Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 279-281: Jack's Back!

Arguably one of the largest presences throughout the last decade was Jack Nicholson, who won the Best Actor prize for his role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and was nominated numerous times elsewhere. Like many of the stars of the 1970s, Jack's success continued into the eighties but oddly he took a backseat in a lot of his roles. In two of the three Best Picture nominees he appeared in he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor twice before being back to playing the lead in the final film of the trio.

In a way I feel that Nicholson's role as a supporting performer allowed him to improve his repertoire and demonstrated the range that he had. A case in point is his turn in Warren Beatty's Reds in which Nicholson plays playwright Eugene O'Neill, an acquaintance of Beatty's journalist turned revolutionary John Reed. Reds was Beatty's epic retelling of the build-up and response to Reed's 'Ten Days That Shook the World' which chronicled his first-hand experiences of the Russian revolution. The first half of the film is dedicated to Reed's life in New York and his relationship with journalist Louise Bryant who is initially presented as a big fan of his. Reed and Bryant get married but their relationship is fraught to say the least as they split-up and reconcile several time throughout the film. At the same time, Bryant starts an affair with O'Neill which is born out of the fact that he doesn't see her as a particularly decent performer in one of his plays. O'Neill pops up throughout the film and is presented as somebody who observes life rather than somebody who actually does something about it. In fact he's almost the polar opposite to Reed whose political views become more radical after his time in Russia and he tries to make some changes to the Socialist Party in America. The final third of the film looks at political identity in Russia and sees Louise try to find John after he goes missing in Finland. The couple's final reunion is beautifully played although it did take a hell of a long time getting there.

It was clear with Reds that Beatty was influenced by the grand epics of past decades, most of which have been featured in this blog. At over three hours long, Reds achieved epic status but at the same time the film felt awfully modern. As with other epics, Reds had some excellent cinematography as well as some great early 20th century period detail and costumes. But what really made Reds unique was the use of 'witnesses', talking heads who appeared throughout the film to discuss their experiences with Reed and Bryant. I felt that these witnesses really made Reds feel like a documentary and their presence bolstered the film from average melodrama to important historical epic. I found Nicholson's performance in Reds to be rather understated and if anything he was the least passionate of all of the characters. To me it took a while to adjust to Jack Nicholson not playing a version of himself but I felt that he was effective in the handful of scenes he appeared in the film. Conversely, Beatty brought the passion both in front and behind the camera to create an idealistic character who was definitely very flawed. Beatty and Diane Keaton had some great chemistry and made us believe in John and Louise's fiery marriage. In fact, Keaton stole the show for me and I enjoyed her performance in Reds more so than her Oscar winning turn in Annie Hall. Oddly, of the four actors nominated for the film it's Maureen Stapleton as Reed's good friend Emma Goldman. There's nothing particularly wrong with Stapleton's performance I just don't feel she's on-screen long enough to warrant the win. Stapleton's only shining moment came towards the end of the film when she delivered a monologue about the changing face of Russian politics. Beatty was awarded with a Best Director prize for Reds, which truly felt like his passion project, whilst a third Oscar was given for the stunning cinematography employed throughout. Ultimately, Reds was a little baggy in places but no more so than other epics and I feel it really benefited from the real life witnesses interviewed throughout. Meanwhile Nicholson delivered an out-of-character performance which demonstrated the range of the actor.

This range continued into a film in which Nicholson won the award for Best Supporting Actor for playing an alcoholic former spaceman who romances his next door neighbour. The film was Terms of Endearment, which itself would go on to win the Best Picture Award that year, and the next door neighbour was Shirely Maclaine's Aurora whose life is chronicled throughout the movie. Over the course of a number of years, we follow the widowed Aurora and her daughter Emma as they fall out and make up numerous times. Aurora is sceptical about Emma's husband Flap, who she believes isn't good enough for her beloved daughter and eventually decides not to attend the woman. This decision puts a wedge between the pair and it takes a while for wounds to be healed and for everybody to move on. When Emma, Flap and their young son move away from Huston things start to unravel as Emma gets pregnant twice more. With Flap never around, Emma is forced to take on the responsibilities of mothering three children with her eldest son beginning to resent her. Throughout the film both Flap and Emma conduct affairs whilst the previously celibate Aurora starts a relationship with Nicholson's Garrett Breedlove, who previously only dated much younger women. The romance between Garrett and Aurora is an interesting one as he is always trying to provoke her whilst she's unsure if he's the right man for her. But a tragic diagnosis puts everything into perspective for the mother and daughter pair who are forced to reconcile for the last time.

