Hit Me With Your Best Shot: Double Indemnity (spoilers)

In this week's edition of Hit Me With Your Best Shot for The Film Experience, Double Indemnity, a silhouette of a man on crutches walks slowly towards the camera, shrouded in mystery, during the opening credits (the title of which is an insurance clause that provides an extra payout for less common deaths).  After salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) glances over the life he has built for himself and destroyed in one fell strangle, he records a confession.  In flashbacks, we see him trying to sell an auto insurance renewal to the seductive, yet steely housewife Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck), only to have her later sell the resistant, but soft Walter on committing insurance fraud and murder; she naturally closes the deal with her sexual wiles.  The film's plot mechanics are airtight for a thriller, but from the perspective of 21^st-century technology with bullet trains, forensics, etc, the execution of her husband seems silly and absurd.  But, you can’t forget that it was a simpler time with no car alarms, cell phones, and DNA evidence.  People could hide behind doors and car seats unnoticed in the shadows of black and white film noir.  And, of course, there was the kissing between lines like “I’m crazy about you, baby” to substitute for carnal endeavors to pass the censor board. 

Yet, as a testament to director Billy Wilder, there’s still a suspense in watching Walter impersonating another person, while concealing his identity on a train, as well as when the Dietrichson car won’t start during the homicidal couple’s escape from the dead body.  And, despite the quaint, unintended (?) humor of the lead couple’s clandestine meetings in the local supermarket, the script crackles with dialogue at every corner aisle, which is an understatement, really.  The one-liners are aplenty, one of my favorites being when claims manager Barton Keyes (the brilliant Edward G. Robinson, who had never been nominated for a competitive Oscar) finds out a visiting witness wants to extend his trip for a day, he warns him, “just don't put her on the expense account.”  And the hardboiled repartee is top shelf (Phyllis: There’s a speed limit in this state, Mr. Neff, forty-five miles an hour; Walter: How fast was I going, officer?; Phyllis: I’d say around ninety).

While MacMurray often played against his good guy type, I’m sure many of my generation remember him best from reruns of the domestic TV comedy My Three Sons where he was quite convincing as the patriarch amidst situational hijinks. We as an audience have to believe that Phyllis would turn Walter and convince him to throw everything away for her.  The chemistry between them must be off the chain, and it is, which is also the prime ingredient necessary to invest in a film where we know who did it, but we just don’t know how they ended up.  As the duplicitous Phyllis, however, Stanwyck must present sweet and innocent convincingly as a cover for her darker, nefarious nature: a nurse in the daytime, a black widow at night.  And, there is one beautifully lit moment where she subtlety betrays the guise concealing her true visage.  As Walter murders her husband out of the frame, the camera is trained on a brief, but impressionable close-up of Stanwyck.  She is neither conflicted, nor saddened, only initially absorbing the exhilaration of the act.  The man being killed, though disagreeable, wasn’t a physical abuser, as she suggested, and throws into question any other lies she may have told about him.  What we see may not be Helen of Troy’s face that launched a thousand ships, but it is the satiated bloodlust of a woman who just propelled an average guy to stoop to MURDER (and insurance fraud)!  The satisfaction that permeates from her face is stifled, but palpable.  All ye men beware of the charms of the ultimate femme fatale!

My Favorite Shot From Double Indemnity:

What would you look like while your spouse was dying?

An evil woman “a little more rotten” to the core (than her male counterpart) succeeds in manipulating a man who thinks with his genitals to break moral and legal codes, and continues to ply him with “I love you’s” until she begins to implement phase two of her own agenda without him.  He’s more corruptible than meets the eye, however.  After she sinks her claws in him, his personal greed grows, and he even passes up a promotion at work to ease his lifestyle when he still has time to make his exit.  But, it's the woman's fault for clouding his judgment!  In the end, he gets his just desserts, but not before engaging in the semi-redemptive act of selflessly uniting two young lovers, and keeping them from getting tangled up in his mess.  Those are the underlying themes from a film made during a time much different from the color and digital era we now find ourselves in today.  On one hand, I'll take the social progress.  On the other, I'll take the film noir!

