Date: Saturday, August 1 2015
Time: 2:20pm
Location: Pocono Movieplex
Party: 3 (my mom, sister and myself)
Cast:
Brenner- Adam Sandler
Cooper- Kevin James
Ludlow- Josh Gad
Fireblaster- Peter Dinklage
Violet- Michelle Monaghan
Lady Lisa- Ashley Benson
Director: Chris Columbus (Harry Potter, Step-Mom, Mrs. Doubtfire)
Based on a short film by Patrick Jean
Duration: 106 minutes (+ 3? previews)
Write-up:
Opening Remarks
When we first arrived, the theater was empty and the previews had already begun. By the time the opening credits started, a family or two filed in behind us and laughed along with us. Granted, the laughs were few, but we all were kind of on the same ride.
I mentioned on previous reviews that I looked forward to this movie based on the trailer alone. Thought it was going to be one of the biggest nerdgasms EVER-- seeing old 80's video games come to life, even if they were here to kill us.
Then we found out that it was this year's Adam Sandler/Happy Madison production...
Much Ado about Adam Sandler
I've reviewed Adam Sandler twice already. "50 first dates" was my favorite of his chick-flick movies (and my favorite Drew Barrymore movie). And he was great in "Spanglish" as a dramatic actor, but he wasn't the biggest draw of the movie.
Nowadays, when you hear he's attached to a movie, there's a collective GROAN and echo of "How does this idiot kept getting movies made?"
The only logical answer: he's lucky enough to have his own production company. Happy Madison is named after two of his successful 90's movies: Billy Madison & Happy Gilmore.
His brand of comedy, I'll call, PG-obnoxiousness, idiocy and self-deprecation. Those two films succeeded because they were well-written and dealt from an emotional core.
But all the latest movies he'd put together, the "Grown Ups" movies, "Jack & Jill," etc., his brand of comedy has gotten so ridiculously blown out of proportion... :sigh:
What's the point of all this?
While the comedy of this movie was good, the fact Adam Sandler was attached to it pretty much doomed it to fail. No matter how cool the special effects are. In fact, it might have been worth to see this in 3D for the Centipede and Pac-Man sequences.
But I'm getting ahead of myself...
Story
We start in 1982.
Seth Gordon being one of the executive producers was a smart move if only for this opening scene-- he's behind "The Goldbergs," an ABC sitcom set in the 80's, which I LOVE as someone who loves the 80's.
So in 1982, we see younger versions of our four male leads participate in an Arcade Game tournament. Eddie aka "Fireblaster" is the egomaniac champ with an entourage and he winds up psyching Adam Sandler out in the final round (Donkey Kong), taking the trophy.
Also to remember in this tournament: it will be videotaped and sent into space by NASA.
In the present, all of our gamers have more or less become losers... although it is pretty cool that Adam Sandler knows how to install big screen TV's and video game systems. His electronic talents haven't gone completely to waste.
For whatever ungodly reason, Kevin James becomes our next president and he happens to one trying to promote literacy when his reading level is in the basement. I don't know about you, but any universe where Kevin James is president has me worrying about our future.
As it turns out, the videotape we sent into space, an alien race took that as a declaration of war and sent all these video game characters to Earth to destroy us.
Challenges are issued rather cleverly, combining 80's celebrity icons with Bad Lip Reading. The department of defense even says that anyone could have done that with their computers to create a hoax... they can do it, they have the technology...
But the threat soon enough becomes credible and the so-called losers finally get to use their video-gaming skills for something important.
Characters and Actors
First of all, it is so nice to not have Sean Bean die in this. He plays the Colonel in charge of the army.
Michelle Monaghan, who I'd praised in my "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" review, holds her own here as the army's Lieutenant and the first scene she and Adam Sandler share together is pretty funny. But I'd have to agree with another review I read (written by a woman I'm willing to bet is a feminist): she isn't given enough to do and her character is more or less confined to female stereotypes. (What I didn't agree with was her harping about no strong female characters in this movie... speaking as a woman myself, I'm sorry, but we can't always have that luxury. Besides, it's not as if girls played video games in the 80's... that I know of..).
