The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

I'm a sucker for movies about or dealing with cars. It doesn't even have to be the main storyline, I just need a good chase like Bullitt or The French Connection. One of my favorite movies as a kid, and I do still like it, was The Love Bug. I know little to nothing about cars other than hitting the gas pedal makes them go, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate them. Like the Fast and the Furious series, which I can admit are not good movies but they sure are entertaining.

Since its release in 2006, I avoided The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift like the plague. None of the original cast was in it, but rapper Bow-Wow was, and it seemed like a cheap ploy to capitalize on a hugely successful franchise. Well, after hearing a couple positive reviews from people I typically agree with on movies and seeing the 4th movie in the franchise this week, I gave Tokyo Drift a shot. It's not as good as the other three movies in the series and could easily be it's own stand-alone movie but with the 'Fast and Furious' title it will always be compared to the others.

Credit is due though for not just doing the same old thing with street racing. Director Justin Lin, who also directed Fast and Furious, introduces us to a new style of driving/racing called drifting which if you've played any number of racing games you should be familiar with it. It can be odd to watch cars drift because it seems they're totally out of control, but as the special features on the DVD point out, the driver is actually more in control to get the car to move like that. Drifting is quite a visual sport for fans as drivers make crazy turns around corners and into places you'd assume they could not fit.

The racing sequences here are pretty good and not overly reliant on CGI and green-screen shooting. The special features show how the cast went through drift training so that even if they weren't required to do the actual driving in the movies, it looked realistic when they were actually filmed in the car. Here's a great example from the movie of some drifting with one big SPOILER though at the end. Another positive is that Lin doesn't cut these scenes so quickly that the images become incoherent. I've bitched and moaned about it before with the quick-cutting fight/chase scenes so I won't go over it all again, but if you want the viewer to be impressed with what's going on on the screen, show it to us. Don't cut so quickly that we can't tell what's going on. Tokyo Drift is a prime example of how good a sequence can be when done right.

With no Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, or Tyrese here, the story focuses on Sean Boswell (Lucas Black), a high school student sent to live with his Navy dad (Brian Goodman) in Tokyo after he's gotten in trouble with the police again. His options? Tokyo or juvy. Adjusting to his new life in Japan, Sean gets involved with street racing, drifting, right away. But in his first race, he destroys the car and has to work for the owner, Han (Sung Kang), a top of the line drifter/racer who's also into some seemingly shady business deals with D.K. (Brian Tee). D.K. is low-level Japanese mafia working for his uncle. Bullheaded and stubborn as always, Sean wants to learn how to drift with the tension building to the inevitable confrontation with D.K. after some shenanigans.

The only cast connection to the other movies is Kang's Han character who is in the 4th one too. Tokyo Drift is actually the 4th movie in the timeline, coming after 'Fast and Furious.' I've liked Black a lot since I saw him in Friday Night Lights, and he's a good lead, if not great, as Boswell. With his Southern drawl, Black comes across naturally onscreen and looks to handle a lot of the driving himself. Bow Wow is surprisingly good as Twinkie, another American who becomes friends with Sean. Not much is required of the part, but if done poorly it could have been really bad. Kang and Tee provide some tension as the good and bad opposites, especially Kang's Han as Sean's drift teacher. And as the requisite love interest, Nathalie Kelley plays Neela, D.K.'s girlfriend of sorts who Sean sets his targets on. Like Bow Wow, she makes the character likable/sympathetic instead of being the whiny, helpless girl in the background. And it never hurts, looks good doing it.

SPOILERS ahead. Stop reading if you don't want to know about a cameo at the end. One other connection worth mentioning to the other three movies. Sean defeats D.K. (I was surprised too *wink*) and prior to racing gets a message that an old friend of Han's wants to race him. Cue Diesel's very brief appearance as Dom Toretto. It doesn't really serve a purpose, but it is cool to see him come back since leaving after the original. The connection is made early in the 4th movie if you're dying to know.

Which brings me to hopefully the fifth movie in the series. How about Diesel, Walker, Tyrese and Black team up? I don't know how it'd work or where the story would go, but it would definitely be cool to see all four team up. Final thoughts on Tokyo Drift though, entertaining movie that while not as good as the other three, is a worthy entry into the Fast and Furious series. It doesn't deserve some of the abuse its taken since it was released in 2006.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift <----trailer (2006): ***/****

Fast and Furious

Let's play a game. You make a movie that is a huge success and makes you a huge star. Naturally, talk of a sequel comes up, but you want nothing to do with it. So the sequel is made without you while you make such classics as Babylon A.D., Chronicles of Riddick, and xXx. Then eight years after the first movie, you finally return to the series that made you a star with a sequel. If you've guessed I'm talking about Vin Diesel, you win a cookie.