As it covers a number of years in our protagonists' lives, I found Terms of Endearment to be incredibly episodic. With its focus on relationships, illness and family bonds I thought that James L Brooks' script suited a soap opera more than it did a Best Picture winner. Indeed, upon watching this film I found little to suggest that it should have been awarded the top prize at that year's Oscars. There were very few likeable characters in the main cast with Aurora being presented as somebody who was realistic to the point of hatred whilst Emma could be quite bratty at times. The only person I had any real sympathy for was Sam, a married bank manager with whom Emma conducts an affair. Michael Gore's Oscar-nominated score was incredibly overpowering and really did nothing for the overall feel of the film. I personally felt that Terms of Endearment's only saving grace were its performances and that's possibly why it went on to win two of the four acting awards at the Oscars. As Aurora, Shirley MacLaine won best actress and I think this was fair enough as she added a slight tenderness to a character who could've been even more detestable in the hands of a lesser actress. However I felt that Maclaine's co-star, and fellow nominee, Debra Winger was more deserving of the Oscar as she definitely turned in the better performance as the tragic Emma. John Lithgow, Jeff Daniels and Danny DeVito lent fine support even if DeVito really didn't have a lot to do as one of Aurora's suitors. But to me it was Nicholson who stole the show as Garrett, a man whose best years are behind him and who is living off one of his previous accomplishments. Nicholson's turn as the man who has to come to terms with the ageing process seemed incredibly real and it almost felt as Garrett's transition marked Nicholson's move to the next stage of his career. Despite him already attaining lead man status, his Supporting Actor Oscar here was more than deserved as he really gave Terms of Endearment the realism is sorely needed.

But, two years later, Nicholson was back where he belonged, in the lead role, as we saw him portray Charley Partanna in Prizzi's Honor. The film is an incredibly darkly comic saga focusing on the Prizzi crime dynasty for whom Charley works as one of their top hitmen. Charley almost married into the family before, conducting a relationship with the Don's grandaughter Maerose, but it ultimately didn't pan out. The film opens at a Prizzi family wedding where Charley spots a beautiful blond woman and wonders who she is. He later runs into this woman at the wedding reception but she quickly disappears before he can ask her name. She later contacts him and reveals herself to be Irene Walker however its only later that Charley discovers that Irene is another contractor for the Prizzi family. In addition, Irene is involved in a casino heist in which she is thought to have stolen a large amount of money from the Prizzis. The film then moves along at a pace as everybody seems to be double crossing one another in order to get money and power. But Irene and Charley's relationship seems to be the only real element of the whole film as they decide to get married. Although the big question is whether two hired killers can ever live together in wedded bliss especially considering all that has gone on up to this point.

Prizzi's Honor was an interesting film in that I never quite knew exactly where it was going. Richard Condon and Janet Roach's script gives us a cast full of characters who really can't be trusted due to the profession that they're all in. In fact the only reliable character is Charley himself who, despite being a contractor, is actually a fairly decent and down-to-Earth guy. You get the impression that, if Charley hadn't been born into this world, then he would just be doing a normal job. At times Prizzi's Honor feels like its spoofing films such as The Godfather especially with its opening wedding scenes which mirror the start of Coppola's classic gangster yarn. The relationship between Charley and Irene also has the feel of a screwball comedy pairing as both are trying to act like the powerful member of the couple. But at times I felt that this comic element made for an imbalance in tone and at times it was hard to decide how seriously Prizzi's Honor was actually taking itself. However John Huston's slick direction made for an incredibly stylish affair which was bolstered by a trio of fine performances. Of all of the performances I've seen of his so far, Prizzi's Honor was the one in which Nicholson played his most down-to-Earth character yet. Nicholson was incredibly restrained as the hitman with a heart who really struggled to know where his allegiance's lay. However Nicholson was eclipsed by his two-female co-stars most notably Kathleen Turner who lent her femme fatale style to the role of Irene. Turner and Nicholson's chemistry was fantastic and I was a little shocked to learn that she didn't receive any recognition from the Oscars. The same cannot be said for Huston's granddaughter Anjelica who won the Best Supporting Actress award for playing the scheming Maerose Prizzi. I though Huston was fantastic throughout the film and really appeared to be having tons of fun playing Maerose. Ultimately Prizzi's Honor was an imbalanced by enjoyable gangster comedy however it wasn't a film that I ever found particularly memorable or engrossing.

Next time we have another Oscar winning performance from an actor who we've seen many times already during this blog.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 215-216: A Couple of Major Disasters

Back when I was reviewing films from the 1930s it appeared as if the major studios were competing against each other in making disaster movies. Films such as San Francisco and In Old Chicago explored events like earthquakes and floods, putting major stars at the front of these disasters. However, the definite golden age of the disaster movie was the 1970s in which all-star casts were forced to deal with disasters ranging from fires to floods as well as plenty of mishaps up in the air. These disaster films did particularly well at the Oscars with two of them being nominated for Best Picture.

