Big (1988 film)

Directed by Penny Marshall and written by Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg, Big is the story of a 12-year old boy who wishes he would be big only to grow up into a 30-year old man as he copes with being an adult working for a toy company as well as having a girlfriend. The film is a magical tale where a boy grows up to be a man through a wish from a fortune teller machine as he would endure the idea of growing up too fast. Starring Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, John Heard, Jared Rushton, Mercedes Ruehl, David Moscow, Jon Lovitz, and Robert Loggia. Big is a charming and sensational film from Penny Marshall.

What happens when a young boy asks a fortune teller machine to be big where it comes true as he ends up being a 30-year old man? That is pretty much the premise of the film as it explores a boy coping with the idea of growing up and having to do things that adults are supposed to do. For Josh Baskin (Tom Hanks), he would get a job working for a toy company where his love for toys would have him rise up the corporate ladder and gain a girlfriend where he would eventually lose sight of who he really is. While it is a coming-of-age film of sorts, the screenplay by Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg mixes it up with elements of humor into how someone like Josh who may have the body of a 30-year old man but the spirit and mind of a 12-year old would interact with the adult world.

The screenplay showcases a young Josh (David Moscow) asking this fortune teller machine his wish to be big all because he wants to ride a roller coaster with a school crush. Though it does have this idea of be careful what you wish for, Josh would learn that the hard way as he realizes that his wish did come true as the only person he can turn to for help is his best friend Billy (Jared Rushton) who knows a bit more on Josh about the realities of the world. Due to his knowledge in computers, Josh would get a job working for this toy company as he catches the eye of its boss MacMillan (Robert Loggia) who realizes that Josh knows a lot about toys can sell and what toys don’t work in which he would promote Josh much to the ire of executive Paul Davenport (John Heard). Yet, Josh’s ideas and enthusiasm would impress another executive in Susan Lawrence (Elizabeth Perkins) who thinks Josh is a really nice guy and far more mature than the men she had been with.

Penny Marshall’s direction is definitely wondrous in the way she is able to tell a story of a kid who grows up to be an adult. Instead of relying on certain gimmicks and gags about how a kid would act as an adult, Marshall keep things more naturalistic where it’s more about the sense of fear and anxiety that children might face if they do grow up all of a sudden as adults. While many of the compositions are simple, Marshall does manage to keep things engaging in the way she would shoot scenes set in New Jersey and in New York City where the latter is this world that is quite crazy but also very exciting. While there are elements of drama as well as moments that play into Josh’s fear of being by himself and deal with the trappings of adult. There are these moments of humor that are very funny as well as lively scenes that include a very memorable scene of Josh and MacMillan playing a large, foot-operated piano.

The direction also has these moments that are quite intimate in the way Josh and Susan’s relationship develops where it does toe the line between something tender but also creepy considering that Josh is really a kid. Yet, there’s aspects in the direction where Josh presents himself very maturely as its third act play into his desire to return to childhood. Still, there are elements that play into elements of fantasy as it relates to the fortune telling machine that Josh had discovered early in the film as it has this air of mysticism. Even as it reinforces the theme of the idea of wishes as well as what kids want where they would get a glimpse of the idea of adulthood. Overall, Marshall creates a very sensational and heartwarming film about a boy who wishes to be big as he mysteriously grows up to be a man.

Cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld does excellent work with the cinematography from the usage of lights for some of the nighttime interior/exterior scenes including the company party scene as well as some low-key lights for the daytime scenes. Editor Barry Malkin does superb work with the editing as it‘s very straightforward with an inspiring montage scene where Josh moves into an apartment and gets all sorts of stuff. Production designer Santo Loquasto, with set decorators Susan Bode and George DeTitta Jr. and art directors Speed Hopkins and Tom Warren, does fantastic work with the set pieces from the apartment loft that Josh would live in as well as some of the sets created at the FAO Schwartz toy store.

Costume designer Judianna Makovsky does terrific work with the costumes as it‘s mostly casual with the exception of the white tuxedo Josh would wear at the company party. Sound editor Jerry Ross and sound designer Brian Eddolls do nice work with the sound from some of the things Josh hears in his hotel room when he first arrives to New York City as well as some of the sound effects of the toys he would play. The film’s music by Howard Shore is wonderful for its playful piano-based score along with some somber orchestral pieces to play into the drama while the soundtrack features an array of music from classical, standards, and contemporary music from Billy Idol and Huey Lewis & the News.

