DailyView: Day 191, Movie 273

I have always been a fan of Mark Twain and I had wanted a proper biopic of the author for a long time. When I found the former TV film Mark Twain and Me on Disney +, I was excited to take a look.

Jason Robards played Samuel L. Clemens, aka Mark Twain after he met the young girl Dorothy Quick (Amy Stewart) on a cruise during the last few years of his life. The old man and the young teen formed a close bond and they spent many days together, breaking out of the morose and regrets that Clemens’ life had become filled with.

This is a true story based on the memoirs of novelist Dorothy Quick, published originally as “Enchantment.” I have always believed that the best biopics were the ones that took a section of the person’s life and focused in on in instead of covering the entire lifespan. This biopic does a wonderful job of that.

Robards was fantastic as Samuel Clemens (or SLC as he is referred to throughout the film by Dorothy) and Amy Stewart was solid in her first major role as Dorothy. The two of them had chemistry and had a natural surrogate father-daughter relationships. Dorothy was able to help Clemens reunite and appreciate the relationship he had with his actual daughter Jean (Talia Shire).

Though the film relied heavily on the positive messages of the story, it did not shy away from the tragedy that had filled Clemens’ life during this time, including the death of Jean and his aversion to Christmastime.

I would still like more biopics with Mark Twain at the center, but this one was a pleasant surprise tonight.

DailyView: Day 190, Movie 272

With tonight’s schedule viewing of Eternals, I had to find something short to watch this morning to satisfy the DailyView, so I broke into the list of black and white shorts and found the Buster Keaton short One Week from 1920.

One Week tells the story of a newly married couple who are just starting their lives together by building their dream house. However, their house turned out to be a little more than what they had expected.

While I was not as much of a fan of the first film I watched of Buster Keaton (especially when compared to Charlie Chaplin) One Week was a considerably better effort. It was filled with some great slapstick moments, several impressive practical stunts (apparently the spinning house was built on a turntable to create the visual gag). The gags involving the house and ladders around it were several times inspired.

Sybil Seely co-starred in the short with Buster Keaton as the newlyweds. She had a definite screen presence and is a nice match with Keaton.

I was not a fan of the score though which repetitively repeated the same melody through the entire run of the film. It was one of those scores that burrows into your head and stay there unwelcomed.

In the end, I enjoyed One Week more than the other Buster Keaton film I saw and it worked beautifully for the DailyView today.

DailyView: Day 189, Movie 271

A remake of a 1968 film brings together Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo in a romance/heist movie which updates the movie called The Thomas Crown Affair.

Thomas Crown (Pierce Brosnan) was a bored billionaire who amused himself by stealing priceless art just for the challenge. When insurance investigator and art “bounty hunter” Catherine Banning (Rene Russo) joined the case, Crown found a greater challenge than art thievery.

The cat and mouse game between Thomas and Catherine played out in the foreground of the police investigation into the theft of a classic Monet painting. The chemistry between them is apparent and both Brosnan and Russo are tremendous.

If the relationship between Thomas and Catherine does not work, this movie flops big time, but they work extremely well. I did think at first that the relationship was a bit forced, but it developed quickly. It was clear that she was playing him while he was playing her and that the two characters were very much alike.

Denis Leary and Frankie Faison played police detectives and they are great too. They interact with Russo in a fun and engaging way. They both understood what was happening and just going along with her in an attempt to catch Crown.

Faye Dunaway appears as Thomas Crown’s psychiatrist. Dunaway starred in the original The Thomas Crown Affair so adding her was an intriguing casting choice.

This was a lot of fun and enjoyable. Two attractive and engaging actors playing characters that are trying to find the ability to trust one another and to make their relationship work.

DailyView: Day 188, Movie 270

After looking for awhile across several different streaming services, I settled on Peacock for the night’s DailyView and I came across a comedy featuring the well-known British character, Mr. Bean, played vigorously by Rowan Atkinson.

