Flatliners

Tags

1990's, Flatliners, Joel Schumacher, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland, Oliver Platt, Supernatural Thriller, William Baldwin

The prospect of what happens after death and how five medical students dangerously attempt to discover this form the basis of the stylish and often intense Flatliners. While it sometimes doesn’t reach the existential themes it’s going for, Flatliners still emerges as a spooky supernatural thriller with a fine cast and direction. 

In an eerie looking building which resembles an old cathedral, part of which is being renovated, a group of medical students are studying to become doctors . But soon it’ll be more intense and dark than they ever imagined when one of them gets a rather alarming idea for a dangerous . That person in question is the arrogant dreamer Nelson Wright(Kiefer Sutherland). Joining him, we have talented yet sometimes erratic David Labraccio(Kevin Bacon), sleazy Lothario Joe Hurley(William Baldwin),  diligent, composed Rachel Manus(Julia Roberts) and wise ass Randy Steckle( Oliver Platt) . In the evening, they sneak medical supplies into a disused wing of the building for their planned experiment. Nelson plans to be put into a state of death for a few minutes then be shocked back to life before actually dying for real. He hopes that he can experience the afterlife and live to tell the tale about what he unearths. Nelson’s experiments seems to go well as he admits that he believes. What he doesn’t tell the others is that he is also plagued by an incident from childhood that won’t let him rest. As the rest of group begin undergoing the experiment , they are haunted by their past traumas, misdeeds and sins. Power struggles and paranoia ensue as they try to outdo each other, Nelson becomes increasingly unhinged and David begins developing deep feeling for Rachel. As events darken, they fall victim to the repercussions of their actions and Playing God. What began as a foolish experiment of curiosity into the other side soon turns into a waking nightmare for all involved as they wrestle with the horror of the situation.

Joel Schumacher is at the helm of Flatliners and his gift for stylish content is very much in evidence. Though it should also be noted he also manages to tap into some quite disturbing places and emotional ones too, rising above some of the scripts repetition to craft a spooky supernatural thriller. Despite longueurs in the script , Peter Filardi’s  work on the screenplay here still does a commendable job with it at least getting us to consider mortality and the consequences of our actions in the past. One thing truly worth of praise in Flatliners is the rather striking production design which suggests a haunted house tinged with religious iconography and MTV style gloss. It’s a fertile space where the main characters begin their reckless, clandestine experiments and the set design is rendered with supreme style that backs up the eeriness the film is going for.  And Flatliners does have plenty of style running through its veins right from the get go; courtesy of Schumacher’s always impressive visual directing and the moody cinematography (largely cold blues and deep reds) .  Swirling camerawork in the visions of afterlife contribute to the heady atmosphere of the piece as does a very good mastery of editing and sound. Standout scenes include the slimy being confronted in hallucinatory by his treatment and surreptitious recording of ladies in intimate situations and the students scrambling to save Rachel after the power goes out, leaving the experiment in danger of resulting in permanent death. James Newton Howard is on score duties and he mixes synth heavy atmospherics with choral flourishes that make it a ghoulish and haunting listen.

The cast of then young stars either on the rise or just established is on good form playing these curious and flawed characters . provides intense and later dangerous instability as the ringleader of the warped experiment in life and death. Sutherland always has an edge to him that I find riveting to watch and he doesn’t disappoint as the arrogant instigator of the haunting events. Julia Roberts is also very effective as the lone woman in the group who has her own personal agenda for taking part. Showing a graceful, demure vulnerability and a sense of haunted grit crossed with sadness, Roberts contributes highly to the proceedings with an earnest and convincing performance. Kevin Bacon, who I find to be incredibly reliable in most things, doesn’t disappoint here. He’s the often rebellious atheist who feels he has nothing to lose but ends up becoming the most concerned and caring of the group as he sees things are getting out of control. Bacon balances a youthful recklessness and an eventual maturity admirably and is very good in the part . William Baldwin is appropriately sleazy and randy as the love rat whose treatment of women really comes back to bite him; making him really go over and regret just how awful his behaviour has been to the opposite sex. Oliver Platt is mainly used as the comic relief of the group; constantly telling everyone this is a very bad idea and delivering witty retorts to his comrades. He’s probably given the least to do here but has his moments.

