Issue 40: Sydney Brown's Sixty Seconds
By Sydney Brown

Sydney Brown’s Sixty Seconds

I’ve been somewhat out of action lately, and you all get to be rewarded. Here’s some movies I’ve been watching:

Mystery Date (1991) Ethan Hawke, Teri Polo *1/2

Basically a teen version of After Hours, Hawke is a shy kid too afraid to ask his next-door neighbor out, so he assumes the identity of his much cooler older brother only to discover his brother has mob ties and two dead guys in his trunk. Film actually has a few good ideas and starts off well, but most scenes end up in the variety of, (“Ethan: Hey, what’s that? Bad Guy: Where?” Then Ethan runs away.) Not to mention the subplot somehow becomes the main plot in the last half hour involving guys nobody cares about. But the lesson learned? If you almost get your date killed, she will be SURE to have sex with you when the date is over.

Real Life (1979) Albert Brooks, Charles Grodin ***

Extremely funny and odd movie about a film producer looking to document a family’s life for a year, only for the film to end up being more about himself. Albert Brooks’ directoral debut is both dated and twenty years ahead of the TV reality craze. Many jokes fall flat, but some of the satire is merciless: Brooks’ fear of minorities, the insane cameras used, and the fate of a horse for starters. Not his best work, but an underappreciated gem. Listen for Harry Shearer as one of the cameramen.

Broadcast News (1987) William Hurt, Holly Hunter ****

Back in the 80’s, flash was replacing substance in TV news, and this film chronicles that trend. William Hurt is an “all-style-no-brain” reporter, Albert Brooks is an “all-brain-no-style” reporter and Holly Hunter is the self-controlling producer who both reporters want. A savagely funny portrayal of how TV was and still is, twenty years later. Hunter loves Hurt even though he’s not very smart, despite her intellectual equal, (Brooks), being in love with her. Film is ultra-realistic in that it’s the little gestures that ruin relationships, not the big ones.

Mystic River (2003) Sean Penn, Tim Robbins ***

Mesmerizing two hour film that falls apart in the last twenty minutes. Three childhood friends experience tragedy when one of them is kidnapped and molested, and the three reunite years later when one of their daughters is brutally murdered. Penn and Robbins both won Oscars, (and deservedly so), for their roles as a grieving dad and an emotionally scarred parent, and the acting is tremendous. The problem I have is that the movie cheats, all but forcing you to look one way solely to give you a “gotcha” involving characters barely hinted at in the film. And the moral of the story left a very bitter taste in my mouth. Maybe that was the point, I don’t know. A very good film, but one that could have been great.

Superbad (2007) Jonah Hill, Michael Cera ***½

Every column I seem to proclaim a new “funniest film of 2007.” I think this is the last time I do that. Two less-than-popular kids try to score alcohol for a huge party, but the plot is meaningless. A rare film that is both incredibly smart and incredibly dirty, the movie hits all the right notes, and even the slow scenes know they are slow and end quickly. Obviously the McLovin character is the breakout, but the two cops pretty much steal the film themselves, reinventing the “bad cop” stereotype. The film works because the characters are believeable and we actually care about them.