Once upon a time, back in the 80s, movie producers could make an R-rated comedy. At some point, film comedies became a lot more castrated, even the sex romps. Judd Apatow has made some in-roads towards reclaiming comedies with actual vulgar jokes that are really vulgar, but even he has some limits he can't cross. I was thinking about this when I caught 1983's Trading Places on HBO last week.
This was a movie featuring two former Saturday Night Live castmembers, though neither were members of the cast at the same time, and the one who got top billing was Dan Aykroyd. These days, Aykroyd is mostly trying to get a third Ghostbusters made without Bill Murray and taking supporting roles in other comedies. His last starring role was as the title character in Yogi Bear and then it was only his voice.
The other fellow was a young Eddie Murphy. Murphy still gets the starring roles, more so than Aykroyd does, but his parts are a lot more family friendly since he donned multiple fat suits for The Nutty Professor.
The basic plot is simple: two greedy billionaire brothers, the Dukes, make a bet over whether nature or nurture determines whether or not someone will be a criminal or not. Randolph (played by the late Ralph Bellamy) believes nature does it. His brother Mortimer (played by the late Don Ameche) doesn't seem to care much, but ruining people's lives seems to be beyond the consideration of either man. They opt to take a young stockbroker that works for them, Louis Winthrope III (Aykroyd), make him destitute without a home or friends, and bring in a street hustler that was begging on the streets while pretending to be a legless Vietnam vet, Billy Ray Vallentine (Murphy).
The bet is "the usual" (which turns out to be a dollar) and it turns out when a rich guy loses everything and a poor guy gains it, well, they do switch places in every way. But the tables get turned when Vallentine overhears the brothers settling their bet, learn that both he and Louis won't be coming back to the firm, and further, one of the Dukes drops a certain N-word about Vallentine. See, that N-word is something that doesn't appear in too many comedies these days either.
There's a team-up then between Louis and Vallentine, along with helpful butler Denholm Elliott and really helpful prostitue Jamie Lee Curtis. Why they need to dress up and pretend to be foreigners I am not sure, but this does afford us the sight of Aykroyd in blackface pretending to be Jamaican. That's one last thing you don't see much anywhere these days.
Despite cameos by Frank Oz, James Belushi, future senator Al Franken, and Franken partner Tom Davis, plus a gorilla, I don't really get into this one all that much. Truth be told, I much prefer Murphy and director John Landis' Coming to America which, as a bonus, gives us a cameo by the Duke brothers getting their fortunes back in the most happenstance of ways.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Toy Story (1995)
In 1995, the concept of a feature-length computer-animated feature was probably about as likely to audiences as a feature-length hand-drawn animated feature was in 1937. In 1937, Walt Disney premiered Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. In 1995, Disney and Pixar produced Toy Story.
Toy Story in many ways established the Pixar brand. The cast was made up primarily of actors with distinct voices and personalities, not huge name marquee celebrities. Yes, there was Tom Hanks as Woody, but after him was Tim Allen, still mainly the star of TV's Home Improvement and whose film credits were largely limited to the starring role in The Santa Clause from the year before. After that is a series of actors with distinct voices but none of which seemed likely to open a movie all by him or herself: Don Rickles, soon-to-be Pixar regular John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, R. Lee Ermey, Wallace Shawn, and Jim Varney. Varney had been the main star for a film series, but was probably better known as the character of Ernest P. Worrel than by his own name. The voices were all distinct and well-chosen for each of their required roles.
Likewise, despite the appeal of good animation, the story came first. The core concept of what life is like for a child's playthings, toys that are eventually outgrown, and how they might feel about that, is explored as well as could be (a theme that would continue for each of the sequels too as the child/owner continues to get older and the toys fret about being lost or never played with again). There is, as should be expected of Pixar, a moment when a character reaches the lowest low, though here Buzz Lightyear realizing he really doesn't fly isn't anywhere on the caliber of, say, an old man's heartbreak in the opening minutes of Up. The characters emerge fully formed in a single movie, with Woody being at first jealous but basically a good soul, Buzz being confused about what he actually is, and the antagonistic, Rickles-voiced Mr. Potato Head causing problems and leading the other toys, including loyal Slinky Dog and besmitted Little Bo Peep, away from Woody when he needs them the most. Of course Woody and Buzz end the movie the best of friends, but that's to be expected.
