As someone who grew up on a diet of 1980s Brat Pack classics, I always felt that John Hughes blazed the trail as far as classic high school films went. However the coming of age film can be traced back a decade earlier as the 1970s Oscar nominees provide two teen classics. Both feature young men on their way out of high school as they look forward to the next chapter in their life. The two are similar as they look back at prior decades, focus on small town life and have endings that can't exactly be described as happy.
Showing posts with label Richard Dreyfuss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Richard Dreyfuss. Show all posts
Sunday, 12 January 2014
Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 238-239: Coming of Age
The first of these two films is Peter Boganovich's The Last Picture Show which turns the clock back twenty years to 1951. Striking itself out visually, the film is shot entirely in black and white and focuses on the small town of Anarene in Texas. Anarene is portrayed as a character in and of itself with the protagonists mainly congregating in the town's pool hall, diner and titular picture show. All of these businesses are owned by the fatherly Sam the Lion, a sort of surrogate parent to the town's youths, who is the guiding light in the lives of our two central characters. These characters are high-school seniors Sonny Crawford and Duane Jackson who over the course of the film, fall in and out of love with both ladies and each other. Duane is going steady with Jacy Farrow, a popular and classy young lady whose parents see Duane as a class below their daughter. Throughout the film, Jacy is portrayed as quite manipulative and does several things simply to get attention. Meanwhile, Sonny is initially dating a fairly unlikeable girl who he later dumps as he dreams of getting with Jacy. Eventually he finds himself attracted to the wife of his basketball coach Ruth Popper, but their affair is tinged with sadness as she realises he'll soon leave her for someone his own age. At times the story gets quite bleak with death affecting Sonny and Duane in different ways and by the end they realise that the Anarene at the end of the film isn't the Anarene they knew growing up.
Though utterly bleak at times, I thoroughly enjoyed The Last Picture Show from start to finish. It does have a fairly episodic tone but at its heart is the friendship between two men on the verge of adulthood. Boganovich's decision to shoot the film in black and white gives it a timeless quality and makes it feel more of its time than it would've done had it been shot in colour. One of the film's major strengths is its sense of place and I really felt I knew the layout of the town by the time the film finished. With four acting nominations in the supporting categories, I knew that The Last Picture Show would be well acted from the get-go. A young Jeff Bridges is incredibly captivating as the brash and hot-headed Duane who is motivated by his love of Jacy. Meanwhile, in her first major role, Cybil Shepherd portrays Jacy as a girl who craves attention and doesn't care who she hurts to get it. For their roles as Sam the Lion and Ruth respectively, Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman were awarded the Supporting Oscars at the 1972 ceremony. While both delivered scene-stealing performances, I feel that these awards should possibly have gone to Bridges and Shepherd instead. One cast member who didn't receive any attention at the awards was Timothy Bottoms who, as Sonny, really anchors the film. His facial expressions tell the story beautifully and he really made me feel for Sonny throughout the course of the film. While it did drag from time to time, The Last Picture Show did make a positive impression on me and by the film's final scenes I was incredibly taken with this poignant story of the end of adolescence. In addition I was surprised by how influential the film was as its roots are arguably in every high school movie that has come since.
A case in point is a film that came two years later and was directed by an upstart director by the name of George Lucas. American Graffiti similarly focuses on two recent graduates who are spending their last night in their home town before journeying to the same college the morning after. Steve Bolander and Curt Henderson have different opinions about the next stage of their lives. Steve is ready to go to college and wants to embark on an open relationship with his girlfriend, and Curt's sister, Laurie. Laurie isn't so pleased with this suggestion and throughout the film they argue and break-up before making up again. Meanwhile scholarship student Curt is unsure about whether he should spend another year in his home town of Modesto before going off to college. His night involves being inducted into greaser gang 'The Pharoahs' and attempting to track down a mysterious blonde who appeared to mouth 'I Love You' when he was gazing out of a car window. The film sees Curt question the next stage of his life and he receives advice from several mentor figures before plotting his ultimate destiny. American Graffiti's subplots involve Curt and Steve's friends John and Terry 'The Toad' both of whom attempt to pick up women with very different results. Cool and cocky John ends up spending the night with the bratty sister of one of his classmates but by the end of their journey together he appears to have grown fond of her. Meanwhile nerdy Terry finds new confidence after being given Steve's car and shockingly finds a new lady friend with the slightly ditzy Debbie. After their eventful night both Steve and Curt make their way to the airport, but for different reasons, and we the audience learn where they are now.
