The Player (1992) - Altman's overrated Hollywood satire

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Film strip is fashioned in a noose across a glitzy Hollywood background on this neat poster for Robert Altman's The Player

A famed Hollywood studio executive receives death threats from an incensed screenwriter and meets him one night, but the meeting goes horrible wrong, - and then the question gnaws, if the writer at the meeting was indeed the person behind the threats?

 

The Player is written by Michael Tolkin (Deep Impact (1998)), adapting his own same-titled 1988 novel, and directed by Missourian master filmmaker Robert Altman (The Delinquents (1957)), whose 26th feature it was.

It is a cleverly constructed tongue-in-cheek satirical, cinephile's treat, which both loves cinema and Hollywood and hates it and displays the disconnect, cynicism and hollowness that's so rampant in Tinseltown. 

Tim Robbins (Portlandia (2012, TV-series)) is good, but best here is Greta Scacchi (Palm Beach (2019)), Peter Gallagher (Palm Springs (2020)) as Robbins' studio opponent and Cynthia Stevenson (Scandal (2013, TV-series)) as his assistant, among a sea of celebrity cameos. The film is mildly entertaining, - and mostly for the Hollywood interested audience, - for others it may prove less fun or thrilling than one might hope. The Player is elegantly staged but, as the environment it portrays, a bit distant and safe, or perhaps simply overly well-behaved and padded.

 

Related posts:

Robert Altman: The Company (2003) - Campbell, Turner and Altman's fine ballet picture  

Gosford Park (2001) - Smith triumphs in Altman & Fellowes' exquisite whodunit

Ready to Wear/Prêt-à-Porter (1994) - Paris fashion week through the Altman lens 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 8 mil. $

Box office: 28.8 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 3.6 times its cost)

[The Player premiered 3 April (Cleveland International Film Festival) and runs 124 minutes. Shooting took place from June - August 1991 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #16 to a 302k $ first weekend in 23 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #4 and in 452 theaters (different weeks), grossing 21.7 mil. $ (75.3 % of the total gross). The film was nominated for 3 Oscars, losing all. It lost Best Director to Clint Eastwood for Unforgiven, Editing also to Unforgiven, and Adapted Screenplay to Ruth Prawer Jhabvala for Howards End. It also won 2/5 BAFTA nominations, 2 awards in Cannes, losing the Palme d'Or to The Best Intentions, was nominated for a César award, won 2/4 Golden Globe nominations, an Independent Spirit award, a National Board of Review award. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 3 notches over this one. Altman returned with Short Cuts (1993). Robbins returned in Bob Roberts (1992); Scacchi in Desire (1992). The Player is certified fresh at 97 % with a 8.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Player?

Pootie Tang (2001) - C.K.'s off-beat sketch character mega-flop

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A painted caricature of the protagonist makes up this poster for Louic C.K.'s Pootie Tang

Hiphop star PT (Pootie Tang) is respected and loved by all, but his lyrics about abstinence from harmful products earn him an enemy in the shape of the country's worst company ...

Pootie Tang is written and directed by Louis C.K. (Tomorrow Night (1998)). It is based on a sketch from The Chris Rock Show, which C.K. wrote for from 1997-99.

It is a totally ludicrous movie that parodies gangsta rap hiphop and the black pimp style following the hit-and-miss principle. A lot misses the mark, and the plot is paper thin to the point of being almost transparent. But a part of the film is also rather funny. Not so much co-star/co-producer Chris Rock (Spiral (2019)), - and Jennifer Coolidge (American Reunion (2012)) deserves pity for the ungrateful role she covers here, but Lance Crouther (Class Act (1992)) as Pootie Tang and J.B. Smoove (Woke (2020-22)) are pretty funny.

Pootie Tang seems to be designed for watching over a blunt with a homie or three.

