The Thin Man

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

Nick Charles (Powell), a retired detective, and his wife Nora (Loy) are attempting to settle down when he’s pulled back into service by a friend’s disappearance and possible involvement in a murder. The friend, Clyde Wynant (Ellis) (the eponymous “thin man”), has mysteriously vanished just after his former girlfriend, Julia Wolf, was found dead. Wynant quickly becomes the prime suspect, but his daughter Dorothy (O’Sullivan) can’t believe he did it. She convinces Nick to take the case much to the amusement of his socialite wife. The detective stumbles off to find clues, and manages to piece things together through intensive investigation.

The murderer is finally revealed in a classic dinner-party scene that features all of the suspects. A skeletonized body, found during the investigation, had been assumed to be that of a “fat man” due to its being found in clothing from a much heavier man. This clothing is revealed to be a diversion, and the identity of the body is finally revealed, on the basis of an old war wound to the leg, as that of a particular “thin man” instead— the missing Wynant. The murder has been disguised in a way to frame the dead Wynant, by people who have stolen a great deal of money from Wynant and killed him on the night he was last seen.

REVIEW:

In all film history, there is a series of film noires that stands out above all the other. The Thin Man is the first of 5 such films. It has been revered in many circles as one of the top crime films of all time, and with good reason. The million dollar question, though, is what did I think?

What did I like?

Classic device. The film ends with the classic dinner party reveal. You know, where all the suspects are gathered for a fancy dinner party and the detective reveals who the killer is. Yeah, we’ve all seen those on television before. I’m not 100% sure, but this may have been the first instance of the device being used on film.

Misdirection. Who is the thin man? The way the film moves along.  it would have you believe that the star of the picture is the titular character. This is not true, though, as the thin man is actually someone else entirely. Now, why it is that all the other films in this series use him in the title, I can’t tell you.

Comedy. It seems to be that in this era, films were either strictly drama or comedy. The few that did manage the straddle that fine line were musicals. It is good to see a film mix genres from a time when doing so wasn’t exactly commonplace.

What didn’t I like?

Pacing. For some reason, no matter how much I tried, it was just hard for me to keep up with what was going on. I think this was more to do with some distractions outside, rather than an indictment of this film. Gotta love people who drive by with their stereos blaring (and rattling).

Trailer. The trailer for this film has a life-size figure of William Powell. While this was a brilliant advertising tactic, I found myself wondering why this wasn’t in the film, as I’m sure those who saw this film did the same.

The Thin Man provided me with some decent entertainment, but I can’t be sure whether I liked it or not. The fact is that this is a very well made film, as almost all flicks from yesteryear tend to be. With that said, I do highly recommend this, if for no other reason than it should be a film you see before you die.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle

PLOT:

The Angels are hired to locate a set of titanium rings stolen from the Department of Justice that, when put together in a special machine, will display a list of all individuals in the witness protection program. Having discovered that one person on the list has been killed, the Angels investigate the scene and discover evidence suggesting that the killer is a surfer with a scar on one leg. Having tracked the killer to his next victim- who is subsequently sent to Bosley’s house for protection- it is revealed that angel Dylan was once named Helen Zaas (pronounced “Helen’s ass”, making her the “butt” of many jokes) and is in the program herself for sending her former boyfriend- a member of the O’Grady mafia family- to jail.

Although they recover the rings, Dylan leaves the Angels because she doesn’t want to endanger them with her ex’s vendetta, but former Angel Kelly Garrett- in a visit that may have been spiritual- reminds her that every Angel is unique, and her flawed past shouldn’t define her present. Returning to the team, Dylan and the others deduce that former angel Madison Lee (Demi Moore) is the perpetrator of the crimes due to her being the only individual possessing the necessary contacts to carry out such a scheme. Madison, having concluded “Why be an Angel, when [she] can be God”, having shot the Angels after reacquiring the rings, although they are saved by their specially-designed kevlar vests- returns to the agency to ‘confront’ Charlie, rejecting his attempts to remind her that the Angels are a family and shooting his speaker off the desk, informing him coldly that she was always the best.

Learning that the rings will be sold after a rendezvous on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Angels travel to Hollywood, setting the crime families up to be caught by the FBI in a faked rendezvous. With Madison having contacted the O’Gradys to act as security, Alex and Dylan take out the O’Gradys, while Natalie and Madison go head-to-head themselves. Dylan manages to kill her ex, with the Angels subsequently stopping Madison’s attempt to blow up the premiere of Alex’s boyfriend Jason’s (Matt LeBlanc) new movie thanks to Bosley knocking the bomb away. Although Madison tries to escape, the Angels defeat her in a final confrontation in an abandoned theatre, throwing her through a gas main just as she fires her gun, causing an explosion that kills her. The film ends with the Angels celebrating their victory with Bosley (Bernie Mac).

REVIEW:

This film lives up to, if not surpasses, the original film. All the fun, action, and life that the original has, this film manages to keep, even with a totally different plot.

Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, and Cameron Diaz reprise their roles as the angels. Similar to the first film, Drew seems to have the most depth in terms of character. However, we do get a little insight into the other angels, especially Alex, played by Lucy Liu, as her father makes a surprise visit. Unfortunately, they don’t use John Cleese to his full potential and he’s just a glorified cameo.

Demi Moore had been away popping out kids before this film and hadn’t really made any movies for a few years. This was her return to showbiz, and what a return it was. We first get a look at her on the beach in a black bikini. Let me say that there aren’t many that could upstage Cameron Diaz in a bikini, but she surely accomplishes this feat, and for a woman in her 40s, that body is ridiculously impressive. Characterwise, she is ruthlessly evil. Having been a former angel, she was trained in all the things the angels were, but now she’s rouge and that made her more dangerous.

Speaking of villains, Justin Theroux brought to mind Robert DeNiro from Cape Fear.He was THAT good as Seamus. Not to mention, he wouldn’t die. The man walked through fire and fell from a roof and was impaled by a sword and was still about to get up, had it not been for a giant “E” falling on him. No wonder Helen Zaas went into hiding!

As with the first film, there are nods to the original series that keep the purists happy (because we all know they have to complain about something). There are very few things that I found wrong with this film. I guess that’s what happens when you make a film that is means to entertain the people rather than take their money. The rumor mill is buzzing that a third film is now officially in the works. It can’t come out soon enough, but in the meantime, we can enjoy this film and its predecessor.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Charlie’s Angels

PLOT:

Dylan, Natalie, and Alex are three talented woman currently at the employ of the unseen “Charlie”, who gives them cases to investigate via a speaker in his offices, and backing them with support for disguises and equipment; Charlie is assisted by Bosley who helps the woman directly when needed. They are assigned the case of the kidnapping of Eric Knox, a programmer and head of Knox Enterprises, supposedly by a company called Redstar for his voice tracking and identification system. The three woman infiltrate a party held by Redstar’s owner, Roger Corwin, and spot a thin man that was seen on the surveillance videos during Knox’ kidnapping. They give chase, and eventually corner and fight the thin man, but he runs off; when the woman follow, they discover Knox.

After reuniting Knox with his partner Vivian Wood, Knox implores them to help understand what Redstar would do with his software. The three manage to infiltrate Redstar’s secure computer system and plant a device to allow them to explore the Redstar mainframe at their leisure. They leave the laptop with Bosley and consider the mission successful. The group relaxes for the night, with Dylan taking up an offer to spend the night with Knox. However, Dylan discovers that Knox had planned the events all along with help from the thin man and Vivian; by gaining access to Redstar’s server, he is able to seek out the location of any voice that can be detected on it. Knox shoots Dylan, believing to have killed her, though Dylan is able to escape unharmed. When she regroups with Natalie and Alex, she finds they have also been attacked but each escaped, that Corwin has been murdered, and that’s Charlie’s offices have been blown up. They learn from a radio transmitter implanted in Bosley’s teeth that he is unharmed, captured by Vivian before the explosion, and are able to use information to target his whereabouts.

The woman, with help from Dylan’s current boyfriend “The Chad”, are able to approach the abandoned lighthouse that Knox is holding Bosley in. They discover that Knox is planning on using the software and the Redstar server to physically locate Charlie when he next attempts to contact Bosley, as he believes Charlie was responsible for his father’s death in the Vietnam War. While they are able to defeat Vivian and the thin man and rescue Bosley before Knox blows up the lighthouse, they are too late to stop him taking off in a helicopter armed with a missile to home in on Charlie’s location. The woman manage to board the chopper and reprogram the missile, sending it back to blow up the helicopter and kill Knox while they land safely in the ocean. Seeing the opportunity to finally meet their benefactor, the woman enter the house Knox has targetted to find Charlie has already left, though remotely congratulates them on a job well done. The woman and Bosley are treated by Charlie to a vacation getaway, where Charlie, unseen by the group, checks up on his Angels.

REVIEW:

I wasn’t around when the TV series Charlie’s Angels was on the air, but I have seen a few episodes on TV Land (back when they actually showed classic shows rather than reality). Based on the few episodes I saw, this captures a good portion of the show, but is not a faithful adaptation.

Any move that has the ever so hot Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu in the lead is guaranteed to bring in the male demographic. It doesn’t hurt that they give sold performances, with Barrymore being the best.

Crispin Glover lives up to his character’s moniker as The “Creepy” Thin Man. This guy was just out there, especially when he was chopping off the angels hair and sniffing it. My, my this guy has come a long way since George McFly(the Back to the Future movies).

Sam Rockwell makes a pretty good villain. His character is tormented and twisted by the belief that Charlie killed his father. Kelly Lynch as his sidekick/lover Vivian does a pretty good job as well.

Tom Green, Matt LeBlanc, and Luke Wilson could be a good combination in a buddy comedy, but here they accept that they are the respective angel’s significant other and don’t try to do anything to upstage them.

Bill Murray seems and odd choice for Bosley, but I can’t really think of anyone that would work better in that role.

This film is packed with action, comedy, and hot women. Unless you’re a purist, then chances are you’ll like it.

5 out of 5 stars