What was the last film you watched?

[Mel O'Drama]

She-Devil (1989)

This is a film I was aware of back when it was first released but actively avoided. I'd watched the 1986 TV series back when it was originally transmitted and thought it was great. I really had no wish to see a frothy, vacuous sanitised Hollywood interpretation of such a dark story. And yet, here I am.

How I ended up watching this weekend, I'm not quite sure. Since it's directed by Susan Seidelman, it's likely that it cropped up as a suggestion off the back of watching Desperately Seeking Susan and some similar films and I had one of my "oh... what the hell" moments.

It's probably over 35 years since I watched The Life And Loves Of A She-Devil series, but I do remember it being very serious, seedy and explicit. A conversation analysing the weirdness of people enjoying kissing when it's just sharing spit has never quite left my collective memory (I was pretty young when I watched it, and it's the kind of thing a schoolboy remembers). And I remember it being extremely creepy in places.

The poster for the film pretty much sums up the tone, and it's there from the very opening notes that we're going for something frivolous, slightly quirky and saccharine. It looks sumptuous and glossy. There's clearly a decent budget and it feels like the visual equivalent of a sweet treat (compared with the rich, carefully-planned four course meal that is the original).

Casting is fine. Meryl Streep is Meryl Streep. The comedic triangle elements, and Streep's character being a glamorous high profile husband-stealing celebrity feels rather like what we'd later get form her in Death Becomes Her. Given her range, it's a shame that it's treated as a broad comedy, and it's also intriguing to see that she'd originally been interested in playing Ruth.

Roseanne Barr's casting makes it quite clear what kind of Ruth we are given here. I can forgive this version not being "abnormally tall" as Ruth is meant to be, and I also appreciated Barr's lack of vanity. But with this being a very surface film and Barr's acting range appearing rather limited (at least from what I see here), there's very little to make this character fly. If I hadn't seen the original mini-series, I'm sure it would have been easier to accept (this goes for most elements of the film), but Julie T. Wallace's Ruth was so powerful and terrifying that I found myself sighing when hearing Barr's Ruth - in her trademark nasal twang - recite more or less the same narration as Wallace's, with amateurish "school play" overemphases in place of Wallace's unsettling menace. I find Roseanne quite likeable which kind of works for this version of Ruth, but is certainly quite a different experience from the original where my young self came away finding Ruth genuinely scary.

The soundtrack is... mostly forgettable. Most of the "original" tracks are very of their time, and the most memorable soundtrack moment is Elvis Presley's (You're The) Devil In Disguise played at the end. But there's nothing as bone-chillingly perfect as the BBC series' theme Warm Love Gone Cold.

^ Not that this song would have fitted the Hollywood version at all. I'm counting my blessings that the film didn't feature a dance cover of Christine Collister's haunting song in the style of the ill-advised I Will Survive cover that appeared.


With this being a fluffy "digest" version of the film, it's obvious that many details would end up omitted. With America being more conservative, the fetishist stuff, nudity and sex with priests and the like were probably never going to make it in, and I was OK with that.

The biggest surprise for me in this department, however, was the whole "becoming Mary Fisher" angle since, from what I remember, this is the entire point of the story... or at least the point to which all roads lead. As we got towards the end of the film, I wondered how on earth Ruth's surgeries and her gradual physical change to look like Mary would managed to be squeezed in, and I was quite shocked that there was not even a hint of this. Granted, I wasn't expecting all the visceral tooth drilling and bone sawing detail I vaguely remember from the series, but I was still curious to see Roseanne Barr becoming Meryl Streep and stealing her life completely. Without this, the project felt even more pointless and the story half told. Perhaps they were planning to save this part for She-Devil 2: Plastic Boogaloo.

Nitpicking aside, with low expectations this is an enjoyable, fun film that's easy to digest and probably has some rewatch value. Since the original material suggests it should be none of these things, this isn't necessarily a good thing. With American dominance of the market I feel sad that this is the version with which most of the world is now probably familiar (and hope, possibly in vain, that it at least leads some to check out the 1986 series).

Still, since the definitive authentic version had already been filmed, it's a relief this simply did its own silly, harmless thing rather than attempting to match the tone of the original. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it.​

 

[Willie Oleson]

Still, since the definitive authentic version had already been filmed, it's a relief this simply did its own silly, harmless thing rather than attempting to match the tone of the origina

One particular scene that made me laugh out loud was the one in which Ruth and ...don't remember who, a friend?...were looking for a place...a workplace?
Anyway, at some point the woman who's showing them around says "whaddaythink, huh? huh? huh? huh?" It sounded so funny.

