The Hired Hand

Directed and starring Peter Fonda and written by Alan Sharp, The Hired Hand is the story of a man returning home after going away for seven years as he tries to win back his wife by becoming her hired hand. The film is an unusual western as it explores a man dealing with abandoning his wife as well as gaining some redemption. Also starring Verna Bloom and Warren Oates. The Hired Hand is a ravishing and touching film from Peter Fonda.

The film follows a drifter and his friend whose years of trying to find work forces him to return home to the wife he abandoned and win her back by becoming her hired hand. It’s a film with a simple story as it explores a man who had been away for seven years as the years of drifting from one place to another and a violent encounter with a corrupt gang leader forces him to return home. Alan Sharp’s screenplay begins with Harry Collings (Peter Fonda) roaming around place to place with his friend Arch Harris (Warren Oates) and a young man named Dan Griffen (Robert Pratt) as their companion as they go into this remote desert town where trouble occurs. Following this troubling encounter, Collings decides to return home to his estranged wife Hannah (Verna Bloom) whom he hadn’t seen in seven years as she is not happy to see him. Her disdain towards him is something Collings understands as he realizes what she had to do to survive as it bear some elements of feminism in the script. Especially as Collings realize that tending to the farm is not enough to win her back while Harris yearns to see the ocean as he helps out so that Collings could get his redemption.

Peter Fonda’s direction is very unusual in his approach to creating a western as it doesn’t play into some of the conventional tropes in favor of something more meditative as well as reflective. Shot largely on location in New Mexico, the film’s first act is set in a river and later in the desert at this remote town where Fonda would use some wide shots for some of the locations but also some unique close-ups of the characters. Fonda’s approach to style doesn’t just play into some of the close-ups and medium shots he would create for much of the film but also in these evocative montages filled with superimposed images and dissolves that add a very poetic quality to the film.

Notably as it play into not just the sense of guilt that Collings is filled with but also this determination to redeem himself to his wife Hannah as well as the fact that he has a young daughter named Janey (Megan Denver) he just learned about. There is a confrontation in its third act but Fonda would aim for something unconventional as it’s more about a man needing to fight for a reason rather than just be in a shootout as well as a vow he’s made to the woman he loved and abandoned in the hope he wouldn’t do so ever again. Overall, Fonda creates a dream-like yet intoxicating film about a man being a hired hand for his estranged wife.

Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond does brilliant work with the film’s gorgeous and dream-like cinematography with its natural usage of sunlight for some of the scenes at the forest home of Hannah as well as the usage of low-key lights for the scenes set at night. Editor Frank Mazzola does amazing work with the editing with its stylish usage of montages through its superimposed dissolves and stylish approach to freeze-frames as it’s a major highlight of the film. Production designer Lawrence G. Paull and set decorator Robert De Vestel do fantastic work with the look of the desert town with its ruined stones and bricks as well as the look of Hannah’s home.

Costume designer Richard Bruno does nice work with the costumes from the ragged look of the clothes the men wear early in the film to the simple look of Hannah. Sound editor James Nelson does terrific work with the sound as it is very straightforward to play into some of the quiet sounds of the location as well as some of the gunfire that occurs in some of the action scenes. The film’s music by Bruce Langford is excellent for its rapturous music score that is filled with rich acoustic instruments and woodwind sounds that help give the film a dream-like feel that is just intoxicating to listen to.

The film’s superb cast include some notable small roles from Owen Orr and Ted Markland as a couple of henchmen for a local outlaw, Ann Doran as a neighbor of Hannah, Robert Pratt as Collings and Harris’ traveling companion Dan Griffen, Rita Rogers as a Mexican woman that is mistreated by the brutish local outlaw, Megan Denver as Hannah’s daughter Janey, and Severn Darden as the brutal outlaw McVey as a man who runs a remote desert town and tries to get Collings and Harris into trouble.

Verna Bloom is brilliant as Hannah as a woman who has a lot of pent-up anger towards Collings as she isn’t eager to have his help while she doesn’t trust Harris despite the fact that she knows that he’s a good man. Warren Oates is amazing as Arch Harris as a cowboy who is eager to see the ocean knowing that his days of drifting are gone as he tries to help out at Hannah’s home and farm as well as lament on the life Collings would have if he chooses to stay with Hannah. Finally, there’s Peter Fonda in an excellent performance as Harry Collings as a drifter that is trying to redeem himself to his ex-wife as he would fix things at her home while dealing with the years of drifting that lead to nothing as well as being forced to fight again to protect the things he’s starting to regain as it’s a very understated role from Fonda.

