Classic Movie Review Clifford

Clifford (1994) 

Directed by Paul Flaherty 

Written by Jay Dee Rock, Steven Kampman 

Starring Martin Short, Charles Grodin, Mary Steenburgen, Dabney Coleman 

Release Date April 1st, 1994

Published April 1st, 2024 

There has been a minor reassessment of the movie Clifford in recent years. Famously, actor Nicolas Cage spoke about being a fan of the film in relating a story about meeting Martin Short. The idea that Nicolas Cage fan-girled at meeting Martin Short and peppered him with praise for Clifford is a better and funnier story than anything in Clifford. I think there are people who adopted Clifford as their movie simply to be different from the rest of the world which roundly rejected this bizarre failure. Other than Nicolas Cage, who is seemingly incapable of irony, no one actually likes Clifford, they like being the person who says that they like Clifford. 

Clifford stars Martin Short as the title character, Clifford, a deeply spoiled and entitled 10 year old boy. On a trip to Hawaii, Clifford manages to nearly crash a plane in hopes of landing in Los Angeles where he hopes to take a trip to Dinosaur World. Clifford's parents, desperate to get away from their child, drop Clifford with his Uncle Martin (Charles Grodin). The timing is fortuitous for Martin who needs to convince his girlfriend, Sarah (Mary Steenburgen) that he likes kids and has a special relationship with his nephew. 

Unfortunately for Martin, he is not aware that his nephew is a 10 year old sociopath. Clifford's single minded desire to go to Dinosaur World leads him to destroy every aspect of his Uncle's life including breaking up Martin and Sarah, getting Martin fired from his job, and getting Martin arrested for planning to bomb City Hall. All of this is revenge for Martin failing to take Clifford to see Dinosaur World. All the while, Clifford plays the innocent child when Sarah or anyone else is around while turning malevolent when it's just he and his Uncle Martin. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

 

Horror in the 90s Meet the Applegates

Meet the Applegates (1991) 

Directed by Michael Lehmann 

Written by Michael Lehmann, Redbeard Simmons 

Starring Ed Begley Jr, Stockard Channing, Dabney Coleman

Release Date February 1st, 1991 

Box Office $485,000 

Writer-Director Michael Lehmann is to be respected for his... big choices. After making a splashy debut with Heathers, now beloved cult classic, Lehmann continued taking big risks. He made Hudson Hawk and allowed star Bruce Willis to walk all over him while no one could agree on what the movie should be. Lehmann's Hudson Hawk experience led him down a path to directing some of the most conventional yet memorable comedies of the late 90s, movies like Airheads and The Truth About Cats and Dogs. It's clear that Hudson Hawk chased the weird out of Michael Lehmann. 

My thesis statement for that observation is Lehmann's other pre-Hudson Hawk endeavor. While Heathers is remembered for its wild dark humor and unexpected levels of deathly violence, Lehmann took things a step further and a step stranger in 1991's Meet the Applegates. Despite having a cast led by three veteran actors of remarkable reputation, Ed Begley Jr., Stockard Channing, and Dabney Coleman, Meet the Applegates is one of the most bizarre, awkward, and peculiar movies ever made. 

In the jungles of South America, a remarkably racist and bleakly comic scene unfolds. Missionaries are teaching a collection of horrifying stereotypes about what America is like. The lesson tells the story of a family of four, parents Dick and Jane and their kids, Sally and Johnny. These four people, who don't exist, are the ideal 'nuclear family.' Just as the missionaries are completing their lesson, a construction crew breaks through and begins clearing the jungle. They are tearing down the rainforest and strip mining the place. 

In this process however, the construction crew unleashes a dormant type bug with... unique powers. These bugs, the Brazilian Cocorada, use chameleon-like powers to impersonate other species. In this case, the species they choose is human. Finding the book about the perfect nuclear family, four of the bugs take on the personas of Dick (Ed Begley Jr.), Jane (Stockard Channing), Sally (Camille Cooper) and Johnny (Robert Jayne). Using these human shells, the bugs move to the suburbs with a plan to destroy America in revenge for the destruction of the rainforest. 

This is all inferred on my part. The film quite jarringly shows the bugs murdering the missionaries and then credits. Then we are in the suburbs and a few visual clues tell us that these are the bugs in human form. Their mission becomes clear only after an expository conversation with Aunt Bea (Dabney Coleman). Aunt Bea is also a bug in disguise and he/she acts as the handler for the Applegates, giving them their mission and helping them to carry it out. Dabney Coleman in a dress is a haunting visual that should be funny but never is. 

Read my full length review at Horror.Media

Movie Review: Tootsie

Tootsie (1982) 

Directed by Sydney Pollack

Written by Larry Gelbart, Murray Schisgal

Starring Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Bill Murray, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman

Release Date December 17th, 1982 

Published August 8th, 2018 

August 8th is Dustin Hoffman’s 81st birthday and while his behavior on movie sets and Broadway backstages has drawn a storm of controversy amid the Me Too movement, his movies remain indelible parts of our shared film history. One film, that has been rendered somewhat ironic given the recent revelations about Hoffman’s behavior, is Tootsie, the 1982 comedy in which Hoffman plays a struggling actor who turns to cross-dressing in order to land a breakout role on a soap opera.

