The Wrestler

“The Wrestler,” released in 2008, is about a man who can do one thing well, and keeps on doing it because of need, exhausted skill and pride. He wrestles for a living. Pro wrestling is a fake sport, right? Yes, but as an activity, it’s very real. Roger Ebert had admitted in his review, “I watch it on TV with fascination.” It’s scripted that the villain sneaks up on the hero, who pretends not to see him, and pushes him over the ropes and out of the ring. Fake. But when the hero hits the floor, how fake is that? Ebert said, “"Those guys learn how to fall," people tell me. Want to sign up for the lessons?”

Mickey Rourke plays the beaten, broke, lonely hero, Randy (“The Ram”) Robinson. This is the performance of his lifetime, will win him a nomination, may win him the Oscar. Like many great performances, it has an element of truth. Rourke himself was once young and superb and made a lot of money. He did professional boxing just because. He isolated so many people. He fell from grace and stardom, but kept working, because he was an actor and that was what he did. Now here is his comeback role, playing Randy the Ram’s comeback.

This is Rourke doing amazing physical acting. He has the physique of a body builder, maybe because he used some steroids, which would also be true of Randy. He gets into the ring and does the work. Rourke may not be physically performing every thing we see, including the leaps off ropes and ladders and the dangerous falls. Special effects have taken away the believability from movies. Ebert said, “But I've seen a lot of F/X, and I have to say it looked to me like he was really doing these things.”

Not that it matters. It appears that he is, and his ring performances and the punishment he takes gives the foundation for the story, which involves his estranged relationship with his daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood) and what he hopes will become a relationship with the stripper Cassidy (Marisa Tomei). Except for his backstage camaraderie with other veteran wrestlers, Randy has burned all his bridges in life. Stephanie is far, far from happy to see him show up again. And he doesn’t really believe Cassidy, whose real name is Pam, when she carefully explains that she is not available.

Here is the irony, which he won’t accept. Cassidy is as much a performer as Randy. He is a ring worker. She is a stripper. They put on a show and give the customers what they want. It pays the rent. There is always a gap between pros and their audiences. Ebert noted, “That's why so many show-biz people marry each other. Magicians say, "The trick is told when the trick is sold."” Think about that.

However, Randy has grown a little wiser with the years, less blinded by stardom, more able to admit emotional need. Maybe he too was using more drugs long ago, and they always take first place before relationships. (Ebert said, “He gets a sales pitch from a fellow wrestler who seems to stock more drugs than Walgreens.”) Randy has a lasting charm and sentimentality, which helps him and also deceives him. He makes some small progress with his daughter.

As for Cassidy – have you ever seen Marisa Tomei this type of role before? Ebert said, “I haven't. I don't know if she can.” She seems to have something good at the heart of her that gives this stripper with warmth and sympathy. Not that Randy should get his hopes up.

The most fascinating element in Darren Aronofsky’s films is the backstage detail about wrestling. He does this so well, yet has never made a film anywhere close like this before. In the snow and slush of New Jersey, Randy and his opponents make the rounds of untidy union halls, school gyms, community centers and American Legion halls, using whatever they can find for dressing rooms, taping their damaged parts, troubling themselves up and agreeing beforehand on the script. We learn how they make themselves bleed, prepare for violent “surprises,” talk through each match. And then they go out and do it. Ebert said, “As nearly as I can tell, their planning only means that they get hurt in the ways they expect, and not in unforeseen ways.”

Ebert admitted, “I cared as deeply about Randy the Ram as any movie character I've seen this year. I cared about Mickey Rourke, too. The way this role and this film unfold, that almost amounts to the same thing. Rourke may not win the Oscar for best actor. But it would make me feel good to see him up there. It really would.”

“The Wrestler” was one of 2008’s best films of the year.