Though not going as far back in time as The Last Picture Show, American Graffiti's action all takes place in 1962 and is primarily based on George Lucas' own formative years. Despite being only his second feature, I found that Lucas was a confident director here and perfectly balanced all the various stories from the screenplay he co-wrote. Part of the charm of American Graffiti was its nostalgic elements as we got to see our characters hang out at the drive-in and attend a hop at their former high school. But the biggest benefit of setting the film in the past was that the soundtrack could contain classic hits from the 1950s and 1960s. I have to personally say that the music was a particular highlight of mine and that at least half a dozen songs from the soundtrack were stuck in my head the day after I watched it. America Graffiti's other strong element is the central performance from Richard Dreyfuss as the indecisive and thoroughly likeable Curt. Dreyfuss plays the part perfectly throughout and I was always upset when we left Curt to concentrate on the other characters. I feel that I've sort of watched Dreyfuss' career in reverse; starting with his Oscar winning turn in The Goodbye Girl and finishing here with his breakthrough turn in American Graffiti. I have to say I'm surprised that he wasn't nominated for an Oscar and the only acting nod the film received was for Candy Clark as the airhead Debbie. American Graffiti does suffer from an episodic story structure where some plots were stronger than others but all of the characters felt well-drawn which isn't surprising as they were mostly inspired by real people. Just like The Last Picture Show, American Graffiti has been incredibly influential throughout the years and I found particular parallels between it and Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused. Though it was a little lighter than The Last Picture Show, American Graffiti had a lot going for it primarily thanks to a great performance from Dreyfuss and a brilliantly catchy soundtrack
Next time we get bleak with the sort of trip to the Mediterranean that nobody would ever want to experience.
Though utterly bleak at times, I thoroughly enjoyed The Last Picture Show from start to finish. It does have a fairly episodic tone but at its heart is the friendship between two men on the verge of adulthood. Boganovich's decision to shoot the film in black and white gives it a timeless quality and makes it feel more of its time than it would've done had it been shot in colour. One of the film's major strengths is its sense of place and I really felt I knew the layout of the town by the time the film finished. With four acting nominations in the supporting categories, I knew that The Last Picture Show would be well acted from the get-go. A young Jeff Bridges is incredibly captivating as the brash and hot-headed Duane who is motivated by his love of Jacy. Meanwhile, in her first major role, Cybil Shepherd portrays Jacy as a girl who craves attention and doesn't care who she hurts to get it. For their roles as Sam the Lion and Ruth respectively, Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman were awarded the Supporting Oscars at the 1972 ceremony. While both delivered scene-stealing performances, I feel that these awards should possibly have gone to Bridges and Shepherd instead. One cast member who didn't receive any attention at the awards was Timothy Bottoms who, as Sonny, really anchors the film. His facial expressions tell the story beautifully and he really made me feel for Sonny throughout the course of the film. While it did drag from time to time, The Last Picture Show did make a positive impression on me and by the film's final scenes I was incredibly taken with this poignant story of the end of adolescence. In addition I was surprised by how influential the film was as its roots are arguably in every high school movie that has come since.
A case in point is a film that came two years later and was directed by an upstart director by the name of George Lucas. American Graffiti similarly focuses on two recent graduates who are spending their last night in their home town before journeying to the same college the morning after. Steve Bolander and Curt Henderson have different opinions about the next stage of their lives. Steve is ready to go to college and wants to embark on an open relationship with his girlfriend, and Curt's sister, Laurie. Laurie isn't so pleased with this suggestion and throughout the film they argue and break-up before making up again. Meanwhile scholarship student Curt is unsure about whether he should spend another year in his home town of Modesto before going off to college. His night involves being inducted into greaser gang 'The Pharoahs' and attempting to track down a mysterious blonde who appeared to mouth 'I Love You' when he was gazing out of a car window. The film sees Curt question the next stage of his life and he receives advice from several mentor figures before plotting his ultimate destiny. American Graffiti's subplots involve Curt and Steve's friends John and Terry 'The Toad' both of whom attempt to pick up women with very different results. Cool and cocky John ends up spending the night with the bratty sister of one of his classmates but by the end of their journey together he appears to have grown fond of her. Meanwhile nerdy Terry finds new confidence after being given Steve's car and shockingly finds a new lady friend with the slightly ditzy Debbie. After their eventful night both Steve and Curt make their way to the airport, but for different reasons, and we the audience learn where they are now.
