Tootsie. 1982 Columbia Pictures.
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Bill Murray, Sydney Pollack, Geena Davis
Director: Sydney Pollack
Available from Amazon (25th Anniversary Edition).
A movie with a positive message, and that message is, it's perfectly acceptable for a desperate man to dress as a woman to get what he/she wants.
Dustin Hoffman is Michael Dorsey, a respected but perfectionist actor on the brink of forty. At this point in his career, nobody anywhere wants to hire him because he is so difficult to work with, or he's either too old, or too young for a part. He hears from his friend Sandy Lester (Garr) of a role on a soap opera. After an argument with his agent George Fields (Pollack) that drives home the fact that he's too much of a pain to work with, Michael comes up with a plan. Entrusting only Fields, and his writer roommate Jeff Slater (Murray), Michael becomes 'Dorothy Michaels', the feisty "actress" who quickly becomes the newest cast member of the soap Southwest General.
Michael thinks this charade is only a temporary gig to pay the bills, but as Dorothy, he becomes a sensation, signed to a long-term contract, and later, he starts appearing on magazine covers.
There are other problems to deal with for Michael other than being exposed, notably his strong attraction to a co-star, Julie Nichols (Lange, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress). Julie is in an unhealthy relationship with the show's director, the amoral and sexist Ron Carlisle (Coleman), who is just a miserable sonuvagun (Michael discovers he has a lot in common with the director when it comes to women). Michael, as Dorothy, finds himself being pursued by Julie's widowed father Les (Durning), who even proposes!
It's up to Michael to find a creative way to get out of the complex situation he's gotten into, and he does it beautifully during a live taping, although Julie isn't too thrilled with the revelation...for the moment.
Highly, highly, highly recommended.
Showing posts with label sydney pollack. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sydney pollack. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
The Yakuza
The Yakuza. 1975 Warner Bros. Pictures.
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Ken Takakura, Brian Keith, Herb Edelman, Richard Jordan, Keiko Kishi, Eiki Okada, Kishi Keiko
Director: Sydney Pollack
Buy The Yakuza from Amazon as a single DVD, or part of Robert Mitchum: The Signature Collection.
Robert Mitchum is Harry Kilmer, a retired detective called up by his old friend George Tanner (Keith). Tanner's been doing business with a yakuza gangster named Tono (Kishi), who has taken Tanner's daughter and her boyfriend hostage to apply pressure to a business deal. Tanner is hoping that Kilmer's Japanese contacts can help him rescue his daughter.
Tanner and Kilmer had served as Marine MPs in Tokyo after the war, and Harry had fallen in love with a woman named Eiki (Keiko), who operated on the black market. Kilmer also helped Eiko find penicillin for her daughter after she became ill, saving her life. However, when Eiko's brother Ken (Takakura) returned from an island where he had been stranded during combat, he was outraged that his sister was living with an American soldier, but still deeply indebted for saving the lives of his remaining family members. Ken disappeared into the yakuza underworld, refusing to have anything to do with his sister. Harry and Eiko soon split up, since she did not want to offend Ken any further, and Kilmer bought her a bar as a parting gift. Neither have married since that time. Tanner hopes that Kilmer can get in touch with Ken and use his connections to help out.
Ken is no longer a yakuza, but he still resents Kilmer. Regardless, due to his giri (definition) to Kilmer, he agrees to assist finding Tanner's daughter and her beau. Ken and Harry free both of them, but Ken injures one of Tono's men, and is discovered by one of the gangster's henchmen. Contracts on their lives are issued. It soon becomes apparent that the only way out is for one of them to kill Tono. Things become more dangerous after Tanner takes the contract on Kilmer's life (Tanner and Tono aren't sworn enemies despite appearances), and we also learn that the relationship between Ken and Eiko is more than Kilmer had ever known before. Also, how will Ken's nephew, who has aligned himself with Tono's organization, affect the final income?
Pretty good movie, I felt. Recommended.
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Ken Takakura, Brian Keith, Herb Edelman, Richard Jordan, Keiko Kishi, Eiki Okada, Kishi Keiko
Director: Sydney Pollack
Buy The Yakuza from Amazon as a single DVD, or part of Robert Mitchum: The Signature Collection.
