SEAN CONNERY

                                                           Part 2

Here are five more good movies starring the late great Sean Connery. 

Connery convincingly plays the renegade Berber chieftain Raisuli in the adventurous The Wind And The Lion (1975). Britain, Germany and France are all trying to get a piece of 1904 Morocco. Raisuli kidnaps Eden Pedecaris and her two children in an effort to force out the corrupt Sultan (don’t ask). There’s a botched exchange of the kidnap victims and Raisuli is betrayed by a confederate. President Theodore Roosevelt gets into the game and winds up admiring the Berber. Based on a true incident? Uh, no. 

The Man Who Would Be King (1975) is based on a Kipling adventure story. Sean Connery plays Danny Dravot. He and companion soldier Peachy Carnehan (Michael Caine) trek to faraway Kafiristan where they help the natives with modern weapons and tactics to defeat their enemies. When an arrow hits Danny but is stopped by his leather bandolier the natives then think he is a god and make him their king. He loves the adulation, and wants to meet Queen Victoria as an equal ruler. 

A Bridge Too Far (1977) is a film too long. Good lord, what a cast: Sean Connery, James Caan, Michael Caine, Edward Fox, Dirk Bogarde, Elliot Gould, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, etc, etc. And that is the problem. Too many names, all of whom have to have screen time. The story of an allied attempt to land paratroopers behind German lines and secure needed bridges is a good one. Just 4 minutes short of three hours, it’s pretty good if you have a comfortable chair. Sean Connery is quite good as British Major General Urquart. 

The Great Train Robbery (1978) is the best of several films about an amazing and complicated heist. Sean Connery is gentleman thief Edward Pierce. He recruits a specialized gang to rob a large and heavily guarded gold shipment. Every time there’s a hump to get over, the gang seems to rise to the occasion. The ending is quite good and this is a fun movie. Author Michael Crichton adapted the screenplay from his novel and also directs. 

Sean Connery’s only Oscar (for Best Supporting Actor) came from The Untouchables (1987) in which he plays Jim Malone, part of a police squad gathered by Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner). Their principal task is to take down mobster kingpin Al Capone. Their moniker comes from the fact they are immune from the corruption surrounding law enforcement in Chicago. Unable to pin any of Capone’s more violent crimes on him, they go after his tax returns and discover a way to get to him. The way forward is not easy, and many of the incorruptible group are killed. There’s plenty of action and a neat ending. 

All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups. Next time, the third and final installment about Sean Connery films. 

                                                            SEAN CONNERY

                                                            Part 1

Many actors have done a fine job of portraying James Bond; Daniel Craig, Pierce Brosnan and Roger Moore to name a few. But there’s only one Bond- Sean Connery.

No one else could lift that eyebrow or say “shaken, not stirred”, like the wily Scot. Well, nothing lasts forever and Connery bid this vale of tears farewell at the great age of 90.

And while Bond was his signature role he had lots of others. Since the Bond movies tend to have the same basic plot, I’m going to skip them. They are fun, though!

That leaves me with only 15 or so good movies to write about. So this is going to be the first of probably three articles about the late great Sean. I am, of course, up for that. I’m going to go chronologically starting with the earliest.

Marnie (1964) features Tippi Hedren in the title role and Sean Connery as wealthy Mark Rutland. Marnie seems a really bad girl who steals money here and there. Mark falls in love with her, tries to pay off her victims, and straighten her out. Her past is revealed in a layered fashion in an attempt to explain her sticky fingers. Not director Alfred Hitchcock at the top of his game, but pretty good. 

In The Hill (1965) Sean Connery is Joe Roberts, a British soldier sent to a British detention camp in desert Libya. The camp is run by sadistic officers bent on breaking the prisoners. The hill of the title is a manmade thing which only exists to torture the prisoners. The sadistic officers make them run up it over and over. Roberts becomes something of a hero to the other men because he refuses to knuckle under.

Connery plays completely against type in A Fine Madness (1966) and he aces it. He is Samson Shillitoe, a failed poet with severe writer’s block. This does not, however, affect his attraction to various women. He spends time in a sanitarium where he is subjected to a risky operation, which has no effect on his temper or writer’s block. But he does meet and bed more ladies.

The Anderson Tapes (1971) is one of the first films to include various kinds of  clandestine and open surveillance. Sean Connery  plays Duke Anderson, a safe-cracker just released from prison. He plans to rob an entire apartment building and rounds up a group of miscreants to help him. Unknown to the gang, the whole operation is being watched and recorded from the beginning by the IRS, the FBI, a private detective and others. By the time the gang is ready to leave with their loot, the place is completely surrounded by the police and a shootout leaves most of them dead. 

Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express is a delightful romp that keeps you guessing unless you already know the answer. You won’t get it from me. The 1964 version is quite good with Sean Connery as Col. Arbuthnot.  A whole bunch of train passengers are stalled over night by a track blockage and daylight reveals that one of them was murdered. The 2017 version is, I think, equally good. If you’ve never seen either, or read the book, you will enjoy the story.

All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups. More Sean Connery films next time. 

