I got a good whiff of a chest-beating/propagandistic vibe with one nation-actor smugly beaming at all the other apparently incompetent participants in the rat race. I'll say no more.
I took something like this from the synopsis in the BFI programme for August (they also have a preview screening) and decided to pass. After reading your review, I'm not particularly regretting that decision.
or maybe it was the two ladies sitting next to me that couldn't help but let out yelps during every, single, action scene.
This kind of thing can really put a dampener or your enjoyment of a movie. I had something similar at the screening of Get Out a couple of months back. I don't think anything would have done much to raise my already pretty low opinion of the movie, but it's one of the dumbest crowds I've seen a film with in quite some time. Screaming at the slightest thing like they'd never seen a horror movie before and laughing hysterically at dialogue that barely raised a smile from half the audience (me included). My current beef is people who talk in movie theatres though. Lately I have had the misfortune to sit in front of couples who insist on whispering to each other throughout the film - I was so irritated by it during Repulsion that I actually turned round and shhhhshed them. It did the trick but they probably thought I was a tool - not that I care! I just don't get why people can't sit down for a couple of hours and focus all their attention on the film - there's plenty of time to discuss it afterwards. If you want to pass comment on a film as it's playing, watch it at home!
Anyway... caught this hoary old classic on the big screen yesterday:
Rain Man - 8/10
I hadn't watched it since I was a kid, so thought it would be a good opportunity to re-visit; I certainly got more out of it this time round - I think it's held up pretty well. The soundtrack is unmistakably 80s, but done right, that's no bad thing in my book. The main draw of course, is Hoffman's performance as the severely autistic Raymond - it would have been easy to slip out of character occasionally, but he never does. Despite exposure to different situations, Raymond remains basically unchanged, still reciting his comfort blanket 'Abbott & Costello' skit even at his brother's own house, which is just another place that isn't his familiar environment. Personal growth occurs principally for Cruise's character, Charlie Babbitt, who discovers his humanity over the course of a week long road trip a la
Planes, Trains & Automobiles. I'll never be convinced Cruise is a great actor, especially when held up to Hoffman's exacting method, but his early work was generally his best IMO and this remains one of his finest performances. There was still a vulnerability and a rawness to him at this stage that has all but gone in the all-conquering Hollywood demigod he went on to become. It's also a rare Cruise outing that doesn't conform to the Rich Hall template!
The framing and the colours used lend the film a sense of nostalgia, and paint a picture of a lost time - in this case, backroads America, in the late 80s; a place of outdated motels and Hicksville towns that time forgot, where all roads lead to Vegas and a bright, neon-lit future. The script is tight - despite it being over 20 years since I last saw it, I remembered a good half a dozen scenes and even some lines of dialogue vividly. While the story flirts with implausibility and sentimentality at times, it generally reigns it in and wisely resists going down 'the cure' route, so Charlie's potential for reconciliation with his brother is limited by the latter's irreversibly stunted emotional intelligence. Despite this, there are some moments of genuine pathos as well as hilarity (mainly derived from Charlie's frustrations with Raymond), where you almost feel bad for laughing, but can't help it.
