List by-Jarrett Leahy
When you think of acting legend Cary Grant, some of the things that first come to mind for most film fans are: handsome, suave, classy, ladies’ man. But what about gifted comedian? While recently looking at a list of my favorite comedies on Flickchart, I was pleasantly surprised to see how many Cary Grant pictures were at or near the top. When you consider how many of his comedies have stood the test of time, remaining just as amusing as the day they were originally released, why doesn’t Grant’s name ever come up in conversations about the all-time great comedians? This week’s Top 6 List highlights some of Cary Grant’s best comedy films for those looking for hilarious classics to enjoy…
6. I Was A Male War Bride (1949) Teaming up with Ann Sheridan in this Howard Hawks directed, wacky wartime comedy, Grant plays French officer Cpt. Henri Rochard, Sheridan is American Army Lieutenant Catherine Gates. After rocky beginnings, the two eventually discover they are crazy for one another. When Lieut. Gates’ unit is reassigned back in the US, the only way Henri can go back with her is if they invoke the War Bride’s Act, a law allowing the spouse of US army personnel to enter the country. This turns out to be a bureaucratic nightmare and a comedic dream that includes Grant dressing up in drag in an attempt to sneak aboard Catherine’s ship. Just re-watching the trailer for this madcap comedy makes me chuckle.
5. The Philadelphia Story (1940) Directed by legendary filmmaker George Cukor, Grant is joined by fellow superstars Jimmy Stewart and Katharine Hepburn in this high society romantic comedy about a rich heiress whose plans to remarry get interrupted when her ex and a tabloid writer looking for an exclusive crash her wedding festivities. Philadelphia Story is comedy that gets better with each viewing. There truly may be no better on-screen chemistry than that shared between Grant and Hepburn. I’m sure some will wonder why this isn’t ranked higher. Well for me it simply came down to laughs. As much I as I LOVE The Philadelphia Story, I personally found the others listed ahead of it to be slightly more funny.
4. The Awful Truth (1937) This Leo McCarey screwball comedy is the best of the Cary Grant/Irene Dunne collaborations. After unsubstantiated suspicions lead Lucy and Jerry Warriner to begin divorce proceedings, comedic hijinks ensue when each tries to sabotage the other’s efforts to begin a new relationship. If there was any actress that could give Hepburn a run for her money for the title of best Cary Grant comedic partner it would have to be Irene Dunne. Watching these two play off each other is real treat. Leo McCarey won the Best Director Oscar for The Awful Truth while the film received five other nominations including one for Best Picture.
3. Holiday (1938) In the second George Cukor romantic comedy to star Grant and Hepburn on this list, Grant plays Johnny Case, a wide-eyed young man who has hastily fallen in love and become engaged to a young woman named Julie. Unbeknownst to Johnny, Julie is in fact a high-class well-to-do from a very affluent family. When Johnny shares his desire to go on an extended holiday to discover himself, instead of accepting her father’s job offer, the only family members who don’t find him to be completely foolhardy are his fiancee’s outlandish black sheep sister, played by Katharine Hepburn, and their miserable brother. Along with a touching message about living a life true to oneself, Holiday is known for Cary Grant’s surprising talent for performing his own acrobatic stunts including a handstand into a back flip. If that doesn’t pique your interest I don’t know what will.
2. His Girl Friday (1940) Yet another Howard Hawks/Cary Grant partnership, His Girl Friday teams Grant with spitfire comedienne Rosalind Russell in this satirical screwball comedy about a newspaper editor who will do just about anything to keep is his best reporter (and ex-wife) from remarrying. His Girl Friday has some of the sharpest, most rapid fire comedic dialogue you will ever find on screen, showing just how talented each of these two leads really is. With such fast paced delivery, I must admit that it took me two viewings to fully appreciate all the comedic genius this film has to offer.
