Primary Colors (1998, 144 min, R) ***1/2 - Directed by Mike Nichols, starring John Travolta, Emma Thompson, and Billy Bob Thornton. The point isn’t that the powerful have clay feet, but the much more interesting question of how much evil are we willing to tolerate in order to get good done? A young senate aid (newcomer Adrian Lester), tired of watching his senator taking the moral high ground and always being vetoed, hitches his wagon to a southern governor running for president (Travolta in a thinly-veiled Bill Clinton impersonation—very, very thinly-veiled). Travolta’s governor is big-hearted and sincere about helping the little guy, but he lies and plays the game well to get things done. On top of that, he’s a hopeless womanizer. Because we see things through Lester’s eyes, we’re never sure just how magnanimous the governor is, and we ask ourselves continually how much we’re willing to let slide for the public good. “Primary Colors” mixes satire with Capra—Lester is always in the background of schmaltzy moments, looking chagrin—although it’s sometimes too cute and obvious when it thinks it’s being subtle. Not long after discovering the governor’s philandering, his Hilary wife’s (Thompson) contribution to a discussion about what to do regarding another candidate’s allegations is to say “you can learn to live through anything” while wiping a tear away with her wedding-ringed finger. Then there’s Kathy Bates, so good in “Misery” and many other flicks, as a robust and outspoken aid; she’s too much of a “Character!” to be any fun. But “Primary Colors” soars when it comes to close rooms filled with men in shirt sleeves and loosened ties, discussing politics, strategy, and manipulating the public. I love movies about large groups of people setting out on long, complex enterprises. Be prepared to be overwhelmed by “I’ve seen him somewhere before!” character actors like Paul Guilfoyle as a strategist and Larry Hagman as Travolta’s political opposite.
The Producers (1968, 88 min, PG) ***1/2 – Directed & written by Mel Brooks, starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. Original, non-musical version of the now-popular Broadway musical about a washed-up producer and his cowardly accountant (Mostel and Wilder) who stage the worst play in history as a scam to earn money. The movie is powered by the sadness of these two figures, and the rich glee they feel when they delude themselves into thinking their plan will work. Oscar for Original Screenplay.
Pulp Fiction (1994, 154 min, R) **** - Directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Ving Rhames, Harvey Keitel, and Bruce Willis. Often imitated but never replicated masterpiece about chatty gangsters, boxers, hitmen and double-crossing dames trapped in an impenetrable maze of the cheapest noir, dime novel, and comic book predicaments. Kitschly self-conscious and self-reflective, endlessly ironic, the movie has a severe and exciting visceral punch and we are amazed by how much we come to care about these pulp caricatures. Oscar-winning Original Screenplay and winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
Punch-Drunk Love (2002, 94 min, R) ***1/2 – Directed & written by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. After a string of lame-brain comedies, Adam Sandler has finally made a grown-up movie about a quiet little man who is unable to express anger—except in violent, uncontrollable outbursts. The adorable Watson chips in as the woman who sets Sandler straight, Hoffman is the phone-sex sleazebag from hell, and Anderson’s (“Boogie Nights”) direction is elegant and perfectly restrained. Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival.
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Patton (1970, 170 min, PG) **** - Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, starring George C. Scott and Karl Malden. One of those rare epics that succeeds with the big and the small, “Patton” is both an intimate character study and an exhilarating large-scale look at World War II. General George S. Patton (Scott) emerges as a fascinating, contradictory, larger-than-life prima donna and an old-fashioned, unapologetic warrior trapped in a modern age. The movie (co-written by Francis Coppola) is ambivalent toward him, sometimes admiring, sometimes disgusted, and provides a perfect foil in the humble and likeable General Omar Bradley (Malden). Oscars include Best Picture, Director, and Actor.
Pi (1996, 89 min, R) *** - Directed & co-written by Darren Aronofsky, starring Sean Gullette and Mark Margolis. Subtitled "Faith in Chaos," this Sundance-winner for best director is everything we love (or hate) about low-budget independent features: grainy black-and-white; an “edgy” premise; directorial prowess used to cover up limited locations and resources; a willingness to use topics avoided at the multiplex (in this case, Kabala); drool-worthy babes from seldom-seen ethnic minorities; wordy narration to keep things moving; and, of course, an overall sense of zest and urgency for filmmaking. A half-mad mathematician (Gullette) locks himself in his apartment with his computer, determined to uncover the secrets of pi, the mathematical patterns hidden in the stock market, and the meaning of everything. As he loses his mind, his work attracts the attention of his mentor (Margolis), a group of Jewish mystics, and a sneaky pack of wall street traders. It’s great, atmospheric fun, all nightmarish New York shadows, wide-angle lenses, hallucinations, and general depravity, with more than a few of the math ideas missing from “A Beautiful Mind” thrown in. (’04.)
The Pianist (2002, 150 min, R) ***1/2 – Directed by Roman Polanski, starring Adrien Brody and Thomas Kretschmann. Director Polanski, himself a Holocaust survivor, tells the story of another real-life survivor, a piano player named Szpilman (Brody, in an effortless and natural performance), who cheats death only by chance. The movie is a visceral epic of hiding, starvation, and heartbreakingly meaningless destruction, begging one question: why should I survive while others die? Oscars for Director, Actor, and Adapted Screenplay, Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
Platoon (1986, 120 min, R) **** - Directed by Oliver Stone, starring Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, and Willem Dafoe. Semi-autobiographical (and often copied) grunt’s eye-view of Vietnam that includes the heat of battle, the torture of prisoners, the savagery of the enemy, appalling living conditions, and the use of drugs to escape it all. A young volunteer (Sheen) is torn between the philosophies of two sergeants, one violent and merciless (Berenger), the other jaded but hopeful (Dafoe). Multiple Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Point Break (1991, 122 min, R) ***1/2 – Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, starring Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, and Gary Busey. First-rate neo-noir about an FBI agent (Reeves) who turns surfer to catch a gang of bank robbers and begins to be seduced by the wave-catching lifestyle (ah, the undercover cop, always in danger of starting to see things the criminal’s way). The allure of the surfer’s world and the freedom of robbing banks for a living appear genuinely seductive and director Bigelow stages several brutal and realistic shoot-outs. Swayze is the local surfing guru and Busey gives a scene-stealing performance as Reeves’ partner.