What is that crass toast Wallace makes in The Wrong Trousers? “Here’s to paying guests?” Well, here’s to paying work. My review of Middle Men for MSN Movies is up, hope you like it.
"Middle Men"
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I have to admit, that “nuance” line you quoted sort of makes me want to see the film.
I have to admit, the “particular streak of Puritanism” you mentioned makes want to see the film less than I previously had. By the way, I really liked Wise Guys.
I would have commented over there, Glenn, but they didn’t seem to make that option easy.
Anyway, a thoughtful review as always. And obviously the film is faux-Marty, although I thought less of “Casino” (which always played to me as a metaphor for “how the corporations screwed Hollywood” – right down to DeNiro’s Wasserman-like eyeglasses) than “Goodfellas” (which, of course, is about “how a straight guy goes crooked, willingly.”)
That latter theme, I think – and big risk here, that assumption – was Gallo’s real intention.
Although if so, as you point out, it’s hampered from the start – because, as we’re shown, the Harris character has been on the fringes of the mob from the start. Yes, Sorvino can embrace Liotta with “You lost your cherry!” But what innocence does this fellow have to lose? And what exactly is he risking? (His home life never looked all that ideal to me, even when it was supposed to.)
I truly liked Wilson in this (in another life he would have been a singing cowboy, on ’50s TV). And the opening masturbation montage has to join the opening breast-exam montage of “Please Give” as the weirdest starts to studio movies this year.
But the rest of the actors seemed to be making an all-you-can-eat buffet out of the scenery. And halfway through the film? All I wished was that I was watching “Boogie Nights” instead.
LAURA RAMSEY
MMMMMMMM.
God I love CASINO. I love it even more than GOODFELLAS, both for its Eisensteinian scope and for the one truly great performance Sharon Stone has ever given. I’m just gonna sit back and replay shots from it in my head.
That is all.
Include me among the ‘Casino’-lovers, beginning as spectacularly as it means to go on, with Saul Bass’ title-sequence swansong.
‘The Wrong Trousers’ is another strong contender for being its respective director’s best work, too.
I remember being all “meh” about CASINO, which seemed like a double-clutch on moves well laid out in GOODFELLAS. That “meh” carries well over to Ms. Stone, who displayed far more of her range in things like QUICK AND THE DEAD and (esp.) BROKEN FLOWERS. Small things do stand out in the memory – James Woods’ perf, those Rembrandt-esque portraits of those older capos di tutti – but I’d need to give it a re-watch to see if I am drawn in by any genuine gravity, disturbing or otherwise.
And while not exactly laugh riots and their leaden self-seriousness notwithstanding, I wouldn’t call Nolan’s work entirely laugh-deficient, MEMENTO, and Guy Pearce’s underutilized comic timing, esp. But not there exclusively, neither – didn’t you get the memo?
It took years, but I finally began to understand Casino as separate from GoodFellas, and in some ways, it’s a stronger film. For one thing, Ace Rothstein is a hell of a protagonist for a crime film- an almost robotic personality who approaches everything- his job, his relationships, as a problem to be solved. He’s not Henry Hill at all. In fact, I actually like Rothstein a little bit more than Henry Hill.
Hey, anyone who watches GoodFellas then goes for a drive- ever feel the need to look up for helicopters? Because that happens to me every time I see the movie then get in my car later.
Of course, it could be all the blow I do beforehand, but I really think it’s the movie.
YEP YEP YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.
MIDDLE MEN POWER. Fucking A for AWESOME. This movie is the shit for anyone who likes movies about tits, orgies, coke, porn chicks, hateful women, tweakers, jerking off, BIG SUNGLASSES, Vegas, James Caan, JOHN MOTHERFUCKING ASHTON, FILM GRAIN, amped-up lunacy, more tits, LAURA RAMSAY, JACINDA POWER REAL WORLD POWER, Midnight Run, Russian nightclubs, strippers, blatant thievery of Scorsese, Lord of War, Blow and Wonderland, Giovanni Ribisi being AWESOME, AVN awards, Gabriel Macht in various forms of authentic porn wardrobe and facial hair… and best of all, hollow moralizing at the 11th hour after BASKING in all of the above.
YEP YEP. Between this and Lord Schumacher’s TWELVE, it was the happiest weekend of Lexian Cinema in ages, like four straight hours of good-looking people fucking and getting fucked up, partying, and HOT YOUNG CHICKS.
MIDDLE MEN: A‑minus.
TWELVE: A‑minus
OLD BLACK AND WHITE DATED SHIT: F‑minus.
WILSON POWER. TITS POWER.
@Dan: Goodfellas is a much stronger film than Casino, though Casino certainly has its moments too. Your mention of the ‘Liotta looking for helicopters’ scene means i’m going to have to get ‘fellas back in the DVD player at some point this week.
Middle Men’s opening weekend gross: $305,000
Twelve’s opening weekend gross: $107,000
THEY JUST HAVEN’T GOT THE QC DOWN YET, HAVE THEY?
Thanks Lex, you just saved me $24 that I now don’t need to spend on buying tickets for those two movies.
Through independent scientific research, I hath learned that Paramount launched a sizeable advertising campaign for Middle Men through porn sites. I guess the porn fans didn’t come out in droves like they had hoped. After all, they can just sit home and get porn for free. So, if Paramount refuses to release a NC-17/unrated film because of “company morals”, they won’t have a (third) leg to stand on.