To be fair, I don't mean to criticize Diesel who I'm a fan of even if his choice in what movies to do isn't great. But eight years since the huge success of The Fast and The Furious and two sequels that he didn't star in (although he does make an appearance in Tokyo Drift), Diesel returns to the franchise with this year's Fast and Furious. What happened to both of the 'the' from the original title?

I haven't seen all of Tokyo Drift, and I liked 2 Fast 2 Furious as much if not more than the original, but it's still nice to see the whole crew back together for the third sequel. Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster both return with Paul Walker also coming back after sitting out 'Tokyo.' The story picks up five years since the original with Dom Toretto (Diesel) and his girlfriend Letty (Rodriguez) leading a crew in the Dominican Republic who take down high-octane fuel shipments. If you saw the trailer, you got a good idea of the very cool opening sequence as Dom and crew take down a semi leading four tankers down a rocky, windy mountainside.

But SPOILER ALERT their actions put them back on the radar of any number of law enforcement officials looking for them. Hoping to keep Letty safe, Dom leaves her but when hiding out in Mexico finds out that she's been murdered. Dom returns to L.A. and with just one clue about the murder gets back into the world of illegal street racing...sort of. Meanwhile, Brian O'Conner (Walker) is now working for the F.B.I. on a case to bring down a drug cartel led by a man called Braga. And what do you know, Braga is looking for drivers to get a new shipment of heroin across the U.S./Mexico border. What are the odds then that Dom's and Brian's paths cross? I'd go with pretty good.

What surprised me about this third sequel from beginning to end was the more serious tone. We're not talking hardcore cop movie, but 'Fast and Furious' is not so light and fluffy with its story. The first three movies were loud, colorful and in your face with hip-hop and rap playing from end to end. Directed by Justin Lin, this one leans more toward getting into the minds of both Dom and Brian, Dom looking for revenge pure and simple and Brian hoping to close a case that's been open for years. I guess that happens when revenge is added to a storyline, the darker tone, but it works here. Previous villains in the series were over-the-top but never very intimidating. John Ortiz as Campos, Braga's right-hand man, and Laz Alonso as Fenix, Braga's top driver, are both strong villains, bad guys you're really rooting for to get shot.

I know what you're saying though, enough with the casting and the story. Get to the RACING! I was disappointed with the driving sequences here. The opening sequence, Dom and Letty taking down fuel tankers, is top notch and a great way to get your blood flowing for the rest of the movie. But much of the rest of the movie's racing scenes are heavy on CGI. Say what you want about the previous movies, especially the first two, but much of the driving was done by...you know, actual drivers. The end has an exciting chase as Dom and Brian gun it for the border across the Mexican countryside, but it derails when they're chased into a tunnel that goes under the border. It's all CGI and not necessarily good CGI.

All flaws aside though, I really enjoyed this newest entry into the F & F series. It was good to see Diesel and Walker back together especially with so much unresolved between them since the original. Maybe it's just because I liked the characters to begin with, but I liked those scenes between them as much as I did the action scenes. They form the uneasiest of alliances because they have the same final goal so for me, any buddy movie tandem is a good one. Walker doesn't look quite as baby-faced as he did in the original, and Diesel is cool regardless.

Rodriguez makes a quick cameo and is dead in the first 20 minutes and Brewster is eye candy and basically a background player, but she's still there so we've got that going for us. Who would have thought there's some remaining sexual tension between Mia and Brian? Also keep your eye on Gal Gadot who plays Gisele, one of Braga's assistants who takes a shine to Dom. The Israeli beauty is drop dead gorgeous.

So maybe not as action-packed as the trailer made it out to be, Fast and Furious is a worthy sequel and one fans of the franchise should be able to appreciate. The trailer is one of my favorites and really got me psyched to see the movie. As pointed out before, it's also a shorter version of the great opening sequence. The song choice, Does it Offend You, Yeah?, is a good one although the use in the trailer is better than the actual song. So if you've made it this far in the review, kudos because I stopped writing about racing paragraphs ago. It's a good sequel with a darker, revenge-driven story. You won't be disappointed.

Fast and Furious (2009): ***/****

Netflix review: Dillinger

So for those keeping track at home, 'very long wait' on the Netflix queue is about a month so not too bad. After seeing Public Enemies its opening week, I guess I wasn't the only one who wanted to see other movies about infamous bank robber John Dillinger so it took a little while for 1973's Dillinger to become available. And let me say this, it was well worth the wait.

The story focuses exclusively on Dillinger and his year-plus rampage through the Midwest with his gang. Nothing new here if you know the history, and for those who don't there's some helpful subtitles to guide you along with locations and dates. As Dillinger becomes Public Enemy No. 1 for the FBI, top agent Melvin Purvis leads the hunt to bring him in and if need be, kill him off. While director John Milius plays fast and easy with the historical facts at times, it's never enough to take away from the story.