I have to say, when I was recommended this movie by some cousins and after hearing Mickey Rourke talk about this in his Inside the Actors Studio interview, I was shocked to see how emotional and dramatic this film was. This might be Rourke’s best role he has ever done, seeing how this film was his comeback role. If you haven’t seen this, you shouldn’t be reading this review. Go out and see it. Especially seeing Marisa Tomei playing a type of role that she may not have ever done before. To reveal a lot of skin in this role took a lot of courage to do.

Alright everyone, we have now concluded “Marisa Tomei Month.” I hope everyone enjoyed it and hopefully my online readers have gone out and seen the films I have reviewed this month. Look out next month to see what I will review next.

Wild Hogs

Attempting to add some excitement to their lives, four middle-aged friends go on a motorcycle road trip and end up with more than they asked for in “Wild Hogs,” a very funny 2007 comedy starring John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, and William H. Macy. Hilarious chaos happens during their misadventures, especially when these bikers fight the infamous Del Fuego motorcycle gang in an effort to save a little New Mexico town. Unexpected romance, hilarious bloopers and comic performances combine to make “Wild Hogs” a carefree good time watching it.

Director Walt Becker deserves credit for his perceptive handling of this comedy. Betty Jo Tucker noted in her review, “As soon as he read the script, Becker wanted in. “It was a story that was not only very funny but hit very close to home,” he declares.  Becker’s father went on a trip quite similar to the one taken by the characters in Wild Hogs. “He was a Baptist minister and now he had a pierced ear and a skull bandana!” Becker explains. Trying their best to look like tough bikers, the movie’s main characters wear leather jackets with a “Wild Hogs” insignia on the back -- and I also might have spotted a couple of those skull bandanas!”

Acting as the self-appointed leader of the group, Woody, played by Travolta, displays a bragging audacity that makes him resemble the real thing. His friends think he is a confident and successful businessman with a great life, but Woody has problems he’s hiding from them. Doug (Allen), once so daring he was called “The Golden Knight,” now practices dentistry and gets no respect form his wife (Jill Hennessy) and son (Dominic Janes). Bobby (Lawrence), whose wife (Tchina Arnold) scolds him constantly, works as a plumber but wants to be a writer. Rounding out the Wild Hogs group is Dudley, played by Macy, a shy and clumsy computer programmer. All four men feel important only when they bike together as the Wild Hogs.

Surprisingly, there’s no outdoing going on here among the film’s famous co-stars. Travolta takes a back seat until entering in the picture showing how eager his character has become to stay ahead of the Del Fuegos and their violent leader, played by the late Ray Liotta, absolutely terrific in this impulsive role. Allen mostly re-acts to the others throughout, giving them more opportunities to be highlighted. Lawrence saves his best work for a confrontation with his character’s spouse at the end of the movie. Finally, Macy doesn’t overdo his comical slapstick act as the nerd who finally gets a girlfriend, played by Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei, believe it or not.

Tucker said, “The classic motorcycle films Easy Rider and The Wild One zoomed their way into cinema history, but Wild Hogs -- with its lighthearted emphasis on male bonding during the dreaded midlife-crisis stage -- is definitely a lot more fun to watch.”

I saw this in the theaters with my sister and cousin and we laughed throughout the entire film. This is definitely one of the funniest movies that came in 2007. If you haven’t seen this yet, I suggest that you do. Don’t listen to the critics that have bashed this movie to pieces. See it for yourself and judge it based on your opinion.

Next week will be a change of pace. I know that this month was mainly looking at comedies, but to finish up “Marisa Tomei Month,” I will look at a serious, dramatic film, that is actually one of the best ones out there. Also, I’m sorry for posting this late, I wasn’t feeling well because of a toothache in my upper left molar.

What Women Want

What women want is very simple: A man willing to listen when they’re speaking to him. They also want a lot of other things, but let’s start with that. This we learn from “What Women Want,” a 2000 comedy about a man who is hit by lightning and is able to read women’s minds.

