Joe's Movie Reviews

Monday, December 20, 2004

Double Feature

Joe's Corner

1. "(Lemony Snicket's) A Series Of Unfortunate Events". Admission, up front: I have never read any of the "Lemony Snicket" books and therefore have no idea how well (or not) this film reflects them, how much (or little) of the books are left in this film, and so on. But strictly regarding the movie itself...

For those not in the know: this is (part of) the story of the Baudelaire children, orphaned by a suspicious fire and send to live with their closest relative, the previously unknown to them Count Olaf. But it seems that Olaf wants them dead so he can collect the money left to them by their parents, and they're soon shuffled off to a series of OTHER relatives... with Olaf always close behind, trying to get them back.

Jim Carrey doesn't so much give a performance as simply do his usual wacky comic routines. I should state here that I often HAVE found him funny, but this is nothing but over-the-top craziness I've seen before... in some cases very specifically, as the scene where Olaf, a failed actor, gives his impression of a dinosaur for his theatre troupe... which is the very same routine he did on a TV special in honor of Steven Spielberg about a decade ago, "doing" a velociraptor. Not having read the books, it's still hard to believe this is the Olaf of the novels. And it's also easy to spot the fact that three stories have been blended into one here, given the way the film is so episodic... the first two "episodes" feel VERY rushed and unfinished (granted the third is the most interesting).

Is there anything good about the film? A fair amount, actually. The three child performers are quite good, and Meryl Streep absolutely shines in the third segment as the Baudelaire guardian who is paranoid about virtually everything and sees doom and disaster around every corner. If you haven't seen her go for the laughs very often in the past, you'll be pleasantly surprised. And the film has a wonderfully spooky look/design to it. But the decision to adapt the first THREE books in this one film, as well as Carrey's sub-standard performance (this is NOT the same man who did "Liar, Liar" or "The Truman Show") leave the viewer with a feeling that something's missing. It also seems to be trying a little too hard to impress us with how "dark" and un-cuddly it is, rather than just letting us see that for ourselves. This COULD HAVE been a modern children's classic, but it misses the mark, while still providing SOME moments of satisfaction.
If there's a second film, it wouldn't take THAT much in the way of adjustments to get it right...

2. "Spanglish". James L. Brooks gave us Mary Tyler Moore, the Simpsons, "Broadcast News", "Terms Of Endearment"... so I guess he can be forgiven an occasional slip, which is what we have here, in this latest attempt to redeem the career of Adam Sandler.

Sandler and Tea Leoni star as the head of a disfunctional family whose lives are changed one day with the arrival of their new Mexican maid (who speaks no English) and her Americanized daughter. We've certainly seen enough of the "magical ethnic type changes the lives of the rich white Anglos he/she encounters" type of film to know how it works, and there are no surprises here. The film manages to be about the rich, white family even though it's narrated from the point of view of the maid's daughter. Sandler, after showing a spark of talent in a couple of earlier films where he was given roles that didn't fit his usual stereotype, is slightly closer to the Sandler we know here... at least three or four times he flies into a rage that looks very familiar to anyone who's seen (fill in the title of any Sandler film that occurs to you). For some reason, Brooks has decided that Sandler has to be portrayed as a virtual saint who makes Ghandi look bad, too, and in order to do this has decided he needs the contrast of Sandler's wife (Tea Leoni) being a sinister, evil woman who would scare the Wicked Witch of the West. It's downright uncomfortable to watch the way Leoni is forced to humiliate and embarass herself for the sake of Sandler's sainthood. I hope she was at least well paid. Cloris Leachman, as Leoni's mother, is also a resident of stereotype city... the crazy, alcoholic, wild old lady. Brooks has given us some marvelous CHARACTERS in the past, so it's a bit of a mystery why he seems to have forgotten that characters are the heart of an interesting film this time around. But as far as "Spanglish" is concerned... it's a film with a few isolated laughs here and there, but not all that many, and plenty to be offended about if you happen to be female, or elderly, or Latino.
Of course, if you happen to worship Adam Sandler, this is the film that seems to be encouraging you to do so literally. But with better movies than this in theatres... in both the art houses and the commercial multiplexes... they're the only group that should feel compelled to see "Spanglish".

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