'Dillinger' can't help but be compared with this summer's Public Enemies, but there are enough differences to set them apart. I'll start off with the obvious, the casting. Typically playing a supporting character, and usually knocking those roles out of the park, character actor Warren Oates gets a rare shot at the lead role. He plays Dillinger as a man who is fully aware of his reputation and tries to live up to it. Oates' Dillinger revels in the fame and popularity he's gained, refusing to escape to Mexico with $70,000 because 'what would his fans think?' But even with a bigger than life persona, Oates brings a humanity to the role much like Johnny Depp does. It's a great performance from Oates, and it is always nice to see a character actor get a shot at the spotlight. He handles both the dramatic scenes, like John's relationship with Billie Frechette (Michelle Phillips in her first starring role), and then the action/bank robbing scenes.

As his opposite, Ben Johnson plays FBI agent Melvin Purvis. Other than the obvious age differences, Johnson is 55 here and Purvis was 30-31 during the time frame, the casting works. This isn't the historically accurate Purvis with Johnson putting his own spin on the character. In real life, the FBI agent in charge of the Midwest struggled early on in the hunt for any number of high-profile crooks. Here it's the polar opposite, Johnson's Purvis is an experienced, veteran agent who knows how to get the job done, promising to smoke a cigar over the dead body of each of the crooks he's hunting down. And just for some odd movie connections, five years prior Oates and Johnson played brothers in Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch but find themselves here trying to kill each other.

One significant improvement in the 1973 movie is the attention given to the rest of the Dillinger gang. We learn about them, see their interactions among the group, and get to know them. And while Oates plays the lead well, his Dillinger doesn't have a huge amount of screentime with the supporting cast, including the gang, getting their fair share too. The list includes an impressive grouping of 70s character actors that should make any movie fan smile. Harry Dean Stanton and Geoffrey Lewis play Homer Van Meter and Harry Pierpont, two key members of the gang, with Steve Kanaly and Richard Dreyfuss giving support as Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson. All four actors bring a humanity to their parts, something easier said than done when considering these weren't exactly God-fearing folks. Even Cloris Leachman has a brief part as Anna Sage, the lady in red, who helped betray Dillinger.

With the caliber of actors that 'Dillinger' boasts, it makes everything else fall into place. When the gang does start to ultimately meet their ends, I was surprised by how moving the scenes were. You're hit with these crazy amounts of action with BARs and Thompson submachine guns going off and then these shocking scenes of death, often shot so quickly it can be hard to catch. It's Kanaly as Pretty Boy Floyd that stands out in his final scene, talking with an old couple on their farm about his sins.

It is those scenes where the movie shines. From the shootout at Little Bohemia until Dillinger's death, about the last 35-40 minutes of the movie are about as perfect as they could be. The Little Bohemia shootout (<----check it out there, SPOILERS obviously) is loud, chaotic and bloody and stands out as the best scenes in the movie. It's in the aftermath as the gang gets away that the members start to get picked off, leading up to Dillinger's death outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago. In directing a movie that most people know the story of at least somewhat, Milius really brings the year-long spree to life. The feel of the Depression-era in the mid 1930s is brought to life with period cars, clothing, music and weapons. There's an artsy quality to certain shots as Milius lets the camera linger on the aftermaths of certain shootings that could have been out of place but fit seamlessly into the story. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed 'Dillinger' especially Oates in the lead, the chaotic gunbattles, and the supporting cast. Just beware of the 'very long wait.'

Dillinger <----trailer (1973): *** 1/2 /****

Massacre Time

Just about anyone that knows me knows that I can find something positive in even the worst movie out there. I'm a pretty cheap date when it comes to movies overall. All I'm looking for is to be remotely entertained. And since starting the blog, I've written about a fair share of spaghetti westerns which I love mostly because they are B-movies that don't try to be something they're not. I guess the movie gods decided I've been too lucky when it comes to spaghettis lately because I finally got a lemon, 1966's Massacre Time.

It's been years since Tom Corbett (Franco Nero) has been home when his mother died. One day Tom receives a message that he must return home or else his brother Jeffrey (George Hilton) might be in danger. He returns home to find that Jeffrey sold the family ranch and land to the designated rich landowner in the area, Scott, and his sadistic son, Junior (Nino Castelnuovo). So starts a conflict as Tom tries to figure out what's happened.

One thing that I've taken for granted with spaghetti westerns is the quality of the dubbing. The casts in these movies were predominantly Italian actors so American voice actors had to dub in the dialogue afterward for U.S. audiences. Some are hardly noticeable like Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy and other higher-end spaghettis from directors like Sergio Corbucci, Sergio Sollima and others. Others aren't so lucky where the actor's mouth and the words sound and look like a bad Godzilla movie, Massacre Time being one of those. In many of his movies, Nero recorded voice tracks in English and Italian, but here he's dubbed a man with a deep voice that doesn't fit at all, especially since many fans are familiar with his own voice. The rest of the dubbing here ranges from average to some of the worst I've seen.

