L.A. Confidential (1997)

Director: Curtis Hanson

Cast: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger

Have I Seen It Before: Yes. It felt like one of those negotiations I had to launch into in the 1990s to retrieve R-rated movies from the powers that B. As scandalous as the film presents itself to be, I’m imagining my 13-year-old self felt like he was sold a false bill of goods.

Did I Like It: This time I loved it. There’s probably not much more to say about the Hanson’s direction, Ellroy’s story designed to be an almost perfect tension-delivery machine, or even the performances. I’m perfectly fine to hear that the one takeaway people might have from this review that I never thought I’d watch a movie with Kevin Spacey and eventually forget that I’m having to watch Kevin Spacey. The man is probably deeply terrible, and I’m imagining that American Beauty (1999) is still made of nuclear levels of discomfort, but there was definitely a time where he had a watchable quality.

But what I would really like to talk about it Jerry Goldsmith’s score. I didn’t even need to see his name in the credits to know he was conducting. It might be his last great score*, and it seems to celebrate all of his disparate works. There’s more than a little bit of Chinatown (1974), and that seems to be a natural reference point. But there’s plenty of other Golsmith-esque flourishes in there, culminating in a celebration of his whole career. A bit of Alien (1979)** is thrown in there, along with some of his larger orchestral themes, and even a few notes from his later synth-heavy scores. The score album of this one is quickly going to be on regular rotation. That much is for certain.

*All due apologies to Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), a solid score that suffers from trying to copy Star Trek: First Contact (1996) a bit too closely, and no apologies to Star Trek Nemesis (2002), because you know what you did.

**When White (Crowe) digs around in the cellar, you’ll hear it, too.

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Director: Ron Howard

Cast: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Paul Bettany

Have I Seen It Before: Oh, sure. Hell, there was a stretch there in the early 2000s where watching the movie, or listening to the score (that carried over to the 2020s, now that I think about it) were just about the only thing that could get me through any sort of brain freeze on a school project. That’s probably less than healthy, now that I’m really thinking about it.

Did I Like It: The odd thing about revisiting media that you know well but haven’t taken in more than a few years, there are things you never noticed before that now you can’t help but fixate on. Think Danny Pudi being one of the Santos campaign staffers in the last season of The West Wing, like the whole show was a Community prequel this whole time, and I never noticed. Here, Anthony Rapp—not the wide-eyed kid from Adventures in Babysitting (1987) mind you, but a discernably grown Rapp—runs around as one of Nash’s (Crowe) mathematician colleagues, and I’m left wondering someone is going to break the Prime Directive before everything is said and done. It really shouldn’t be difficult to separate an actor from the role with I most identify them, but when they were stealthily there the whole time, it’s just spooky.

Is that a sufficient criticism of the movie? Probably not, but it is the “new thought” I had to share, to be sure. Howard does tend to be the most journeyman among his elite level of filmmaking peers, and this is one of those examples. Strip away the James Horner score, the Roger Deakins cinematography, and most of the performances, and what you have is not much more evolved than a TV movie-of-the-week from days of old.

But how can you strip that many elements away from a film before you make assess it. Time may have been altogether kind to it, but it still tugs at all of the emotions that it wants to target.

Man of Steel (2013)

Director: Zack Snyder

Cast: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Russell Crowe

Have I Seen it Before: Yep.

Did I Like It: Honestly, kind of? I know that’s strange to hear from me, when I’ve been so blissfully, aggressively down on the follow-up, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)*, but there is something to this film that I find imminently watchable. 

The casting is top notch all around. I don’t think Russell Crowe has ever been a better action hero than his spin on Jor-El, and makes him seem like more of a man than the distant God-like figure filled in by Marlon Brando in years past. For that matter, between unseen corpses in The Big Chill (1983) and certain Princes of Thieves, Kevin Costner has been miscast more than a few times, but Pa Kent is not one of those. Also, Richard Schiff is in it. That’s very nearly worth a Michael Keaton or two in my book.

It’s true strength is this: eschewing the slavish devotion to the Christopher Reeve/Richard Donner films that perhaps weighed down Superman Returns (2006), this film surprisingly tries to turn the story of the last son of Krypton coming to Earth to live among humanity into an actual alien invasion story.

It’s such a simple and refreshing take on the mythos that I’m tempted to give the film a pass on any flaws that can’t be avoided. Anyone who lives in the midwest will probably find stumbling on a tornado as a pretty unlikely set of circumstances, to say nothing for the fact that having Pa Kent eat it in the middle of cyclone falls far short of the pathos-filled slow heart attack which took out Glenn Ford. The third act is notoriously wall-to-wall disaster porn, and the choice to have Superman (Cavill) kill Zod (Michael Shannon) in something approaching cold bold feels antithetical to the purity of the character. That’s because it is. But at least here, it stems from the rest of the film as presented, and it isn’t exactly like it’s a lazy coincidence that resolves all of the tension in the movie.

For that, we’d have to wait for the sequel.

*Even five years later, that title is an absolute chore to type.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

Director: Peter Weir

Cast: Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, James D’Arcy, Robert Pugh

Have I Seen it Before: Never, and I’m not entirely sure why. It was Oscar bait in one of those years where I saw everything, regardless of whether it was award worthy or not. Hell, I saw Gigli (2003) twice*, what was stopping me here?

Did I Like It: Right out of the gate, I can tell I’m going to forgive this movie any number of sins it might commit for the rest of its runtime. I was first introduced to the idea by the DVD commentaries of Nicholas Meyer, but I fully admit someone else may have originated from someone else. Nearly every movie that is set in a historical—or for that matter, fantastical—era naturally gravitates to be a product the age in in which it is made. Between the choices in cinematography, costuming, and dialogue choices, one can guess when a film was made within about five years. Hell, choices in hairdressing alone can tip a film’s hand almost immediately.

I don’t know if this film will continue to age as well, but it could have easily been made last year, or even thirty years ago, instead being only seventeen years old. All too often, the artists behind cinema produce their work aiming only at the initial exhibition. Every movie ever made is going to spend the near totality of its existence on TVs in the years to follow. More filmmakers should have in the back of their mind how their films will play in the years to come. Weir should be commended for this.

The story might be faulted for being too simple, but I think it is another secret strength. If the plot can be whittled down to its basic elements (the British ship has some problems while hunting an enemy French vessel, prevails honorably, but at a cost) then the delicate work of the photography and other artistry can shine through.

*Although only once in the theater. Even I have my limits.