Review of Dick Tracy (1990) by Chris V — 24 Mar 2009

The Producers.

?The Producers? is quite possibly my favorite comedy film of all time, and certainly one of Mel Brooks? three undeniable classics (?Young Frankenstein? and ?Blazing Saddles? being the other two).

From the very start, this 1968 comedy about two men intentionally producing the ultimate Broadway bomb in order to make a fortune is a sick, twisted joke. It opens with Zero Mostel as Max Bialystock making it with an elderly widow. He seeks her money, she seeks a sexual thrill. He has lots of these encounters, you see. In walks Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder), a panic-prone accountant with no spine. Poking around Max?s cooked books, Bloom realizes that a producer can make more money off a Broadway bomb than a Broadway hit. The con is on as the two men finance a sure-fire dud in ?Springtime for Hitler? -- a glowing Nazi tribute written by a fanatical SS loyalist.

The laugh per minute ratio is hugely high, none more so than the realization that Brooks is ripping Hollywood?s low tastes, not Broadways. Brooks? staging of the play within the film is so offensive, it?s brilliant.

The cast is on all cylinders from Mostel and Wilder to Kenneth Mars (?Young Frankenstein?) as the Nazi and Christopher Hewitt (?Mr. Belvedere?) as a cross-dressing gay director. PC this is not, thank God. Every line is a classic and endlessly quotable. Avoid the terrible musical remake; it?s offensively bad.

The Orphanage.

?The Orphanage? (?El Orfornato?) definitely comes from the mind of Guillermo del Toro, who directed ?Pan?s Labyrinth? and ?Devil?s Backbone.? But Jan Bayona is the helmer here as del Toro only produced. Nevertheless, like those great films, this is a gorgeous gem dealing with children, death, supernatural forces and raw-nerve endings.

Here the adult mother (Belen Rueda) of an adopted boy (Roger Princep) who is HIV positive moves to the old Spanish mansion that once was her orphanage as a child. She and her husband hope to care for disabled children in the region at this old home. Simon has imaginary friends, much to the amusement of his parents.

Then those fantasy friends seemingly morph into dangerous phantoms, one with a sack over his head, and Simon disappears.

The film mixes, I kid you not, ?Peter Pan? with ?Poltergeist? with ?The Elephant Man,? with a heart shot of startling originality and the nastiest ?hit by a truck? scene you?ll ever see. The film is just top notch from every angle -- script, pacing, acting, music, cinematography and art direction.

The scares are genuine, more so for any parent or uncle or aunt as that boy disappears. The very last scene is unnerving if you?re paying attention, and will haunt for ages.

This is one of my favorites of 2008. Just awesome.

Dick Tracy.

The live action all-star ?Dick Tracy? is pure eye candy, pure fun and pure silly. Let?s get it out in the front: The plot stinks. Bad. But that?s almost beside the point. Warren Beatty directs and stars as Tracy, helped by Al Pacino, Dustin Huffman, Glenne Headly, William Forsythe, Kathy Bates, Paul Sorvino, Dick Van Dyke and a bunch more.

Pacino is the stand out as Big Boy Caprice, a hysterically incompetent Al Capone clone with a Hitler haircut and no sense of history or leadership. For once, Pacino?s gift for over-acting works in his favor.

The strangely brilliant makeup and eye-popping art direction and costumes all invoke the feel of the Sunday morning comic strip. It really is a beautiful-looking fun film. And wonders of wonders, Madonna ? as a lounge singer ? is good on screen. The awkward sexual innuendoes belong in another film, though.

Max Payne.

?Max Payne? is a paint-by-numbers shoot ?em up about a cop gunning for the criminals who killed his family years before. Scowling and scowling some more, Mark Wahlberg (?The Departed?) plays the title character who finds himself involved in a giant conspiracy typical of bad shoot ?em up films. I guessed the villain just by looking at the actor and thinking, ?What?s he doing here??

The direction by John Moore is over-the-top and flat-out dumb. In one scene, a hooker strolls into Payne?s apartment, strips naked with her back to the camera, jumps on his bed and then ? covers herself with a sheet ? before offering herself sexually. Huh? Oh, the PG-13 rating. Nearly every gun battle is shot in slow-mo, the badge of honor for any director who can?t stage action.

Wahlberg could have been replaced by Steven Segal. It?s all based on a video game, the first hint that this is junk.