514. Little Big Man (1970)

Running Time: 139 minutes
Directed By: Arthur Penn
Written By: Calder Willingham, from novel by Thomas Berger
Main Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, Chief Dan George, Martin Balsam, Richard Mulligan
Click here to view the trailer

Note: I've finally decided to go ahead and start officially tracking my progress on the "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" list. Any and all conversation relating to that list can be found by clicking the above link, entitled "1001 Albums". You'll always find my most recent thoughts at the top, included with a picture of the album, my personal favorite song from the album and a letter grade. You can also click in there to find a link that will direct you to a look at the entire list, if you're curious. Also, I haven't forgotten about the Twilight Zone page, which I'll update at my whim.

JOHN FORD MEETS MEL BROOKS

Had the chance to take in "Little Big Man" last night, via DVD delivery from Netflix (hopefully they shape up soon - check the "India Song" review for details). I have to say it was Dustin Hoffman who turned this movie from something that could've been really boring into something mildly enjoyable.

Great scene where Jack attempts to murder Gen. Custer. Richard Mulligan was just fantastic as Custer and it's a shame that he died with his best known role being a sitcom doctor. Why didn't this guy get bigger/better work?

The film is told in flashback, as an interviewer talks with the 111-year-old Jack Crabb (Hoffman), a white man who is being asked about the Battle of Little Big Horn. Jack begins to talk, flashing back to a time when he was just a boy and his family was murdered by a Pawnee tribe, leaving only he and his sister. The two are then adopted by a tribe of Cheyenne, but it's only Jack who stays with them, as the sister runs away in the night, fearing she'll be raped by the Native American men. The Cheyenne bring up Jack as their own and raise him on their customs, even giving him a genuine Indian name - Little Big Man. Later, when the Cheyenne tribe is attacked by a troop of U.S. cavalrymen, Jack worries for his life and decides to surrender, showing the men that he is white, claiming he's been kidnapped by them and held against his will. From there, he is placed into the care of Reverend Silas Pendrake and his sexually frustrated wife, Louise (Dunaway). Jack develops a crush on the female Pendrake, but it goes nowhere, as he decided to leave the Pendrake residence and team up with a traveling medicine man. Eventually, the medicine man is robbed by a group of gunfighters, headed up by a familiar female who turns out to be Jack's sister. She takes him under her wing and teaches him to shoot, which later leads to him meeting Wild Bill Hickok and being dubbed the Soda Pop Kid. Later, Jack opens a general store and marries Olga, a woman who barely speaks English. When the store goes out of business, the two run into General Custer, who assures them that if they travel west, there will be nary an Indian. He was wrong, however and Olga is kidnapped by a band of Cheyenne, whom later meet back up with Jack and remember him as Little Big Man. So in summation, it's a western version of Forrest Gump, telling Crabb's story as he blunders through life, unintentionally meeting famous/infamous people and getting involved in historical events.

In "Little Big Man" we learn that Wild Bill Hickok wasn't a murderer, but rather just a nervous Nelly with an itchy trigger finger. Jeff Corey played him well.

Did anyone else make the "Forrest Gump" connections? I've seen a few other people on various sites (including the comments section over at iCheck) make the comparison and it was really obvious to me too, as I even used that comparison last night when my wife asked me what the movie I was watching was about. It was okay, I guess. I really wasn't expecting much to tell you the truth and honestly, didn't really know a thing about it going in. When it started out as a western, I was a little disappointed, as I think I've finally made up my mind that I'm just not the western type of guy (there are exceptions to the rule, but all in all, the Old West isn't my bag baby). However, it held my interest fairly well and I was chugging along not minding what I was seeing. I was surprised by the heavy use of comedy, as it just didn't seem the type of movie to use comedy so much to it's advantage. However, the comedy that was there was fairly amusing - nothing laugh out loud, but nothing too eye rolling either. Was it just me or was Dustin Hoffman doing an over exaggerated impersonation of himself in this? I mean, he REALLY sounded like a Hoffman impersonator, to me, instead of his natural self. I also have to say that Dunaway was a breath of fresh air here. I've honestly never taken notice of her before, but she was fantastic in this (looked amazing too!) - I only wish she'd had a more prominent role.

Dunaway as Louise Pendrake washing away Jack Crabb's sins...literally. She was just soooo good in this and made me want to see more of her movies.

