The Triplets of Belleville - Les Triplettes de Belleville (2003)

"What have you got to say to Grandma?"

Director

Sylvain Chomet

Cast
Graziellia de Villa - Madam Souza

Noël Baye - Champion

There's no other way for me to start this post other than stating right away that this is one of the best animated movies I have ever seen. Among those "seen" movies I'm referring to, I'm thinking along the lines of some of Disney's early films that were clearly made for the sake of showing off the company's animation skills - "Fantasia" (1940), "Make Mine Music" (1946), "Melody Time" (1948), and "Sleeping Beauty" (1959). Those are impressively animated movies which, to me, stand above the rest of Disney movies as far as animation goes. 

I'm also referring to another impressively animated film, "Akira" (1988), from Japan. In my mind, "Akira" certainly sets a high animation standard. 

As I've mentioned before, back in my single and living alone days I used to pull random movies off the shelf at my local library so I could call myself cultured. I'd look for movies I was completely unfamiliar with. The French animated film "Les Triplettes de Belleville" was one such movie. I watched the U.S. version "The Triplets of Belleville" which I'm fairly certain is the same as the French version, but in English. Regardless, I was instantly enthralled with its story, atmosphere, style, animation, music, humor, and imagery.

You know, there have been a few instances (maybe more?) when I've watched a movie, and after a while completely forgot I ever watched it. Normally, my wife is the one who reminds me I've seen a forgotten movie before. If I happen to watch something my wife and I have seen before, something will click in the back of my mind prompting me to ask, "have we seen this before?" The answer is normally "yes." But the when, why, and where is forever lost in my memory even after my wife recalls those details.

In some cases, I'll faint recollections of actors or scenes will remain in the back of my mind like ghosts in a haunted house but everything else is gone. 

Such is the case with Elijah Wood's 2005 movie, "Everything is Illuminated." 

I remember watching it. I remember Wood's role, and some of the scenes. Yet, I had to look up Wood's filmography because I couldn't remember the storyline nor the title. 

Thankfully, "The Triplets of Belleville," a film by French animator and director, Sylvain Chomet, has remained completely unforgotten since I first found it at the library over 10 years ago. 

The film opens with the singing trio, Rose, Violette, and Blanche, in the height of their musical career. The animation in the opening scene is stylized like a Max Fleischer cartoon of the 1930s. Characters have rubbery contortions, wavy thin arms and wide-open eyes, (i.e. Betty Boop or Popeye). Overweight wives drag along their small, subjected, skinny husbands behind them. 

A Vaudeville-esque show opens with musical performances from the likes of Fred Astaire and Josephine Baker. Each one ends terribly.

The story shifts to somewhere in France where Madame Souza is raising her grandson, Champion. They're watching this opening segment as it airs on an old variety show on television.

Souza asks the young Champ "is it over?" Clearly bored and, perhaps, a bit depressed, he doesn't reply. Instead, he watches the next segment - a piano concert of Glenn Gould playing Bach.

The opening of "The Triplets of Belleville," animated in
the style of early cartoonist Max Fleischer.

Of course, Souza takes notice of Champ's potential interest in the piano music. She drags out an old piano and tries to raise his spirits and his interest by playing scales. Champ doesn't take the bait. 

Souza realizes that her grandson is suffering from loneliness. So, she gets him a dog named Bruno.

Though he does appreciate the dog, neither Bruno nor anything else his grandmother gives him to raise him up from the doldrums of loneliness seems to work. 

While making his bed one afternoon, she looks at all the pictures of bicycles and bicyclists he has taped to his bedroom wall. She also finds his scrapbook filled with cutouts of bicyclists and bicycles.

So, Souza gets him a tricycle. Champ is thrilled!

He now has a means to pursue his passion of bicycling.  

The story shifts to Champ as an adult. Souza helps her grandson train for the Tour de France.

She even fixes his bike wheel and bent spokes. 

During the Tour de France, Champ and a couple other bicyclists are kidnapped by mafia henchmen 

who take them across the ocean to the U.S. 

Realizing what has happened, Souza pursues them by renting a paddleboat and chasing the ship across the ocean. 

Once she's in America, in the City of Bellville, she has no money and no place to stay. But she's determined regardless to find her grandson.

While camping out under a bridge one night, trying to occupy her mind by making a small tune on Champ's bicycle wheel, the famous Triplets just so happen to stumble upon her small encampment and take her to their apartment for food and warmth. 

Impressed by her musical talent, they include her into their musical show. 

During a performance at a swanky night club, Souza recognizes the mobsters who kidnapped Champ.

With the help of the Triplets, she is able to follow them to Champ's location where he and other bicyclists are forced to bike in a simulated race for gambling purposes. 

Souza and the Triplets square up against an entire underground of thugs to rescue Champ.

"The Triplets of Belleville" accomplishes a lot with very little spoken word. 

The only speech in the movie comes through electronic means - the television, a record, a radio. Or, when Madame Souza speaks to her grandson while off screen. 

Charlie Chaplin did something similar with his movie, "Modern Times" (1936). Save for Chaplin's gibberish pantomime song in that film, the majority of speech comes through artificial means - a screen intercom, a radio, or an audio recording. 

An old rule of storytelling is to show rather than tell. This film follows the rule superbly leaving so much room for the pantomime to speak for itself. And what's more impressive is that the characters are likeable without having to talk.

The triplets themselves are certainly an odd trio, finding the means in ordinary objects to make music - a old refrigerator, a vacuum cleaner, and a newspaper. Each item is treated with respect. 

The city of Belleville is just as much a caricature as the characters themselves. It's a mix of New York City, Paris, Montral and Quebec City according to a 2003 article in the SF Gate. 

The rampant self-indulgence of the city is portrayed through the obesity of just about everyone in town. Even their "Statue of Liberty" is robust and portly. 

On top of that, the image of wine bottles is incorporated in most of the city's architecture. 

There's a running quip among some of the side characters taking on animal characteristics. A short maintenance guy whom Souza follows to the mafia thugs has protruding buck teeth and makes a squeaking noise when he breaths.

Some of the bicyclists have longer faces like a horse and make horse sounds when out of breath. 

One subtle jab shows a logo with a smiling cow's face that looks like a woman. 

And the diet of the sisters is frogs prepared in various forms, even as dessert. 

The sound and musical scores, particularly the use of Mozart's Mass in C Minor, are absolutely amazing and truly effective in establishing the atmosphere Chomet is animating. 

His animation is masterful as it steals the show. To me, the style is like Al Hirschfeld caricatures heavily mixed with French street art. The detail is entrancing. I could stare at these images for hours. The subtle innocent pokes at society, down to the characters eye movements, as well as the depiction of light and shadow is what makes the animation stand out among other animated movies. 

A lot of scenes possess so much that it takes several rewatches to see it all. This, mixed with the panning to show off each nuance and detail, is entrancing. 

Chomet's work is certainly not obscure. The film simply deserves more attention. 

He once animated a couch gag for the sitcom "The Simpsons" in 2014. The show even parodied "The Triplets of Belleville" in the episode "Angry Dad: The Movie" (season 22, episode 14). 

This is a fresh movie unlike any other animated film I've seen. The story is drips with originality. The care and devotion of Chomet, who was inspired by his own youth, is ever present in the work. 