It would be nice to revisit the mini-series, if only for the 1980s nostalgia.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Baby Boom (1987)

Yet another well-known Eighties film that I was aware of but that completely passed me by. At least I think it did. I couldn't swear that I've never seen this, but then it's so comfortably predictable it's also the kind of film that one could probably practically play out in one's head without ever having seen it. This is especially true given other films of the era with similar tones and themes, such as Three Men And A Baby (Diane Keaton herself later starred in others that I associate with this kind of romanticised conservative genre of comedy with Father Of The Bride).

In many ways it's very of its time. Keaton's character - with her Armani suits, Oliver Peoples glasses and minimalist apartment - is the epitome of the Yuppie (the very point of the character, of course. By film's end she's learnt a valuable lesson).

It has a cutesy, boing-y synthesised Eighties score which tells you when to laugh or get tearful or whatever (saving the viewer the trouble of having to think too much about what's actually going on).

It's a warm film and quite a soppy one. I have a low tolerance for cutesy films, especially cutesy baby films, but I found myself investing in this one. The girl (or girls, since she was played by twins) is cute without being precocious and the film really sells J.C.'s journey with her (there's a scene at the adoption office which almost broke my stony heart).

I suppose the underlying message of the film is that you can have it all on your own terms... if you're creative and resourceful enough. The ending is upbeat and happy enough, but there's just something about it that could have been a bit more.

Spoiler: Plot spoilers

For the first half of the film, it really felt as though J.C. was on her way to achieving something significant. There's a terrific moment after she decides to keep the inherited baby where Harold Ramis's character announces he can't do it, and she calmly but simply says "OK" and then he's gone. I found it quite admirable that she (well she and he both, really) had sacrificed this in order to step up and be there for the child. After all, she still had her career. Then that, too, was gone and I wasn't sure how to feel about this because it leaned into the "all women are slaves to their maternal instincts" trope. She gave up what was most important to her life to be a mother, which seems retrogressive.

Then comes the baby food business she sets up, starting with the homemade apple sauce, and she's the capitalist again (so she can have it all on her own terms). But the unnecessary icing on the cake was the romance with the vet. So she has the money, the career and the man. And that's kind of the measure of her success. It ended up lazily ticking all the conservative boxes. And while it worked fine, I'd have found it a stronger film without the Hollywood ending.

I'm trying to think how many films I've watched with Diane Keaton, and the answer is "not enough". The First Wives Club; The Godfather films; the occasional more recent film has been streamed recently. To my shame I've never watched Annie Hall, and it has been in my watch list for a while. I do find her a charismatic actress. It's quite a feat to essentially look the same in everything and display many of the same quirky mannerisms, yet still be completely in the moment and somehow become that character completely. I'm fascinated by her features: the fixed smile; the sad "weary of life" eyes. And her timeless style, of course. Plus she seems to be ageing both relatively naturally and like fine wine.
​

One particular scene that made me laugh out loud was the one in which Ruth and ...don't remember who, a friend?...were looking for a place...a workplace?

Oh yes - that was when she was setting up her "Vesta Rose" agency with the old colleague from the nursing home.

at some point the woman who's showing them around says "whaddaythink, huh? huh? huh? huh?" It sounded so funny.

This reminded me to look up who played "whaddayathink" woman.

I don't recall her getting a close-up, and I remember thinking as I watched that she looked rather like Marilee Stone from Dallas (even though she didn't sound at all like her), so I wanted to see who it was.

Turns out it was June Gable, who went on to play Joey's agent Estelle from Friends.

It would be nice to revisit the mini-series, if only for the 1980s nostalgia.

Funnily enough, after watching the film, I took a peek to see if it was available on DVD.

Seems it's long out of print, but I'll certainly keep an eye out for either an affordable copy or for the series becoming available to stream. I'd be very interested to see how it's aged, and - since it made a big impression on me as a kid - how I view it as an adult.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

A Perfect Getaway (2009)

This is one I stumbled upon after it occurred to me that I'd enjoyed Steve Zahn in Road Kill (AKA Joy Ride) but have seen him in very little else besides, other than some small roles (like Phoebe's first husband on Friends).

