Splendor in the Grass

Splendor in the Grass (1961)

Starring Natalie Wood, Warren Beatty, Pat Hingle, Audrey Christie, Barbara Loden, and Zohra Lampert

Directed by Elia Kazan

Written by William Inge

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B+

Dick Tracy

Dick Tracy (1990)

Starring Warren Beatty, Charlie Korsmo, Al Pacino, Madonna, Glenne Headly, Dustin Hoffman, William Forsythe, Mandy Patinkin, Charles Durning, Paul Sorvino, and Dick Van Dyke

Directed by Warren Beatty

Written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps, Jr.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

Click here for my original RyMickey Rambling review

The RyMickey Rating: B+

Ishtar

Ishtar (1987)

Starring Dustin Hoffman, Warren Beatty, Isabelle Adjani, and Charles Grodin

Directed by Elaine May

Written by Elaine May

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: D

Movie Review - Rules Don't Apply

Rules Don't Apply (2016)

Starring Alden Ehrenreich, Lily Collins, Warren Beatty, Matthew Broderick, Annette Bening, and a slew of other people in cameo-length roles

Directed by Warren Beatty

***This film is currently available via HBO Now/GO***

Howard Hughes was a bit of an eccentric loon who, thanks to his significant entrepreneurial endeavors, was able to have his hands in a multitude of business ventures ranging from creating aircraft to producing motion pictures.  Rules Don't Apply focuses on the latter aspect as an aging Hughes (played by Warren Beatty who also wrote and directed the film) shifts his romantic focus to a young aspiring actress from Virginia named Marla (Lily Collins) who recently moved to Hollywood at the request of Hughes.  Upon her arrival, Marla begins to fall for her driver Frank (Alden Ehrenreich), a Howard Hughes employee, who himself is engaged to be married but also finds himself enraptured by Marla.  This romantic love triangle starts the film off in an engagingly old school 1960s-esque cinematic fashion, but the film quickly starts to fall apart after it introduces its key players.

Filled with a multitude of well-known actors in cameo-style roles, Rules Don't Apply is well-acted by Lily Collins and Alden Ehrenreich, but their "will they or won't they" romantic story isn't enough of a story to sustain the film's long nearly 150-minute runtime.  Writer/director Warren Beatty seems to recognize this hence the introduction of his Howard Hughes character about thirty minutes into the film, but he fails at making Hughes' storylines captivating.  When Hughes comes into the picture, Rules Don't Apply can't seem to tell who its central character is - Hughes or Marla or Frank - and this leads to oddly edited sequences that create one the most boringly manic all-over-the-place films I've seen in a long time.  A passion project for Beatty who spent a long time getting it to the screen post-production, Rules Don't Apply has some great production values and does feel fittingly 1960s in tone and style, but it ultimately fails in the story and directing department.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Dick Tracy

Dick Tracy (1990)

Starring Warren Beatty, Charlie Korsmo, Glenne Headley, Al Pacino, and Madonna 

with cameo appearances by Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates, Paul Sorvino, James Caan, and Dick van Dyke

Directed by Warren Beatty

Seems like I'm on a streak of childhood memories here, so why not continue with Warren Beatty's 1990 rendition of Dick Tracy.  Utilizing some rather unique comic book flavored art direction, bright and bold costumes, and killer make-up, Beatty has created a retro-looking 1930s comic book on the big screen.  It's unfortunate that the story lags a little bit, lacking the punch and drive one would have liked to really propel this comic gangster storyline.

Things aren't faring so well in Dick Tracy's big city.  Tracy (Warren Beatty) is the town's best police detective, but he's run into some trouble with the city's big crime bosses led by the eccentric Big Boy Caprice (Al Pacino).  When Caprice takes over the Club Ritz, turning into his crime headquarters, Tracy knows there's something awry, but can't quite catch the crooks in the act.  When Tracy tries to convince the club's singer, Breathless Mahoney (Madonna), to squeal on her boss, he gets more than he bargained for with the sultry chanteuse creating a rift between him and his longtime girlfriend Tess (Glenne Headley).

Everything in Dick Tracy is over the top and it's certainly meant to be that way.  Because Beatty pushes everything to the limit, the film's overall "fake" aesthetic works.  Whether it be the outrageous Academy Award-winning make-up or the obviously fake painted backdrops, the visuals here are oftentimes stunning (the film also won an Oscar for Art Direction).  Bold usage of bright colors and nifty camera angles fill the screen with great images.

Unfortunately, the film gets bogged down a bit too much by a slightly convoluted storyline involving the mobster scene and it ends up running about twenty minutes too long.  The flick moves along at a brisk pace for about 45 minutes at which point I can't help but think it began to flounder about feeling the need to simply pad the running time.  A bit better job at editing would have made this movie a true classic.

As it stands now, it's a perfectly adequate comic book movie with some very good performances.  Beatty is slightly wooden as Dick Tracy, but I think that's the point.  Tracy is the upright and straight shooter amidst the world of the crazy mobsters, which includes a zany performance from Al Pacino and a great cameo from Dustin Hoffman as a mumbling goon.  Madonna also fares quite well here and has the opportunity to belt out some sexy songs written by Stephen Sondheim (one of which rounded out this film's trio of Academy Award wins).

Overall, Dick Tracy is worth a watch if you've never seen it before.  And it's a film I wouldn't mind watching again a couple of years in the future.  It's one of those that while I might not seek out, I'd certainly watch it if it popped up on tv.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Heaven Can Wait

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Starring Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, James Mason, Charles Grodin, and Dyan Cannon

Directed by Warren Beatty and Buck Henry

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

This is just one of those random movies that's been on the "maybe I'll watch that someday" list and that day has come.  Warren Beatty is pro football quarterback Joe Pendleton who is poised to take his team to the Super Bowl.  Unfortunately, a car accident brings Joe into the afterlife.  However, in the limbo between heaven and earth, Joe discovers that his guardian angel pulled him out of his body too quickly -- Joe simply wasn't scheduled to die yet.  So, it is decided that Joe can return to earth in the body of someone else.  This someone else just happens to be rich multi-millionaire Leo Farnsworth who is in a bit of trouble of his own involving both his wife (Dyan Cannon) and his executive secretary (Charles Grodin) attempting to kill him in order to carry out their torrid affair and an angry British woman (Julie Christie) who is upset that Farnsworth is building an oil refinery in her town.  All the while, Joe longs to be the football quarterback he was in his former body.

An odd summary, I realize, but the movie's odd, too.  There's a lot of everything thrown in here -- comedy, drama, romance -- and the jumbled summary is indicative of a movie that doesn't quite know what it wants to be.  None of the aforementioned elements really takes precedence over any other so you never get a great idea of the tone that co-director-co-screenwriter Beatty was going for.  Things aren't properly balanced and it hurts the movie to a certain extent.

I like Warren Beatty as an actor and I like him here as well.  He's certainly charming and has a nice presence onscreen. Aiding him is Charles Grodin and Dyan Cannon as the conniving couple attempting to kill off Leo Farnsworth in order to gain access to his fortune.  Unfortunately, the biggest letdown in the film is Julie Christie whose romantic subplot with Beatty's Farnsworth is absolutely ridiculous and has no reason for even existing.  It's a subplot that is completely unnecessary and weighs the movie down.

The RyMickey Rating:  C