The casting by Paula Herold and Juliet Taylor is phenomenal as it features some notable small roles from Debra Jo Rupp as Josh’s secretary Miss Patterson, Kimberlee M. Davis as a school crush of Josh early in the film, Josh Clark as Josh’s dad, and Jon Lovitz in a very funny performance as an early co-worker of Josh who says some of the funniest things in the film. David Moscow is excellent as the young Josh who copes with being a kid as well as some of the things he wants to do if he was taller. Mercedes Ruehl is wonderful as Josh’s mother who thinks the adult Josh is her son’s kidnapper as she copes with not having Josh in her home. Jared Rushton is fantastic as Josh’s best friend Billy who helps him deal with being an adult as well as reminding him that he’s really just a kid.

John Heard is brilliant as Paul Davenport as an executive who is not happy with Josh’s rise up the corporate ladder as he is also annoyed by a presentation where Josh says “I don’t get it”. Robert Loggia is great as MacMillan as a toy company boss who tries to figure out how to save his business as he sees Josh as someone that he needs and likes for bringing the kid in him. Elizabeth Perkins is amazing as Susan as this executive who takes a liking to Josh as she would fall for him while seeing that he is very mature as well as quite jovial as he brings the kid in her. Finally, there’s Tom Hanks in one of his most iconic performances as Josh Baskin as this boy who is trapped in a man’s body as he copes with the wish he creates as well as being an adult as Hanks has a lot of energy, charm, and tenderness to his role as it’s so fun to watch.

Big is an absolutely incredible film from Penny Marshall that features an exhilarating and joyful performance from Tom Hanks. Along with a great supporting cast, a fantastic score, and a witty screenplay, it’s a film that manages to capture the heart of a child as well as showing the fears of growing up. It’s also a film that is very accessible for all ages as it is very funny as well as heartwarming. In the end, Big is an outstanding film from Penny Marshall.

Penny Marshall Films: (Jumpin’ Jack Flash) - (Awakenings) - (A League of Their Own) - (Renaissance Man) - (The Preacher’s Wife) - (Riding in Cars with Boys)

© thevoid99 2014

Southland Tales

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 5/20/08 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.

Written and directed by Richard Kelly, Southland Tales is a multi-narrative story set in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles on Fourth of July weekend 2008. The film follows the lives of various characters including an amnesiac action film star, an ex-porn star, and twin brothers as they deal with the bleakness of the world around them. With an all-star cast that includes Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Seann William Scott, Mandy Moore, Miranda Richardson, Nora Dunn, Justin Timberlake, Jon Lovitz, John Larroquette, Wallace Shawn, Kevin Smith, Lou Taylor Pucci, Beth Grant, Bai Ling, Will Sasso, Holmes Osborne, Cheri Oteri, Amy Poehler, Zelda Rubenstein, Janeane Garafalo, and Christopher Lambert. Southland Tales, despite its concept, is a messy, incoherent, and purely self-indulgent film from Richard Kelly.

It's Fourth of July weekend in 2008 which would mark the third anniversary of the nuclear bombing of a small Texas town that began World War III. With the Patriot Act in full power, gasoline and alternative fuel resources in decline, and America on the verge of chaos. An action film star named Boxer Santaros (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) is in the desert with amnesia as he arrives in California. After being captured, he meets with a former porn star-turned reality TV show host Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar) as the two collaborate on a screenplay. Boxer learns that Krysta is part of a neo-Marxist movement led by her manager Cyndi Pinziki (Nora Dunn) who is trying to combat a Republican Presidential candidate Senator Bobby Frost (Holmes Osbourne) and his wife/head of US-IDent Nana Mae Frost (Miranda Richardson).

Meanwhile, the neo-Marxist movement learns that a scientist Baron Von Westphalen (Wallace Shawn) is trying to create a new source of alternative fuel as he is endorsing Senator Frost. With the war still waging on, Frost hopes to have a Republican victory in California as the neo-Marxists have taken a racist LAPD officer named Roland Tavener (Seann William Scott) hostage while using his twin brother Ronald to impersonate him. Ronald accompanies Boxer, who joins in to research his film role, as the two go into hijinks where a domestic dispute that was supposed to be routine went crazy thanks to a rogue cop named Bart Bookman (Jon Lovitz) who is also a neo-Marxist with his girlfriend Zora Carmichaels (Cheri Oteri). Boxer and Ronald run in fear as Boxer has an encounter with Baron and his cohorts that included his mother (Beth Grant), Dr. Soberin Exx (Curtis Armstrong), Katarina Kuntzler (Zelda Rubenstein), and Serpentine (Bai Ling).