That said, like a good TV series trying to figure itself out in the early episodes, this first Pixar movie can be a bit of a shock when it is compared to anything the studio has put out the last few years. The details to Merida's frizzy hair, the vast view of space from WALL-E, or even the marionette show Woody watches of himself in Toy Story 2 are still not in the technological cards yet. Movie villains Sid and his dog Scud look rather bad, and backgrounds look flat in comparison to what's to come. There's still some great details, like Buzz seeing his own reflection as he looks around Andy's room for the first time, but the studio will do better with its future features.
Plus, truth be told, the film pulls out a few too many Randy Newman songs.
All in all, the movie holds up rather well, establishes the quality and voice of the Pixar brand, and manages to make the view care what a cowboy doll and a space man action figure are going through. Not a bad accomplishment for any first time studio.
Toy Story in many ways established the Pixar brand. The cast was made up primarily of actors with distinct voices and personalities, not huge name marquee celebrities. Yes, there was Tom Hanks as Woody, but after him was Tim Allen, still mainly the star of TV's Home Improvement and whose film credits were largely limited to the starring role in The Santa Clause from the year before. After that is a series of actors with distinct voices but none of which seemed likely to open a movie all by him or herself: Don Rickles, soon-to-be Pixar regular John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, R. Lee Ermey, Wallace Shawn, and Jim Varney. Varney had been the main star for a film series, but was probably better known as the character of Ernest P. Worrel than by his own name. The voices were all distinct and well-chosen for each of their required roles.
Likewise, despite the appeal of good animation, the story came first. The core concept of what life is like for a child's playthings, toys that are eventually outgrown, and how they might feel about that, is explored as well as could be (a theme that would continue for each of the sequels too as the child/owner continues to get older and the toys fret about being lost or never played with again). There is, as should be expected of Pixar, a moment when a character reaches the lowest low, though here Buzz Lightyear realizing he really doesn't fly isn't anywhere on the caliber of, say, an old man's heartbreak in the opening minutes of Up. The characters emerge fully formed in a single movie, with Woody being at first jealous but basically a good soul, Buzz being confused about what he actually is, and the antagonistic, Rickles-voiced Mr. Potato Head causing problems and leading the other toys, including loyal Slinky Dog and besmitted Little Bo Peep, away from Woody when he needs them the most. Of course Woody and Buzz end the movie the best of friends, but that's to be expected.
That said, like a good TV series trying to figure itself out in the early episodes, this first Pixar movie can be a bit of a shock when it is compared to anything the studio has put out the last few years. The details to Merida's frizzy hair, the vast view of space from WALL-E, or even the marionette show Woody watches of himself in Toy Story 2 are still not in the technological cards yet. Movie villains Sid and his dog Scud look rather bad, and backgrounds look flat in comparison to what's to come. There's still some great details, like Buzz seeing his own reflection as he looks around Andy's room for the first time, but the studio will do better with its future features.
Plus, truth be told, the film pulls out a few too many Randy Newman songs.
All in all, the movie holds up rather well, establishes the quality and voice of the Pixar brand, and manages to make the view care what a cowboy doll and a space man action figure are going through. Not a bad accomplishment for any first time studio.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
In my last entry, I mentioned how Marvel Films required studios that bought the film rights to various characters to continue making movies with said characters or else lose the rights to said characters. This is the basic explanation for why the reboot The Amazing Spider-Man exists at all. Efforts to get another trilogy or so out of director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire fell flat so in order to keep the cash cow that is the webslinger, Sony just went for a reboot.
All in all, it isn't a bad movie. It just feels somewhat pointless. Director Marc Webb, new to the genre and not at all named ironically, does a fair job, and new Spider-Man Andrew Garfield does bring both the manic energy of Spider-Man and the lowkey nerdiness of Peter Parker out well. He also looks more like a movie high school student despite being in his mid-twenties. Emma Stone takes over the role her castmate from The Help Bryce Dallas Howard played in the previous series of Gwen Stacy, and we get another take on the Spider-Man origin, complete with a villain Raimi hinted at with brief cameos but never let go full evil, Dr. Curt "The Lizard" Connors.
