randal_helm Reviews

The Prime Gig (2000)

Some of you shouldn't be here....

[8/10 · 3 December 2005]

If you are one of the people that complained that the "plot was all over the place", then you are complaining that it wasn't predictable enough for you. Frankly, I almost always find that if a movie cheesed you off enough for you to pan it, like giving it 1-5 stars, then it was successful.

I don't write bad move reviews, I don't bother. I toss them away, and don't think about them again. If you are drawn in enough to be disappointed, it was a good movie. Talk about the moral or ethical decisions that bothered you, that AFFECTED you, but don't blame the movie. You felt something didn't you? Then it was a good movie.

Now if you don't like this movie, or movies like Lost in Translation, or Crash, or Sideways, etc., I'm sure that there is something with Lindsey Lohan/Hilary Duff/Tom Arnold/Hugh Grant playing or in a video store near you.

Needless to say, I thought the acting was great, the story compelling, and the ambiguity/moral dilemmas realistic. Life isn't black or white, and the good guy and the bad guy can be the same guy. The ending that everyone's complaining about is what took this from a pretty good to must see. I guess I can be thankful that most people don't want to have to think when they are being entertained by the lights and pretty colors, because I was able to pickup this DVD for about $2 on Amazon.

Its a sin that a good movie goes for $2, but Guess Who is $3.21...

Fresh Horses (1988)

Vastly Underrated and Under-Mentioned Flick

[8/10 · 13 February 2005]

I saw this movie in the theater when it first came out. I was in love with Ringwald at the time as she was(and is still if the laws of physics still apply) about 5 years older than me. I really liked it then, and have been trying to get this on DVD for years.

I was afraid that the film wouldn't be as good as I remembered, and it wasn't in the WAY that I remembered, but it was BETTER in ways that I didn't have the experience or maturity to appreciate at the time.

While aspects of the film are dated, namely the syrupy, St. Elmo's Fire-ish theme song in the opening/closing credits, it held up surprisingly well. The only thing that keeps me from giving this higher marks is the unfortunate 80's gloss that works so well for the John Hughes films, but keeps this one from transcending the rat-pack genre.

If this film were made today, it would never be filmed or sold as a "box-office" film, but would rather go through Sundance, IFC, etc., and the style would be more raw, more gritty. By and large though, that just didn't happen with "Teen Stars" in the 80's, and I'm amazed they got this film made at all! Also, for the people who don't seem to get the "Fresh Horses" reference, my take on it is not definitive, but there is a line where Ben Stiller is talking to Matt (McCarthy) and says something to the effect of letting a tired horse go, and getting a "fresh horse" in reference to dropping Jewel.

It seemed to me that the metaphor was that while the characters all cared about each other, each relationship("horse") had more selfish/cynical motivations behind them. In effect, the relationships were being used to move themselves from one-point to another towards their goals/desires, whether or not they themselves understood or acknowledged them.

Ringwald uses McCarthy to get out of her marriage, McCarthy uses Ringwald to get out of his engagement, Stiller seems to use his friendship with McCarthy to avoid growing up and getting serious, McCarthy seems to be trying to fulfill an image of himself as a white-knight, though he finds that he doesn't have the character, he also seems to need the superiority he feels over Jewel due to her lack of education and so on....

Unfortunately for most(it seems!), the movie required you to do a little thinking, and probably drew the wrong crowd due to its co-stars, who were maybe expecting Pretty in Pink II, or Pretty In Pink "for adults", but I do not agree with that view of the movie.

If you haven't seen it, give it a shot. Just go in with a blank slate and take it as it comes....