Judging the casting then can be made a lot harder by the quality of the dubbing. I picked this movie on Netflix because I thought any spaghetti with Nero and Hilton in the two leads, and as brothers looking for revenge, would be quality stuff. You can probably tell by now I was wrong, but the over-the-top, sometimes downright ridiculous dubbing makes it hard to analyze the characters. Nero gets the straight role as the pissed off, sneering, glaring anti-hero while Hilton gets the broader part as the drunken brother who shoots better when wasted. And because it's a spaghetti western and eccentric villains are almost a requirement, Castelnuovo looks like a gay caballero with his immaculate white suit and ruffled shirt. He also dispatches opponents with a whip, an odd little touch.

When you look at the success of spaghetti westerns, there's usually one thing you can count on...lots and lots of gunplay. Director Lucio Fulci apparently didn't get that memo. At just 92 minutes, this is not a long movie, but it takes well over an hour for some actual gunfighting. And let's face it, that first hour doesn't exactly move at the speed of light. Heavy on dialogue and introducing weird background characters, especially a Chinese undertaker who constantly quotes Confuscius. That's original and not stereotypical in any way, right? By the time the action does come I was already fast forwarding. Tom and Jeff attack the Scott hacienda and single-handedly gun down what seems like hundreds of hired hands. It goes over the top with all kinds of squibs, jumping and tumbling, but I was beyond bored by then.

As for the DVD, it isn't the best print of the movie. It could have been transferred from a VHS tape, or at least it looked like it to me. The presentation is widescreen, but there's a good amount of scratches throughout onscreen. The colors seem muted and in general the print never comes to life. The one positive was the score from Coriolano Gori which is pretty catchy, including the theme song played over the credits, 'One Man Alone.' Check out this trailer for a good sample of the song which qualifies as so bad it's good. Even then, I defy you not to hum along. Other than the theme, Massacre Time is definitely a pass. Run away from this one.

Massacre Time (1966): */****

Netflix reviews: The Big Racket and The Heroin Busters

Pretty much everyone knows who Michael Bay is by now, right? If you don't, you should probably get out from that rock you are sleeping under. And to a lesser degree, people know or at least have heard of directors like Michael Mann and Sam Peckinpah? In a sort of odd hybrid mix of all three directors, Italian director Enzo Castellari has left his mark on the action genre whether you know it or not with a nice mix of story, character, style and crazy action.

Two of those movies, The Big Racket which is rated as his best at IMDB for whatever that's worth and The Heroin Busters, were the latest in my Netflix queue. I've seen a handful of Castellari's other movies and enjoyed them across the board. The stories tend to be pretty basic like something you'd see in an old B-movie or pulp fiction novels. Nothing groundbreaking but always entertaining. An anti-hero is typically thrust into a situation where he must save the day sometimes at a high cost as he rebels against his superiors and sometimes society in general. Of the two, I liked 'Racket' more so I'll cover that more in depth.

Both movies have Italian star Fabio Testi in the lead, both parts being in law enforcement in one way or another. I've always been aware of Testi and could have picked him out of a lineup if need be, but these were the first two movies I'd actually seen of him. He comes across well as the rebellious anti-hero. It can be hard judging performances that are dubbed into English, and often not very well, but Testi is a strong physical presence with roles that require that above all else. Acting be damned!

In 'Racket,' Testi plays Inspector Nico Palmieri, an Italian police officer trying to put away some underworld characters for intimidating and blackmailing business owners for 'protection.' If the owners don't comply, they're in for it as this little gang rapes, murders and loots their way into power. But for Palmieri, the work is frustrating because no one will testify against these hoods and therefore no charges can be presented. It's as the case continues that Nico deserves there's more to this enterprise than he thought as the different factions of the underworld plan to unite.

Could it be too late though? Nico may have pushed the limits of what he can do as a police officer and is thrown over the force. With nothing or no one holding him back, the former inspector puts together a team of vigilantes, all with their own personal reasons for revenge, to help him take out the leaders of the underworld, the 'big racket' of the title. Joining Nico are Pepe (Vincent Gardenia with an odd, unnecessary dubbing), a small-time crook with a history, Luigi (Renzo Palmer), a father who's daughter was raped by the hoods, Giani (Orso Maria Guerrini), a champion skeet shooter who helped Nico in the spur of the moment and paid for later, Mazzarelli (Glauco Onorato), a mafioso with a grudge, and Doringo (Romano Puppo), a hired killer.