With Pinziki and Frost's advisor Vaughn Smallhouse (John Larroquette) trying to negotiate over terms about the release of a possible sex tape between Boxer and Krysta Now, Boxer's wife Madeline Frost Santaros (Mandy Moore) wants the tape blocked. With Boxer returning to his home, he is now believing that he's Jericho as he's made contact with a woman named Starla Von Luft (Michele Durrett) about his screenplay. Santaros escapes the Frost home to meet with Von Luft as things get crazy when an Iraqi war veteran named Pilot Abilene (Justin Timberlake), high on a new drug, kills her. Ronald Taverner had just escape and learned something powerful is going on with his right hand as did his twin brother as the two try to find each other. Ronald seeks help with a secret arms dealer named Walter Mung (Christopher Lambert) while Roland gets help from a local drug dealer named Martin Kefauver (Lou Taylor Pucci). With Krysta now getting possession of a video tape that could incriminate her, she makes her own deal with Smallhouse as the night approaches for what could be the end of the world. It is there at a party for a new Zeppelin that the Taverner twins and Boxer learned what happened to them a few days ago.

The concept of Southland Tales about the end of the world emerging on a Fourth of July weekend with intertwining storylines, multiple characters, and themes of social and environmental unrest is a very good concept. The problem is that it's a good idea on paper. On film and in script, it's a mess. A bloated mess that has too many characters, too many stories, too many situations, and nothing to gel on. It's clear that there's a conflict between two groups. The problem is that it gets confusing on who is working for the neo-Marxists and who is working for the U.S. government. Some characters start of as neo-Marxists and then become pawns for Frost and company. It becomes confusing.

The script doesn't have a sense of cohesiveness nor any characters with the exception of the Tavener twins and Boxer Santaros, that have any depth or development. Instead, Kelly brings out caricatures of individuals that looks like they've come out of films by David Lynch and Gregg Araki. Kelly's claim that the film is meant to be a satire but there's not much to satirize about except reality TV and pop stardom in the form of Krysta Now. The dialogue is stylized for some characters yet it sounds very ridiculous coming out of the mouths of the actors while what's even worse is the film's voice-over narration from Pilot Abilene. The narration brings nothing but a bunch of strange and inane philosophies while the reading by Justin Timberlake sounds very flat and lifeless. Then there's the story and plot. There's nothing clear in what it's trying to say and though things do clear a bit in the third act that involves time travel as well as motivation for two of its lead characters. There's no payoff even though something happens but what is the aftermath?

If Kelly's demands for the audience to be very attentive to the film in script, then the demand for the film in his direction is too overwhelming. Kelly had intended it to be a much bigger experience that is interactive with the audience that included a graphic novel that preceded the film. The problem is that Kelly is trying to create a film that is strange enough for an art-house film audience while using big stars for a mainstream audience and he succeeds in neither. The problem is that Kelly is too enamored with the film's concept and is convinced that the film should be seen more than once to understand the story. Kelly's demands for an audience is too much for a mainstream audience to handle while an art-house audience are smart enough to know when a film should be seen twice.

Kelly's demands for the audience are marred by his bad choices in the direction. The awkward framing, compositions, and no depth of field for the film's exterior and interior settings really create a film that is messy. Plus, Kelly's knack for bending genres, that worked in his previous film Donnie Darko, fails because he tries to do too much. He tries to make it into a comedy, action, drama, satire, sci-fi, and also, a musical. There's a couple of musical dance numbers where one of them is based on a drug trip where Pilot Abilene is lip-syncing to the Killers' All The Things That I've Done with back-up dancer and it's an extremely baffling scene that really confuses the audience into what they're seeing. While there's a couple of interesting moment in the directing including a tracking shot of the MegaZeppelin scene, the rest of the film falters with inane special effects, chaotic conflicts, and everything else where the result is a bloated mess that doesn't make any sense to its audience.

