Tag: Bill Pullman

THE FAVOR (1994)

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Directed By: Donald Petrie
Written By: Sara Parriott and Josann McGibbon
Cinematography: Tim Shurstedt
Editor: Harry Keramidas

Cast: Harley Jane Kozak, Elizabeth McGovern, Bill Pullman, Brad Pitt, Ken Wahl, Larry Miller, Holland Taylor, Kim Walker, O-lan Jones, Mindy Sterling, Heather Morgan,  Claire Stansfield 

With a 15-year reunion coming up, Kathy has sexual fantasies of her high school sweetheart. She’s married, so she sends her BFF to check him out and report back. Things get complicated.

This is a film I remember seeing the commercials and trailers for all the time when it was coming out. It was also heavily featured in the movie magazines I was reading then. Though never enough to get me to watch it.

Even at the time, it seemed like a seat filler. A film the studios put out and find that is kind of disposable but has enough of a concept that if it’s a slow week. It might be number one at the box office that week or at least make its money back and place within the top 5. Hoping for longevity.

The cast was another reason that I was interested. The film was more marketed as a film for women to see. As it offered three hunks to choose from as love interests. Brad Pitt, Bill Pullman, and Ken Wahl. Though more based on the up-and-comer Brad Pitt. As he is also the only male character to have an extended scene with his shirt off.

This is an example of a 90’s female buddy comedy. Where the two leads work well together but one is so insufferable and selfish. Thought is made out to be a frustrated housewife who has fantasies of what could have been. Now these films are a dime a dozen when it comes to men having midlife crises. So I can’t complain too much.

Throughout the film, there are setups of misunderstandings that keep happening that keep the story going and give the characters reasons to keep running into one another. It tries to be slapstick but isn’t that funny or strong.

 Not to mention for a movie that Runs on a sexual premise there isn’t that much. The few times that it is funny is in a birthing class that could ag e been bigger and longer and from Bill Pullman’s character. The scientist and middle-aged father and husband. Whose attempts to romance his wife are cute and a bit sad. 

These are the roles Bill Pullman has a tendency to play in romantic comedies. Usually the boring yet dependable mate or The quirky suitor. This is disappointing considering he began his career in RUTHLESS PEOPLE as a dumb hunk helping with a blackmail scheme or his lovable loser in SIBLING RIVALRY.

Elizabeth McGovern is an actress who is rare to see On The big screen. So one would think she would be pickier with her roles and one can see why she would want to play this type of character at the time. Even though it doesn’t leave her with much to do comedy-wise. Whereas Harley Jane Kozak gets to do all the scheming, running around, and physical comedy. Even if her character becomes unlikeable. 

Which is inductive if the problems of the film. The cast is way better than the material. They all deserve better. The film looks low budget in every manner, especially for a stupid film.

It’s Directed by Donald Petrie. Who can be hit or miss with films? At times he is gifted and makes a film that is memorable (MYSTIC PIZZA, MISS CONGENIALITY) or they come across as bad misfires like this (RICHIE RICH, HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS) though even those films have a gloss to them. This looks like an independent film that decided to get a studio behind it. 

Ken Wahl at least gets to barely be in the movie but is the character who is talked about the most. By the end though it shows that he might be better off as a fantasy. 

It’s amazing that there is no divorce in the end  

Grade: D+

CYMBELINE (2014)

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cymbeline

Written & Directed By: Michael Almereyda
Based On The Play By: William Shakespeare
Cinematography By: Tim Orr
Editor: John Scott Cook & Barbara Tulliver 


Cast: Ed Harris, Milla Jovovich, Delroy Lindo, Ethan Hawke, Kevin Corrigan, Penn Badgely, Anton Yelchin, Dakota Johnson, Bill Pullman, John Leguizamo, James Ransone, Vondie Curtis-Hall, J.D. Williams, Spenser Treat Clark 


 A gritty story of a take-no-prisoners war between dirty cops and an outlaw biker gang. A drug kingpin is driven to desperate measures. You would need a big name cast to keep the audiences interest. Unless you have Shakespeare purist fans. As there is no real style and feels closed in and claustrophobic

So with this cast other than Ed Harris, Ethan Hawke. you have actors who are more on the mainstream leading roles. Challenging themselves and trying to show they are more than pretty faces by tackling Shakespeare in a more contemporary way and trying to make it more of a crime story.