One might assume that having proverbially walked a mile in women’s shoes, Dustin Hoffman might be a tad more sensitive to women behind the scenes. Regardless, Tootsie remains a fascinating, somewhat ahead of its time examination of gender roles and sensitivity. For the record, I am not well-qualified to discuss the sensitivity of Tootsie in relation to the LGBTQ issues the film skirts around, just know that I am sensitive and aware of those issues but I will be avoiding them for the most part in this review. If you want to share your opinion about the film in relation to those issues I would be happy to open a dialogue and expand this review with the input.

Tootsie tells the story of a real jerk of a New York actor named Michael Dorsey. Michael is such a pain to work with that most theater and commercial directors no longer will even entertain talking to him, let alone casting him. As his agent, George, wonderfully played by Tootsie director Sidney Pollack relays, Michael can’t even play a piece of fruit in a commercial without causing a row with the director and delaying the shoot for hours.

With few options and prospects in his ever-aging career, Michael decides to do something drastic. Having witnessed his friend and acting student, Sandy (Teri Garr), try and fail to land a role on a soap opera, Michael decides that he knows how to play that female character better than anyone. This leads Michael to put on a dress and makeup and, quite convincingly, portray an actress named Dorothy Michaels.

Here, Michael’s jerk tendencies, leavened by Dorothy’s womanhood, actually works to get him the part and eventually become a breakout character on the show. Along the way, Michael meets and begins to fall for Julie (Jessica Lange), the co-lead on the soap opera. Unfortunately, Julie doesn’t know that Michael is Dorothy and if she and everyone else were to find out, Michael would be ruined.

I’m struck by what a terrible person Michael Dorsey is. Dustin Hoffman plays Michael as a dyspeptic ladies man with a monstrous ego and self-involvement. Michael has few redeeming qualities beyond his obvious passion for performing and his loyalty to his friend, Jeff (Bill Murray), whose play Michael hopes to fund with the money he makes playing Dorothy. Other than that, Michael is a manipulative, whiny, jerk.

I say that, and yet it kind of makes the character work in a strange way. Michael is an authentic character, there is nothing indistinct about him. Michael as Dorothy becomes a slightly better person or, at least, a slightly more caring and sensitive person, seemingly by osmosis. That growth, as modest as it is, is fascinating to watch considering where the character begins the story, as the monster I have been describing.

The supporting cast of Tootsie is a group of epic scene stealers. Bill Murray’s Jeff is inspired. Murray’s deadpan earns the biggest laughs in the movie and his endless charm is evident even in limited screen time. Teri Garr is wonderful as well as Sandy, a lost soul who gravitates toward Michael’s passion enough that she isn’t entirely repelled by him. Garr’s Sandy is the one redeemable quality Michael has, his friendship with her highlights his few good qualities.

On the soap opera side of the movie we have, of course, Jessica Lange, lovely and vulnerable as Julie, Dabney Coleman, Michael’s equal in caddishness, George Gaynes as the bloviating, sexually voracious leading man and Charles Durning in easily the sweetest performance in the movie. Durning portrays Julie’s father who unwittingly begins to fall for Dorothy as Michael is using the Dorothy persona to get close to Julie.

Here is where Tootsie and I part ways. I can’t stand the film’s ending. That Julie would be willing to forgive Michael and the two to have an implied ‘happily ever after’ is far too contrived and narratively unearned. What has Michael done throughout the entirety of Tootsie to deserve to win Julie’s heart? The emotional gymnastics that we are called upon to perform in order to accept this happy ending are far too much to ask of us as an intelligent audience.

Dustin Hoffman is terribly effective at making Michael terrible in unique and fascinating ways but he’s still terrible. As impressive as his double act as Michael and Dorothy is, Michael doesn’t learn or grow all that much in the guise of Dorothy. And that’s not even mentioning the fact that Dorothy is inherently a deception and not an excuse for Michael to learn a valuable lesson. This isn’t an after school special, if the movie were honest in the end, Michael’s punishment would be teaching acting the rest of his life, drawing students to him via his well-earned infamy.

So, do I like Tootsie? Do I recommend Tootsie? Where do I come down on this movie when I have been so heavily critical of the star and the ending of the movie? I appreciate Dustin Hoffman’s performance for how boldly unique it is, truly unlike any leading man performance I have ever seen. It takes nerve not to settle in and play this character as likably difficult. That Hoffman played Michael not as a comic character within what is an unquestionably comic movie, but as a dramatic character in the midst of a sitcom farce, is a boldness I cannot  deny being impressed with.