Cinematographer Steven B. Poster does have some nice coloring but due to Kelly's direction, he is given nothing to do as he's forced to emphasize on lighting style that doesn&#146t have any depth at all. Neither does Sam Bauer's editing that at the film's theatrical 144-minute running time, lags in pacing, tries to go for style, and doesn't add anything to the film other than the fact that more scenes should be cut while its approach in the intertwining stories makes it confusing. Production designer Alec Hammond and set decorator Tracey A. Doyle does an OK job in some of the film's set designs though it's most notable achievement is the pristine look of the MegaZeppelin. Costume designer April Ferry creates interesting costumes for the actresses involved yet the look at times is very cartoonish and lacks any real depth.

Sound designer/editor David Esparza also doesn't do anything brilliant that's expected in a film that bends genre as his work in some of the action sequences are average at best while a scene in a gun battle tends to be very muddled more in part due to the direction. The visual effects by Thomas Tannenberg does have nice touch for its mix of animation and computer graphics in some sequences but the rest of it isn't very good at all, notably the climatic scene along with the MegaZeppelin is poorly made. The film's music by renowned electronic-pop artist Moby is dull at best. Originally supposed to be a collaboration with Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, Moby's score fits in the mood with his ambient setting though the addition of pulsating, techno beats create a sense of distraction and at times, doesn't fit in with the mood of the film.

The soundtrack is a tribute to classic alternative music of the 90s with bands like Radiohead, Jane's Addiction, the Pixies, Blur, Big Head Todd & the Monster, Elbow, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club along with the Killers, Louis Armstrong, Beethoven, Muse, Waylon Jennings, and an original song for Sarah Michelle Gellar's character that's a bad impersonation of Britney Spears music.

The casting by Mary Vernieu and Venus Kanani though is an interesting ensemble. There's very few people to stand out as nearly every actor in this film has little to work on while it's clear that the film features cameos and character actors where sometimes, their appearance or presence tends to be a distraction. Cameos from Kevin Smith as a legless war veteran, singer Rebekah del Rio from Mulholland Dr.as a singer, Janeane Garafalo as a general in the final party scene, Christopher Lambert as an arms dealer in an ice cream truck, Eli Roth as a man killed in a toilet, and Sab Shimono as a Japanese prime minister don't really add anything since they're just cameos. Garafalo's appearance is only brief which suggests her appearance was supposed to be bigger but never made it into the final cut while Smith is barely recognizable in his own role. Comedians Will Sasso as Krysta's bodyguard, Amy Poehler as a poet, and Cheri Oteri as neo-Marxist are very bad with Poehler and Oteri not given anything funny to do with Oteri being way over the top in her role. Jon Lovitz also suffers in his role as rogue cop where he ends up being very silly.

Wood Harris as a famed rapper doesn't make much impression nor does Jill Ritchie as one of Krysta's girlfriends while Mike Nielsen as a government spy isn't memorable at all where he's in the film for one minute and then, he's gone. Michele Durrett also suffers the same fate just as her character was getting a bit interesting despite her own exaggerated performance. Famed character actors Curtis Armstrong, Zelda Rubenstein, and the always enjoyable Beth Grant as the Baron's cohorts are practically wasted since they just show up and say their lines while Bai Ling as Serpentine makes more of an impression that's really more of a distraction than a performance.

Nora Dunn is okay in her role as Cindy Pinziki but her character lacks any real sense of clear motivation while John Larroquette looks bored in his role as Vaughn Smallhouse. Lou Taylor Pucci is also okay in his role as drug dealer talking like a rapper though he does manage to make an impression in the film's climatic scene. Wallace Shawn, a great character actor, sadly doesn't really get to do anything but squirm and act slimy as if that's all he's given to do. Holmes Osbourne also doesn't get anything to do but act awkward and such while Miranda Richardson, sporting a Texan accent, is kind of annoying in the film and doesn't get anything to do than sit, talk in a Texan accent, and watch a lot of TV screens. Mandy Moore gives a flat, uninspiring performance where all she does is nag and be a glorified trophy wife which is sad considering that Moore is more talented than that.

Sarah Michelle Gellar is okay in her role as a former porn star turned entrepreneur though sadly, Gellar doesn't get to do anything but look pretty, act like a dumb blonde, and that's all which is sad considering she's far more talented than that through her work in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The film's most baffling and certainly, the worst performance is Justin Timberlake as a war veteran who likes to get high and shoot people while voicing some of the worst narration ever committed on film.