While I may have previously seen a poster or heard the title, I wasn't familiar with this film. The combination of the title, poster image and preview write-up made me think of Black Rock, a later film which I watched some years ago:​

Black Rock (2012)

I watched based on nothing but the cover image of the woman in the water. It wasn't even that clear from the write-up what the plot was to be. Which is all to the good.

Turns out it's a hybrid of And Then There Were None; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre; Lost and that episode of Sons and Daughters where Chris Bainbridge made Fiona play hide and seek at Woombai. With a bit of teen angst, a glossy Nineties slasher soundtrack and a random section where two of the leading female characters strip naked and hug and slap one another. It's got the lot, really.​

It's not too far, I suppose (from what I remember, at least), but it also turned out to be a lot more than I was expecting.

There's a lot of focus on character, but most of the characters are very unpleasant. This is no doubt deliberate and some of the casting reflects this: Timothy Olyphant excels at intense, brooding, dark characters with hints of sociopathy. Zahn's character is the one that kind of holds it all together while others are posturing around him. Even his new wife annoyed the hell out of me within a scene or two (in the scene where she returned from the toilet and was coquettishly asking him if he'd missed her because they'd been apart for nine whole minutes, I actually commented that if this was a slasher, I was hoping she was the first victim).

Persevering with the film is a rewarding experience. There's a lot of paranoia about who can be trusted, and there are red snappers herrings galore. In the last act, there's a really effective twist that had me reeling. I'd actually considered the possibility of this twist early on and then dismissed it based on what I perceived as evidence to the contrary. Even now I'm not sure if it's a cheat or one of the cleverest of its kind. The only way for me to know would be to watch a second time and follow the dialogue really carefully. Trouble is I don't feel in a rush to watch again because it's just not that kind of film.

All the same, I thought this was a nice little find and well worth a watch.​

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Trouble is I don't feel in a rush to watch again

Cut to me rewatching almost the entire film again immediately after writing this. ^

Even now I'm not sure if it's a cheat or one of the cleverest of its kind. The only way for me to know would be to watch a second time and follow the dialogue really carefully.

Watching knowing the twist, it does kind of hold up OK. There are a few lines and looks that make me go "aha!" and cleverly change the context of what's seen or said.

However, there are also a number of lines and looks that feel like they are there to fool the audience rather than other characters. But there are potentially feasible explanations for even those if one bears in mind certain things seen late in the film. But it's difficult to say any more than this without completely giving the whole thing away.

 

[Seaviewer]

Flightplan (2005)
This has become one of those film that I can watch again and again. Jodie Foster is mesmerising even when you know the outcome.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

17 Again (2009)

It's pretty much what you'd expect. The make a wish age body switch thing done (better)in films like Big and Freaky Friday. And some of the incestuous awkwardness of Back To The Future.

I thought I hadn't seen Zac Efron in anything, but turns out I watched him in New Year's Eve last NYE. The thumbnail I saw suggested Efron and Matthew Perry shared billing, so I hadn't realised quite how little Perry nor how much Efron this film would be. He's a decent actor, but there's something about his energy I find... off-putting (I read it as smugly overconfident, but I'm not sure if that's the performance for this film) and he affects too much territorial alpha throat clearing for my liking. The silly pudding bowl haircut doesn't help.

Maybe I was just in a bad mood last night, because I found almost everyone annoying in this. The "comic relief" best friend; the middle-aged separated wife with the little girl voice and constant uptalk. It's telling that Matthew Perry was perhaps the best thing in this for me.​

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Miss Congeniality (2000)

Yet another film I've managed to avoid all these years until now.

My knowledge is limited to what can be pieced together from the poster (which is pretty clear) and the fact that Sandra Bullock stars (about which I felt fairly indifferent).

How I smiled when I saw that Michael Caine was in this, considering I was torn between watching this and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. He was great fun, delivering the film's most hilarious little acid drops ("I haven't seen a walk like that since Jurassic Park" he quipped upon seeing Gracie's walk. I also realised that William Shatner and Donald Trump have the same mouth.