Another review said Adam Sandler was on auto-pilot throughout this. I didn't think he was all that bad, compared to the recent movies I refused to watch based on their trailers. But I was in this movie more for the different "levels" and "challenges" than him.
If any actors stood out, it was Josh Gad... ever-so-lovable and funny... Olaf is going places ;)
and Peter Dinklage. He's the only reason my mom came with us to this movie :P He's a bad-ass character in "Game of Thrones" and it's fun seeing him in this type of role-- where he can crack a smile and a joke. And considering his character spent the past several years in prison for tax evasion and such, you never really know what to expect from him. Let's just say he does some things that don't really come as a surprise, but I praise the writers for it.
Video Games
When I got my Playstation for Christmas, it came with Crash Bandicoot: Warped (which I sold cuz I couldn't beat it and the disc was glitchy), Frogger (which I played a lot with my friends back in the early 2000's) and Namco Arcade Museum.
So I know some of my vintage 80's video games. I'm good at Galaga and decent at Pac-Man and we saw some of these characters throughout the movie.
As I said before, the special effects in the battle sequences were nerdgasm worthy. So cool seeing them in person and so realistic.
The final battle scene where it's all-out war... not so much. Maybe because it was too chaotic or I didn't recognize as many of the characters anymore.
But I loved how the writing included just about everything about video gaming that nerds have been aware of for decades: everything from cheat codes to patterns to old vs. new. Adam Sandler shares some scenes with Michelle Monaghan's son where they talk about how video games have changed over the years. When it became less about patterns and more about "pretending you're the guy and you don't want to die."
We also address how some nerds fall in love with pixels and Josh Gad sees his personal fantasy come to life in the form of Lady Lisa. Granted, she's there to kill him, but that was a nice touch.
As was the inclusion of Q*Bert as a character.
Final Word
When it comes to bringing video game characters to life... just maybe you're better off leaving Adam Sandler and his gang out of it...
"Wreck-It Ralph," on the other hand, would be a much more worthy venture if seeing video games brought to life is your cup of tea. The writing's super clever, it has a lot of heart and the nerdgasms are more prevalent... plus there's a wicked twist at the end that still blows my mind :P
And FYI, it is worth sticking through some of the credits: they replay the entire movie within 2 minutes using vintage 8-bit video game animation. It's pretty cool.
Grade: B
Writer (book): J.K. Rowling
Writer (movie): Steve Kloves
Director: Chris Columbus
Composer: John Williams (with some assistant from William Ross, who filled in when John Williams had scheduling conflicts)
Cast:
[returning cast]
Harry Potter- Daniel Radcliffe
Ron Weasley- Rupert Grint
Hermonine Granger- Emma Watson
Draco Malfoy- Tom Felton
Ginny Weasley- Bonnie Wright
Oliver Wood- Sean Biggerstaff
Headmaster Albus Dumbledore- Richard Harris (RIP 2002)
Professor McGonagall- Maggie Smith
Professor Snape- Alan Rickman
Hagrid- Robbie Coltrane
Mrs. Weasley- Julie Walters
[newcomers]
Dobby the House-Elf (voice)- Toby Jones
Gilderoy Lockhart- Kenneth Branagh
Lucas Malfoy- Jason Isaacs
Mr. Weasley- Mark Williams
Moaning Myrtle- Shirley Henderson
Tom Riddle- Christian Coulson
Notable Nomination:
Grammy- Best Score for Movie/TV/Visual Media- John Williams
Write-up:
Preface
Yesterday, J.K. Rowling released more "trade secrets" on her website Pottermore. This time about the Dursleys, how they met, Vernon's reasons for disliking James Potter and by extension Harry, and the original plan for Petunia to have a more poignant goodbye scene with Harry.
I joined Pottermore a while ago, got sorted into Slytherin House, and really hadn't spent much time there. Mainly because I had trouble figuring out how to access the secrets. You not only have access to Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, Dueling Club and the ability to make potions. [Potions, I practiced and found it difficult]. You can also go through the books in a new interactive way where you go through the different chapters, pick up items within the pages and unlock additional information like mythologies and character back stories.
One trick I learned- it helps to double-click on the scenes to navigate and find more stuff. That should have been fairly simple :P but nonetheless, I've got that part of Pottermore figured out.
Anyway... yesterday, I got through the first two books and figured... it's been a while since I wrote a Harry Potter post. Why not do another before I continue onto Prisoner of Azkaban...
Predecessor vs. Sequel
What I liked about the first two movies was the sense of continuity. You could see the two movies back to back and feel as if the second movie is a continuation of the first.They had all the same cast back (with some new additions). Except for Emma Watson's hairstyle and voices changing, all the young actors looked as they did in the previous film. And it also helps that Chris Columbus stuck around for a second Potter outing.
A lot of his critics say he doesn't have a unique style, but I believe, combined with John Williams' score, his directing style helped give these early Harry Potter films a sense of magic.
As for comparing these first two movies, the sequel follows its predecessor very well. It brings the old magic back while improving on it with the additions of new characters and advancing the plot. It was also handled in a way where it could be accessible to people who'd never seen the original or read any of the books. All the characters are defined well and introduced as they appear... as if you didn't already know who Dumbledore was :roll:
As far as the pacing goes, though, I still prefer the original because The Chamber of Secrets does drag in some places. Particularly in the 2nd act- from the scene at Dumbledore's office up to when Harry and Ron "follow the spiders."
Book vs. Movie
Again, only a few minor differences between the book and the movie. Certain characters were written out and had their dialogue given to others. There were certain omissions- most of which are available in the DVD special features and whenever the Family channel airs the movie- that attempted to streamline the film.
Considering how much was taken out of the movie, it's still surprising that this is the longest of the movies at 2 and a half hours. It's like the final Lord of the Rings movie in that, you think it was long with all those extra endings, in the Extended Edition it's even longer... go figure.
The adaptation with the Sorcerer's Stone was practically flawless with only a few changes and omissions.
The same can be said about here.
Yet I would rate the book much higher than the movie because of pacing issues.
There were also a few small bits in the book I liked that didn't make it into the movie.
Particularly, there was a scene where Ginny was trying to tell Harry something important and Percy kept telling her to drop the subject... she and Harry only interact a little at the beginning of the movie and except for 3 quick cameos with no dialogue, she's all but forgotten about until the end of the movie where she plays a pivotal role... I'm just saying it would have been nice to give her a little more to do so the end of the movie didn't feel random (at least for those who didn't read the book).
But seriously... Percy has more to worry about than his relationship with halfblood Ravenclaw prefect Penelope Clearwater getting around. (But then, except for him being an arrogant Prefect and Head Boy, his role shrank considerably for the movies... in the books, the evolution of his character affected Harry and the Weasleys in notable ways that would have been interesting to see unfold on film).
Plus, the Heir of Slytherin's "how I did it" speech in the Chamber is far more interesting in the book. A bit more sinister, I guess you could say.
Plot
Harry's stuck at the Dursleys for another summer. Dobby the House Elf pays him a visit (at a most inopportune time) to warn him against returning to Hogwarts.
Once there, a devious plot starts to unfold. Multiple muggle-born (they have "normal" non-magic parents) students are being petrified, which may result in the closing of Hogwarts if allowed to continue. Harry and his friends, of course, are on a mission to investigate and, hopefully, put an end to these attacks by the Heir of Slytherin. All the while, they're trying to make sense of their new, seemingly inept, Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart.
New Characters
Dobby is one of those characters you don't truly appreciate until later on Unlike with Snape (who I didn't appreciate or like until finishing the final book), you figure Dobby out by the end of this movie, enjoy his cameos throughout the books and in Part 1 of the Deathly Hallows.
