My Review: As Good As It Gets (9/10)

"You make me want to be a better man."

I finally got around to watching this touching and funny film directed by James L. Brooks that stands out thanks to some wonderful performances and memorable characters. As Good As it Gets is proof that actions are louder than words because despite how cruel and mean Nicholson's character is, he does incredible and kind things for others. In a way this film reminded me of David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook as I found both films to be difficult to follow at first due to the lack of a likable character, but once we get to know who these people are we forgive their flaws and end up routing for them. Both Nicholson and Helen Hunt give excellent performances, and their Oscar wins were well deserved in my opinion. As Good As it Gets is the very definition of charm, and the screenplay written by Mark Andrus (Life As a House) shines thanks to some incredible performances. I really enjoyed this film and found myself laughing through most of the scenes. This is one more film I can eliminate from my shame list, and I'm glad I finally got to experience this romantic comedy which also has a lot to say about overcoming illness.

We are introduced to Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson), a cranky but successful author who suffers from OCD. He lives on his own in a beautiful apartment where he spends most of his time writing. He always goes out on his daily breakfast ritual which consists of walking to a nearby cafe without touching anyone or stepping on any cracks. He always sits in the same place at the cafe and always demands to be served by the same waitress, whose name is Carol (Helen Hunt). Carol is actually the only one in the cafe who stands his constant outbursts and cruel comments. Melvin's daily routine changes through two events that end up affecting his life. First, his homosexual artist neighbor named Simon (Greg Kinnear) suffers an accident and Melvin unwillingly accepts to take care of his dog in his absence. Second, Carol's son, Spencer (Jesse James) gets ill and she quits her job. Not accepting the fact that Carol isn't there to serve him, Melvin tries to find her in order to restore order back to his life. These series of events force Melvin to change his routine and at the same time he forms an unlikely friendship with Carol and Simon proving that he isn't as bad as he seems to be.

The performances by each one of the talented actors are the heart and motor of this film. Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt share an incredible chemistry together. It's funny how despite never being able to share his feelings towards her and always saying the wrong things, it becomes clear that she does inspire him to become a better person. The supporting cast is also incredible here, especially Greg Kinnear and Cuba Gooding Jr. who deliver several funny scenes. I was partial to Brooks's work considering I had only seen How Do You Know which didn't work for me and Spanglish which I did enjoy, but As Good As it Gets is without a doubt his best work thanks to an unbelievable cast. This is a smart and funny film, which also could be cruel at times, but it was well balanced. Despite the schmaltzy story it still worked thanks to the characters that carried this film. It's hard not to leave this film with a smile on your face.

My Review: Chinatown (10/10)

"You may think you know what you're dealing with, but, believe me, you don't."

Sometimes things are bigger than ourselves, and despite how much we think we can change the world eventually we are brought down to our reality: we are much smaller than we think we are and there is little we can do against the big corporate giants. That is the main theme that director, Roman Polanski, is trying to explore here in this criminal film noir thriller starring Jack Nicholson as a wise and overly confident private detective who is about to learn that despite how much he wants to teach the bad guys a lesson perhaps things are a little out of his league. That is why the film is titled Chinatown, because it represents a time in Jake's (Nicholson's character) life where he wasn't able to make a difference in the police force and became cynical towards the world. "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown" is what they told him, and that is why he decided to retire and become a private investigator working on his own. He doesn't want to forget it, he wants to catch the bad guys and balance things out. He doesn't want these rich executives to continue thinking they can get away with anything. That is exactly why he decides to investigate things on his own and begins to enter dangerous territory where not everyone is who they say they are. He slowly begins to uncover one lie after another, and that is what makes Chinatown such an entertaining and masterful thriller. We are part of the investigation and begin discovering things at the same time Jake does. We are as confident as he is that he is going to uncover everything. This is Jack Nicholson's movie from the opening scene and he delivers one of his best performances to date. Faye Dunaway is also interesting in her femme fatale role; we are never sure if we can trust her or not. Polanski has delivered a perfect homage to the 40's film noir thrillers. Chinatown will remain as one of the best classical films of all time. This is my favorite Polanski film, perfect in every way.