Some voice work aside, I think I've only seen Sandra in Speed (which I can't remember) and that Bionic Showdown film where she played a Bionic Girl type character (I recently had A Time To Kill in my watchlist, but couldn't bring myself to watch after reading about its pro-vigilante message). She was fine here. I particularly enjoyed the contrast shown between "one of the boys" Gracie and "beauty queen" Gracie. The former was great fun, with Sandra channelling Chris Cagney while devouring carbs like Grace Adler and Sammy Jo Carrington combined (and I like that she retained her love of food even under orders) and even throwing in some Adleresque accident proneness (a tad less would have been preferred, but this is a broad comedy).

My main two gripes with the film are that it felt around 15 minutes too long, and I didn't care for the syrupy bit towards the end when the converted Gracie spoke of admiring her fellow contestants and practically endorsed the pageant, which elt rather untruthful.

Groundbreaking this isn't, but it hit the spot for me last night when I just wanted a non-exacting couple of hours where I could switch off the brain and unwind.​

 

[Willie Oleson]

just wanted a non-exacting couple of hours where I could switch off the brain and unwind.

The exact same reason for me to watch AQUAMAN.
I know I'm not the target audience for these modern superhero films but that doesn't mean I'm not able to enjoy some "mindless fun". Unfortunately, only one of those two last words applied.

I wondered what other tellytalkers had to say about it.

I found the origin and backstory interesting enough and I mostly liked the world created.

Well, it was sort of just there, and from the outset it was supposed to make sense that these two worlds could exist in the same universe. Maybe it would have helped if the film had started with the legendary Underwater World rather than informing the audience about it via the character of....forgot name....played by Nicole Kidman (!!).
They are people, not mermaids? I just didn't get it.

I wasn't so keen on the abundance of CGI which made it feel far too much like a video game at times

I had anticipated that and promised myself to not over-think it. Better still, not to think about it at all.

And the Atlanteans all having broad American accents

I have no problem with American English in American films, in fact, it added a lot of charm to the classic Disney films.
What you often see these days is that streaming-films (which are sort of made in no-man's-land) always use OTT posh British accents for characters who live in these fantasy versions of Europa-ish countries. It sounds nothing like original British films featuring original British actors. It just sounds terribly annoying. Teddibly annoying.
Ideally, the Atlantisans would speak with a Greec accent.

Although I've never really loved (nor disliked) SUPERMAN, at least Christopher Reeve has a lot of charisma. The actor playing Aquaman has none, and after approx 40 minutes I threw in the towel. Even half-brain-dead I still couldn't enjoy it.
The only thing I really liked was the scene with the kids and the sharks.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Unfortunately, only one of those two last words applied.

Well, it was sort of just there, and from the outset it was supposed to make sense that these two worlds could exist in the same universe.

I've actually forgotten almost everything about the film by now, but I'd guess it might have had to do with the legend of Atlantis being fairly widely used (from Plato to Patrick Duffy). But like you I like my "i"s dotted and my "t"s crossed - especially when it comes to origin stories - so some more exposition would have been good.

I have no problem with American English in American films, in fact, it added a lot of charm to the classic Disney films.

I'm OK with most of the Disneys in this regard. Alice In Wonderland, Peter Pan and Winnie The Pooh being three glaring exceptions. They needed those posh British accents. Although, bizarrely, I'm mostly OK with their Robin Hood.

at least Christopher Reeve has a lot of charisma. The actor playing Aquaman has none

Agreed.

Even worse, while Chris Reeve got wonderful Margot Kidder, poor charisma-free Jason Momoa is stuck with Amber Heard.

The only thing I really liked was the scene with the kids and the sharks.

Oh yikes. I don't even remember that.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Miss Congeniality 2: Armed And Fabulous (2005)

One of the few things that wasn't predictable about this film was just how few returnees there are from the original. In addition to Sandra Bullock, there are three returnees from the original in relatively small roles. Replacing Michael Caine with the scathing one-liners is a cardboard cutout gay stereotypical stylist. Meanwhile, Gracie's key ally (and happy ending) from the first film is dispensed with via a short one-sided phone call at the beginning of the film, and in his place comes an actor who looks a bit like Paul Rudd from certain angles and distances (the film's other surprise was that he ended up with Miss America Cheryl, and not Gracie herself. The chemistry seemed quite good so I wouldn't have objected).

One notably meta feature was the poster for the original film appearing regularly in the background of scenes. This was because it was, for the purposes of the film, the cover to Gracie's book. All the same, it was slightly jarring every time I saw it.