The same is true for the film's pacing. Initially, I thought this would drag out. How wrong I was. 

At a run time of one hour and 21 minutes, the film accomplishes its goal without overstaying its welcome. The film's title song "Belleville Rendez-Vous" sung by French rock singer, Matthieu Chedid, known professionally as "M," left me with an ear worm. It's catchy! 
Chomet's film is a jewel of a film in the world of animation. It certainly sets an animation standard.

Funny Farm (1988)

"What's going on, Andy? You're sinking into a pit of self-pity, defeatism, and alcohol... and you're enjoying it!"

Director

George Roy Hill

Cast

Chevy Chase - Andy Farmer

Madolyn Smith - Elizabeth Farmer

Kevin O'Morrison - Sheriff Ledbetter
Alice Drummond - Ethel Dinges
Bill Fagerbakke - Lon Criterion
Nicholas Wyman - Dirk Criterion
Glenn Plummer - Mickey
Joseph Maher - Michael Sinclair


The movie "Funny Farm" is an eighties comedy that doesn't seem to be as nostalgically remembered as other comedies from the same decade.
That's a bit strange as the movie is one of comedian Chevy Chase's best. However, that's kind of understandable as it had some heavy competition upon its release back in June of 1988. 

"Friday the 13th VII: The New Blood," "Crocodile Dundee II," "Willow" and "Rambo III" came out in theaters the month before, just in time for summer. 

"Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" "Coming to America" and "Big" came out in June. And then "Die Hard" was released the following month. Stiff summer competition, indeed, leaving "Funny Farm" with all the qualifications to be a "cult classic."

I knew about "Funny Farm" for a long time. I remember seeing copies of it at my local video rental store back in the early 1990s. However, I've never seen it until now. Even so, I've been curious why it's not talked about like other comedies of the 1980s.

Chase plays sportswriter, Andy Farmer, who's leaving New York City and the paper business to move into the nice, quiet rural town of Redbud, Vermont with his wife, Elizabeth (Madolyn Smith).

He plans to embrace the small quiet atmosphere so he can focus on writing a novel. 

As soon as they move into their new country home, all the less-than-charming peculiarities of rural community life intrude on their expectations just as soon as they breath in the open country air. The local mailman is drunk by the time he reaches their home. They can't even enjoy the fresh air itself as there's buzzing, stinging bugs sharing that the same air. It only takes one annoying and intrusive hornet to destroy one's tranquility. 

Andy's publisher paid him in advance to write a novel, which he gets to work on right away once they're all moved in. 

Little does he know that Elizabeth, inspired by the open space, is also writing a story though she's not a writer. 

Andy manages to finish the first chapter and presents the manuscript to Elizabeth as a gift while they're on a romantic getaway at a nearby cabin. 

After reading it, her reaction is less than favorable. In fact, her thoughts are completely critical. It even brings her to tears. This critique pushes Andy into a despair which hurts their marriage. 

Later, his publisher drops in to see his manuscript after letters from the publishers informing Andy about his deadline go unanswered. 

Desperate not to lose his advance payment, Andy gives the publisher Elizabeth's manuscript, claiming it's his own.

Elizabeth gets a call days later from the publisher who loves the "children's book." Realizing what Andy had done, Elizabeth packs up and leaves the moping Andy, and wants a divorce. 

Chevy Chase and Madolyn Smith in "Funny Farm."

So, the dream of a quiet country life - a nice place to write a book - is now down the toilet for Andy. 

He and Elizabeth decide to sell the house. To make the process speedy and give potential homebuyers a good impression on the community, they ask Redbud residents during a town meeting to help by turning the entire town into a Norman Rockwell-esque community just in time for Christmas. Elizabeth even passes out old copies of the "Saturday Evening Post" with Rockwell images on the covers to give townspeople ideas on how to pull this off. 

In return, the Farmers offer to donate $15,000 to the entire town, plus $50 to each resident who helps. 

So, the town agrees. And when another couple take interest in their home, the whole town puts on the facade of a quiet, comfy hometown that only Norman Rockwell could love. And they really put themselves into the sham, even the drunk mailman. 

Lest I forget, as a "Ghostbusters" fanboy, I need to mention Elmer Bernstein composed the musical score for "Funny Farm." Bernstein also composed the score for "Ghostbusters." 

Also, actress Alice Drummond, who plays the librarian at the beginning of "Ghostbusters," plays Redbud's antique dealer, Ethel Dinges.

The "Funny Farm" plot seems like a mix of the 1975 Neil Simon movie "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" with Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft, with a slight tinge of the 1986 Tom Hanks and Shelley Long comedy "The Money Pit."

Like "The Prisoner of Second Avenue," this film sees the roles of the protagonists switched thanks to unwanted circumstances that fall in their lap. 

Andy Farmer is the writer who is unable to write a good book while his non-writing wife happens to write a children's novel that quickly gains the approval of Andy's publisher. All the while, the small hometown atmosphere is more problematic than they thought it would. It's similar to Jack Lemmon's character, Mel Edison, losing his job and having to perform house duties while his wife Edna (Anne Bancroft) ends up being the bread winner as she quickly finds gainful employment. Like Mel, Andy is left with his wandering thoughts and obsessions with his less-than-perfect environment. And living in New York City ends up driving him crazy. 

While the Farmers' new home in "Funny Farm" is a beautiful house that's certainly no money pit, it's similar to the film "The Money Pit" in that the couple are met with bizarre house-related obstacles such as finding a casket with human remains buried in the garden. But this scenario of let-downs and burdens extends outside of the house into their new community.

Once they have the casket exhumed and taken to the local cemetery for a proper burial, the Farmers are met with a huge funeral bill they refuse to pay. It leads to the body being put back in their garden. 

In another scene, Andy goes to fish in the pond near the house. However, he ends up catching a live snake that makes its way into the house. 

I love how the film utilizes imagery similar to Normal Rockwell's "Saturday Evening Post" covers. The only other movie I know of that does that is "The Sting" with Robert Redford and Paul Newman.

"Funny Farm" makes a joke out of such small-town charm like that depicted in Rockwell's paintings. As the small town of Redbud ends up lacking such charm, the Farmers pay the residents to at least make it look like it possesses it. 

They even hand out old copies of the "Saturday Evening Post" as visual aids. 

The flow of the story is impressively well paced. The situation comes about naturally as all the plot points fall into place rather than being pushed. Neither the story nor humor feel forced or awkward. 

The comedy is a little more subtle than other comedies of the 1980s. Still, it's clear when it comes about. The story and humor work really well together. The plot lets the comedy work on its own.

Again, nothing feels forced. That's no surprise as director George Roy Hill has made some of the best films in movie history such as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969) and "The Sting" (1973) - the latter being one of my top favorite films. "Funny Farm" certainly couldn't have a better director. 

On a side not, I had a dream a few weeks ago in which I couldn't remember the title of "The Sting." When I awoke, I had to think about it. What was that movie with Robert Redford and Paul Newman in which they play con artists, and the theme is a Scott Joplin tune? Weird, right?  

Anyways, Chase is perfect in this role. He taps into that all-American character I recognize when he plays Clark Griswald in the National Lampoon Vacation movies. Here, he adds a hint of his insult comedy he's well known for. He plays his part like a duck on a frozen pond. 

