Beaches (Bette Midler)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s nine years since we watched the film ‘Beaches’, and we’d totally forgotten what it was about. It was made in 1988, in a time when people had longer attention spans, so it’s over two hours - and last night, when we watched, we were captivated right from the start, unaware of the time passing.

Bette Midler is the main character, playing ‘CC’, who’s clearly a well-known and popular singing when we meet her at the start. She’s just finished rehearsing for a major concert when she’s handed a note - perhaps a telegram - which causes her to abandon everyone, and race to the airport. She doesn’t even tell anyone why she’s leaving.

CC is unable to get on a plane, so she rents a car and drives through the night. As she does so, she reminisces, and the majority of the film is a series of flashbacks, telling the story of her friendship with Hillary (Barbara Hershey) a girl who is different from her in just about every respect.

CC and Hillary meet when they are eleven. CC is street-wise, with a pushy mother who wants to exploit her talent. The 11-year-old CC is brilliantly played by Mayim Bailik, so much so that it was hard to believe she is not closely related to Bette Midler. I have no idea when the actresses switched during the years that are covered.

Hillary (whose 11-year-old self is played by Marcie Leeds) is wealthy, pretty, naive and lonely. Her father is distant, her mother died when she was younger, and she’s being brought up by an aunt. But she and CC decide to stay in touch, and they write letters over the years although they don’t meet again until they are adults.

It’s a wonderful friendship, which only starts to fray at the edges when CC gradually becomes more successful. She’s a remarkably self-centred person who doesn’t seem to care much for anyone (other than, perhaps, Hillary) as her career is all-absorbing. Hillary is a brilliant lawyer, but gives up her career when she gets married, and CC is very disapproving.

The script is excellent, the pace exactly right to tell the story. There are some light-hearted parts, and one very bawdy scene where Hillary and her husband disapprove of a musical CC is in. There’s also a great deal of poignancy towards the end, and both the women have to come to terms with what their friendship really means.

It’s only at the very end that we discover why CC has rushed away from her concert, finally putting her ambition aside for the sake of someone else. It’s all extremely moving, with some positive scenes right at the end.

The rating was originally 15 but it was changed to 12 (PG-12 in the US) which seems about right to me. There are a few instances of bad language, but they’re not inappropriate or excessive. There are a couple of intimate scenes but they’re tastefully done, and while there are innuendoes and casual talk about one-night stands and infidelity, there’s nothing too overt. I don’t suppose anyone younger than about twelve or thirteen would be interested in it anyway, but I’d have no problem showing it to a reasonably mature teenager of about thirteen or older.

Definitely recommended if you like films of this kind: a character-based drama with a heart-wrenching climax.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

Remember Me (Robert Pattison)

(Amazon UK link)

The film ‘Remember Me’ has been sitting in our drawer of DVDs to watch - either new ones, or those we haven’t seen for eight or nine years or more. We haven’t previously seen ‘Remember Me’, but neither of us can remember how we acquired it. Possibly from a church sale, or a thrift store. The blurb on the back made it sound quite heavy going, but last night, we finally decided to watch it.

I wasn’t sure I was going to like it in the early scenes. The film opens in 1991 with a young woman being mugged and then shot at a railway station, leaving a weeping daughter and devastated husband.

It then moves ten years later, where we meet Tyler (Robert Pattison) who is a college student, and who also works in a book shop. He and his friend Aidan (Tate Ellington) share a rather grungy apartment, and are out one evening when they get involved in some street violence. The police are contacted, but Tyler isn’t at all happy with how the situation is resolved, and gets into conflict with Neil (Chris Cooper). Neil is the bereaved husband from 1991, and who is evidently violent and judgemental.

Tyler’s father (Pierce Brosnan) is a wealthy businessman who gets into a lot of arguments with his son, and more-or-less ignores his nine-year-old daughter Caroline (Ruby Jerins). We quickly learn that Tyler had an older brother, Michael, who committed suicide a few years earlier. Tyler is still grieving, and is very protective of his sister. She’s rather a dreamer, and an artistic prodigy, and isn’t just neglected by her father, she’s bullied at school.