The story unfolds slowly as we realize what the sadistic baddies are capable of. At first, it appears they're breaking and entering and using good old-fashioned intimidation, but they do much, much worse. By that point, you're fully on the vigilantes side and rooting for them to off everyone involved. Movies where citizens take the law into their own hands sure sounds appealing sometimes. Castellari lives up to his precedent with the finale, a shootout in an empty factory as Nico and Co. attempt to ambush the underworld heads. The director always seemed to find unique locations for his shootouts, adding an eerie spectacle to the gunfight.

And like most directors, Castellari leaves his personal stamp on these movies with some actors returning for many of the director's movies including head baddie Joshua Sinclair who was in 'Heroin' and 'Racket.' His shooting style is always consistent with some unique POV shots and quick-cutting to counter some of the slow motion in the shootouts. If Peckinpah opened the door on slow-motion violence, Castellari kicked it wide open. And if there was any doubt these were movies straight out of the 1970s, the scores are always a good clue with the De Angelis brothers in 'Racket' and alt rock band Goblin in 'Heroin.' Both scores have a synthesiser sound heavy on guitars that really gets your blood going.

As for Heroin Busters, I enjoyed it but just not as much. The story has Testi playing an undercover cop trying to bust a drug ring that seems to have connections at all the corners of the world. It takes a while to develop and is somewhat confusing until then, but all is forgiven with the last half hour, a running chase/shootout with motorcycles, a construction site and a vacant subway all ending up in some Italian ruins. David Hemmings stars as an Interpol agent working with Testi with much of the supporting cast from 'Racket' here too, including Sinclair and Puppo.

In reviewing these movies, I go back to my reliable line 'a movie doesn't have to deliver a message to be good.' Castellari revels in that, making high quality B-movies with great action scenes, anti-heroes you root for and villians you love to hate, and overall just a good time. I've been watching the Blue Underground DVDs and highly recommend them if you're looking to watch and catch up.

----Trailers----
The Big Racket (1976): *** 1/2 /****
The Heroin Busters (1977) ***/****

Breaking Away

Going to Indiana University as an undergrad, one running joke was that to get into IU you had to love basketball and watched both Hoosiers and Breaking Away, two movies that are often associated with the college. Of course, it's not a requirement, unfortunately, but that doesn't mean they're not classics.

Breaking Away is one of the best coming of age movies ever made. Too often movies like this go down one road, either really serious trying to get a message across or the completely comical look at growing up like any number of high school sex comedies. Breaking Away settles in that middle ground between the two, treading that fine line where both drama and comedy are used and effectively. Parts are genuinely funny and others can be heartbreaking, but it never feels fake and that's why the movie is so good.

A year removed from high school graduation, Dave Stohler (Dennis Christopher) has one goal in life; to be an Italian. He loves everything about the Italian culture, idolizing the Cinzano bicycle racing team, one of the top teams in the world. Of course, in the process he drives his parents, Evelyn (Barbara Barrie) and Ray (Paul Dooley), absolutely nuts including one encounter where Ray walks in on his son shaving his legs. His parents want Dave to either enroll in college at Indiana University or get a job and start to grow up. But it's all put on hold when he finds out the Cinzano team is holding a race in Indianapolis. What happens during the race has a sobering effect on Dave, forcing him to reconsider what he's devoted his life too.

Something comes up though, something new Dave can channel his efforts into, the Little 500 bike race in Bloomington. Dave, along with three friends and fellow townies called 'Cutters' (because locals cut the limestone used to build much of the IU campus), enter the race and go up against IU's fraternities. Of his friends, there's Mike (Dennis Quaid), the jock in high school now struggling to see that maybe his best days as an athlete are behind him, Cyril (Daniel Stern), the tall, lanky jokester, and Moocher (Jackie Earle Haley), the designated 'little guy' in the group who's always ready to stick up for himself or his friends.

Why this movie works so well is the dynamic among the four friends. They're all different people, but they are going through the same things. Each of them is trying to grow up, to find their way in life, but where do you even start? Dave wants to be a cyclist, Mike is pissed that as a local he's looked down upon, Cyril has always been put down by his dad, and Mooch is working on his relationship with girlfriend Nancy. All their scenes ring true, I believe each time I watch Breaking Away that these four are truly friends.

Another obvious high point is Dave and his ongoing conflict with his folks, Ray and Evelyn. Ray is convinced his son has lost his mind and lets him hear about it any chance he can. He goes about telling his son what he wants for him in odd ways, often yelling at the sometimes oblivious Dave, but all other things aside he wants what's best for his son and his happiness. Evelyn similarly wants her son to be happy and quietly supports everything he does. The only thing that doesn't ring true in 'Breaking Away' is Dave's relationship with an IU student, Katherine (Robyn Douglass) with Dave pretending to be an Italian student to woo her. Those are the only scenes that come across as forced and unrealistic.