Though not going as far back in time as The Last Picture Show, American Graffiti's action all takes place in 1962 and is primarily based on George Lucas' own formative years. Despite being only his second feature, I found that Lucas was a confident director here and perfectly balanced all the various stories from the screenplay he co-wrote. Part of the charm of American Graffiti was its nostalgic elements as we got to see our characters hang out at the drive-in and attend a hop at their former high school. But the biggest benefit of setting the film in the past was that the soundtrack could contain classic hits from the 1950s and 1960s. I have to personally say that the music was a particular highlight of mine and that at least half a dozen songs from the soundtrack were stuck in my head the day after I watched it. America Graffiti's other strong element is the central performance from Richard Dreyfuss as the indecisive and thoroughly likeable Curt. Dreyfuss plays the part perfectly throughout and I was always upset when we left Curt to concentrate on the other characters. I feel that I've sort of watched Dreyfuss' career in reverse; starting with his Oscar winning turn in The Goodbye Girl and finishing here with his breakthrough turn in American Graffiti. I have to say I'm surprised that he wasn't nominated for an Oscar and the only acting nod the film received was for Candy Clark as the airhead Debbie. American Graffiti does suffer from an episodic story structure where some plots were stronger than others but all of the characters felt well-drawn which isn't surprising as they were mostly inspired by real people. Just like The Last Picture Show, American Graffiti has been incredibly influential throughout the years and I found particular parallels between it and Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused. Though it was a little lighter than The Last Picture Show, American Graffiti had a lot going for it primarily thanks to a great performance from Dreyfuss and a brilliantly catchy soundtrack
Next time we get bleak with the sort of trip to the Mediterranean that nobody would ever want to experience.
Thursday, 12 September 2013
Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 229-230: The Rise of the Summer Blockbuster
Throughout my reviews of 1970s films I've noted how many of the stars and directors would go on to change the cinematic landscape. One such film-maker was Steven Spielberg who, in 1975, essentially created the summer blockbuster. At the time Spielberg had only directed one cinematic feature, The Sugarland Express, and so nobody expected his film about a shark to be particularly historical. But, by putting the film out over the summer, traditionally the time in which studios dumped their less-appealing films, Spielberg capitalised on a new market. His film went on to become the most successful film of all time, for at least two years, and essentially created what we know today as the summer blockbuster.
That film was of course Jaws, adapted from the book by Peter Benchley, and focusing on a shark which threatens the residents of the close-nit Amity Island. Amity's Chief of Police Martin Brody is the first to identify a shark attack after a young girl is killed. But the island's mayor is keen not to close the beach as summer season is on its way. The mayor also clashes with Brody, who was once a cop in the big city, as he doesn't think he understands island life. Following another death by shark, Brody calls in marine biologist Matt Hooper who is able to identify the type of shark the islanders should be looking for. With summer trade at its busiest, the shark strikes again and it's only then that the mayor instructs Brody to hunt down the animal. Brody hires old sea dog Quint and he and Hooper join him on the hunt for the shark. Obviously the search is hard and the mismatched trio don't always live harmoniously together. Indeed Quint's old-fashioned mentality and Hooper's gadgetry aren't best suited to one another while Brody's hatred of the water doesn't exactly make him the ideal candidate to look for a shark.
One of the joys of watching Jaws is the simplicity of the story and the way in which the shark is introduced through the trickery of the screen. Indeed, it is John Williams' score that created the iconic shark and every time those notes are played you know the threat is imminent. Spielberg's high-concept plot meant that audiences didn't have to think too much about what was going on and instead enjoyed the first real summer blockbuster. However, Jaws isn't a blockbuster in the way we know today and isn't chocked full of special effects and wafer-thin characters. The story was the most important thing for Spielberg, who hired many people to edit Benchley's original script, and he wanted the first two thirds of the story to build up to the three men in a boat adventure. I found this build-up to be incredibly masterfully produced with the islanders willing to ignore the threat of the shark until it was right there in front of them. As Brody, Roy Scheider provided the world-weariness of a man who just wanted to do the right thing and was thwarted at every corner. The then unknown Richard Dreyfuss was a ball-of-energy as the enigmatic Hooper and was the perfect antidote to Robert Shaw's cantankerous Quint. Jaws is primarily a film about three men at different stages in their life who just happen to be chasing a man-eating shark. Jaws definitely still looks as good today as it did when it was released and it proves that most blockbusters just need a good story and an effective way to signify the main villain.