Jake Gittes seems to be doing well as a private detective in Los Angeles, since he specializes in infidelities and there are many in the city. His latest assignment is to follow Evelyn Mulwray's (Diane Ladd) husband who happens to be the builder of the city's water supply system. His name is Hollis (Darrell Zwerling) and he is fascinated with everything that has to do with water, but Evelyn is convinced he is having an affair. Jake accepts the job and begins following Hollis, and surely enough he photographs him with a younger woman causing a scandal in the city. Jake believes his job is done, until a Mrs. Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) comes thundering into his office claiming that she had never hired him to follow her husband. Apparently the first woman claiming to be Mrs. Mulwray was only an impersonator and now Jake has a law suit in his hands. Surprisingly Mrs. Mulwray drops the law suit a few days later, and her husband is found dead after an apparent suicide. Jake is now hired by Mrs. Mulwray to discover who might have wanted her husband dead, and soon Jake will find himself uncovering an entire web of deceit and corruption that is much bigger than he thinks.

This masterful film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, but only won one (Best Original Screenplay written by Robert Towne) considering it had to compete in 1975 with another perfect film: The Godfather Part II. One of the best things about Chinatown actually is the screenplay. There are so many great dialogues and quotes from this film that are still remembered today almost 40 years later. Chinatown is exactly what a classical film looks like. Polanski created a masterpiece by recreating the classic film noir from the 40's with great art direction, costume designs, and cinematography. The editing and the original score are also done wonderfully, but none of this would be enough if it weren't for the wonderful performances from Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. Chinatown deserves all the praise it has received over time and it has really turned into a timeless classic and one of the few that continues to astonish modern audiences. The twists and surprises in Chinatown continue to work today.

My Review: The Shining (7/10)

"Some places are like people: some shine and some don't."

I'm ashamed to admit that despite being a film buff I never got around watching The Shining. As a matter of fact the only Kubrick film I've seen is 2001 A Space Odyssey, which I thought was brilliant. I tried to watch A Clockwork Orange, but never managed to finish it. I'm not a huge Kubrick fan but I do need to watch his films. The Shining is one of those movies that I wish I would have seen years ago because it really hasn't aged too well and after seeing so many horror films I've realized how much they took from this film. That is why perhaps I felt the film to be very predictable, but there is no denying that this film influenced the horror genre during the last three decades and continues to do so. The film was adapted from Stephen King's novel, a writer which I'm not a huge fan of either (although I loved Misery). I guess that having watched The Amityville Horror before this, kind of ruined the suspense for me, but there is no denying that Jack Nicholson's performance was magnificent here during his psychotic transformation. That "Here's Johnny" scene is such a classic and it is proof that Kubrick knows his craft. He is a perfectionist and it comes through in his direction. The problem I had with this film is that the ghost story really didn't work for me and some of the scenes felt really cheesy. The imagery in this film however is technically brilliant and there is no denying why this film has become a classic.

Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) is a failed writer who is trying to find inspiration for his next novel. He is offered a job as the winter caretaker at an isolated hotel in Colorado and he realizes it would be the perfect place for his writing project. He decides to settle in the hotel along with his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and his son Danny (Danny Lloyd) who has some sort of a psychic ability known as the shining. Before the employees of the hotel leave for the winter season they warn Jack to stay away from Room 237 where a terrible murder took place several decades ago. The first person to have terrible visions of the place is Danny, but soon the rest of the family realizes that they aren't the only ones in the hotel. The place begins to take its toll on Jack who slowly begins to go through some sort of transformation that puts the life of his wife and child at risk.