The Hired Hand is a remarkable film from Peter Fonda that features great performances from Fonda, Verna Bloom, and Warren Oates. Along with Vilmos Zsigmond’s beautiful cinematography, Frank Mazzola’s dizzying editing, and Bruce Langford’s haunting score, the film is a very unconventional yet rich western that bear elements expected in the genre but also with ideas on feminism and a woman’s role in the West. In the end, The Hired Hand is a sensational film from Peter Fonda.

© thevoid99 2017

Escape from L.A.

Directed by John Carpenter and screenplay by Carpenter, Debra Hill, and Kurt Russell from characters by Carpenter and Nick Castle, Escape from L.A. is a sequel to the 1981 film Escape from New York in which Snake Plissken is asked by the President and the U.S. government to save the President’s daughter who had hijacked a plane to Los Angeles as she gives a weapon to a rebel leader. The film is another exploration into dystopian America where Los Angeles is separated by the U.S. due to an earthquake as Kurt Russell reprises his role as Snake Plissken. Also starring Steve Buscemi, Stacy Keach, Cliff Robertson, Georges Corraface, Michelle Forbes, Valeria Golino, Bruce Campbell, A.J. Langer, Pam Grier, and Peter Fonda. Escape from L.A. for all of its action and thrills is really just a lazy and uninspiring film from John Carpenter.

Set in 2013 just 13 years after an earthquake had destroyed much of Los Angeles and separated itself from the U.S., the film revolves around Snake Plissken being asked by the President (Cliff Robertson) to retrieve a black box carrying a weapon that can save the country from evil forces as the box had been taken by his daughter Utopia (A.J. Langer). Plissken reluctantly takes the mission due to a virus he is carrying as he has less than 10 hours to retrieve the black box as well as deal with a rebel leader who wants to take down the U.S. and its President. In some ways, it’s really the same narrative of the first film made 15 years earlier but with a different set of rules, villains, and people as the only thing that hasn’t changed is Snake Plissken himself. It’s just that the world Snake Plissken is in is a very weird one and affirmation that he really has no place in the future whether it’s in America or the rest of the world.

The film’s screenplay does play into a traditional structure where much of the first act is exposition in which plays into what happened to America since the events of the previous and what Plissken needs to do. The second act is about Plissken arriving in Los Angeles as he meets an assortment of crazed characters including a tour guide named Eddie (Steve Buscemi), a woman named Taslima (Valeria Golino) who was deported to L.A. because she was a Muslim, a transgender outlaw named Hershe (Pam Grier), and an aging surfer named Pipeline (Peter Fonda). Some of which are either affiliated with the terrorist leader Cuervo Jones (George Corraface) or against him. Yet, many of these characters really just caricatures where some just offer exposition or others are just there for laughs as it never really meshes or do anything to drive the story. Even as everyone knows that the President and his cronies are also villains because of what he wants to do and the bullshit morality that he stands for which doesn’t really make the story very engaging.

John Carpenter’s direction does have its moments in some of the action scenes and how he re-creates Los Angeles as paradise in Hell. Even as it does have some satire in the way the world is along with bits of commentary about a third-world revolution going up against the superpower that is America. Unfortunately, the script’s unwillingness to really do so much more really bogs the film down as Carpenter had to rely on humor to get some things going where it doesn’t really mesh with who Snake Plissken is. Even as there’s a lot of reliance on visual effects that don’t look great or finished as well as moments where it tries to be outrageous but ends up being very dumb. Carpenter’s approach to compositions are still potent in his approach to close-ups and medium shots but there’s scenes that don’t look good such as seeing Plissken surfing nearby or a scene where Plissken has to play basketball to survive. It’s not what he’s about as it doesn’t have the element of suspense nor any stakes that are bigger as it’s ending sort of mirrors the one in the previous film. Overall, Carpenter makes a very messy and dull film about a guy trying to retrieve a black box for some asshole dictator he doesn’t even like.

Cinematographer Gary B. Kibbe does nice work with the cinematography as much of the film was set at night where it features some unique lighting for some of the action scenes as well as play up to the look of Los Angeles. Editor Edward A. Warschilka does some fine work with the editing though it deviates from many of the conventional fast-paced cutting style that is derivative of most action films. Production designer Lawrence G. Paull, with set decorator Kathe Klopp and art director Bruce Crone, does superb work with the set design from the look of the city as well as some of the landmarks of the cities in their post-earthquake look. Costume designer Robin Michel Blush does excellent work with the costumes from the Che Guevara-inspired look of Cuervo Jones to look of the many characters that Plissken encounters in the film.