But off the top, for someone who's so concerned about saving Harry's life, you'd think he was an idiot or just going about it all wrong. Some of these measures he takes are worthy a facepalm- if you have it in you to not strangle him.
Lucius Malfoy is a great new villain that appears throughout the series. Nobody could have played him better than Jason Isaacs... who plays good villains in general. When he appears on screen, he just commands your attention. He's that good... but then I could say that about a lot of the British greats in the adult roles.
As for the character himself, he's just someone you'll love to hate.
It's hard to believe that Moaning Myrtle was played by a 37-year old woman. Another great addition to the series. In the book, I think she was portrayed as a little more terrifying. But most of it was the write-up on her reputation, which is why this girls' bathroom is rarely used. In the movie, she comes off as almost bi-polar. Not to say I'm making fun/light of that illness, but her mood swings can either be terrified or hilarious. Especially when she goes from angry/frustrated to calm when Harry questions her for information.
Then of course we have our yearly sucker, I mean, Defense against Dark Arts teacher.
I found some peculiar, interesting tidbits about Gilderoy Lockhart on Pottermore. The best part was finding out the reason behind Dumbledore's appointment of him... from a moral standpoint, it makes a lot of poetical sense, but considering the danger inside the school walls, he was the worst possible choice.
Of all the DADA teachers through the course of Harry's time at Hogwarts, he is easily the most skeptical "casting" choice for this position. He's a devilishly handsome celebrity wizard with multiple best sellers telling how he dispatched all these dark creatures. Yet his track record as a teacher shows him to be severely inept. He sets a crop of Cornish pixies loose in a class session and leaves it to the students to take them on alone. He removes the bones in Harry's broken arm instead of fixing it. And when on the first and final occasions the Heir of Slytherin leaves a message, he shows up after everyone else... you'd think this was Professor Quirrell [who allied WITH Voldemort] all over again.
Interestingly, Jude Law was deemed too young to play him and Hugh Grant ALMOST played him, but had to drop out last minute due to scheduling conflicts (I'm guessing the "other" movie was either Bridget Jones's Diary, About a Boy or Two Weeks Notice).
I can see Hugh Grant playing the role, but glad that Kenneth Branagh got it. He nails that devilishly handsome self-absorbed persona perfectly.
Additional Comments
Again, like all the films, it's like a great mystery novel. If you pay attention to all the details, they all make sense at the end. But thanks to certain edits on parts of the filmmakers (today I noticed a VERY significant plot hole), some of the end results are still big surprises.
One scene I remember enjoying the first time, and still enjoy very much, is where Harry and Ron change into Crabbe & Goyle (via Polyjuice Potion) to pump Draco Malfoy for information on the Chamber of Secrets and Heir of Slytherin. While trying to find the Slytherin common room, Harry and Ron run into Percy and escape detention for being out after hours thanks to Malfoy's interference. Just sitting in the common room with him... it's like you're getting away with something as well as seeing things from the enemy's point of view. And for a moment, I saw why Tom Felton had/has all those/these fangirls.
This is the first movie where we get to see The Burrow where the Weasleys live. Harry had never been to a wizard house before, so seeing things like the magical clock (which shows where all the family members are), knitting needles that work by themselves and a self-washing dish scrubber... yeah, it's pretty awesome.
Not so awesome... my arachnophobia is proportional to the size of the spider, so the bigger they are, the more they kinda freak me out. So the scene with the giant spiders was not a favorite of mine. That isn't to say I scream my head off... I just do a lot of cringing and "ew"ing.
Then there's the basilisk. I don't mind snakes, but this giant snake is pretty terrifying. The rendering on Pottermore... phew, it was so good it was scary, especially with all the sound effects and animation.
