Meet The Parents

Remember when Ben Stiller was funny? Couple of years ago, maybe even a decade? You may remember my review on There's Something About Mary, a movie many regard as his finest work. Before that he had a cameo role in Happy Gilmore, and he was hilarious in that too. But in recent times, he seem to churn out nothing but crap. Night At The Museum, Starsky & Hutch, the Madagascar films and the abysmal sequels Meet The Fockers and Little Fockers. The real shame about the last 2 is that they were terrible follow-ups to a genuinely great film, Meet The Parents, the subject of today's review.

Released in 2000 under the direction of Jay Roach (Austin Powers, The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy), and starring Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner and Owen Wilson, the movie is based on that most apprehensive of events; meeting the in-laws. The occasion is hard enough to get through, even when the father isn't The Deer Hunter! It's one of De Niro's only forays into comedy, and one of Stiller's best.

The movie opens with our main character, a male nurse called Gaylord Focker (Stiller), working up the nerves to propose to his girlfriend Pam (Polo). But upon discovering that Pam's sister has recently got engaged after her finance asked permission from her parents, Gaylord (or Greg as he is referred to) decides to do the same. So the 2 of them fly out so they can attend Pam's sister's wedding, and so that Greg can meet and become acquainted with Pam's parents, so he can ask their permission to marry Pam.

Upon arriving at the Byrnes' family house, Greg meets Pam's mother Dina (Danner) and father Jack (De Niro), who immediately begins to question Greg about his life, career, and even the colour of the rental car he is driving. No matter how much Greg tries to impress them, Jack is not taken with him, and appears increasingly suspicious. After unintentionally making an idiot of himself, Greg discovers, much to his chagrin, that Jack is not in fact a retired flower dealer as he was initially informed, but a former CIA agent.

                                              Yes or no, the sequels to this movie will suck?

Upon meeting more members of the Byrnes family, and Pam's ex-fiance Kevin (Wilson), Greg feels even more alienated, especially as his attempts to fit continue to fall flat on their face. Passing from 1 accidental disaster to another, Jack goes from suspecting Greg, to disliking him, to downright hating him.

Eventually, unable to stand the criticisms and scorn any longer, Greg leaves, feeling that, no matter how much he loves Pam, he can't possible hope to fit in with her tight-knit and unwelcoming family.

This movie succeeds the same way There's Something About Mary did, by having a strong comedic side while also having serious and emotional elements. Greg's situation is so easy to identify with, as it's a situation virtually all of us have been in; being introduced to a group of close friends who view you as an outsider, the subject of rejection and ridicule. Struggling through this proverbial minefield, the jokes we are given are brilliant. The more he tries to fit in, the worse his situation becomes, resulting in funnier and funnier scenarios. It works in all the ways the sequels don't. The second and third movies are nothing but forced humour and jokes based solely on degrading Greg. The jokes about his bizarre name are funny in the first movie, but by the time the sequels came out they had thoroughly worn out their welcome. But we still have, and always will have, the original. The best by a country mile.

Scream

In recent times, horror movies have experienced a drastic shift in in tone and content. Originally, the films were built around creating suspense, building a creepy atmosphere, and ensured that what was most scary were the things you couldn't see, as opposed to the things you could. Examples of this include Alien, Halloween and Friday the 13th. But in the last decade, horror flicks have relied more heavily on graphic blood & gore, basically shock-value and exploitation. Examples include Hostel, Freddy vs. Jason, and pretty much every horror movie remake. But in 1996, a film single-handedly reinvented the horror movie genre, while also satirising it. That movie was Scream.

Directed by Wes Craven (New Nightmare) and starring Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, and Skeet Ulrich. It follows a group of teenagers (doesn't it always) who are stalked by a masked killer known as Ghostface. It's essentially a huge throwback to the old-school horror films of the 70's and 80's, which pays homage to them, while also making fun of what made them so silly and cliched.