And then there’s Ally (Emilie de Ravin), Neil’s daughter, who lost her mother in the opening scenes. She’s a student too, in some of the same classes as Tyler. And Aiden suggests that his friend ask her out, and then treat her badly, to take revenge on her father. Tyler is reluctant, but finds Ally very attractive…

The back of the DVD says that this film is ‘terrifically powerful, hugely moving and totally compelling’. While blurbs often exaggerate, we thought this one absolutely correct. Despite my initial reservations, I was soon totally absorbed in the storyline. It’s quite heavy in places and I didn’t like the violence, nor the shocking ending. But there are some light-hearted scenes as Tyler and Ally’s friendship develops, and some clever dialogue. Then the subplots involving Caroline are poignant and moving, and provide an excellent contrast to the more active, often aggressive scenes involving Tyler.

We didn’t see the ending coming, until right before the climax. It would be a spoiler to give any hints - suffice it to say that I felt slightly cheated at first, but then realised how very powerful it was as a storyline. We watched the ‘making of’ documentary, which explained why the scriptwriter used a significant incident and made a film around it, bringing ordinary, flawed but likeable characters to life, to make the point about ordinary people being involved in unexpected situations.

The acting is excellent, the pace exactly right, the conversation believable. It’s a film we won’t forget; I don’t know if we’ll want to see it again in another few years, or whether it would be difficult to see it, knowing what was coming. But it’s one I would recommend, if only for a piece of important American social history.

The rating is 12 (PG-13 in the US), which slightly surprises me; I’d have thought 15 would be more appropriate. The violent scenes are unpleasant, the scenes of intimacy quite drawn-out (albeit showing nothing explicit) and there’s some bad language, as well as quite disturbing themes. Definitely not for impressionable children or sensitive teens.

But for older teens and adults, definitely recommended.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

Hannah and her Sisters (Mia Farrow)

(Amazon UK link)

I had never heard of the film ‘Hannah and her Sisters’, but spotted it at a church sale. The blurb sounded interesting, and the cast list impressive, so I forked out fifty cents. It sat on the shelf for a while, but we decided to watch it last night.

Mia Farrow is superb as Hannah, a successful wife and mother who seems to be the peacemaker and found of knowledge in her dysfunctional family. Except that we know, from the opening scenes, that her husband Elliot (Michael Caine) is secretly lusting after Hannah’s sister Lee (Barbara Hershey).

Lee lives with a rather bizarre hermit-like artist called Frederick (Max von Sydow); it appears that she was once his student, and he still likes to teach her. But she’s finding his refusal to leave the house increasingly irritating, which leaves her open to looking for romance elsewhere…

The third sister is Holly (Dianne Wiest). She is an unreliable and manipulative addict, who never feels good enough for anyone. Hannah had tried to set her up with her first husband Mickey (Woody Allen) and there’s quite an amusing scene involving a totally disastrous evening they spent together. Holly keeps trying to do something constructive, but when she writes a novel it proves to be the catalyst for Hannah to start questioning many things.

This film is considered one of Woody Allen's finest, although his role is not the starring one. Most of the humour involves his hypochondria, and search for some form of religious certainty.

The story is primarily character-based; each character changes in subtle ways. The story runs over the course of a year, from one Thanksgiving (hosted, of course, by Hannah) to the next. The various subplots unfold alongside each other, and there’s a growing awareness that Hannah isn’t quite as secure and confident as she appears. Nobody ever asks her what she likes or wants. And she seems so self-reliant that some of her loved ones find her rather stressful to be around.

The film was made in 1986, and feels more dated than that; perhaps it was intentionally so. We found it quite engrossing. The characters all feel believable, and there’s a good mixture of light-heartedness and poignancy. It's rated 15 in the UK, PG-13 in the US. Nowadays I suspect it would be just 12 in the UK, as there's no violence, and only the mildest of bad language. There are sexual references, but nothing explicit. Not that it would be of much interest to younger viewers.