Though this is one of few times Ed Harris really get to play a leading role. Even if he is barely in the film his presence is always felt. Where as Ethan Hawke is an accomplished stage actor and leading man. So it is not strange to see him In This film. In more of a smaller but pivotal role. Though both heavily featured on the poster. they seem to leave it a showcase for the other actors. As most of the tale revolves around the younger supporting characters. They still revolve more around Harris’s character.

Though it still comes off as slow and claustrophobic. Throughout the performances feel more forced and never quite natural. I understand the language might be out of place, but usually in successful adaptations the actors still find a way to make it convincingly theirs. The material never seems to come alive. Even with such a violent tangled tale.

It’s a shame as the film has a good recognizable cast and strong material that doesn’t feel like it ever comes full circle and maters by their presence. Small scale can be realistic in a kitchen sink drama way. Here that style adds very little, but is definitely a stylistic choice.

The film offers us glimpses of the underworld they operate in but never quite fully explained. Yet we see constant back deals behind closed doors. That every so often becomes a little confusing. Though by the third act it all becomes more clear.

The film feels like an experiment. While also trying to follow the popularity of Shakespeare and the adaptations of it. It tries to stick to it’s more indie roots by choosing a play that is less well known. So that maybe fewer audience members can find fault with it.

This is Director Michael Almereyda’s second attempt at a modern shapespeare tale. He directed an adaptation of Hamlet with Ethan Hawke that similarly had mixed but better results.

Strangely this is one of the few of Shakespeare’s tragedies that has more of a happy ending. Once you get through some deaths and a general massacre.

The film comes off more as a rich fairy tale. That seems inspired by the show SONS OF ANARCHY, with it’s dirty cops and criminal biker gang. Just as that show was inspired by the tale of HAMLET.

Grade: C

BATTLE OF THE SEXES (2017)

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battleofthesexes

Directed By: Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris
Written By: Simon Beaufoy
Cinematography By: Linus Sandgren
Editor: Pamela Martin 


Cast: Steve Carrell, Emma Stone, Bill Pullman, Andrea Riseborough, Natalie Morales, Sarah Silverman, Elisabeth Shue, Martha MacIssac, Alan Cumming, Eric Christian Olsen, Fred Armisen, Mickey Sumner, Wallace Langham, Matt Molloy, Bridey Elliott, Chris Parnell, Mike Vogel, Tom Kenny, Jamey Sheridan 


In the wake of the sexual revolution and the rise of the women’s movement, the 1973 tennis match between women’s world champion and ex-men’s-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs was billed as the BATTLE OF THE SEXES and became one of the most watched televised sports events of all time, reaching 90 million viewers around the world. As the rivalry between King and Riggs kicked into high gear, off-court each was fighting more personal and complex battles. The fiercely private King was not only championing for equality, but also struggling to come to terms with her own sexuality, as her friendship with Marilyn Barnett developed. And Riggs, one of the first self-made media-age celebrities, wrestled with his gambling demons, at the expense of his family and wife Priscilla. Together, Billie and Bobby served up a cultural spectacle that resonated far beyond the tennis court, sparking discussions in bedrooms and boardrooms that continue to reverberate today.

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THE EQUALIZER (2014)

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EQUALIZER

Directed By: Antoine Fuqua
Written By: Richard Wenk
Based on the Series Created By: Michael Sloan & Richard Lindheim
Cinematography By: Mauro Fiore
Editor: John Refoua 


Cast: Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloe Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Haley Bennett, Melissa Leo, Bill Pullman, James Wilcox

A man believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and has dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when he meets a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to help her.

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THE EQUALIZER 2 (2018)

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equalizer2

Directed By: Antonie Fuqua
Written By: Richard Wenk
Based On Characters Created By: Michael Sloan & Richard Lindheim
Cinematography By: Oliver Wood
Editor: Conrad Buff 


Cast: Denzel Washinton, Ashton Sanders, Melissa Leo, Bill Pullman, Pedro Pascal, Orson Bean, Sakina Jeffrey 

Robert McCall serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed, but how far will he go when that is someone he loves?

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