Hit Me With Your Best Shot Meets Oscar Revisionism

After over two years and sixty-six posts going backwards year-by-year trying to imagine what the other five nominees in the Best Picture race would have been had the competition always been a field of “ten-ish” in our Oscar Revisionism series, we concluded the final chapter yesterday.  In a stroke of serendipity, The Film Experience’s Hit Me With Your Best Shot series this week coincided with Cinesnatch’s final edition of Oscar Revisionism.  Double Indemnity was one of the first five films to be nominated for Best Picture for the sixty-five year run where there were only five nominees (a series of years preceding 1944, there were ten, just as there were in 2009 and 2010), 1944 being the inaugural year.  It beat out such films as Laura, Lifeboat, and None But the Lonely Heart for a producer’s nomination.  It also got nods for Stanwyck, non-musical score, sound recording, black and white cinematography, and two for director and screenwriter Billy Wilder, who shared the latter with novelist Raymond Chandler. Now, that the series is complete, feel free to check out the full chart here.  

Previous HMWYBS:
Double Indemnity
A Star Is Born (1954)
Pink Narcissus
Road to Perdition
Picnic
The Story of Adele H.

Possessed

Edward Scissorhands

The Exorcist

Pariah
Raise the Red Lantern

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

The Circus

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Oscar Revisionism: 1944 (The "First" Year of Five BP Nominees & Final Post in the Series)

After over just two years and sixty-six or so posts, we've finally made it to the end of the Oscar Revisionism series at Cinesnatch.  I called this year the "first" years of five BP nominees.  While that's not true, it is the first year that was followed by decades of tradition that was finally broken in 2009.  Feel free to visit this handy reference guide to the ongoing posts which led up to the change in Academy rules.  This has been definitely a lot of fun, especially as we were working backwards in time and dealing with a vault of films that I was initially familiar with to feel confident enough to write about.  But, I'll be honest, it got really hard the further back in time we went!  So, it was easy to lose motivation and, in fact, undergo long absences (one almost the length of a year, I believe).  As soon as I got over that I could never present a "perfect" list and ranking and my best was all I should require of myself, the easier it got to get through.  I would like to also thank all of you who checked in here and there on this journey for your readership and participation, including Robert A, who responded to a great number of the posts and was a motivating force.  You support was much appreciated.  Thank you!  I made a page for posterity which organizes all the posts chronologically, which you can find here.  Feedback is always welcome, as I'm open to making modifications to the preexisting posts, now that they're all out there on the internet.

What's interesting is that once you get to 1943 and before, for a good part, the Best Picture field consisted of ten nominees or more (hence the whole idea of bridging 2008 to 1944), but rather than shedding light on what might have been nominated in the ensuing years, they only make matters murkier.

For example, there are seventeen Best Picture nominees whose only nomination was for the producers, but most of them are from the late 1920s/early 1930s, when there were few other categories to be nominated in.  It's not until you get into the late 1930s/early 1940s, does it become less prolific, but still happens, with Grand Illusion, One Foot in Heaven, and The Ox-Box Incident being the three prime examples.  (My guess is that it would have become less frequent as the decades wore on, with only a few here and there.  Presently, we haven't had one for 2009 - 2012, though, it would be interesting to see if it could happen (the closest we've come is The Blind Side, A Serious Man, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, each of which only managed one other nod, and they were all from major categories), and what type of film could manage the feet.  As well, there were other Best Picture nominees which only managed one other nod, but, again, they were mostly reserved for the initial years, with In Which We Serve (which happened to be the NBR and NYFC winner for the year it released) being the only example for a seven year span.  Best Picture nominees before 1944 with three to seven nods are just too many to list.

Additionally, you had films accrue a massive amount of nominations, with some key categories covered, only to be left out of the Best Picture race like: My Man Godfrey (6), The North Star (6), The Rains Came (6), Merrily We Live (5), North West Mounted Police (5), and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (5).  Many of these films were directed by men whose presence wasn't foreign to the BP race.  As well, they were of varying genres.  Though, with the exception of anomaly Godfrey (which landed in all four acting categories, as well as writing and direction), the aforementioned had little to no presence in the major categories (some only nabbing film editing).  But, let's not forget the endless list of films that managed three or four nods, but no Best Picture mention.

Also fun to note, there were some directors who had the magic touch with getting their movies into the Best Picture race.  William Wyler (7) was at the top of the heap, before the yearly competition was whittled down to five contenders.  Other notable names include: Sam Wood (6), Ernest Lubitsch (6), Mervyn LeRoy (6), John Ford (6), Frank Capra (6), Michael Curtiz (5), George Cukor (5), W.S. Van Dyke (4), Lewis Milestone (4), Henry King (4), Victor Fleming (4), and Frank Borzage (4).  Those who directed three Best Picture nominees pre-1944 which included films in the early 1940s were Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, and George Stevens.