You would think this ability would make him the world’s greatest lover, since he would know exactly what to do and when to do it, and yes, the movie’s protagonist does succeed in that area, but not without early discouragements. (Roger Ebert said in his review, “Extreme detumescence can result when a man discovers that during the throes of passion his lover is asking herself, "Is Britney Spears on Leno tonight?"”) Mel Gibson plays Nick Marshall, an ad executive who thinks he will land a higher job at his Chicago agency. However, his boss (Alan Alda) passes him over for Darcy Maguire (Helen Hunt), a beautiful woman from another agency. Nick decides to get payback around the same time he gets his ability to read women’s minds. His trick to stealing Darcy’s best ideas is a dirty trick, but he’s ambitious and shameless.

He is also a man who needs to listen to women more. We find out he was raised in Las Vegas as the spoiled child of a showgirl, and has been adored on by attractive females ever since – including, recently, the beautiful Lola, played by Marisa Tomei, who works in the coffee shop he supports. At work, two assistants, played by Valerie Perrine and Delta Burke, approve categorically of everything he does, but reading their minds shows they never think about this. Many of the other women in the office, he is scared to find out, pretend to like him but don’t.

Ebert noted, “Because he feels chastened, and because he wants to win a valuable advertising account, Nick starts a crash program to research being a woman. This leads him to experiment with lip gloss, eye shadow, pantyhose and defoliation, in scenes positioned somewhere between "Tootsie" and Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Junior." Amazingly, given the opportunities, Gibson, who's the king of the tush scenes, keeps his netherlands out of view during these adventures.”

Ebert continued, “It's clear that Nick and Darcy will sooner or later fall in love, I suppose, and that's a cinematic first: Although Gibson has been voted the World's Sexiest Man in one of those meaningless magazine polls, this is his first romantic comedy since "Bird on a Wire" (1990). He and Hunt are not a match made in heaven, but that's one of the appeals as they edge closer together.” Less pleasing is the way he breaks up with poor Lola, who really deserves better.

Ebert mentioned, “The movie, written and directed by Nancy Meyers, doesn't flow so much as leap from one good scene to another over the crevices of flat scenes in between. The movie is considerably slowed down by the unnecessary character of a suicidal file clerk, who does nothing of any interest until late in the movie, when Nick befriends her in a scene that serves no purpose, except to delay us on our way to the happy climax, which can be seen signaling eagerly from the next reel.”

If the movie is flawed, it’s not boring and is often very funny, like the solo dance that Nick does in his apartment to Frank Sinatra singing I Won’t Dance. Ebert mentioned, “This is, we imagine, the way the Tom Cruise character in "Risky Business" might have ended some of his evenings if he had grown up to be Nick Marshall. I also liked the way Gibson handled the sex scene, where his look of joy and complete self-satisfaction at the end is equaled only by Jack Nicholson's famous Triumph T-shirt moment in "Five Easy Pieces."” Note: The look and feel of the movie is just right. The set for the ad agency’s office is pleasing and seems comfortable. Ebert ended by his review by saying, “Inspired by Chicago's 19th century Monadnock Building, it looks plausible as an ad agency headquarters and allows sight lines that are important to the action. Great work by production designer Jon Hutman, set decorator Rosemary Brandenburg and art directors Gae Buckley and Tony Fanning, and if you wonder why I list their names, you'll know when you see their work.”

I had seen parts of this a long time ago, but then I saw the entire movie while exercising. This is a really funny movie that I think everyone should see. I remember my dad saw that I was watching the movie on TV and when he saw the part when Mel Gibson discovered that he could read women’s minds, he told me that, despite this being rated PG-13, it may not be appropriate for me to watch. Granted, I was old enough to watch it, but he didn’t think that I should see it after hearing the thoughts. However, I rented it from the library a few years back and saw it entirely, but I didn’t see what my dad was talking about. All of that aside, this is a funny movie that I think everyone will get a good kick out of. Check it out and have a great time laughing at it.

Look out next week when I look at another comedy in “Marisa Tomei Month.”

