Jaws (1975)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Cast: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary

Have I Seen it Before: Oh, sure. No less, the poster is up in my living room*. As I type that, it’s more shocking than anything else that I haven’t re-watched in the four years since I’ve started these reviews.

Did I Like It: There’s plenty for someone to love about this movie even from a distance. The cinematography is as good as anything has ever been. Every frame of the movie has nearly perfect construction, which is all the more impressive when one considers that the entire film actively tried to shake itself apart from the beginning principal photography. As a first major release for Spielberg, the film proves beyond all doubt that he could turn disasters into hits. I’d submit that any of his New Hollywood cohorts would have collapsed under the pressure of making the film. Coppola? Lucas? Hopper? We never would have heard from Hopper again if he had to deal with the shark.

“The shark looks fake” is a hoary cliche of a joke, but it can really only be leveled at the sequels. Whether it is because of Spielberg’s inherent sense (brought to full bear in Jurassic Park (1993)) to avoid showing us the monster for as long as possible, or if that sensibility came about because the shark was an unreliable diva, the shark makes maximum impact when he finally does emerge from the water.

The score is arguably John Williams’ simplest, but it might also be among his most iconic. Not bad for what on first blush is just a cacophony of piano and bowed strings.

But the real secret power of the film—and one that many big movie entertainments did not try to emulate—are the performances. The movie may never be deep, profound drama, but each of the three main leads behaves in the film in a memorable way. When it’s now several days since I re-viewed the film, and I still can’t get “Show Me The Way To Go Home” out of my head, that may be undeniable proof that the movie is only kind of about a shark.

*Along with the iconic art deco poster for The Rocketeer (1991). There’s a certain odd symmetry between them, with both Cliff Secord and Bruce the Shark staring at a hook for hanging plantss that predates our buying of this house.

From Russia With Love (1963)

Director: Terence Young

Cast: Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi, Pedro Amendáriz, Robert Shaw

Have I Seen it Before: Oh. Many, many times.

Did I Like It: For so many years, there wasn’t even much of a contest. Before some (underline, some) of the recent Daniel Craig entries, this was the best Bond movie ever made by several kilometers*. For my money, it still is the absolute gold standard of the franchise. 

And it can be hard to describe—to the uninitiated—why that is. There are few gadgets on display here. The iconic Aston Martin is still a film away. The main villain operates in the shadows, and the actual antagonists of the story are in roles that would normally be filled by henchmen as the franchise continued. To tell the truth, as a young lad I think this was very near the bottom of the list. Goldeneye (1995) was my jam. Boys do tend to have an affinity for whoever played Bond when they were about 10. We were all young fools, once.

It is the most faithful adaptation of one of Fleming’s original novels. That might account for some of it, but convincing oneself that the Fleming books are holy texts which should never have been deviated from is probably dangerous territory, and at minimum would preclude one from accepting Idris Elba as the next successor to the role, which he should 100% be. Don’t @ me.

Producer Albert Broccoli said that this is where the Bond formula was perfected, but I say that is bunk. If you want the formula perfected (before it was summarily regurgitated, you have to wait for Goldfinger (1964). This film’s true strength is that there was no formula yet. EON and Terence Young and the cast were content to make an actual movie the best way they knew how. By the time Thunderball (1965) came around, the whole affair had become a cottage industry.

With this movie, the chemistry between Connery and Bianchi (completely dubbed over, in the grand tradition of early Bond) is palpable. Those henchmen are both memorable villains without veering too much into cartoon territory. And Connery is never better in the role. He’s a man working the problems of his adventure out. There’s a mind at work, not a strange, inhuman superhero who is never in any danger.

If only the other Bond films could have pulled off that trick. At least Moonraker (1979) would have been a hell of a different picture.

*Felt weird to go with “miles” there, when we’re talking about 007.

The Sting (1973)

Director: George Roy Hill

Cast: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning

Have I Seen It Before?: I have the vaguest of memories of trying to watch it once on cable, but edited to within an inch of it’s life, the movie dragged on for far longer than its just-over two run time. Definitely felt like I was missing something at the time. It completely mystifies me as to why that was a mystery back then.

Did I like it?: Yeah, I think so.

I kept hesitating to watch this movie because it’s been lionized for its byzantine plot. By the time my DVD returned to its menu, I was struck with the need to ask “Is that it?”

I expected the need to pay attention to every second of the film to even be able to follow it. Instead, I think I may have become the quintessential bad audience member at a magic show. I’m not blinking, and thus I see the slight of hand as it plays out.

So, I suppose it’s on me that this film just didn’t work for me. And that’s the unfortunate thing that can happen when people don’t watch the classics as quickly as they possibly can. They end up seeing all of the stuff that was inspired by the ur-example. The magic of the original is diminished, or in some cases, completely gone.

So, I come here not to damn The Sting, but to damn us for not getting on the ball and watching the greats. Learn from my mistake. Make better choices. If you’ve got a choice between watching Ocean’s Eleven (2001) and this, watch this first. If you have a choice between watching Joker (2019) and Taxi Driver (1976). If you have the choice between watching Notorious (1946) and Mission: Impossible II (2000), for the love of God and everything that is Holy, watch Notorious.

Let’s make better choices all around, people.