CAOS CALMO / QUIET CHAOS (2008)

Italian hyphenate Nanni Moretti settles for co-scripting & starring in this superior family dramedy that falls just shy of expectations. Blame megger Antonello Grimaldi who stiffens on action scenes (even a runaway dog defeats her), but rises to the inter-personal relationships that form the story’s core. The bumpy opening finds Moretti & his glamorous kid brother (a delightful Alessandro Gassman) jumping in to rescue a couple struggling swimmers, then being all but ignored for the effort. That’s life. But an even worse lesson awaits them back home where Moretti’s wife has unexpectedly died, leaving him a single dad with a young daughter. This is where the film proper begins as Moretti goes thru a unique grieving process, taking his girl to school and spending all his time in the lovely neighboring park. Oddly, with his company in the midst of a disruptive international merger, his distancing works to everyone’s advantage. As an outsider, he’s sounding board, sage & best pal. He’s also a welcoming presence to all the park regulars and even something of a food critic at the local café, elucidating the divide between French & Italian cuisine with a bite of broccoli. It all sounds a bit twee, but it plays in a natural, unforced style as long as Grimaldi stays within her rather narrow range; a bit of reckless driving & reckless sex don’t really convince. But identification runs high elsewhere as Moretti lightly carries the heavy subject matter, leavening this unique mourning period with more laugh-out-loud comedy than you’d think appropriate or possible. He’s a remarkable elegant performer, effortlessly pulling off impossibly fast changes in tone. And there’s a great surprise cameo near the end to wrap things up without making too neat a package or too pat an ending.

ULYSSES (1954)

Fun! This Italian production isn‘t the sword-and-sandals campfest you might expect, but a reasonably faithful, reasonably effective telling of the great warrior’s journey home to Ithaca where his wife & son have been waiting and waiting. The Hollywood ringers include Kirk Douglas, unexpectedly relaxed and even charming as Ulysses, and Anthony Quinn as his main rival for Penelope in the bookend sequences set in Ithaca. More Hollywood is on board, including vet lenser Harold Rosson (whose rich palette comes & goes in the acceptable, but unrestored print on the LionsGate DVD - beware of cheap Public Domain editions), and from scripters Irwin Shaw & Ben Hecht* who presumably wrote most of the crudely dubbed English dialogue. The effects are simply accomplished and usually effective, and the tricky flashback structure is immediately involving. It’s also a kick to see Franco Interlenghi (the older kid in SHOESHINE/’46 & fresh from playing Fellini’s alter ego in I VITELLONI/’53 as Kirk’s loyal boy and, of course, the magnificent Silvana Mangano (wife of co-producer Dino De Laurentis) as Penelope. (Is that Eleanor Parker doing her voice on the English track?) The film remains a guilty pleasure, at best, but not a joke like the latter HERCULES pics.

DOUBLE-BILL: *Kirk Douglas returned to CineCitta Studios to play the director of one of these big international productions in Vincente Minnelli’s deeply flawed, but fascinating, 2 WEEKS IN ANOTHER OWN/’62, based on a novel by ULYSSES’ co-scripter Irwin Shaw.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: *Ben Hecht famously rewrote the script for GONE WITH THE WIND without ever reading Margaret Mitchell’s book. You have to wonder how much Homer he had under his belt.

CAN’T HELP SINGING (1944)

This large-scale Musical Western was the only TechniColor project for Deanna Durbin; and just as well since the process tended to accentuate the inner dumpling in her facial structure. A hurdle that the shadings & gradations of tone in b&w studio photography more easily finessed. But that’s only half the problem on this full-rigged project, impressively shot on some spectacular locations, but with neither the story nor the score to make it worth all the bother. Durbin, the headstrong daughter of a Washington Senator, runs off to marry a handsome fortune hunting soldier, but winds up posing as the wife of a comic Russian (Akim Tamiroff) and possibly affianced to a California gold baron (Thomas Gomez). Naturally, she winds up singing her way to tru-love with reformed con-man Robert Paige. It sounds like a lot of action to squeeze into 90 minutes; plus a passel of Jerome Kern/’Yip’ Harburg songs. Alas, the songs are no more than pleasant; the comedy is laborious; and the leading man was quickly demoted back to B pics. Durbin’s hunt for suitable grown up material would continue for a few more years.