Having attended IU for four years, part of the fun of the movie is that director Peter Yates wisely chose to film the entire movie in Bloomington. The IU campus and the surrounding areas in southern Indiana film beautifully, especially a swimming hole at an abandoned rock quarry. Yates takes full advantage of the campus, filming at any number of recognizable locations like Memorial Stadium, Assembly Hall and all over the streets that wind around the academic buildings as well as downtown Bloomington. It might not have the same affect for someone who doesn't know the campus, but the on-location filming gives an authentic feel to the story.

With a movie focusing on a character who wants to be a cyclist, the racing scenes don't disappoint. The Cinzano race is a great sequence with an Italian opera playing as the soundtrack as Dave meets and eveven keeps up with the Cinzano racers. The Little 500 segment is the high point though as 34 teams race around a quarter-mile long track for 200 laps. Christopher, Quaid, Stern and Haley did their own riding so the viewer sees the Cutters team riding along with the field. It's a great race sequence, and the two-lap finale filmed in a long shot is the perfect ending to the race.

Definitely one of my favorites, a movie that hits all the right notes. Few movies have dealt with growing up as pitch perfect as Breaking Away does. Great cast, great story, love the locations (Go Hoosiers!), and exciting race sequences.

Breaking Away<---- trailer (1979): ****/****

Netflix review #26: The Friends of Eddie Coyle

After years of not being available in any format, The Friends of Eddie Coyle was released on DVD late this spring by the Criterion Collection. I'd never heard of it prior to a Criterion email but reading about the casting, the director, the story, I couldn't pass it up. Of course, I wasn't the only one itching to see it, the movie status on Netflix for most of 2 months was 'Very Long Wait' which never sounds too good. So after most of three months of waiting on and off, Eddie Coyle came in the mail this week.

Everything about this movie is underplayed from the characters to the shooting style to the dialogue. It is what it is. There are no huge theatrics as the story unfolds. Stuff happens sometimes, and you have to roll with the punches. A lot of the credit goes to director Peter Yates of Bullitt fame among other movies. Yates doesn't call much attention to himself and knows from the start that the attention should be on the actors. Novel concept, isn't it? 'Eddie Coyle' looks like a documentary film, just following characters around as they live their lives. It's gritty and realistic, giving you the sensation of a fly on the wall as several seemingly unrelated storylines converge on each other.

With those unrelated stories, the movie can be hard to follow because it's not always easily apparent where it's going or how all these different things will come together. Looking back, it all comes together and makes sense. While a lot is going on, the main attention is paid to Eddie 'Fingers' Coyle, maybe a career-best performance for Robert Mitchum. Eddie is a small-time crook, as low level as they get, but who still has a way of being involved in every little thing. He's a gunrunner and puts people where they need to be to pull off a job. But Eddie's in trouble, he got arrested for transporting liquor and is facing a jail sentence of at least a couple years. With nowhere to turn and a wife and three kids to look after, Eddie goes to his last resort, becoming a snitch for Foley (Richard Jordan), a cop you're never quite sure of his motives.

Also involved is Jackie Brown (Steven Keats), Eddie's supplier who sells/transports the guns out of his souped-up muscle car. He plays dumb at times but when it comes down to it, he knows how to handle himself and stay alive when trouble arises. Then, there's Dillon (Peter Boyle), an ex-con working as a bartender who is similarly in trouble and looking for a way out. And all the while as Eddie works to save himself, Jimmy Scalise (Alex Rocco) is leading a crew who have their routine down pat for pulling off bank jobs. The stories are introduced and develop without much background or anything to go on, and that's what makes it hard to follow at some points.

But there is a connection and it all comes together nicely in the last 30 minutes. What sets this apart though from other difficult movies to follow is that I barely noticed it at all. The dialogue, the exchanges between this group of people are so perfect, so natural that it's just a pleasure to watch them do it. None of the characters are even particularly likable, they're all low-level hoods and thugs, even Jordan's Foley gives off a bad vibe, but I was drawn in nonetheless.

Often playing the anti-hero who when it came down to it was a good guy, Mitchum plays Eddie differently. He's looking out for his family, but as he's told, he put himself in this predicament. He's never rose in the ranks, but Eddie's got experience. Check these scenes with Jackie Brown and a meeting with Foley about his situation and one more with Jackie negotiating for the guns. Pulling off a tough Boston accent, Mitchum portrays Eddie as worldweary man who has backed himself into a corner and must now respond. It's scenes like this that are a pleasure to watch. No big over the top acting, no calling attention to themselves, just good old fashioned acting.

