Reviews
Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam (1995)
A flawed, but fascinating example of investigative reporting.
I've never "loved" anything that Nick Broomfield has done, but I certainly love him as a documentarian. He has a unique, and very obtrusive style of filmmaking that forces the viewer to follow his line of thinking. This, as one might surmise has advantages and disadvantages, and indeed the flaws in this otherwise fascinating documentary are mostly from his style.
On the other hand, it's a fitting style to use as he does his investigative reporting trying to get the inside scoop on the whole Heidi Fleiss affair, and just what exactly was going on between the cast of characters involved.
I haven't seen such a collection of manipulative, shady characters in one place in a very long time. It's particularly fun watching a former Madam and a former (or are they still together?) lover of Fleiss exchange insults and spin intricate lies about each other and their roles in her life.
Part of what allows this to come out is Broomfield's follow-up style. He interviews one person, then another, then often goes back to a previous interviewee to get their reaction to what someone else said. It's an inevitable, but still ingenious structure that helps to involve the viewer.
At the same time, there does come a point when all this lying becomes tiresome. But just when you think you've had enough, Broomfield finally scores an interview with Fleiss herself, which rather than clearing things up, only adds to the confusion. It's a wonderful scene, and true to form, things don't end there, as Broomfield once again returns to certain people to try and put the pieces together.
OVERALL SCORE: B
Jawbreaker (1999)
A 90's version of "Heather," minus the wit and daring.
Hollywood has a common practice of trying to duplicate its successes. While practically every post-80's teen film is a descendant of the John Hughes sap-fest "The Breakfast Club," there was never a big rush to come out with "Heathers" clones. Though it gave us one of the first in-depth inside looks at the popular crowd, it also tackled the taboo of suicide. Perhaps this is why its influence has been more subtle than mere cloning.
While "Heathers," one of the best teen films ever made, never gets beneath the surface and really examines the dark side of high school, at least it tried, which is more than I can say for "Jawbreakers."
This is a film that is a direct descendant from the aforementioned dark comedy, even borrowing exact shots from "Heathers." It's a 90's version, which here, essentially equates to being "darker."
Indeed, "Jawbreaker" is so politically incorrect (like the quip about "the Karen Carpenter" table) and so outrageous, it is in some ways darker than its predecessor. However, there's no depth or purpose behind all the cruelty, other than mining laughs and upping the shock factor. Most of all, there is hardly any wit, and even less actual humor, which was what helped made "Heathers" such a comic delight.
If there's any redemption here, it's found in the form of Rose McGowan whose cruelty is often jaw-dropping. She seems to be having a lot of fun here, despite the fact that she and everyone else in the cast, really aren't given much to do.
Directed by John Ford (1971)
Bogdanovich's documentary tries to analyze Ford's work, and provide anecdotal insights of the great director.
Made the same year Peter Bogdanovich created his masterpiece, "The Last Picture Show," one might expect great things from this somewhat unconventional documentary on John Ford. After all, how wrong can one go with interview footage of John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, and the director himself? And if that's not enough "star power," consider that no less than Orson Welles narrates. But things often go horribly wrong in this uneven, inconsistent work that's more of a random, love-letter to the director, than an insightful peek into his world.
Rather than tell the story of his life, Bogdonavich focuses on the work of John Ford. In fact, he relies heavily on film footage. It isn't all the typical sound-bite clip one comes to expect from documentaries, but often long scenes, or sequences of scenes. This works well sometimes, but all too often, the clip is simply longer than it needs to be. It makes its point, and then keeps going, and going, and going. This wouldn't be so bad if Bogdanovich, a former film critic, put more commentary into the scenes, but he usually doesn't.
Then there is the interview footage, the real reason to watch. There are some wonderful anecdotes and insights here, but they are too often constructed in disjointed, dare I say, amateurish ways.
Indeed, the whole film is inconsistent. It lacks focus, and shifts rather uneasily from one way of looking at things to another. Taken as isolated pieces, such as the the way it surveys the historical scope of Ford's work, it's wonderful, but as a whole, it's potential is never realized.
If anyone is to get anything out of this, one would probably have to possess some familiarity with the work of Ford. As a fan of the great director, I certainly found this worthwhile, but too sloppy. Those unfamiliar with Ford's work will probably find nothing of interest here, and their time would be better spent watching the actual works of Ford, than this work about Ford.