‘Hannah and her Sisters’ was beautifully made, brilliantly cast. Definitely recommended if you like thirty-year-old character-based films of this genre, with a great deal more depth than more modern rom-coms.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Truth About Cats and Dogs (Janeane Garofalo)

(Amazon UK link)

We watched ‘The Truth about Cats and Dogs’ at the end of 2011, and had entirely forgotten what it was about. But it looked like a good light evening’s viewing when we wanted something that would not tax any brain cells.

Janeane Garofalo stars in this as Abby, a qualified vet who answers questions about animals on a popular radio show. She responds to visitors with friendliness and charm as well as taking their concerns seriously and helping them with their questions. We see her sorting out a few basic problems, and then she has a call from Brian…

Brian (Ben Chaplin) is a photographer who is struggling with a dog on roller skates. I didn’t entirely grasp why the dog was in this situation, but it was quite nervous and resisting any attempt to help it calm down, or to remove the skates. Abby talks Brian through approaching the dog in a submissive way, helping it to calm down by stroking the ear tips, and her techniques are successful. I also didn’t gather why the dog, Hank, was available for adoption, but Abby persuades Brian to take him home…

Brian is so grateful - and rather smitten by Abby’s telephone manner and voice - that he sends her a gift, and asks her on a date. However, although Abby is very confident with animals, she’s extremely self-conscious about her appearance, and reluctant to go out with any guys. So although she agrees eventually to meet him, she describes herself fictitiously, based on the appearance of her tall, blonde neighbour… and then stands him up.

This sets the scene for an increasingly tangled comedy of errors. Abby’s neighbour Noelle (Uma Thurman) is outgoing and confident with men, but not particularly intelligent. She’s also considered very attractive, although personally we thought Abby had a much nicer face, at least until Noelle started persuading her to use make-up, which rather spoiled her appearance.

Brian is told that Noelle is Abby, when he sees the two together, and Abby pretends to be a friend called Donna. Brian likes Noelle’s appearance very much, but is puzzled as to why her voice is different, and that she seems to be lacking intelligence. Both the young women are attracted to him, and this leads to a temporary rift in their friendship…

It’s a nice story, if a bit predictable, and has a good mixture of humour and poignancy. The question is raised as to whether Brian is more attracted to the personality he has got to know in the real Abby, or the appearance he sees in the person he thinks is Abby. In this era when some people care so much about looks, it’s a good message, but we failed to see why the real Abby was considered unattractive, as she is bubbly, with incredible eyes, and a friendly, pretty face, whereas Noelle is extremely tall and rather too thin. But perhaps that was deliberate, making a parody of some people’s expectations.

It’s rated 15, probably because of one strongly implied sexual scene and one or two instances of strong language, although the US rating of PG-13 is probably more appropriate. Not that it would be of much interest to children or younger teenagers anyway.

All in all, we liked this film very much.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

Just Like Heaven (Reese Witherspoon)

(Amazon UK link)

We first saw ‘Just Like Heaven’ in 2008, but although we recalled liking it, we had entirely forgotten the storyline. So it was more than time to see it again. I hadn’t even looked at the blurb before sitting down to see it yesterday evening, and even while watching I had not recalled any of the story, nor how it ended.

The film revolves around a young American doctor, Elizabeth Masterton, superbly played by Reese Witherspoon. We meet her on duty after nearly 24 hours at work, dropping off to sleep for six minutes before rushing to see another patient. She’s clearly dedicated to her job, and cares deeply about the people she sees. But she’s also something of a workaholic, surviving by drinking a lot of coffee.

After a few more hours she finally goes off duty, and is on her way to dinner with her sister Abby when a disaster happens. We don’t see the outcome but it’s clearly something terrible. The action then moves to a young, picky and irritable man called David (Mark Ruffalo). He’s looking for somewhere to live, and driving the estate agent wild with his refusal to accept any of the places she offers. Then he happens to spot an advert for a one-month lease on the apartment where Elizabeth lived. Not that he knows anything about her, but he likes the view, and the couch, and decides to take it.

David is quite a loner, staying in the flat most of the time, drinking beer from cans, leaving things lying around, and watching TV. So he’s rather startled when a young woman appears, claiming it’s her apartment, and her stuff, and telling him what a slob he is…however she can’t quite recall who she is, or what she does.