Then there is Sidney Pollack’s exceptional direction. Tootsie is an exceedingly well-crafted film. Tootsie is smart and funny and though its female empowerment message is undermined by the nature of Dorothy as a deceptive character, it is quite a notable moment to see even a fake woman telling men to keep their hands off of her and leading other women to do the same. Then again, do women need a man in drag to tell them to stand up for themselves?

Perhaps we can qualify the compliment to Tootsie and say that the film was progressive for 1982 when the movie was released. For this moment, it’s rather patronizing to have a man in drag as a feminist hero, especially one for whom being in drag is not a statement but merely a scheme. Exceptionally well made but problematic, Tootsie is an essential piece of pop history because it is such a bizarre and unique milestone, one forged and ever-changing over time.

Movie Review Moonlight Mile

Moonlight Mile (2002) 

Directed by Brad Silberling 

Written by Brad Silberling

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon, Holly Hunter, Ellen Pompeo, Dabney Coleman, 

Release Date October 4th, 2002 

Published October 3rd, 2002 

When I was sixteen I dated this girl that was completely out of my league. Her name was Teri and she was this statuesque blonde who seemed as if she had walked off some fashion magazine. Call it low self esteem but I can't imagine what she saw in me, she said that I was sensitive and made her laugh. We didn't break up when she moved away to San Diego but there was this childish hope that we would see each other again. That hope died not soon after when she died in a car accident.

It's strange what you remember about a person. I vaguely remember how beautiful she was but what I really can't forget are these little conversation fragments. Small portions of conversations where she said something that stayed with me forever. She argued vociferously for Van Halen with Sammy Hagar over Van Halen with David Lee Roth. She confused Walter Payton and Refrigerator Perry; she called him Refrigerator Payton.

The movie Moonlight Mile brought these memories back in a big way, so forgive this reviewer if I'm a little easy on this one.

Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Joe who, as we meet him, is waking up in a strange bed. We come to find that it is in the home of his would-be in-laws, Ben (Dustin Hoffman) and Jo Jo (Susan Sarandon) Floss. They would have been his in-laws except that the daughter he was going to marry died. The day of the funeral Joe feels like a member of the family as he helps fill in with the chores that his fiancée Diane would have done were she there.

Ben and Jo Jo are dealing with the loss of their daughter in their own unique way. Ben by getting back to work as a real estate agent and Jo Jo by acerbically running down anyone who attempts to offer comfort or those who don't. The plan for Ben and Joe was for them to go into business together after the wedding. Ben still wants to go through with it, while Joe is just going through the motions of helping the family.

Through the strange circumstance of having to retrieve the invitations to the wedding which are about to be mailed, Joe meets Birdy (Ellen Pompeo) a flighty, unusual girl who is the first person not to look at Joe as if he were a wounded bird. She is sensitive to Joe's feelings but never drifts into the cliched mourning and pity that so many people offer as comfort. Joe is hiding one important secret, one I won't reveal, but it's not an Earth shattering secret. It's not a dramatic plot twist; it's a simple truth. A difficult truth but one that when revealed will hurt a little.

Grief is a personal thing, there is no one way to grieve. For me it was not listening to Van Halen for a very long time. That sounds ridiculous but it's strange what comes to mean something to you. In Moonlight Mile, Susan Sarandon's character has a thing with setting her watch. It was something she and her daughter shared.

Director Brad Silberling whose previous film, City of Angels, touched on similar emotions has grown a great deal since that film. Where City of Angels pounded home every emotion with soft focus, a softer soundtrack and a dewy eyed Nicholas Cage, Moonlight Mile is more daring and intellectual. The issues and relationships are more complicated and romantic in their uniqueness.

The performances are spectacular, especially Sarandon in the film’s smallest role. Sarandon has two very big speeches in the film that in the hands of a lesser actress could have come off as showy and over the top. Sarandon is pitch perfect and makes a tricky scripted speech easier to take seriously.

Dustin Hoffman also hits all the right notes as his grieving father who believes his daughter’s death is his fault. She was killed by a gunman in a restaurant across the street from his office as she waited for him to arrive. One can only imagine that kind of guilt and though Silberling employs a rather shallow plot device involving a phone, Hoffman overcomes it with his professionalism and natural charisma.

Then there is Jake Gyllenhaal who seems to be very hit and miss. In Bubble Boy and Lovely and Amazing, he is forgettable. In Donnie Darko and this film, he is absolutely brilliant. You never know what to expect when he's onscreen. Here, teamed with an extraordinary supporting cast, he shines. His chemistry with Ellen Pompeo as his odd duck love interest is sweet, romantic and touching.

I can't forget about the film's soundtrack, full of 70's rock n’ roll tunes. The film is set sometime in the mid-to-late 70's though it's never really acknowledged. The soundtrack features Elton John, Steam, Van Morrison and of course the Rolling Stones, whose song Moonlight Mile provides the film’s title. I guess it's easy for me to like this film because I relate to it so well. But I honestly believe that anyone should be able to connect with a movie as well acted and directed as Moonlight Mile.