So while it’s not a masterwork in supernatural thriller or of existential leaning, Flatliners is still an entertainingly creepy, well acted  and stylish excursion into unusual what if possibilities regarding death and what may dangerously follow

A Time to Kill

Tags

1990's, A Time to Kill, Ashley Judd, Brenda Fricker, Charles S. Dutton, Chris Cooper, Courtroom Drama, Crime, Donald Sutherland, Drama, Joel Schumacher, John Grisham, Kevin Spacey, Kiefer Sutherland, Legal Drama, Matthew McConaughey, Oliver Platt, Patrick McGoohan, Samuel L. Jackson, Sandra Bullock

Film Title

A Time to Kill

Director

Joel Schumacher

Starring

• Matthew McConaughey as Jake Brigance
• Samuel L. Jackson as Carl Lee Hailey
• Sandra Bullock as Ellen Roark
• Kevin Spacey as Rufus Buckley
• Oliver Platt as Harry Rex Vonner
• Kiefer Sutherland as Freddie Lee Cobb
• Donald Sutherland as Lucien Wilbanks
• Ashley Judd as Carla Brigance
• Brenda Fricker as Ethel Twitty
• Charles S. Dutton as Sheriff Ozzie Walls
• Chris Cooper as Dwayne Looney
• Patrick McGoohan as Judge Omar Noose

An incendiary and well mounted adaptation of the John Grisham legal/courtroom drama, A Time to Kill ensures that the moral and ethical debates come through strong, thanks to the story, script and cast.

In the town of Canton, Mississippi, a 10-year-old black girl by the name of Tonya Hailey is walking home after getting groceries from the local store. Suddenly, she is targeted by two sneering and utterly vile rednecks who violently rape and attempt to kill her by hanging. Tonya survives, but the damage to her has been done, which sends shock waves through the community. Tonya’s father Carl Lee is devastated when he discovers what has happened to his little girl and knowing that due to the racism that pervades the town and that the two men may get a light sentence, decides to take matters into his own hands. He responds by gunning down both men on their way to trial, in front of over a dozen witnesses. Arrested, Carl Lee contacts young and idealistic lawyer Jake Brigance to represent him. Jake had previously helped Carl Lee’s brother in the past and feels he must represent him; mainly because he was aware that Carl Lee might have gone through with his retribution after talking with him earlier. Jake is warned that this case will be dangerous and because he doesn’t have that much experience, he is bright and wants to help. Hurdles and stumbling blocks come up as the manipulative district attorney and prosecutor Rufus Buckley, who has his eye on office, decides to seek the death penalty and manages to stir the situation up. The climate of racism and clashing opposition makes the whole thing a powder keg as Jake finds his life in danger, as well as those closest to him being threatened by a resurgent faction of the Ku Klux Klan, brought out by one of the brothers of the men slain by Carl Lee. Yet with all the hostility and violence being thrown his way, Jake refuses to back down and his resolve is strengthened as he is soon in the courtroom representing his client in a case that could spark even more eruptions of unrest and horror for everyone. He is aided by the young law student Ellen Roark, who is a know it all but very passionate and good friend plus occasional divorce lawyer cynical Harry Rex Vonner. Yet getting a fair trial is going to be anything but easy as tensions threaten to explode.

Joel Schumacher impeccably displays a flair for the material; making it both extremely gripping and equally as powerful in what it brings to the table. A Time to Kill raises many moral questions in a series of ways that delve into the quagmire of what is deemed right and wrong, and how there is a difficult grey area in between. There are those that will say that the movie is more in favour of one view than the other, but even if that is true, A Time to Kill deserves credit for presenting issues like justice, fairness and racism with many degrees of thought-provoking effectiveness. I believe that the film tries to show both sides of things. While Carl Lee did kill the men who raped his daughter, you can understand many of the reasons why he did it. A Time to Kill asks us to consider what we would do in that situation, which allows the film to get under the skin deeply. The difficulty in the topic of morality and justice is best summed up by a speech given by Donald Sutherland’s character. He says, “If you win this case, justice will prevail, and if you lose, justice will also prevail”, which perfectly and simply reflects the complex issue at hand. The legal nature of A Time to Kill is pretty compelling to watch as the ethics of lawyers and the inevitable courtroom examinations of whether someone is guilty are put under the spotlight. The build up to the courtroom is equally as excellent, showing just how dangerous a case of this magnitude can be in a climate of uncertainty and intolerance. Yet when the courtroom drama hits, the fireworks really start to occur. The testimonies and confrontations have rippling consequences that influence the society around them, that is already at boiling point on account of racism and violence. The dignified and quick-moving script makes the legal terminology easy to digest, yet doesn’t forget the battle going on between many things within the fabric of the story. And speaking of quick-moving, A Time to Kill runs for two and a half hours, yet interest is kept in check and held throughout most of it. Sure some moments could have been expanded on, but the atmosphere and climate of the piece brings immediate attention and confronting intent to the viewer, that will get them to look at the ethics of the trial intensely. The music provided by Elliot Goldenthal is dynamic and matches the escalating emotions and tensions within the story.