1. Bringing Up Baby (1938) A clueless paleontologist gets caught up with a zany heiress and her new pet leopard Baby while trying to procure a $1 million donation for his natural history museum. The third, and best, Howard Hawks comedy to crack this list (can you tell Hawks knows how to make a great comedy?), some may find this screwball classic a little too over the top. But for me, watching the absurdly ridiculous shenanigans Grant and Hepburn’s characters get into never gets old. I do love Bringing Up Baby.-JL
As the credits began rolling I turned to my alluring editor to see if she was as smitten with this exceptional film from Belgium as I obviously was. She simply looked at me and said, “Wow, good luck trying to write about that one.” Her comment caught me off guard for a moment until she then put it in context of how difficult it was going to be to share thoughts and observations without revealing too much of the story. Considering I’ve now spent four days working on this one review, she has no idea how prophetic her one little comment has turned out to be. (By the way, for those curious, yes she also was taken by this poignant film)
Equal parts cinematic magic and emotional roller coaster, discovering movies like The Broken Circle Breakdown is why so many of us love this splendid hobby. With a similar feel to the 2011 Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams film Blue Valentine, the disjointed, nonlinear narrative style shows us glimpses of what is to be, then goes back in time to show us how they got there. While I can see some becoming frustrated with the filmmaker’s choice of this unique storytelling technique, I personally found it kept me much more attentive to the happenings on screen.
The two lead performers, Veerle Baetens and Johan Heldenbergh, are simply revelations. The sizzling and sensual attraction these two exhibit is palpable. While other times, their roles require each to become emotionally naked, displaying an inner anguish that few can even imagine let alone portray. If forced to choose a favorite between the two, I’d have to lean toward Baetens. Her extraordinarily eccentric combination of vividly displayed tattoos with traditional, conservative, southern-styled dresses is such a fascinating and sensuous juxtaposition for the eyes. I fully expect after Broken Circle Breakdown, that Baetens, who deservedly won the European Film Awards 2013 Best Actress for her performance, will quickly become a rising star.
The film’s soundtrack is a heralded attraction unto itself and is one of the finest I’ve experienced in quite some time. Right from the first spine-tingling moments we get to experience the harmonious intertwining of Baetens and Heldenbergh’s voices, the chemistry these two show on stage together could make most professional musicians jealous. Director Felix van Groeningen’s use of these impeccably performed bluegrass standards superbly accentuates the exhilarating highs while helping pull the viewer back from the distressing lows the film portrays. Though the dialogue is in Flemish, all the music performed was sung by the actors in English, offering a bit of respite from the film’s subtitles, minimizing some of that dreaded “foreign film feel.” While I’m pleased to see that The Broken Circle Breakdown received an 2014 Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, I must admit I’m a bit shocked to see that its first-class soundtrack was ignored.
Review by-Jarrett Leahy
Nature documentaries have an unfortunate reputation of being a bit dull or stodgy. Disneynature quickly puts those concerns to rest with their selection of actor/comedian extraordinaire John C. Reilly as the film’s narrator. Reilly’s comedic delivery is simply perfect for this film, adding adorable observational conversations for the interactions between these two energetic young bundles and their loving mother. His side-splitting narration during a particular scene involving Scout and a clam will leave you tears.
Another of the film’s true joys is simply the breathtaking Alaskan wilderness these gifted filmmakers were so skillfully able to capture on film. During scenes when the bears are fishing for salmon, the camera puts you right in the action, even giving you the occasional fish-eye view of this aquatic game of cat and mouse. From majestic snow-capped mountains, to expansive coastlines and flowering meadows, the wonderfully voluminous and diverse nature settings offered by our nation’s largest state will leave you in awe.