John Williams was back two years later signifying the main villain in another summer blockbuster, which overtook Jaws as the most successful film of all time. That film was Star Wars, a movie that has become incredibly famous to the extent where I feel I don't really need to review it. This is because that everybody has their own memory of when they first watched Star Wars and for me it was watching the trilogy back-to-back just before The Phantom Menace was released in 1999. Though I've caught it on the TV in the following years, this was my chance to watch it through a film graduate's eyes and change some of my memories of the film. It's actually quite hard to write about Star Wars without hurting someone's feelings but the first thing I should say is that it's not that spectacular. I feel when people reminisce about Star Wars they're thinking about the whole trilogy but judging the first film by itself is a lot different. Obviously the film is made great by the special effects, which at the time were ground-breaking, and there's no denying that watching someone pull out a lightsaber for the first time is a truly magical experience. Similarly characters like Chewbacca or Darth Vader just didn't exist in normal mainstream cinema back then and I feel that audiences would've been intrigued by their presence. Obviously John Williams reserves some credit for the aforementioned score which instantly brings back memories of both the film's opening and Darth Vader's legendary strut down the death star.
Director George Lucas was really able to create an incredible universe of characters, planets and spaceships with the mythology of the Star Wars universe seeming vast and mysterious. At the same time the characters of Luke, Leia and Han feel fairly simplistic while the central plot is incredibly basic. However, Lucas was lucky with his choice of actors all of whom share great chemistry. Harrison Ford was an inspired choice to play the swaggering Han Solo and he was totally believable as a gambling drunk. Wide-eyed Mark Hammil perfectly encapsulated the innocent Luke while Carrie Fisher combined sexiness with strength to play Leia who could easily hold her own amongst the boys. Bringing gravitas to proceedings was Alec Guinness as Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi though his casting was mainly to appease the studio heads who didn't like the fact he was casting unknowns. Acting and visuals aside; my 2013 viewing experience of Star Wars was pleasant enough but it didn't blow me away. I can understand how audiences at the time would've been dazzled by everything they saw on screen but today I feel that Star Wars, if judged as a film on its own, is nothing more than an entertaining two hour romp. A while back I had an argument with a friend who was trying to explain to me why Star Wars should have won Best Picture over the film that eventually triumphed. His argument was based on the film's legacy but, at the time, there was no legacy to speak off and the Academy purely had to go on the quality of the overall film. It seemed the Oscars did acknowledge the film's main strengths and gave it six awards mainly in the sound, visual effects and art direction categories. However, I would argue that the film itself isn't exactly a masterpiece even if it influenced hundreds of sci-fi films that would come after it.
Next up we get into the ring with a contender that became a Best Picture Winner.
That film was of course Jaws, adapted from the book by Peter Benchley, and focusing on a shark which threatens the residents of the close-nit Amity Island. Amity's Chief of Police Martin Brody is the first to identify a shark attack after a young girl is killed. But the island's mayor is keen not to close the beach as summer season is on its way. The mayor also clashes with Brody, who was once a cop in the big city, as he doesn't think he understands island life. Following another death by shark, Brody calls in marine biologist Matt Hooper who is able to identify the type of shark the islanders should be looking for. With summer trade at its busiest, the shark strikes again and it's only then that the mayor instructs Brody to hunt down the animal. Brody hires old sea dog Quint and he and Hooper join him on the hunt for the shark. Obviously the search is hard and the mismatched trio don't always live harmoniously together. Indeed Quint's old-fashioned mentality and Hooper's gadgetry aren't best suited to one another while Brody's hatred of the water doesn't exactly make him the ideal candidate to look for a shark.
One of the joys of watching Jaws is the simplicity of the story and the way in which the shark is introduced through the trickery of the screen. Indeed, it is John Williams' score that created the iconic shark and every time those notes are played you know the threat is imminent. Spielberg's high-concept plot meant that audiences didn't have to think too much about what was going on and instead enjoyed the first real summer blockbuster. However, Jaws isn't a blockbuster in the way we know today and isn't chocked full of special effects and wafer-thin characters. The story was the most important thing for Spielberg, who hired many people to edit Benchley's original script, and he wanted the first two thirds of the story to build up to the three men in a boat adventure. I found this build-up to be incredibly masterfully produced with the islanders willing to ignore the threat of the shark until it was right there in front of them. As Brody, Roy Scheider provided the world-weariness of a man who just wanted to do the right thing and was thwarted at every corner. The then unknown Richard Dreyfuss was a ball-of-energy as the enigmatic Hooper and was the perfect antidote to Robert Shaw's cantankerous Quint. Jaws is primarily a film about three men at different stages in their life who just happen to be chasing a man-eating shark. Jaws definitely still looks as good today as it did when it was released and it proves that most blockbusters just need a good story and an effective way to signify the main villain.