A Time to Kill was the movie that really launched Matthew McConaughey to stardom and it isn’t difficult to see why. With his charming yet astute persona, he naturally plays Jake as a man put through the difficulties of the case, yet spurned on by what he sees as just cause. The gravity of the situation dawns on him after realising how complex events will turn out, but he won’t give up on this case and soldiers through it with unwavering determination. McConaughey is the right fit for the part and his closing speech in the film is powerful stuff that shows just what an excellent actor he is. Samuel L. Jackson is particularly memorable as the man on trial, evoking the self-possessed man whose temper was pushed to the edge by the brutality his daughter endured. Jackson’s work is very subtle and while he has two scenes of outburst( the first when he kills the men and the second in court) he is largely a modulated presence, though behind his eyes the fury and hurt is there as clear as day. This performance impressed me as I usually think of Jackson as manic and loud, yet he delivered a finely tuned performance as the avenging Carl Lee that reveals another side to him. We have Sandra Bullock portraying the over-eager and brainy Ellen with a good mix of sass and smarts, while Kevin Spacey can be discovered slithering his way across the screen, inhabiting the egotistical and ambitious prosecutor. Oliver Platt provides some levity from the intense drama in the sidekick role of being a cynical wise ass with questionable morals, yet also with surprising depth to match. Kiefer Sutherland is appropriately nasty and shocking, starring as the angered brother of one of the slain who riles up the Klan once more and delights in causing horror to all in order to get what he perceives as his own justice. His father Donald also makes a hell of a mark, exuding the wily silver fox persona ideal for his part of Jake’s former mentor, who despite being disbarred from court, manages to aid his young charge. It is interesting to note that Donald and Kiefer never share a scene in the film. Ashley Judd and Brenda Fricker have less to do in the film, but each is good in their respective roles of concerned wife and long-serving secretary. In smaller roles, Charles S. Dutton, Chris Cooper and Patrick McGoohan add their expertise to various people involved in the case and make the most of the time they get to be shown.

A Time to Kill emerges as an engaging crime drama that explores culpability, legality and racism in a powerful way, benefiting from confident direction and a star-studded cast.

The Lost Boys

Tags

1980's, Barnard Hughes, Comedy, Corey Feldman, Corey Haim, Dianne Wiest, Edward Herrmann, Horror, Jami Gertz, Jamison Newlander, Jason Patric, Joel Schumacher, Kiefer Sutherland, The Lost Boys

Film Title

The Lost Boys

Director

Joel Schumacher

Starring

• Jason Patric as Michael Emerson
• Corey Haim as Sam Emerson
• Kiefer Sutherland as David
• Corey Feldman as Edgar Frog
• Jamison Newlander as Alan Frog
• Jami Gertz as Star
• Dianne Wiest as Lucy Emerson
• Edward Herrmann as Max
• Barnard Hughes as Grandpa

A film that manages to bridge the gap between horror and comedy and a successful one at that, The Lost Boys is an inventive and irreverent movie that has a good few twists and outrageous moments to add to the vampire mix.

Teenager Michael and his younger brother Sam relocate from Phoenix to the beach side Californian town of Santa Carla with their mother Lucy, following her divorce. They move in with Lucy’s father, whose an eccentric man living on the outskirts of town. Exploring the Boardwalk, which is where everyone seems to go, (while their mother gets a job at the video store working for a quiet guy named Max), Michael and Sam both discover different things. Michael becomes curious and drawn to Star; a seductive young woman. She runs with a local gang of leather glad troublemakers headed by the charismatic David. David beckons Michael to join his and taunts him into an initiation that soon proves very dark for him. Meanwhile, Sam meets Edgar and Alan Frog, brothers who work in a comic store and speak of the town being overrun by vampires, which Sam sniggers at as being impossible. It soon becomes very apparent that David’s gang are not just teenagers but in fact savage vampires, who are probably behind all the cases of missing people around the town. Michael, who went through the initiation process without really knowing what it was, soon begins exhibiting strange powers and abilities that slowly take over. Sam notices this change within his brother and . Star is in fact in the same position of Michael as she isn’t a full vampire yet and wants to be rid of it. Worrying for his brother, Sam enlists the Frog Brothers in a fight to eradicate the vampires and save Michael and Star from the clutches eternal, blood-sucking life.

Joel Schumacher directs The Lost Boys with a clear control over it and a sense of fun that emerges throughout it. He wisely gets the humour and horror to both be effective, instead of a seesaw of up and down switches.  His flourishes of style are apparent yet don’t swallow the story. The best instance is the shots from the vampire’s perspective as they fly over the town, which is both creepy and exciting. As far as humour goes, The Lost Boys has it in abundance and forms a marvellous balance with tense horror within the tale. It captures both horror and laughs in quick succession, making sure you’re scared one minute and then laughing the next. The pace is very impressive as it introduces us to the characters and hints of weirdness, letting the darkness sink in as the presence of David and his gang becomes more known. I particularly enjoy the presentation of vampirism here as it has traditional elements, but boasts quite a few surprises in it. The vampires here are shown as seemingly cool and dangerous, the type of popular gang it would be easy to fall into. Yet once the vicious truth of them is known, they take on a different meaning altogether. This is twinned with a theme of peer pressure as Michael is shown to want to be one of the, but comes to see that it’s a living hell from which he needs to escape. David and his gang become the dark forces taking away the innocence of Michael with their powerful and unusual ways. The Lost Boys can also be seen as a teen movie due to this examination of adolescence, but thankfully it’s one of the better ones due to the main touches of horror and humour. And I must gives kudos to The Lost Boys for its absolute blast of a final act. The extended climax in which Sam and The Frog Brothers face off against the vampires is as creepy as it is exhilarating. And you have to love a horror movie that has inventive deaths aplenty, including death by stereo. In terms of visual style, one can view the movie as a great time capsule back to the 1980’s. The slick and glossy nature is still there, with the vampire lair a cool retreat that looks like something made for MTV. There is fun to be had in looking at the setting and style on show, in between the outrageous comedy and creepy shenanigans. A quintessential soundtrack of mostly 80’s songs does a great job by cutting the action to these grooves, including a great version of ‘People are Strange’ that opens the film and sets the foreboding tone.

A cool cast excellently does a good job in this horror flick. Jason Patrick has the required attitude and cool factor to play Michael, who soon becomes a victim of the vampires. Corey Haim hits the right notes of youthful enthusiasm and brotherly concern as Sam fights to stop his brother becoming a full-on vampire. Kiefer Sutherland is one of the best things in the film. His performance as leader of the vampire pack David, is unnerving yet darkly charismatic. David is a character who embodies darkness from every angle but who you can’t help but feel intrigued by. A lot of this comes down to Sutherland’s good work that makes creatures of the night seem very cool. The duo of Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander as The Frog Brothers is inspired. These characters are geeky and amusing in their pursuit of vampires, you just have to here some of the one-liners between the two. It’s impossible not to have fun when these two are on screen doing their thing. Displaying a sensuality that is tempered by a deep-seated terror, Jami Gertz makes an impression as the beautiful half-vampire Star who is tired of the life she leads. Showing maternal anxiety and warmth is Dianne Wiest in the part of the boy’s mother, who doesn’t really know the kind of town she has moved them all into. Edward Herrmann excellently takes the role of the seemingly ordinary Max, who becomes interested in Lucy yet comes under suspicion from Sam and the Frog Brothers. And finally there is Barnard Hughes as the unusual but lovable Grandpa.

A gloriously enjoyable marriage of horror and dark comedy, The Lost Boys is deservedly a cult movie and it’s not at all difficult to decipher why.