The Pelican Brief (1993) - Everything works in phenomenal Pakula thriller

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A great pitch tagline (if you can make it out) and an intense close-up of co-star Julia Roberts make up most of this murky poster for Alan J. Pakula's The Pelican Brief

An ambitious, smart law student writes a sensational brief on the possible perpetrators of a double assassination of two Supreme Court Justices, - which makes her a hunted target.

 

The Pelican Brief is written, co-produced and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker Alan J. Pakula (The Sterile Cuckoo (1969)), whose 15th feature it was. It is an adaptation of the same-titled 1992 novel by John Grisham (The Street Lawyer (1998)).

Pakula makes this murky political thriller come alive as an eminent film. James Horner (Titanic (1997)) has written a classical suspense score across it, and Grisham's plot is not more far-fetched than what we are willing to swallow to stay in this 'ride', which has exciting locations in Washington DC and New Orleans.

The cast is super, led by arguably the greatest actors of their generation, Denzel Washington (2 Guns (2013)) and Julia Roberts (Closer (2004)), - SPOILER who may not get each other here. On the other hand the ending is a salute to Roberts and her splendid student character here, and it is right on.

John Lithgow (The Crown (2016-19)) is also worth highlighting in the part of an editor here. At more than one point, the film succeeds with good old-fashioned Hitchcockian suspense, and coupled with the progressive lead casting, it makes The Pelican Brief a chief work in the modern thriller genre.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 45 mil. $

Box office: 195.2 mil. $ 

= Big hit (returned 4.33 times the cost)

[The Pelican Brief premiered 17 September (Canada) and runs 141 minutes. Roberts was paid 8 mil. $ for her performance in the film. Shooting took place from May - September 1993 in Washington DC and in New Orleans, Louisiana. The film opened #1 to a 16.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend at #1 and then another 3 in the top 5 (#2-#2-#5), grossing 100.7 mil. $ (51.6 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. Pakula returned with The Devil's Own (1997). Roberts returned in I Love Trouble (1994); Washington in Philadelphia (1993). The Pelican Brief is rotten at 54 % with a 5.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Pelican Brief?

Hard Times/The Streetfighter (1975) - Hill debuts with Bronson gold, a boxing favorite

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An imagination-fueling poster for Walter Hill's Hard Times that effectively sets us in a specific place and time

A fortune-hunting boxing promoter finds his new bare-knuckle sensation in an unimpressed man, who can punch so that even the heaviest adversaries see stars. But the promoter will have to borrow a big amount to get his new fighter going.

 

Hard Times is written by Bryan Gindoff (The Candy Snatchers (1973)), Bruce Henstell (The Candy Snatchers, assistant director) and debuting co-writer/director, Californian master filmmaker Walter Hill (48 Hrs. (1982)).

An enormously simple story gets presented in the most beautiful way in Hill's period boxing drama; handsome sets, beautiful image compositions (cinematography by Philip H. Lathrop (Class Reunion (1982))) and an iconic performance by Charles Bronson (Murphy's Law (1986)). Some of the nuances here lie in the fact that one senses the inherent degradation in having to fight until blood spurts in order to survive; SPOILER along with the ending's implicit point about protecting and helping those you have fought along with, even if you don't care much for them.

James Coburn (Intrepid (2000)) is strong as the promoter, a man caught between a rock and a hard place. The scene in which Bronson sets things right in Louisiana is fantastic. The film's final fight, (despite the fact that the camera doesn't linger much on the impact of the punches), is the fight of the decade. 

Hard Times is a phenomenal, inconspicuous song of a hero, a gift for men - and probably Bronson's best starring picture.

 

Related posts:

 

Walter Hill: Alien 3 (1992) or, The Monsters Go to Jail! (co-writer)

Another 48 Hrs. (1990) - More of the same from your buddies Hill, Murphy & Nolte 

48 Hrs. (1982) or, Reluctant Partners

The Getaway (1972) - McQueen/Peckinpah hit the bank with unrefined thriller (writer)

 

 

Watch 3 minutes of the film's beginning here

 

Cost: 2.7 - 3.1 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: Reportedly 26.5 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 8.54-9.81 times its cost)

[Hard Times was released 13 August (France) and runs 93 minutes. AIP producer Lawrence Gordon gave Hill the chance to direct after he had been successful with a number of action screenplays. Bronson was paid "almost 1 mil. $" for his performance. Shooting took place around September 1974 in Texas, Arizona, Los Angeles, California, and in New Orleans, Louisiana. The film's box office numbers are not easy to dig up; the-numbers.com allege that it made 5 mil. $ in North America, relatively little compared to the 26.5 mil. $ total gross listed elsewhere, and the fact that Hill in 2009 said that he still received profits from the film. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. Hill returned with The Driver (1978). Bronson returned in Breakheart Pass (1975); Coburn in Skyriders (1976). Hard Times is fresh at 92 % with a 7.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Hard Times? 