If I want to nit-pick, a small bit of the comedy is a tad slapsticky but not far-fetched. I'm referring namely to a scene in which Andy goes fishing in a local competition with three other locals. When a fishhook gets caught in neck of one of the fishermen, the three other teammates fumble around like the Marx Brothers trying to hold him down and get the hook out. The injured man yells at them to stop. Farmer tries punching him in an attempt to knock him out, but it's not working. So, he punches him a few more times. Then he grabs an oar and accidentally slaps one of the other guys. It's just mishap after mishap. What's hilarious, however, is that the guy he tried to punch as a rescue attempt hates him throughout the rest of the movie, resorting to strangling and punching each time they cross paths. 

My other nitpick is the film title. While Chase and Smith play characters with the last name "Farmer," the title seems like a stretch. It doesn't quite fit the premise, namely because the story doesn't take place on a farm. Farming has nothing to do with the plot. I understand the premise of going crazy, but the title makes the movie seem like it's sillier and cornier than it is. "Funny Farm" sounds more like an early working title that just didn't get change by the time of the film's release. But, again, that's easy to look over.   

"Funny Farm" is an odd-man-out comedy, and one of the best of such comedies I've seen. It's impressive how well the entire story comes together, and how naturally one thing leads to another. The final act with the Farmers paying the community to make Redbud the kind of town they wanted in the first place rings of originality. 

The film proves to be a small wonder that deserves appreciation though it doesn't seem to be the nostalgic flick other films of the decade are. If the label "cult classic" is a term of endearment, "Funny Farm" truly deserves the compliment. 

Dutch (1991)

"You might be the toughest little whacker at the junior high but in my world, you're about as worrisome as a cloudy day."

Director

Peter Faiman

Cast

Ed O'Neill - Dutch Dooley

Ethan Randall - Doyle Standish

JoBeth Williams - Natalie Standish

Christopher McDonald - Reed Standish

Ari Meyers - Brock

E.G. Daily - Hailey

L. Scott Caldwell - Homeless woman

 

When it comes to John Hughes's holiday comedy films, specifically his Thanksgiving comedy holiday films, "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" is likely all that comes to mind for most audiences. Released in 1987, it's a holiday comedy road trip movie about two complete strangers, Del Griffith (John Candy) and Neal Page (Steve Martin), who end up trying to get from New York City to Chicago together in time for Thanksgiving. 

Earlier this week, a special edition of the film was released with an additional hour of extended or cut scenes - a special edition I've been hoping a long time would surface. 

Hughes' other Thanksgiving comedy road trip movie with two people who don't necessarily pair well doesn't seem to garner as much attention.  

"Dutch" was released in 1991 and stars Ed O'Neal and Ethan Randall. Written by Hughes, it uses a similar formula to "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles." That might partly account for its lack of acclaim. It also bombed upon its release, earning $4.6 million domestically after its $17 million budget. That also might account for its lack of popularity.

The film begins with a posh dinner party in which Natalie Standish (JoBeth Williams) finds herself unable to fit in. She's not as stuck up as other attendees. Her new boyfriend, Dutch Dooley (Ed O'Neill), who's also at the party, is certainly not one of these upper-class types. Dutch is a middle-class working man.

He's a bit coarse and doesn't dress in clothes as nice as theirs. 

During the party, Dutch has the "pleasure" of meeting Natalie's wealthy arrogant ex-husband, Reed (Christopher McDonald). 

Reed cancels his Thanksgiving Day plans with their son, Doyle (Ethan Randall) who's away at a private boarding school in Georgia, as he has to take a business trip to London. Or so he says.

Being the jerk he is, Reed has Natalie tell their son of his cancellation despite Doyle looking forward to seeing his dad. 

Unwilling to break the news to Doyle since Reed should be the one to do it, Natalie wants Doyle to come home to her house for Thanksgiving.

Doyle, however, blames his mother for his parents' divorce, and refuses to spend the holiday with her. Instead, he stays at school - alone.  
Dutch sees an opportunity to score some relationship points with Natalie. 

Ethan Randall and Ed O'Neill in "Dutch."

He offers to drive from Chicago to Georgia and pick up Dutch for Thanksgiving. 
When he finally arrives at the school unannounced, he finds Doyle is just as snobbish and self-centered as his dad. Their introduction is rather painful (literally) for Dutch. 
Still, he makes sure he keeps his promise, and drives her reluctant kid back to Chicago. 
As the pair take on the long road trip back to Natalie's, they're met with several obstacles along the way such as Doyle parking Dutch's car in the middle of the highway, leaving the pair forced to end up hitchhiking with two prostitutes who steal Dutch's wallet. 
Some of the comedy borders on slapstick, namely with Doyle beating up on Dutch starting as soon as the two meet. It continues all the way unto the end in a tit for tat style comedy. 
Unlike the same general premise in "Plains, Trains, and Automobiles," Doyle is at the mercy of Dutch, driving home with him against his will. It changes the comedy a bit since the motivations for the characters in both movies are different. 
In "Plains, Trains, and Automobiles," Del Griffith and Neal Page are only stuck with each other by random circumstances. Their only shared motivation is to get to Chicago. The comedy lies in these two completely different people with nothing in common stuck in each other's company all because their flight got cancelled. The audience wants to see how they'll interact in various circumstances.
With "Dutch," Doyle has no choice about going back home. He doesn't want to go because he blames his mother over his parents' divorce. At the same time, Dutch is trying to score points with his mother by driving round trip to pick him up. Doyle uses Dutch as a way to get back at his mom. Dutch uses Doyle as a means to garner love and appreciation from Doyle's mom.
During most of the trip, Doyle looks down on Dutch, berating him for his middle income and working-class social standing. Dutch, meanwhile, reacts by putting young Doyle in his place because he's the one with life experience and self-dependency. Doyle just has his jerk of a father's influence and money.
In one scene when the two are at a diner having breakfast, Doyle starts in on Dutch.
"I beat you mentally, then I beat you physically," Doyle says.
After a little bit of back and forth, Doyle says, "You're a clod. And the cool part is I can say that. And you can't do anything about it because I can kick your butt."
Dutch smirks, leans forward and stares right into his eyes.
"Well, I won't cop to that, but I will say this. There's one thing I can do that you can't," Dutch says.
"Oh yeah? What?"
"I can pay for my breakfast."

This gotcha comedy carries into the next scene after breakfast when Dutch and Doyle are outside the diner thinking about what to do next as Dutch lost his car the night before. 

Dutch says in passing, "Nothing burps better than bacon. Your water looked tasty."

The movie carries a light bit of charm to it, thanks to the familiar Hughes formula. In that standard formula of his, there's an experience out there for his characters to see for themselves and thus improve their faults or misconceptions. All they need to do, in some way or another, is step out of their element or mindset through some situation out of their control, and face reality. Or, they have to face life through someone else's eyes. It's a standard Hughes trope seen in a lot of his movies such as "The Breakfast Club," "Uncle Buck," and even "Home Alone." His characters are put in some undesirable situation (Saturday detention, a long road trip with some unsavory shlub, or being stuck at home while the family is off on their Christmas vacation) only to come out cleaner in the end. 
"Dutch" is already similar enough to "Plain, Trains, and Automobiles" in more ways than the Hughes formula. Both movies depict a car getting destroyed. The main characters have their wallet stolen. The final destination in both movies is Chicago. The main characters don't like each other. And they finally make it to their destination following setback after setback. 
Both Ed O'Neill and Ethan Randall really put forth as good a performance as they can muster.