                                                    COMING FULL CIRCLE

I love movies with lots of different plot lines that somehow come together against all expectations. The only trouble with writing about them is that it is hard not to give away how the various threads are finally woven together. 

At least one of them has won a Best Picture Oscar and so I’ll start with Crash (2004). Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle and Matt Dillon lead a fine cast through a rather complex plot involving race relations, bad and error-prone cops and mistaken identities. The screenplay also won Oscar and the complications are worth staying on board to get the payoff. 

Babel (2006) is a terrific film that keeps you guessing as to how all these plot lines intersect. An accident connects four groups of people on three different continents: two young Moroccan goatherds, a vacationing American couple (Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett), a deaf Japanese teen and her father, and a Mexican nanny who takes her young charges across a border without parental permission. The title reminds one of the biblical tower, and miscommunication is one of the main plot lines. The movie was nominated for seven Oscars, but won only for Best Original Score. 

Look Both Ways (2005) is a splendid Australian film with a mostly unknown cast.  Reporter Nick discovers he has cancer, and on his way to cover a train accident he encounters Meryl, who witnessed the event.  Nick’s colleague,  Andy, has to deal with his ex-wife’s refusal to believe he can properly care for their children. The train victim’s wife and the driver of the train are grieving and trying to get on with life. The ending of this film brought tears to my eyes. 

Mother and Child (2009) has a good story and a crackerjack cast: Samuel L. Jackson (you can’t get away from him!), Naomi Watts, Annette Bening and Kerry Washington are as good as expected. The film involves adopted children, attempts to reconnect, lots of twists and turns and a fine ending. 

Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic (2000) features interwoven stories about the drug trade in America and elsewhere. Benecio Del Toro, Catherine Zeta Jones, Michael Douglas and Don Cheadle head the cast. Soderberg, always the innovator, uses different color grades for each story so it’s easy to tell them apart. There are other movies named Traffic, but I can recommend only this one. 

Syriana (2005) completes my list. The Middle Eastern oil industry is the backdrop of this tense drama, which weaves together numerous story lines. Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) is an American lawyer in charge of facilitating a dubious merger of oil companies, while Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon), a Switzerland-based energy analyst, experiences both personal tragedy and opportunity during a visit with Arabian royalty. Meanwhile, veteran CIA agent Bob Barnes (George Clooney) uncovers an assassination plot with unsettling origins. You will not see the end coming.

All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults. If you can think of any other movies that fit this rather limited category, I would appreciate an email advising.

 

                                                    HANDICAPPING THE OSCARS

America, Hollywood, and especially the Motion Picture Academy, are absolutely head-over-heels in love with movies about people overcoming severe disabilities. At least 10 Oscars have been awarded to the actors who undertake these difficult roles. At Academy Award time, always bet on the gimper.

The most recent winner was Brit Eddie Redmayne, who won the gold for his incredible performance as world-famous physicist Stephen Hawking in The Theory Of Everything (2014).  Hawking had late-stage ALS and could only communicate through a computer program. He was confined to a wheelchair for many years. Mr. Redmayne’s portrayal is astonishing. 

In Rain Man (1988), Dustin Hoffman is spectacularly good as an idiot-savant who has few social skills and the common sense of a tree, but who can instantly compute square roots in his head. Tom Cruise is equally good as his cynical brother, and their mutual voyage of discovery make this film a must-see.

Daniel Day-Lewis catapulted to stardom as Irish author Christy Brown, severely afflicted with cerebral palsy, in My Left Foot (1989). Brenda Fricker and Ray McAnally are just right as his unsentimental and bewildered parents. This is a superb film with excellent performances that gently teaches us not to be so concerned with peoples’ appearances, but to look within (them and us!).

In the enigmatic and deliberately weird The Piano (1993) Holly Hunter’s affliction is constant but entirely self-inflicted. She is mute by choice. She is sent to an arranged marriage in a strange New Zealand locale. Her ability to convey emotion with just her face and body language is absolutely amazing. Sam Neill as her husband, Anna Pacquin as her daughter, and the always dependable Harvey Keitel as her Maori lover help make this film something altogether different and fascinating.

      Cliff Robertson had a good career as a conventionally handsome and unspectacular journeyman actor, but his moment in the sun came in Charly (1968). He is severely mentally retarded. An experimental drug instantly lifts him to mental brilliance, but gradually wears off. His ability to convey the nuances the part requires is convincing and frankly surprising. And he copped the Best Actor Oscar. This film is better than the similar Awakenings (1990), 

Tom Hanks made the dim-witted but ebullient Forest Gump (1994) a national icon. Forest is a good old boy whose elevator stops well short of the penthouse, but he is solid as a rock and the things he can do far outweigh his deficiencies. By turns serious and funny, but never preachy, this remarkable film won every award in sight and deserved them all. Sally Field as his long-suffering mother and Gary Sinise as his damaged friend add to the enjoyment. 

I’ll also mention Jamie Foxx, who won for the blind Ray Charles in Ray (2004), and Colin Firth, overcoming a debilitating speech impediment in The King’s Speech (2010).