I wanted to do a comprehensive study of exactly which genres made it in and which ones didn't down to a science, when it came to "the cusp" of deciphering the nomination totals as they did or did not result in a BP nomination, but the time required is beyond what's available, and I'm not sure the cost/benefit quotient is tipped in our favor.

So, were there films left off of past posts or the OR series that may have been nominated for Best Picture in a Field of Ten?  Probably, yes.  And there's really no rhyme or reason as to what they may have been, particularly because there were so few other award bodies recognizing "the best" the further back in time you go, (accurate) box-office information is pretty much non-existent, and there isn't even a clear disparity in genres to express the aforementioned oddities.  I'm sure there is an expert(s) out there who could shed light on this matter and knows why more than I, and I defer to them if they would like to rear their head and add their acumen.  And, as a reminder, please excuse the IMDb/RT inclusions, as, of course, critical public reception changes over time, but it felt right to have them there as some kind of interesting benchmark.

Oscar Revisionism 1944
At any rate, moving on, to our final year, 1944, the musical comedy Going My Way [IMDb: 7.3; RT: 71%] was the first film in a long while to win Best Picture in a field of five.  It beat Wilson [IMDb: 6.7] and Since You Went Away [IMDb: 7.5].  But, it's Gaslight [IMDb: 7.8; 89%] that retained an audience over the years and classic Billy Wilder film noir Double Indemnity [IMDb: 8.5; RT: 96%] that is the most revered.  But, what if ten nominees had been chosen, what would the other five Best Picture nominees have been?  The following is a solid, yet likely incomplete list of possibilities.

Laura
This Otto Preminger film noir about an investigation into the death of the title character did well with critics, as well as at the box office.  Nominated for five awards including direction, adapted screenplay, and an acting nod, it won for black and white cinematography.  NBR.  [IMDb: 8.1; RT: 100%]

None But the Lonely Heart 
Domestic drama about a mother and son trying to make ends meet.  Clifford Odets (The Country Girl) directed this film to two acting nominations for its stars Cary Grant and Ethel Barrymore (which the latter won), as well as a couple of others, including film editing.  NBR winner.  [IMDb: 6.4]

Lifeboat 
After a ship and German U-boat sink, a varying group of survivors must contend with each other in this Alfred Hitchcock war thriller.  Nominated for three Oscars, including direction.  [IMDb: 7.8; RT: 95%]

Meet Me in St. Louis 
Vincent Minnelli directed his future bride Judy Garland in this musical romantic comedy, which made bank, as well as three AMPAS nods, including adapted screenplay.  NBR.  [IMDb: 7.5; RT: 100%]

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Well-received historic war drama about a stunt pilot who devises a raid on Japan during World War II.
This Mervyn LeRoy film was one of the top grossers for the year.  It was nominated for two Oscars, and won for Visual Effects.  NBR.  [IMDb: 7.4]

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
One of the top grossers for the year and nominated for Original Screenplay, this Preston Sturges rom-com concerned a woman knocked up by a soldier.  NBR.  [IMDb: 7.8; RT: 86%]

Cover Girl
This Charles Vidor romantic comedy musical did very well at the box-office and got nominated for five Academy Awards, winning for Musical Score over Meet Me in St. Louis.  [IMDb: 6.8; RT: 94%]

Dragon Seed
Katharine Hepburn does yellow face in this drama set in 1930s China dealing with the Second Sino-Japanese War.  Nominated for two Oscars including an acting nod.  [IMDb: 6.1]

The Adventures of Mark Twain
Biographical drama nominated for three awards directed by Irving Rapper (The Corn Is Green).  [IMDb: 7.0]

Mr. Skeffington
Two children of privilege who lose everything must make do in this romantic drama.  Bette Davis, who apparently was going through a rough personal patch and was a supreme bitch on set, was one of two actors nominated for their work.  [IMDb: 7.5]

Mrs. Parkington
Romantic drama about a maid raised to the upper class by marriage to a financier.  Nominated for two acting Oscars.  [IMDb: 6.8]

Hail the Conquering Hero
The other Presten Sturges war rom-com has a soldier returning home with a fabricated story that brings him unearned, unwanted attention.  NBR.  [IMDb: 7.7; RT: 95%]