Seann William Scott, who is known as the obnoxious Stifler in the first three American Pie films, is good in his dual role as twin brothers who hold the key to the conspiracy that the American government is doing. While Scott does get to have a few, funny one-liners, he does manage to show his skills as a dramatic actor in the third act where he gets to do a lot despite what little depth and development his characters had to work with. His performance proves that he can do more than just being Stifler. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is also good as Boxer Santaros and his character alter-ego, Jericho Cane (a nod to both Chris Jericho and Kane) where he has this great presence that's expected from an action film star but also a sense of humor in how jittery he is when he's nervous. While the dialogue he's given doesn't work for him, Johnson at least does his best to his charisma and presence to give a good performance to prove that he's more than some big tough guy.

Southland Tales is a tremendously horrific film from Richard Kelly. Despite some of the visuals and the performances of Dwayen Johnson and Seann William Scott. The film doesn't do enough to create a very compelling story that would make sense in favor of style over substance that is unable to live up to the ambitions that Kelly wanted. It's also a film where it tries to hard to do so much and ask a lot from its audience only to either bore or frustrate them in the mess that it is. In the end, Southland Tales is a very shitty film from Richard Kelly who tries too hard and fail.

Richard Kelly Films: Donnie Darko - (The Box (2009 film))

© thevoid99 2014

Small Time Crooks

Written, directed, and starring Woody Allen, Small Time Crooks is the story about a criminal who wants to rob a bank with some friends only to learn that his wife’s cookie-selling venture has gone well as they deal with their newfound wealth. The film is a return of sorts to Allen’s more comedic films of the early 1970s as well as exploring the world of crime and the downsides of being wealthy. Also starring Tracey Ullman, Hugh Grant, Elaine May, Michael Rapaport, Elaine Stritch, Jon Lovitz, and Larry Pine. Small Time Crooks is a very funny film from Woody Allen.

The film revolves around a former criminal eager to rob a bank with some friends by buying an old pizza place as a cookie shop as a front while they try to rob the bank. Instead, the cookie shop becomes a success forcing the man to give up a life of crime yet he has a hard time dealing with being wealthy while his wife befriends an art dealer who teaches her the etiquette of being rich. It’s a film about the simple things in life but also the drawbacks of being rich where there’s an expectation to conform to the world of the rich. For this man’s wife whose gift in making cookies has made them rich, it gives her the chance to feel like she belongs to something unaware that the rich is also filled with people who are as shady as the poor.

Woody Allen’s screenplay is filled with a lot of humor as the character that he plays in Ray is someone who has had a past as a criminal but couldn’t deal with just being a dishwasher who is making scraps. With this new scheme he wants to do with some friends of his, he decides to find a way to steal some money for himself and his friends where he and his wife Frenchy (Tracey Ullman) can retire to Florida. With Frenchy’s talents in making cookies as a front for the real scheme, things go wrong except for Frenchy’s cookies that makes Ray and his friends rich as it becomes a major business. That’s what happens in the first act as the second act is about Ray’s difficulty with being rich while Frenchy conforms to that world leading to a third act that plays into revelations about the world of the rich and why wealth can be so fleeting. Though it’s a predictable scenario, Allen does infuse a lot of humor and charm into the story.

Allen’s direction is quite straightforward in terms of compositions as he doesn’t really do anything new but still add a sense of liveliness to the comedy. Notably the scene where Ray and his friends try to create a tunnel to dig into the bank where everything goes wrong. There’s a lot of craziness that Allen puts in for many scenes in the film including a dinner party where Ray is talking to people about things with Tequila being played in the background while Frenchy is having dinner with a couple of men with classical music playing in the background. With many of the scenes in the film set in New York City including a very funny sequence about Ray and Frenchy’s rise to success, it plays to how dim some of these characters are about handling a rising corporate business but it’s done in a pretty funny way. Overall, Allen creates a very delightful comedy about crime and the drawbacks of being rich.

Cinematographer Zhao Fei does excellent work with the film‘s very colorful cinematography from the look of the New York City exteriors in day and night to some of the lighting schemes for some of the film’s interiors. Editor Alisa Lepselter does nice work with the editing from the presentation of the TV interview Ray and Frenchy have to a montage of the diverging lives between Ray and French. Production designer Santo Loquasto, with set decorator Jessica Lanier and art director Tom Warren, does fantastic work with some of the set pieces including the posh penthouse apartment that Ray and Frenchy live in that plays to some of the cheesy taste that Frenchy has.

