Tina's April 2012 Movies

Here are the movies I watched in April.  Numbering picks up from the previous month, and movies marked with an* were ones I had not seen previously.

40.  The Terminal (2004) – In “Cast Away,” Tom Hanks was stranded on a remote island, forced to figure out how to survive.  Here, he is Viktor Navorski, stranded at JFK Airport and forced to figure out how to survive when his tiny Eastern European country is in civil war  and no longer recognized by the U.S., thus voiding his visa.  The mean man in charge of security (Stanley Tucci) tells him to wait, and, being a compliant guy who speaks little English, Viktor does just that – for more than 9 months. He lives at gate 64, makes friends with the airport staff, improves his English by reading books at Borders and even gets a construction job so he can make money to survive.  All he wants to do is set foot in New York, but his quest seems as impossible as his relationship with lovely airline flight attendant Amelia (Catherine Zeta-Jones).  The more I see Tom Hanks, the more I realize what a treasure he is to the movies.  Anyone cooped up interminably in a terminal might go mad, but Hanks, like he does in “Cast Away,” makes you believe he can endure it.  You just can’t help liking his characters and admiring his skill as an actor.  4 cans.

41.  Word Play (2006) – This entertaining documentary offers a gentle cross-examination of the world of crossword puzzles, their creation and their enthusiasts.  Among those profiled are such dedicated puzzlers as former President Bill Clinton, baseball pitcher Mike Mussina, and comedian Jon Stewart.  The star of the show is Will Shortz, the amiable editor of the venerable New York Times crossword puzzle and the originator of the annual American Crossword Puzzle Competition.  Each year contestants gather at the Stamford, CT, Marriott to participate in timed competitions to determine the winner.  Contestants spend the year in between competitions honing their skills and timing themselves on the daily puzzle.  The competitors include a 20-year old student from Rensselear Polytech, a man from Florida and a guy named Al, who competes every year but has never won.  Don’t get down and out, Al, there’s always next year.  4 cans.

42.  Splash (1984) – A very young Tom Hanks teams up with director Ron Howard on this fantasy/comedy about a man who can’t swim who falls for a mermaid (Darryl Hannah).  Hanks and his brother (John Candy) own a food company, and when mermaid Madison comes along, Hank knows he has made a big catch.  She sheds her mermaid attributes while not in the water, so Hanks doesn’t know her true identity, but a scientist played by Eugene Levy is studying her and ready to expose her (which would happen more readily if her strategically placed hair ever moved).  Hannah is fetching as the innocent who gets accustomed to land-locked love, but when Hanks discovers her secret this charmer gets a little too madcap for me, with scientists and the brothers chasing the bad guys and each other.  You can see the future success destined for the stars and director even if this movie sometimes seems all wet.  Hats off to Dodie Goodman for a small but hilarious role as the whacky office manager.  3 cans, but no tuna.

43.  The Scout* (1994) – Today is opening day for the New York Yankees, so it is only fitting that I watch a baseball movie that ends up in Yankee Stadium.  Here Albert Brooks is Al Percolo, a baseball scout who lives on the road, trying to find future baseball starts.  When his latest phenom fizzles, Al is sentenced – I mean sent – to central Mexico, the minorest of minor leagues.  There he unexpectedly meets the stud of all stud baseball players, Steve Nebraska (Brendan Fraser), who can throw a fastball so hard he knocks over the catcher and umpire.  Oh, and he hits homeruns, too.  Al convinces him to come to New York, where the Yankees make him an offer no one in his right mind could refuse.  Trouble is, Steve may not be in his right mind, so Al sets him up with a psychiatrist (Dianne Wiest) for therapy.  Will he take his prodigious talents to the big leagues, or will he and Al drive each other crazy?  By the way, there is more fantasy in this movie when it comes to baseball realities than there was in “Splash.”  3 cans.