In the Electric Mist (2009) - Tavernier's great Louisiana detective adaptation

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+ Best Detective Movie of the Year + Best Louisiana Movie of the Year

A sparse, not too auspicious poster for Bertrand Tavernier's In the Electric Mist, which does, at least, reveal its star and Louisiana setting

We follow sheriff detective Dave Robicheaux as he works for justice in New Iberia and New Orleans, Louisiana. Prostitutes are found dead, and a murder from the olden days of segregation seems to inform the recent misdeeds.

In the Electric Mist is an adaptation of James Lee Burke's (Dixie City Jam (1994)) In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead (1993) from his 20-novel long Dave Robicheaux book series, written by Jerzy Kromolowski and Mary Olson-Kromolowski (The Pledge (2001), both) and directed by great French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier (Daddy Nostalgia/Daddy Nostalgie (1990)).
I really liked this film, which is brimming with local lore and local linguistics so thick that it is often difficult to understand what exactly is being conveyed from character to character.
Tommy Lee Jones (U.S. Marshals (1998)) is eminent and shares especially good interplay with Justina Machado (Body of Proof (2011), TV-series), who plays a nuanced FBI agent role, who also ends up incurring some guilt in the swampy - both literally and figuratively speaking - reality that is portrayed here.

Related posts:

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Watch 3 minutes of the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 7.9 mil. $
= Unknown (but should likely count as at least a big flop)
[In the Electric Mist premiered 7 February (Berlin International Film Festival) and runs 117 minutes. It is the second Robicheaux novel to be adapted, following mega-flop Heaven's Prisoners (1996) starring Alec Baldwin. Shooting took place entirely on location in Louisiana. Something went wrong on the film, leading to its not getting an American release; it was only shown twice one evening in Burke's hometown of New Iberia, Louisiana and was then released straight-to-DVD in North America. Tavernier released a book accounting making the film; Pas à Pas dans la Brume Électrique [Step by Step into The Electric Mist] (2009). The film made the vast majority of its gross in his native France; 7.2 mil. $ (91.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 355k $ (4.5 %) and Belgium with 249k $ (3.2 %). If the budget was around a modest 5 mil. $, which seems likely, (though it would be far less than the budget for the first Burke adaptation's 25 mil. $ budget), the theatrical performance would rank the film as a big flop. It made in excess of 1.9 mil. $ on home video sales in North America. Be aware that the North American DVD release is a 102 minute studio cut of the film, whereas we in the rest of the world have gotten the 112 minute director's cut, which is what this review is based on. In the Electric Mist is fresh at 64 % with a 6.1/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of In the Electric Mist?

Treme - season 1 (2010) - Get to know the people, culture and music of New Orleans

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3 Film Excess wins:

Best Original Song: The Treme Song, John Boutté
Best Music
Best TV-series

4 Film Excess nominations:

Best Lead Actress: Khandi Alexander (lost to Jennifer Connelly for Virginia/What's Wrong with Virginia)
Best Original Song: The Treme Song, John Boutté (won)
Best Music (won)
Best TV-series (won)

 

+ 2nd Best Title of the Year

+ Best New TV-series of the Year 

+ Best New Orleans Title of the Year

 

A joyous black kid dances in a decrepit street on the poster for the first season of David Simon and Eric Ellis Overmyer's Treme

Treme is a music drama series by creators David Simon (The Wire (2002-08)) and Eric Ellis Overmyer (Homicide: Life on the Street (1996-99), writer), which centers on New Orleans' Tremé neighborhood three months after the devastating Hurricane Katrina in 2005 had caused widespread death and destruction throughout the city.
The following episode run-through contains SPOILERS:

