The Outsiders and a couple more Toss-Aways

Film 143
"Crazylove"
starring: Nobody worth mentioning, but maybe you know them from TV (Reiko Aylesworth from "24" and Bruno Campos from "Jesse" that Christina Applegate sitcom from the early '00s)

I was disappointed with this film after about a half-hour, because it becomes another film mishandling mental illness. What is with the trend of these films lately? I know that mental illness/health has become a rather open topic of discussion through the past decade or so, but I haven't really seen a film treat mental illness with "seriousness" since really "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Jack Nicholson was absolute stellar in that performance. I consider that more of a drama and really touched everything about mental illness almost perfectly. Mental illness has become a staple subject of comedies and really there isn't too much funny about most mental illnesses, especially if you've lived through one, in one form or another, or if you know/knew someone who struggle(d)(s) with it.

Reiko Aylesworth plays Letty, an elementary school teacher who clearly suffers from OCD (should be called Obsessive Control Disorder) as we get to witness her morning routine a couple of times and get a sense of how "sick" she is. Letty is clearly almost at her breaking point, nearing her last nerve as she is trying to convince her principal and superintendent that she can take the added stress of heading up an after-school math program (clearly, though, she should be rethinking her priorities). She has a lot of personal life demands as well: she is living with and engaged to her boyfriend, who doesn't seem to really understand her. Her sister (Marla Sokoloff, remember her from "The Practice?") is getting married, before her, and wants her to basically be an unpaid wedding planner, and Letty's mother is a classic motherly-type with expectations on her oldest daughter.

Letty reaches the end of her rope at school and snaps at a kid who is practicing penmanship on the board. But, wait, that's not her breaking point, although, she's given a "vacation" to come to grips. It's at an engagement dinner for her sister that Letty finally snaps. Her perfect dinner is missing a certain brand of olives, so she goes to the local grocery store to pick some up. When she can't find them, she ends up breaking a dozen or so glass jars of olives and is asked to leave. This is an emotional scene, handled with care and delicacy, because we see the pain Letty is suffering from as the scene plays out.

So far, so good.

But then, the film transports to a mental institution where Letty is staying. That's where she meets Michael (Campos), who is the dreamy/hunky schizophrenic who has enough endearing qualities for Letty to forget about her fiancee, because he just doesn't "get her" like Michael does (because they're both crazy!). This is where it all kind of falls apart for me, because it becomes less believable. Yes, sure, these two characters get along, but it becomes rather cliche to stick them together and turn it into a love story, in spite of the title. It doesn't have to be a cliche-riddled love story (and they try to avoid it by giving Michael a problem, he gets released, but doesn't continue taking his medication, which leads to another, scary episode of schizophrenia). In fact, they both get released eventually. We are led to believe everything will work out for each of them, because they have each other, but the filmmakers throw the curveball of Michael's breakdown. It's scary to watch, and his breakdown (as well as Letty's in the store) are handled with care. I would've liked to see a film more about the mental illnesses and how they are handled, then to have them just put together in a cute, upscale institution and then released to each other. It comes off rather cheap.

Letty has her necessary epiphany and it's sort of interesting at the end when she is back in the classroom and has to explain her absence to students. I'm not sure I agree with how she handled it, though.

The material was very weak for a film about something so serious, but when it was the focal point it was handled well. I wouldn't watch it again, though.

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Film 144
"Morning Glory"
starring: Rachel McAdams (lovely as always), Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Patrick Wilson

"Morning Glory" could've been the routine romantic-comedy, in a sense, because from the beginning Becky Fuller (McAdams) has a potential lover in Adam Bennett (Wilson), but it is so clearly about something more. It is about Becky Fuller as a career-driven woman. A take-charge, independent-minded woman. A strong female lead. And I totally dig her in this role. There's something quite attractive about a woman who knows what she wants and will do anything/everything to get it and be successful. But, I also found myself connecting with Patrick Wilson's character because he's clearly interested in her and wants the best for her, but he also wants some attention paid to him. I think many people who know me will agree that I can be known to demand a lot of attention!

So, here's a film about a girl. On a mission. Becky Fuller is a TV show producer, who gets fired from her thankless 4:30 a.m. news show. Then, by luck and persistence, she is hired by Jeff Goldblum's character to produce an ailing morning show on IBS (which is in 4th place consistently among the top cable channels) that is sinking faster than the Titanic and you get the sense that he doesn't even believe in her ability to turn things around. One of the things that makes these films predictable though is the outcome. You get the sense that Becky will come in firing on all cylinders and face obstacles, but will ultimately succeed. It's how she plays the game that makes the film enticing. At her first meeting, she hits on everyone's points and even fires the male co-anchor because he's a sexist, creepy douchebag, all in one breath. She gains the respect of her staff pretty quickly. Diane Keaton plays the female anchor who smiles through pretty much everything because she has to (she's on-air talent, and she's being paid to fake it a lot and she really can't turn it off).