My Cousin Vinny

“My Cousin Vinny” was a hit when it was released in 1992, but is remembered today for Marisa Tomei winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. What really makes it memorable is that she won it for a comedic performance rather than a dramatic one. She’s is memorable in the film, but movie is actually funny, very charming and holds up very well 30 years after its release.

Bill Gambini (Ralph Macchio) and Stan Rothenstein (Mitchell Whitfield) are driving from Brooklyn to California and decide to take the long southern back road route instead of the highway (it’s a weak decision, but necessary for the story). Shortly after stopping at a convenience store in Alabama, they are wrongfully accused for the murder of the store clerk. Unable to pay for an attorney, Bill’s cousin Vinny, a brand-new lawyer who took six years to pass the Bar Exam, comes to help them, bringing his girlfriend with him.

Vinny, played by Joe Pesci, is from Brooklyn embodying every cliché that someone has heard about Brooklyn. Scott said in his review, “Italian, strong accent, leather coat, gold jewelry and you know he has mob connections somewhere.” His girlfriend, Mona Lisa Vito, played by Marisa Tomei, is equally as stereotypically Brooklyn.

Scott said, “The big city slicker coming to a small town filled with characters who spout homespun wisdom has been done to death in Hollywood and generally the writers pick one side or the other to highlight. Either the small town folk are all inbred idiots or the city slicker is an asshole who learns that life would be better if only they slowed down and smelled the roses. For the most part, My Cousin Vinny manages to avoid that trap. While a lot of the jokes are fish out of water jokes, the townspeople and Vinny are shown to be different without insulting either side, or maybe I should say, by insulting both sides equally.”

Scott continued, “My biggest problem with this movie is that Joe Pesci, while he is very funny in the role, is far too old for this part and he looks it. He's 21 years older than Tomei and was nearly 50 here.” Apparently, Robert De Niro and Danny DeVito were both considered for the role, but both of them would have been too old as well. Besides his age, Pesci does a good job, but the scenes between him and Tomei never really connect. Far better are his moments with Fred Gwynne (in his final role) as the judge (you might remember him as Herman Munster in “The Musters” show). Their scenes together have some of the funniest in the film. It isn’t so much that Pesci couldn’t play the part, but the script should have acknowledged his age.

Tomei is cute and funny and her wardrobe alone deserved an award. Her part is very small sadly, and even though she does a good job with it, if you didn’t know she won an Oscar for it, you’d never guess. Scott said, “I'm glad to see a comedy get an Oscar, but she never has that moment where you think, "Wow, she's amazing." Good? Definitely. Oscar worthy? Ehhh.”

The movie also has nearly a two-hour runtime, which is a bit long for a comedy, but the pacing is so good, it doesn’t really feel that long. Maybe there could have been a little tighter editing, but it’s no big deal.

Cute and funny, “My Cousin Vinny” is one of those quintessentially 90s movies, but it holds up very well today.

This is one of the funniest court room movies ever. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it because you will love it, I promise. If you’re a fan of any of actors in this movie, then you should check it out. Don’t try to think too hard about whether or not things like this would work in the court room, just enjoy the hilarity.

Look out next week when I review another comedy in “Marisa Tomei Month.”

The Sandlot

For this year’s Independence Day, I felt like I would review another classic baseball movie, “The Sandlot,” released in 1993.

Scotty Smalls, played by Tom Guiry, is the new kid in town. He doesn’t know anyone, is considered a geek, and throws a baseball like a girl. On top of that, his home life is changing with his step dad, played by Denis Leary. All of this changes when Scotty meets a group of kids (Mike Vitar, Pablo Vitar, Patrick Renna, Chauncey Leopardi, Matry York, Brandon Quintin Adams, Grant Gelt, Victor DiMattia, Shane Obedzinki) who play baseball in the Sandlot, and goes on to have one unforgettable summer.

The Sandlot follows the romantic formula that movies like “American Graffiti” and “Stand by Me” used, but combines it with a love for baseball and a simple, innocent story about four boys in the summer of 1962 and their journey.