Special effects makeup designer Rick Baker does some brilliant work with the design of some of the freaks that appear in Los Angeles including those who took too much plastic surgery. Visual effects supervisors Michael Lessa and Kimberly Nelson LoCasio do terrible work with the visual effects where it looks like early 90s computer animation where things look wobbly and some of it looked unfinished as it is among one of the lowlights of the film. Sound editor John Dunn and sound designer John Pospisil do fantastic work with the sound to play up some of the sound effects and layers of sound in some of the action scenes. The film’s music by John Carpenter and Shirley Walker is alright for its mixture of electronics and rock with bits of blues to play into that sense of the old-school that Plissken is fond for while its soundtrack is a mixture of metal, alt-rock, and industrial from acts like Gravity Kills, Tool, White Zombie, Tori Amos, Sugar Ray, the Toadies, Ministry, Butthole Surfers, Stabbing Westward, Clutch, and the Deftones.

The casting by Carrie Frazier is amazing though many of the appearances of such noted cult actors like Pam Grier as an old friend of Plissken in a transgender fighter named Hershe, Bruce Campbell as a weird-looking plastic surgeon from Beverly Hills, Jeff Imada as a gang member, Robert Carradine as a skinhead, Paul Bartel as a congressman, and Leland Orser as an associate of Cuervo as they’re kind of given nothing to do as does Valeria Golino as a woman who helps Plissken to find locations in Los Angeles, Breckin Meyer as a young surfer, Michelle Forbes as an assistant chief to the police force, Stacy Keach as Commander Malloy, and Peter Fonda as the aging surfer Pipeline as they’re just used to appear and don’t do much. A.J. Langer is horrible as the President’s daughter Utopia as she doesn’t really do much for the story nor give any reason to save her as the President himself is indifferent about her. Georges Corraface is alright as Cuervo Jones as this rebel leader who wants to destroy the American dictatorship yet is also just as bad as the President.

Cliff Robertson is pretty good as the President as a man of morality who wants to clean up the country but is also quite ruthless in maintaining his rule as he is given a lifetime term. Steve Buscemi is fantastic as a tour guide named Eddie who is kind of a sleazy guy that is in it for himself and whoever that can give him money where he is the only guy that is able to bring some humor to the film. Finally, there’s Kurt Russell in a brilliant performance as Snake Plissken as this renegade soldier who is forced to take part in a mission to retrieve a weapon in a black box as he copes with illness and other things in a world he doesn’t relate to as Russell is the only thing in the film that works.

While it features a strong performance from Kurt Russell and some exciting action scenes, Escape from L.A. is just a very disappointing and lazy film from John Carpenter. It’s a film that tries to update its predecessor for the 90s but doesn’t do enough to stand out from the original while it is hampered by some bad humor and awful visual effects. In the end, Escape from L.A. is just a bad film from John Carpenter.

John Carpenter Films: Dark Star - Assault on Precinct 13 - Halloween - Someone’s Watching Me! - Elvis - The Fog - Escape from New York - The Thing - Christine - Starman - Big Trouble in Little China - Prince of Darkness - They Live - Memoirs of an Invisible Man - Body Bags - In the Mouth of Madness - Village of the Damned - Vampires - Ghosts of Mars - The Ward

The Auteurs #60: John Carpenter Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2015

Spirits of the Dead

Histoires extraordinaire (Spirits of the Dead) is an omnibus film from Federico Fellini, Louis Malle, and Roger Vadim that takes three different stories based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe. The three segments each explores the world of horror in many different ways as well as individuals who deal with their sins. The result is a truly fascinating and entertaining omnibus film from Federico Fellini, Louis Malle, and Roger Vadim on the works of Edgar Allen Poe.

Metzengerstein

Directed by Roger Vadim. Screenplay by Roger Vadim, Pascal Cousin, and Daniel Boulanger. Starring Jane Fonda and Peter Fonda. Cinematographer Claude Renoir. Editor Helene Plemiannikov. Production designer Jean Andre. Costume designer Jacques Fonteray. Music by Jean Prodromides.

The segment is about a countess who has inherited a renowned estate as she lives a life of debauchery and excess with no consequences. When she is rejected by her baron cousin who lives nearby, she seeks vengeance only to get a mysterious horse that she becomes attached to. It’s a piece that is filled with an array of beautiful imagery through Roger Vadim’s direction as well as sense of style in the way the clothes display that sense of decadence as well as the sense of guilt and melancholia that Countess Frederique Metzengerstein (Jane Fonda) would deal with over what she did to Baron Wilhem Berliftizing (Peter Fonda). Even as the mysterious horse in a tapestry the countess has might play into the fate that she would encounter with the horse she had just received where both Fonda siblings give fantastic performances where Jane speaks perfect French while Peter is more quiet as his lines are dubbed in French.