My limited research failed to find a Best Actor nominee with a handicap who lost the award. 

All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are suitable for 12-year-olds and up.

                                                               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. 

                                                                RON HOWARD

                                                                 Part 2

This is the second of three articles about the incredible directorial career of Ron Howard. Not only was he Andy Griffith’s son Opie, as a teenager he was Richie Cunningham on Happy Days. Then he went behind the camera.

Howard’s expertise as a documentary director was evident in last year’s Pavoratti. The film  documents the career of Luciano Pavorotti, perhaps the world’s greatest tenor. Even if you don’t like opera much (me neither!) you will love this film. The singing is just super and he was one heck of a guy. Generous almost to a fault, he spread his talent and money freely. And Lord, what a voice!  Howard does a super job highlighting the personal and the profound about this iconic artist. 

Another really good documentary helmed by Ron Howard is The Beatles: 8 Days A Week (2016). From their beginnings in a smoky Liverpool dive to international stars at the absolute pinnacle of the music world is well chronicled here. Howard again successfully mixes the personal and the public face of the Fab Four. 

Frost/Nixon (2008) isn’t really a documentary but plays like one. It recreates the famous confrontational interviews between disgraced ex-President Richard Nixon and British reporter David Frost. The gloves are off in this one. Actually, Nixon comes across pretty well considering. Younger viewers won’t remember much of this, which is fine. Those near my age will find some deja vu here. Both the movie and Howard were nominated for Oscar, but neither won. 

Perhaps the movie that best captures the newspaper business is The Paper (1994). Michael Keaton, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall and Randy Quaid lead a brilliant cast in this Ron Howard-directed vehicle about the problems on a big-city daily. About midway through the press run a terrible mistake is discovered. This film is way over the top, but somewhat accurate on the newspaper details and fun to watch if you don’t stop to think. As an old newspaper guy, I greatly admire this film.

In Ransom (1996) Ron Howard displays his directing chops in an action-packed thriller. Mel Gibson plays Tom Mullen, a millionaire whose son, Sean, is kidnaped. Mullen turns the tables on the kidnapers by offering the ransom amount of two million dollars as a bounty on the heads of the kidnapers, and that he will withdraw the bounty and drop all charges if the bad guys release Sean unharmed. Then it gets complicated. 

The true story of the U.S. whaler Essex, which was attacked by a sperm whale in 1820, is the subject of In The Heart Of The Sea (2015) a spectacular film about men against the sea and its creatures. As the ship loses all means of locomotion, starvation and sickness sets in and death seems inevitable. It is fairly well established that Herman Melville based Moby Dick on this incident. 

All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults. Coming soon: Part 3 of the films of Ron Howard. 

                                                                      RON HOWARD

                                                             Part One

He was perhaps the most beloved child in America, and it’s pretty obvious that for years many of Hollywood’s heavy hitters couldn’t shake the image of Ron Howard as little Opie Taylor on the Andy Griffith Show. That might account for the fact that he was nominated for a directorial Oscar for the first time for A Beautiful Mind (2001), despite several previous stellar efforts. Well, at least Mr. Howard won that year, and his film won Best Picture.

A Beautiful Mind is one terrific movie! Russell Crowe is just fantastic as John Nash, a brilliant but deeply disturbed mathematician who in fact won the Nobel Prize despite his handicap. Jennifer Connelly grabbed her own Oscar as Nash’s long-suffering wife. This is a director’s movie, and Mr. Howard gets every ounce out of the story. 

Since that triumph, Mr. Howard has directed Russell Crowe and Rene Zellwegger in Cinderella Man (2005), a much underrated film about the incredible comeback of heavyweight boxer James Braddock. 

Ron Howard’s achievement in directing Apollo 13 (1995) is considerable, because everyone in the world knows the ending- Apollo 13 did not crash and burn, but returned safely to earth. And yet, this is one of the most edge-of-your-seat, suspense-filled movies ever made. A stellar cast includes Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise and Ed Harris. The special effects are totallly convincing. And this movie will leave you gasping in spite of yourself! Yet the 1995 directing Oscar went to Mel Gibson for Braveheart. Oh, please...

Cocoon (1986) is a real charmer and Ron Howard ably directs a cast of older actors, including Don Ameche (Oscar, Best Supporting Actor), Hume Cronyn, Wilford Brimley, Brian Dennehy and Jack Gilford. Florida senior citizens discover a real fountain of youth, and the results are not always expected but are always funny and entertaining. 

Tom Hanks connects with Ron Howard again in the clever and winning Splash (1984) with Daryl Hannah as a real mermaid who is found in the city by Mr. Hanks. He falls for her, and what to do with and for her becomes his joy and his plague, and great entertainment for us. 

Ron Howard’s first big hit was the underrated Night Shift (1982) with Henry Winkler (The Fonz!) as a quiet introvert working in a morgue because of the stillness, and Michael Keaton as his manic, off-the-wall assistant who hatches a wild plot to use their workplace as a brothel. . 

All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. All are suitable for kids 12 and up. This is the first of three planned articles about this great director. Watch this space!