As always, the true challenge is to make a movie, so close in time to the last Spider-Man film, seem like it is different and unique enough to justify itself to anyone besides a Sony Pictures beancounter. Webb's take is to give us a younger Spider-Man with some kind of corporate espionage backstory. We get to see his parents before he is hustled off to his Aunt May and Uncle Ben's. Then they die in a mysterious plane crash that eventually leads Peter to look up his dad's old partner, Curt Connors (played by Rhys Ifans).
As his aunt and uncle, Sally Field seems largely wasted. She seems to have maybe four or five scenes and while she isn't the frail version as seen by Rosemary Harris, she isn't given much to do besides look upset. Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben seems to be coasting a bit. He does OK, I suppose, but I was never convinced he was the guy who made Peter feel the need to act after he gets shot.
For all that, there is a scene where Spider-Man catches a car thief that I think got more about Spider-Man than any of the other movies. The irreverent clown Spider-Man has been largely absent from the movies, and Garfield seems to be genuinely funny in the role.
A sequel is apparently already in the works, with a teaser at the end with a mysterious man (probably Norman Osbourne) confronting the imprisoned Connors who implores the man to leave Peter alone. We all know that won't happen. The only question is whether or not audiences will do the same.
All in all, it isn't a bad movie. It just feels somewhat pointless. Director Marc Webb, new to the genre and not at all named ironically, does a fair job, and new Spider-Man Andrew Garfield does bring both the manic energy of Spider-Man and the lowkey nerdiness of Peter Parker out well. He also looks more like a movie high school student despite being in his mid-twenties. Emma Stone takes over the role her castmate from The Help Bryce Dallas Howard played in the previous series of Gwen Stacy, and we get another take on the Spider-Man origin, complete with a villain Raimi hinted at with brief cameos but never let go full evil, Dr. Curt "The Lizard" Connors.
As always, the true challenge is to make a movie, so close in time to the last Spider-Man film, seem like it is different and unique enough to justify itself to anyone besides a Sony Pictures beancounter. Webb's take is to give us a younger Spider-Man with some kind of corporate espionage backstory. We get to see his parents before he is hustled off to his Aunt May and Uncle Ben's. Then they die in a mysterious plane crash that eventually leads Peter to look up his dad's old partner, Curt Connors (played by Rhys Ifans).
As his aunt and uncle, Sally Field seems largely wasted. She seems to have maybe four or five scenes and while she isn't the frail version as seen by Rosemary Harris, she isn't given much to do besides look upset. Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben seems to be coasting a bit. He does OK, I suppose, but I was never convinced he was the guy who made Peter feel the need to act after he gets shot.
For all that, there is a scene where Spider-Man catches a car thief that I think got more about Spider-Man than any of the other movies. The irreverent clown Spider-Man has been largely absent from the movies, and Garfield seems to be genuinely funny in the role.
A sequel is apparently already in the works, with a teaser at the end with a mysterious man (probably Norman Osbourne) confronting the imprisoned Connors who implores the man to leave Peter alone. We all know that won't happen. The only question is whether or not audiences will do the same.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
The Avengers (2012)
Marvel Comics slowly worked its way into the film world. While superheroes had appeared in the movies for many years, most were limited by special effects technology being unable to completely translate the four color medium from pulp page to silver screen. There was a big screen Superman, a Batman, and a few TV shows, including Marvel's own Hulk as played by a bodybuilder painted green.
Initially, Marvel licensed its characters out to various studios under contracts requiring regular sequels in order for the studios to retain the rights, as well as keeping popular characters like Spider-Man and the X-Men in the public eye. Eventually, Marvel Films managed to work out a deal to produce their own films, and started with second stringer Iron Man getting his own movie in 2008. Making the Golden Avenger a household name and revitalizing the career of a could-not-have-been-cast better Robert Downey Jr. was, it turned out, only the first step towards what was probably the biggest movie of 2012, The Avengers.
What is perhaps most amazing is that somehow this plan worked. Introducing different characters in different films over the course of four years, with even the worst of the bunch (The Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton) being for me highly watchable and a good bit of fun, with little or no connecting material aside from Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury popping in for a scene or two, The Avengers had the potential to be a godawful mess. This was a movie that pondered that an egotistical inventor, viking demigod, timelost soldier, femme fatale superspy, master marksman with a bow, and an unstoppable rage monster would somehow belong all in the same movie to stop a guy whose main superpower may be incredibly effective lying. It could have been terrible.