John Williams was back two years later signifying the main villain in another summer blockbuster, which overtook Jaws as the most successful film of all time. That film was Star Wars, a movie that has become incredibly famous to the extent where I feel I don't really need to review it. This is because that everybody has their own memory of when they first watched Star Wars and for me it was watching the trilogy back-to-back just before The Phantom Menace was released in 1999. Though I've caught it on the TV in the following years, this was my chance to watch it through a film graduate's eyes and change some of my memories of the film. It's actually quite hard to write about Star Wars without hurting someone's feelings but the first thing I should say is that it's not that spectacular. I feel when people reminisce about Star Wars they're thinking about the whole trilogy but judging the first film by itself is a lot different. Obviously the film is made great by the special effects, which at the time were ground-breaking, and there's no denying that watching someone pull out a lightsaber for the first time is a truly magical experience. Similarly characters like Chewbacca or Darth Vader just didn't exist in normal mainstream cinema back then and I feel that audiences would've been intrigued by their presence. Obviously John Williams reserves some credit for the aforementioned score which instantly brings back memories of both the film's opening and Darth Vader's legendary strut down the death star.
Director George Lucas was really able to create an incredible universe of characters, planets and spaceships with the mythology of the Star Wars universe seeming vast and mysterious. At the same time the characters of Luke, Leia and Han feel fairly simplistic while the central plot is incredibly basic. However, Lucas was lucky with his choice of actors all of whom share great chemistry. Harrison Ford was an inspired choice to play the swaggering Han Solo and he was totally believable as a gambling drunk. Wide-eyed Mark Hammil perfectly encapsulated the innocent Luke while Carrie Fisher combined sexiness with strength to play Leia who could easily hold her own amongst the boys. Bringing gravitas to proceedings was Alec Guinness as Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi though his casting was mainly to appease the studio heads who didn't like the fact he was casting unknowns. Acting and visuals aside; my 2013 viewing experience of Star Wars was pleasant enough but it didn't blow me away. I can understand how audiences at the time would've been dazzled by everything they saw on screen but today I feel that Star Wars, if judged as a film on its own, is nothing more than an entertaining two hour romp. A while back I had an argument with a friend who was trying to explain to me why Star Wars should have won Best Picture over the film that eventually triumphed. His argument was based on the film's legacy but, at the time, there was no legacy to speak off and the Academy purely had to go on the quality of the overall film. It seemed the Oscars did acknowledge the film's main strengths and gave it six awards mainly in the sound, visual effects and art direction categories. However, I would argue that the film itself isn't exactly a masterpiece even if it influenced hundreds of sci-fi films that would come after it.
Next up we get into the ring with a contender that became a Best Picture Winner.
Wednesday, 7 August 2013
Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 221-222: A Couple of Herbert's
In the days of five films being nominated for Best Picture, it was quite a rarity for two works by the same director to pop up in the category. One year where this did happen was 1978 where Herbert Ross' films The Goodbye Girl and The Turning Point were both nominated for Best Picture. Ross started off on the stage as both an actor and choreographer and these influences play into both of these films. As these films were nominated in the same year, I decided to tackle them alphabetically but chronologically they are in the reverse order so read the following post whichever you want.
I start with The Goodbye Girl, which was scripted by Neil Simon, a writer who Ross had previously worked with several times. The story concerns dancer and single mother Paula McFadden who is about to leave her New York apartment in order to join her married lover Tony in L.A. However, her plans are dashed when Tony changes his plans and Paula, along with her daughter Lucy, are stuck in an apartment which has already been subletted to Elliot - an actor friend of Tony's. Despite paying for the whole apartment, Elliot lets Paula and Lucy stay though they struggle to cope with his quirky behaviour. While Paula attempts to revive her dancing career, Elliot is cast in a production of Richard III however his director's vision for the character is vastly different from Elliot's. Predictably, Elliot and Paula become close as he becomes attached to Lucy, though she's less than happy to see her mother start another potentially disastrous relationship.