O'Neill doesn't mushy up the role. He plays it genuine and straightforward.
He was in the middle of playing "Al Bundy" in the sitcom "Married...With Children," - a sitcom I don't care for - in 1991. His sitcom character was known for luck never being on his side, and yet he always has the final insult. His Dutch carries a bit of that same comedy style since luck certainly isn't on Dutch's side. Still, he manages to put Doyle in his place with his sharp wit.  
O'Neill has a likeable persona to him even in this movie. He has a knack for playing the all-American working-class man. Unfortunately, some of the round-a-bout decisions Dutch makes only serve to maintain Hughes' comedy. The circumstances aren't completely working enough against him to justify some of the out-of-the-way decisions Dutch makes which just lack common sense. He only makes such choices to keep the movie a comedy. Regardless, it doesn't always match. 
Despite his obnoxiousness, Doyle is a sympathetic character. He carries a lot of issues rooted in his parents' divorce, and his bitterness towards his mother. He lashes out as he's a product of a love that doesn't exist anymore. The movie some effort to explore Doyle. But his problem-child vengeful actions towards Doyle get in the way since the movie is, again, trying to get laughs out of the audience. It goes on for a little too long to the point where it feels forced, and I would have hardly cared less if Dutch tossed Doyle off a bridge, and then broke off his relationship with his girlfriend.
Speaking of "The Breakfast Club," I wonder if Doyle Standish is any relation to Molly Ringwald's character, Claire Standish. Afterall, they're both from wealthy families. 
Also, according to imdb.com, John Candy was considered for the role of Dutch. I'm sure he would have nailed the role. Yet, I think it would have made the movie even more similar to "Plains, Trains, and Automobiles." 
"Dutch" is not a completely terrible movie as it certainly tries to be a likeable, relatable comedy. There's chemistry between O'Neill and Randall. But the scenario and Hughes's formula grows weak and ridiculous despite its best efforts. It almost works, but lacks the push to get it where it should be.

Being There (1979)

"Chauncey, you have the gift of being natural." 

Director

Hal Ashby

Cast

Peter Sellers - Chance the gardener/ Chauncy Gardiner

Melvyn Douglas - Ben Rand

Shirley MacLaine - Eve Rand

Richard Dysart - Dr. Robert Allenby

Jack Warden - the U.S. President

Ruth Attaway - Louise

Way back around 2010, I got into a habit of checking out random films and documentaries I was unfamiliar with from my local library. Back then, I was living alone. I was single. I was in college. I felt adventurous. But I was cheap. So, that's as far as my adventurous-ness would take me.

Checking out the obscurest (for me, at least) movies I could find became a long-lasting hobby of mine.

Some of those movies, such as "The Paper," I've already written about. Others, such as the French animated movie "The Triplets of Belleville" I'll eventually write about some day. 

Back then, I hadn't heard of the 1979 movie "Being There." Seeing that it stars Peter Sellers, one of my top five favorite comedians of all time, was the selling point for me. And yes, I do have a mental list of top five favorite comedians. 

But I wasn't as keen a movie viewer then as I believe I am now. So, I missed a few things here and there in the story. Still, I was intrigued by "Being There" ever since. 

A few years after first watching "Being There," I came across another movie I never heard of that aroused my intrigue. That movie was the 2004 made-for-TV biopic "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" starring Geoffrey Rush. That's another movie I hope to review later. 

There's a part of the movie that depicts the period when Sellers' worked on this particular film.  

which is based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Jerzy Kosiński. Sellers was evidently eager to make "Being There." He tried for years to get this movie off the ground.

In my last post, I cited the movie "Brazil" as being a favorite satirical social commentary film of mine. "Being There" is a favorite satirical comedy of American political life. Not only is Sellers perfectly cast in the lead role, but the movie also has a stellar supporting cast which includes Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas (who died a few days before I was born), and Jack Warden.  

Peter Sellers and Melvyn Douglas had known each other
since the 1940s, according to Douglas's granddaughter, Illeana Douglas.

The Plot

"Chance" (Peter Sellers) works as a gardener for a wealthy man who seemingly lives alone, aside from Chance residing in his Washington, D.C. home as well. 

He has apparently lived with this rich old man since childhood, always taking care of the garden. Chance has also never left the house in his life. 

His window to the outside world has been television and only television. Everything Chance knows of the world is from watching T.V. 

The movie starts with Chance waking up on another typical morning. He turns on the television - there's one in every room - and goes through his regular routine. 

However, Louise, the old man's housekeeper, tells Chance that his benefactor has died. 

Chance is completely naïve about the gravity of the situation. He's now alone in the house, but continues doing what he has always done - tend the garden and watch T.V. 

Some attorneys stop by unaware that Chance is still living there. Surprised by his presence, they ask him if he has any Claims on the old man's estate.  
As he doesn't know how to respond, nor what the attorneys are talking about, he tells them, "I have no Claim. I don't even know what one looks like."

So, they inform Chance he must be moved out by noon the next day. 

He packs up a single suitcase, mostly with suites that belonged to the old man, stored in a trunk up in the attic, and aimlessly wanders around Washington, D.C. 

Chance doesn't know how to interact with other people. He approaches a random woman and asks if she would please make him a sandwich.

He also goes up to a street gang inquiring where he might be able to find a garden to tend to. 

That interaction doesn't go well. 

As he meanders around well into the evening, Chance walks past a T.V. store with a television and camera displayed in the store window. The camera captures passersby on the screen. Chance is enamored at seeing himself on T.V. He backs up and steps off the curb when a chauffeured car belonging to a wealthy businessman named Ben Rand (Melvyn Douglas) accidentally backs in and hits him on the leg. 

Ben's wife, Eve (Shirley MacLaine) is in the vehicle. Apologetic for the accident, she offers to take Chance to the hospital. 

On their way, however, she suggests instead to take him back to her estate where an on-site doctor caring for her elderly husband can examine his leg. 

Peter Sellers as "Chance."

She also offers him a stiff drink and asks what his name is. The alcohol doesn't go down well, and Chance starts coughing. 

He says "Chance, the gardener" while coughing, but she thinks he says "Chauncey Gardiner." So, that's how she introduces him to her husband.

Ben is pleased to meet him and thinks he's a well-off highly educated businessman like himself. The couple encourage him to stay in their huge estate until his leg is mended, which he does.

At supper, Ben mistakes Chance's explanation of the lawyers kicking him out of the old man's house as meaning his business was forced to close thanks to the attorneys.  

Ben happens to be a close friend and advisor to the President of the United States (Jack Warden). 

After a few days, the president is scheduled to pay Ben a visit. Ben wants Chance to be a part of his meeting with the president.

He introduces him as Chauncey Gardiner before he and the president start discussing the economy. 

When the president inquires how to "stimulate growth," Chance considers this a gardening reference. 

So, Chance chimes in with gardening advice and the changing of the seasons. 

The president hears this as deep seated and optimistic political advice. So much so that the president quotes Chance by name during his next televised speech.

Of course, the world's attention quickly turns to Chance. If he's influential enough for the U.S. President to mention him by name, inquiring minds want to know who Chauncey is, where he's from, and what other words of wisdom and philosophy he has to offer. 