ManaByte said in his review, “The basic core of the story is the adventure that occurs when Smalls takes his step dad's signed Babe Ruth ball and it's knocked over the fence into the yard of a huge dog known as "The Beast", however there are plenty of other things going on in the movie including my personal favorite scene where the gang plays their one night game of the year on the Fourth of July.”

This movie is for anyone who is a fan of baseball and for anyone who enjoys the type of narrative seen in “American Graffiti” and “Stand by Me.”

Despite this movie having a huge emphasis on baseball, “The Sandlot 2,” released in 2005, takes the unusual turn of leaving that part of an apparently ongoing franchise and instead focuses on the adventures of a group of kids during one particular exciting summer.

Set in 1973, “The Sandlot 2” follows a group of pre-teen boys – led by the compelling David Durango, played by Max Lloyd-Jones – as they prepare to spend their summer break playing baseball at the very same sandlot that was in the first movie. They’re surprised to see that a young group of girls – led by the talented Hayley Goodfarier, played by Samantha Burton – have already occupied the area. After a little bit of arguing, the two different groups agree to share the field – but they’ll soon have a much bitter problem.

David Nusair said in his review, “It's been said that The Sandlot 2 is essentially a rehash of the original, and while the two films do share a number of plot elements, there are enough differences between them to justify the existence of this one.” Aside from a completely superfluous James Earl Jones cameo, where the actor reprises his role from the first movie, the story basically has new characters that are stuck in a completely familiar situation (the group must retrieve an expensive model spaceship from a neighboring backyard, besides the rare baseball from the original).

That’s really the problem with “The Sandlot 2.” Nusair said, “Instead of revolving around these kids and their baseball-related shenanigans, the film's entire second half is devoted to their attempts to somehow avoid the champing jaws of "The Great Fear" (a mean dog that just happens to guard the yard where said spaceship has landed). The movie's other elements - ie a romance between David and Hayley - are generally glossed over in favor of the big dog hijinks, ensuring that the film will certainly hold more appeal for children than adults.”

Saying that, “The Sandlot 2” does have a nice pace and several fascinating performances, which is basically enough to keep older viewers somewhat engaged.

Finally, we have the 2007 direct-to-video film, “The Sandlot: Heading Home.”

BAMF admitted in his review, “I loved the first one. It's one of my all time favorite kids movies growing up. Then they began to milk it with a part two which I was skeptical about. Lastly they made it a trilogy. This shouldn't have been anything past one film. So I reluctantly watch this only to finish the full story.”

Successful, arrogant baseball player Tommy “Santa” Santorelli (Luke Perry) travels back in time to 1976 and relives his childhood (Keanu Pires) on the sandlot baseball team, and has the chance to this time choose friendship over fame. Now they are throwing in science fiction? The plot synopsis is a little misleading somewhat. BAMF said, “The humor is a bit more slapstick this time around which I didn't like all too much. I mean these movies are goofy, but I just didn't think it needed to be extra off the wall. I wish they didn't bother with the house if they weren't going to include James Earl Jones or a dog. There are a few decent moments, but the are clouded by how horribly cheesy all the kids stuff is.” The ending was alright, but it would have been nicer to see everyone as adults.

This really shouldn’t have been a series. The first one is a classic, the second one was half as good, and this one is about half of that. BAMF admitted, “It kind of reminded me of Little Rascals instead of a Sandlot film. Not the worst thing I have ever seen.” This doesn’t really do justice for the fans of the original. It’s more of a film for children sadly. BAMF ended his review by saying, “I really hope they don't try to milk another film into this. I don't recommend this.”

Look, I think it goes without saying, but only watch the first movie. The sequels are just a painful to watch because they try to milk it in with two direct-to-video sequels. I remember seeing the ending to the original a long time ago, but I went back and saw the entire movie when I was exercising. Then I made a mistake of watching the sequels which I regret. I thought the sequel was about a group of girls, but not entirely.

Happy Independence Day everyone. If you’re going out to see the fireworks, just be safe. Look out this Friday for the continuation of “Marisa Tomei Month.”

