Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here. Emily Blunt is the perfect combination of smart and sexy, and she's slowly but surely creeping her way onto my "list," the last that every married or otherwise attached man is allowed to keep. And I know for a fact that Ms. Blunt is thrilled to death to hear that I'm carving out a little place for her on mine. For many of you across the country, her two latest films are hitting theaters today, although I believe both have been in limited release in a couple of cities for a little while now. And I can't wait to see her in THE YOUNG VICTORIA and THE WOLFMAN later this year. So here are reviews of her latest two works…
THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD
This movie is actually about two men: the titular mentalist, played like a Class 1 hurricane that wishes it was a Class 5 by the magical, mystical John Malkovich, and Colin Hanks as the latest in what is clearly a long line of a exasperated assistants. Buck Howard is long past his peak as a draw at the endless series of low-rent lounges and small theaters he's been performing in for decades. His claim to fame is more than 60 appearances on "The Tonight Show" (but none since Johnny Carson left the show, which should tell you everything you need to know). In many ways, he's a wounded animal who still enjoys lashing out just to show that, although his career is dying, he still has teeth.
Into this man's life enters Troy Gable (Hanks), who has recently dropped out of law school, much to the displeasure of his lawyer father (played in a bit of inspired casting by Colin's father Tom, also one of the film's executive producers). Troy wants to be a writer in Hollywood, and he thinks that working for a time with Buck Howard will look great on his résumé. There are few moments between the two men that isn't uncomfortable, and Troy soon has to realize that just because he understands that Buck's star is nearly burned out, that doesn't mean that Buck knows this. He still needs to be treated like an A-list celebrity.
A combination of a strange twist of fate and a fantastic public relations mistress (played by the lovely and sly Emily Blunt), Buck re-enters the public consciousness and makes something of miraculous comeback, one that actually lands him back on "The Tonight Show." (I've never thought much of Jay Leno before this, but I will say he's a good sport because he takes a beating in this movie.) The unlikely father-son relationship between Buck and Troy is as awkward as it is touching, and as much as Malkovich steals every scene with his histrionics, I'll remember this film as the one that finally gave Hanks a role he could really lose himself in. He's been a relegated largely to big parts in small films (ALONE WITH HER) or small to medium-sized parts in bigger works like ORANGE COUNTRY, UNTRACEABLE, and KING KONG. In THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD, the man and the character seemed perfectly matched. His natural-born sense of comic timing is used to full advantage here, but he also gets many scenes in which he plays the mystified observer of both Buck's magic and his offstage behavior. He fills in for the audience, and provides a critical but sensitive eye.
Relative newcomer writer-director Sean McGinly has a real nice touch of capturing the often sad and desperate exercise these once-famous creatures face as they continue to recapture a bit of their former glory. And while he certainly doesn't wallow in their self-pity (and certain he is not mocking them), he seems to take great care to show his respect for their craft and their professional achievements. McGinly apparently had a job similar to Troy's, working for The Amazing Kreskin, and that personal touch is really what propels the film into a kind of minor greatness. There isn't a false or missed performance in the film. Nice supporting work comes from Steven Zahn, Griffin Dunne and Debra Monk, who all serve the greater good. Malkovich has been on something of a roll lately with films like COLOR ME KUBRICK, BURN AFTER READING, ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL, AND CHANGLING. He finds the central driving force in these deeply flawed characters and makes us celebrate their shortcomings. He's a powerhouse actor who knows how to reel it in, and reveal the smallest telling details of the people he plays. In a strange way, I feel like every time I see him, it's an honor to watch him capture a character like Buck Howard. Above all else, The Great Buck Howard offers both a bizarre charm and wheelbarrows full of insight into a level of the entertainment world that has never really made me curious until I saw this film. And as a character study, it's something to behold.
SUNSHINE CLEANING
In SUNSHINE CLEANING, Blunt plays Norah, the reckless and irresponsible sister (quite a different role from her work in THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD) of Amy Adams' Rose, a cleaning woman and single mom who can never seem to make ends meet. While Rose sets herself up to be the more responsible of the sisters, she's also having an affair with a married man, (a cop played by Steve Zahn) and has a tendency to set her sights low so that her life goals seem more achievable. After getting tired of cleaning other people's homes as part of a housekeeping service, Rose decides to start her own business cleaning up crime scenes after the police have left. Using her cop boyfriend as a reference, she actually does start to get work, and the pay is good. She enlists Norah to help her and the two begin the process of cleaning up the blood and occasional goopy remains left after an act of violence.
Other than the fact that they have no idea that the work they're doing is considered hazardous waste removal and can't simply be thrown in a dumpster, the ladies do alright for themselves once they figure things out with the help of a one-armed cleaning-supplies salesman Winston (Clifton Collins Jr.). Also on hand to look after Rose's son Oscar (Jason Spevack) is Oscar-winner Alan Arkin as Rose and Norah's father. For better or worse, Arkin is playing an almost exact clone of the grandfather role he played in LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, but it hasn't gotten old, so I still loved him in this movie. New Zealand-born director Christine Jeffs and writer Megan Holley have pulled together a unique and interesting group of individuals who seem almost randomly thrown together for this story, but that makes it more like reality. These people weren't meant to complement each other or complete one another; these are characters designed to clash and be at odds for large portions of this movie.
I don't think Adams (JUNEBUG, ENCHANTED, CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR, MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY, DOUBT) is capable of giving a bad performance, and she does not disappoint here. But the real revelation is Blunt's drifting, reckless Norah, who seems destined to spend her life making bad decisions. In one of the film's more touching storylines, Rose seeks out the daughter of a dead woman whose house they have cleaned. She ends up befriending the woman (a lesbian played by Mary Lynn Rajskub) who thinks they are falling in love, and the end result is... well, quite moving.
Despite a few plot holes that could have easily been dealt with in an extra line or two of dialogue, SUNSHINE CLEANING is a wholly satisfying experience. Adams and Blunt are two of the best actresses working today, and I particularly like that they seem to go out of their way not to repeat themselves in terms of the types of roles they play. This film features two very unlikely heroes in jobs that might turn the stomachs of us normal humans, and they arise from the experience better human beings (hopefully). There is certainly a great deal of human in the piece, but those aren't necessarily the best moments. Watching Adams and Blunt seethe at each other as Norah makes mistake after mistake that puts both life and the business at risk are the best moments in the film, because the two fight like sisters fight. They say you can't truly hate someone unless you truly loved them first, and this film takes that to heart. Between this and THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD coming out in the same week, this is a great time for some of the best character studies I've seen in quite a while.
-- Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com
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