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Just Another Anonymous Coward takes the first look at Curtis "L.A. CONFIDENTIAL" Hanson's WONDER BOYS
Hey folks, Harry here with the self titled, 'Just Another Anonymous Coward' taking a look at Curtis Hanson's first film since the highly praised and loved L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (a film many felt was cheated at Oscar time, though I was not one of them... I loved the film... But loved the other one more). Certainly a tough follow up, but it seems from the sound of this review (and the tidbits in the nether) that he's pretty much made another very good film. WHich is great, because we need Hanson on a cycle of making great movies.... But as we hear more... we'll see... The film isn't scheduled to hit till sometime in the Spring of 2000. SO take it easy... This one is quite a ways down the road.
Hi Harry!
My girlfriend managed to snag an invite to an NRG
sponsored buzz preview test screening for an
upcoming Paramount film, Wonder Boys.
Based on the novel of the same name (written by
Michael Chabon), which I've neither heard of nor read,
the story unfolds over a weekend festival of literati
at the University of Pittsburgh.
Professor Grady Tripp's (played by Michael Douglas)
weekend starts off badly. His wife left him, his
editor's in town for the weekend and his latest
contractual obligation novel is rather late, his
mistress, the wife of another professor at the
university, announces she's pregnant.
What follows, while not quite the out of control
roller coaster that is After Hours, is still a weekend
of instability that slaps Professor Tripp in the face
and makes his head get screwed on right.
This is another great performance from Michael
Douglas. Roger Ebert called him a "versatile pro" in
his review of "A Perfect Murder", and here he proves
it. Grady Tripp is the sort of character you expect to
be played by Nick Nolte or Jeff Bridges, but Douglas
is great.
All the other performances are either great, or really
good. Frances McDormand, playng his mistress, proves
she doesn't need to sleep with the director to get a
part, Robert Downey Jr. plays a gay version of himself
(I agree with David Poland here, I want to see the
Robert Downey Jr. biopic), and Tobey Maguire (looking
a lot like Kyle MacLachlan) turns in a performance
unfortunately reminiscent of Wes Bentley in American
Beauty. Hopefully by the time this movie comes out,
American Beauty will have been gone from the theatres
for a while. There's also a bit part played with
relish by Rip Torn.
There's some great location shots of Pittsburgh, the
story unfolds at a decent pace, though the story did
kind of slow towards the end, I blame this on the lack
of a score, because there was nothing to cut to pick
up the pace. That's right, there's nothing to cut.
Everything is used, there are no loose ends or
dangling subplots. I expect one subplot to be trimmed
out prior to release, leaving us with just the setup
and scratching our heads when we leave the film, but
that's just because Hollywood producers are idiots.
There are a few soundtrack songs dropped in, which are
all good, and fit okay.
The production seems to be the kind of nostalgia
vision we saw in Payback. There are no cell phones,
the writers all use typewriters, and we even saw one
rotary dial phone.
Lots of drug use, one dog killing, and implied
homosexual sex means the Childcare Action Project
http://www.capalert.com/ is going to have a field
day with this one.
I'm definitely going to see the final product when
it's released, and you should too.
Call me Just Another Anonymous Coward.
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Michael Douglas is great at playing men who's lives fall apart. LA Confidential inspired me to read every James Ellroy book published and I'd recommend everyone else to do the same. A great lead actor and a great director this film should rock.
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do you think that robert downey, jr. is the only actor in hollywood with chronic drug problems? he just tends to get caught more than the rest because he does dumb stuff (ie, breaking into a neighbor's house and sleeping there, etc.)
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Robert Downey, Jr. has been fairly open (for a Hollywood star, anyway) about his bisexuality. So I think calling his character "the gay version of himself" is kind of redundant. And I agree that he probably doesn't do more drugs than a hundred others in Hollywood -- he just seems to have a "get caught" wish.
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There's so much I could say: for one thing, the script doesn't treat the viewer like a retarded child riding the short bus--it's complicated and full of a lot of nuanced characterization and dialogue. Also, there are fricking zillions of characters and neat little subplots you might not catch in one viewing. The direction is cool because it doesn't act like a typical "period" movie (ie, the camera doesn't linger lovingly on every antique car or rotary dial phone). The acting is fricking incredible. The mystery is compelling and cool. But really, like they say, if you have to ask, you'll never know.
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LA Confidential was definitely too complicated to enjoy for many, but I thought it was great, impressively well crafted and smart... with one of the greatest screenplays of the 90s, and a couple of great performances too. My conclusion is that Hanson proved to be a great director and, joined by the obviously talentend Mr. Douglas, surely did a great movie. Hope it is so, I will see it for sure with great expectations. Anyone interested in visiting "Gon's Movie Database" type http://go.to/gmdb -Gon
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was ho-hum. to me at least. Subplots, shrubplots. It modeled itself after 40's style detective film, so it had that "noirish" feel. I really tried to get into it, cause i really like films of that sort from that era. but ended up getting bored. maybe it had too many subplots, maybe the characters just didn't seem believable or interesting. who was the central character? was it russel crowes? sure didn't seem like it at times. A much better (imho) "noirish" detective film is "Devil in a Blue Dress" with denzel washington. Beat the pants off la confidential as far as i'm concerned. don chito kicks ass. yeah.