It wasn't.
For one thing, Marvel and new owner Disney brought in a highly talented cast and director. Of the actors playing the main team, most had appeared however briefly in previous films, with Mark Ruffalo replacing the reputed hard-to-work-with Edward Norton as Bruce Banner. Downey, Jackson, Ruffalo, and Jeremy Renner (as marksman Hawkeye) all had Oscar nominations for past work, with Scarlett Johansson (the Black Widow) and Tom Hiddleston (as the villain Loki) both showing potential to go their if they play their careers right. Even the two Chrises, Evans and Hemsworth, as Captain America and Thor respectively, acquit themselves well for roles that would be very easy to get wrong by being too bland (for Cap) or too overtly ridiculous (for Thor).
On the other side of the camera was cult favorite writer/director Joss Whedon. I'm not really a fan of his, having never gotten into Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but he knows how to write humorous dialogue for characters beloved by geeks, as well as how to create the right balance of action and drama. Yes, the early scenes seem more rote, but by the time the team is assembled on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier and interacting, the chemistry comes out. Just about every character gets some time to shine, including one created for the movies, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson, played by Clark Gregg, who gives the bridging between movies a more personable touch. The only character who maybe gets shafted, no pun intended, is Renner's Hawkeye, who spends most of the movie brainwashed.
The final battle, between Loki and his alien army, and the newly reunited Avengers, now with a good reason to go by that name, is probably the grand spectacle every superhero fan, with widescale destruction, creative use of superpowers, and lots of anonymous creeps getting slammed, with one long tracking shot following the heroes as they zip around the fight doing what they do best. As expected, the team seems to be losing until some last ditch heroics, sparked by character growth (Iron Man learning to be less selfish and willing to sacrifice himself for something much bigger than himself and his company) save the day.
Marvel has referred to this movie as the end of "Phase One". If this is the first part, and it ends this big, the obvious anticipation will surely have people like me lined up for more in the near future.
Initially, Marvel licensed its characters out to various studios under contracts requiring regular sequels in order for the studios to retain the rights, as well as keeping popular characters like Spider-Man and the X-Men in the public eye. Eventually, Marvel Films managed to work out a deal to produce their own films, and started with second stringer Iron Man getting his own movie in 2008. Making the Golden Avenger a household name and revitalizing the career of a could-not-have-been-cast better Robert Downey Jr. was, it turned out, only the first step towards what was probably the biggest movie of 2012, The Avengers.
What is perhaps most amazing is that somehow this plan worked. Introducing different characters in different films over the course of four years, with even the worst of the bunch (The Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton) being for me highly watchable and a good bit of fun, with little or no connecting material aside from Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury popping in for a scene or two, The Avengers had the potential to be a godawful mess. This was a movie that pondered that an egotistical inventor, viking demigod, timelost soldier, femme fatale superspy, master marksman with a bow, and an unstoppable rage monster would somehow belong all in the same movie to stop a guy whose main superpower may be incredibly effective lying. It could have been terrible.
It wasn't.
For one thing, Marvel and new owner Disney brought in a highly talented cast and director. Of the actors playing the main team, most had appeared however briefly in previous films, with Mark Ruffalo replacing the reputed hard-to-work-with Edward Norton as Bruce Banner. Downey, Jackson, Ruffalo, and Jeremy Renner (as marksman Hawkeye) all had Oscar nominations for past work, with Scarlett Johansson (the Black Widow) and Tom Hiddleston (as the villain Loki) both showing potential to go their if they play their careers right. Even the two Chrises, Evans and Hemsworth, as Captain America and Thor respectively, acquit themselves well for roles that would be very easy to get wrong by being too bland (for Cap) or too overtly ridiculous (for Thor).
On the other side of the camera was cult favorite writer/director Joss Whedon. I'm not really a fan of his, having never gotten into Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but he knows how to write humorous dialogue for characters beloved by geeks, as well as how to create the right balance of action and drama. Yes, the early scenes seem more rote, but by the time the team is assembled on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier and interacting, the chemistry comes out. Just about every character gets some time to shine, including one created for the movies, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson, played by Clark Gregg, who gives the bridging between movies a more personable touch. The only character who maybe gets shafted, no pun intended, is Renner's Hawkeye, who spends most of the movie brainwashed.
