Norman Jewison

                 Part 3

    It’s time to highlight the last great movies of esteemed director Norman Jewison and move on to other topics. All of these are ground-breaking, daring, and good.

A Soldier’s Story (1984) features Black actors in most of the major roles, unusual at the time. Denzel Washington has a supporting role in one of his first big movies. Adolph Caesar was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar but lost to Haing Ngor for The Killing Fields  and the movie itself was nominated for Best, but lost to Amadeus. The plot involves the murder of a black officer and the intricate peeling away of assumptions and prejudices. Howard Rollins portrays Major Davenport, the principal investigator. 

Agnes of God (1985) takes place in a convent where a dead baby is found in the room of a nun (Meg Tilly) who is covered with blood. She denies knowing anything about the conception or death of the baby. The Mother Superior (Anne Bancroft) gets the court to assign psychiatrist Martha Livingston (Jane Fonda) to discover what actually happened. She buys Agnes’ story that she is entirely naive and has no knowledge of carnal things. Bancroft and Tilly received Oscar nominations, but both lost.

Always known for his ability to extract great performances from his cast, Jewison did just that in Moonstruck (1987). Cher, known mostly as a brassy, abrasive singer portrays Loretta, and she is a wonder. Very feminine and winning, Cher steals the movie. Danny Aiello plays her fiance who she doesn’t really love. Nicholas Cage portrays his brother Ronny, and Loretta falls head over heels in lust with him. This time Norman Jewison lost the best directing Oscar to Bertolucci for The Last Emperor. My take on this is that he was robbed. You decide.

The next rabbit pulled out of the directorial hat came in In Country (1989) and here the surprise is Bruce Willis. Basically known as the sardonic lead in the Die Hard movies, here he is just quite excellent as Emmitt Smith, a returned Viet Nam veteran suffering from PTSD. His 17-year-old niece Samantha is played by Brit Emily Lloyd, dead on as a Kentucky teen ager. She dreadfully misses her father who was killed in Viet Nam and wants Emmitt to help her know more about him. Critics hated this film but I liked it a lot. 

And finally there is The Hurricane (1999). This is a splendid biopic about Ruben (Hurricane) Carter, an outstanding middleweight boxer wrongfully convicted of a triple murder in New Jersey. Denzel Washington is, of course, terrific as Carter. After 20 years in prison Carter was finally freed some time after the witness who falsely named him recanted. Denzel was nominated for an Oscar but lost to Kevin Spacey for American Beauty.

All of the films in this article are for grown-ups. Most are out there somewhere on some streaming service or another. For next time, I'm considering Mr. Movie's tops for 2023.

                                                           Norman Jewison

                                                         Part 2

    After 1966, Norman Jewison started knocking out major movies with major themes. While audiences and critics loved them, Hollywood often didn’t. 

In The Heat Of The Night (1967) was a major gamble for everyone involved. Sidney Poitier plays Virgil Tibbs, a top Philadelphia homicide cop. He is visiting his mother in Mississippi when a prominent citizen is found murdered. Police Chief Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger) originally charges Tibbs with the murder. Later he realizes his mistake and releases him. Tibbs is definitely ready to leave for home, but Gillespie convinces him to stay and help with the murder investigation. He does. The film won Best Movie and Best Actor for Rod Steiger. Jewison was nominated for Best Director but lost to Mike Nichols for The Graduate.

The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) features heavy hitters Steve McQueen (as Crown) and Faye Dunnaway (as Vicki Anderson, crack insurance investigator). Crown organizes a multi-million dollar bank heist, scoops up the money from a drop and apparently gets clean away. Vicki is convinced he is the villain and relentlessly pursues him. Romantic sparks complicate her job and Crown adeptly leads her on. There’s a neat surprise ending you won’t find here. There is a 1999 remake with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo which is slightly different and also quite good.

Fiddler on the Roof was a smash Broadway musical, still adored by audicences. Making it into a movie was a challenge. To start with, they used Topol instead of Zero Mostel as Tevye, the main character. And, the play is basically a one-set piece. In 1971 they got Norman Jewison to direct and he did a bang-up job, making the most of what he was dealt. He was nominated for the Oscar, but this time lost to William Friedkin for The French Connection. 

In 1973 Jewison undertook an even more challenging directorial job. Jesus Christ Superstar had also been a huge Broadway hit. It was not a huge success as a movie. The Tim Rice-Andrew Lloyd Weber score stands up well but it just doesn’t come across on the big screen. Most rock-operas don’t film well, and this is no exception. Also the cast is made up of completely unknown actors. 

And Justice For All (1979) is a star vehicle for Al Pacino as an out of control lawyer. The complicated plot involves a crooked judge, a crazy lawyer, and unlikely events. It really requires a suspension of belief, but if you can do that, it’s pretty good. 

All the movies in this article are for adults except Fiddler which is fine for mature children. All of them are probably available on some streaming service. And yes, there are still more Jewison movies to talk about. 