44.  Jerry Maguire (1996) – Tom Cruise is slick sports agent Jerry Maguire, a man who first gets into your living room, then your head, and finally your heart.  He is living the good life, repping the presumed top NFL draft pick, engaged to a sexy woman (Kelly Preston) and excelling at his job.  But one night, after a few too many drinks, he writes a “mission statement” that eviscerates the profession for its greed, urges integrity – and costs him his job and his fiancée.  He marches out of the agency with his principles, a couple of fish, one client and a low-level staffer named Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellwegger) who believes in him.  His one remaining client, wide receiver Rod Tidwell (Oscar-winning Cuba Gooding, Jr.), exhorts him to “show me the money!”  Jerry Maguire yearns for the love, which he thinks he’s found with Dorothy and her irresistible son Ray (Jonathan Lipnicki), but he is incapable of real intimacy.  This is the movie that gave us Zellwegger, Lipinicki and his 8-pound head and a small but juicy part for one of my favorite actresses, Bonnie Hunt.  Tom Cruise, this time you had me at hello.  4 cans.

45.  Evening* (2007) – Vanessa Redgrave portrays Ann, an elderly dying woman in this poignant drama.  On her deathbed, surrounded by her two daughters (real-life daughter Natasha Richardson and Toni Collette), Ann begins to have flashbacks about a great love in her life and her regrets.  Claire Danes plays the young Ann on the weekend of the wedding of her best friend Lila (Mamie Gummer), and Patrick Wilson is Harris, the man they both love.  As her daughters try to figure out Ann’s ramblings and names they have never heard before, her best friend, Lila (Gummer’s real mother, Meryl Streep) pays a visit to her dying friend.  This is a lovely look at life, the decisions we make – or don’t make – and what happens as a result.  4 cans.

46.  The Money Pit (1986) – Young couple Walter and Anna (Tom Hanks and Shelley Long) experience the nightmare that is home renovation in this slapstick comedy by Richard Benjamin.  Desperate for a place to live, they settle on a suburban home that appears to be a steal.  It also appears to have working plumbing, electricity and a staircase, but all those things are short-lived, and they must find and work with contractors, plumbers and the rest of the crew, all of whom assure them the repairs will take “two weeks.”  Months later, they are still hauling water by bucket up a ladder to bathe.  This movie has much more slapstick than I can generally tolerate, but Hanks and Long made me laugh out loud more than once.  And yes, my Tom Hanks movie marathon continues (number 7 for the year).  3 cans.

47.  Bridesmaids (2011) – When I first saw this movie last year, I found the raunchy comedy to be refreshingly distasteful.  However, seeing it a second time, without the surprise, I found myself dissecting it.  Some of the scenes go on too long and some of the subplots are just not necessary (Kristen Wiig’s roommates don’t deserve nearly this much screen time).  For those who are unfamiliar with the story, Wiig plays Annie, who has lost her business and her apartment, has a broken down car, who sleeps with a guy who makes her feel used (Jon Hamm), and who is forced to live with her alcoholic mother (the late, great Jill Clayburgh).  In other words, this story is destined to be a comedy, right?  The comedy part is when she takes on the role of maid of honor at her long-time best friend’s wedding (Maya Rudolph), whose new best friend (Rose Byrne) is determined to out-bridesmaid her.  Their rivalry is the centerpiece of the comedy, with heavy doses (pardon the pun) of Oscar-nominated Melissa McCarthy as a “fellow” bridesmaid.  I still laughed, but, though this is a fun movie to share with your girlfriends, it is not one that I’ll watch every time it airs on TV.  4 cans.