The daft disguises (among other things, Gracie became an old lady and a drag queen) and the glamour of the Las Vegas setting reminded me of Charlie's Angels or something. And I suppose on that level it's perfectly enjoyable. No disguise that could hide the fact that this isn't a great film and is inferior to the original. But it has Eileen Brennan and even a cameo from Dolly, so it's never going to be time wasted.​

 

[Willie Oleson]

The film is very beautiful to look at and all the characters are, well, very characteristic but the crime mystery isn't very compelling. I understand that the crime mainly serves as a set-up for Mr. Tibbs' adventure in Sparta but that doesn't change the fact that it could have been better. It ended with characters who only showed up in the last part of the plot.
Rod Steiger chews the scenery in a very unusual way.
I'm glad I've watched it but I don't think it's one of The Greatest.

 

[Seaviewer]

Some voice work aside, I think I've only seen Sandra in Speed (which I can't remember) and that Bionic Showdown film where she played a Bionic Girl type character (I recently had A Time To Kill in my watchlist, but couldn't bring myself to watch after reading about its pro-vigilante message). She was fine here. I particularly enjoyed the contrast shown between "one of the boys" Gracie and "beauty queen" Gracie. The former was great fun, with Sandra channelling Chris Cagney while devouring carbs like Grace Adler and Sammy Jo Carrington combined (and I like that she retained her love of food even under orders) and even throwing in some Adleresque accident proneness (a tad less would have been preferred, but this is a broad comedy).

I like Sandra Bullock. I don't go out of my way to see her but it's always good when I do. The Miss Congenialitys are not her best but they do have some nice comedic moments.

 

[Toni]

Baby Boom (1987)

Yet another well-known Eighties film that I was aware of but that completely passed me by. At least I think it did. I couldn't swear that I've never seen this, but then it's so comfortably predictable it's also the kind of film that one could probably practically play out in one's head without ever having seen it. This is especially true given other films of the era with similar tones and themes, such as Three Men And A Baby (Diane Keaton herself later starred in others that I associate with this kind of romanticised conservative genre of comedy with Father Of The Bride).

In many ways it's very of its time. Keaton's character - with her Armani suits, Oliver Peoples glasses and minimalist apartment - is the epitome of the Yuppie (the very point of the character, of course. By film's end she's learnt a valuable lesson).

It has a cutesy, boing-y synthesised Eighties score which tells you when to laugh or get tearful or whatever (saving the viewer the trouble of having to think too much about what's actually going on).

It's a warm film and quite a soppy one. I have a low tolerance for cutesy films, especially cutesy baby films, but I found myself investing in this one. The girl (or girls, since she was played by twins) is cute without being precocious and the film really sells J.C.'s journey with her (there's a scene at the adoption office which almost broke my stony heart).

I suppose the underlying message of the film is that you can have it all on your own terms... if you're creative and resourceful enough. The ending is upbeat and happy enough, but there's just something about it that could have been a bit more.

Spoiler: Plot spoilers

For the first half of the film, it really felt as though J.C. was on her way to achieving something significant. There's a terrific moment after she decides to keep the inherited baby where Harold Ramis's character announces he can't do it, and she calmly but simply says "OK" and then he's gone. I found it quite admirable that she (well she and he both, really) had sacrificed this in order to step up and be there for the child. After all, she still had her career. Then that, too, was gone and I wasn't sure how to feel about this because it leaned into the "all women are slaves to their maternal instincts" trope. She gave up what was most important to her life to be a mother, which seems retrogressive.

Then comes the baby food business she sets up, starting with the homemade apple sauce, and she's the capitalist again (so she can have it all on her own terms). But the unnecessary icing on the cake was the romance with the vet. So she has the money, the career and the man. And that's kind of the measure of her success. It ended up lazily ticking all the conservative boxes. And while it worked fine, I'd have found it a stronger film without the Hollywood ending.

I'm trying to think how many films I've watched with Diane Keaton, and the answer is "not enough". The First Wives Club; The Godfather films; the occasional more recent film has been streamed recently. To my shame I've never watched Annie Hall, and it has been in my watch list for a while. I do find her a charismatic actress. It's quite a feat to essentially look the same in everything and display many of the same quirky mannerisms, yet still be completely in the moment and somehow become that character completely. I'm fascinated by her features: the fixed smile; the sad "weary of life" eyes. And her timeless style, of course. Plus she seems to be ageing both relatively naturally and like fine wine.
​

Oh yes - that was when she was setting up her "Vesta Rose" agency with the old colleague from the nursing home.





