March 5, 2021
OK, we’re back for another edition of my favorite comfort movies. These are some of the films that I’ve always gone back to when I needed something to watch to make me laugh, appreciate a great piece of art, or keep me company on a tough day. If you missed my previous editions, you can find them here, here, and here. Let’s jump in.
The Big Chill (1983)
I previously wrote about this film, back when I covered my favorite movie soundtracks, noting that it’s one of those movies that hits you differently depending on the age you watch it. In the mid-1980s, when I first saw The Big Chill, I had no reference point to understand the plight of a group of friends in their 30s, since I was barely a teenager. Being in my (ahem) late 40s now, I have much more of an appreciation for what the characters are experiencing, especially as they simultaneously wonder if they have lived up to their potential, compare themselves to people they have known for 20 years, and try to reckon with their past and what it means for their future.
I can’t think of a storyline that is more dependent on the chemistry of the actors than a movie like The Big Chill. The film features a top notch cast – Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Kevin Kline, JoBeth Williams, Jeff Goldblum, and William Hurt – whose characters reunite for the funeral of a college friend who committed suicide. Fun trivia fact about the movie that most people know – Kevin Costner was cast as Alex, the friend who died, and was featured in flashback scenes that were filmed. Director Lawrence Kasdan, who also wrote the script, felt that the flashback scenes didn’t work with the rest of the movie, so he had to call Costner to give him the bad news that he was being cut from the film. He made it up to Costner, though, casting him in his next movie, Silverado, which helped launch the actor’s career. And let’s face it – everything turned out ok for Costner.
Anyway, back to The Big Chill. Over the course of a long weekend, the friends reminisce, laugh, cry, and debate if there was anything they could have done to save their friend. Without the collection of wonderful performances (and a perfect script and soundtrack), this film could have been a letdown. Instead, it’s a wonderful character study of baby boomers as they approach middle age, capturing the essence of the mid-1980s. The film is a reminder that everyone is going through their own shit in their lives, and while we may think we understand other people’s perspectives from cursory conversations, we only have a true appreciation from a deep examination of what is under the surface. The Big Chill still holds up, even after almost 30 years.
Rounders (1998)
One of my favorite actors of the last generation is Edward Norton. I thought of doing a full blog post on his career (and I still might), but I thought I would start with one of his films that I have revisited many times since it was released. In Rounders, Norton stars along with Matt Damon as old poker friends who reunite after Worm (Norton’s aptly named character) is released from prison. Worm is looking to quickly get back into the game to pay off some gambling debts, but Mike (Damon’s character) has quit the game after losing everything at the underground poker club of Teddy KGB (played by John Malkovich who is throwing a 95 MPH fastball in every scene). Mike has made a commitment to his girlfriend to stay away from poker and focus on law school, but is quickly drawn back into the game when he can’t resist the temptations from helping out Worm.
Rounders is a nice buddy movie, with a perfect combination of drama and funny lines, especially as we meet the cast of characters that exist in the underground world of poker clubs in New York City. There are some particular nice performances from John Turturro and Martin Landau, but the chemistry between Damon and Norton are what make this movie fun. Whether they are cheating some prep school clowns out of their money at the table, going on an all-night bender at multiple games across the city, or heading to Atlantic City to find a game (“Fuck it, let’s go play some cards.”) this is one of those movies that knows what it is and doesn’t try to be more than that.
You know what else is nice about Rounders? Realistic poker scenes. I’m no connoisseur, but I play my share of neighborhood poker games (for bragging rights only, of course…..as far as you know). The cards that the players in Rounders get are very realistic – you’re not going to have multiple players at the same table getting four of a kind, a royal straight flush, and Aces over Kings full houses. It just doesn’t happen. As much as I love Casino Royale, the first Bond movie with Daniel Craig, the poker scene in that movie was preposterous, with the cards those players got. Why do I not argue with the crazy action sequences in a Bond movie, but I get upset at ridiculous poker hands? Who knows – I guess I’m a complicated guy. But you know what’s not complicated? My anticipation for this damn pandemic to be over so my buddies and I can get back to our neighborhood card games. Watch Rounders, though – it’s a good one.
The Prestige (2006)
At the beginning of Christopher Nolan’s tale of dueling magicians, the great Michael Caine tells a young girl that there are three parts to a magic trick. The “pledge” is where the magician presents something ordinary (showing the audience a bird). The “turn” is where he takes that ordinary item and does something extraordinary (making the bird disappear). You don’t appreciate the magic trick at this point because anyone can make something disappear. The trick is bringing it back – and that is the third part, the “prestige.”