Chance quickly finds himself interacting with various influential individuals such as a publisher, a Soviet Ambassador, members of the press, and wealthy businessmen who want to hear more of his deep and insightful financial knowledge. 

Yet, in the midst of all this notoriety, nobody from the press, nor the President's cabinet, nor 16 other countries can find any background information on Chance. This leads to all kinds of conjectures as to why that is. All the president's advisors can find is the make and model of his clothing, which he pulled from his caretaker's trunks in the attic. They were all tailored in the 1920s and 1930s. 

"Being There" was shot at the Biltmore Estate and Gardens in Asheville, N.C.

My Thoughts

Chance is so likeable among the influential people he's in the middle of because he's a blank canvas. And each person, whether they're a publisher, an ambassador, a successful businessman, a politician, or the President of the United States, sees themselves reflected in Chance. 

He's none of them. But to each character, he the same as them. Being so blank and empty, Sellers manages to make this character engrossing. He's like what Mary Poppins would be if she were a man, with much less magic and a lot more ignorance. He just... there. And his name "Chance" is very fitting.

Those around him impose their own ideology, political or otherwise, onto him through his words. He is whatever they want him to be. He's an empty page. He's simple and void of complexity. And what's most appealing, he doesn't pontificate nor correct anyone. Chance is agreeable to everyone simply because he doesn't know anything beyond the garden. He's seemingly optimistic and people get what they want from Chance.

The last scene sums him up well. 

Conspiring pallbearers carrying Ben's remains to his final resting place whisper among themselves about Chance. 

"A man's past cripples him," one of them says. "His background turns into a swamp and invites scrutiny. Up until this time, he hasn't said anything that can be used against him." He then suggests Chance should fill the presidency in the next term as we watch Chance literally walk on water. 

While everyone is trying to figure out Chance, we get various points of view when it comes to those who engage with him. 

The one vantage point that's most accurate comes from Louise who worked for the old man whom Chance lived with. 

She happens to catch Chance on the Gary Burns show, her mouth agape at seeing him on the screen.

"I raised that boy since he was the size of a piss-ant," she says to those sitting with her. "And I'll say right now that he never learned to read and write. No, sir! And no brains at all. Stuck with rice pudding between his ears. Short-changed by the Lord, and dumb as a jackass. Look at him now. Yes sir! All you gotta be is white in America to get whatever you want. Gobbledygook!" 

In other words, as Chance personifies the result of the American system, Louise sees him from the view point of everyday American society. 

And Chance doesn't hide any of his ignorance. 

He tells a publisher named Ron at a suave dinner party that very same fact when offered an opportunity to publish a book of his philosophy. 

But Ron laughs it off.

"I can't write," Chance flat out says. 

"Of course you can't. Who can, nowadays? I have trouble writing a postcard to my children," Ron says. 
"I can't read," Chance later admits. 

"Of course you can't. No one has the time." 

The publisher starts chatting about how everyone tunes into the television instead. 

"I like to watch T.V." Chance replies. 

"Sure you do," Ron says. "No one reads!"

In the beginning, Louise criticizes Chance's lack of understanding or interest in sex.

"You need to find yourself a nice woman," she says. "But I think it should be an older woman, since you're not going to do a young one any good." 

Shirley MacLaine co-stars with Sellers in "Being There."

This sexual naivety comes up again several times, namely with Eve.

In one scene during that same suave dinner party, Chance is approached by a flirtatious man named Dennis.
"Tell me, Mr. Gardner... have you ever had sex with a man?' 

Chance clearly doesn't understand the question.

"No... I don't think so."

This man then invites him to "go upstairs." 

Chance innocently asks, "Is there a T.V. upstairs," which makes the man chuckle. "I like to watch."

The man pauses a moment and says, "You like to, uhh...watch?" 

Chance nods.

Sellers' ability to turn naivety into a hilarious performance, with an absolutely innocent and straight face is flawless throughout the entire movie. He always speaks in a soft, gentle, blank tone, with a friendly smile. His cluelessness is ever present on his face. Sellers told critic Gene Shalit during a 1980 interview on the "Today Show" that he slightly patterned his voice after comedian Stan Laurel. His character carries himself with proper and gentlemanly mannerisms. 

Everything plays out smoothly in the story. Nothing feels forced nor far-fetched. 

For instance, after he gets a call from a studio inviting him to appear on the Gary Burns show, Chauncey accepts saying "I've been on television." He's referring to the instant earlier in the film when he walked past the television store window and saw himself on the screen. 

The juxtaposition between the events that fall into Chance's path and what he happens to be watching on T.V. at the time, or what he recalls seeing on T.V. in the past, is subtle and impressive.

For instance, when Eve walks into his bedroom as he's lying in bed, eating breakfast and watching "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood" he has no idea that she's blatantly trying to get to make love to her. We hear the conversation between Fred Rogers and Mr. McFeely in the background which hilariously corresponds to what we're seeing. Chance is simply trying to keep his eyes on the screen. He's more interested in Mr. Rogers than he is in what Eve is offering. 

In the scene where he's hit by the car and taken to the Ben and Eve's estate - the second chapter in middle-aged Chance's life- the music video "Basketball Jones featuring Tyrone Shoelaces " by Cheech and Chong is interspersed in the scene as though Chance is equating this event with the song he must have seen previously on television. 

"I need help, ladies and gentlemens [sic]. I need someone to stand beside me. I need, I need someone to set a pick for me at the free-throw line of life. Someone I can pass to. Someone to hit the open man on the give-and-go and not end up in the popcorn machine. So cheerleaders, help me out," the song lyrics goes. In other words, throughout the movie, the T.V. gives the audience all the insight into Chance using real programming he's obviously seen before. 

This aspect of the story reminds me a little of the 1984 picture "Amadeus" in which Mozart's thoughts and emotions are depicted through his actual music heard in the accompanying soundtrack.

This allows the audience to be in on what Chance is thinking while those in the story don't have a clue.

"Being There" is a smart movie. It's a unique take on politics and society. It's subtle and doesn't beat the audience over the head with its underlying commentary. Chance doesn't need brains. He just needs to sound the right way. He needs to have the right people around him. He needs to appear right. Then he'll go far. But as Louise points out to him, "You'll always be a little boy."

During the end credits, an outtake is played which took me out of the movie. Though it's funny, watching Peter Sellers unable to control his laughing is distracting. It's strange how they added it in the credits.

Otherwise, "Being There" is a movie that doesn't try to be anything more than it already is. It's smart, consistent, and delicate like a priceless work of art. We're meant to think like people should we choose to live.  

Brazil (1985)

"We're all in it together." 

Director

Terry Gilliam

Cast

Jonathan Pryce - Sam Lowry

Kim Greist - Jill Layton

Michael Palin - Jack Lint

Katherine Helmond - Ida Lowry

Ian Holm - Mr. Kurtzmann

Peter Vaughan - Mr. Helpmann

Bob Hoskins - Spoor

Robert De Niro - Tuttle

Terry Gilliam's dystopian comedy "Brazil" has been on my "blog about this" list for a long time. It's a movie that's popular to some degree but doesn't seem to be talked about as much as other British films. Thankfully, it has been released through the Criterion Collection. 