Watch a 2-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: 7 mil. $

Box office: 3.3 mil. $

= Mega-flop (returned 0.47 times its cost)

[Pootie Tang was released 29 June (North America) and runs 81 minutes. Shooting took place in New Jersey and New York. C.K. has said that he was fired during the film's post production phase and has distanced himself from the film. It opened #12 to a 1.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it diminished from then, grossing 3.3 mil. $. The film was not released in other markets. Roger Ebert gave it a 0.5/4 star rating, translating to a notch under this one. C.K. returned with 14 short and TV credits prior to his theatrical return I Love You, Daddy (2017). Rock returned with a voice performance in Osmosis Jones (2001) and physically in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001); Crouther in 2 TV credits but never again in a feature, - he has instead kept busy as a comedy writer; and Wanda Sykes (The Good Fight (2021, TV-series)) in 4 TV credits prior to her theatrical return in Monster-in-Law (2005). Pootie Tang is rotten at 27 % with a 3.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Pootie Tang?

Ready to Wear/Prêt-à-Porter (1994) - The Paris fashion week through the Altman lens

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Danish supermodel Helene Christensen sells the film with her beauty but goes uncredited on this poster for Robert Altman's Ready to Wear

Fashion week in Paris: Kitty is a TV personality there to cover the stories: A hated fashion boss suffocates in a sandwich, - but the press screams that it must be murder. Meanwhile the shows take place, the magazine editors schmooze over an Irish photographer, and two foreigners share a room in an over-booked hotel.

 

Ready to Wear is written by Barbara Shulgasser and co-writer/producer/director, Missourian master filmmaker Robert Altman (The Delinquents (1957)), whose 29th feature it was. The North-American title is a literal translation of the French fashion term that was the title in most of the rest of the world.

Though widely discarded critically, this scathing Altman look at the fashion world is an urbane, bubbly, light dish filled with great clothes and beautiful people. There's fun with cinema icons Sophia Loren (Arabesque (1966)) and Marcello Mastroianni (8½ (1963)) among loads of other stuff in this star-stuffed film that features plenty of slaps and appropriately shallow cheek kisses to the fashion industry.

 

Related posts:

Robert Altman: The Company (2003) - Campbell, Turner and Altman's fine ballet picture  

Gosford Park (2001) - Smith triumphs in Altman & Fellowes' exquisite whodunit 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 18 mil. $

Box office: 46.8 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 2.6 times its cost)

[Ready to Wear premiered 23 December (New York) and runs 133 minutes. Altman had the idea for the film after attending a Sonia Rykiel fashion show in Paris in 1984 with his wife, commenting: "I couldn't believe what I saw. It was such a circus. It was just too theatrical not to want to film". Shooting took place from March - May 1994 in the US, Paris, France and in Moscow, Russia. The film opened #14 to a 2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked the following weekend at #13, grossing 11.3 mil. $ (24.1 % of the total gross). It was nominated for 2 Golden Globes and won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 2.5/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Altman returned with Kansas City (1996). Mastroianni returned in One Hundred and One Nights/Les Cent et Une Nuits de Simon Cinéma (1995); Loren in Grumpier Old Men (1995). Ready to Wear is rotten at 24 % with a 4.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Ready to Wear?

Pick Me Up (2006, TV movie) - Cohen's so-so Masters of Horror entry

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A well-made sketch of the 'master of horror' alongside an eerie image from the film make up this poster for Larry Cohen's Pick Me Up

 

Somewhere in North America a bus breaks down in the middle of no-man's land. Some passengers hitch a lift with a trucker psychopath, while others are murdered by a highway lunatic. The two meet in the end.

 

Pick Me Up is written by David J. Schow (Mob City (2013, TV-series)), based on his own short story, and directed by Larry Cohen (Bone (1972)). It is the 11th episode of the 1st season of the Masters of Horror TV movie series (2005-07).

Cohen's entry is somewhat entertaining and at times amusing, and at least he comes off as less creatively exhausted than others in the series (like Tobe Hooper for instance.) The visual elements are alright, - especially the great big red truck, - and Michael Moriarty (Neverwas (2005)) is creepy as the trucker killer, while Warren Kole (Stalker (2014-15)) is photogenic as the hitch-hiker psycho.

The cartoon-like nature of the premise goes a bit overboard with lines such as; "Ready or not, here I come!", but what the hell. Though far from credible, Pick Me Up is actually one of the better entries in mostly low-quality Masters of Horror.