48.   Trading Places (1983) – Unlike “Bridesmaids,” this is a movie I seldom pass up a chance to see.  This delicious comedy stars Eddie Murphy as small-time hustler Bill Ray Valentine, Capricorn.  Dan Ackroyd plays his counterpart, the rich and snobby Louis Winthorp.  Winthorp’s even wealthier bosses at a commodities trading company, Mortimer and Randolph Duke (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy), conduct an experiment to see if Valentine can succeed and Winthorp fail if they arrange a sneaky switch of their stations in life.  Winthorp, now arrested and penniless, meets hooker-with-a-heart-and-a-head-for-business Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis), who takes him in.  When the two men realize they have been had, they team up for revenge, aiming for the Dukes’ fortune.  Murphy is great, especially in the first third of the movie as the hustler and as he adapts to his new, rich life, exhorting his former posse to use coasters and stop putting out their Kools on his rug.  A shout out is due for Coleman the butler (Denholm Elliott).  There are memorable lines throughout the movie, and I know them all.  But I will keep watching this movie anyway.  4½ cans.

49.  The Lucky One* (2012) – Blue-eyed Zac Efron stars in this Nicholas Sparks’ story of a Marine who finds a picture of a woman in the rubble of a battle and feels that she has saved his life.  Determined to track her down to thank her, he somehow walks from Colorado to Louisiana, where, naturally, he finds her and, just as expected, they fall in love before he finds the right moment to reveal why he tracked her down.  I’ve read several of Sparks’ books, and they all feature stoic and noble men who are incredibly understanding and amazingly competent.  Here, Efron’s character, Logan, can play chess and piano expertly, and he can train dogs, repair boat engines and broken hearts.  The predictability of the story seems inevitable, but overall, the movie, co-starring Taylor Schilling and Blythe Danner, was less cheesy than I expected.  The real stretch of credibility is that Logan could walk from Colorado and find the woman with such a minimum of fuss and bother.  3½ cans.

50.  Separate Lies (2005) – “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes wrote and directed this sophisticated movie about a wealthy couple who become involved in a murder cover-up.  Tom Wilkinson is James, a London solicitor, and Emily Watson is his loving wife, Annie.  When the husband of their housekeeper is killed in a hit and run accident near their country home, James begins to suspect the involvement of their friend Bill Buell (Rupert Everett).  As the story progresses, there are secrets and lies revealed and consequences to face.  This is a slowly told tale as the layers of the story begin to unfold.  I found it interesting and engrossing. 4 cans.

51.  Water for Elephants* (2011) – Jacob (Robert Pattinson) is taking his veterinary exams at Cornell when he is removed from class and informed that his parents have died in a car accident.  Left penniless, Jacob walks down the railroad tracks and hops on a passing train, which turns out to be a circus train.  With his veterinary skills, he is assigned the task of caring for the animals, including the new attraction designed to bring profitability to the failing enterprise – an elephant named Rosie.  The circus is run by a mean ringmaster (Christoph Walz) and headlined by his wife (Reese Witherspoon), who learns to ride and show off Rosie’s talents.  Predictably, the young vet and the veteran performer fall in love and Jacob lands in trouble.  I’m told that the book was great, but as for the movie?  Well, it’s OK, but not something I’d make sure to see again.  This is my first exposure to Robert Pattinson (since I haven’t seen his “Twilight” movies), and I found him to be believable in the role.  I couldn’t help thinking how badly he must have smelled, wearing the same clothes and cleaning out the animal cages.  3½ cans.

52.  The Great Escape* (1963) – As war movies – or, more accurately, prisoner of war movies – go, this one is about as interesting and entertaining as they come.  Based on a true story, the movie details how the Allied Forces captured and sent in 1942 to a German POW camp that is purported to be impossible to escapable plot to ruin its reputation by doing just that.  Among the cool characters working on the escape plan are Steve McQueen, James Garner, Charles Bronson and James Coburn.  Each man has his assignment and his specialty, and the way they cover up their covert activities is clever indeed.  Unlike my favorite prison movie, “The Shawshank Redemption,” which has one man working to dig a tunnel to escape (and you don’t know he has done it until he actually escapes), this one has legions of men burrowing away underground, devising tools and implements to dig and get rid of the dirt and to ultimately liberate hundreds of POWs.  I won’t reveal the end except to remind you that war is hell, yet this movie is refreshing and absorbing.  4 cans.