It's Mitchum's movie, but the rest of the cast is just as strong. Boyle is only in a few scenes but his actions help put the final scenes into motion, including a frustrating ending that works for the story but isn't the typical easy ending. Jordan stands out, again, as Foley, the cop trying to pull off any number of cases who just as easily could have been on the other side of the law. Having seen a handful of movies with Jordan from early in his career, it's hard to believe he never became a big star. His parts are always picture perfect, and he's becoming one of my favorite character actors. Along with Joe Santos, Rocco gets the less glamorous part as Eddie's associates but both actors make the most of it.

Not a typical crime movie, it's more low-key with little action and less gunplay/violence. The movie suceeds and fails on the performances of the cast so for my money, The Friends of Eddie Coyle is a huge success. It's not a movie you watch for the huge twists, the big gun fights, the exciting car chases. 'Eddie Coyle' you watch for the characters and the dialogue. It hasn't been available for years so take advantage of the Criterion Collection DVD, don't let this one slip by.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle <----trailer (1973): ***/****

Knowing

That question pretty much sums up my feelings on Nicolas Cage in one quick statement. In the late 1990s and into the early part of the next century, Cage made a list of pretty good movies, some guilty pleasures and others genuinely good stories. But then he seemed to hit a road block of sorts since with such classics as The Wicker Man, which I love but can admit is a horrible, god awful movie, Ghost Rider, Bangkok Dangerous, Next, and The Weather Man. To be fair, I haven't seen The National Treasure movies, but they're on my list.

For my latest Nic Cage movie, I rented Knowing which came out in theaters this past March. The reviews were generally positive, especially Roger Ebert's review which slobbered all over the movie, and my sister and her husband (both of whom I typically agree with about most movies) really liked it. So I begin by saying I wanted to like it, I like Cage even with his recent string of bombs, and the story sounded promising, but oh how I hated this movie, especially the last hour.

The commercials and the trailer built this movie up a ton, giving just a hint of what's to come. Any apocalypse story is A-ok by me, I'll give it a shot. MIT astrophysicist Dave Koestler (Cage) is a single father trying to raise his son Caleb (a good part for 11-year old Chandler Canterbury). Caleb's school is opening a 50-year old time capsule with each student getting a drawing from a student in 1959 imagining what the future will look like. Some have spaceships, others robots, but David finds that Caleb's is a list of seemingly unrelated numbers. It's almost by accident that David figures out what the numbers mean.

The sheet predicts all sorts of disasters, earthquakes, terrorist attacks, plane crashes, with a freakish accuracy. It predicts dates, amount of people killed and even the location of the incident. But as David looks over the list, there's a handful of numbers at the end, events that haven't happened yet with astronomical casualties listed with the dates. Is there any way he can stop these events from happening, even when he finds the last number prediction could mean the end of the world?

Where to start, where to start? The first hour is as exciting and tense as a sci-fi/thriller/horror movie should be, and that's from someone who typically avoids any sort of movie that might scare me. The two disasters David figures out, a large jet crashing near a freeway and a horrific subway accident, are prime examples of how CGI can be used to enhance a movie instead of distracting from it. Two great set pieces to get the ball rolling. But then the story takes a nasty turn with its predictions of the end of the world. From here on in I'm giving away major plot points so don't read on if you don't want the rest of the movie blown.

In trying to figure out what the deal is with the numbers, David investigates into the life of the little girl who wrote them down. Unfortunately, she died years ago, but her daughter Diana (Rose Byrne) is still around and is also a single parent, raising her daughter Abby (Lara Robinson), and trying to get past all the things her mother told her as she grew up. All that's fine, their involvement does serve to explain where the numbers came from, but the explanation drove me nuts.

Some of the freakier parts of the movie has these mysterious figures appearing out of nowhere to tell Caleb and Abby things, whispering in their ear. It's from them that Diana's mother got the numbers, predicting all sorts of disasters over the years. So what are they, some sort of mysterious religious cult, fanatics looking to destroy the Earth? Nope, they're some sort of aliens from another galaxy/star system looking to protect Caleb and Abby from destruction. Scaring the bejesus out of kids is usually a good way to get them on your side I've found. So instead of Cage trying to solve the world, we get 30-40 minutes of him looking for his kid as the world goes all to hell. "Awesome."

The problem with all this is that the explanation completely negates the first hour. If these light aliens/spirits/deities just need the two kids, what was the point of predicting all the disasters? Couldn't they just have come along and taken the two kids away? Ah, who knows, I'm getting frustrated just thinking about it again. Needless to say, the ending pissed me off to no end. Not the destruction of the Earth because of a solar flare shot from the Sun, that was pretty cool, but everything leading up to it.

What could have been interesting from the storyline is the idea of fate/destiny vs. free choice. Is everything we do influence where we end up in life, or are we supposed to accomplish something in our life and no matter what we do, that one thing is going to happen? But the movie never explores that option. Is Cage's David supposed to find these numbers so that he can put Caleb on the route to safety, or is it all just a random group of events? Interesting ideas, but that's it, nothing more.