The Shining sets a perfect background for a horror story and Kubrick takes advantage of the screenplay and gives us some spectacular visuals. The symmetry of the images, the inclusion of the color red in most of the scenes, the impressive and claustrophobic maze and hotel corridors set the tone and mood of the film. My main issue had to do with the ghost story and the entire "shining" thing with Danny. Narratively speaking the film has many flaws, but technically it is very well crafted. The only performance I enjoyed here was Jack Nicholson's, but the rest of the cast wasn't really up to par with the movie. I do have to admit that the soundtrack was thrilling. If you leave out the entire ghost thing and realize this really has to do with how isolation can often turn into madness you will appreciate Kubrick's work even more. However, as a horror film this really never managed to scare me or make me feel uneasy so it doesn't really succeed in that level. 

My Review: How Do You Know (5/10)

¨We are all just one small adjustment away from making our lives work.¨

How do you know when you’re in love is one of the questions one of the characters asks in this film. Director James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment, As Good As it Gets) tries to answer that question in this romantic comedy (although I would actually label it as a dramedy) by creating a love triangle, but he fails at really trying to come up with an honest answer. The answer Matty receives to his question is ¨I know that I`m in love when I put on condoms when I´m with other girls.¨ A very superficial answer, which actually fits with this superficial movie. Brooks has directed really good films in the past, but he really missed his mark this time around. There were a few funny moments, some memorable quotes here and there, but the script (written by Brooks himself) was just too weak and the pace too slow. The first hour was torturous for me, I absolutely hated every character and every situation, but the second half of the film built up to a somewhat satisfying ending and tolerable characters. I was really disappointed with this movie because I know James L. Brooks is a very talented director and he always tries to make original movies, and I also liked the cast in this film, but the script was just too weak and the performances felt really awkward and out of place at times. I like the cast, just not how they worked together in this movie. The only positive thing I can say is that at least Brooks tries to make a different kind of romantic comedy with less clichés than most other romcoms.

The story actually centers around Lisa (Reese Witherspoon), a star softball player who has recently been cut from the National team because she will turn 31 by the time the next Olympics take place. Her life revolved entirely around the sport and now she`s at the point of her life where she doesn`t know what step to take next. She has always dated athletes and is currently seeing Matty (Owen Wilson), a professional baseball player both on and off the field. Matty is a star who is used to dating a lot of girls but really doesn’t know anything about relationships. He is clueless and really doesn’t know how to help Lisa, but he does like her a lot and realizes she is different from what he has felt for other girls. Lisa, although hesitant at first, finds comfort in George (Paul Rudd) who loves listening to her and trying to ease her. At first she thinks he`s a weirdo, but later their friendship blossoms. George is going through difficult problems himself, but he puts them aside to try to help Lisa, with whom he`s fallen in love. George is a businessman who has just been indicted from his father`s company. Charles (Jack Nicholson) actually has set up his son to become the target of a federal investigation by falsifying some corporate financial documents. If George takes the blame he will only have to pay a sentence of 2 to 3 years of jail, while Charles would have to face 25 years if his son doesn`t ¨help him out¨. Charles is that kind of father who would let his son take the blame, while George is that kind of son who is too nice and honest and way too ethical to belong in the business world.

My major problem with this movie is that the performances felt too forced at times. I didn’t like Reese Witherspoon in this movie, she was selfish and mean, and really didn’t deserve someone like George who is just way too much of a nice guy. There wasn`t much chemistry between neither of the relationships (Matty-Lisa or Lisa-George). The second half of the film picks up a little and Lisa seems to become nicer, but she really doesn’t seem interested in George`s problems which are really much larger than hers. All she has to deal with is retirement from softball, but that is really all she cared for anyways. George doesn`t seem to mind however, all he likes to do is stare at her. The funniest character in this movie is George`s secretary, Annie (played by Kathryn Hahn) and she steals each scene she`s in. That is a major problem when you have such talented and funny comedians as Jack Nicholson, Paul Rudd, and Owen Wilson. The scene where Annie is giving birth to her child and her boyfriend is proposing to her is one of the best in the movie and the chemistry those two characters have in those three minutes is much stronger than any other one in the film. This distant romance could have used a lot more comedy coming from Owen Wilson and Paul Rudd who should have been given more opportunities to improvise and loosen up.

