You've Got Mail

 You've Got Mail (1997)

Starring Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Parker Posey, Greg Kinnear, Jean Stapleton, Dave Chappelle, Steve Zahn, Heather Burns, and Dabney Coleman

Directed by Nora Ephron

Written by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B-

Movie Review - Anastasia

Anastasia (1997)

Featuring the vocal talents of Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria, Bernadette Peters, Kirsten Dunst, and Angela Lansbury

Directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

First, let's dispel the notion that Anastasia is a Disney movie.  Upon its release in 1997 and in subsequent years after, the public often assumes that this Don Bluth/Gary Goldman directed feature is a Disney film.  Admittedly, the film arrived at the end of Disney's 1990s animation renaissance and Bluth and Goldman tailored the flick to mirror Disney's successes in that era.  Our title character looks like a mash-up of Ariel and Belle.  The film opens with a song sung by the townsfolk.  The typical fairy tale storyline is certainly present.  But Anastasia is not a Disney film.

That being said, this flick is actually better than I remember it being and, with the exception of one fairly major problem area, Anastasia is a success.  Granted, it simplifies the tale of the Russian Romanov family whose dynasty was overthrown by public revolt, but considering this is a film aimed at children, I'm okay with that notion.  The film weaves its tale around Anya (voiced by Meg Ryan), a teen girl who ten years prior showed up at an orphanage unaware of who she was or how she became abandoned.  It turns out that Anya is the only surviving daughter of the Romanov clan, but she has no clue of her legacy.  Out for a quick buck, young Dimitri (John Cusack) and older Vladimir (Kelsey Grammer) have set out to find a young girl who can pass for the missing Anastasia and present her to the girl's grandmother -- the Dowager Empress Marie (Angela Lansbury) -- to earn reward money.  Little do Dimitri and Vladimir know that Anya truly is Anastasia.

I must admit that I liked the plot above.  I found the premise intriguing and the internal conflicts of the above characters surprisingly mature for a film of this type.  Unfortunately, feeling the need to spice up the plot, the film flounders hugely by throwing in an unnecessary villain in Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd).  Here, Rasputin has sold his soul to the devil and is essentially dead and living in hell where is various body parts fall off for purportedly comedic effect.  Rasputin's one mission in life is to end the Romanov blood line and he'll utilize a variety of witchcraft and sorcery from his underground lair in order to achieve this.  The film doesn't need him whatsoever.  There's plenty of surprisingly emotional conflict to be had without his fake magical powers.  By placing Rasputin at the crux of the flick's denouement, the film falters greatly and ends in a disappointing fashion.

Animation-wise the film is solid, but I don't think it can really compare to the Disney films of the era (although I'll soon find that out as we continue on our Disney Discussion journey).  However, I appreciated the voice acting, particularly that of John Cusack who admittedly isn't doing much else other than being the stuttering John Cusack who we all know, but for some reason proves successful.  I found the songs and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty quite good as well and much better than I remembered them being.  While it's certainly true the songwriters and screenwriters are following the Disney formula, it's a formula that works.

I must say that I didn't go into this expecting to enjoy it at all, but I found Anastasia a surprisingly solid animated film with an admittedly major flaw.  Remove that and the flick would've been great, but with it, it just ends up lukewarm.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

The Personal Canon - Sleepless in Seattle

The Personal Canon is a recurring column highlighting my favorite films of all time.  While they may not necessarily be "A" rated, they are the movies that, for some reason or another, hold a special place in my filmgoing experience.

Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

Starring Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Ross Malinger, Bill Pullman, Rosie O'Donnell, Victor Garber, Rita Wilson, David Hyde Pierce, and Rob Reiner

Directed by Nora Ephron

Call me a wuss all you want, but I'm secure enough in my manhood to say that I love Sleepless in Seattle.  It's one of those movies that I will keep on every single time I come across it on TBS or TNT despite the fact that I own it.  It's a movie that I love enough that I wrote a paper on it in a college film class (that earned me a near perfect A-).  It's one of those movies that makes me feel good...and goshdarnit there's nothing wrong with that.  Sure, it may not be "epic" or ingeniously directed, but it holds a place in my Personal Canon and ranks quite high up there on my list of All-Time Favorite Movies (which, I guess is kind of redundant since the Personal Canon will really only contain my "All-Time Favorite Movies").

Based a bit upon the classic film An Affair to Remember (which I watched as part of a double feature following Sleepless one year and found it treacly and cloying), director and co-screenwriter Nora Ephron's flick keeps our two leading actors -- Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in perhaps my favorite roles of each of theirs -- apart for nearly the entire movie.  We know that fate will bring Hanks's widowed father-of-one Sam Baldwin and Ryan's recently-engaged-although-probably-just-settling-in-love Annie Reed together, but the process of getting the two to meet is what makes this movie work.

And a huge part of that successful process of uniting the two adults is child actor Ross Malinger as Sam's son Jonah.  This is a character that could've easily been one of those "too smart for his own good" types, but is probably the best part of the movie.  The father-son bond created by Hanks and Malinger is what sells me on this film.  The relationship moves seamlessly from the gut-wrenching moments of sadness following the death of Sam's wife to the rather humorous scenes several months later depicting Jonah's dislike of Sam's new girlfriend.  Despite the wide-range of emotions, there's never a false moment between these two and that's just as much of a credit to little Ross Malinger as it is Oscar-winning Tom Hanks.  [Of note: Malinger is the voice of T.J. on the animated show Recess...I knew I liked that show for a reason.]

As good as Hanks and Malinger are, Meg Ryan shines as well even if her role is a little less developed than her male counterparts.  This is film that made her America's Sweetheart in the early 90s and her Annie is just about as cute as could be.  She exudes charm, wit, and kindness -- three characteristics that will get a lady far in my book.  She may not be the sexiest woman on the block, but she's the one that would catch my eye nonetheless.  (Of course, nowadays, Ms. Ryan's plasticky face would make me run the other way).

Sleepless in Seattle actually falls a little more on the romance side of the "romantic comedy" descriptor, but the humor is provided by the supporting characters, none of whom overstay their welcome.  Whether it be Rob Reiner as Sam's buddy or Rosie O'Donnell as Annie's boss, they give the gentle funny nudging that the two leads need in order to get to that inevitable climactic meeting.  Add Rita Wilson, Victor Garber, and Bill Pullman to the mix and there's not a bad actor onscreen.  Honestly, there's not a funny moment that falls flat.  Every joke hits the mark.

All this being said, one of my favorite aspects of Sleepless in Seattle (and what I wrote that aforementioned paper on) is the film's spot-on use of music.  Using original recordings of classic songs like Nat King Cole's "Stardust," Gene Autry's "Back in the Saddle Again" and covers of standards like "Makin' Whoopee" and "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning," music supervisor Marc Shaiman worked rather ingeniously with Nora Ephron to utilize music to both provide humor and further the plot by cluing us in to the characters' inner thoughts.  I'm not sure I've ever heard music so expertly placed in a film as in this flick and it's honestly one of the biggest reasons why I love this film.

Say what you will, but Sleepless in Seattle is one of the absolute best romantic comedies of my generation.  It never finds itself needing to be lewd or crude, but instead is sweet without ever being too sugary.  It's a movie that you can watch with your twelve year-old nephew or your ninety year-old grandmom and both will enjoy it.  It's simple, but lovely, full of terrific little moments that just make you go "awww" -- one concerning the peeling of an apple gets me every single time.  If you've never seen it, leave your cynicism at the door and check it out.  And Happy Valentine's Day to all...

The RyMickey Rating:  A