RON HOWARD                                 

                                                                 Part 3

Herewith the third and final article about director Ron Howard. At only 66 he still has lots of good movies in him. And actually he just completed Hillbilly Elegy, which will be out soon. And Thirteen Lives is now in pre–production.

Rush (2013) is worth watching for the car race action alone. It is based on the real life duel between Brit James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Austrian Nikki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) rivals who between them practically owned Formula One racing in the 1970's. I do not know of a better car race movie. The racing cinematography is just superb. And the personal stories of the two drivers is engaging. 

Edtv (1999) is a terrific idea with a terrific cast: Matthew McConahaughey, Woody Harrelson, Ellen DeGeneres, Sally Kirkland, Martin Landau, Rob Reiner and Dennis Hopper. True TV is a failing network determined to make a comeback with a show about the daily life of a real person: Ed. For a while he is too boring and the show goes nowhere. Then he meets Shari and sparks fly. Also ratings. The plot meanders a bit but gets back on track toward the finish. 

The Missing (2003) is a pale imitation of John Ford’s The Searchers. Tommy Lee Jones and Cate Blanchett do their best in a story of white girls kidnaped by Indians to be sold into slavery in Mexico. The film is about the attempt to rescue the girls. 

Backdraft (1991) is about as close as a movie is going to get to the real life of firefighters. Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Robert DeNiro, Donald Sutherland and Jennifer Jason Leigh head a stellar cast. The story involves an arsonist and city hall budget cuts, and is fine. But the real reason to watch is the incredible cinematography of the fires. The 2019 sequel is not really worth your time. 

Parenthood (1989) stars Steve Martin, Mary Steenburgen, Rick Moranis and Dianne Wiest in a clever film about a family facing the challenge of an unwed daughter’s pregnancy and a father with too much on his plate. It is funnier than this sounds, and good enough to be made into two tv sitcoms (1990 and 2010).

      Ron Howard has adapted three Dan Brown novels to the silver screen, beginning with The DaVinci Code in 2006. Ir’s the worst of the three, and even Tom Hanks can’t save the murky plot. Angels And Demons is a sequel and slightly better than the first one. Tom Hanks is back chasing a mysterious outfit in the Vatican. Inferno (2016) is a stand-alone with Tom Hanks looking for clues in the work of Dante. None of these three are really bad. Nor are they terribly good.

All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.