Addams Family Values

Addams Family Values (1993)

Starring Angelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Christina Ricci, Christopher Hart's Hand, Carel Struycken, Jimmy Workman, Carol Kane, Joan Cusack, Dana Ivey, David Krumholtz, Peter McNicol and Christine Baranski

Directed by Barry Sonnefeld

Written by Paul Rudnick

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B

The Addams Family

 The Addams Family (1991)

Starring Angelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Elizabeth Wilson, Christine Ricci, Judith Malina, Dan Hedaya, Carel Struycken, Paul Benedict, Christopher Hart's hand, Dana Ivey, and Jimmy Workman

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld

Written by Caroline Thompson and Larry Wilson

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B-

Movie Review - 50/50

50/50 (2011)

Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Angelica Huston

Directed by Jonathan Levine

I have a confession to make right off the bat here.  I've had my eyes well up in movies before (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was the most recent film to do that to me).  Something just hits me and connects with me on that visceral level, telling my brain that it's okay to feel a little emotional and causing my eyes to perhaps become small pools of saline.  It doesn't happen often, but ever so rarely a movie gets to you in that way.  But to actually have one of those pools escape the lids of my eye and cause a tear to fall down my face doesn't usually happen to this guy, your intrepid (stoic) movie reviewer.  In fact, I can't really remember the last time that occurred.

That all changed when I watched 50/50 which I fortunately viewed alone because when that one legitimate tear began to trickle down my cheek and I had to brush it away, I felt kinda weird.  What was wrong with me?  Why in the hell have I allowed this movie [co-starring Seth Rogen of all people, an actor I thought I despised] to get to me in this way?  It comes down to a solid script, a wonderful lead performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and the simple fact that the movie generationally "spoke to me" in some way.

I don't mean that "generational" comment above to mean anything other than that 50/50 is a film about people my age going through something that is rather unfathomable to be experiencing.  When regular 27-year old Adam (Gordon-Levitt) discovers he has a rare form of spinal cancer, it's obviously a life-changing event that not only affects him, but also his best friend Kyle (Rogen), his girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard), and his mother (Angelica Huston), and it takes a young aspiring therapist named Katherine (Anna Kendrick) for Adam to realize that cancer doesn't have to be his battle to fight alone.  That's the story -- plain and simple.

What makes that rather straightforward story unique is a humorous script courtesy of Will Reiser who based the film off his own experiences battling cancer.  I never thought I'd say this, but Seth Rogen proved to set just the right tone here with his take as the supportive friend trying to inject a little bit of light-heartedness into Adam's obviously life-threatening situation.  There's also some great work from Anna Kendrick whom I worried a bit wasn't going to find success after Up in the Air.  Admittedly, her role as Katherine isn't given a ton of depth, but her character felt "normal" and "plain," and while some could look at that as a detriment, I thought it was a charming plus.  Katherine finds it difficult to maintain a balance between showing emotion and remaining completely objective with her patients and seeing her try and navigate these tricky waters is interesting.  Angelica Huston has a rather stock role as the overprotective and nagging mother, but what I thought would end up being quite typical ends up carrying a surprising amount of heart as the film heads into its final act.

Ultimately, however, the film works because director Jonathan Levine has allowed us to connect with Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Adam in such a way that we in the audience genuinely give a damn about what happens to this normal young guy.  (SPOILER AHEAD detailing my single tear fallen)  There's a scene towards the end of the film in which Adam, moments before he goes into surgery to have his tumor removed, speaks to his Alzheimer's-afflicted father with such simplicity, but with such darn heart, that I couldn't help but begin to be moved.  Then, as the doctor begins to administer anesthesia and the realization that the possibility of death is imminent, Adam calls out panic-stricken, "Mom," reaching out to her to comfort him...and that was it.  That was when the tear fell.  Here was this guy who was so reserved, trying to not burden others with his life-changing diagnosis, and, finally, the shield comes down and the emotions are allowed to finally express themselves.  Something about that moment and Gordon-Levitt successfully portraying a likable guy in a situation no one would want to face got to me, revealing a shocking amount of heart and a lovely way of crafting a nuanced performance from an understated role.

Tbe RyMickey Rating:  A-

Movie Review - Crimes and Misdemeanors

Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

Starring Martin Landau, Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Joanna Gleason, Angelica Huston, and Alan Alda

Directed by Woody Allen
***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

I try to enjoy Woody Allen.  However, more times than not, I find the guy's flicks filling me with ennui.  Maybe it's because I don't have the Jewish angst that seems to permeate through his films (at least the films in which he stars).  Maybe its because I can't ever see him as the character he portrays onscreen -- instead, it's simply Woody Allen up there, playing a role with no discerning characteristics from any other role he's played.  Flicks without the director in the starring role -- Whatever Works, Match Point -- are more successful, but Crimes and Misdemeanors stars Allen and is a disappointing bore.

Two distinct storylines are presented here that never come together and, to this viewer, didn't belong in the same movie.  The first deals with Martin Landau as an aging opthamologist who is cheating on his wife with Angelica Huston.  When Huston threatens to spill the beans, Landau gets his brother to kill her.  That would be the "crime" part of the title, I guess.  Story number two headlines Woody Allen who is living an unhappy marriage.  He meets Mia Farrow, he begins to fall for her, and he ponders leaving his wife.  I guess that's the misdemeanor.  [While it's true all of the actors listed above have characters with names, I never really felt any of them embodied those characters which is why I simply listed their real names.  Like Allen, it seems they were all just playing themselves...although I'm sure Landau never put out a hit on anyone.]

I guess this film falls more into the drama category for Allen rather than his comedy selections, but considering the stress Landau's character faces, there was never any worry from this viewer about his plight.  And the Woody Allen storyline...what a waste of time.  Based on some things I've read, this is considered one of the better Woody Allen flicks.  I have no idea why.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - The Witches

The Witches (1990)

Starring Angelica Huston

Directed by Nicolas Roeg

Roald Dahl was probably my favorite author when I was a kid.  There was a sense of whimsy in his books, but he wasn't afraid to depict the scarier side of life.  Things weren't always sunshine and lollipops in his novels and, as the title of this flick suggests, The Witches certainly isn't a fairytale fantasy.

The film starts out with young Luke (Jasen Fisher) being told a tale by his grandmother about witches.  While Luke initially thinks his grandmother is talking rubbish, he soon begins to spot witch-like characteristics in some women around his town.  When he and his grandmother take a holiday (and it is a "holiday" and not a vacation since this takes place in England) to a nice hotel by the sea, Luke inadvertently sneaks into a witch convention headed by the Grand High Witch (played wonderfully by Angelica Huston) and finds himself in a little bit of trouble when the coven of witches turns the young boy into a mouse.

First things first, this is Angelica Huston's movie and no one else's.  She chews up the scenery and does so to such great effect that it's a real joy to watch her.  Deliciously over-the-top in her evilness, Huston knew that this role required a tongue-in-cheek mindset and she truly shines.  She's certainly helped by some amazing make-up effects from the folks at the Jim Henson Creature Shop, but she really made this character one that stayed with me ever since I first saw this movie some two decades ago.  As a kid, I remember being truly scared of her.  As an adult, I appreciated everything she brings to the screen as an actress.

There's an acting innocence to young Jasen Fisher (who starred in three fairly big movies -- this, Parenthood, and Hook -- and then disappeared from the entertainment scene) that isn't often seen in films.  It's as if you're watching a "real" kid onscreen and not an actor and it's quite refreshing.  It had been a long time since I'd seen The Witches and in my cynical older years, I'm surprised that Fisher's acting held up as well as it did.

What didn't work quite so well for me this time around was the film's final act.  Once Luke turns into a mouse, the charm of the flick vanishes.  Don't get me wrong, the creature effects are strong, but when the film focuses on these robotic mice, I couldn't help but wish it went back to focusing on the witches.

Nicolas Roeg who directed the absolutely awful Don't Look Now which I reviewed just a few weeks ago certainly redeems himself with this flick.  And it's nice to see that it holds up so well so many years later.

The RyMickey Rating:  B