The Goodbye Girl is an interesting film and I personally feel that it influenced a lot of the romantic comedies that are released today. However, unlike most of those films, The Goodbye Girl is both romantic and funny though it does drag in some places. The film's main strength is definitely Richard Dreyfuss' performance who, as Elliot, really capitalises on his ability to use physical comedy. Dreyfuss' turn in the film rightfully won him a Best Actor prize and he became the youngest man to win the accolade until 2002. Neil Simon keeps the action ticking along nicely with both Elliot and Paula experiencing the highs and lows of being a performer in New York. Marsha Mason, who was nominated for Best Actress, plays her part well though did make it hard for me to like Paula at times. Though I feel her and Dreyfuss really played their scenes together well and made me believe in the burgeoning relationship. Watching in 2013, I found some of the set pieces incredibly cheesy; most notably Elliot attempting to have a chat with Lucy by hiring a horse-drawn carriage but I think at the time these would've been seen as a lot more adorable. Talking of adorable, I didn't really warm to Quinn Cummings as Lucy but I do find it hard to like a lot of child performers especially when the character in question acts like an adult. Ultimately The Goodbye Girl is an easy-to-watch film which didn't set my world alight but was charming and witty enough to fill up two hours of my time.
While there were some allusions made to how tough the world of ballet was in The Goodbye Girl, The Turning Point makes that point its key theme. The Turning Point stars Shirley MacLaine, as DeeDee a former professional dancer who left the ballet behind to raise a family with fellow dancer Wayne. The pair now co-own a studio together in Oklahoma and are delighted when their old friends from the American Ballet Company come to town. DeeDee is also reunited with her old friend Emma, who has stayed with the company and become one of the most renowned dancers in the country. Their reunion stirs up memories for both as DeeDee feels that Emma convinced her to have a family because she was a better dancer while Emma disagrees. Meanwhile, Emma encourages DeeDee's elder daughter Emilia to become a dancer herself and she joins the company and is paired with Russian dancer Yuri. Yuri and Emilia begin an affair however she later starts to get upset when she realises that he sleeps with other girls as well as her. DeeDee also embarks on an affair with an old friend, which angers Emilia who feels that her mother and father should remain faithful to one another. At the end of the film stars are made and others end their career but the ballet is always the most important thing to the majority of the characters.
Indeed, the ballet sequences are possibly the most memorable element of The Turning Point as Ross uses them to narrate his story. As someone whose personally not a big fan of the ballet, I felt these segments went a bit long but were necessary for the story to progress. I felt the film was at its strongest when either Emma or DeeDee were on screen as it's always a joy to see Anne Bancroft and Shirley MacLaine in a film. Both were nominated for Best Actress and both nominations were more than deserved. MacLaine excelled at playing a woman who was unsure of her place in the world and regretted a lot of the decisions she'd made. Meanwhile Bancroft was great as the fading star, unsure of where her life would take her next and unable to cope with the changing face of her industry. Professional dancer Leslie Browne proved to be a fairly captivating presence as Emilia, an innocent who was thrust into the harsh world of dance and struggled to cope. Though Browne deserved her Best Supporting Actress nod, I don't think Mikhail Baryshnikov really deserved his nomination for Supporing Actor. Indeed, I feel Baryshnikov was nominated more for his outstanding dance skills than he was for his acting, which left a lot to be desired. The Turning Point was a stronger visual spectacle than The Goodbye Girl and therefore it was given a lot more nominations. In fact it holds the records for the film with the most nominations, including a director nod for Ross, without winning a single award. However, I feel that The Goodbye Girl had more heart and kept my attention while the extended ballet scenes in The Turning Point ruined the pace a little.
Overall I feel Ross is an under-rated director who really gets the best out of his actors and I'm really not sure why he's not a name that's as remembered as some other directors who were big in the 1970s. Next time I'll continue to look at another body of work this time by an actor who has amassed an impressive twelve acting nominations at the awards.