 

Related posts:

 

Other Masters of Horror TV movies: 2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Fair Haired Child (2006, TV movie) - Malone turns out another weak Masters of Horror TV movie 

Dance of the Dead (2005) - Hooper's ugly Masters of Horror nonsense
Chocolate (2005) - Flavors, visions and eroticism in Garris' TV movie thriller
Deer Woman (2005) - Landis and son's solid Masters of Horror entry 
Cigarette Burns (2005) - Carpenter burns out in weird, tiresome TV movie    

Haeckel's Tale (2006, TV movie) - Another bland Masters entry

Larry Cohen: Phone Booth (2002) or, Boxed In (writer)

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: None - TV movie

= Uncertain

[Pick Me Up was first broadcast 20 January (North America) and runs 58 minutes. It was Cohen's last job as a director before he died in 2019. Fairuza Balk (Grindstone Road (2008)) returned in Wild Tigers I Have Known (2006); Moriarty in 12 Hours to Live (2006); and Kole in Medium (2007, TV-series) and theatrically in Cougar Club (2007). 3.5k+ IMDb users have given Pick Me Up a 6.3/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Pick Me Up?

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) - The Coen's satirical firecracker mega-flop

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+ Best Mega-flop of the Year + Most Expensive Flop of the Year: 20.48 mil. $ range + Best Satire of the Year + Worst $ Return of the Year: 0.45

Tim Robbins is holding a Hoola-hoop on this greyish-white poster for Ethan and Joel Coen's The Hudsucker Proxy

New York's Hudsucker Industries lose their CEO, when things are going their very best. The company's bylaws dictate a watering down of the company's wealth, but a member of the board comes up with a plan to manipulate the prize down for a while and avoid the risk: Hiring an impossible imbecile as the new CEO.

 

The Hudsucker Proxy is written by Sam Raimi (Drag Me to Hell (2009)) and Minnesotan master filmmaker brothers, co-writer/producer Ethan Coen and co-writer/director Joel Coen, (Blood Simple (1984), both) whose 5th feature it is.

Visually astounding, energetic and a fun period satire, The Hudsucker Proxy is too wacky to really say something of import, but it is tremendously entertaining and imaginative nonetheless. Roger Deakins' (In Time (2011)) photography is a pleasure.

Tim Robbins (The Spoils of Babylon (2014, TV-series)) is at times taxing as the ridiculous buffoon, who is new to the big city and goes from mail room job to the CEO's seat, (but also invents the Hoola-hoop.) Jennifer Jason Leigh (Annihilation (2018)) is uncharacteristically grey and hard as granite. Paul Newman (Twilight (1998)) is excellent.

 

Related posts:

Ethan and Joel Coen: Hail, Caesar! (2016) - The Coen brothers serve a whimsical, flashy letdown
Unbroken (2014) - Despite good elements, Jolie's Grand WWII Biopic is mostly distant and weak (co-writers)

2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI] 

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) or, The Man Who Wasn't Dylan  
True Grit (2010) - The Coens' grand western present

Top 10: Best dramedies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

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] 
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
A Serious Man (2009) - One of the Coens' best; a philo-religious serio-comedy
Burn After Reading (2008) or, Idiocy 2008

No Country for Old Men (2007) - Undigestible McCarthy adaptation lets you hang in midair 

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) - Much to love in fabulous Coen music yarn 
Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: The best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
The Big Lebowski (1998) - The stoner comedy to reign over all

1996 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Top 10: Best crime movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Fargo (1996) - The Coen brothers make movie magic with dark-humored crime thriller 

1994 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Top 10: Best films about filmmaking 
Barton Fink (1991) or, The Writer's Hell

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 25 mil. $

Box office: 11.3 mil. $

= Mega-flop (returned 0.45 times its cost)

[The Hudsucker Proxy premiered 27 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 111 minutes. The Coen's met Raimi and worked on his Evil Dead (1981), at which point they began working on the script, which was finished in 1985. Filming had to wait some years longer, until they were trusted with a sizable budget. Shooting took place from November 1992 - March 1993 in North Carolina and Chicago, Illinois. The film opened #22 to a 104k $ first weekend in 5 theaters in North America, where it grossed 2.8 mil. $ (25.5 % of the total gross). It did better abroad but still made far less business than was needed. A further 15 mil. $ were reportedly spent marketing the film. It competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, lost to Pulp Fiction. Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. The Coen brothers returned with Fargo (1996). Robbins returned in The Shawshank Redemption (1994); Leigh in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994); and Newman in Nobody's Fool (1994). The Hudsucker Proxy is fresh at 60 % with a 6.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Hudsucker Proxy?