It’s an unusual storyline, with one of the main protagonists portrayed as an ethereal spirit whom only David can see. Their initial anger with each other makes way to curiosity, and then he decides he will help her find out where she worked, and - if possible - why nobody else can see her, and why she doesn’t appear to have a physical body.

It’s essentially a romantic story with this rather basic difference, but it’s also amusing in places - Katrina (Ivana Milicevic) , a young and seductive woman in the same apartment block makes strong advances towards David, leaving little to the imagination. And there’s Darryl (Jon Heder), a vaguely hippy-ish man who owns a shop selling supernatural books. He turns out to be the only person who can even sense Elizabeth, so David turns to him for help.

There’s also a clever scene in a bar, where David meets his only real friend Jack (Donal Logue) and is determined to get drunk. Elizabeth is equally determined that he won’t - as a doctor she’s concerned about his alcohol intake - and a battle ensues. It’s very well choreographed and executed.

There are some much more serious issues involved too - the reason David is morose and unwilling to socialise gradually comes to light, and his unusual relationship with Elizabeth helps him to start to live again. And the whole issue of junior doctors overworking underlies this, along with some hints of dubious medical ethics, in one or two individuals.

The chemistry between David and Elizabeth is excellent, gradually growing as they get to know each other, and their timing is superb. The script is good, the pace just right, and the ending, if a tad cheesy, exactly right.

The rating is PG in the UK, which surprises me slightly; the US rating is PG-13, which seems more appropriate. There are no scenes of intimacy, although much is implied; there’s mild violence, though mostly humorous. And the bad language is fairly mild. However the subject matter isn’t at all appropriate for children - I wouldn’t really recommend anyone below the age of about 15 or 16 watch it.

There are some extras on our DVD: we watched a short documentary about the making of the film with commentary from various people involved in the production. We also saw the ‘gag’ scenes, of which several were shots of actors laughing at inappropriate moments, and we saw the deleted scenes including a much less appealing alternative ending.

Definitely recommended to older teens or adults if you like the rom-com genre.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Back-Up Plan (Jennifer Lopez)

(Amazon UK link)

Sometimes Amazon recommends a film to me that sounds very appealing, so I add it to my wishlist. That was the case with ‘The Back-up Plan’, and it was given to me by a relative for Christmas. It looked like a light-hearted rom-com, ideal for a relaxing evening’s viewing.

Jennifer Lopez stars as Zoe, a young and fashionable woman who’s surprisingly insecure. We learn early on that her mother died when she was a child, and her father wasn’t in the picture, so she was brought up by her grandmother (Linda Lavin). She is very independent and finds it difficult to trust anyone.

We meet her first in a hospital, where she is being inseminated artificially; she has decided that she’s not going to wait any longer for the right man. Instead she will have a baby with a donor whom she won’t meet. She feels very positive about this, and jumps into a taxi at the same time as Stan (Alex O’Loughlin). They argue briefly over whose taxi it is, and then both get out at the same time…

Zoe has no interest in a new relationship but Stan is quite taken with her, and they keep bumping into each other. They decide to be friends, but there’s a mutual attraction. She doesn’t expect her first attempt at insemination to be positive, but to her amazement, she finds that she is pregnant. All is going well with Stan, if a bit rapidly, until she decides that she must let him know about her baby…

It’s obvious where the story is going, but the way it gets there is both poignant and, at times, amusing. There’s great chemistry between the two principals, but also some disasters. At times it seems as if their relationship is doomed, as things keep going wrong. Zoe’s pregnancy causes her to be very hungry, and there are some scenes that would have been rather gross if they hadn’t also been amusingly done.

The script is clever, the pace is good, and the supporting cast are excellent. There’s a side story involving Zoe’s grandmother and her elderly fiancé of over twenty years, and there are some interludes with Zoe’s best friend Mona (Michaela Watkins) who has four extremely riotous children. There are more serious moments, albeit tinged with humour too, in a playground, where Anthony Anderson provides some good advice to a worried Stan.