I start with The Goodbye Girl, which was scripted by Neil Simon, a writer who Ross had previously worked with several times. The story concerns dancer and single mother Paula McFadden who is about to leave her New York apartment in order to join her married lover Tony in L.A. However, her plans are dashed when Tony changes his plans and Paula, along with her daughter Lucy, are stuck in an apartment which has already been subletted to Elliot - an actor friend of Tony's. Despite paying for the whole apartment, Elliot lets Paula and Lucy stay though they struggle to cope with his quirky behaviour. While Paula attempts to revive her dancing career, Elliot is cast in a production of Richard III however his director's vision for the character is vastly different from Elliot's. Predictably, Elliot and Paula become close as he becomes attached to Lucy, though she's less than happy to see her mother start another potentially disastrous relationship.
The Goodbye Girl is an interesting film and I personally feel that it influenced a lot of the romantic comedies that are released today. However, unlike most of those films, The Goodbye Girl is both romantic and funny though it does drag in some places. The film's main strength is definitely Richard Dreyfuss' performance who, as Elliot, really capitalises on his ability to use physical comedy. Dreyfuss' turn in the film rightfully won him a Best Actor prize and he became the youngest man to win the accolade until 2002. Neil Simon keeps the action ticking along nicely with both Elliot and Paula experiencing the highs and lows of being a performer in New York. Marsha Mason, who was nominated for Best Actress, plays her part well though did make it hard for me to like Paula at times. Though I feel her and Dreyfuss really played their scenes together well and made me believe in the burgeoning relationship. Watching in 2013, I found some of the set pieces incredibly cheesy; most notably Elliot attempting to have a chat with Lucy by hiring a horse-drawn carriage but I think at the time these would've been seen as a lot more adorable. Talking of adorable, I didn't really warm to Quinn Cummings as Lucy but I do find it hard to like a lot of child performers especially when the character in question acts like an adult. Ultimately The Goodbye Girl is an easy-to-watch film which didn't set my world alight but was charming and witty enough to fill up two hours of my time.
While there were some allusions made to how tough the world of ballet was in The Goodbye Girl, The Turning Point makes that point its key theme. The Turning Point stars Shirley MacLaine, as DeeDee a former professional dancer who left the ballet behind to raise a family with fellow dancer Wayne. The pair now co-own a studio together in Oklahoma and are delighted when their old friends from the American Ballet Company come to town. DeeDee is also reunited with her old friend Emma, who has stayed with the company and become one of the most renowned dancers in the country. Their reunion stirs up memories for both as DeeDee feels that Emma convinced her to have a family because she was a better dancer while Emma disagrees. Meanwhile, Emma encourages DeeDee's elder daughter Emilia to become a dancer herself and she joins the company and is paired with Russian dancer Yuri. Yuri and Emilia begin an affair however she later starts to get upset when she realises that he sleeps with other girls as well as her. DeeDee also embarks on an affair with an old friend, which angers Emilia who feels that her mother and father should remain faithful to one another. At the end of the film stars are made and others end their career but the ballet is always the most important thing to the majority of the characters.
Indeed, the ballet sequences are possibly the most memorable element of The Turning Point as Ross uses them to narrate his story. As someone whose personally not a big fan of the ballet, I felt these segments went a bit long but were necessary for the story to progress. I felt the film was at its strongest when either Emma or DeeDee were on screen as it's always a joy to see Anne Bancroft and Shirley MacLaine in a film. Both were nominated for Best Actress and both nominations were more than deserved. MacLaine excelled at playing a woman who was unsure of her place in the world and regretted a lot of the decisions she'd made. Meanwhile Bancroft was great as the fading star, unsure of where her life would take her next and unable to cope with the changing face of her industry. Professional dancer Leslie Browne proved to be a fairly captivating presence as Emilia, an innocent who was thrust into the harsh world of dance and struggled to cope. Though Browne deserved her Best Supporting Actress nod, I don't think Mikhail Baryshnikov really deserved his nomination for Supporing Actor. Indeed, I feel Baryshnikov was nominated more for his outstanding dance skills than he was for his acting, which left a lot to be desired. The Turning Point was a stronger visual spectacle than The Goodbye Girl and therefore it was given a lot more nominations. In fact it holds the records for the film with the most nominations, including a director nod for Ross, without winning a single award. However, I feel that The Goodbye Girl had more heart and kept my attention while the extended ballet scenes in The Turning Point ruined the pace a little.
Overall I feel Ross is an under-rated director who really gets the best out of his actors and I'm really not sure why he's not a name that's as remembered as some other directors who were big in the 1970s. Next time I'll continue to look at another body of work this time by an actor who has amassed an impressive twelve acting nominations at the awards.
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