This reminded me to look up who played "whaddayathink" woman.

I don't recall her getting a close-up, and I remember thinking as I watched that she looked rather like Marilee Stone from Dallas (even though she didn't sound at all like her), so I wanted to see who it was.

Turns out it was June Gable, who went on to play Joey's agent Estelle from Friends.






Funnily enough, after watching the film, I took a peek to see if it was available on DVD.

Seems it's long out of print, but I'll certainly keep an eye out for either an affordable copy or for the series becoming available to stream. I'd be very interested to see how it's aged, and - since it made a big impression on me as a kid - how I view it as an adult.

There are 4 episodes of Baby Boom here:

 

[Mel O'Drama]

There are 4 episodes of Baby Boom here:

Oh great. I read about this after watching the film and I was curious to see what Kate Jackson would do with it. I hope to check some of these out over the weekend.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Yesterday's matineé was:

The Sea (2013)

A charming tale of (among other things) bereavement, grief, depression, alcoholism, melancholic nostalgia, searching, envy and sexual awakening.

It's the kind of film one feels rather than watching, and I can imagine if you're not on board with that it's quite a difficult film to watch. I can understand how may experience it as plodding or pretentious. There's something inherently arty about its tone which could be a case of overselling itself.

The subjective, fragmented way the story is told is what made it so effective for me. A gist of the plot is that that, following the death of his wife, a man revisits places (and in some cases, people) from childhood and memories come flooding back to him. With flashbacks galore to various stages of his life - recent and distant - we're given the patches but don't see the quilt until pretty much the end. Indeed, we don't even know for certain who one of the main characters is until the name is revealed in the film's final moments.

As someone who can lean heavily into introspection and reflectiveness, I feel I was on board with the film's voice (or, at least, the way the story was told). It was also very frank about certain matters... almost shockingly so.

I'm not sure I'd want to revisit the film. Not because I thought it was bad, but I very much feel I've ticked that box. It's the kind of experience where once is enough. That said, the film is based on a book, with the screenplay written by the author itself. I wouldn't rule out reading it at some point.​

 

[Mel O'Drama]

And I followed it up with an evening screening:

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)

Yet another to be filed under "how have I not seen this until now"? The simplest answer being 1989 me was aware of it by name and poster alone, and probably didn't feel it was my cup of tea.

I remember him being a pretty big name at this time, but with the little I saw of him I never really "got" him back then. At the time it felt to me as though he was in everything. Kids at school - and boys particularly - seemed to love him in films like Roxanne or Planes, Trains & Automobiles. Me? At the time I thought the little I'd seen of him was pretty silly and found his overexposure a turn-off, which is part of the reason I happily skipped over the film.

With this in mind, it was a wonderful surprise to find myself belly laughing at some of his scenes. Some of the characters he played here were just hilarious. There's an underlying cruelty to some of the humour (I felt guilty for laughing at the "Ruprecht" scenes because he appeared to be posing as someone with severe learning difficulties), but Martin has the charisma to soften the blow.

Michael Caine is also an actor whose body of work is impressive, but who - to me - seemed pretty much the same in everything (thanks in no small part to his trademark distinctive speaking voice). That said, I don't recall watching one of his performances that wasn't in some way enjoyable. It's telling that just this week I was disappointed to find that he didn't return for the second Miss Congeniality film as I'd enjoyed him in the first.

More than even Steve Martin, this film has allowed me to appreciate Michael Caine more than ever before. What really struck me - and this is mostly thanks to the dynamic with Steve Martin who is frequently very OTT and animated - was his stillness. He simply stood there taking it all - twinkle in the eye and knowing look on his face - and completely commanded the screen. It was great fun to see him playing other some roles within the role, and to hear that he's rather good at accents which here included German and Australian. And of course he was born to play a roguish cad with echoes of David Niven, Leslie Phillips or Terry Thomas.