 The first of these was Airport, which arguably started the whole disaster movie craze. Though not focusing on a particular disaster, Airport was definitely influential due to its all-star cast being put in peril as well as its focus on special effects. The plot of the film is all based around a Chicago airport which is managed by Burt Lancaster's Mel Bakersfield, a man who spends more time at work than he does at home. Mel is besieged by issues such as snow grounding several of his planes, complaints from local residents that planes are flying too low over their houses and the fact that his staff have recently apprehended a stowaway. Mel doesn't take the stowaway case too easily when he discovers that the culprit in his a little old lady in the form of Helen Hayes' Ada Quonsett. Though Mel's loyal assistant/love interest Tanya doesn't share his views and wants Ada watched at all times, though this doesn't happen and the stowaway soon escapes and boards a plane to Rome. The plane to Rome is also where D.O. Guerrero plans to end his life after a string of financial failures and onset depression. Guerrero feels the best way to help his wife his to blow up a plane, with his death meaning that his wife will be able to cash in on his life insurance. Mel and Tanya soon learn of Guerrero's plan and inform Dean Martin's Captain who devices a plan to try and stop Guerrero. From there its a race against time to try to prevent an explosion and get all of the passengers to safety. 

Having some obvious knowledge of the disaster genre I would definitely say that Airport wouldn't classify in the same league as some of them. Despite this, I feel that writer/director George Seaton set up enough peril in the form of Guerrero's bomb to have me on the edge of my seat. I also felt like Seaton had introduced just enough characters for me to know who everybody was and who was in secretly in a relationship with who. Burt Lancaster was the perfect person to play Mel as he was an assured lead who attempted to keep everything at the airport running smoothly while dealing with one problem after another. He was perfectly supported by the much more suave Dean Martin as the captain who was having an affair with one of his stewardesses played by the equally glamorous Jacqueline Bisset. However, the two Oscar-nominated performances came from the supporting actresses who played very different roles. The brilliant Helen Hayes was perfect as comic criminal Mrs Quonsett who was quite matter-of-fact about her stowaway exploits. The fact that Ada later gets to play heroine adds another layer to a character who could've easily been a one-note supporting player without Hayes' performance. Meanwhile Maureen Stapleton adds an air of humanity to the film as Guerrero's wife who attempts to stop his plan before it's too late. Despite its over-the-top nature I still really enjoyed Airport as a film in its own right though I wouldn't particularly class it as a disaster film in the traditional sense of the genre.

The disaster genre itself really began with The Poseidon Adventure, which was nominated for several Oscars but not Best Picture. Two years later we had possibly the ultimate disaster film The Towering Inferno, which had so many stars that they couldn't decide who should receive top billing. Indeed, one of the most infamous stories about the film was that Paul Newman and Steve McQueen both considered themselves to be the leading man so both the poster and the opening credits had their names diagonally placed so as to insinuate that both were taking the lead. In addition, both actors were appeased by having the exact same number of lines of dialogue so the audience would feel satisfied that both were on an equal footing. Personally I would consider Newman the star just because his character, architect Doug Roberts has more of a pivotal role as he discovers that his newly designed building has plenty of electrical faults. It soon transpires that the tower's builder, James Duncan, cut many corners in order to cut costs. These cost-cutting measures included concreting over fire exits and having his son-in-law, electrical engineer Roger Simmons cut as many corners as possible. As a fire breaks out on one of the floors, Roberts attempts to warn Duncan about the incident but he refuses to end his luxury party just because of a small blaze. Predictably the fire is soon out of control and the party-goers are trapped with more and more of their possible exits being trapped. Thankfully McQueen's fire chief O'Hallorhan has several ideas how to rescue the party, with differing results, and at the end of the day some of the more expendable characters have perished. 

While Aiport's body count was extremely minimal, there were plenty of deaths in The Towering Inferno to satisfy those who feel a disaster film should have a life-threatening incident at the centre of it. Unlike Airport though, I didn't feel that I got to know all of the characters before the fire began to take shape. Indeed, aside from Roberts, O'Hallorhan and Duncan the rest of the characters felt a little clichéd. For example, Fred Astaire's conman, who obviously shares a lot of similarities with Helen Hayes' Airport character, isn't given a lot of backstory. While the characters played by Robert Wagner, Jennifer Jones and Robert Vaughn are similarly one-note creations. As Roberts' long-suffering love interest, Faye Dunaway does have a little bit to do but the latter scenes involve her simply worrying about things. Worst of all is Richard Chamberlain's Simmons, who is the smirking British villain of the piece, as I found him to be a very poorly-written antagonist. Despite the wealth of two-dimensional characters, The Towering Inferno was still an enjoyable thanks to the impressively choreographed fire sequences. The peril was steadily built up as the exterior shots of the building saw more and more flames break out, while the more dangerous methods of escape had me on the edge of my seat. The film won well-deserved awards for cinematography and editing while its central theme 'We May Never Love Like This Again' was also rewarded with Best Original Song. While The Towering Inferno may seem cheesy by today's action movie standards, I still felt it provided enough peril to pass the time and, looking at it now, it can be held up as an incredibly influential piece of film-making. 

Next time I'll present a double bill that you won't be able to refuse.