Kismet
A poor man has big plans for him and his daughter in this adventure fantasy set in the Middle East directed by William Dieterle.  Nominated for four Oscars.  [IMDb: 5.9]

Janie
This Michael Curtiz war rom-com was nominated for Film Editing!  [IMDb: 6.2]

Hollywood Canteen
Rom-com musical about two soldiers before they go off to war.  The cast was chalk full of movie stars playing themselves and earned nods in the three major audio categories.  The Delmer Daves films was also one of the top earners of the year.  [IMDb: 7.0]

Casanova Brown
Academy favorite Sam Wood directed this romantic domestic comedy nominated for three Oscars.  [IMDb: 6.3]

Brazil
Rom-com musical nominated for the three main audio categories.  [IMDb: 6.1]

Lady in the Dark
Ginger Rogers stars in this musical romance as a professional who gets psychoanalyzed.  Nominated for three awards.  [IMDb: 6.1]

Conclusion
Again, thank you for your readership and participation.  I hope you enjoyed this series.  Best wishes.

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Oscar 2013: Saving Mr. Banks (spoilers)

Since I started this new series of reading scripts of upcoming award contenders a month ago, I'm now on my seventh or so (and a little behind on the write-ups).  It's not a large number.  The subject matter has been of varying quality.  Gravity was good, as was the earlier version of American Hustle.  I can't say that any one of the selection promises to be the next greatest thing.  But having gone into Saving Mr. Banks with low expectations (despite the positive buzz, I couldn't get passed John Lee Hancock being the director, though I did cry during The Blind Side), I've come out the other end quite pleased.  Solid, touching, and delightful, Banks remains my favorite thus far.  It should be said that in discussing the script and plot, there will be spoilers.  They aren't major, but they kind of felt that way at the time they were happening.  Very wonderful surprises!

For those who aren't aware, the screenplay from Kelly Marcel (she's also adapting the script for Fifty Shades of Grey) and Sue Smith deals with the creator of Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers--the "P" is for Pamela and her surname is from her father's personal name--and her bumpy relationship with Walt Disney.  A healthy portion of the film involves Disney's (or Walt's) success after twenty years of pleading to persuade the guarded Londoner Travers to visit him in Los Angeles (Burbank) to discuss handing over the rights of the first edition of her series about Poppins and the Banks family to translate into a movie.  Interspersed in the story is Travers' recollections of the relationship she had to her father, Travers Goff, which ultimately served as the inspiration for her book.  Her childhood memories are mostly set in the town of Allora in Queensland, Australia, back when she was called "Ginty" and, additionally involved her mother Margaret, sisters Moya and Biddy, and some other special guests.  I can't speak to the accuracy of this story, as I'm sure the screenwriters have taken artistic liberties, so when I discuss these people, for this post's purposes, it's as characters and not their real life inspirations.  This is also based on a September 2011 version of the screenplay, and, since then, adjustments have been made, all of which I cannot speak to.

P.L. Travers

Plot Summary (spoilers)
The screenplay opens in idyllic Maryborough Park in Queensland, Australia, 1906.  A banker, husband, and father Travers Robert Goff (Colin Farrell) sings/orates over a whimsical introduction while one of his three young daughters, Ginty (Annie Rose Buckley), builds a miniature park.  Flash forward to 1959 to London, England, where Ginty has grown up to become famous author P.L. "Pamela" Travers (Emma Thompson).  While she is successful and well-traveled, she tends to keep a strong guard around her emotions and personal life, and is all business and quite proper to the point of being unlikeable to those immediately around her.  She is uptight, but has a cheeky, yet dark sense of humor.  However, her finances are running dry, and her lawyer Diarmuid Russell (Ronan Vibert) pleads with her to meet Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) in Los Angeles to only discuss signing over the rights to the first installation of her Mary Poppins series.

Back in Queensland, Travers plays with Ginty in a way that we come to learn fostered her imagination and writing abilities.  He colors her world with tale tales.  Financially, for the time being, he does quite well for his family as a banker, but, as we soon see, it's not a profession he cares for, and he has a disease that will gradually take over his life.  In London, having agreed to hear Disney out, Pamela boards her plane, but not without a fuss.  The Goff family moves to Allora.  Pamela's amiable and accommodating driver Ralph (Paul Giamatti) picks her up at LAX and she is immediately turned off by the city of Los Angeles.  She's disgusted by her room at the Beverly Hills Hotel as well, which is decorated floor to ceiling in Disney memorabilia in anticipation of her arrival.