Costume designer Suzanne McCabe does terrific work with the costumes from the colorful clothes that Frenchy wear to the more simple clothing of Ray and his friends. Sound editor Robert Hein does superb work with the sound from the mixing in the way the robbery plans try to go out while Frenchy is selling cookies. The film’s wonderful soundtrack includes an array of jazz and classical pieces from artists like Johann Strauss, Hal Kemp, Benny Goodman, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Johann Sebastian Bach, and the Champs.

The casting by Laura Rosenthal and Juliet Taylor is brilliant for the ensemble that is created as it includes appearances from Larry Pine and Kristine Nielsen as a rich couple Frenchy invites to her dinner party, Douglas McGrath as a lawyer Frenchy meets late in the film, Elaine Stritch as a rich socialite Ray tries to steal from late in the film, and as Ray’s friends who help him with the botched heist, there’s Michael Rapaport, Jon Lovitz, and Tony Darrow as they each bring in some very funny moments to the film. Hugh Grant is excellent as the very cultured arts dealer David who woos Frenchy with his knowledge on the arts and such.

Elaine May is amazing as Frenchy’s dim-witted cousin May as she says some very funny things while putting herself in situations that just ups the humor. Tracey Ullman is wonderful as Frenchy as a woman who has a hard time dealing with Ray’s schemes until she becomes a rich woman eager to be part of the rich world. Woody Allen is superb as the bumbling Ray where Allen brings in a lot of wit and humor to a role as a man trying to deal with wealth while wanting the more simple pleasures of life.

Small Time Crooks is a terrific film from Woody Allen that features wonderful performances from Allen, Tracey Ullman, Hugh Grant, and Elaine May. While it might be a minor comedy from Allen, it’s still a very funny film that is full of lively moments that keeps the audience entertained. In the end, Small Time Crooks is a fantastic film from Woody Allen.

Woody Allen Films: What's Up Tiger Lily? - Take the Money and Run - Bananas - Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) - Sleeper - Love and Death - Annie Hall - Interiors - Manhattan - Stardust Memories - A Midsummer's Night Sex Comedy - Zelig - Broadway Danny Rose - The Purple Rose of Cairo - Hannah & Her Sisters - Radio Days - September - Another Woman - New York Stories: Oedipus Wrecks - Crimes & Misdemeanors - Alice - Shadows and Fog - Husbands and Wives - Manhattan Murder Mystery - Bullets Over Broadway - Don't Drink the Water - Mighty Aphrodite - Everyone Says I Love You - Deconstructing Harry - Celebrity - Sweet and Lowdown - The Curse of the Jade Scorpion - Hollywood Ending - Anything Else - Melinda & Melinda - Match Point - Scoop - Cassandra’s Dream - Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Whatever Works - You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger - Midnight in Paris - To Rome with Love - Blue Jasmine - Magic in the Moonlight - Irrational Man - (Cafe Society)

The Auteurs #24: Woody Allen Pt. 1 - Pt. 2 - Pt. 3 - Pt. 4

© thevoid99 2013

Your Film Fucking Sucks #2: North

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 4/17/07 w/ Additional Edits.

The son of comedy actor Carl Reiner and famous for playing Meathead in All in the Family, Rob Reiner came to greater fame as a director for such films like the mockumentary This is Spinal Tap, the college comedy The Sure Thing, the coming-of-age story of Stand By Me, the romantic fantasy of The Princess Bride, the romantic-comedy of When Harry Met Sally, and the intense horror of Misery. From 1984-1990, Reiner was on a winning streak, commercially and critically, with six different films. Then in 1992, Reiner reached a peak creatively with the military courtroom drama A Few Good Men with Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Keifer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, and Jack Nicholson that gave Reiner a nomination for Best Director. At that point, it seemed like Rob Reiner could do no wrong. In 1994, Reiner returned to comedy to tell a story about a neglected young boy who divorces himself from his parents to find a new family. The idea at first seemed like another surefire hit from Reiner but the resulting film would mark the beginning of the end for Reiner's string of hits.

