Glengarry Glen Ross (James Foley, USA, 1992) August 11, 2006
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Comedy, 1990s, Drama, Film reviews , add a commentDir. James Foley; screenplay by David Mamet; starring Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey, Alec Baldwin, Jonathan Pryce
One word to sum up this brilliant film: captivating. From its opening shot of Jack Lemmon and Ed Harris in the adjacent phone booths, to the closing credits, Foley’s film grips its audience and demands your full and unwavering attention.
Mamet’s scintillating script of desperate men and the bottom line, of commerce and life, of winning and losing, needs no superlatives attached to it – it’s already won a Pulitzer Prize in its first incarnation as a theatrical play. Yet here it is given a defining life, immortalised on film by some fabulous performances. Not only do we get hard-talking Ed Harris and the hilarious Alan Arkin, but Al Pacino and Jack Lemmon sparring off each other like they were born to work together.
Bringing Out The Dead (Martin Scorsese, 1999) August 7, 2006
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : 1990s, Drama, Film reviews, Crime , add a commentDir. Martin Scorsese; screenplay by Paul Schrader; starring Nicolas Cage, John Goodman, Ving Rhames, Tom Sizemore, Patricia Arquette
What immediately interested me with Scorsese’s 1999 film was the contrast between the drugs den and the hospital. One was dirty and claustrophobic, a place where legal drugs didn’t appear to be saving many lives. The other was calm, quiet; a place where illegal drugs seemed to be making people forget about how terrible or troubled their lives were, enabling them to step outside of themselves and have a moment of peace. It’s just another example of how Scorsese has mastered the art of taking a piece of real life and turning it on its head - changing one’s perceived assumptions.
Certainly, Scorsese delivers again with this film but given his amazing body of work it’s difficult to rate Bringing Out The Dead as one of his best. The direction and editing are second to none, but Schrader’s formulaic character arc begins to show wear and tear after the ninety minute mark where the film could have been cut down a little. The supporting cast are superb, especially Ving Rhames, and Cage maintains the audience’s attention even if he’s perhaps a little one-note.