The Goff family explores their new residence in Allora, which is a few rungs below the life they previously enjoyed.  Pamela familiarizes herself with her hotel room.  The irony is that as she is technically "moving up," we're reminded of a period in her childhood were life was headed in an entirely different direction.  Pamela's driver Ralph picks her up the next day and she is in no less a sour mood.  In Burbank, she meets scriptwriter Don Di Gradi (Bradley Whitford), and the Sherman Brothers, songwriters, Robert aka Bob (B.J. Novak) and Richard aka Dick (Jason Schwartzman), before finally meeting Walt.  He's especially pleased to finally be in her presence and name drops his now adult daughter, who introduced him to Mary Poppins twenty years ago when she was a young girl.  He has been trying to get the rights ever since and has been eagerly awaiting this visit for a long time coming.  Even though Pamela is quite curt and defensive with the mogul, Disney remains undaunted.  Foremost, she insists there be no singing in the movie.  And, she's also explicitly clear about her animosity towards the use of animation.

In Allora, Travers has a glass of wine for dinner while telling the story of Sid, a three-headed bureaucratic dog.  Later, he plays the pipe while his family dozes off.  In Burbank, the writers go over the script and songs with Pamela.  She's not receptive to the casting of Dick Van Dyke, or much of anything else.  In Allora, Travers takes Ginty on an enchanting horse ride on Uncle Albert.  Ralph drives Pamela in the limousine to Burbank via the windy, beautiful, hilly roads of Lauren Canyon.  Don and the Sherman brothers guide Pamela through a series of storyboard illustrations of the set and characters, which she's highly critical of, including a beard on the character of Mr. Banks, who represented her father.  She has a flashback to him shaving, when he took care of himself.  Back at her hotel, she sinks further back into the memory of him.  After trying to serve Pamela cake for the thirtieth time, Disney's secretary Dolly (Melanie Paxson) updates him on the novelist's current feelings about the preproduction materials.  Pamela has become far too fickle and difficult to the point of requesting the film be absent of the color red.  Disney admonishes her, before relenting to her threats.  She retreats to a bar to have tea.

In Allora, Ginty visits her father at the bank where he works.  His drinking has worsened, and he's even missing appointments with important clients.  Instead of taking her to the dentist, it's off for ice-cream instead.  He likens money to a chimera.  At her hotel, over the phone, Pamela confides in Russell how unhappy she is.  At a preproduction meeting, she voices her concern about the central themes of the film, and questions if Disney even understands the purpose of her characters.  In Allora, Travers leaves work early to be with his family where they chase around a hen.  Travers and his wife Margaret (Ruth Wilson) later discuss his behavior.  In Burbank, Walt shares with Dick his protectiveness of his Mickey Mouse character, before they were famous, and empathizes with Pamela: "That mouse, he's family."

At her hotel, Pamela observes a drunken man in the pool area and thinks back to Allora, as her father sunk further and further into his alcoholism.  A new day brings Pamela more anguish.  In Allora, the Goff family prepares for the annual fair.  In Burbank, the songwriters present a number to Pamela.  She recollects a moment at the fair where she pleads with her father to come watch Biddy dance, but he chooses to drink with strangers.  Later, he gets up to make a speech before the crowd, on behalf of its sponsors the Australian Joint Stock Bank.  The two different time eras blend with "Fidelity Fiduciary Bank," as both the songwriters and Travers perform the song.  Things then take a permanent turn for the worse as Travers' behavior becomes awkward and offensive; he subsequently falls off the stage and hurts himself.  Pamela argues with the songwriters for making the Banks' character so unsympathetic.

In Allora, Travers nurses his broken leg from falling, and grows desperate in his alcoholism.  Not only does he attempt to use his daughters to procure him any kind of medicine available, he resorts to cruel and heartless behavior, dismissing one of Ginty's poems.  In Burbank, out on a patch of grass, Pamela builds a miniature park with Ralph's unsolicited assistance.  He shares that he has a special needs child at home.  In Allora, Margaret instructs Ginty to watch over the family, and she leaves them all.  Later, in an ethereal moment, that is not entirely imagined or real, Ginty, with her sisters, find and rescue their mother from contemplating drowning herself in a pond.