Too bad with this movie because as I wrote before, I wanted to like this movie, and after the first hour I was enjoying it. Even the prediction of the Earth being destroyed made the 2nd hour look interesting, but in the execution the story went all over the place with no set idea of the message it was trying to get across. So instead of a great ending, with a huge downer, we get a happy ending with Caleb and Abby running through some wheat field to a beautiful tree in the middle of the prairie. Could it be heaven? Who knows for sure. All I knew was that I was glad I didn't waste $11 to see this one in theaters. Avoid Knowing like the plague.

Beau Geste

How gutsy does a director have to be to start a movie by showing the ending? I give any director with the cajones to do that points right off the bat. Opening the movie by showing how the story will end up can drive viewers away in some cases, but if handled well can make viewers even more involved with the story. After all, we now know how everything will end up, but getting there can be half the fun.

Director William Wellman pulls this off with his 1939 classic Beau Geste, a story of three brothers who enlist in the French Foreign Legion. The story opens with a relief column nearing Fort Zinderneuf, a far-off post near an oasis that came under siege by Arab tribesmen. But as the relief draws closer, they find the whole garrison massacred to a man, and the commanding officer dead on the parapets with a French bayonet through his heart. With no enemy dead anywhere in sight and no legionnaires to tell the story, the question arises; what happened to these 50 legionnaires?

After the cool opening sequence at the scene of the massacre, the story flashes back to 15 years prior where three brothers, Beau, Digby and John, have been adopted by a rich English woman, Lady Patricia (Heather Thatcher) The three orphans live the life of luxury, playing war games and playing pranks on each other and their 'cousin' Gussie, the heir to quite a family fortune. But the years pass and Lady Patricia receives a note from her long lost husband saying he'll soon return for the Blue Water diamond, the last thing of any value they own. Before he can retrieve it though, the diamond is stolen by someone living in the house. But who was it?

In hopes of removing suspicions from his younger brothers, Beau (Gary Cooper) takes the blame and enlists in the French Foreign Legion to avoid embarrassment for his family. But it's not too soon before brothers Digby (Robert Preston) and John (Ray Milland) join up too with their big brother. It's in the legion they come under the command of sadistic Sergeant Markoff (Brian Donlevy), who was humiliated at his last post and now seeks to redeem himself, no matter the cost even if it is his own men's lives. It is when Markoff finds out the Geste brothers may be diamond thieves that the real conflict arises, the sergeant splitting the trio up, Beau and John to Zinderneuf as replacements and Digby to another fort for mounted infantry training.

The French Foreign Legion is often presented as this glamorous, honorable fighting unit, but in just about every movie I can think of some unlucky company is getting massacred or abandoned at some far out post with no hope of outside help or survival. In Beau Geste, it's no different. The soldiers at Zinderneuf hope to lead a mutiny against Markoff, but that plan gets put on hold when the Arab tribesmen arrive en masse. The battle scenes are exciting from the start even if we know the end result. The desert outside Yuma, Arizona fills in nicely for the Sahara desert, oasis and all, with the set of the fort a perfect setting for the drama to unfold.

As for the cast, it would be hard to ask for a better one. As the title character, Cooper does what he does best, the sort of everyman role who is noble, honorable, and always looking out for those around him, especially his younger brothers. Preston and Milland round out the trio of brothers, Milland getting slightly more screen time and the love interest, and with Cooper provide the heart, the backbone of the movie. Their scenes together ring true whether it be with the comedic introductions or later in the movie when they've enlisted in the Legion. The three actors bring the characters to life, much like the three leads in another 1939 classic with a somewhat similar story, Gunga Din.

In a role he received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for, Donlevy has a great part as Markoff, the sadistic, half crazy sergeant who will drive his men to the breaking point and then keep on pushing. He wants his good name back and all the medals and privileges that come with a promotion, and as he sees it, it's all in grasp if he wins a significant battle, casualties be damned. Unfortunately for Donlevy, 1939 was the year of Gone With the Wind, Stagecoach, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, so he didn't get the win, but it's still one of his best parts. Also in the cast is a very young Susan Hayward as Isobel, the love interest who grew up with the Gestes but starts to fall for the youngest brother, John. Just some of the other legionnaires include J. Carrol Naish, Albert Dekker, Broderick Crawford, and Charles Barton.

Labeled as Hollywood's strongest overall year just for the sheer number of classics that were released, 1939 was quite a year for the movies. The old reliable 'they don't make 'em like that anymore' applies to any number of movies from that year, especially Beau Geste. It is good old-fashioned entertainment with an exciting story, strong and likable characters and some creativity in telling the story. With a DVD released just weeks ago, don't skip this one by. A true classic from start to finish.