Hoop Dreams (1994) – A-
Director: Steve James
Featuring: Arthur Agee, William Gates and their families
Awards: Nominated – Film Editing
Is it a surprise that a majority of our top flight athletes, particularly in football and basketball, are from poor African-American communities? It goes without saying that life in some of these communities is about as tough as life gets in America. To those people trying to make it in such communities, I imagine life there seems inescapable except by only a few avenues, some legal and some illegal. To those kids playing sports in inner-cities and urban neighborhoods, they aren’t a fun diversion. A sport like basketball is life; it’s a lottery ticket, a way to escape the ghetto and a way to finally live without scrounging and clawing.
This makes it all the more cruel when kids with real talent and dreams of stardom are sidelined by knee problems, frosty relationships with coaches and family, no money to pay high school tuition; the list goes on. Hoop Dreams follows the stories of two Chicago basketball prospects, William Gates and Arthur Agee, for about four years. We see both Gates and Agee recruited by top private high schools, we see their high school experiences, and we meet their families and see the hardships they endure. The access Steve James gets for Hoop Dreams is unbelievable, and the amount of craft and love that he puts into telling the stories of the two boys is monumental. Hoop Dreams is about more than basketball. It is also a documentary about the difficult, turbulent lives of good people in the inner-city, struggling to make ends meet.
The stories of the two boys are probably shared by thousands of similar young men who had tones of talent but didn’t make the NBA, either due to their own flaws or by external factors. Agee didn’t impress the coaches at prestigious St. Joseph’s High School (where Isiah Thomas played his high school hoops), and when the school alerted his family that they were well short on Arthur’s tuition payments, he was shuffled off to an inner-city school. Arthur’s new coach remarks that if Arthur had played as well as the school initially thought he would, he’d still be enrolled there despite being late on payments. Bingo.
Gates’ knees were his worst enemy, failing him at a time when scholarship offers were pouring in. Also a player at St. Joseph’s, Gates’ coach may have rushed him back into action after his knee injury, further aggravating the problem. These things happen sometimes.
What I asked myself while watching Hoop Dreams was whether this system is demeaning and whether there could be a better one. Should the high schools and colleges that recruit these athletes be commended for providing this kind of opportunity when we know that such opportunities would not exist for these men if they weren’t good at sports? Hoop Dreams brings up the question, but doesn’t answer it. I’m not sure I can.
On Golden Pond (1981) – B+
Director: Mark Rydell
Starring: Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, Jane Fonda, Doug McKeon
Awards: Won –Actor (Henry Fonda), Actress (Hepburn), Adapted Screenplay. Nominated – Picture, Supporting Actress (Jane Fonda), Cinematography, Director, Film Editing, Original Score, Sound
Henry Fonda makes his final film role a memorable one, winning an Academy Award for his portrayal of grumpy retired professor Norman Thayer. His wife in the film, played by Katharine Hepburn, also won an Academy Award for her efforts. Norman has had a historically chilly relationship with his middle-aged daughter (played by Henry Fonda’s real life daughter Jane, and On Golden Pond follows Norman’s revitalization when his daughter leaves her stepson to stay with the old couple at their vacation home on Golden Pond.
On Golden Pond is quite formulaic, but it allows the two leads to fill in the spaces on their own and their work makes the material much more dynamic. The film presents an outline of a story about a couple advancing in age and dealing with the realization that their days will soon end. Fonda and Hepburn, masters that they are, give a realistic depiction of the thoughts and feelings that would accompany such a situation.
The story of the film contains many enjoyable arcs and moments, not the least of which is Norman’s gradual thawing demeanor in the presence of the oft-brash and misunderstood stepson (Doug McKeon). The best thing about On Golden Pond, however, is the relationship between Fonda and Hepburn. Their love may be a tad idealistic, but it feels real, and their tremendous performances provide perhaps the most in-depth, truthful look at an elderly relationship I’ve yet seen on film.
Bullitt (1968) - C
Director: Peter Yates
Starring: Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset, Don Gordon
Awards: Won – Film Editing. Nominated – Sound
Can a great car chase scene elevate an otherwise mundane action film? You know the one I’m talking about. Steve McQueen chasing after a couple of bad guys through the streets of San Francisco, with hub caps flying off the cars at every bump or sharp turn. It’s one of the most memorable chase scenes in film history, but unlike in The French Connection, where that film’s fantastic chase scene was built into an already fantastic movie, the chase scene in Bullitt provides a temporary thrill. Bullitt is confusing and quite boring for a cop thriller. There are a lot of meetings, a lot of walking into offices.
The cast, by and large, is blameless. Steve McQueen plays the titular detective, tasked with protecting a key witness long enough for him to testify in court a couple of days later. McQueen was known as the “king of cool” for a reason, and his very presence in most any film is electric. McQueen kills bad guys, fornicates with beautiful women, and does the “I play by my own rules” cop routine. No problem there.
The problem comes with the plot, which starts out as a slow burn but rapidly takes so many twists and turns that it becomes difficult to unravel. We get body doubles, characters who are suddenly introduced and just as suddenly killed, a strange airport foot pursuit, and of course, that car chase. Robert Vaughn plays a wealthy city humanitarian/politician who is depending on the testimony of the witness. He’s supposed to be a threat to Bullitt, but he eventually becomes a simple nuisance to the detective and the viewer. If Bullitt wasn’t too busy shoehorning more angles into its plot, we might have had a classic cop drama. Instead, it’s justifiably known only for its most famous scene.