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT: Durbin's previous pic, CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY/’44, sounds much more interesting; a dark tale from noir specialist Robert Siodmak with Deanna playing a shady chanteuse & Gene Kelly a rich wastrel. But, as with ONE HUNDRED MEN AND A GIRL/’37, the best of her early pics, it’s not currently available in any format.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Lyricist ‘Yip’ Harburg used a more personal voice when he revisited the West (with composer Earl Robinson) in CALIFORNIA/’47.

MY DOG TULIP (2009)

The trick of J.R. Ackerley’s classic literary memoir to Man’s Best Friend is the juxtaposition between his belles lettres style and the blunt coarseness of all the particulars beyond the poetry of canine companionship as the maddeningly perfect prose settles in to profile poop, pee & procreation. This lovingly animated film, a true artisan project from Paul & Sandra Fierlinger, raises the stakes by washing everything in charmingly varied illustrative techniques that run the gamut from Lake District watercolor to sketch-pad doodling & Thurberesque whimsy. It proves, perhaps, too much. Christopher Plummer probably errs in voicing Ackerley as an old codger, a debatable choice that's accentuated by close miking which emphasizes his every percussive, wheeze & spittle spray. Still, those who love the book can hardly complain, since the British eccentricities of doggie love are captured in all their mid-‘50s extremity. By current standards, the behavior of man & beast (well, mostly man) comes off as bizarre, funny, irresponsible & more than a little sad.

IT STARTED WITH EVE (1941)

Teen vocal sensation Deanna Durbin is grown-up & fetching in this modest romantic farce that’s both harmless and too-cute-for-words. She’s a hat-check girl at a fancy NYC hotel who pitches in (for a hefty tip) when young scion Robert Cummings asks her to pose as his fiancée. Seems the real girl is out shopping, and Dad’s dying request is to meet the lady. Cue Charles Laughton, whispering his last in his sickbed, and generally making a meal out of it. The trouble begins when he’s not only charmed by Deanna’s substitute fiancée, but starts to recover. Fill in the blanks. Considering the circumstances, Norman Krasna’s script is less sticky than you might fear (even if Deanna does sing Laughton back to health) and Henry Koster gets some boyish charm out of Cummings while generally helming with brisk efficiency. More than that, there’s a crackerjack opening sequence set in a newsroom as the city editor holds back the deadline, hoping to scoop Laughton’s imminent death. For a moment, we might be watching lesser Frank Capra. Alas, there’s no follow up once Laughton recovers; maybe it’s the newspaper that croaks?

CONTEST: Make the connection between this film and a classic Disney animated feature to win a MAKSQUIBS Write-Up of a NetFlix DVD.

FRYKTELLIG LYKKELIG / TERRIBLY HAPPY (2008)

Danish tv director Henrik Ruben Genz hits the big screen with this rural police thriller which tries to bend the circular logic & minimalist stylings of Aki Kaurismaki to the creepy-crawly moral vacuum world view of David Lynch. He earns points for atmosphere, but the story proves impossible to swallow. Jakob Cedergren (a ringer for Ben Affleck) is the big city cop who messes up his life and gets sent to small town purgatory as the new police chief. But this seemingly quiet town hides a lot of secrets, many of them buried in the local bog. Talk about sticking your foot in it. The main story has the chief getting too involved in a domestic dispute between the town bully, his troubled wife & their sad little girl. But, in a prime example of the pitfalls of adapting a novel, the character development & plot twists that worked on the page prove faintly ridiculous on the screen. You can’t buy in. And Genz doesn’t help the cause with idiotic POV shots like an early stumble that looks UP thru the water in a toilet bowl. Too bad, a lot of good stuff goes to waste here.