1. We start to get to know the many characters: Chief Albert Lambreaux's (Clarke Peters (John Wick (2014))) daughter and jazz musician son (Rob Brown (The Dark Knight Rises (2012))) come visit their father and attempt to "talk sense" to him, meaning getting him to leave New Orleans. Toni Bernette (Melissa Leo (Flight (2012))) is a big-hearted local lawyer, who is fighting for justice and information for the city's many struggling people, while her writer husband Creighton (John Goodman (Monsters, Inc. (2001))) teaches and attacks the federal government's poor handling of the disaster on Youtube. Janette (Kim Dickens (Gone Girl (2014))) struggles to keep her restaurant going, while her sweetheart Davis McAlary (Steve Zahn (Captain Fantastic (2016))), a lovable nut and DJ, is stealing his own records and enjoys a moving encounter with Elvis Costello.
2. Davis gets fired from two jobs. Janette's restaurant is riding its pumps. Bar owner LaDonna (Khandi Alexander (Scandal (2013-15))) continues her search for her brother Dave, lost since the hurricane, which for now only turns up a namesake. Chief has his power tools stolen and beats up the responsible kid, while his own son gets imprisoned over a joint.
3. Davis writes a song, earns some cash and straight away spends it on some romance with Janette. He also becomes the piano teacher for Toni and Creighton's daughter. Chief discovers a corpse near his house, and the subsequent burial ritual, a particular New Orleans Indian-inspired tradition, gets disturbed by a Katrina Tour sightseeing bus. LaDonna keeps searching for her brother. The vagrant-y, Dutch street musician Sonny (Michiel Huisman (Wild (2014))) turns to the bottle, and gig-hunting trombone-player/ladies' man Antoine Batiste (Wendell Pierce (Bad Moms (2016))) gets beaten by the cops and loses his trombone, his only means of an income.
4. Creighton makes a Youtube rant that goes viral. Davis writes political ideas on his walls. The restaurant has its gas turned off. The search for David turns up information on a criminal who has taken his name... Chief Lambreaux romances a local mother, while his son gets booked for a tour. On a trip to Texas, Sonny gets tempted by his old demon; dope.
5. While Davis gets a recording session in the can, lands himself a punch in the face for his relaxed use of the n-word and gets closer to his new, gay neighbors, a big parade in town is ruined by a shooting. Everyone is under pressure by the city's vast mess. Lost Dave seems most likely to be drowned. Batiste welcomes a Japanese jazz enthusiast, who is visiting the city and buys him a new trombone, and Janette enjoys a visit from a group of top chefs.
6. The bastard Sonny is, predictably, back on drugs. Janette is forced by financial realities to shut down her restaurant. Chief keeps his head high with the authorities, who want to help him into living in one of their trailers. Toni's search to get to the bottom of David's disappearance gives her new evidence that he was wrongfully arrested just before the hurricane. Creighton is shown interest by his New York publisher and participates in a parade that is hostile to the city's major. Davis decides to run for a seat in the city council with his unconventional ideas.
7. Davis drops his candidacy to get a judge friend instead. He helps Janette out with a transportable grill kitchen, while Creighton writes and rants, and Toni reaches a breakthrough in the search for David Brooks: LaDonna and her family get an apology, and their brother/son is finally located: In a deep freeze container, where his body has been stored away for six months under a wrong name.
8. Mardi Gras finally arrives. Sonny's much sweeter girlfriend, street violinist Annie (Lucia Micarelli (Manhattan (2014), TV-series)) hangs out with Davis, while Sonny fools around, doing drugs with strangers. Antoine, who is remarried with kids, screws ex-wife LaDonna, who carries a heavy burden in the knowledge of the death of her brother. Creighton is uncomfortable, makes depressed videos and throws his manuscript around.
9. With David Morse (The Green Mile (1999)). Davis plans a party, and Annie decides to move out. Batiste helps LaDonna with preparations for her brother's funeral. Chief continues his preparations for the big upcoming holiday, while Janette hits the wall as her guerilla kitchen drowns along with her home in a storm. Creighton is also down, now with no novel in sight, as he jumps off a local ferry. 
10. Toni is horrified to learn of her husband's suicide. McAlary tries vehemently to talk Janette out of leaving New Orleans for New York. Annie finally leaves Sonny for good. Batiste plays another gig, and LaDonna and her family finally bury David 'Daymo', while we get a powerful flashback to Katrina. Chief's big day of 'masking', - wearing incredible, feathered costumes while dancing and singing in the streets, - has finally come. The funeral continues as a powerful 'seconde line' jazz procession through the streets of the wounded neighborhood.