<-- this is what a real basilisk looks like, btw
(not sure of the exact year I did this, but I figured this entry needed a personal touch)
Code-name: muggle
(muggle: (n) people in the Harry Potter universe incapable of using magic)
Writer (book): J.K. Rowling
Writer (movie): Steve Kloves
Director: Chris Columbus
Composer: John Williams
Cast:
[Muggles]
Vernon Dursley- Richard Griffiths (RIP 2013)
Petunia Dursley- Fiona Shaw
Dudley Dursley- Harry Melling
[Witches and Wizards]
Harry Potter- Daniel Radcliffe
Headmaster Albus Dumbledore- Richard Harris (RIP 2002)
Professor McGonagall- Maggie Smith
Professor Snape- Alan Rickman
Hagrid- Robbie Coltrane
Professor Quirrell- Ian Hart
Madame Hooch- Zoe Wanamaker
Ron Weasley- Rupert Grint
Hermonine Granger- Emma Watson
Notable Nominations:
OSCAR- Best Art Direction
OSCAR- Best Costume Design
OSCAR- Best Original Score- John Williams
Grammy- Best Score Soundtrack- John Williams
Write-up:
The Beginning
It's hard to believe how long it's been... or how long it took me to get on board.
If I remember right, I received the first Harry Potter book along with a couple from Beverly Cleary's Ramona series as gifts from one of our neighbors before I underwent surgery for my scoliosis. I never read it and wound up donating it.
A couple years later, my mom started reading the books after the people she knew at the library where she shelved books recommended them. I swear, it was in one ear and out the other, when she raved about how great they were.
Then came the movie trailers and I wanted no part of any of it... that lasted for maybe, I don't know, a month. However long it took for them to show the first trailer with Daniel Radcliffe having dialogue.
"I think we're going to need another feather over here, Professor"
I got curious and bought the book at Target. I'd have to guess this was a few weeks before the movie came out.
I still remember the time and place where I started to believe in magic... not just J.K. Rowling's, but the magic of books in general.
I was in my room, reading the book aloud to myself after dinner time, so roughly 7pm.
I came across this passage on page 12 where McGonagall was talking to Dumbledore:
SPOILER ALERT
"'The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are -- are -- that they're -- dead.'"
I read through this page and I was sobbing :P My mom comes into my room a page or so later about something and I'm telling her about it.
Like I said, in one ear and out the other, and somewhere along the way, that was one detail I completely forgot about.
But... it did its job. It got me hooked on the whole series and I'd been reading young adult fantasy fiction ever since.
My first AND second time
Whatever British accent I developed after seeing the movie stuck with me until the following morning. The movie was AMAZING as was seeing all these characters I've read about for the past several days come to life. An experience I'd never had before.
By the time the movie came out, I'd gotten as far as Harry catching the Snitch in his first Quidditch game. Suffice to say, that made for a few extra surprises.
The biggest one was the grand reveal about who the villain really was. And it wasn't Snape as I'd been led to believe for the first 150 or so pages.
Actually loved it so much that when my friends invited me to see it with them on New Year's Eve (after they'd seen "Lord of the Rings" to compare the two), I jumped at the chance. Don't remember if I'd seen "Lord of the Rings" yet, but they still preferred and I was still loving Harry.
Plot and Characters[if you hadn't read the books or seen the movies, I feel sorry for you because you're missing on some great stuff... if you see any movie based on a book series, this is the one I'd recommend the most]
To the muggles and newbies, here's the short version of this movie's storyline:After the murder of his parents by the evil wizard Voldermort, Harry Potter is left on the doorstep of his magic-hating muggle relatives, the Dursleys.
On his 11th birthday, he learns from half-giant Hagrid that he's a wizard and is accepted to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As he excels in his classes, makes friends and learns more about the world his parents are from, the threat of Voldermort's return lurks in the shadows.
So what better introduction to this special world is there than through the eyes of someone like Harry, who knows about as much about it as we do? We experience things for the first time as he does with the same wide-eyed curiosity... and it's pretty amazing. It also takes some time to get a grasp of his significance in the wizarding world. His name becomes legend when he was a baby because he was the only one to survive Voldermort's reign of terror and something about him put an end to it.