Written by Alan Zweibel that was based on his novel with scribe credit to Andrew Scheinman, North tells the story of a young boy who after watching his parents argue and neglect them decides to split from them. With help from another kid, a lawyer, and a guide dressed in a bunny suit, the boy goes on a trip around the world to find the perfect family. With Rob Reiner at the helm, it seemed like a movie that would be very funny with then-child star Elijah Wood in the title role. Instead, the film was a disaster of epic proportions. While the film included an all-star cast like Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bruce Willis, Reba McEntire, Dan Aykroyd, Jon Lovitz, Graham Greene, Kathy Bates, Abe Vigoda, Kelly McGillis, Ben Stein, Faith Ford, John Ritter, and in her film debut, Scarlett Johansson. North is an extremely mean, insulting film that looks like a family film but ends up being very vicious.

To the eyes of many in a small town, North is a kid who has it all and is probably one of the best kids around. He's a brilliant, bright student, a great ballplayer, a gifted actor in school plays, and the friends of many. Unfortunately, North doesn't get the attention of his parents (Jason Alexander & Julia Louis-Dreyfus) as they often bicker about their own lives. The arguments and neglect starts to affect North in everything he does as he goes to his secret spot. A large armchair in a mall where he finds himself talking to a man dressed in an Easter Bunny suit (Bruce Willis).  After turning to his friend and school editor Winchell (Matthew McCurley), North is convinced that he's neglected as he decides to split from his parents for good. When Winchell's report attracts the attention of the town including an attorney named Arthur Belt (Jon Lovitz), North's parents are in total shock as a media circus and trial occurs. When the judge (Alan Arkin) decides to give North his freedom until Labor Day. By Labor Day, North had to get either new parents or return to his old parents but if he doesn't, he will be taken to an orphanage.

North takes his trip to find new parents where he arrives in Texas and meets a Texan couple (Dan Aykroyd and Reba McEntire) where he's greeted lavishly. He sees the bunny guy being a farmer as North learns the Texan couple wants him to replace their dead son. North decides to leave where back in his old town, Winchell and Belt decide to make a liberation movement for children with Belt as a political candidate. North goes to Hawaii to meet another new set of parents (Keone Young & Lauren Tom) but finds out that he's being used as a tourism advertisement. North then goes to Alaska for another set of parents (Graham Greene & Kathy Bates) where things go fine until they decide to drop off North's new grandfather (Abe Vigoda) away for good. With Winchell trying to take control, North's parents recover from their state of shock but unaware of what Winchell and Belt are trying to do.

After a group of searches all over the world including a visit to an Amish land with parents (Kelly McGillis & Alexander Godunov) as it doesn't go well. North finally finds the perfect family in the Nelsons with a nice group of parents in Ward & Donna Nelson (John Ritter & Faith Ford, respectively) and siblings Bud & Laura (Jesse Ziegler & Scarlett Johansson, respectively). Things at first go great but when North receives an edited tape of an interview with his real parents, North is disillusioned and sad as he leaves the Nelsons. When Winchell learns that North hasn't found a family and threatens to kill the kids liberation law. When North is being hunted by a Winchell's security guard Al (Robert Costanzo), North finds out the truth and gets guidance from the man in bunny suit being a comedian and a Fed Ex driver.

While the film and its plot tells a simple story of a kid wanting to split with his parents and then, goes into a moral judgement. The pay off and final result however, is a total mess. Instead of being this warm, life-lesson family film. It ends up being a film where it starts out pleasant yet very silly into something darker and suspenseful that doesn't work. Obviously, Rob Reiner has no idea what he wants to make. A funny family film, a satire, a thriller, a drama. There, the audience is confused and being insulted by everything that's shown towards them. The film does lean towards sentimentality towards the end when North decides to return to his parents but there's no payoff. The ending ends up making the entire film a waste of time.

The script fails to not even present some moral lesson but also create characters that are very one-dimensional with very little development. Plus, some of the families that North sees end up being displayed as stereotypes. The narration even becomes distracting to let the audience make up their mind and interpretation of what goes on. While the character of North is interesting who goes through the most serious of development, the character ends up being lost in the situations he's in and the result isn't rewarding or fulfilling to him or the actual story. Much of the blame should go to Reiner for really making a family film that tries to pander down to its audience with its bland, manipulative style that only becomes a parody of a bad sitcom.