William Wilson

Directed by Louis Malle. Screenplay by Louis Malle, Clement Biddle Wood, and Daniel Boulanger. Starring Alain Delon and Brigitte Bardot. Cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli. Editors Franco Arcalli and Suzanne Baron. Production/costume designer Ghislain Uhry. Art director/costume designer Carlo Leva. Music by Diego Masson.

Louis Malle’s segment explores the life of a cruel young man (Alain Delon) who shares the same name of a doppelganger who would set the rights of what his counterpart has done. Yet, it has a narrative that is told in a reflective manner as Wilson confesses to a priest (Salvo Radone) about the rivalry he has with his doppelganger dating back to childhood where it would culminate in a game where Wilson tries to cheat a socialite named Giuseppina (Brigitte Bardot). It’s a very complex and eerie film about identity and such that features a brilliant Alain Delon that is complemented by Malle’s very intense and mesmerizing direction as well Bardot’s very charming and cool performance.

Toby Dammit

Directed by Federico Fellini. Screenplay by Federico Fellini and Bernardino Zapponi. Starring Terence Stamp. Cinematographer Giuseppe Rutunno. Editor Ruggero Mastroianni. Production/costume designer Piero Tosi. Art director Fabrizio Clerici. Visual effects by Joseph Nathanson. Music by Nino Rota.

The segment is about a washed-up Shakespearean actor who goes to Rome to accept an award and to star in a Catholic western as he starts to lose his mind following an encounter with a little girl who lost her ball. It’s a film that is filled with many of the visual traits of Federico Fellini as it’s all style where it’s playful but also gorgeous to look at thanks to Giuseppe Rutunno’s cinematography. The film also features a truly delightful score by Nino Rota that also features a truly magnificent sequence of the titular character driving all over Italy on a Ferrari as he’s played with such complexity by Terence Stamp who adds a melancholia and craziness to the character.

The film is about the sins and such of various individuals all told in very different places as the segments by Roger Vadim and Louis Malle are all period pieces that do play with Edgar Allen Poe’s story. In Metzengerstein, Vadim decided to make Poe’s story about a long-standing family feud be more complex as its protagonist would become a woman as she falls for her rival only to be upset by his rejection. In William Wilson, Malle sets his story in the 19th Century Austria where it plays into a man’s identity and the idea of a double where his double is man that is the exact opposite of the other man.

Both Vadim and Malle bring a sense of faithfulness to their respective stories yet it is Federico Fellini who does a whole lot more in his loose-adaptation of Never Bet the Devil Your Head where he sets in modern-day Italy as it’s all full of style to play up the troubled mind of an alcoholic actor as he’s doing interviews and attend a lavish party that has him realize how undeserving he is as he’s being paid a Ferrari to do a film. It’s Fellini’s segment that is the best of the three as well as one of his most outstanding works of his career.

Histoires extraordinaire is a marvelous omnibus film that chronicles the work of Edgar Allen Poe. Featuring some fantastic segments by Roger Vadim and Louis Malle that features excellent performances from Jane and Peter Fonda, Brigitte Bardot, and Alain Delon. The film also features a magnificent segment by Federico Fellini that is one of his great masterworks that includes an incredible performance by Terence Stamp. In the end, Histoires extraordinaire is a remarkable omnibus film from the trio of Federico Fellini, Louis Malle, and Roger Vadim.

Federico Fellini Films: (Variety Lights) - The White Sheik - (L’amore in Citta-Un’agenzia matrimoniale) - I Vitelloni - La Strada - Il bidone - Nights of Cabiria - La Dolce Vita - (Boccaccio ‘70-Le tentazoni del Dottor Antonio) - 8 1/2 - Juliet of the Spirits - (Fellini: A Director’s Notebook) - Fellini Satyricon - (I Clowns) - Roma - Amarcord - Casanova - Orchestra Rehearsal - City of Women - And the Ship Sails On - Ginger and Fred - (Intervista) - (The Voice of the Moon)

Louis Malle Films: (The Silent World) - (Elevator to the Gallows) - (The Lovers) - (Zazie dans la Metro) - (Vive le Tour) - (A Very Private Affair) - (The Fire Within) - (Viva Maria!) - (The Thief of Paris) - (Calcutta (1969 film)) - (Murmur of the Heart) - (Humain, trop humain) - (Lacombe, Lucien) - (Black Moon) - (Pretty Baby) - (Atlantic City (1980 film)) - (My Dinner with Andre) - (Crackers) - (Alamo Bay) - (God’s Country) - (And the Pursuit of Happiness) - (Au Revoir Le Enfants) - (May Fools) - (Damage) - (Vanya on 42nd Street)