INDIGENES / DAYS OF GLORY (2006)

. . . and just as generic as the translated title sounds. There’s not much wrong, and quite a bit right, with this ‘Band of Algerian Brothers’ tale, but Rachid Bouchareb's well-built fact-inspired/WWII story can’t get past its textbook mentality. With France under Nazi occupation, waves of Algerian patriots rush to enlist in the French infantry. Ironically for many, their first look at the ‘homeland’ will be as liberators. But they wind up facing all the horrors, stupidities, friendships & high mortality rates of grunt soldiers as uncomprehending/condescending French officers use them as cannon fodder. Eventually, we focus on four men who volunteer for a dangerous ‘forward assignment,’ hoping to prove their worth & gain their due. It’s all convincingly presented, with individual stories & group relationships that ring true, but not as involving as it should be. Perhaps if the Algerian backstories were more fleshed out we’d feel how dual national-identities forged under the systematic indignities of French colonial justice tore at them. The only thing the film moves you to do is take notes.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Included in the EXTRAs is Bouchareb’s animated/rotoscoped short L’AMI Y’A BON /THE COLONIAL FRIEND/’05 which tells a similar wartime tale from French Colonial Senegal. Abstracted to its essentials, we follow another volunteer French colonial army who demand their rights and get massacred for the asking. Simple, forceful, and building more emotional force in eight little minutes than its big brother feature.

SUPER 8 (2011)

The rap on J.J. Abrams’ filmic ode to All Things Spielbergian is that a sweetly-observed, naturalistic story about a gang of pubescent high school misfits in the late ‘70s loses its focus when it shifts from substitute family drama & amateur moviemaking to government conspiracies & alien monsters. But the film is meant as a mash-up, teasing out memories from THE GOONIES/’85, STAND BY ME/’86 and WAR OF THE WORLDS/’05, along with winks toward CLOSE ENCOUNTERS/’77; E.T./’82; even BLOW UP/’66! It’s a lot of fun, endearing, a bit too sloppy for its own good (especially in the desperately plotted third act), and just about the best thing Abrams has done on the big screen. The basic idea has the kids stealing some nighttime shots for their goofy homemade zombie pic when they accidentally film a mysterious train crash. As their town falls apart and various personal dramas play out for each of the kids (a delightfully motley crew of losers & eccentrics), they wait for the ‘super-8' film to come back from the lab. And what they’ve captured is no special effect! Spielberg himself ‘godfathered’ the pic as producer and he must have been grinning ear-to-ear with the results. Not only from the big-bang stuff & all the affectionate nods at his own legacy, but at the wonderful perfs Abrams got out of all the kids. The film’s good; the kids are great.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: In addition to this, Abrams has only helmed STAR TREK, its upcoming sequel & MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III. Born in 1966, isn’t it time he moved past his own adolescence?

DOUBLE-BILL: Any of the influencing titles mentioned above would do nicely, including the two non-Spielberg items.

THE LINCOLN LAWYER (2011)

Everything about this L.A. based legal thriller feels intentionally retro, as if PRIMAL FEAR/’96 and JAGGED EDGE/’85 were the hot new films, and Hollywood was all abuzz for the latest Scott Turow. Well, why not? Roman Polanski showed how those old plot hooks could be repurposed by changing professions for THE GHOST WRITER/’10; with a template so familiar it shares a climactic ‘reveal’ with this film. But unless you fall for the characters or discover new angles in the familiar terrain, the plot twists can all be seen tailing you in the rear-view mirror. Sophomore megger Brad Furman knows it and tries playing the old L.A. noir games in sun-drenched locales, but he smooths off too many edges, wastes energy on fussy visual transitions and winds up dulling much of the threat. We jog along pleasantly enough, wasting time with a host of over-qualified actors looking for character hooks to play. (At times, everyone seems to be auditioning for some putative Elmore Leonard pic.) It would matter less if Matthew McConaughey, as a slick lawyer who doesn’t know he’s playing out of his league, could make good on the Paul Newman shtick. But keeping your shirt on and letting the camera highlight a few lines on a pretty face only helps the cause if you’ve got something new to show once the polish is removed.

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT: Paul Newman most famously played the ‘smart’ guy who doesn’t know he’s getting ‘played’ as the rising pool shark in THE HUSTLER/’61 and as a fading lawyer in THE VERDICT/’82. But he’s even better at the game as the smoothie businessman in the less acclaimed ABSENCE OF MALICE/’81.