As Gilliam is an alumni of the British sketch comedy troupe, Monty Python, the movie has a Monty Python feel with its surreal cynical imagery and comedy style. And in true Monty Python fashion, it takes satire to an otherwise sacrosanct level as it pokes fun of George Orwell's novel "1984." However, it is not a Python movie.

Fellow Python member Michael Palin also stars in this film which helps give it that comedic style. 

In "Brazil" the very not-distant future is a grimy, heavily bureaucratic, totalitarian, consumerist and rather flimsy one. In the midst of this rather present future is a grey-suited government employee named Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce). 

He's at the bottom of the pole when it comes to his government job. 

Lowry has a reoccurring dream in which he's a winged warrior who finds and rescues a gorgeous blond woman in distress. Reality, however, is drab business with little to no peace of mind.

During the Christmas season, a random office worker in a random office kills a fly with a magazine. The dead carcass falls into a printer causing an error on an arrest warrant the machine is typing. 

The name Archibald Buttle is accidentally printed on the warrant, which leads to the arrest of an innocent shoe repair operative instead of a criminal terrorist named Archibald Tuttle.  

Buttle's house is raided by heavily armed officers as he listens to his sweet wife read "A Christmas Carol" to their young children. He's later killed for Tuttle's crimes as authorities don't yet realize they have the wrong person. But what can the government do? Mistakes are made. Nobody's perfect. Oopsy.

Lowry catches the mistake when the wrong bank is charged for the cost of the arrest. 

So, Lowry is given the task of visiting Buttle's emotionally broken widow to hand her a refund check. 

While at her apartment he spots the upstairs neighbor, Jill Layton (Kim Greist), who looks just like the girl in his reoccurring dream. He tries to get to her and talk but she disappears before he can get a chance.

Jill, who works as a truck driver, has been trying to help Mrs. Buttle figure out what happened to her husband. She finds its nearly impossible to work her way through the thick layers of administrative paperwork and officials requiring stamps and approvals. 

All her efforts to help her neighbor leads to the ignorant bureaucrats thinking she's an accomplice to terrorism because she reported Buttle's wrongful arrest. 

That night, the air conditioning in Lowry's apartment fails. He wakes up late at night, roasting, and calls Central Services to fix it. While they're not very eager to help, Tuttle himself (Robert De Niro) shows up to fix his AC. 

Jonathan Pryce as Sam Lowry.

Tuttle says he used to work for Central Services but left because he found the amount of paperwork more tedious than one would expect. 

With his history being what it is, Tuttle is rather apprehensive and jumpy. While he's working on Lowry's AC, two Central Service workers named Spoor (Bob Hoskins) and Dowser (Derrick O'Connor) end up coming by his apartment to fix his AC.

When he declines their services, they become annoyed. Of course, he doesn't tell them that Tuttle is in his apartment. 

Later, Spoor and Dowser return, trash his air ducts, and take control of his apartment under the false claim that they're making necessary repairs. 

Meanwhile, Lowry searches for Jill's personal file, but he discovers it's classified. The only way he can access it is to be promoted to the Department of Information Retrieval. 

His mother, Ida (Katherine Helmond), who is very wealthy and influential, previously managed to get him a governmental promotion, but he declined. 

So, he backtracks his previous refusal by talking to Deputy Minister Eugene Helpmann (Peter Vaughan) during a suave dinner party hosted by Ida. Helpmann gives him the promotion, and now Lowry has access to Jill's file. 

He happens to spot Jill in the lobby of the Ministry of Information. Authorities, too, are closing in to arrest her.

Lowry uses his office to stall the arrest and escorts Jill back to her truck. He jumps in with her and, right away, professes his love to her while government authorities are chasing them. 

They stop at a mall where a terrorist bomb goes off. 

Government agents catch up and arrest Lowry.

When he's able to return home, the two guys from Central Services have repossessed his apartment. Tuttle secretly aids Lowry in getting his place back through a rather stinky means. 

Thankfully, Lowry and Jill meet outside his place, and the two of them hook up in his mom's luxurious apartment while Ida is away somewhere with her plastic surgeon. 

He falsifies some documents to indicate Jill died so she can escape the government's manhunt. 

They spend the night together. And the next morning, government agents raid Ida's apartment.

Lowry next finds himself bound and strapped in a medical facility about to undergo torture by his friend, Jack Lint (Michael Palin). 

And I'll end the synopsis there.  

By 1985, Terry Gilliam had solidly proven himself a master of cynical social commentary through a truly original style of surreal photo animation and imagery. His is a dainty and savory type of silly, blended with a distinctly sharp hint of straightforward irony. I could sit and watch hours of his work. His animations sequences in the series "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and the subsequent Monty Python movies are among my favorites by far. They're deliciously saturated in satire, not taking seriously all the seemingly inane formalities that burden us like wet clothes.  

"Brazil" sits in the middle of a trio of surreal style Gilliam movies including "Time Bandits" (1981) and "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" (1988). These three movies all tell stories about escaping societies that are ordered to the point of absurdity. 
"Time Bandits" centers on a child. "Brazil" centers on a young adult man. And "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" centers on an old man. 

Katherine Helmond, Michael Palin, Ian Holm, Peter Vaughan, and Jack Purvis also star in "Time Bandits" while Jonathan Pryce stars in "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen."

The imagery and silliness typical of Gilliam couldn't fit any better in a story like this. There's still room for the audience to come in, relate to the situation and to the main character to some degree. But that Monty Python influence is visible underneath the exterior satirical humor to the fisheye close-ups and camera angles. 
Even as a cult film, it seems to me this movie doesn't receive as much attention as it should though it has inspired directors such as Tim Burton, the Coen brothers, and Neil Marshall.

Despite critic Roger Ebert's less-than-positive review of this movie, I still love it.   

"Brazil" has a place among other off-beat social critique films such as "A Clockwork Orange," "Dr. Strangelove," and I would even be so bold to include Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times." Although Charlie Chaplin's movie is much more simple and less packed than "Brazil" which makes his commentary easier to grasp. 

Gilliam's future in "Brazil" includes a pampered upper-class that doesn't bat an eye to any chaos around them, including terrorist bombs going off, alongside a lower-middle class subject to an unsympathetic machine-like witless ruling class. 

The bureaucracy is heavily built up to the point of senselessness. The shoddy ducts and vents are like some sort of umbilical cord between the masses and the ruling officials always pumping and blowing life (for all practical purposes) into society while killing all beauty and character.

The ruling class doesn't think. It just does. And the masses are either comfortably distracted by materialism, or standing up against the system which plasters and spews propaganda all around. Pointless, meaningless mantras like "Suspicion breeds confidence" and "Information is the key to prosperity" are plastered everywhere and shoved in people's faces as they go about their daily lives. And the rest think the best way to regain society is to destroy it completely. But the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The forced festive music amid the dull gray dystopian and laborious environment tries to get it in people's heads, "See! Things are actually going well" while everything crumbles around them. But no one should pay any attention to that.

Nothing is perfect. There's always a problem, great or small.  

One touch I like is how various characters in this movie are often tuned into classic films. In one scene, Jill sits in her bathtub and watches "The Coconuts" (1929) starring the Marx Brothers. While Lowry is at work, employees secretly watch other old black and white classics when the boss isn't looking. It's as though the society yearns for more normal periods of time. The atmosphere is a mix of past and present done well. 