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My Reviews: One Flew Over the Cuckoo`s Nest

¨ And now they're telling me I'm crazy over here because I don't sit there like a vegetable. Don't make a bit of sense to me. If that's what being crazy is, then I'm senseless, out of it, gone-down-the-road, wacko. But no more, no less, that's it.¨

R. P. McMurphy is one of my favorite movie characters and probably Jack Nicholson`s best role to date (although he has had several great and memorable ones). It is as if he was destined to play this character all along, and will forever be remembered as this over energetic guy trying to help and free his fellow patients from the order, discipline, and boundaries set by his nemesis, Nurse Ratched. The movie may be criticized by a few people for not portraying psychiatric patients truthfully, but that wasn`t the purpose of the story. This is a very smart tragic comedy that focuses on the struggle between a complicated free spirited man (who happens to be a criminal as well) and a very cold, over controlling, and disciplined Nurse who thinks her way is the only right way to do things. She runs the institution like a General who orders his soldiers. Her treatment doesn`t seem to be helping her patients at all, and only seems to refrain them, while McMurphy`s crazy, radical, and anarchic behavior actually improves their well being. A clear example of this is that Nurse Ratched is so blind and focused on doing things her way that she doesn`t even realize that Billy has stopped stuttering. Maybe she did notice it, but since it wasn`t accomplished by her methods she makes sure he goes back to being his usual self by blaming him for his actions. Louise Fletcher gives a terrific performance playing this cold hearted character so well; she isn`t your typical villain who knows is evil and only wants to hurt people, she actually believes that she is right and that her methods are the only ones allowed. The two characters are so different from each other that they just end up complimenting their performance. The reason we love McMurphy so much is because he represents the fight against abusive authority figures, such as Nurse Ratched.

For those who aren`t familiar with the plot I will briefly explain it. R.P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) has been sentenced to prison for several assaults and a rape conviction. The guards have doubts whether or not he is mad and needs mental treatment or is faking it, and therefore is sent to an institution where the doctors can analyze his behavior. Little does McMurphy know that in the ward he is placed at there is even someone more controlling than the prison guards, Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) who runs the place with absolute authority. Among the very submissive patients we have Billy Bibbit (Brad Dourif), who has suicidal impulses, Harding (William Redfield) who suspects his wife cheated on him although he has no believable proof, Charlie Cheswick (Sydney Lassick), Fredrickson (Vincent Schiavelli), Taber (Christopher Lloyd), and Martini (Danny DeVito). McMurphy catches his eye however on Chief Bromden (Will Sampson) because he could be useful to him due to his big size and seems to be outside of everyone else`s radar (including Nurse Ratched) since they say he`s deaf and mute. McMurphy befriends the patients, plays cards with them, basketball, talks about the World Series, and tries to teach them a thing or two about being men (he even finds a way of taking them fishing). He defies the Nurse`s authority and makes a bet with the rest of the patients that he can put an end to her daily hospital routines and break her, but when McMurphy realizes that in the institution he doesn`t have a release date like he would have at prison he tries to find a way to escape.

 One Flew Over the Cuckoo`s Nest is a classic that has enjoyed success ever since its debut in 1975 , and it continues to be beloved by movie fans around the world today (it ranks at #9 on the IMDB Top 250 Films of all time). It was actually only the second film to date to win the grand slam of Oscars: Best direction (Milos Forman), Best Actor (Jack Nicholson), Best Actress (Louise Fletcher), Best Screenplay (Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman), and Best Picture (Saul Zaentz and Michael Douglas). The screenplay was adapted from Ken Kesey`s novel and he wrote after his own personal experience when he volunteered to work at a Veteran Hospital in California. The screenplay took a different approach (so much so that Kesey sewed the film and has refused to watch the final cut,) in the novel the Chief narrates the story. The film will be remembered for its very memorable characters, and there are several great scenes in the movie (when McMurphy narrates the imaginary World Series game to the guys, when he takes them fishing, his confrontations with Nurse Ratched), but it will also be esteemed for the very climatic and powerful ending. This is truly a great film and has stood the test of time. This is a must see movie.

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