.  The boss comes in, says her name, and it is said she was fired in the next scene.  There's a boycott in this guy's future for firing a pregnant teenager for having too big a stomach.

 

Another runner is that the fact that no one can pronounce Stan's last name of Bobrucz.   I should tell you that when I type that name, it was red-lined.  The shoe store that Stan's father is called Mr. B's Shoes for that reason.  Now, I can pronounce that name because I live in the Midwest and such names are common.  If we are to believe that these characters live in the Midwest, they should be able to pronounce that name.   Instead, we are treated to mispronunciations by actors who are clearly from other parts of the country.  In terms of selling its setting, it fails.  However, it does help point out real Midwesterners because they say the name correctly.

 

One more runner about this movie is the mother's obsession with all things French.  I mentioned that the mother wants to take her daughter to Paris.   No reason is given for this in the movie.  Now, I've done some research on this movie and its stars and I know why this is in there.  You see, our star Miss Ringwald is actually fluent in French.  Naturally, having such a star, the minds behind the film would show it off.  It's only one sentence but it's a nice moment.  I would like to have seen more of this in the movie.  It might have made this film a bit more watchable if, occasionally, there was some French being said.

In conclusion, this movie is a mess but a nicely-put-together mess.  The late Roger Ebert actually gave this movie three stars.  He pointed out that the outcome here is better than most teenage mothers have.  He also applauded Ringwald for her portrayal of postpartum depression.  Most critics, however, weren't kind and it signaled the end of Ringwald's reign as America's sweetheart.  In this man's opinion, it is an enjoyable outing.  I've seen worse in my life.  Next week, the subject will be the next movie in my Netflix queue.  The film that took a Robert Lewis Stevenson classic and threw it at the wall.  It's "Jekyll & Hyde... Together Again".

This is John Maxwell, saying class dismissed!