The final battle, between Loki and his alien army, and the newly reunited Avengers, now with a good reason to go by that name, is probably the grand spectacle every superhero fan, with widescale destruction, creative use of superpowers, and lots of anonymous creeps getting slammed, with one long tracking shot following the heroes as they zip around the fight doing what they do best. As expected, the team seems to be losing until some last ditch heroics, sparked by character growth (Iron Man learning to be less selfish and willing to sacrifice himself for something much bigger than himself and his company) save the day.
Marvel has referred to this movie as the end of "Phase One". If this is the first part, and it ends this big, the obvious anticipation will surely have people like me lined up for more in the near future.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
The Help (2011)
As with many inspiring historical events, such as beating the Nazis, the Civil Rights Movement of the mid to late 60s has inspired many films on the events of that period, both real and fictional. Sadly, many of these well-meaning movies take the wrong tact and show how equality for African-Americans came about because, in the world of the film, white people got involved and helped out. Now, surely there were plenty of white people involved in the struggle, and some movies are worse than others, but this basic description does include The Help.
Of course, some movies are worse than others about this sort of thing. True, the various maids don't feel the slightest bit empowered enough to actually do something about their lives in the small Mississippi town where they toil for their more affluent neighbors, such that it only takes the return of white girl/budding feminist/believer in equal rights Skeeter Phelan (played by Emma Stone), who decides the way to start her career as a writer is not to toil away on the local newspaper's cleaning advice column, but rather to write about what it's like being a black maid working for white people.
(It's probably worth noting you know this is a movie when a woman who looks like Emma Stone is considered to be less attractive than any of the other girls in town.)
Still, what could end up being a very by-the-numbers tale of personal empowerment comes out better than perhaps it should due to powerful performances from the two principal maids, Aibileen (Viola Davis) and Minny (Octavia Spencer). Davis' Aibileen has "world weary" stamped all over her, from her walk to her eyes, only really coming to life when she is working with her current employer's neglected baby girl. Spencer's Minny, the finest cook in town, has a temper, but also a deep sense of propriety (a necessity for the maids of this town) and when the one causes her to temporarily forget the other, she finds herself going to the one place in town someone like her might be really appreciated, working for the social outcast white woman Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain), who actually seems to treat her as a friend, and even allows her to stick around when the title book is published revealing all the dirty, race-related laundry for the whites who think they need to keep black people in their place.
This is actually something of a small problem for me. Bryce Dallas Howard's Hilly Holbrook seems almost cartoonishly evil. While I know, objectively, that there were highly racist people in the United States at that time (and still today, only then it was more socially acceptable), part of me thinks the moviemakers went a bit overboard with their depiction of the self-centered woman who seems to run the entire town's social scene. Skeeter's lack of interest in Hilly's newsletter, as Skeeter seems to feel compelled to actually attend meetings for bridge or other social events, all run by Hilly, show she hasn't gotten too far from a woman she may consider a friend, but Hilly's gossipy ways and the treatment she issues to her own somewhat senile mother (played by a daffy Sissy Spacek) suggests the woman had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Given what kind of pie she eats, maybe this was to cut out any potential for sympathy the viewer might be tempted to feel for her.
The movie does depict that not all whites were equally horrible to their maids. Skeeter keeps asking about her own family's maid, and when she finally learns the awful truth, also learns the family tried to get her back from Chicago only to learn the old lady died there. Skeeter's formidable mother (Allison Janey, who's in, like, everything) becomes one of the few people to take her side when things go bad, but this sadly plays more into the cliched narrative of the movie, perhaps suggesting it was from her family, not Ole Miss, that Skeeter learned her sense of right from wrong.
Part of my reason for wanting to see this recently had to do with a radio interview I heard from Precious director Lee Daniels, who said that he had older relatives who were the hired help, and they had it rougher than the help in The Help. This also leads me to think it may be time for me to finally watch Spike Lee's Malcolm X.