Becky has an idea that will most assuredly turn the program around. She wants and hires an veteran reporter, Mike Pomeroy (Ford, stellar in his transformation as a pessimistic old man/reporter who misses his anchorman desk on the evening news- when it meant something more). Pomeroy could care less about his job and is clearly in it just to make sure he keeps getting a paycheck, but the zeal and enthusiasm that Becky brings to her job day in and day out (as well as her confession that the show is tanking and will be cancelled) changes his mind towards the end.

What transforms the movie from ordinary to something more is McAdams's approach to her character. She's everything I've already mentioned, but she also continuously positions herself on the optimistic side of things. She's a little bit manic (but really that's just her being driven to success, because I wonder if we would call a man the same thing if he was portrayed the same way). She's always smiling, even when she's told there's no reason to be. She's hopeful. All of this makes you want to believe in her and you want to see her succeed in the end, even if it's a rather mundane comedy of sorts. Becky Fuller loves her work and she gives 200% every day. She is driven, a bit impulsive, determined, and oh so cute with her dimples and smile. Any character that can change Harrison Ford's deadpan, could-give-a-shit character's attitude is a winner, in my book. Yes, the outcome is predictable, but the way she is successful and the choices she makes along the way, make it an enjoyable ride and viewing. The love-story between Becky and Andrew takes a beackseat, thankfully, once it is determined that Becky is way more focused on her job than anything else, which really needs to be conveyed in order for the audience to buy her story.

The other film about broadcast news that I recommend, purely for gut-splitting laughs is "Anchorman."

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Film 145
"The Outsiders"
starring: (just about every dude): C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillion, Diane Lane, Ralph Macchio, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise, Leif Garrett
Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola

"The Outsiders" is based on the classic, boys coming-of-age novel by S.E. Hinton. I remember watching this film one day when I was shadowing my father at his job as principal of Oxford Hills Middle School. I believe it was summer time, because the school was empty. I had the library to myself. He set me up in there with a TV and a video-cassette player, yes, it was that far back in history (long before DVD players). I watched the film and then went into the gym and shot some basketball. Alone. I guess I was always meant to be in a school setting, because even as a kid (even though I fought it hard) I found myself going to school, instead of getting into the regular, expected adolescent trouble. I was more interested in seeing a school, behind the scenes, when no kids were around (except for me).

So, the film captures the essence of the book in a well-intentioned way, except that I think it had the wrong director. Coppola is a big director, and I think he swung and missed with this one, even though he had the material he needed right in front of him. It's a very visual and auditory movie. Coppola likes to present us with scenes he has designed and the music he picked to play as the soundtrack just seems rather cheap and cliche. I think that's my word of the day! Some of the scenes are so clearly set up against the back-drop of a Hollywood soundstage that it looks completely fake. I get that perhaps they didn't have too much money to go on locations, and it is the early 1980s, but I think Coppola could've done better, especially if he was trying to present a visually enticing film to the audience. This, again, comes off as cheap. And I think it's also cheating the story.

The story is about the class warfare and social structure between rich kids (socs) and poor kids (greasers). Perhaps it could be conveyed as white collar versus blue collar. It starts off rather slowly trying to build character development that never really stays throughout the picture. A tame and only 18 years-old Diane Lane plays the girlfriend of one of the rich kids. The greasers try picking her up at a drive-in (remember when those were relevant, now they're an endangered species). She takes a liking to one of the younger, less threatening ones (played by C. Thomas Howell) and his buddy (played by a young Ralph Macchio). There's a fight beween these two greasers and the rich kids later in the night. One of the rich kids dies and the two youngest greasers are on the run from that point on. Dallas Winston (Matt Dillon) plays the eldest, wisest greaser who gives them money to stay hidden outside of town. Here's a story that has literally no true adults in the plot and it gives a more "Lord of the Flies" element to it than anything else.

I never really connect or feel sympathy for the characters, even as a guy. All the boys in the film just seem slightly ridiculous and immature to me. They don't see like 3-dimensional characters, which they should on film, and maybe not in the novel.

I hope that someday somebody decides to remake this novel/book, because I think, visually it could be present in a much more stimulating way and I think there are actors out there that could breathe more life into the characters, as long as they are allowed to by the director. Maybe get a lesser known, smaller-thinking director, too, while you're at it, because I want to like and enjoy this story, but it just never really connected with me, for multiple reasons. Although, I was impressed with Diane Lane in one of her earliest film roles and can see why she is where she is these days, as an often-sought-after actress for high profile roles. I absolutely love her in "Unfaithful."