Whilst the films is ultimately an over sentimental account of a decent premise, Jane Horrocks is very impressive as she performs all the songs herself. She manages to mimic the great stars to a very high standard and is easily the best the thing about the film. The problem with the film, is that it tries far too hard to play on the emotional side of the story too hard. The acting whilst reasonable, did make me cringe at times as the actors, who consisted of cast of British stalwarts (Ewan MacGregor, Brenda Blethyn and Jim Broadbent), tried too hard to present themselves as simple small town folk. It made the film a bit shallow at times, and was endemic of the majority of late 90's feel good British movies. The problem was though, it wasn't as good as films such as The Full Monty, East is East and others such films. Even Horrocks' character, when she wasn't singing, was a bit too meek to enjoy.
It is a film that is bound to please those who are easily emotionally manipulated by cinematic sentiment; but ultimately it is far too soppy to make any impact on people with an ounce of cynicism. Worth watching if only for Horrocks' imitations.
Something's Gotta To Give was a film somewhat atypical of a Nancy Myers' flick, incredibly feminine, a bit soppy and stars Diane Keaton. After the overblown trite that was It's Complicated, a couple of year's ago, I went into this film with an air of nauseousness. A film about an ageing playboy (Jack Nicholson) who falls for his young girlfriend's (Amanda Peet) mother (Keaton), had the expectancy of being another Meyer's formulaic comedy.
For the first half of the film though it was quite engaging as Nicholson and Keaton both charmed their way into my consciousness. Whilst I don't mind Diane Keaton, I think it's quite fair to say, she's never been an actress to blow me away, but to her credit she is consistent, and it's refreshing to see a woman over 50 in Hollywood who hasn't yet adopted the burns' victim look. In fact she even goes nude in this film and looks pretty good for it too. Aesthetics aside, she serves as a great foil to Nicholson's usual charm offensive and the chemistry works well between the two. As for Nicholson, whilst this has the feel of a phoned in performance, it's fair to add that when Jack Nicholson phones in a performance it is still pretty spectacular. Like Keaton he isn't afraid to show his age in films' these days, and he is one of the few actors from his generation who has continued to give high level of performances and interesting roles in films such as As Good As It Gets, About Schmidt and The Pledge.
Sadly the film tends to peter out and meander's into the similar contrived rom-com scenarios that we've come to expect from Myers. Whilst by no means a complete failure, the second half of the film becomes a bit too formulaic to remain engaging.
I also watched two Woody Allen flicks during the month with Hannah and Her Sisters, as well as Manhattan Murder Mystery. Whilst I am no means an Allen fan (I have yet to see his two biggest films Annie Hall and Manhatten) from what I have seen it's easy to see why his most admired. These two films are definitely examples of the Allen signature style, but both completely different from each other in terms of tone. Hannah and Her Sisters was a serious look at the relationships between four women (3 of whom are sisters) and the men in their lives. It's quite an intriguing cast of people in this movie with Carrie Fisher, Michael Caine, Barbara Hershey and Max Von Sydow all sharing screen time together, not to mention smaller roles going to now well established actors such as Daniel Stern, John Tuturro, Julia Louise-Dreyfuss and Julie Kavner.
It is quite a complex story, as Allen great achievement in this 2 hour movie, is being able to fit as much in as possible without it feeling crammed. He is able to give enough of a background to each character as well as their past relationships with each other. The two I feel who really shine in this film are Diane Wiest as Holly the outcast of the group and Michael Caine who embarks on a naive affair with Hannah's (Mia Farrow) sister Lee (Hershey). Allen himself also shines as Hannah's hypochondriac of an ex-husband, and provides the majority of the lighter moments in this film as he searches for life's meaning. There are also some impressively directed scenes as Allen intersperses inner-monologue with live action, which is probably the reason he was able to fit so much in to such a short amount of time.
It's hard to really fault the film on a technical level, but for me it just felt a tiny bit too much in terms of plot and tone for me to really count it amongst the greatest films I've ever seen. That said, it was certainly interesting and engaging enough for me to both admire and enjoy it.
Manhattan Murder Mystery was a far lighter film, albeit with a more sinister plot. This time Allen was reunited with once longtime partner and collaborator, Diane Keaton. They played the part of middle-class couple, turned sleuth's as they began to investigate the sudden death of their wife's neighbour. Again it's littered with all the trademarks of Allen's films, but this time it's mainly the comedy that works best. With Allen his usual neurotic self and Keaton serving as his understanding and loyal wife, it also has the touches of the tertiary characters that enter their relationships. This time it's the turns of Alan Alda and Angelica Huston as the friend's that flirt with the couple, but ultimately assist them in solving the mystery.
I had never heard of this film before watching it, and it was a wonderful revelation. I preferred it to Hannah and Her Sisters possibly due to the lack of prior knowledge to this one, so my expectations were lowered; as well as the more fun/ crime caper tone. Allen shows flashes of his comic brilliance in this, especially with his penchant for slapstick, which would probably be a dead art today without Allen. Huston, Alda and Keaton all add to the humour, and the four play off each other well.
If anything these two movies were both endemic of the autueristic Allen and gave me further reason to continue watching more of his large back catalogue of work. At the very least the films so far I have seen of his, have been both engaging and enjoyable.
