Classic Movie Review Roxanne

Roxanne (1987) 

Directed by Fred Schepisi

Written by Steve Martin 

Starring Steve Martin, Darryl Hannah, Shelley Duvall, Rick Rossovich, Fred Willard 

Release Date June 19th, 1987

Why don’t I love “Roxanne” anymore? The Steve Martin-Darryl Hannah comedy is turning 30 years old this week and will be featured on this week’s I Hate Critics movie review podcast which is being dedicated to the work of Steve Martin, featuring a Steve Martin Top 5 and “The Jerk” as this week’s I Hate Critics Undisputed Classic. So, of course, I watched “Roxanne” and the film left me only mildly amused at best, deeply disappointed at worst.

This confused me because my memory of the film, from being a 10 year old Steve Martin fan, was a non-stop laugh riot. I had a very similar experience when this week I also revisited Martin’s 1980 standup comedy special “In Honor of Steve.” Though my inner 10 year old found delight in Martin’s arrow through the head wackiness and the adult in me could recognize what might be a transgressive sort of anti-comedy peaking around the edges of otherwise earnest prat-falling, I could not find a place between the child and the adult that genuinely enjoyed Martin’s work.

Don’t misunderstand; it’s not that I am arguing Steve Martin isn’t funny, or not in many ways a comic genius, it’s an issue of taste. The adult in me doesn’t find Martin’s antics funny anymore and far too many moments of Roxanne, the extraneous scenes of Martin pulling a random physical gag, the plot friendly but awfully staged gymnastics that his C.B Bales is capable of for the purpose of god knows what, they’re unnecessary and distracting and rarely very funny.

There are multiple examples of these extraneous scenes with only a tenuous connection to the plot of “Roxanne” but let’s look at the very first scene of the film. Let me preface this by saying that I understand the fight scene that begins “Roxanne” is intended to demonstrate that C.D Bales is sensitive about the size of his exceptionally lengthy nose. I also am aware that the film is very loosely based on the play “Cyrano De Bergerac” which also begins with a sword fight. That said, the scene plays awkwardly and doesn’t really shine a positive light on the character of C.D Bales, especially as our introduction to the character.

Read my full review at Geeks.Media linked here. 

Movie Review It Runs in the Family

It Runs in the Family (2003) 

Directed by Fred Schepisi

Written by Jesse Wigutow 

Starring Michael Douglas, Kirk Douglas, Cameron Douglas, Rory Culkin, Bernadette Peters

Release Date April 25th, 2003

Published April 25th, 2003 

Kirk and Michael Douglas have been searching for years for a project to do together. So what made them choose this film? According to the younger Douglas, the combination of his father's stroke and the tragedy of September 11th made them both realize time is short. Unfortunately, that may have rushed them a little too much in the reading of the script for It Runs In The Family. They saw a workable father-son dynamic, what they missed was the story that surrounded them, a collection of hackney one scenes that wouldn't make it on the worst of sitcoms.

Michael Douglas is Alex Gromberg, an unsatisfied, unhappy corporate lawyer who lives in the shadow of his father Mitchell (Kirk Douglas), the founder of the law firm. As intimated by his co-workers, Alex only remains with the firm to satisfy his father. Unfortunately that doesn't seem possible. As the Gromberg family including Alex's wife Rebecca (Bernadette Peters). His youngest son Eli (Rory Culkin), his mother (Diana Douglas) as well as his no-good oldest son Asher (Cameron Douglas) assemble for Passover; they prepare for yet another family sparring match between father and son over just about everything.

Alex has trouble piling up all around him. At work he has taken on a pro bono case against one of the firm’s own clients. At his volunteer job at a soup kitchen there’s a young woman who can't keep her hands off of him. And of course at home his wife is suspicious of his fidelity and his sons won't talk to him.

That is the setup, abridged by this reviewer to make it coherent. For the plot description it was necessary for me to cut to the chase because the film itself is a series of stops and starts. Annoyingly episodic takes that go absolutely nowhere. So disconnected are some scenes that they could have been reedited into the film in any order.

It's easy to see where this film went wrong, it was bad from its conception. It Runs In the Family is a vanity project and as most vanity projects it plays as everyone knows it's no good but hey, let's finish it anyway. It's nice that Michael and Kirk Douglas got to work together finally and that they could incorporate Michael's son Cameron and Michael's mom. Working with Kirk's ex wife Diana Douglas must have been a real treat for the family but it's not much for the audience.

Director Fred Schepisi is competent and confident in his direction but the film’s script by Jesse Wigutow short circuits anything Schepisi might have accomplished. I doubt it was Wigutow's fault entirely as the script seems unfinished and with this being a vanity project it was probably changed significantly to fit the cast.

It was very nice to see Michael and Kirk Douglas on screen together and it's nice to see how lively Kirk still is at his advanced age. This film is not the coda his career deserves, though this is not necessarily his last film, but there are moments when his class and dignity raises the level of the film. There aren’t many of those moments, but they are nice nevertheless.