I’m a sucker for a mystery and for magic tricks. Combining these two plot points into one movie, directed by one of my favorite filmmakers? Sold. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman play rival magicians in London during the late 1800s. As they look to top each other in terms of their tricks and performances, the stakes become very serious, even deadly. Wrapped up in the exploits are Bale’s wife (played by Rebecca Hall), Jackman’s assistant (played by Scarlett Johansson), Jackman’s manager (Caine), and a delicious performance by David Bowie as Nikola Tesla. The performances from the actors, particularly Bale and Jackman, make this a fun watch and the production design makes you feel as if you are living in 19th century England, but what makes The Prestige a top-notch film is the way the story is unfolded by Nolan, who co-wrote the script with his brother Jonathan.
Nolan has directed a number of wonderful films, even outside of the brilliant Batman trilogy. He has a habit of including intricate details in his plots, forcing you to pay attention to each scene, trying to understand where the story will take you. I wrote about this concept when I covered his latest film Tenet in my top ten list from 2020 here. The Prestige is not nearly as confusing as Tenet, so you won’t need a second viewing to fully grasp the plot, but I would advise you to pay close attention, much like you would watch a magician trying to solve the method behind his trick. Nolan plays with the timeline during The Prestige, so it’s helpful to watch carefully so you know where you are in the plot, relative to other scenes you have already been shown. By doing so, you will be rewarded with an ending you didn’t see coming, much like the best magic tricks.
Dial M for Murder (1954)
In my previous post of my favorite comfort movies, I mentioned that the work of Alfred Hitchcock has been in my life for as long as I can remember watching films as a kid. While some of his work might not be for the faint of heart (Hello, Psycho!), there are plenty of suspenseful moments and thrills in his movies that work for anyone. While the title of this week’s pick may sound gruesome, it’s not a horror film. In fact, Dial M for Murder is based on a very successful stage play, and the film only features five characters with meaningful roles. When retired tennis pro Tony (Ray Milland) discovers his wife Margot (Grace Kelly, in the first of her three wonderful collaborations with Hitchcock) is having an affair with an American writer, he plots to have her murdered. Tony blackmails an old college friend into performing the deed, planning every step down to the last detail. When things don’t go as expected, he scrambles to keep his plans from everyone involved, particularly a nosy inspector trying to determine what really happened on the fateful night. I won’t reveal too much of the plot to avoid any spoilers, in case you haven’t seen the film yet, except to say it’s fun to watch Tony try to stay one step ahead of everyone as the story unfolds.
There were a few points I found interesting about Hitchcock’s decisions on Dial M for Murder. Sometimes when you are watching a film that was adapted as a stage play, it can feel claustrophobic and stiff, but even though most of the action takes place in Tony and Margot’s apartment, it doesn’t feel that way at all. Hitchcock does a nice job of moving the camera around and focusing on the right actors at the right time to see how they are processing the plot points as they develop. And just for fun, as was the custom with most of his movies, he inserted himself into the film in a “blink and you’ll miss it cameo.” This time, he appears in a photograph of Tony and the old college friend that we see briefly on screen.
The last interesting fact that I just learned was that Dial M for Murder was originally filmed in 3D, a popular tactic among directors in the 1950s. There are a few moments in the film that you can tell were staged to amplify the 3D effect, but it’s certainly not distracting. The 3D filming is also the reason there is an intermission in the movie, even though it is only an hour and 45 minutes. Back in the 1950s, films were loaded onto two different reels and when one reel finished, the projectionist would switch the reels so the film could continue, hopefully in a seamless manner. Well, with 3D movies, the film needed to be projected from both reels at the same time in order to achieve the effect on the screen for the viewers stuck wearing those awful glasses. So, there needed to be an intermission to allow the projectionists to change the reels from the first half of the film to the second half. Audiences did not like the 3D impact in Dial M for Murder, and theaters scrambled to change to showing the movie in regular 2D. Hitchcock’s film, despite its popularity and longevity as one of his best, helped kill the fad of 3D movies during the 1950s. While aspects of the movie are a little dated (it was the 1950s after all), it’s still a good little mystery with some nice twists and turns that makes for a fun watch.
That’s all for this week. I hope you found some good recommendations to watch (or rewatch). You can find where to watch each of these films by going to the Film Index here. Next week, I’ll be back to take a look at one of the best actresses of our generation. She’s a two-time Oscar winner, who’s been in the business for over 50 years and just won a Golden Globe for her newest movie, which I thought was very good. I’ll share more of those thoughts next week. Thanks for reading and if you’d like to be notified of future posts, you can subscribe here.