When he arrives at Hogwarts, there're expectations of him he doesn't quite understand and isn't sure he'll be able to live up. Although becoming the youngest Quidditch seeker in a century isn't too shabby a start.
Early on, he becomes friends with Ron Weasley, a red-haired boy from a large family and finds an enemy in Slytherin classmate Draco Malfoy.Another member of the Gryffindor house along with Harry and Ron is Hermione Granger, a muggle with extraordinary magical powers who is perceived as your typical know-it-all goody-two-shoes straight A student. Along the way, she becomes friends with Harry and Ron, which proves useful in more ways than one could ever hope to count.Then of course we have the professors, all played by seasoned British actors (with the exceptions of Richard Harris [Irish] and Zoe Wanamaker [American]).
It was unfortunate we only had Richard Harris for the first two Harry Potter movies. When I reread the books, he's the Dumbledore I see in my mind.
Alan Rickman plays a pretty good bad guy, but next to nostalgia, the character arc he has as Professor Snape is the second biggest reason why I've watched the movies so much as I have. Let's just say for now that it's pretty extraordinary.
Best Book to Movie adaptation EVER
Well, that's not entirely fair :P every other book-to-movie adaptation that's come out since Harry Potter, so obviously everyone who cares about this sort of thing will use this as the model for all other films of their kind.
"Star Wars" got its place on my list last week from my mom's obsession passing over to me and getting me into big-scale movies made specifically for the theatrical experience. But while my dad will sit through Star Wars with us, he more or less refuses with "Harry Potter."
This movie comes in a spot higher because the obsession bug got to me too. We read all the books, we saw all the movies and yeah, I want to visit the Harry Potter world in Universal Orlando one of these days.
Just saying...
Those who read the books can nitpick about one or two scenes of "Harry Potter" that were changed around, particularly
1) (opposed to total randomness) the trio being out at night and running into Fluffy because Draco Malfoy challenged Harry to a duel
2) Hermonine and Ron (opposed to Ron and Neville) being in the woods for detention..
Other than that, it felt like a perfect adaptation from the actual book. The first several times through, it was nothing short of magical to me. It was such fun. It was whimsical and imaginative. Great dialogue (very hilarious at times) and great characters. The music was fantastic throughout (particularly in the pivotal wizard chess match that separates Harry from his friends before his big "confrontation" scene).
The closest I'd seen otherwise was The Hunger Games... Divergent wasn't too bad either, actually.
Even though that's my personal policy, I wouldn't necessarily say you HAVE to read the books beforehand. The magical quality of them, the memorable characters and such are enough to carry you through. I'm just saying if you're behind the learning curve of this genre, the books have very thorough explanations of things.
The Series... abridged version
I'm sure I'll have time to go into this at some point, so I'll keep this as short as I possibly can.
For the record, the adaptations were pretty solid. Bits and pieces were changed, but I didn't have any huge complaints.
I remember being at school when the "Prisoner of Azkaban" came out and someone in my Calculus class complained how they only showed one Quidditch match. Point taken.
My biggest issue lies with the 5th book, which very well may be my favorite in the series.
The movie... I had so many issues with. Probably the biggest is the length. There is no reason why this 870 page book had to be the shortest movie. SO MANY of my favorite scenes got cut... But then, I could spend a whole entry on what they did wrong (or didn't include) in the "Order of the Phoenix" adaptation.
Other Comments
It feels strange watching this in September. Must be all those Harry Potter marathons on the family channel around Halloween. Then again, some of John Williams' score here has me thinking Christmas and I'm talking aside from the awesome Christmas scene.
Considering all the films, what they've accomplished, how advanced the special effects are, you can't really put a price on the original "Harry Potter" film. Aside from it being the first one, it has an advantage the others don't.
As the years go by and the other movies come out, you get the opportunity to see the movie with new years. Knowing more about the characters, what they will go on to do, you marvel at them. In other respects, you gain a better appreciation for certain characters. Professor Snape and Neville are two major players in this way.