The movie is set in the fictional American town of Woodsboro, where we first meet a girl named Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore), home alone, about to watch a movie. She starts receiving phone calls from a mysterious person (a classic urban legend) who, while initially friendly, eventually threatens her and her boyfriend Steve, who is tied to a chair outside. The situation quickly escalates, and both Casey and Steve are brutally murdered.

The townspeople are shaken by the killings, especially Sidney Prescott (Campbell), who is approaching the 1-year anniversary of her mothers murder. Before long, Sidney finds herself on the receiving end of the killer's wrath, who attacks her in her own home. After he disappears, Sid's boyfriend Billy (Ulrich) arrives to console her, but after dropping a cell phone, Sid believes him to be the killer.

Billy is released the following day, and suspicion falls on Sidney's father Neil, since the calls have been tracked to his phone. As a precautionary measure, school is suspended, and a curfew is instated. To celebrate, Stu (Lillard), boyfriend of Sidney best friend Tatum (Rose McGowan), throws a party at his house. To ensure that the party-goers are protected, Deputy Sheriff Dewey (Arquette) attends, accompanied by local reporter Gail Weathers (Cox).

You can probably imagine where it goes from there. All the teenagers in a remote location, with a killer on the loose. You could actually put bets on who will get iced next. But the fact is, if you've seen a slasher flick, it will all be very familiar. But that's the whole idea. The movie was made to pay homage to slasher films while simultaneously making fun of all the cliches they became known for. All throughout the film, the characters discussed how their current predicament can be analysed by looking at existing horror movies, and the patterns that they follow. The film works by mimicking existing scary movies while making one of its own, and a fantastic one at that. There is suspense, tension, a menacing killer, an unknown motive, and a heavier reliance on being scary rather than gory, which is something modern horror films fail to do.

Scream remains one of the best slasher movies ever made. It breathed all new life into a dying genre by pointing out how flawed and unoriginal it had become. It created a film that was chock-full of cliches and simply had fun with. Clever, intense, and always tongue-in-cheek, Scream remains one of cinemas smartest and most self-deprecating piece of work. If you haven't seen it, delay no longer.

Fight Club

If I were to do a list of my 'Top 20 Favourite Movies', it would include some of the movies I have previously reviewed on this blog, such as Leon and V For Vendetta. Well today I'm going to look at another one of my all time favourite films, Fight Club.

Released in 1999 under the direction of acclaimed director David Fincher (The Social Network, Seven) and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter, Fight Club follows the story of a white collar worker whose life is changed dramatically by violence, rebellion, mayhem and soap. It's one of cinemas finest works, and one of my all time favs.

The movie opens with a rather unsavoury confrontation between our 2 main characters. We then listen to the movies narrator (Norton) recalling how he got to this event. The Narrator (his name in the movie is never mentioned) has chronic insomnia, and leads a monotonous and uneventful life. He begins attending support groups under the false pretence of having various ailments. By venting his emotions within these groups, he is suddenly able to sleep. But when another 'faker', Marla Singer (Carter) begins to attend these groups, the Narrator cannot cry, and once again, loses his ability to sleep.

While returning from one of his many business trips, he meets a man named Tyler Durden (Pitt), a charismatic soap salesman. After their brief encounter, the Narrator gets home to find that his apartment has been destroyed. He calls Tyler, and the 2 meet up in a bar. The Narrator is fascinated by Tyler's philosophies and ideaologies. He thinks that the human race has become a brain-dead rabble of consumers who have no real independence and are driven only by the want of material possessions. After they leave the bar, Tyler makes an unusual proposition:

'I want you to hit me, as hard as you can.'

Before long, the 2 are beating the crap out of one another, with the Narrator feeling that same catharsis that he felt in his support groups.

To introduce other commercial-driven men to the joys of physical violence, our protagonists form  Fight Clubs. Over time this creation develop, with Tyler's desire to bring down the corporations becoming evermore intense.