The plot of this film is basically thin. Mr. bean, who had won a trip to Cannes, France, got stranded with a boy Stepan (Max Baldry) who was separated from his father in a train station. Mr. Bean and Stepan try and work their way to Cannes to reunite the boy and his father, while taking some time on the beach.

The rest of the film is practically all hijinks from the slapstick character.

There is a subplot (sort of) with Willem Dafoe filming a movie for the Cannes Film Festival. One of the bit actresses (Emma de Caunes) he had appearing in the film becomes involved in helping Mr. Bean get to Cannes.

The film is truly silly and features very little in story, but the character of Mr. Bean does have his moments of humor and charm, especially in an inspired section where Mr. Bean is performing on the streets, lip synching and dancing for money.

If you were a fan of Mr. Bean, this is probably for you. If you were not (such as me), you may find enough silliness here to justify the hour and a half run time. Mr. Bean’s Holiday feels like a group of bits strung together without too much concern for the story. There is a bit with Mr. Bean on a bicycle chasing a car with a chicken in the back that had Mr. Bean’s bus ticket stuck on its foot. There is a bit of Mr. Bean pretending to be in the army. There is a bit of Mr. Bean driving and trying to stay awake. Several of these are funny, which helps the film out.

I knew of the character of Mr. bean, but I had never seen him before, so his mostly silent/ barely coherent speaking was a shock to me and did take some time to get used to, but once I did, I did not mind it. He had a definite Charlie Chaplin vibe to him as the film progressed.

The connection between Mr. Bean and Stepan was sweet and I was rooting for them to get the boy back to his poppa. There was only really minor conflict, which was mostly from Mr. Bean himself.

I have seen worse comedies, that is for sure. If you like British comedy, this could give you a decent experience. It is fluffy and inconsequential, but does have some laughs.

DailyView: Day 187, Movie 269

The calendar has shifted to November which allows us to move away from the horror flicks and into other areas of the movie world. We’ll continue to watch some horror movies, but it will not as exclusive as it was in October. The first film out of October was suggested by my friend Todd at ComicWorld. He told me he remembered when this film, which was set in Greenfield, Iowa with some other scenes shot in Winterset, Iowa, was being shot.

Cold Turkey starred Dick Van Dyke as Reverend Clayton Brooks, the small town reverend who was the morale leader for the fictional town of Eagle Rock. Rev. Brooks spends a large chunk of the film trying to inspire the town to stop smoking and then to keep them from doing it.

The Valiant Tobacco Company made a shocking offer. They offered $25 million dollars to any town in the USA that could stop smoking for a month. The idea, which came from the mind of advertising exec Merwin Wren (Bob Newhart), was that no town would be able to get their whole population to agree to stop smoking for 30 days and that it would provide free publicity and a humanitarian image for the tobacco company.

That was when Eagle Rock stepped in.

The small Iowa town took the challenge, got their whole population to sign up for the pledge and started their gigantic smoke-out.

The film was a satire on the addictiveness of cigarettes and what some people would do to smoke. It also looked at the greediness of the human being and how money may inspire them even more than the addictive cigarettes.

There is a cast full of great comedic actors including Dick Van Dyke and Bob Newhart. There is also Tom Poston, Jean Stapleton, Vincent Gardenia, Pay Goulding, Pippa Scott, Paul Benedict, Bob Elliott, Edward Everett Horton, Barnard Hughes, Graham Jarvis, and Barbara Cason.

There are some silly moments in the film, but it has some funny moments too. As unlikely the plot may be, the film does a good job of personalizing the struggle for the different characters. Dick Van Dyke was at the center of the chaos, carrying the movie.

The conclusion was out of nowhere and had a little bit of everything. The final shot of the film was remarkably ironic and I loved it.

Cold Turkey had its ups and downs, but the film held together and provided a definite satire of the cigarette companies and the human condition.