Roger Vadim Films: (And God Created Woman) - (No Sun in Venice) - (The Night Heaven Fell) - (Les laisons dangereuses) - (Blood and Roses) - (Please, Not Now!) - (The Seven Deadly Sins) - (Love on a Pillow) - (Castle in Sweden) - (Vice and Virtue) - (Circle of Love) - (La Curee) - (Barbarella, Queen of the Galaxy) - (Pretty Maids All in a Row) - (Helle) - (Ciao! Manhattan) - (Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman) - (The Murdered Young Girl) - (Game of Seduction) - (Night Games) - (Hot Touch) - (Surprise Party) - (And God Created Woman (1988 film))

© thevoid99 2013

3:10 to Yuma (2007 film)

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 9/9/07 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.

Based on Elmore Leonard's short story, 3:10 to Yuma is the story about an ex-Civil War sharpshooter who is asked to accompany a vicious criminal to a prison train as he and various men are being followed by the criminal's gang. Directed by James Mangold with a screenplay by Stuart Beattie, Michael Brandt, and Derek Haas with elements of the 1957 adapted script by Halstead Welles for Delmer Daves' version of the film. The film explores the world of temptation as a farmer and a criminal try to outwit each other. Starring Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Gretchen Mol, Logan Lerman, Alan Tudyk, Ben Foster, Vinessa Shaw, Dallas Roberts, and Peter Fonda. 3:10 to Yuma is a sprawling yet adventurous film from James Mangold.

The film explores a rancher named Dan Evans (Christian Bale) whose life hasn't been great as his ranch is suffering from a drought while he's in debt as well as getting threatened by a man named Hollander (Lennie Lofton) who wants Evans' land for the railroad. When the criminal known as Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) has been captured after stealing money from the railroad barron Grayson Butterfield (Dallad Roberts), Evans volunteers to help the Pinkerton officer Byron McElroy (Peter Fonda) to accompany Wade to the prison train to Yuma along with Doc Potter (Alan Tudyk), Butterfield, and Evans' 14-year old son William (Logan Lerman). Yet, the party is being pursued by Wade's right-hand man Charlie Prince (Ben Foster)and the rest of Wade's gang as a battle of wits emerge between Evans and Wade about what to do where Wade tempts Evans into helping him while Wade isn't sure if he can take Wade's offer.

The original film version of 3:10 to Yuma was essentially a western that was part character-study, part suspense where it's about these two men trying to play a game of wits in seeing how far they'll go in dealing with their own morals. Director James Mangold, obviously a fan of the original, doesn't tinker with the film's old formulas very much. Instead, he helps expand the story, add a few new characters, and take the western genre back to form with some new methods. The film's script that was written by Stuart Beattie, Michael Brandt, and Derek Haas definitely brings back some of the original dialogue that was written by the film's original scribe Halstead Wells. What is very surprising is that the dialogue that is used again manages to be as relevant as it was heard back in the original 1957 version.

The script also works as a device of character study where it's really about both Ben Wade and Dan Evans. Wade, a sadistic man who can be very charming and witty while is also a ruthless killer who is even willing to kill one of his own men for gain. Yet, part of his redeeming qualities is how he reminds someone like William that he's not a good man despite the growth of respect he has for Dan for his bravey. Dan Evans is just as complex as a man who is forced to swallow a lot of his pride in order to maintain the survival of his family. Yet, he too has a dark side that he doesn't like to show that Wade manages to discover. What's surprising is that both men have similar morals, characteristics, and pride. It's where the film's script succeeds in.

The direction of James Mangold is very solid throughout the entire film in how he maintains the faithfulness to the original film. While the female characters like Alice Evans (Gretchen Mol) and Emmy (Vinessa Shaw) aren't as big as they were in the original film, they still play to what's expected in the plot. More importantly, the plot is expanded where the original film is 95 minutes and this version adding thirty more. While the violence and language is more confrontational in the original, it's definitely because Mangold adds elements of directors like Sergio Leone and in a lesser extent, Sam Peckinpah. There, he still manages to bring that quality that is expected in the genre in terms of the idea of men running lose, doing wild things, shootouts, and such. One complaint that might be understandable in comparison to the original film is the ending.

Probably because of what Mangold is trying to convey in terms of where the genre was then and now. It might work on some aspects but might not work with some audiences. Still, Mangold brings the genre right back to its essential that makes not just purists satisfied but also people new to the genre to be excited about.

Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael brings a wonderful look to the film with its gorgeous, epic-like photography with the film's inspiring location shot in New Mexico. The film's nighttime scenes from the outside with the blue sky is mesmerizing as is some of the daylight exteriors that manages to maintain its grittiness. It's definitely a highlight of the film. The location in New Mexico and with a $50 million budget definitely gives the production with the saloons, farms, and towns created by production designer Andrew Menzies and art directors Greg Berry and Jay Hart a look that is authentic and a reminder of what was great in that genre.

Costume designer Ariane Phillips definitely create some nice suits for Dallas Roberts while the cowboy clothing for the rest of the actors maintains its grittiness. The makeup also works since a lot of them wear beards or a mustache whether it's the clean, handlebar mustache look Roberts have to the dirtier, grimy look that both Ben Foster and Peter Fonda have.

Editor Michael McCusker definitely goes against the current fast-cut, fast-paced editing style of today's films that would've hurt this film. Instead, he goes for a more traditional, intense style that manages to keep the film's pacing while the action is definitely attentive for the audience. During the more suspenseful moments, the cuts are definitely slow but engaging to maintain the tension between the main characters. Sound editor Donald Sylvester also adds atmosphere by using the sounds of the wind, horses, whistles, and such to play true to the film and its genre in terms of its suspense.  Music composer Marco Beltrami adds a bit of symphonic orchestra to the genre but uses it in a low-key approach with the rest of the score performed on acoustic guitars and string instruments to play to that old-school atmosphere of the western.

Finally, there's the film's cast and what a hell of a cast does it have. Smaller performances from the likes of Sean Hennigan as the Contention City marshal, Rio Alexander and Johnny Whitworth as two of Wade's men, Forest Fyre, Luce Rains, and a un-credited cameo from Luke Wilson who gives a great performance as one of Boles' posse. Benjamin Petry is good as the little Mark Evans who has a great line that comes from the original film while Lennie Lofton is sleazy as the land-grabbing Hollander. Vinessa Shaw, playing the Felicia Farr role, is good as the sexy Emmy who is charmed by Wade. Kevin Durand is funny as the annoying Tucker, who manages to hate both Wade and Evans for different reasons while having a scene where he sings a song that angers Wade.

Alan Tudyk of Firefly/Serenity fame manages to give an excellent, yet funny performance as Doc Potter who manages to have some funny one-liners while admitting to not carrying a gun very much. Gretchen Mol is wonderful as the caring Alice Evans who loves Dan but also despises him a bit for his choices as she tries to maintain the household. Mol, who shows a more hardened maturity than in previous roles, is only a few scenes which is a shame since her performance really stands out by not playing a conventional farmer's wife.

Dallas Roberts from Walk the Line is great as the money-hungry Butterfield who thinks he has control only to realize that money can't buy everything while eventually becoming a tool for Evans' own pursuits. Logan Lerman is excellent as William Evans, a boy who seems to idolize Wade while losing respect for his own father. His development in the film is handled very realistically as he learns about sacrifice and why his father makes choices that sometimes aren&#146t right as he plays the character with maturity and energy.

Peter Fonda is brilliant in his small but mesmerizing role as the old, gruff Byron McElroy who manages to have a lot of hatred for Wade as Fonda's exchanges with Crowe are just fun to watch. Fonda, who has done westerns in the past, manages to bring that old school attitude that shows he's been there before and his performance is truly memorable that even his late, legendary father Henry would've been proud. Ben Foster is the film's sole scene-stealer as the psychotic Charlie Prince. Foster, sporting a beard and marks around his eyes, is a force that has to be seen where though he's a more sadistic, traditional villain. He has his loyalties and wit as he tries to save the man he's admired so much. It's a great performance from the young actor who proves he can act with the likes of Fonda, Crowe, and Bale.

Christian Bale gives one of his best performances as the troubled, prideful Dan Evans who was played by Van Heflin fifty years before. Bale's intense, layered performance shows the actor bringing a subtlety and grit that isn't seen very often but only expanding his range following his work in recent years. Though his character doesn't have a lot of humor, he still manages to have some wit and charm while maintaining his own stance against someone like Russell Crowe. Russell Crowe, in the role of Ben Wade that was played by Glenn Ford, is brilliant. Though Crowe didn't manage to play a great western character in Sam Raimi's The Quick & the Dead, this film proves he was born to be in a western.

Crowe's mix of charm, sadism, and antagonist attitude proves to be right as he plays the Wade character to the hilt. More importantly, he makes the audience to either love or hate him in whatever he's doing. The comradery between two great actors like Crowe and Bale are just amazing to watch and what's really great to see in those performances is how much fun they're having. Bottom line, both Crowe and Bale bring the kind of performances that purists of the genre will surely love.