It was good to see Anton Rodgers in another film role. While I've seen him in some cameos and small roles in older British films, he's best known to me as William Fields. This year has given me the chance to see him do some different stuff: the singing and dancing in Scrooge was a revelation to me since there was a natural fluidity to his physicality that was light years away from the sitcom hubby I know; as was the lascivious roué in Upstairs Downstairs. His part in this film as the corrupt French police inspector showed yet another side to him, and he was perfect for this bigger supporting role. I was struck by a couple of nods (perhaps unintentional) to other vehicles of his: firstly, the con artist being known as The Jackal could be viewed as alluding to The Day Of The Jackal - the film version of which featured Anton. Secondly, and most exciting, a lengthy surveillance scene featuring Rodgers early-ish in the film was done to a quirky, slightly Gallic instrumental rendition of Pick Yourself Up which is best known to me as the theme to Anton's hit sitcoms Fresh Fields and its successor French Fields (where it was given a more Gallic style). This film was shot some time Fresh Fields ended (and around a year before French Fields began), and I couldn't help wondering if this was a deliberate little Easter egg.

The rest of the casting remained consistently good. There are lots of familiar faces of the well-known and lesser-known varieties to keep the interest.

The film's lighthearted twist was satisfying enough. I must confess I didn't see it coming until shortly before the reveal.​

 

[Crimson]

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS is one of my favorite comedies; I mentally pair it with RUTHLESS PEOPLE and A FISH CALLED WANDA as the trio of 80s comedies about terrible people that are darkly funny but also surprisingly sweet. (I love all three.) In general I like all of Steve Martin's 80s work although since then, not so much. SCOUNDRELS is also an incredibly rare instance of a remake being better than the original. BEDTIME STORY, with Brando, David Niven and Shirley Jones is just so-so and has none of the hilarity and heart of SCOUNDRELS.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The Revengers' Comedies (1998)
a.k.a. Sweet Revenge

I hadn't heard of this and ahead of watching I scanned enough to know only that it was a Strangers On A Train type plot and included Helena Bonham Carter, Sam Neill and Kristin Scott Thomas.

As the titles played, the news got better and better for me. Firstly, it transpired this was based on an Alan Ayckbourn play. Then there was the cast, which was a virtual smörgåsbord of familiar names and faces whose work I've enjoyed, some of whom I'd almost forgotten. I'd never have thought some of these would appear in the same project.

There's Anita Dobson, starting out all posh, like, and ending up screaming hysterically at her daughter and causing a scene by assaulting a man outside a pub. Angie would be proud. Her daughter is Charlotte "Marmalade Atkins" Coleman, who works as a housekeeper beneath reliable old Liz Smith, whose method for getting a greasy kipper stain off Sam Neill's trouser crotch involves so much elbow grease and friction he finds himself fighting a losing battle with his own biology. Devastatingly chiseled Rupert Graves is HBC's dopey-but-sensitive brother. Steve Coogan's here, the object of HBC's murderous intentions and there's a small role from Dicken Ashworth (whose final Brookside episodes I watched just last week) meaning this is a tale of two Alan Partridges. Sadly, the two don't appear in a scene together.

The main cast are great, too. HBC appears to have great fun playing the unpredictable and slightly fragile upper class type whose disguises range from a plain Jane secretary (complete with fake teeth) to a slutty variation of the same secretary. Sam Neill looks wonderfully out of his depth at times (as he's meant to be). KST does that ice queen thing she's so good at.

The plot is fun, and the tone nicely quirky in the most eccentrically British kind of way. Almost everyone, as it turns out, has an agenda, so the truth lies where you find it.

The Norman Conquests it isn't, but I'm still very glad to have stumbled upon this one.
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I mentally pair it with RUTHLESS PEOPLE and A FISH CALLED WANDA as the trio of 80s comedies about terrible people that are darkly funny but also surprisingly sweet.

Oh, interesting. I'd probably never have made that connection between these three, but now you've said I can completely see it.

BEDTIME STORY, with Brando, David Niven and Shirley Jones is just so-so and has none of the hilarity and heart of SCOUNDRELS.

Thanks. This will save me seeking it out. Incidentally, I see that Dirty Rotten Scoundrels has itself been remade (gender-switched, naturally) as The Hustle. I've only seen the poster but I can't say it grabbed me.


I was intrigued to see that Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was initially written with Bowie and Jagger in mind. John Cleese was considered for Jamieson, while Eddie Murphy and Richard Dreyfuss were mooted for Benson (due to crossed wires, Dreyfuss ended up prepping a reading for the Michael Caine character instead). This kind of background minutiae always adds a bit of interest for me.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I honestly don't know how I feel about this film. I don't regret watching it but at the same time I want to forget about it as soon as possible.