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First, it's Don Cheadle, not Chito. And second, the truth is they are both great films based on great novels by great authors. What made LA Confidential so great is that is was film noir without hitting you in the head. The acting was subtle and sophisticated, which may have been lost on many - no shouting or excessive emphasis. The cast was full of brilliance. Devil in a Blue Dress was pretty good, but those who have read the book know it could have been much better. Although the casting was great, it suffered from poor direction in parts. LA Confidential gave a great feel to the period, and didn't feel the need to shove anything down people's throats. I thought the characters to be fascinating, but I guess people'ss opinions differ.
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Oce upon a time I really loved L.A. Confidential. Than I read all of James Ellroy's books and realized that it was so unfaithful to the book (aparti from retaining a few names here and there) they should have changed the name. I haven't read Devil In A Blue Dress but I definitely preferred it purely as a film over L.A Confidential. Sizemore and Cheadle were so kickass alone they made it worthe seeing. An Ellroy book is so incredibly complex and HUGE every tim that they need to be don either for television or in the way JFK or Nixon were done. That is the only way they could be done faithfully. It would work wonderfully aswell.
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Sep 10, 1999 2:06:36 PM CDT
I'm trying to pen this letter while getting distacted by the ban
by das boob
LA Confidential was truly a fantastic film for many reasons.First, I feel this one of the first movies in decades to try to live up to Chinatown and NOT get swallowed up in bad,or unbelievable subplots. Secondly, there was not one weak character or supporting character...I mean Spacey is my favorite actor of all time but damn,Crowe and Cromwell really gave fantastic performances as well.Not too many ensamble movies are good these days because directors usually can't pull the synergy together or the A-list actor involved doesn't want to share the screen with too many people that will upstage them.As to Hanson's films, I really enjoyed Bad Influence when it came out(loooong time ago)because he took two typecast b-listers (Rob Lowe and James Spader)and totally reversed there usual casting...ok,Rob WAS a little over the top but I still enjoyed it.As for Michael Douglas, he said it himself...he is the living embodiment of the middle-class,greedy,decadent,philandering,evil, white man. His best films are the ones where the theme is "Ironic Punishment from Hell", ie:Fatal Attraction,The Game,Falling Down,Basic Instinct,Disclosure...in all, his characters make quick,bad, hedonistic decisions which blow up horribly in his face. The beauty being, you always come out feeling sorry for the guy, no matter what kind of bad place he's put himself or his family in.In saying this, I hope Wonder Boys lives up to expectations.
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Why did this movie kick major ass? Four reasons: Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, and Kim Basinger. Is there anyone cooler than these guys? Pearce and Crowe are HOT, Spacey is COOL, and no one beats Basinger. Damn this movie rocks!!!
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Okay, I obviously love LA Confidential (look at my ID) and to the person who wondered where the stand out scenes were in this flick, let me try: the interrogation, the shoot-out, Exley and the Capt. after the shoot-out, the hooker Lana Turner, every scene with Kevin Spacey (3 words: "I don't remember."), Lynn & Exley's "you okay?" I could go on and on...it'd be easier to say this: the 'plot summary' that Exley gives should be condensed. But I didn't complain the first time because I needed it, anyway. As far as stand outs...no one, because it was such a damn good ensemble. I have no qualms saying this movie tops Chinatown (and Chinatown is great, too.)...ah...what a movie.
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The film was just the best and its just sad it wasn't released the same year as the truly awful English Patient (any film that turns a real life homosexual spy who willingly betrayed his comrades and lived happilly as a East German secret policeman after the war into a noble self sacrificing hero should be reviled). If LA had been released in that year rather than early the next then it would of walked away with a lot more gold come Oscar night. Pearce was outstanding as were Crowe,Spacey,Cromwell and even suprisingly enough Basinger. As for being faithful to the book I'm a big LOTR fan and its going to hurt to see cuts made for the 3 film versions but I'd rather a film that captures the feel if not the complexity of the book and I think LA is as close as you are going to get with such a complex book. As for Wonder Boys I hope Douglas doesn't phone in his performance as he seems to do about 50% of the time, if he's on song he is as good a leading man as you get.
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I dont know what the hell you guys are smoking but your all damn wrong. No matter what you say I will never ever stop believing that Hanson sucks. I mean come on, all they do is sing MMMBOP over and over and the girls go crazy. They are untalented and have sex with each other on a regular basis. So you guys can go on believing whatever you want but I still say Hanson sucks.
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Quite simply, LA Confidential is one of my favorite films of all time. The beauty is the ensemble cast: Spacey, especially, taking a role that required him to subordinate to newcomers Crowe and Pearce. He clearly relished the opportunity to create this perfectly realized character. All three were compromised in some way: Exley by careerism, White by vengeance, and Vincennes by glamor. All had to sacrifice those driving forces to solve the mystery and bring about justice. Regarding the book, having read it after seeing the movie, it becomes clear how many changes were made: but they were all wise choices, like excising an entirely unnecessary subplot that involved a bizarre and unfair satire of Walt Disney, and would have invited unwanted direct comparisons to Chinatown. By focusing on the three cops instead, Brian Helgeland extracted the best part of the book and found the human heart of the material. Incidentally, some of the story was true: there really was a Bloody Christmas "cop riot", for instance.
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I am just glad to hear the film is coming along. I am a student at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and I remember the hassle we all went through when the company was shooting on our campus last spring.
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