The Movie Journal

  Frantic (1988) Roman Polanski’s Frantic is a stylish, absorbing thriller with a dynamite performance from Harrison Ford. The first hour of the film is the best part with Ford’s character becoming increasingly frantic. The last part of the film falls into more conventional tropes, but it remains thoroughly entertaining. Watching Ford trying to search for his missing wife despite no one believing him is stuff that makes you want to bite your fingernails off. This proves what a master Polanski is when it comes to providing thrills (and not the cheap kinds). It looks like an artsy European-style thriller on the outside, but it goes deeper than any trailer or plotline would suggest. I also recommend patience. The film takes some to get going, but it will hook you. Polanski shocked the world when he made Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown . The latter is actually one of my favorite films of 1974. He (and the superb Jack Nicholson) took a mundane story and turned it into something exciting...

  School Daze (1988) Spike Lee’s School Daze is a very interesting movie. Unlike many movies from this time period, Lee tackles subjects which some people may deem controversial head-on. His movie, which takes place in an all-black college, is about what it is like to be black. It is not even really about white versus black, but light-skinned versus dark-skinned blacks. That is something movies back then did not dare speak about (not even Eddie Murphy). Lee gave his sophomore feature some hard-hitting ideas. Sadly, the film could not live up to these ideas. Despite some good songs (yeah, I did like Da Butt), I am not entirely sure if this movie needed to be set in a musical format. Lee gave his film tons of energy, but this energy is countered with overacting and unfinished story structures. This film definitely has ambition and heart, but it is not the best Lee feature out there. After his thrilling debut She’s Gotta Have It , Lee returns with his unique, fresh perspective about...

  Path to War (TV Movie) 2002 John Frankenheimer’s HBO movie Path to War is a complex movie about the doings of President Lyndon B. Johnson as he sought to improve the lives of Americans with his “Great Society” plan while fighting the Vietnam War. Frankenheimer, in his final film before his death, tries to be empathetic towards the characters regardless of their popularity. History may look unkindly among people like Johnson, but we need to remember that Johnson and his team did not have the power of hindsight and tried to make the best decisions possible. This film reminded me of an Oliver Stone feature although Frankenheimer is not nearly as sharp or one-sided as Stone tends to be, but you still get that feeling of political uneasiness that Stone film gives. Still, this three-hour docudrama is a potent inside look at a very interesting time in American history. The main storyline is America’s nasty descent into the Vietnam War. Lyndon B. Johnson (Michael Gambon) acts on often ...

  Double Indemnity (1944) Double Indemnity is a crime thriller with director Billy Wilder, actor Fred MacMurray, and actress Barbara Stanwyck on the top of their games. This 1944 picture is one of the earlier film-noir films. It has all the elements: a weak man who succumbs to something bad, interesting lighting techniques/camera angles, and strong, villainous female characters. Interestingly enough, Wilder said he did not realize he was making a noir film when it was in production but rather making a film he would want to see. Timing just worked out perfectly. This is a great, tense thriller that is one of the best. Each character is fleshed out and has some dynamic lines of dialogue. The screenplay, written by Wilder and Raymond Chandler, contains vivacious dialogue and interesting situations. I note that I love how the writers focus on the relationship between the main character, Walter Neff and his insurance agent buddy, Walter Keyes. They have a surrogate father-son relationsh...