By Kendra Hibbert
Last column was all about documentaries and foreign films, so this week I decided to switch gears and talk about those subtle dramas that are getting lost in all the hype for THE ADVENTURES OF PLUTO NASH (note that I do feel a tiny bit ashamed at picking such an easy target to joke about, especially since the three films I'll be talking about this week would probably be thrilled at having a 2 million dollar opening weekend).
BIG BAD LOVE
Debra Winger, Arliss Howard
and Paul Le Mat |
When I was in my formative teenage years, growing up in a frosty Canadian town lacking culture (not to say that all Canadian towns lack culture, just the one that I grew up in), I spent most of my winter months watching non-stop movies on the movie channel (there was only one in those days). Some of my favorite films were never shown in wide release but were made for the newly formed straight-to-video market, and chose the movie channels to launch their "premiere." Some of my favorites from that time include an anti-nuke coming-of-age film called AMAZING GRACE AND CHUCK, an anthology from the SCTV gang called REALLY WEIRD TALES (which because it had Canadian content got played twice as much as everything else) and an action comedy called PLAIN CLOTHES about an undercover cop that returns to high school to catch a killer. It was in this obscure cable release that I fell in love with a man named Arliss Howard.
I thought I'd gotten over my childhood crush, but watching BIG BAD LOVE I realized these intense feelings I have for him have only been festering into full-blown obsession. It's taking all my strength to refrain from mentioning Arliss in every sentence (yes, I am now on first-name basis with him in my mind). I have no idea why I am so obsessed with him now -- he's balding, his skin is wrinkly from too much sun and there are shots in this film that feature his back hair prominently, but damn, those eyes make my knees weak.
BIG BAD LOVE isn't so much a movie as it is a poem. It feels rather like a two-hour preview for a movie you'd be interested in seeing just to figure out how all those memorable lines and beautiful images all fit together. Arly (he lets me call him that in private moments) plays Barlow, a failing writer with the usual drinking problem whose bizarre fantasy life intrudes on his real-life struggles with his ex-wife Marilyn (Arliss' spouse Debra Winger -- damn her all to hell). Rounding out the cast is Paul Le Mat playing Barlow's best friend Monroe, Rosanna Arquette as Monroe's girlfriend and Angie Dickinson as Barlow's mom.
My enthusiasm for this film should probably be taken with a grain of salt given that my mind was bewitched by its writer/director and star. Even so, there are things that might appeal to those who don't find this man as sexy as all hell (though I can't imagine who you are, wait ... is hell sexy?). BIG BAD LOVE starts out in a bathtub sex scene/dream that is interspersed between shots of what's going on in real life, so it's not quite clear what's a dream and what's real -- that's about as lucid as this movie will get for the first hour and a half. As Barlow's literary failures pile up, his drinking gets worse and the film is further and further immersed in his fantasy world until it's impossible to tell what is real and what isn't. This isn't really a movie about the plot as much as it's a movie about the alcohol. The dialogue is poetic, but often doesn't make sense, the images are beautiful but usually have nothing to do with what's going on and the director is a genius -- but that may or may not be just in my mind.
Either way, it's worth checking out this film in your local art house theatre, or if you're able to resist the charms of Arliss Howard, pick it up at your local video store in a couple of months.
WORLD TRAVELER
Billy Crudup is no Arliss Howard but apparently other girls find him dreamy. He was therefore perfect to play the good-looking, egocentric architect Cal, who one day just decides to leave his wife and three-year-old son to travel the country, sleeping with every woman he meets and screwing up the lives of the people who are nice to him. A chance encounter with a high-school acquaintance makes Cal realize just how shallow his life has been. Determined to do one meaningful thing in his life, he hooks up with Dulcie (played by Julianne Moore) and embarks on a three-day journey to pick her six-year-old son up at a train station in Montana.
This is essentially a road movie which means (like BIG BAD LOVE) the plot isn't necessarily as important as the journey itself. The first half of WORLD TRAVELER wanders pretty much pointlessly between the various friendly encounters Cal screws up on his aimless trip away from his family. There really seems no point to this film until Julianne Moore shows up in the second half and Cal starts to turn his life around. Maybe it's Ms. Moore's superior acting abilities or maybe it's just that the movie has a new sense of direction at this point. Either way, the second half managed to sway my opinion of this film from "boring waste of time" to "interesting two hours."
The most amazing thing about this story is that it takes a self-confident, initially likable character like Cal, played by an aesthetically pleasing (i.e., hot) actor like Billy Crudup and uses up an hour or so making sure the audience really hates him as a manipulative, self-obsessed jerk. Then after everyone's comfortable hating Cal, the movie switches gears and makes us sympathize with him again. It's not every movie that can believably pull off a character arc like that and so I forgave WORLD TRAVELLER for having a dull first half. Of course if Arliss Howard was in it I'd forgive it even more, but alas, he can't be in everything.
CHERISH
Finally a movie with an '80s soundtrack that actually works! I'm not usually one to bash the '80s resurgence, (how can I with clear conscience hate a decade that saw the rise of both Pee-wee Herman and acid-wash jeans) but the untimely appearance of '80s tunes in movies has been bothering me more and more, as are the '80s CD compilations I see that continually fail to address the importance of Michael Jackson's THRILLER. CHERISH, however, is able to pull off a largely '80s soundtrack with not one but two(!) Hall and Oats songs and a Human League tune and still not seem like it's trying to cash in on the aging nostalgia of Generation X (is anyone still using that term?).
The movie follows the adventures of Zoe Adler, who is sentenced to stay within a small bachelor apartment, awaiting trial for running down a police officer while drunk. Zoe however maintains her innocence and insists that the accident was a direct result of her unseen stalker who forced her to drive into the cop. Since no one believes her story, Zoe must find her mysterious stalker with the help of Deputy Bill (Tim Blake Nelson, best known as the ugly one in OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?) the agent who's been put in charge of her restraining bracelet.
Robin Tunney plays Zoe as a beautiful, awkward heroine who goes slightly nuts when her only companions are the kids who tease her from the alleyway below and the gay wheelchair bound midget who lives downstairs. The most entertaining parts of this film come from her various attempts to get laid, her infatuation with a co-worker (played by Jason Priestly) and the subtle love story that builds between her and Deputy Bill.
Again, not a perfect movie. The ending comes out of nowhere and is way too pat, but it's a fun film nonetheless. It's been out for a while, so chances are you'll have to catch it on video. It's well worth renting, this movie, and maybe while you're there you can pick up a couple Arliss Howard videos -- might I suggest planning a film festival starting with MEN DON'T LEAVE and ending with FULL METAL JACKET.
Next Column: I'll be looking at more obscure new releases, hopefully with Arliss Howard in them, but I can't promise anything. What I can promise is that there won't be as much time between this column and the next as there was between this one and the last ... unless there are a lack of good movies out -- okay, maybe I can't make any promises, but I will try my best to find some more good art-house films to recommend.
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