Orgazmo (1997) - Has you writhing with laughter

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A German Shepherd humps the title character's leg and thereby effectively sets the tone on this poster for Trey Parker's Orgazmo

A good young Mormon male gets astray and involved in a porno in Los Angeles, which puts his value system to the test.

 

Orgazmo is written, directed and co-edited by Trey Parker (Cannibal! The Musical (1993)), who also stars as Joe Young, the Mormon in question, who becomes Orgazmo. Matt Stone (South Park (1997-)) co-produced, contributed uncredited writing and also co-stars as 'Dave the photographer'.

The film is surprisingly well-crafted and far from the trash one might suspect given the title and obviously low budget. The film takes the piss out of Mormons, the porn industry and superhero movies (Batman & Robin in particular.) It is crude and liberal-minded but never mean, and there's a great amount of energy in front of and behind the camera all the way through. Everyone acts with a passionate drive: Especially worth pointing out are Parker and Robyn Lynne Raab (Hey Dude (1990, TV-series)) as his fiancée Lisa, Michael Dean Jacobs (The King of Queens (2003, TV-series)) as porn producer villain Maxxx Orbison as well as Stone. Even real-life porn star Ron Jeremy (Northern Sights (2000)) is good.

The effects and fights are awful, - but they're also supposed to be. Parker and Co. get so much, - and so many laughs, most importantly, - out of precious little here. Hooray for Orgazmo!

 

Parker and others from the cast give an interview about the film here

Cost: 1-1.3 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 647k $

= Huge flop (returned approximately 0.56 times its cost)

[Orgazmo premiered 6 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 94 minutes. Shooting took place from February - March 1997 in Los Angeles, California. The film opened #18 to a 210k $ first weekend in 94 theaters in North America, where it grossed 602k $ (93 % of the total gross). It was released in a handful of other markets. The-numbers.com alleges that it made only 45k $ internationally, but that it has also made 334k $ on its domestic Blu-ray release (many years later). Roger Ebert gave it a 0.5/4 star review, translating to 4 notches under this one. Parker returned with Master P: Kenny's Dead (1998, music video) and theatrically with South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999). As an actor he returned in BASEketball (1998). Orgazmo is rotten at 48 % with a 4.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Orgazmo?

Sidste Time (1995) - Hammy, heavy-handed Danish teen horror

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An evil eye and a terrorized teen ditto stand out on this dark poster for Martin Schmidt's Sidste Time

A tabloid crime show broadcasts from in front of a high school, where a wave of murders is decimating a locked-in group of students.

Sidste Time is written by Dennis Jürgensen (Bag Det Stille Ydre (2005)) and directed by debuting Martin Schmidt (Kat (2001)). The original Danish title translates to 'last hour', referring to the last class of the day for a student.

A generous three heart rating here to this heavy-handed Danish horror that's very teenage-eschewed but has something worthwhile to it: A ghost-story-like fright factor. The acting is fair, - the TV host and the Last Girl performances are especially energetic, - and the dialog is decent. There is a scene with Thomas Bo Larsen (Another Round/Druk (2020)), which falls out of the overall tone of the film as only comical (and it is in fact a lot of fun.) But Sidste Time is also often involuntarily funny.

Schmidt is no great director. Here again and again he interrupts scary starts with scenes of the TV show shooting outside the school that are without real purpose. The film stalls and doesn't have nearly enough terror. It also has a horrible, 1980s-sounding score (by Frans Bak (Men & Chicken/Mænd og Høns (2015))) and a title song by Søs Fenger that is, in a word, misguided. One wonders, was the film prohibited for some incomprehensible reason from being really scary?