The 20007 remake of 3:10 to Yuma is a marvelous film from James Mangold thanks to its cast led by Christian Bale and Russell Crowe as well as its devotion to pay true to the western genre. The film isn't just a faithful remake to Delmer Daves' 1957 film but also ensures the vitality of the western genre as both films would make a great double-feature. In the end, 3:10 to Yuma is an exciting and enthralling film from James Mangold.

James Mangold Films: (Heavy) - (Cop Land) - (Girl, Interrupted) - (Kate & Leopold) - (Identity (2003 film)) - (Walk the Line) - 3:10 to Yuma (2007 film) - (Knight and Day) - The Wolverine - Logan - Ford v Ferrari - (Indiana Jones 5)

© thevoid99 2013

The Limey

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 9/24/04 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.

Cinema in the 1970s brought not just a return to realism but also paved the way for new actors, notably those who looked like guys next door or the guys who just came out of the street. Guys like Charles Brosnan and Clint Eastwood weren’t guys that were very pretty but they could kick your ass. They weren’t the tallest guys; the strongest, or buffed up, they were some serious dudes that are likely to be one of the last guys standing. Then after the 70s ended, guys like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenagger came in with their beefy, macho-like roles that not many guys could relate to except in the terms of violence. Then in 1999, fresh off his comeback film Out of Sight, independent film director Steven Soderbergh decided to return to that old-school genre of realistic tough guys for his 1999 movie entitled The Limey.

Directed by Soderbergh and written by Lem Dobbs, The Limey is about an old British ex-con named Wilson who goes to Los Angeles to investigate the death of his estranged daughter. Learning that her murder was with involvement by a 1960s record producer and his goons, Wilson pursues the truth while having very few friends and an increasing number of enemies. With a non-linear approach to the film’s story, Soderbergh and company goes for a more idiosyncratic tone of the film while remaining true to its storyline. Starring 60s icons Terence Stamp and Peter Fonda in leading roles along with Soderbergh regular Luis Guzman with Lesley Ann Warren, Barry Newman, Bill Duke, Joe Dallesandro, Nicky Katt, Amelia Heinle, and Melissa George. The Limey is a stylish, entrancing crime drama that is both sinister and seductive.

A former convict named Wilson (Terence Stamp) has arrived to Los Angeles from London after hearing the news that his daughter Jenny (Melissa George) had just been killed. Having not seen his daughter for many years since his conviction for robbery, Wilson wants answers as he meets a man named Eduardo Roel (Luis Guzman). Roel believes that Jenny was killed by a man named Terry Valentine (Peter Fonda), a record producer from the 1960s, whom Jenny had been dating as Wilson tries to find more answers about Valentine. After confronting a foreman (William Lucking) and some goons, he sends a message to one of the goons to tell Valentine that he's coming for him. While Valentine hears the news in his home at the Hollywood Hills from his advisor Avery (Barry Newman), he asks Avery to take care of things.

Wilson meanwhile, meets Elaine (Lesley Ann Warren) who was a friend of Jenny from an acting class as she tells him more about his daughter. When Wilson goes to Valentine's house for a party with Roel, they realize that they have to wait as he sends a message by killing one of Valentine's bodyguards prompting Avery to hire a couple of men named Stacy (Nicky Katt) and Uncle John (Joe Dallesandro) to find Wilson. With Wilson spending more time with Elaine as he reveals his regrets, a planned hit on Wilson backfires due to the involvement from the DEA as an officer (Bill Duke) who reveals some news to Wilson about some drugs relating to Valentine. Wilson, Roel, and Elaine go on a trip to Big Sur as Wilson is ready to confront Valentine over the death of Jenny.

What makes The Limey such a majestic crime drama is how Soderbergh approach Dobbs’ screenplay into a non-linear, idiosyncratic style. The film plays like a crime drama but with a more restrained, subtle tone with references to the past and present. The film is really more of a tribute to the 1970s crime dramas since it captures that tone but with a new cinematic style with Soderbergh’s diverse directing style of hand-held camera movements and wondrous steadi-cam shots. Even though it’s set in Los Angeles, the film also contains a British feel with not just Stamp but also the films of Ken Loach and John Boorman. Loach’s debut film Poor Cow is even shown for flashback scenes involving Stamp’s character. Dobbs’ script is also idiosyncratic, especially with its stylized, campy dialogue about the 1960s, women, and all sorts of stuff, especially with Stamp’s cockney accent that plays well to British-American dialogue where Roel asks Elaine “Do you understand half the shit he’s saying?”