Oscar

Throughout the month of July, I will be looking at films that have the beautiful Marisa Tomei. Let’s get started with the 1991 comedy, “Oscar.”

It is no longer unbelievable that someday Sylvester Stallone will be found on a television show, rolling his eyes and waving his hands at the weekly tricks of a family of cute, disruptive kids. Janet Maslin said in her review, “In "Oscar," Mr. Stallone displays an unexpected gameness, even a flair, for the kind of broadly durable comedy that is the television sitcom's specialty. It works a lot better than might have been expected.” Stallone may not be a comedic actor, but he’s definitely a sport.

As Angelo “Snaps” Provolone, a Depression-era gangster trying to change himself into a respectable businessman, Stallone dresses stylishly and complains against “the music you kids listen to today – don’t think I haven’t heard the lyrics to Minnie the Moocher!” He handles the arrivals and departures of an insane variety of minor characters, all who show up at his door on the same morning to introduce mistaken identities, identical luggage, and various other unstable elements into his previously happy home.

The identical bags, which respectively have cash, jewels, and the maid’s undergarments, are confused over and over again. Maslin noted, “You don't have to be a student of screwball comedy to guess which one, in a film as frenzied but fundamentally mild as this one, will be opened every time somebody boasts about the valuables inside.”

John Landis’s dull but energetic direction recalls his previous film “Trading Places,” only this time it is Stallone who somehow trades places with himself. He changes from mobster to gentleman at the request of his dying father, a cameo by the late Kirk Douglas, who stays alive long enough to give his boy a hard slap and yell “Atsa so you don’t forget!” He hires a very strange diction coach, played by Tim Curry (who makes himself hilariously frightening), so that he can learn to use words like “expeditious” in everyday conversation. He tries to be civil to his accountant (Vincent Spano) even when he finds out that the accountant has been taking Snaps’ money so that he can be rich enough to marry Snaps’ daughter (Marisa Tomei). He even tries to be civil about Oscar, the very minor character whose romantic behavior has helped to keep the movie going, and who appears briefly in one scene, played by Jim Mulholland, who co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Barrie.

Maslin pointed out, “"Oscar" started out as a French play by Claude Magnier, but it has lost all traces of Gallic farce and has been sufficiently Americanized to include lines like "All of a sudden he's the Duke of Ellington!" and exchanges like "I'm tellin' ya a leopard don't change his stripes!" "You mean spots!" "I mean Snaps." Even when the jokes aren't far above the knock-knock level ("Angelo please, not in front of the help!" "Trust me, he's no help!") they are at least fast and furious, as befits the screwball tactic of never giving the audience time to wonder about the plot.”

Both the casting and the scrip is too uneven. However, it’s helpfully overfilled, so that a full variety of comic performers runs circles around Stallone. The standouts include Harry Shearer and Martin Ferrero as two tailors who are mistaken for hit men because their newspaper photo of a favorite client shows him shot with holes in a “clam house slaying.” Spano as the enterprising young accountant, Elizabeth Barondes as a sweet-looking young woman who has lied her way to the center of the Provolone family, and Chazz Palminteri as the familiar vague cover who can’t keep up with anything that has been occurring.

Maslin said, “Peter Riegert, as the second-in-command who spends a lot of his time polishing Snaps's silver service, provides a touch of class by behaving exactly as if he were William Demarest and this were a Preston Sturges movie, which it most emphatically is not.” However, not for lack of trying.

This is a funny movie. If you haven’t seen it, you should. Especially if you’re a Stallone fan, this is not one to be missed. A few years ago, I was trying to get together with my cousins to watch the Rocky and Rambo franchise, my cousin was suggesting other Stallone films, and this is one of the films they suggested. I saw it online on YouTube and I enjoyed it. Don’t listen to the critics and others who bashed this film. See it for yourself and judge it based on your own opinion.

Look out next week when I look at a classic film in “Marisa Tomei Month.”