Treme kicks off with a fantastic pilot, already stressing that the show has music - especially jazz - right at its heart. It continues to be ripe with authentic, often depressing facts of life of the city's struggling underclass, which is chronicled in several sad plot points. The police are, unlike in The Wire, almost all a-holes and semi-fascists here. - Nationally, it is clear from Treme how New Orleans was truly left alone in its post-Katrina chaos.
But the show as such never becomes too heavy to bear. - Why? Because of the people of New Orleans, their culture, spirit and music, not least. Behind Treme beats a love for its people that seeps from every pore of every episode. It is romantic, shocking - and funny! The tragedy gets mixed with an intense joie de vivre, a wish to come together, play music, and dance and sing.
Ironically, the Mardi Gras episode (#8) isn't the strongest in the bunch, - ironic because all the characters talk quite a bit of the festivities in the episodes leading up to it. 
It is not a primarily plot-based show; it is instead character-based. The plot is a ball that gets kicked a little bit further in every episode, but the human stories are what stays with us: When Creighton's rants begin to become a bit pompous and overwrought, they point towards his demise in the following episode. Apart from him, the people of Treme are a tough bunch of survivors, and no one inhabits their character more forcefully than Alexander as LaDonna. But it is an all-round formidable effort of the part of the actors already mentioned.
Treme is not only entertaining and swinging good TV; it relates culture that is out of the mainstream, both the fascinating and strange African-America-Indian subculture of New Orleans and the city's jazz and blues stage: Several local musical heroes appear and play as themselves throughout the series. If one wants to understand some of the anger that resides in the black America, Treme is a good show to delve into. Besides this, it is magical, unique TV artistry with a deep, social resonance. A show of heart, compassion and indignation, absolutely a must-watch.

Best episodes:

1: Do You Know What It Means - written by Simon and Overmyer; directed by Agnieszka Holland (In Darkness/W Ciemności (2011)) 
We meet the main characters, many of whom live hand-to-mouth in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

6: Shallow Water, Oh Mama - written by Simon, Overmyer and Tom Piazza; directed by Brad Anderson (The Machinist (2004))
New material surfaces concerning the lost David Brooks. Chief Lambreaux keeps his head high, and Davis and Creighton let their opinions be heard locally.

10. I'll Fly Away - writen by Simon and Overmyer; directed by Holland
Some of the Katrina background is given, as the intensely moving funeral of David 'Daymo' Brooks takes place with grief dealt with the New Orleans way.

Related posts:

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

 

Watch a short promo for the season here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: None - TV-series

= Unknown

[Treme season 1 was first broadcast on HBO from April 11 - June 20. It runs 10 60-minute episodes, totaling approximately 600 minutes. The full season was booked after the making of the pilot. Filming took place on location in New Orleans. The exciting title sequence, which is changed for each of the show's four seasons, includes 80 pieces of video, stills and film from people of New Orleans, relating "what has been lost." The season was nominated for 2 Emmys, winning none. Ratings for Treme have reportedly been disappointing throughout its run, while critical perception of its has remained high. Treme season 1 is certified fresh at 100 % with a 9.7 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Treme season 1?

Down by Law (1986) - Jarmusch's jailbreak movie is an independent character gem

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One of the great posters for Jim Jarmusch's Down by Law

QUICK REVIEW:

Written and directed by Ohioan master filmmaker Jim Jarmusch (Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)), Down by Law was his third feature, and it remains one of my favorites among his many great films.

Zack, Jack and the Italian Bob are all three innocently jailed in New Orleans. That is, Bob actually has killed a man, but it was not really his intention. Now, of course, they escape!

What is so attractive about Down by Law is also what sets it apart from so many of Jarmusch's other fine pictures: It is 100 % character-oriented. It never abandons its characters to reach for philosophical heights but keeps its focus on the interactions of the three fundamentally different men, brought together through incarceration: The ego-loner pimp Jack (John Lurie (Oz (2001-03))), the socially grunting Zack (Tom Waits (Short Cuts (1993))) and the simple man Bob (Roberto Benigni (Life Is Beautiful/La Vita è Bella (1997))).
Benigni is hysterically funny, and Lurie and Waits are simply perfect as two seedy New Orleans characters.
Don't miss this magical gem in B/W, gorgeously shot by Robby Müller (Breaking the Waves (1996)).

Related reviews:

Jim Jarmusch: Broken Flowers (2005) - Hip search for son and self with Jarmusch and Murray
Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) - Pleasant, precious vignette sit-down with some wonderful people    
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) - Whitaker serves ancient samurai justice in Jarmusch's cool treat   
Dead Man (1995) - Jarmusch's bold, poetic, rich Americana masterpiece 
Top 10: The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Roberto Benigni in loving embrace with Nicoletta Braschi, who would later become his wife in real life, in Jim Jarmusch's Down by Law

Watch the trailer for this great film here

Cost: Estimated 1.1 mil. $
Box office: In excess of 4.5 mil. $
= Uncertainty
[But at least a big hit. The film, which also features two of Waits' songs from his album Rain Dogs, played in Cannes and received grandiloquent reviews en masse. It made 1.4 mil. $ in North America and 3.1 mil. $ in Germany. The film was a US-West-German co-production. Its final gross is unknown.]

What do you think of Down by Law?