Of course, some movies are worse than others about this sort of thing. True, the various maids don't feel the slightest bit empowered enough to actually do something about their lives in the small Mississippi town where they toil for their more affluent neighbors, such that it only takes the return of white girl/budding feminist/believer in equal rights Skeeter Phelan (played by Emma Stone), who decides the way to start her career as a writer is not to toil away on the local newspaper's cleaning advice column, but rather to write about what it's like being a black maid working for white people.
(It's probably worth noting you know this is a movie when a woman who looks like Emma Stone is considered to be less attractive than any of the other girls in town.)
Still, what could end up being a very by-the-numbers tale of personal empowerment comes out better than perhaps it should due to powerful performances from the two principal maids, Aibileen (Viola Davis) and Minny (Octavia Spencer). Davis' Aibileen has "world weary" stamped all over her, from her walk to her eyes, only really coming to life when she is working with her current employer's neglected baby girl. Spencer's Minny, the finest cook in town, has a temper, but also a deep sense of propriety (a necessity for the maids of this town) and when the one causes her to temporarily forget the other, she finds herself going to the one place in town someone like her might be really appreciated, working for the social outcast white woman Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain), who actually seems to treat her as a friend, and even allows her to stick around when the title book is published revealing all the dirty, race-related laundry for the whites who think they need to keep black people in their place.
This is actually something of a small problem for me. Bryce Dallas Howard's Hilly Holbrook seems almost cartoonishly evil. While I know, objectively, that there were highly racist people in the United States at that time (and still today, only then it was more socially acceptable), part of me thinks the moviemakers went a bit overboard with their depiction of the self-centered woman who seems to run the entire town's social scene. Skeeter's lack of interest in Hilly's newsletter, as Skeeter seems to feel compelled to actually attend meetings for bridge or other social events, all run by Hilly, show she hasn't gotten too far from a woman she may consider a friend, but Hilly's gossipy ways and the treatment she issues to her own somewhat senile mother (played by a daffy Sissy Spacek) suggests the woman had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Given what kind of pie she eats, maybe this was to cut out any potential for sympathy the viewer might be tempted to feel for her.
The movie does depict that not all whites were equally horrible to their maids. Skeeter keeps asking about her own family's maid, and when she finally learns the awful truth, also learns the family tried to get her back from Chicago only to learn the old lady died there. Skeeter's formidable mother (Allison Janey, who's in, like, everything) becomes one of the few people to take her side when things go bad, but this sadly plays more into the cliched narrative of the movie, perhaps suggesting it was from her family, not Ole Miss, that Skeeter learned her sense of right from wrong.
Part of my reason for wanting to see this recently had to do with a radio interview I heard from Precious director Lee Daniels, who said that he had older relatives who were the hired help, and they had it rougher than the help in The Help. This also leads me to think it may be time for me to finally watch Spike Lee's Malcolm X.
Monday, November 5, 2012
The Exorcist (1973)
I find it odd that, somehow, the only version of 1973's The Exorcist is one that the DVD labels as "The Version You've Never Seen".
OK, moving away from the fact that I've only seen a longer cut of the movie, one that includes a scene of the girl crab walking upside down to the bottom of the stairs and vomiting up some blood, I think there is a good deal to say about this movie on its own.
This is a movie about faith and the role it plays in a very modern world. A Hollywood star, also a single mother played by Ellen Burstyn, Chris MacNeil is raising her daughter Regan (Linda Blair) the best she can. The two are close, but then some weird things start to happen. There are sounds in the attic that Chris initially thinks are rats. Regan has an imaginary friend that talks through an ouija board. Oh, and Regan has taken to very harsh swearing and acts of violence and/or depravity. Things move on their own. And the voice that is coming out of Regan's mouth isn't hers.
Nearby is a young priest, Father Damian (Jack Miller), who is both trained as a psychologist and is losing his own personal faith. Damian's mother has just passed away and he seems to be contemplating leaving the priesthood. A strange homicide of Chris' director friend, combined with the horrific desecration of the statue of the Virgin Mary in the church he works out of, seem to give him pause but even he is reluctant to believe in Satan inside a young girl. Eventually, he is convinced.
The story is, as noted, about faith. Chris is an atheist. She doesn't believe in any sort of God, but when it becomes clear there's no other explanation, especially when it appears her friend was murdered by her daughter (by twisting his head in a 180 degree turn and then tossing him out a window and down a steep flight of stairs), she becomes desperate enough to try the religious ceremony. Damian is losing his, but has to make the supreme sacrifice at the end of the movie to save a young girl's soul.