I won't DARE spoil the ending for you, or the twist, regarded as one of the best in cinema history. As the movie progress we see the development of one of films most complicated relationships, comparable to the likes of Leon. At times our characters seem to be as close as brothers, at others times it's like a huge gaping void has opened up between them. The dialogue is witty, interesting, and at times, very profound. Whether you agree or disagree with Tyler's twisted and often cynical outlook on the modern world and what man has become, there's no denying how well it works in shaping and driving the movies plot, and the motivation of the characters. Carters' Marla Singer is wonderfully crazed, yet shockingly vulnerable, as if the world is crashing down on her, and she is just letting it fall.

I've never been a big fan of glorified violence in films, but in this movie it is actually works. It's integral to the story, and isn't just thrown in for the sake of attracting attention.

Overall, I love this film and all it has to offer. I love the characters, concepts, the way the story develops, and everything we learn along the way. I loved it when I first seen it, and I still love it today. You've almost certainly seen it, but if not, do it now.

Blow

Johnny Depp is, undoubtably, one of the best, most versatile actors of this generation. From bit-parts in films such as A Nightmare On Elm Street and Platoon to super-stardom in movies such as Finding Neverland and the Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy, he has poured his heart and soul into the movie business for over 25 years. So to celebrate his continuing career in cinema, I have decided to review one of my favourite Depp movies, the 2001 biopic Blow.

Based on the Bruce Porter book, Blow is directed by the late Ted Demme (Beautiful Girls) and stars Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Jordi Molla, Ray Liotta and Paul Reubens. It is based on the life and drug-smuggling career of George Jung, who made approximately $100 million through cocaine trafficking. It's a well directed, well written and superbly acted biography that makes you gasp, laugh, and at times, cry.

The movie opens in Massachusetts, where we find a young George Jung. George idolizes his father (Ray Liotta), who is forced to file for bankruptcy. Vowing never to end up like his parents, grown-up George (Depp) moves to California with his best friend Tuna (Ethan Suplee) hoping for a better life. While there, the pair discover the profitability of selling Marijuana, and are eventually introduced to Derek Foreal (Reubens), the main dealer.

George works out a plan to sell Marijuana to students back in Massachusetts, using George's girlfriend Barbara, an airline stewardess, to deliver the drugs and return with the money. As the demand grows, George starts to buy his Marijuana directly from Mexico. Unfortunately, George is arrested in Chicago with 660 pounds of the drug, and is sentenced to 2 years in jail upon his release, but he skips bail to take care of Barbara, now his fiance, who is suffering from cancer.

While on the run, George visits his parents. His father, while a little uneasy, is happy to see Geroge. His mother, however, calls the police, and George is sent to prison in Connecticut for 26 months. While inside, he meets Diego Delgado (Molla), a man with connections to the Medellín cartel. Together, they form a plan to traffic cocaine into the United States when they have been released. With Diego's cartel friends, and George's connection in California, his old friend Foreal, they being shipping in millions of dollars worth of cocaine from Columbia, becoming 2 of history's most prolific drug traffickers.

                                                                 Can you lend me $20?

From then on, the film follows our money-hungry protagonist as he is caught in webs of deceit, betrayal, domestic conflicts and heartbreak. It's a biopic of one of the criminal world's most interesting characters. All he wanted to do was live his own America dream, and found out that when you're on top of the world, the only way is down, and that getting everything you want comes at the ultimate price.

As usual, Depp gives an great performance, and brings Jung's larger-than-life dynamics to life. I often always found myself sympathising with him, because he's not mean or callous, he's just trying to live life his own way, it just so happens that the profession he chose is illegal. One of the final scenes in the film, where George records a farewell message to his father, is so well directed and beautifully acted that it's one of the few scene that I get chocked-up at every time I see it.

Since seeing the film, I have read the book it is based on, and to be honest, the movie takes a lot of liberties with the truth. Many events are either changed or omitted, some pretty significant events in George's life are altered, and I felt my self empathising with the real Jung much less than the film version, as he pushed his luck way too far, and just never learned his lesson. But the movie is a brilliant insight into Jung's life and business; the high and lows, the deals and the back-stabbings. It's one of my favourite Johnny Depp movies, and in my opinion, one of his most overlooked performances.