 

Enjoy Søs Fenger and Elisabeth Gjerulff Nielsen's misguided title song here

 

Cost: 4.5 mil. DKK, approximately 0.61 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 4.8 mil. DKK, approximately 0.65 mil. $

= Uncertain, but likely a big flop (projected return of 1.32 times its cost)

[Sidste Time was released 22 February (Germany) and runs 77 minutes. Shooting took place for 18 days in a school in Hørsholm, Zealand, Denmark, which was offered for the production because it was closed for reconstruction due to widespread mold decay. In Denmark the film sold 118,496 tickets, coming to 4.8 mil. DKK, based on the average 41 DKK ticket prize at the time. Regrettably there is no info available on the film's performance in Germany, Norway and Finland, where it was also released. Most likely it was tiny releases in those countries, and with a projected final gross of 6 mil. DKK/0.81 mil. $, the film would rank as a big flop. Schmidt returned with Mørkeleg (1996). 1,2k+ IMDb users have given Sidste Time a 5.8/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Sidste Time?

Speak No Evil (2022) - Take a beating with Tadrup's awesome horror

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A boy with a wide open mouth, encased in darkness, makes up this striking poster for Christian Tafdrup's Speak No Evil

A big-city couple from Denmark receive an invitation by snail-mail from a couple from Holland that they met on holiday months earlier and decide to take them up on their offer and drive South with their daughter for a long weekend at their house.

 

Speak No Evil is written by Mads Tafdrup (Yes No Maybe (2019, TV-series)) and his brother, co-writer/director, great Danish filmmaker Christian Tafdrup (Parents/Forældre (2016)).

Tafdrup moves ahead in the same waters as his first films, Parents and En Frygtelig Kvinde (2017), with another film about gender power dynamics today and a young modern couple with relationship dysfunction, a male that seems castrated into modern submission and a female who on some level longs for a different type of man. This time the familiar dilemmas are put up against a Dutch couple who are the Danish couple's opposites; very old-fashioned, unrestricted by inhibitions and very politically incorrect.

This is quite funny for a long time, as issues around diet, child-raising, smoking, drinking and more are effectively skirted by the conflict-averse Danes, as their unwillingness to look straight at the human behavior of their hosts and draw some sensible consequences from them push them from one awkward situation to another, - and eventually all the way into the shark's mouth. Great cinematography (by Erik Molberg Hansen (Becoming Astrid/Unga Astrid (2018))) and a bombastically foreboding score (by Sune Kølster (Parents))) leave us with no doubt as to the sudden turn into horror that is bound to occur in Speak No Evil. SPOILER There are creepy, earlier scenes of near-invasion, feeling of immediate danger and threat of violence, and then the horrific scene with the child that is invoked on the poster above, which all help set the unnerving tone. 

The upbeat good time I had with the film lasted long, anyway, due to the fact that the dark social satire lasts long, and you have ample room to slap your forehead at the dispositions of the dysfunctional Danes here, SPOILER as they fail to heed the warnings and thus doom themselves - with some justification?

The performances from the unknown quartet of adults are very good: Morten Burian (Sons of Denmark/Danmarks Sønner (2019)) and Sidsel Siem Koch (Hvidstengruppen II - De Efterladte (2022)) play the troubled couple with exposed nerves, and Fedja van Huêt (Soof 2 (2016)) and Karina Smulders (Alle Tijd (2011)) are strong and eventually chilling as the disturbing Dutchmen.

Speak No Evil turns very dark and very gruesome in its conclusion, which mixes Old-Testamental religious symbolism into a truly wicked, horrific ending that only sets this serving of blackness further apart. Speak No Evil speaks loudly enough.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 3.2 mil. $

Box office: 1.7 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.53 times its cost)

[Speak No Evil premiered 21 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 105 minutes. Shooting took place in Denmark, Holland and Italy. The film has sold 68k tickets in Denmark to date, coming to around 7.5 mil. DKK, approximately 1.08 mil. $ (63.5 % of the total gross). The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Poland with 246k $ (14.5 %) and Netherlands with 195k $ (11.5 %). Tafdrup does not have his next gig announced yet. Burian returns in Loving Adults (2022); Koch returned in Hvidstengruppen II - De Efterladte (2022). Speak No Evil is fresh at 79 % with a 7.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Speak No Evil?