Look, this one isn't setting the world on fire or anything, nor did it ever, but if you go in with your expectations lowered a bit, I think you'll find something worth watching, at least. If you're a Hoffman fan, he shines here and really makes the movie for my money. Also, Dunaway fans are in a good news/bad news situation, as she kills it, yet isn't in there quite enough. Seriously, Dunaway didn't grab my attention with "Network" and didn't grab my attention with "Bonnie and Clyde", but she did here and I guess that's saying something, considering her minimal screen time. Also, fans of the old sitcom "Empty Nest" may be interested to see an early role from that shows star, Richard Mulligan as the crazy, evil Gen. Custer. And hey, Marty Balsam's in there too and I'm always happy to spot on of the twelve angry men outside of the deliberation room. Otherwise, it really isn't anything particularly special. A somewhat interesting story, but also one that runs just a tad too long. Had they kept it a strict two hours, I think it would've helped a lot and maybe jolted this one into a higher rating category.

RATING: 6.5/10  But as it is, I can't see fit to bump it into '7' territory, because, as I've stated before, that's a whole new ballgame.

MOVIES WATCHED: 818
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 183

March 13, 2014  6:30pm

470. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Running Time: 112 minutes
Directed By: Arthur Penn
Written By: David Newman, Robert Benton
Main Cast: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman, Michael J. Pollard, Estelle Parsons

LOOKOUT FOR THE BARROW GANG!

For those of you with a sturdy memory, you'll remember that prior to my hiatus I made the announcement that this set of 100 films would be thick with movies from the decade of the 60s. Well we're sticking to those guidelines and "Bonnie and Clyde" fits right in. Since my Netflix will be on hold until tomorrow, I was once again forced into the waiting arms of my DVD shelf and it's worth noting that this film was not brought into the DVD collection by me, but rather my wife. Let's see what I think of her purchase.

The plot is basically a biography of the escapades of Bonnie Parker (Dunaway) and Clyde Barrow (Beatty). The film starts out by showing us the humdrum life of Ms. Parker as she prepares for another day as a waitress at a local truck stop. On her way to work she notices a man trying to break into her mother's car and calls him on it. It's, of course, Clyde and the two strike up a conversation. Bonnie is more excited by the fact that Clyde was about to commit grand theft auto and becomes even more excited when she learns that Clyde has just been paroled from prison and is a known thief. Although at first she doesn't believe Clyde, he promptly proves his thievery skills by holding up a grocery store. Later, Clyde convinces Bonnie to come on the road with him, where they'll be bandits, eluding the law, robbing banks and living high on the hog, because after all, in Clyde's eyes Bonnie deserves the best. Eventually they add to their gang of two, by recruiting service station attendant C.W. Moss (Pollard), Clyde's brother Buck (Hackman) and his wife Blanche (Parsons). The quintet make national headlines and are hunted by every sheriff and policeman within a reasonable radius.

SPOILER ALERT!

This was a film that I really had mixed feelings about, so lets take a look at the good, before we focus in on the bad. For starters, I would say that all of the actors involved did a good job, with Gene Hackman and Estelle Parsons getting my personal nod of approval for best performances of the entire film. Estelle Parsons was just so damn annoying and batty that you couldn't help but get a little kick out of her and Gene Hackman is someone that I've always been a fan of and this film was a fine example of his greatness. Beatty and Dunaway did fine too, with Dunaway actually being quite terrific and perfect for the role of Bonnie. She looked stunning as she paraded around in her signature cloth hat, with bright red lipstick and 60s style regalia. The other really memorable and pretty much perfect thing about this film is the end, when Bonnie and Clyde are ultimately hunted down and murdered and the scene is exquisite, using quick cuts to different angles to build the tension and make it clear to us, the audience, that something is about to go down. When the bullets finally start flying, it's as if death staged a brutal ballet and it was gruesome and gorgeous, all at the same time.

What I didn't care for about this film, was basically everything else. It's not really that I didn't like it, it's just that I didn't care for it one way or another. The whole film seemed to really give me that *meh* feeling and it's as if what I was watching wasn't really all that special at all. For a film about thieves and criminals and a gang of misfits on the run from the law, we really don't see THAT MUCH thieving or running. For the most part we just kind of hang out with the Barrow gang and observe them and at times it gets a little boring. Granted, we do see some chase scenes and a few heist scenes, but they never last long and it's no time before we're watching the gang interact some more, Bonnie screaming at Blanche or Buck and Clyde fooling around. The bottom line is that while there is nothing really BAD on display here, I'd say there's also nothing very stellar either (save for the ending and certain performances).

RATING: 6.5/10 Not good, not bad, but rather, lingering somewhere in that middle ground.

MOVIES WATCHED: 330
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 671

October 12, 2011 7:18pm