                                                                         Norman Jewison    

                                                                            Part One

    Norman Jewison, a very great director, left this vale of tears recently at the good old age of 97. He was nominated three times for a directing Oscar and won none. He was nominated four times for Best Picture and won once. They finally gave him the Irving Thalberg career (make-up) Oscar in 1999. Really, Hollywood? He was revered for his ability to get good performances from his cast.  His resume’ would make any director proud. Read on!

Forty Pounds of Trouble (1962) stars Tony Curtis as Steve McCluskey, a casino manager and Suzanne Pleshette as Chris Lockwood, his club singer. The title character is Penny Piper (Claire Wilcox), a small girl who is a major handful and is left to the care of Steve and Chris by her gambler father. Penny wants to be a match maker for Steve and Chris. This is one of the few movies filmed in part in Disneyland. With permission, of course. Lightweight, but likeable, with a long chase scene through the park as a highlight. 

The Thrill Of It All (1963) is another slight but successful effort by Jewison. Doris Day and James Garner are a happily married couple with two kids. He is a physician; she is a mom. She is hired to do commercials for Happy Soap which are a huge success. Her career causes problems for the marriage. Modern women will cringe at the ending, but hey, this was sixty years ago!

George Kimball (Rock Hudson) is a hopeless hypochondriac. On a routine check-up visit he hears his doctor on the phone describing a patient with only a few weeks to live. He believes the doc means him. So, he sets out with his best friend Arnold (Tony Randall- always the best friend!) to find a suitable husband for his wife Judy (Doris Day). Not the best idea for a movie ever, but an okay rom-com. Send Me No Flowers (1964) because George isn’t even sick, much less terminal.

In The Cincinnati Kid (1965) Steve McQueen is Eric Stoner, the title “kid”, an up and coming poker player from New Orleans. He discovers that Lancey Howard, reputedly the best player in America and known as The Man, is in town. Of course a legendary high-stakes game ensues. On the final hand of five-card stud, The Kid has a full house. Good enough? Watch and see. Jewison said this film enabled him to move on from lightweight comedies. 

Well, it isn’t lightweight but it sure is a comedy: The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966) is absolutely hilarious and a good if unlikely story. A Russian sub ventures too close to the New England coast because the captain wants to see what America looks like. The sub runs aground and is stranded. A team of Russian sailors are sent inland to find a boat to tow the sub. Alan Arkin, in his first big part, is Alexi, leader of the expedition. The funniest scene happens when the Russian sailors steal some clothes from a dry cleaner and try to convince the residents to help them. The do not speak great English. 

All of the movies in this article are ok for all ages except Cincinnati Kid. Norman Jewison now enters the heavy hitter director category. Stay tuned!

                                                           Tom Wilkinson

                                                                Part 3

Perhaps you thought I was done with Tom Wilkinson after two articles. Nope. There’s actually lots more. Boy, could he pick his spots!

The Ghost Writer (2010) features Ewan McGregor as the unnamed title man hired to write the biography of a former British Prime Minister, Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan). Complications involve shady dealings by the subject and the gradual revealing of Harvard Law Professor Paul Emmett (Wilkinson) as a clandestine CIA agent, inextricably tied to the people in the life of Lang and his family. Does the ghost writer find out too much? Watch and find out!

In The Conspirator (2010) Mary Suratt is accused of being among the conspirators to assassinate President Lincoln. Her defense is first attempted by former Attorney General Reverdy Johnson (Wilkinson), but he believes he cannot do justice to her defense because he is from the South. He convinces young attorney Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy) to take over her defense. He reluctantly does so, and eventually believes she is innocent. Not giving away any more.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) is just a really good time at the movies! It stars Dev Patel (from Slumdog Millionaire) as the proprietor of a run-down hotel in India. His advertisements lure several upper crust Brits to decide this is the place to retire to. Tom Wilkinson is a retired judge and one of the residents. Also on board are Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, and Bill Nighy. While the Brits quickly discover the hotel is not as advertised, they decide to stick it out and adventures ensue. 

Does Tom Wilkinson look one bit like LBJ? Nope, but in Selma (2014) he will convince you that he is LBJ in this film about that famous march across that famous bridge. Pretty historically accurate, this movie portrays that bit of history quite well. With a lot of cast members you never heard of, it convinces us that Dr. King was both brave and prescient about this iconic moment. 

The Catcher Was A Spy (2018) is not as good as it should have been. Moe Berg, a journeyman major league catcher, uses his trips to Japan and Germany to spy for the OSS (Now CIA). He provides valuable information to the United States about war preparations, locations and munitions as he barnstorms with his team. Tom Wilkinson has an admittedly small role in this one as Paul Schrerrer, one of the many contacts Berg uses to help the war effort. 

All of the films in this article are for grown-ups. You can actually find most of them somewhere if you want to.