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Home (Re) Viewing: Blast to the recent past
I’m afraid I can’t be of much help in reviewing this week’s new DVD releases, Breakfast on Pluto, Hostel, and Mrs. Henderson Presents, since I never made it to the theater for them.
However, I can clue you in on what was released last week while I was out, plus I’d like to highlight an innovative DVD reissue of an Orson Welles cult classic.
Fun With Dick and Jane: You know a movie is in serious trouble when it takes forever to arrive at its main joke. The movie is supposedly about Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni turning into thieves after Carrey loses his job, but it’s almost half over before the first robbery takes place. Carrey and the criminally underused Leoni are good for a few laughs, but the misbegotten Enron spoof sputters and bogs the whole movie down. It’s all too obvious the film had a troubled production; the makers never find a shape for their story. GRADE: C
An Unfinished Life: This movie’s title led to a lot of snarky comments about how Miramax sat on this forever and a day, and then dumped it in theaters when the company founders left. Which is too bad, because it’s actually a halfway decent movie about a woman who retreats to her estranged in-laws when she runs afoul of her latest woman-beating guy. No, it is most definitely not the Lasse Hallstrom Oscar bait its makers first thought it might be — the symbolism about the bear being the weight of the world is way too literal and heavy-handed. However, it is heartfelt and well cast with solid performances by Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Lopez, who showed up instead of J.Lo for once. GRADE: B
The Criterion Collection, which basically invented what we know today as DVD extras, takes the format to new heights with its three-disc release of Orson Welles’ Mr. Arkadin.
Welles, whose classics include Citizen Kane and Touch of Evil, became notorious for making movies that were either unfinished or somehow compromised from his original vision. Arkadin, an espionage thriller, had the most complex and confounding history, with several existing versions.
This set gathers three versions: the early “Corinthâ€? cut, thought to be the most complete, “Confidential Report,â€? the “officialâ€? European release, and a new “comprehensiveâ€? cut, a kind of best-guess version that’s meant to reflect Welles’ original vision, similarly to what was done with Touch of Evil when it was recut and released theatrically a few years ago.
I’ve never seen the movie at all, but that makes me all the more excited about the set. Even without seeing it, I can tell this is essential viewing for film buffs. And whatever one thinks of the sometimes overbearing Welles, even his “brokenâ€? movies are more compelling than most directors’ completed ones. This is at the top of my Netflix queue.
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