Of special note is the great Swedish actor Max von Sydow as the elderly Father Merrin. Merrin demonstrates faith in his every move. A gentle man, he first appears at an archeological dig in Northern Iraq, which may have somehow released the demon, then returns. Damian's attempts to discuss the case with Merrin are always politely rebuffed. Merrin doesn't need to know the symptoms or how many personalities are coming out of the girl, or even the particulars of the case. He already knows them. While Damian struggles, Merrin simply charges forward against the foe, reciting the prayers, and doing his best. His quiet example helps Damian rediscover his own faith by the end of the movie.
Billed as one of the scariest movies ever made, the movie has a fairly low body count of three victims, four if your count Damian's mother dying of old age, and one of these bodies is never seen on camera. The horror comes more from the psychological such as Chris' concerns for Regan as her behavior grows worse and worse. The way medical science can't find a single thing wrong with her before resorting to the exorcism suggestion. Lee J. Cobb's homicide detective clearly being out of his depths (and, truth be told, not really adding anything to the movie), and just plain random creepiness and weirdness. Director William Friedkin seems to have only one other great movie in him (1971's The French Connection), but having The Exorcist on his resume means he'll be guaranteed a spot on any decent Halloween horror marathon for all time, and a well-deserved spot for it too.
OK, moving away from the fact that I've only seen a longer cut of the movie, one that includes a scene of the girl crab walking upside down to the bottom of the stairs and vomiting up some blood, I think there is a good deal to say about this movie on its own.
This is a movie about faith and the role it plays in a very modern world. A Hollywood star, also a single mother played by Ellen Burstyn, Chris MacNeil is raising her daughter Regan (Linda Blair) the best she can. The two are close, but then some weird things start to happen. There are sounds in the attic that Chris initially thinks are rats. Regan has an imaginary friend that talks through an ouija board. Oh, and Regan has taken to very harsh swearing and acts of violence and/or depravity. Things move on their own. And the voice that is coming out of Regan's mouth isn't hers.
Nearby is a young priest, Father Damian (Jack Miller), who is both trained as a psychologist and is losing his own personal faith. Damian's mother has just passed away and he seems to be contemplating leaving the priesthood. A strange homicide of Chris' director friend, combined with the horrific desecration of the statue of the Virgin Mary in the church he works out of, seem to give him pause but even he is reluctant to believe in Satan inside a young girl. Eventually, he is convinced.
The story is, as noted, about faith. Chris is an atheist. She doesn't believe in any sort of God, but when it becomes clear there's no other explanation, especially when it appears her friend was murdered by her daughter (by twisting his head in a 180 degree turn and then tossing him out a window and down a steep flight of stairs), she becomes desperate enough to try the religious ceremony. Damian is losing his, but has to make the supreme sacrifice at the end of the movie to save a young girl's soul.
Of special note is the great Swedish actor Max von Sydow as the elderly Father Merrin. Merrin demonstrates faith in his every move. A gentle man, he first appears at an archeological dig in Northern Iraq, which may have somehow released the demon, then returns. Damian's attempts to discuss the case with Merrin are always politely rebuffed. Merrin doesn't need to know the symptoms or how many personalities are coming out of the girl, or even the particulars of the case. He already knows them. While Damian struggles, Merrin simply charges forward against the foe, reciting the prayers, and doing his best. His quiet example helps Damian rediscover his own faith by the end of the movie.
Billed as one of the scariest movies ever made, the movie has a fairly low body count of three victims, four if your count Damian's mother dying of old age, and one of these bodies is never seen on camera. The horror comes more from the psychological such as Chris' concerns for Regan as her behavior grows worse and worse. The way medical science can't find a single thing wrong with her before resorting to the exorcism suggestion. Lee J. Cobb's homicide detective clearly being out of his depths (and, truth be told, not really adding anything to the movie), and just plain random creepiness and weirdness. Director William Friedkin seems to have only one other great movie in him (1971's The French Connection), but having The Exorcist on his resume means he'll be guaranteed a spot on any decent Halloween horror marathon for all time, and a well-deserved spot for it too.
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