For me, the Mirror of Erised scene was one of the my favorites, but after seeing the 4th movie where Harry's parents reappear via Priori Incantatem, I cannot watch this scene without getting teary-eyed. I hear it has some emotional ties to JK Rowling, who lost her father at a young age and missing him made some small contributions to the world she created in these books.
Seriously, I'm so crazy about these books and movies I could go on forever... so it's best that I stop here.
I will add it influenced some of my writing and I played through the PlayStation game one time before selling it. It was kinda tough in places. The place I got stuck in involved getting through a room using the invisibility cloak without being spotted by Filch or Mrs. Norris. They just couldn't make it easy like in the movie, you had to make it from one invisibility cloak "token" to the next without being seen. Then the Devil's Snare was a little tough... everything else was cake and I got more gameplay with the Quidditch mini-game before I had enough.
Code-name: male nanny
Director: Chris Columbus
Type: cross-dressing dramedy
Cast:
Daniel Hillard- Robin Williams
Miranda Hillard - Sally Field
Lydia Hillard- Lisa Jakub
Chris Hillard- Matthew Lawrence
Natalie "Nattie" Hillard- Mara Wilson
Stu- Pierce Brosnan
Frank, Daniel's brother-Harvey Fierstein
Jack, Frank's boyfriend- Scott Capurro
Mrs. Sellner- Anne Haney
Mr. Lundy- Robert Prosky
Notable Awards:
OSCAR- Best Makeup
Golden Globe- Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)- Robin Williams
Golden Globe- Best Picture (Comedy/Musical)
Write-up:
I can't place the first time I saw this, but it had to have been around the same time "Matlida" was one of my new favorite movies. They had Mara Wilson in common. She's one of those young actresses that had me wondering "whatever happened to her." As it turns out, she took a much needed break from acting when she reached college age. And from time to time, she'd cameo on an episode of Nostalgia Critic.
As a late-blooming "Boy Meets World" fan (in other words, I started watching the series on Family Channel reruns), I later made the connection that the middle child played Shawn's half-brother Jack on the series. He's also one of the famed Lawrence brothers (funny enough, the middle child there as well).
Not wanting to leave her out of the conversation, the actress who played eldest of the children, Lisa Jakub, had this as her biggest film role... has done very little since and what she has done was on the small screen or indie track.
The opening sequence has you believe this movie was written specifically FOR Robin Williams. Who else can play an actor who is fired because he ad-libs on a dubbing gig? Now those 16 hours of vocal footage for "Aladdin" make sense :-P
In all seriousness, he's doing the voice of an opera-singing canary and ad-libs when the pussy-cat shoves a cigarette in his mouth... saying that he doesn't want kids to be desensitized to the dangers of smoking. Oh well, everything has their time and place and clearly, a PSA has no place in a dubbing gig where you're adding voice to finished animation.
With walking papers in hand, Daniel Hillard picks his kids up from school and throws his son, Chris, an impromptu 10th birthday party. Between noise complaints from the neighbors and the nosy neighbor (ok, she had her reasons but I always thought she was a buzz-kill for doing so) who calls his wife, Miranda Hillard (Sally Field) comes up anything but a happy camper.
The ensuing argument during the clean-up tells us this isn't the first time the two of them have butted heads and Miranda files for divorce. Because of his latest termination and lack of residence (yeah, they gave him, what, a couple days?), full custody of the kids was awarded to Miranda. The judge reiterates that this will be temporary and if Daniel gets things sorted out, they can make changes.
Now that I'm a bit older, I can kinda understand both sides of the situation, why Miranda has the attitude she has about her ex-husband. But the way the script is written, you really want to take his side on matters because he has a good heart and she's way too uptight about how she handles things.
I still get kinda frustrated in the earlier scenes where she arrives early at Daniel's apartment to pick up the kids from the one time a week they get to spend with him... as if this takes place BEFORE his grand "transformation" that the judge practically equates to insanity.