How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989) - Robinson harpoons advertising world with pointed satire

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A giant screen crushes through the earth on this mysterious poster for Bruce Robinson's How to Get Ahead in Advertising

A successful advertising man in London is pressured by deadlines and develops a zit on his throat, which talks, and which grows bigger and stronger ...

How to Get Ahead in Advertising is written and directed by Bruce Robinson (Withnail & I (1987)).

For a British film, Robinson's are uncharacteristically outspoken and frank, and this one is a gem in the absurd-comedy genre with high energy, many good ideas, - the story's premise in itself is a minor stroke of genius, - and good acting: Rachel Ward (Double Jeopardy (1992, TV movie)) is lovely as the wife; both Richard Wilson (Women Talking Dirty (2001)) as the boss, and John Shrapnel (Alien Autopsy (2006)) as the psychiatrist are excellent, and Richard E. Grant (Tooth (2004)) is impressively credible as the mentally unwrapping protagonist.

Towards the end, the film seems to give up on its plot and develop in an almost entirely polemic direction, as the contrast between the now materialistically rejecting ad man and the excited consumerist personality grown from his neck gets the main stage, which is a shame. But How to Get Ahead in Advertising is still a very funny and original film.

 

Related posts:

 

Bruce Robinson: 2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess

The Rum Diary (2011) or, The Puerto Rican Adventure of Mr. Kemp 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 670k $ - North America and the UK only

= Uncertain

[How to Get Ahead in Advertising premiered 30 March (New York) and runs 94 minutes. Shooting took place around June 1988 in England, including in London. The film grossed 418k $ in North America, and 201k £ in the UK, coming to around 252k $, and around 670k $ combined. It was also released in West Germany and Japan. The film's theatrical status is impossible to ascertain without knowing more, especially its budget. Robinson returned with Jennifer 8 (1992). Grant returned in Warlock (1989); Ward in Shadow of the Cobra (1989, miniseries) and theatrically in After Dark, My Sweet (1990). How to Get Ahead in Advertising is fresh at 60 % with a 6.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of How to Get Ahead in Advertising?

Hi, Mom! (1970) - Youthful, edgy De Palma/De Niro career-starting nonsense

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Iconic American painting Whistler's Mother (1871) has been manipulated to hold a semi-automatic rifle on this playful, hype-filled poster for Brian De Palma's Hi, Mom!

Vietnam veteran Jon Rubin has an idea to become an adult filmmaker by shooting a film of his New York neighbors.

 

Hi, Mom! is written and directed by great New Jerseyite filmmaker Brian De Palma (Murder à la Mod (1968)), with Charles Hirsch (Greetings (1968)) contributing story elements.

It is a very uneven and youthful New-Yorker flick that's also enormously typical of the time in which it was made. It flutters this way and that with pompous opinions delivered without consequences. 

The scenes of Robert De Niro (Ronin (1998)) as a minute-dictated seductor and Jennifer Salt (Family (1978, TV-series)) as easy prey are amusing. De Niro empathetically acts out all the odd roles that he's given in the sprawling film, which ends with a black experimental theater troupe who become violent as a provocation. Hi, Mom! may well be simultaneously interesting and bad.

 

Related posts:

Brian De Palma: Mission to Mars (2000) - De Palma's awful space turkey 

Carlito's Way (1993) - De Palma's best gangster movie

The Fury (1978) - De Palma's telekinetic powers run amuck! 
Carrie (1976) or, Don't Bully the Strange Girl!  

 

Watch a 1-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: Reportedly 120k $

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[Hi, Mom! was released 27 April (New York) and runs 87 minutes. De Niro reprises his Jon Rubin character from De Palma's Greetings (1968) in the film. Shooting took place in New York. Whether the film ever screened outside of New York originally is unknown. De Palma returned with Get to Know Your Rabbit (172). De Niro returned in Jennifer on My Mind (1971). Hi, Mom! is fresh at 73 % with a 6.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hi, Mom!?