The Darjeeling Limited (2007) – B+
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, Anjelica Huston
It seems that after The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), audiences were tired of Wes Anderson’s act. Anderson’s style is undeniably unique; he uses colors, music, fashion, even the fonts on his title cards to create his own tone and atmosphere. Most of his characters are similar, too. Generally, they’re wealthy, often from high society and old money. And also generally, they’re miserable, trying to make amends with family members, friends and lovers over past misdeeds and trying to build a functioning adulthood on top of a dysfunctional, almost nonexistent childhood.
I say The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou was a turning point for Anderson’s career because his next feature, The Darjeeling Limited, was lightly promoted and lightly discussed upon release compared to his previous films. Audiences who grew tired of Anderson and passed on The Darjeeling Limited did themselves a tremendous disservice, however, because this is one of his finest films.
The film follows the travels of three brothers (Wilson, Brody, and Schwartzman) as they make their way through India, first by train and later however they can. We get the idea that the brothers don’t see each other or talk much, and we later learn that the trip was organized so that the three could visit their mother (Huston), who relocated to an Indian nunnery and whom they haven’t seen in years. Though the themes in The Darjeeling Limited will be familiar to Anderson viewers, the sense of adventure in this film is unseen in any of his previous pictures. There are jokes along the journey, but the highlight of the film is watching the three brothers repair their relationship against their exotic locale and watching how their locale factors into their efforts. The Darjeeling Limited may have a warped sentimentality, but its themes of family, togetherness and brotherhood are sincere and fulfilling.
A Man for All Seasons (1966) – B+
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Starring: Paul Scofield, Leo McKern, Robert Shaw, Orson Welles
Awards: Won – Picture, Actor (Scofield), Cinematography (Color), Costume Design (Color), Director, Adapted Screenplay. Nominated – Supporting Actor (Shaw), Supporting Actress (Wendy Hiller)
Sir Thomas More, whose story is told in A Man for All Seasons, is a character I don’t believe could exist in a film set in the modern day. His unwavering faith in God and his steadfast personal convictions in relation to this faith would seem unbelievable if put into a modern context. Of course, A Man for All Seasons, based on the famous play (and the real story of More), is set during the reign of Henry VIII in England. Henry demands a divorce, you see, because his wife is unable to yield a male heir to the throne. Henry would like a more fertile upgrade, but the pope refuses to grant Henry a divorce. Henry decides to split with the church, and Sir Thomas More, Lord Chancellor, is told by Henry to support the divorce to lend their arrangement legitimacy. More’s allegiance, however, is to the pope and the church, and the film tells the story of his persecution and his adherence to his convictions.
Paul Scofield won a best actor Oscar for his portrayal of More. He is perfectly stoic and reserved in the role. He plays More as a man comfortable with his decision, unswayed by the carrots of titles and lands dangled in front of him by the king and his subordinates. Sharp casting gives us Robert Shaw as the guffawing but manically temperamental Henry VIII and Orson Welles as the acquiescent Cardinal Wolsey. The principals are all very strong, but the film is carried by Scofield, whose calm demeanor in the face of certain death provides the enduring image of the film.
A Man for All Seasons ends in an English court, where Sir Thomas is convicted of treason against the king and is sentenced to death (this is based on a very famous real life episode, so I assume I’m not spoiling anything). In the scene, More lays out his case and makes a convincing argument for his innocence before being betrayed by a former associate and subsequently condemned. Scofield and the story are so strong that I found myself rooting for More’s acquittal, even though I knew how the story would end up.
In the Heat of the Night (1967) – B
Director: Norman Jewison
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant
Awards: Won – Picture, Actor (Steiger), Film Editing, Sound, Adapted Screenplay. Nominated – Director, Sound Effects
In the Heat of the Night is a film that is a pure product of its time. I don’t know if there is a community in this nation right now that would be thrown upside down simply due to the presence of a black man. I’d like to think not, but perhaps I’m speaking from my liberal and sheltered existence in Massachusetts and not from reality.
This is exactly what happens in In the Heat of the Night, when Sidney Poitier is apprehended and suspected of a murder he did not commit. He is quickly exonerated of the charges, but the local bigoted white sheriff (Steiger) discovers that Poitier is a respected homicide detective in Philadelphia and reluctantly requests his assistance in solving their murder. Poitier is ordered to help by his supervisors back home, and he is then forced to brave the rubber necks and racist barbs of both the townsfolk and the sheriff.
In the Heat of the Night is carried by the strong performances of Poitier and Steiger, who rise above the mostly blasé murder plot and give great color and punch to the dialogue and action scenes when called for. Poitier and Steiger eventually develop a professional trust and a personal, if uneasy, friendship. The film’s best scenes are those of Steiger trying to deflect the racist pressure of his colleagues and the townsfolk to kick Poitier out of town; he is a stubborn man, but racism is not in his heart. His conversation with Poitier about his unhappy personal life is another highlight.
The film does have problems. The plot itself is cookie-cutter and the real drama comes from the race-based dynamic between Poitier and the townspeople. Though they threaten Poitier physically at points, the racist thugs look to come from out of a comic book and the realism of their threat suffers for it. I also felt like the racist whites were too east a target, because they are so dimwitted in the film that I didn’t get the sense that they should know any better. To see this racism from more fleshed-out characters would have better driven the point home. Despite the flaws, In the Heat of the Night does take an honest look at racism at a time when very few forms of media did so, and coupled with its performances, the film is a winner.
John Lacey