This line sums it up after he tells them to not go rushing out when Miranda arrives: "You're my goddam kids too!"
This is also when Daniel learns Miranda is hiring a housekeeper. Why she didn't think of him right away, I don't know... she doesn't want to worry about them throwing more wild parties, I guess. He uses this opportunity to change the phone number on the advertisement she's about to submit to the newspaper, leaving him free to "audition" with zero competition.
After doing a string of horrible (bordering on creepy) auditions, he assays with the voice of an elderly Scottish woman and passes with flying colors.
Now he just needs the perfect disguise, which is where his brother (Harvey Fierstein, who has one of my personal favorite voices in the business... even funnier because the first time I heard him was in "Mulan") and his lover come in.
Always a great montage, only now I recognize the references to Barbara Streisand and Shirley McClain. To top it all off:
Daniel (whom we see from behind): Well, are we close?
Frank: Any closer and you'd be mom.
Naturally, the kids are hesitant to accept their new nanny, Mrs. Doubtfire, at first, the eldest in particular. And it takes a little while for Daniel to get his sea-legs too when it comes to the "light cooking" involved in the job description and making due with the extra layers of clothing, prosthetics, etc.
One scene that always cracks me up is when Daniel has to pull off both roles for Mrs. Sellner, the social worker given the duty of checking on him regularly to see that he's fulfilling the requirements needed for, potentially, shared custody further down the road. He arrives home (as Mrs. Doubtfire), changes back for a few moments and goes back to Mrs. Doubtfire after saying how she makes a good cup of tea :-P even more hilarious because Daniel loses the prosthetic mask to a street sweeper, so he's forced to improvise... turning the icing on cake that happens to be in the refrigerator into a facial mask.
Lucky for him, Frank has an extra prosthetic on hand.
"Be careful for this one. She's an old woman."
Little by little, Mrs. Doubtfire wins over the household, including Lydia when she sees how much happier Miranda is when she's there. Miranda finds a new boyfriend in Stu (Pierce Brosnan) and as Mrs. Doubtfire, Daniel never misses an opportunity to make him seem less than he is out of jealousy. Not that Stu is by any means a dastardly foe, he is seen as "the enemy" by our protagonist.
It's also funny how the playlist fits the main theme of our story.
"Walk like a man" and "Dude looks like a lady" stand out in particular. Whenever I hear that Aerosmith track, I can't help but think of Mrs. Doubtfire dancing around with that vacuum cleaner. Such an iconic movie moment.
Throughout the movie, Daniel also advances from a shipping clerk position to something more creative. One of the heavies at the TV station, Mr. Lundy sees Daniel goofing around with the dinosaurs on the set of one of his shows and asks him about other ideas that could help with the sagging ratings.
Obviously he figured out that he needed to get rid of the real dinosaur: the guy hosting the show.
I assume most people have seen this movie, but now's a good point to stop giving things away. I always thought of this as a kid's movie, between Robin Williams, Mara Wilson and Chris Columbus, who has directed a lot of movies featuring kids. Yet it's PG13 and a few cuss words (more than I remembered growing up, lol) did make their way into it and I'm not counting the "goddam kids" line either.
What I've always liked about it was that we have a likeable protagonist and we have an unexpectedly pleasant resolution to everything. Interestingly, the ending was the original ending. Chris Columbus played around with other alternatives and decided he had it right the first time. It's a different way to approach the "divorced family with kids" archetype for a number of reasons and they push it enough to make a good conflict, but making it overly dramatic.
From an academic point of view, it's also a great story because the number of changes Daniel makes to remedy things, getting back into his kids' lives, it only not makes him a better person but everyone else is happier as a result.
[Program Notes]
I'll have a couple more entries going up this week.
Next will be a theatrical review of "Frozen," about which my initial take is: "I enjoyed Tangled as a new take on a classic fairytale. Frozen was 10x better." Really enjoyed it a lot.
And after that will be another entry about "Christmas Essentials," including Christmas specials and movies I can't go the season without.