A favorite scene of mine sees Lowry and another government agent in the next office in a tug-o-war over a shared desk that protrudes through the office walls. 

In this movie, Lowry demonstrates that humanity still exists no matter what. His romantic dreams are haunted by the obstructing, imprisoning bureaucracy around him. In one dream, he battles this bureaucracy which takes the form of a Samurai warrior filled with industrial flames, to save the woman of his dreams. 

As this movie is often compared to Orwell's "1984," "Brazil" is distinct from Orwell's book in that it depicts the here and now. Orwell looks into the future. 

"Brazil" is a loaded movie. It's one of those movies that audiences may have to watch more than once to grasp to take everything in. 

The message amidst all this is clear. The desire for something better and wholesome exist even when drab, stone grey government and they suffering they cause looms high and wide over everyone. They can't take that away no matter what they repeatedly beat people over the head with. 

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

"You tell 'em Nick Cage smooch is good!"

Director
Tom Gormican

Cast

Nicolas Cage - Nick Cage

Pedro Pascal - Javi Gutierrez 

Sharon Horgan - Olivia

Lily Sheen - Addy

Tiffany Haddish - Vivian

Ike Baronholtz - Martin

Paco Leon - Lucas Gutierrez

Neil Patrick Harris - Richard Fink

Nobody can Nicolas Cage better than Nicolas Cage. He's so Nicolas Cage that he can be both verb, noun, and adjective all at once. Chuck Norris can't even do that.
Though I've seen my fair share of Nick Cage flicks, I've never considered myself a fan. And, really, I still don't. 

I think he emanates a cloud that smells like excessive conceit, and it's just too pungent for me. That's not to say he hasn't made any movies I like. He is, in mind, a celebrity's celebrity. If I had to paint the stereotypical Hollywood superstar actor, my image would resemble Cage very closely. Or, it would just be Nick Cage himself. 
After having seen Nick Cage in his recent film "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" (a title I can only guess came from the mind of Nick Cage, but clever none the less), released in April, I've eased up my generally negative opinions about Nick Cage. I found myself enjoying a Nick Cage movie in which Nick Cage plays Nick Cage. Well done, Nick Cage.
"Nicolas Cage... is incredible." "This guy's a fucking legend." Those are the first lines spoken in this movie. Actually the movie opens with dialogue from the 1997 Nick Cage movie "Con Air." A young couple watching that movie then throw out lines of praise to Nick Cage. 
In this movie, Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage (Nick Cage) finds himself caught in a CIA mission to find and rescue Maria (Katrin Vankova), the daughter of a Catalan anti-crime politician who's kidnapped at the start of the film. 
Before he's pulled into this operation, Nick Cage is struggling to land a new role in a movie as his name is being passed over by a major movie producer. 
His ex-wife Olivia (Sharon Horgan) is fed up with how engrossed in his acting life he has been. And his daughter Addy (Lily Sheen) feels like she has been emotionally neglected by her dad.
After Nick Cage looses out on a major movie role, he embarrasses himself at Addy's birthday party.
So, he decides to quit acting. 
Still, even Nick Cage needs money to pay the bills and clear some heavy debts. His agent, Richard Fink (Neil Patrick Harris) offers him an anonymous gig for $1 million. It involves travelling to Majorca to spend time with an extremely wealthy Nick Cage fan named Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal) and be the guest of honor at his birthday.
Nick Cage agrees to go. But little does Nick Cage know that the CIA suspects Gutierrez, whom they claim made his fortune through arms dealing, is responsible for Maria's kidnapping and may likely be keeping her on the property. 

Nick Cage as Nick Cage, and Pedro Pascal.

Agents Vivian Etten (Tiffany Haddish) and Martin Etten (Ike Barinholtz) contact Nick Cage about Gutierrez, asking him to spy and see what he can find out about Maria's whereabouts.
Nick Cage reluctantly agrees as he and Gutierrez have become good friends. He doubts whether he can go behind his new pal's back. 
Gutierrez wants Nick Cage to reconsider his decision to quit acting, and offers him a script he wrote. He hopes Nick Cage will consider it for production. And Nick Cage does. 
When I was forced against my will to watch the trailer prior to the movie I paid to see, my initial thought was "of course this is a Nick Cage movie."
"The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" is a tongue-in-cheek, somewhat cynical love letter to Nick Cage. It's one Nick Cage Easter egg after another. Not the bees! 
So much so that mashable.com published a list of every movie name dropped in this film, including all the Nick Cage movie titles. 

The film is like the cover of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," but with Nick Cage instead of the Beatles. And all the faces on the cover are all Nick Cage characters, especially from "Face Off." 
Nick Cage is certainly aware of his eccentric and self-loving public image. He's aware of what fans expect.
I found myself not only laughing at the jokes, but at Nick Cage being himself, or as audiences generally see him as an actor and a personality. 

One scene has Nick Cage stumbling upon the room where Gutierrez keeps his extensive Nick Cage paraphernalia collection.

Among his collection is a Nick Cage mannequin holding the golden guns from the movie "Face/Off" (*whispers* which stars Nick Cage).

Nick Cage stares at the likeness of himself and asks, "Is that supposed to be me? It's grotesque."

Then he offers Gutierrez $20,000 for it.

Nick Cage certainly has a lot of energy and interest in his previous film roles. It's often layered on rather thick, and I think that's the reason I don't get excited over Nick Cage movies. 

That's most definitely true here, especially as he plays both himself and his alter ego. His alter ego shows up randomly in the form of a younger Nick Cage, whom he calls "Nicky." When Nicky does show up, he kicks his older self back into the game and reminds him that he's not just an actor, he's a movie star. Nicky is the Nick Cage persona audiences have seen time and time again, in movie after Nick Cage movie - self-absorbed, rowdy, and a bit crazy.

Nick Cage and Pedro Pascal work incredibly well together. The casting choices are superb. 
Pascal plays his character as sympathetic, which he pulls off beautifully. Sometimes, its as though Pascal is the sidekick in this team. Other times, Nick Cage seems like the sidekick.
This is a buddy film with some originality thrown in. I hope to see Nick Cage and Pascal together again in a later film. I'd love to see these two earn a place among other famed comedy duos. 

"The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" is certainly a Nick Cage fan-base movie. Regardless, I had fun watching it. 
And on top of everything else, Cage and I both love "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." Maybe Nick Cage is starting to grow on me a little.

Rambo: Last Blood (2019)

"I want revenge. I want them to know that death is coming. And there's nothing they can do to stop it."

Director
Adrian Grunberg

Cast

Sylvester Stallone - John Rambo
Yvette Monreal - Gabriela Beltran
Adriana Barraza - Maria Beltran

Paz Vega - Carmen Delgado
Sergio Peris-Mencheta - Hugo Martinez
Óscar Jaenada - Victor Martinez
Fenessa Pineda - Gizelle
Pascacio Lopez - El Flaco

The fifth and last installment (as of now, at least) in the Rambo series, "Rambo: Last Blood," came out in 2019 with a lot of hype before exiting quietly and seemingly unnoticed.

Aside from this Rambo movie, I admit I've only seen "First Blood" (1982) followed by the fourth film, "Rambo" (2008). I haven't seen the second film, "Rambo: First Blood Part II" (1985) in its entirety. Nor have I seen "Rambo III" (1988) at all. I'm sure I will in the very near future. So, I had to read the film synopsis for two and three to get myself caught up.