There are also some amusing scenes with a very earnest single mothers’ group, who are exaggeratedly into natural childbirth and supporting each other in their femininity. It poked fun, somewhat, at women who prefer to keep everything natural - but they are warm and friendly women, and I thought it was done well.

The rating is 12A (PG-13 in the US) which seems about right to me. There’s some ‘strong’ language, but it’s not too excessive. There’s plenty of discussion about sexual matters, and we see the aftermath of intimate scenes, but the only nudity - or partial nudity - is connected with childbirth.

The ending is a tad cheesy - almost literally so, as it happens in a cheese showroom - but that’s not a problem. I like a happy ending. And while there’s nothing to make the film stand out amongst other romantic comedies, it’s certainly one we’ll watch again at some point.

There are some amusing outtakes over the end credits, and a brief documentary about the making of the film.

Definitely recommended to adults and older teenagers who don’t mind a story about pregnancy and childbirth.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Man Who Invented Christmas (Dan Stewart)

(Amazon UK link)

I’m not entirely sure how the film ‘The Man who Invented Christmas’ arrived on my wishlist. Perhaps Amazon had recommended it to me based on other films I had rated well. Or perhaps someone else had suggested. In any case, I was pleased to receive it as a Christmas gift. It seemed like the ideal film to watch towards the end of the Christmas period.

This film is a fictionalised story set in the mid 1840s, based around the writing of Charles Dickens’ classic novel ‘A Christmas Carol’. Dan Stevens is superb as the author, who would have been around thirty at the time. I had only seen pictures of Dickens as a much older man, so it took a moment’s readjustment of my mental images. But I quickly realised that it was probably a very realistic setting.

I didn’t know much about Dickens’ life, other than that he had a happy childhood until his father was thrown into a debtors’ prison, and Charles had to go and work in a factory, giving up his education. It didn’t stop him reading and working as a journalist, and eventually a novelist. But I had no idea about his family life - he was married with several children - nor that for a while he was in debt, and in doubt as to whether he could keep going.

I assume that most of the story involving the writing of his famous Christmas book was in the imagination of the script-writers, but it all feels quite realistic. Charles feels rather worthless after a successful American tour, and unable to write, all the more so as his publishers pressurise him and his debts mount. He’s an angry person who has not forgiven his father for his childhood traumas. He is also very angry about the way that the poor are treated. This comes across in several of his novels. Charles Dickens was responsible for raising public awareness about some of the horrors of poverty and the workhouse.

But the film is mainly about the slow progress made on the novel ‘A Christmas Carol’, along with several flashbacks. As the character of Scrooge (brilliantly played by Christopher Plummer) develops, so some of Charles’ hangups also reveal themselves. It’s cleverly done. The story of the novel is so well-known that of course we knew what would be coming, but the way the plot emerged, rather slowly, feels entirely believable.

Morfydd Clark deserves a mention as Charles’ long-suffering wife Kate. He is a man of many moods, and she looks after her household, uncertain when he’s going to fly into a temper, patient about his many quirks. There are several children, and Charles is clearly fond of them; at times he seems to be a excellent father, at others he almost entirely ignores them and his wife.

There’s plenty of low-key humour in the book, including times when Charles hears a new name, or watches a type of person whom we know is eventually going to be put in one of his future books. Dan Stevens has some very expressive looks, too, that say almost as much as some of the dialogue. And there’s plenty to think about too - we see glimpses of cruelty, and poverty, and the hopelessness of those without family or work. But they’re not over-done; there’s nothing gratuitous.

The film title, of course, is hyperbole since Christmas relates to the birth of Christ 1840 or so years earlier, and also the ancient legends of St Nicholas. But apparently the popularity of his book changed ideas about celebrating Christmas in the minds of the general public, in particular encouraging them to help those less fortunate than themselves.

The PG rating reflects the lack of bad language, nudity, violence and so on. But I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone unfamiliar with ‘A Christmas Carol’, nor to a sensitive child who might be upset at the flashbacks to Charles’ later childhood.

Other than that, I would highly recommend this film, which absorbed us fully and gave an excellent insight into Dickens’ circumstances as a young man, as well as some more imaginative fantasy scenes involving dreams and visions.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews