Juxt-My-Position

This film is made around the very infamous and unsolved murder in California of Beth Short in 1947. The script revolves around one of the police officers involved in the investigation, his partner and the relationships they formed investigating the case. They are entirely fictional characters, so if you are looking for a factual account of the case you would be sorely disappointed.

OK, so we’re clear that it’s not based on fact, that’s fine, but how does the movie rate on an entertainment scale? Oh dear this is bad, this is very bad. The story is terrible and depraved, the acting is stale and the feel of the movie is nothing but trashy. Beth Short may not have been a pure and innocent girl, who knows? But to create this story around her seems entirely unnecessary other than getting some extra publicity from the infamous case.

The story starts with two police officers (played by Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart) at the time getting involved in a boxing match and then partnering up. The relationship between these two is weird, let alone the relationship that ties in Scarlett Johansson’s character, Kaye Lake. The script does not allow the viewer to feel any connection with a character, and the actors didn’t help this either. Hartnett is wooden, so much so that he looks like mahogany alongside Eckhart, who is still wooden, but more pine-like.

If you’re after a good murder mystery there’s plenty of better movies out there. Indeed you’d be better off watching some of the British TV series that seem to get churned out endlessly. They may not be as gruesome as this, but at least you feel some connection to the characters, the plot often makes some sort of sense and you do get caught up in the mystery.

My Rating:

Hairspray is an adaption of an adaption - originally a movie adapted into a musical, from which this movie is in turn adapted. Despite this somewhat convoluted life the story is solid and survives to make a movie that entertains both with its satirical humour, musical score and even plot (often surprising for musicals). Set in Baltimore in 1962 at a time of social and musical upheaval its starts include John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken and new comer Nikki Blonsky.

I really enjoyed this movie as some great light entertainment. It doesn’t try to be more than it is - yes it has a message about racial and size discrimination but it never allows itself to get too serious and makes some very risque jokes and commentaries on society that push the boundaries of bad taste without going too far.

Blonsky as Tracy Turnblad opens the movie with a musical number that immediately endears her to the audience with her wide eyed innocence, optimism and humour. The appearance of John Waters (the original creator of Hairspray) during that number is a nice touch, and very funny. Despite being “pleasantly plump” Tracy desires to be on the Corny Collins Show as a dancer. It is around the Corny Collins Show that the story unfolds with conflict arising between conservative white producers and the rising youth embracing black music and dance culture. Various sub-plots unfold around the supporting cast that tie into the theme of the film, acceptance of diversity.

The performances of most of the cast were outstanding. There seems to be two camps when it comes to John Travolta’s performance as Edna Turnblad (Tracy’s mother) and I’m afraid I’m in the camp of those who aren’t really impressed. It could have been sublime, but it went too far into the ridiculous for my taste. Christopher Walken is at his best, but it is the young actors that really leave an impression. Nikki Blonsky is outstanding, James Marsden (Corny Collins), Zac Efron (Link Larkin) and Elijah Kelley (Seaweed) absolutely nail their characters.

The music in the film is excellent and suits the era for when the film is set brilliantly. It is well worth listening closely to the lyrics as that’s where you’ll find some of the best lines. Also look out for the Travolta’s and Walken’s song and dance routine.

If you like musical comedy this is could be one of the best if you’re prepared to just relax, be entertained and don’t take things too seriously - which is what I believe you should do with all movies anyway.

My Rating:

Peter Weir and Robin Williams - what a killer combination. Arguably two of the most overlooked artists when it comes to the Oscars, although Weir does seem to have some bad luck - he seems to be nominated in the years where there are some other movies that are very hard to overlook (Out of Africa, Born on the Fourth of July, Saving Private Ryan and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King). When it comes to this film (my all time favourite movie) I believe both should have won the Oscar for their category. The Oscar for this was won (deservedly so) by writer Tom Schulman who I’m sure would claim the screenplay as the pinnacle of his career.

Williams plays John Keating, a new English teacher at a conservative boys boarding school who encourages his students to think and behave creatively. This provides the juxtaposition that drives the story and has devastating consequences. The boys are inspired and without more than tacit approval from Keating start the Dead Poets Society where they secretly meet for poetry readings. Boys being boys things get taken further than originally planned and this leads to some rather bizarre meetings of the society. But it is the desire of one student, Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard), to act that is the catalyst for a series of events that infuriate and inspire.

Williams’ performance is subdued when compared to most of his other roles (with the exception of Awakenings), but he is both moving and enlivening. You really feel his pain and ride his highs and lows. By the end of the movie you feel like you want to go out and find any injustice to fight just so you can carry on the spirit of this movie.

Ethan Hawke and Leonard show amazing potential, but one wonders what happened to them from here - although I do like the character Leonard plays on “House” (TV). It seems to me that the convergence of Schulman’s script and the direction of Weir provided the platform that allowed these two really shine.

Everybody should see this one.

My Rating: