Within the last few weeks, I have seen 2 of Hackman’s flicks that re-enforced my lifetime assertion that Gene Hackman kicks ass:
The Heist: Not Mamet’s best work, but very entertaining. The plot twists became a little silly by the end. This film seemed to be an exercise in seeing how many twists Mamet could cram into one movie. It was to the point that you knew something else was coming and the twists seemed relatively telegraphed by the end. All that aside, Gene Hackman was convincing and engaging as the elder leader of a robbery crew. Delroy Lindo, who I am hot and cold on, was good as well. Danny DeVito as the money/set-up man was terrible. Did he help produce this one, because he did not seem right for this part to me.
Under Suspicion: Hackman under suspicion for child murders. Morgan Freeman as investigating cop (What a stretch for Morgan, huh?). Anything I would say about this one would be spoilerish so I will just say that if you like dialog driven movies, see this. Most of the film is set in Freeman’s office at the police station and it is all about the interaction between very few characters and primarily Hackman anf Freeman. The way the flashback shots were handled was interesting and something I had not seen before. This one was produced by Hackman and Freeman and that was probably the only reason the film studio greenlighted it.
I didn’t really mean to give reviews of these two. I just wanted to bring a couple up that Hackman fans and non-fans may have missed. I know most of his films are not going to change the world, but they are damn entertaining. IMO, he brings a lot to his movies in a wide variety of roles that would be flat with most anyone else. Anytime I see him in a cast, I know even if the movie is miserable and the script is thin, there will be at least one performance I can count on being superb.
As another quick example: Enemy of the State. I am no Will Smith fan, but I really enjoyed this one and I did not expect it.
I haven’t seen either of those films, so I cannot really comment. My two favorite performances of his are The Conversation and Mississippi Burning. I am able to forgive him for Superman, but I am still trying to get over Loose Cannons with Dan Aykroyd.
Hackman in Unforgiven, yeah, that’s probably my personal favorite of his roles. Can’t forget The Conversation and Popeye Doyle though. Oh, and then there’s that Royal Tenenbaums movie…
O.K. When I went on my little diatribe above, I had obviously put those (Superman, Loose Cannon) far, far out of my mind. He has always worked a lot and must not have been as selective as he is now. I guess they cannot all be golden after all. Still when it comes to ass, he still kicks it, IMO.
I don’t think there’s anything to be forgiven for Superman. Just saw the new DVD version (even more Marlon Brando!!! still same crap ending!!!), and he really stands out, as always, regardless of what he’s given to do. Sure, Lex Luthor is a cartoon in the movie, but Hackman makes him a very intelligent cartoon.
Because my 4-yo son wanted to be Superman for Halloween, that’s why.
I’m a huge fan of Crimson Tide, which, if not Hackman’s best performance, is certainly his most entertaining one. I think I saw it 5 or 6 times in the theatres, and can to this day recite most of the razor-sharp dialogue (supposedly ghost-written by Tarantino) by heart. A classic of the submarine movie genre, although the ending rtuins the tension of the movie - they should have just ended the movie not knowing what had happened above.
Funny thing about nostalgia. Since I’ve been watching Michael Mann’s Robbery Homicide Division on TV (new this Fall), I decided to go back and watch Heat this past weekend. I was home alone since the other two occupants was off at gym class; so I cranked up my system really, really loud, parked myself about eight feet from the PTV with a batch of stuff I probably shouldn’t be eating and had the best time. Especially with nobody yelling …turn that down!!! or …please don’t have her watching that violence etc incessantly at me.
To watch DeNiro and Pacino on screen (especially in that diner scene) is just, well, tingling.
Good thing it ended before they got home, because the first thing my daughter did, upon seeing me parked in front of the TV, was make a beeling for her room and emerged with her Mulan movie. Thank God it wasn’t, yet another, Blue’s Clues tape. :roll:
In the past weeks, I’ve also gone through my nostalgic re-runs of watching Ronin (DeNiro), Behind Enemy Lines (Hackman) and Airforce One (Ford) and The Professional (Oldman & Reno).
I completely agree – in fact, the ending they went with completely ruined not only the tension, but the movie, for me. If they had gone the other way (i.e., deciding that his character’s interpretation was accurate), it would have been a movie for the ages, and you wouldn’t have had to change anything else (since all of the motivations of the characters, etc. would have remained legitimate). It would have been a much more interesting moral dilemma/though provoker.
I completely agree – in fact, the ending they went with completely ruined not only the tension, but the movie, for me. If they had gone the other way (i.e., deciding that his character’s interpretation was accurate), it would have been a movie for the ages, and you wouldn’t have had to change anything else (since all of the motivations of the characters, etc. would have remained legitimate). It would have been a much more interesting moral dilemma/though provoker.[/quote]
What, no happy Hollywood ending? We couldn’t have that.
The original ending probably tested poorly with preview audiences, they went back in, and tacked that crap on.
Any actor that could utter the terrible dialogue of The Heist, and make it sound like something other than the garbage that it was gets my vote. Too bad the rest of the cast wasn’t up to the task.
I was also surprised how much I liked enemy of the state, but behind enemy lines? Subtitled “behind multiple camera effects every 10 seconds because we have nothing here…” no.
I think Hackman is awesome. I’ve been amazed at how much work he gets. I suppose the down side of doing so much work is that occasionally he appears in clunkers. I hated Behind Enemy Lines, for example, even though he turned in a pretty solid performance.
Let’s hear it for some of his older flicks: No Way Out, Bat 21…
I will give you this Derek, I liked one thing about Rebecca Pidgeon. I liked that when the movie was over, I didn’t have to watch her try.to.act anymore. Between this and Spanish Prisoner she should never be in another movie. Not that she really is, that is unless you count movies where she is banging the director.