With hundreds of hours of footage shot, it’s incredible that directors Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey were able so efficiently to whittle it all down to a taut and lively 75 minute production. Thanks in large part to John C. Reilly’s priceless narration, Bears is a charming and delightful adventure for both children and adults that will have you leaving the theater beaming.-JL
Review by-Jarrett Leahy
In recent years there has been a growing market for what I can only describe as old man action films (i.e. Red 1 & 2, Expendables 1-3, etc). We, for some strange reason, get a charge out of seeing our aging heroes still trying to kick some ass despite their obvious shortcomings. Grudge Match is the latest in the line of geriatric action comedies, playing off the, ‘wouldn’t it have been cool to see Stallone’s Rocky fight Jake La Motta, De Niro’s Oscar winning character from Raging Bull?’ Admittedly this may have been a cool idea 20 years ago when these two were still close to their prime. Now however it’s hard not to feel a bit dejected seeing a 67-year-old Stallone and a 70-year-old De Niro subject themselves to this type of comedic spectacle. To put into perspective how old these two really are, when Grumpy Old Men was released back in 1993, Jack Lemmon was 68 and Walter Matthau was 73. HGH is an amazing drug.
As expected with a premise of this nature, the story is well-worn and stereotypically predictable. After retiring, the lovably modest Razor (Stallone) now lives a quiet, uncomplicated life as a shipyard worker. In contrast, the post boxing career of the smug womanizer Billy (De Niro) has been much more fruitful, with a slew of successful businesses including a car dealership and a night club complete with his very own boxing related comedy act (an obvious reference to De Niro’s La Motta character and his comedy club owner scenes). Adding to the predictability of Billy’s story arc, the script plays the clichéd long lost son card. Surprisingly though, here you will actually find one the better performances of the film. Instead of the typical angry son act, the usual tough guy Jon Bernthal adroitly brings a level of compassion to the character of BJ that I found kind of refreshing. Another of the film’s surprises comes from the timeless beauty, Kim Basinger. Through her gentle and warm presence on screen, she actually makes Stallone’s droopy basset hound stare and wooden delivery feel kind of endearing.
Supporting stars Kevin Hart and the ageless wonder Alan Arkin were brought in to add some much needed comedic timing. And while each offers amusing moments, too often the humor is sadly at the expense of Stallone and De Niro, who are subjected to an excess of embarrassing commercial stunts to help “promote” their upcoming fight, including a botched National Anthem and a parachute jump gone wrong.
Review by-Jarrett Leahy
Out of the Furnace is a dark, somber drama that elicits comparisons to past films such as Winter’s Bone and The Deer Hunter. Braddock, PA, the town the film is set in is only 12 miles east of Pittsburgh, but thanks in large part to the doleful and distressed cinematography used, it looks almost like another world. Throughout the film, pain and regret hang over the picture like smoke from the steel mill stacks. The banjo and fiddle filled ominous musical score adds even more to the film’s foreboding atmosphere. Though the storyline has a familiar predictability to it, what keeps Out of the Furnace gripping to the end are the absorbing performances from its cast of A-list actors.
2013 brought us two impressive performances from Welsh actor Christian Bale. While the flashy, brash portrayal of Irving Rosenfeld in American Hustle got all the critical acclaim, his performance in Out of the Furnace offers a more complex emotional punch. Bale remarkably captures the pure desperation of a man who is willing do anything to help his wayward brother. Just below Bale’s afflicted stare is a man who is seething with frustration as his life and those who he loves most are taken away. Casey Affleck, who plays younger brother Rodney, offers yet another solid performance. Affleck achingly emanates the simmering inner turmoil of a military veteran who doesn’t know what to do with his life now that he’s not fighting for his country.
Out of the Furnace’s one female lead, the role of Russell’s girlfriend Lena, is played by the often underrated Zoe Saldana. No moment better exhibits Saldana’s skill as a rising actress than the scene when Russell and Lena reunite. Her facial expressions when first seeing Russell after five years are heartrending. Within a matter of seconds we see shock, excitement, and love, only to just as quickly turn to longing, pain, and regret. It is an example of how a skilled actor can emote so much without saying a word.
Among a supporting cast that includes Academy award winner Forest Whitaker, and Academy award nominees Sam Shepard and Willem Dafoe, it is two time Oscar nominee Woody Harrelson who steals the show. His deplorable portrait of the ruthless felon Harlan DeGroat exudes an aura of vile depravity. Literally from the film’s opening scene we learn that this man just might be the living embodiment of evil incarnate.
AmateurCinephile.com 