With Dobbs’ script and Soderbergh’s direction in tow, credit should also go to Edward Lachman for his lush, dreamy cinematography. With shades of blurry blue for flashback scenes, Lachman captures a translucent, colorful tone of the movie that is evocative in its presentation and works well with Soderbergh’s directing style. Helping the film in its non-linear style is editor Sarah Flack, who brings a stylized, jump-cut like editing style while using the scenes from Poor Cow to convey the style that Soderbergh wanted that is masterfully presented. With Gary Frutkoff in the production design, the film does have that L.A. look, notably in the houses of Valentine. Former Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer and longtime Soderbergh collaborator Cliff Martinez brings a haunting, melancholic piano film score with his broken notes to convey the sadness of Wilson. The film’s music aside from Martinez’s score is filled with electronic tracks from Danny Saber along with lovely cuts from the Hollies, Boston, Doobie Brothers, David Crosby, Steppenwolf, and kicking things off for the movie, The Who’s The Seeker.

Then, there’s film-amazing cast with wonderful performances from its actors. While Melissa George was only seen in flashbacks, she was wonderful in her scenes while Amelia Heinle is gorgeous in the role of Peter Fonda’s girlfriend, who doesn’t know what people like Avery are doing with Fonda. Nicky Katt and Joe Dallesandro are excellent as Avery’s goons with Katt delivering great one-liners and Dallesandro having a great moment playing mentally challenged in a pool hall scene. Bill Duke, in an uncredited cameo, is excellent as the tough-as-nails DEA agent who is more concerned about the drugs rather than the money in a hilarious dialogue-driven scene with Stamp. Barry Newman is wonderful as Valentine’s advisor who is like a crime boss, trying to protect his man and is willing to do anything for Valentine, especially if it meant confronting a guy like Wilson. Lesley Ann Warren gives a lovely, understated performance as Elaine with her motherly, frustrated role in scenes with Stamp where she is angry with him but also feels sorry for him because he lost his child and blames himself for it.

The film’s best supporting performance easily goes to Luis Guzman as Eduardo Roel, with his street-wise, comic, and conscience-driven performance. Guzman in ways plays Sancho Panza to Stamp’s Don Quixote since Roel is trying not to get in trouble, after having serving time for his misdoings. He also makes sure that Wilson doesn’t do anything stupid or do anything huge while becoming the only ally that Wilson has. This is clearly one of Guzman’s best performances, as he remains one of the most versatile, and underrated actors of the industry. Fresh off his comeback performance in Ulee’s Gold, Peter Fonda brings another iconic-like performance as Valentine with his restrained, creepy performance that is very complex in its charm where underneath it, there’s a fear and sadness. Fonda brings a masterful performance in a role that isn’t really villainous but more of someone who is in anticipation for something to happen while he is unsure what to do. This is indeed one of the best performances from Peter Fonda.

Terence Stamp delivers probably one of his best performances in years after being in small, supporting roles where he came out flawless, even in bad films. Stamp is complex in his anger and sadness as he plays a man, living with regret trying to find some closure to his shortcomings as a father. In scenes involving his anger, his physique may not be the kind that would help win a fight but the determination and conviction is strong. In more dramatic scenes, we see Stamp in top form where he brings his own flaws where he doesn’t bring out sympathy but also a man who really wants to have a second chance. Stamp has wonderful chemistry with Warren and Guzman while this film truly gives him the comeback he deserves.

The Limey is a majestic crime film from Steven Soderbergh with great performances from Terence Stamp, Peter Fonda, and Luis Guzman. While the film may not be up to par with sex, lies, & videotape, Out of Sight, or Traffic, it’s one of Soderbergh’s best films that made good on his comeback after being idiosyncratic in the early 90s. Fans of 1970s crime films will find something refreshing about The Limey especially with icons like Stamp and Fonda in their roles while they get a nice dose of tough-guy attitudes. In the end, The Limey is just a movie that makes you feel good while wanting to play up to that Cockney dialogue.

Steven Soderbergh Films: sex, lies, & videotape - Kafka - King of the Hill - The Underneath - Gray's Anatomy - Schizopolis - Out of Sight - Erin Brockovich - Traffic - Ocean's Eleven - Full Frontal - Solaris (2002 film) - Eros-Equilibrium - Ocean's Twelve - Bubble - The Good German - Ocean's Thirteen - Che - The Girlfriend Experience - The Informant! - And Everything is Going Fine - Contagion - Haywire - Magic Mike - Side Effects - Behind the Candelabra - Logan Lucky - (Unsane) - (High Flying Bird)

The Auteurs #39: Steven Soderbergh Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2011