In the first installment, Vietnam veteran John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) searches for an old army buddy somewhere on the outskirts of Hope, Washington. However, the family informs Rambo that his friend died from cancer, which he caught from being exposed to Agent Orange while in Vietnam. 

As Rambo wanders into the town limits to find a place to eat, a local sheriff sees him and decides he doesn't want this vagrant Army veteran coming through his community. Rambo ignores the sheriff's warnings, and pretty soon there's a manhunt out for him. 

In the second movie, Rambo is asked to return to Vietnam to rescue POWs. 

In part three, Rambo, living in Thailand and working for a monastery, squares off against Russian forces in Afghanistan. I've often heard this is the weakest film.

In "Rambo," he's still living in Thailand 20-years later. He's asked by a missionary doctor to help rescue a group who have been kidnapped while on a humanitarian mission in Burma by a heavily corrupt SPDC officer named Major Pa Tee Tint and his Burmese junta army forces. At the end of the fourth movie, Rambo returns to the U.S. to see his father at his home in Arizona. I found the pace of this movie rather odd.

"Rambo: Last Blood" picks up with Rambo still living at his now deceased father's home. He manages a horse ranch at the house with his long-time friend, Maria Beltran (Adriana Barraza).

Maria's granddaughter, Gabriela (Yvette Monreal), lives with them. For Gabriela, Rambo has been her true father figure as her real dad walked out on her and her mother when Gabriela was very young.

She's close to Rambo and her grandmother. However, she gets a call from her friend, Gizelle, in Mexico who tells her she found the home of her father. 

Gabriela tries to convince Rambo and her grandmother to allow her to drive down to Mexico to find her dad.

Considering just how ruthless, cold, and unsympathetic her father was years ago when he abandoned them, Rambo and Maria strongly forbid it. They try to convince her that he's not worth inviting back into her life.

Gabriela agrees not to go but sneaks off to Mexico anyways. She meets with Gizelle (Fenessa Pineda) who takes her to her dad's place.

There, he tells Gabriela straight out that he never wanted anything to do with her nor her mother, and that she doesn't need to ever come back and see him. 

Sergio Peris-Mencheta and Yvette Monreal in
"Rambo: Last Blood."

Seeing how distraught Gabriela is, Gizelle takes her to a night club to help get her mind off of things. 

A random guy takes an interest in Gabriela. He discreetly drugs and kidnaps her, and brings her into a sex trafficking cartel. 

Maria soon finds out that Gabriela snuck off to Mexico. Rambo immediately jumps in his truck to find her and bring her home. 

The first place he goes is to Gizelle's apartment. As she refuses to cooperate, he threatens her until she shows him the same club she took Gabriela. 

When they get inside, Rambo quickly figures out that she was kidnapped. 

Gizelle points out a guy who goes by "El Flaco" (Pascacio Lopez) as the man whom she last saw Gabriela with.

Rambo follows El Flaco to his car, tortures him until he agrees to take him to Gabriela's whereabouts. 

The leaders of the cartel get to Rambo first when he shows up at their ring location. They beat him up severely and steal his ID. But one of the leaders of the operation, Hugo Martinez (Sergio Peris-Mencheta) lets him live. They leave him there, bleeding and unconscious. 

Rambo is rescued by a strange woman named Carmen Delgado (Paz Vega) who followed him from the club. 

She brings him back to her home. When he awakens four days later, Carmen tells him she's a journalist following the cartel, which had previously kidnapped her late sister. 

Rambo manages to find and rescue Gabriela. When he brings her home, Rambo then goes back to get revenge on one the cartel leaders to send a message to its leaders. 

Hugo tracks him back to his home in Arizona. He brings an armed militia with him to Rambo's home. And per Rambo fashion, he knows they're coming. So, he sets deadly traps around the property, and arms himself for battle. 

Stallone certainly tries to regain the audience's sympathy for the Rambo character as it was seen in "First Blood." That was totally missed in the previous movie. 

But this time, he's diving into slasher territory. Sure, the previous films are violent. That's not a problem. This movie, however, made me feel like I was watching a version of "Home Alone" directed by Rob Zombie. In other words, this doesn't hold back on violence at all. Not in the least. It's graphic straight to the end, leaving me with the notion that revenge doth belong to Rambo.

The graphic content made me wonder just what distinguishes a horror movie from an action movie. 

If this was not a Rambo movie, it would easily be in the horror category. I suppose since Rambo is technically speaking the "good guy" of the story, the purpose of the movie isn't to evoke fear in the audience for the sake of entertainment. There's enough blood, violence, dismembering, decapitating, heart-ripping (literally) and exploding body parts to make one believe Rambo has now gone full-slasher flick. 

Just like the previous movies, this story is about John Rambo against yet another evil group deserving to take what they give. We know who's going to come out victorious and who will not. The uncertainty and entertainment value lies mainly with how he gets the audience through it all to the climax and conclusion. 

In and of itself, "Rambo Last Blood" is predictable. I swore he would die at the end, but that much I was wrong about. It's meant to be watched so audiences can see what Rambo does best - get revenge and eliminate the enemies. Still, seeing him up against a mob of completely degenerate deplorables is satisfying and intense. And having Rambo in the midst of a family brings some humanity back to Rambo, who's gone through hell, the scars of which still plague him. I'd be lying if I said I was not entertained by this movie.

The nostalgic spot-hitting of seeing John Rambo yet again, like seeing an old high school chum, is an experience to enjoy.

Rambo, an ex-Green Beret and Medal of Honor recipient, is a symbol of the damage warfare can leave with a soldier as depicted in "First Blood." It also depicts the America, personified by the police officers chasing him, that didn't welcome back Vietnam veterans returning home. 

According to Stallone, as stated in a 2019 article from ScreenRant.com "What to Expect from Rambo 6," "Rambo: Last Blood" is meant to be the final film in the series. But Stallone evidently later suggested the possibility of doing another Rambo film.

The article claims the 2008's "Rambo" was also supposed to be the last. I think the same goes for "Rambo III." Stallone has quite a talent for keeping his biggest franchises going - namely, the Rambo and Rocky Balboa movies.

While I can't yet say anything about part three, I can say that if "Rambo: Last Blood" was meant to give the character a final send-off, then it missed that mark by miles.

There's talk of doing a prequel film which could see John Rambo heading to Vietnam. Honestly, I'd rather see a film that gives the character a decent and well-deserved send-off rather than a prequel. 

Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo once again.

I think the first movie is the introduction we need to John Rambo. That's the whole reason David Morrell created the character for his novel "First Blood" in 1972, which the movie is based on. The ill-treatment soldiers like Rambo received is the basis for the story. That's captured so well in the first film. And Stallone manages to make this war torn, callous Army warrior of a man into a truly sympathetic character. He deserves that sympathy.

I'm sure it would be awesome to watch a prequel with Rambo in combat and witness the experiences he went through which ended up causing him severe PTSD. Rambo has since become a largely recognized American pop-culture icon. And prequels are a trend in cinema now.  

Still, I hope to see one last Rambo film just to watch this character get the farewell he deserves. This movie certainly didn't accomplish that. 

I may have gotten more out of "Rambo: Last Blood" had I watched part two and part three first. I still grew invested in this movie and found it entertaining, all things considered.