Robert Mitchum is Harry Kilmer, a retired detective called up by his old friend George Tanner (Keith). Tanner's been doing business with a yakuza gangster named Tono (Kishi), who has taken Tanner's daughter and her boyfriend hostage to apply pressure to a business deal. Tanner is hoping that Kilmer's Japanese contacts can help him rescue his daughter.
Tanner and Kilmer had served as Marine MPs in Tokyo after the war, and Harry had fallen in love with a woman named Eiki (Keiko), who operated on the black market. Kilmer also helped Eiko find penicillin for her daughter after she became ill, saving her life. However, when Eiko's brother Ken (Takakura) returned from an island where he had been stranded during combat, he was outraged that his sister was living with an American soldier, but still deeply indebted for saving the lives of his remaining family members. Ken disappeared into the yakuza underworld, refusing to have anything to do with his sister. Harry and Eiko soon split up, since she did not want to offend Ken any further, and Kilmer bought her a bar as a parting gift. Neither have married since that time. Tanner hopes that Kilmer can get in touch with Ken and use his connections to help out.
Ken is no longer a yakuza, but he still resents Kilmer. Regardless, due to his giri (definition) to Kilmer, he agrees to assist finding Tanner's daughter and her beau. Ken and Harry free both of them, but Ken injures one of Tono's men, and is discovered by one of the gangster's henchmen. Contracts on their lives are issued. It soon becomes apparent that the only way out is for one of them to kill Tono. Things become more dangerous after Tanner takes the contract on Kilmer's life (Tanner and Tono aren't sworn enemies despite appearances), and we also learn that the relationship between Ken and Eiko is more than Kilmer had ever known before. Also, how will Ken's nephew, who has aligned himself with Tono's organization, affect the final income?
Pretty good movie, I felt. Recommended.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Three Days of the Condor
Three Days of the Condor. 1975 Paramount Pictures.
Starring: Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, Max von Sydow, John Houseman
Director: Sydney Pollack
Buy Three Days of the Condor at Amazon.
Joe Turner (Redford) is a New York City-based CIA employee who can't deal with Agency discipline, and he wonders why he can't tell people what he does for a living. He works in a Open Source Intelligence position, reading books, newspapers and magazines from around the world, looking for new ideas and hidden meanings. When the movie begins, Turner has filed a report to the CIA headquarters about a bad horror novel his office has been reading, one with strange plot elements, and one translated into a unusual assortment of languages (Arabic, Spanish, and Dutch; not French or Russian).
One day, Turner goes out for lunch, and a group of armed men led by an Alsatian named Joubert (von Sydow) invades the office, killing six employees. When Turner comes back to find the massacre, he realizes he's in deep trouble, and dials an emergency number. He also finds out that another coworker who had stayed home sick from work is also dead. After giving his code name "Condor", Turner is put into contact with Higgins (Robertson), the Deputy Director of the CIA's New York agency. A concerned (and not involved in the conspiracy at the moment) Higgins directs Turner to keep quiet. Turner quickly learns that he cannot trust anyone within the CIA after a botched assassination attempt, and sets out to figure out what's going on by himself, and why he's being targeted for death by his own employers.
Recommended. It's a gripping and intelligent film.
Starring: Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, Max von Sydow, John Houseman
Director: Sydney Pollack
Buy Three Days of the Condor at Amazon.
Joe Turner (Redford) is a New York City-based CIA employee who can't deal with Agency discipline, and he wonders why he can't tell people what he does for a living. He works in a Open Source Intelligence position, reading books, newspapers and magazines from around the world, looking for new ideas and hidden meanings. When the movie begins, Turner has filed a report to the CIA headquarters about a bad horror novel his office has been reading, one with strange plot elements, and one translated into a unusual assortment of languages (Arabic, Spanish, and Dutch; not French or Russian).
One day, Turner goes out for lunch, and a group of armed men led by an Alsatian named Joubert (von Sydow) invades the office, killing six employees. When Turner comes back to find the massacre, he realizes he's in deep trouble, and dials an emergency number. He also finds out that another coworker who had stayed home sick from work is also dead. After giving his code name "Condor", Turner is put into contact with Higgins (Robertson), the Deputy Director of the CIA's New York agency. A concerned (and not involved in the conspiracy at the moment) Higgins directs Turner to keep quiet. Turner quickly learns that he cannot trust anyone within the CIA after a botched assassination attempt, and sets out to figure out what's going on by himself, and why he's being targeted for death by his own employers.
Recommended. It's a gripping and intelligent film.
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