Not even the film's technical work in Adam Greenberg's cinematography or Robert Leighton's editing should be worth noting since there's nothing unique. Even the score by Marc Shaiman isn't memorable where it just plays up to the lame, sentimental tone of the film. This is part of the film's big failure. Even its casting filled with some great talents being wasted in the roles they're given. They're not given a chance to play real people but rather awful caricatures. The performance Alan Arkin gives as a judge is pretty bad. Arkin, a very talented actor, looks like he went through a bunch of takes and looks very haggard during the performance where he's not even sure why he's even in the film. The roles of the adoptive parents like Dan Aykroyd, Reba McEntire, Keone Young, Lauren Tom, Graham Greene, and Kathy Bates aren't given any material and end up being pandered down to the stereotypes they play.

The cameos from Alexander Godunov and Kelly McGillis playing the Amish from Peter Weir's Witness is very silly and pointless as well as a reference to Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor in another sequence. The late John Ritter and Faith Ford as the perfect model of the typical American parents doesn't have any amount of life. They just smile and act really bland which is a waste for a real comedic talent like Ritter. Even the Nelson kids played by Jesse Ziegler and Scarlett Johansson don't add anything. Still, that's not Johansson's fault. She was only eight-years old in her first movie. She was cute but still had a long way to go in being the famous star we all know. Jussie Smollett in the role of North's friend Adam is very awkwardly performed where he has to play spy and such and doesn't feel natural. Jon Lovitz is largely wasted along with Robert Costanzo in a very stereotypical role as a security hitman. Oh, there's also a worthless cameo from Rita Wilson as a parent who fawns over North.

Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus from Seinfeld are forced to play caricatures where they're not given a chance to be funny or real. Even in their attempts to gain sympathy feels contrived and bland which is a shame to the comedic talents. One of the film's worst performances is Matthew McCurley as Winchell. It's a very unnatural performance of this smarmy, little kid who looks like the poor man's Macaulay Culkin (well him and that other little bastard from Full House). McCurley tries to act like some adult that doesn't work and as a villain, it's very cartoonish. Bruce Willis is also in a very bad performance (he's done worse though) as a guy dressed up as an Easter Bunny, no wait, a cowboy, no an eskimo, no a surfer, comedian, Fed Ex guy. Willis acts some strange guardian angel/moral guide that feels very out of place and his narration doesn't even have any life.

Finally, there's Elijah Wood in what has to be one of his worst performances. It's a shame since Wood at the time was a brilliant, gifted child actor. Here, he is forced to try and be funny, be dramatic and it doesn't come off in a way that is relatable to kids. It feels very detached and awkward. The blame isn't entirely Wood's fault but Reiner's direction as he doesn't give Wood anything to do. Wood is forced to observe every situation he's in and it looks like he's overwhelmed to the point that he doesn't know where to take his character. It should also be noted that Wood was 12-13 during filming and was definitely starting to grow out of his adolescent phase which can explain the sense of detachment in his performance.

When the film was released in the summer of 1994, the film was expected to do well with Reiner's box office and critical winning streak along with Elijah Wood's young fanbase. Instead, the film bombed in the box office while also receiving negative reviews. Making things worse was probably one of the most notorious film reviews ever written from the famed Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert. Ebert not only bashed the film but it was in this review, he would state probably one of the most infamous statements:

I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it.

The review and its failure in the box office marked the beginning of the end for Reiner. Though he did recover briefly with The American President starring Michael Douglas and Annette Benning. His subsequent films, Ghosts of Mississippi, The Story of Us, Alex & Emma, and 2005's Rumor Has It... were all critical and commercial failures.

For anyone who enjoys family films should stay away from North. The film's message is pretty bad while it also features some coarse language that should a no-no for kids. Fans of Rob Reiner will no doubt hate this film and are convinced that this was the movie where he jumped the shark. So in the end, stay away from North. It's not entertaining, it's not very intelligent. It's a film that will make you angry like Roger Ebert himself. Oh, and the late Gene Siskel thought it sucked too.  He called it junk.  He and Ebert weren't being kind.  After all, North is a piece of shit film that will make anyone hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate this movie and the man who made this in Rob Reiner.

Rob Reiner Films: This is Spinal Tap - (The Sure Thing) - (Stand By Me) - The Princess Bride - (When Harry Met Sally) - (Misery) - (A Few Good Men) - (The American President) - (Ghosts of Mississippi) - (The Story of Us) - (Alex & Emma) - (Rumor Has It...) - (The Bucket List) - (Flipped) - (The Magic of Belle Isle)

© thevoid99 2012