CATurner Reviews

Fall (1997)

False

[6 July 2002]

It's not that the idea of a cabbie and a supermodel falling in love is preposterous. (It happened in a George Michael video.)It's not that the supermodel can walk around with her secret lover and not be recognized or worry about the tabloids. It's mostly because the script serves the ego of the writer (who's also the actor and director)and misses the chance to be truthful. Apparently the cabbie's poetry, humor and powerful sexuality persuades the happily married supermodel to have an affair while her husband is away in Europe. It's hard to criticize the poetry since the poet recites it as rushed voiceover without once breaking from the inflection-free monotone. He does not read it as if he's the author; it's as if he has no relationship to the sentiment that the words are supposed to express. Oh and just so we know..the supermodel is really brainy! This is so we can see that the cabbie is attracted to more than just her supermodel looks. Cause he's deeper than that. And he's really good in bed..although we never see him do much other than enjoy either giving or getting forceful penetration. He teaches the supermodel that good sex is quick sex without foreplay. His two best friends are women...so we know he really likes women, right? With so very little happening in their lives, they starve for details of his exciting sex life. If only they could get some of that 45 seconds or so of kiss-and-caress-free instant copulation. The supermodel insists at the onset of their affair that she will not ever leave her husband and we understand why when we see the couple reunited in Spain. I am so kidding. The husband and wife seem to barely tolerate each other, but we do see that she gets a lot of press in Spain about the extravagant amount of roses our cabbie sends her. Thank God she's having her extramarital affair in media-free New York City! The lovers have their first fight. It turns out she can't really handle the fact that he's just a cabbie with pedestrian tastes...she wants to go to the trendy places with the trendy people and enjoy her fame and wealth without feeling shallow. He just doesn't understand her lifestyle..! But then we discover that he's not really a cabdriver...he's a successful novelist..he was on the NY Times Bestseller List! He wasn't just critically acclaimed, he was popular as well. But the life was shallow and false, so he won't publish again until he's really ready to. Ah, truly a writer's experience. They only write when the conditions are perfect since the inevitable literary splash they'll make must be taken into account and prepared for. That's the toughest part of being a writer. Dealing with the fame. Despite all of this, I think what bothers me the most is that the cabbie never gets pissed, never reacts badly to the fact that the model is married or having to go home after having sex. He stays completely giving, romantic and understanding through everything. He's amenable to everything, even staying away from our model after flying all night to get to Paris. He's so unselfish. It matters more to him that she does what she wants to do, even if that means turning her back on him to stay with her soulless husband. What a bunch of self-aggrandizing hooey. The music was interesting...but the screaming bit was pretty alarming and over-the-top for the story content. I guess we're all hoping that the failed relationship means that our noble cabbie will get cracking on his second novel...which will surely eclipse the success of his first one...and probably cure cancer as well.

Mulholland Drive (2001)

So Good It Hurts

[4 July 2002]

David Lynch can be frustrating. That we know. The red herrings in Twin Peaks alone wore me out. I don't mind being teased and kept in the dark as long as the writer/director has a plan. It is common knowledge that even David Lynch didn't know where he was going in the mystery of Twin Peaks and when it was finally cancelled, he had to wrap things up. It was painful for any of us who had invested all of that time. Given that, I've learned to take him on a case-by-case basis. Contrary to what one of the critics here has said, David Lynch is a painter. That's where he started and I believe he continues to paint now. But I think most filmgoers need a narrative and aren't satisfied by Lynch's attempts to heighten the elements of emotion or dread in any given scene. That said, I was prepared to loathe "Mullholland Drive". There had been so much hype about the film, the lesbianism, Naomi Watts, etc. and coupled with the fact that it had its genesis as a TV show were enough to prejudice me. The first 1/2 hour of the movie had me rolling my eyes..the naivete of Betty, the Nancy Drew-like investigation, the dwarf...it seemed as if David Lynch was just drawing on what he had already done..an homage to himself, perhaps unintentionally parodying himself . And then he raised the stakes. The audition scene with Betty exposes a depth to the character we haven't seen before. It reveals more to us than it does to the Hollywood stereotypes in the room. Betty falls in love. Betty and Rita watch their whole relationship play out in the Latin club, Silencio. Yes, it is a dream. A wishful dream but one that also holds portents of the harsh reality of the dreamer. The kind of dream that someone sad, desperate and guilty dreams, constructing a better story, a story that gives them the power, the heroism and the love that the real story has denied them.

Betty as Diane is pathetic, and she knows it. Powerless and invisible, she allows herself to be humiliated and emotionally victimized. She can't live with the way things are and then can't live with what she has done. Setting this story in Hollywood and its mythology makes the dream/reality that much more resonant although the themes could be played out anywhere. Lover as nemesis, our "specialness" being overlooked or ignored, the feelings of powerlessness, unfairness of fate..all of these come into play. I think it was an astute choice to make the two lovers both women. If Rita had been a man, it would have been a cliche. If Betty had been a man, it would have been another kind of cliche. As women, they are on equal footing in the world's eyes and the power in their relationship, and how it shifts, is up to them. It is not imposed upon them. Because they are both women, the intimacy is exquisite and the betrayal even more brutal and painful. Naomi Watts was amazing. No vanity. This film would not have worked unless the Betty/Diane character committed emotionally to everything. A truly emotional performance, and so unexpected. I don't know how she did it. She truly lived up to all of the hype. Watching her react to Camilla's behavior and the patronizing Coco in the party scene near the end of the movie is mindblowing. The emotional life in the "reality" portion of the movie is astounding, and demonstrates that David Lynch has realized that there is nothing more frightening, painful, or exciting as what goes on inside our heart and our brain.

What's the Matter with Helen? (1971)

It wasn't as campy in 1971

[7 April 2002]

It was interesting to see the comments preceding my entry. I saw this movie when it first came out when I was 11 years old and it was really frightening at the time. The gruesome murders that the sons committed combined with the gory flashbacks and the maniacal ending burned images in my mind that lasted for years later.

I couldn't appreciate or recognize any of the factors that may make it considered camp now. All I can say is that getting that last shot of Debbie Reynolds out of my head while trying to fall asleep took a long, long time.