In Burbank, Disney invites Pamela to a personal excursion to Disneyland.  In Allora, Aunt Ellie (Rachel Griffiths) comes for a visit, and it's quite clear that she was the inspiration for the Mary Poppins character; she helps whip the house into shape.  Ralph deceptively drives Pamela to Anaheim, and Disney coaxes her to ride the King Arthur Carrousel once she's there.  In Burbank, the writers present a new ending to Pamela and sing "Let's Go Fly a Kite." She melts a little to the music and lyrics and dances with Don.  (It'll be interesting to see if the director will be able to pull this scene off, as it will be the turning point and rely heavily on Thompson's performance, after a convincing buildup to cracking her steel veneer).  Dolly informs Disney of the good news.

In Allora, Ginty spends some tender times with her ailing father, though she doesn't know that these will be their final moments.  In Burbank, the cat gets out of the bag to Pamela that the penguins in the film will be animated.  She confronts Disney, tears up the contract, and informs him that her books "weren't written for the children.  They were written for the promise breakers," and life "simply cannot be dunked in molasses."  Ralph drives her to LAX and they part ways with him getting her one of her books to sign for his daughter, in what is a symbolic moment.  In Allora, Ginty places pears she picked for her father on his deathbed and expresses disappointment in Aunt Ellie for breaking her promise of making everything alright.

In London, Disney flies all the way over the pond to surprise Pamela with a visit.  Over tea, he explains to her that if he wanted to appropriate the Poppins book for just financial gain, he wouldn't have hounded her for twenty years.  He shares that his own father was alcoholic, and he has grown tired of remembering things the way they actually were.  "We all have our tales but don't you want to find a way to finish the story?  Let it all go and have a life that isn't dictated by a past?" He admits he learned forgiveness from reading her books.  The job of being a storyteller is to "restore order with imagination."  She gives it some thought and finally agrees to the movie, including songs, animation, the color red, the sugar of it all, everything.

Three years later, Russell and Pamela discuss a sequel to her Poppins series, but she will not allow for any film version under any circumstances.  It's suggested in that scene and then revealed in another with Disney and Carolyn that Pamela was not asked to the premiere.  Pamela decides to fly over anyway to America and pays Disney a visit for an invitation.  The big night for the debut of the film is spectacular, though Pamela, in attendance as a guest, ironically is not celebrated.  We watch a parallel develop between the Poppins movie playing during the premiere and Allora, as Banks' life has been ruined by alcoholism, and the children beg Poppins to stay.  In a funny moment, Disney and the others comfort Pamela, who has broken down in tears, but she says the fact that the penguins are animated are what's making her cry.  But, we know, ultimately, she was moved.  The movie ends with a final scene of the happier elements of Ginty's childhood presided over by her father.

Walt Disney, Tom Hanks

Script Review (spoilers)
Like I've already mentioned, I really liked this script.  It was moving, and may even be more so, when we see it on its feet.  As much as The Blind Side was TV-movie-of-the-week, it was still emotionally impactful (I cried like a bitch).  Hancock is probably a good fit, but this screenplay seems more sophisticated than his last film.  It's hard to compare the two, because I didn't read The Blind Side before I saw it.  There are cute little nods to Poppins, like "a spoonful of sugar," Poppins herself in the form of Aunt Ellie, etc, which the film could quite benefit from more of.

The title, if a bit obvious, is about Disney giving Pamela a second chance to save her father in the form of the cinematic version of her fictional counterpart of him.  On the surface, the struggle is about her granting Disney the film rights of the first edition of her book.  Pamela's disagreements with Disney are at least partially rooted in her past.  By being so vocal about not liking singing, sweets, and money, she obviously still feels wounded from the damage of her father's surrender to his demons.  To her, the songs and animation make a circus out of who her stories were for: the promise breakers.  And money and sugary treats were the problems.  Her Aunt Ellie's word of rehabilitating her father was an empty offer, as he ended up expiring.  Yet, she held her aunt more responsible for her father's death than her own father and his battle with alcoholism.  (I was actually quite surprised by the short presence of Aunt Ellie and wonder if her character has been fleshed out since, especially considering she's being played by Rachel Griffiths.)  She also feels some sense of responsibility for his ailment.

The movie explores what lies at the source of Pamela's struggle with the truth.  And the two stories in her life during the 1900s and 1950s are meant to parallel each other.  As Ginty watches her father deteriorate in front of her eyes, her older self learns to let go of the past and allow a stranger to turn Travers' illness into something more positive.  She has been berating herself for decades for not having the tools to turn him around, even indulging his vices, but she must forgive herself, as it were virtually impossible considering her age, position, and knowledge, especially noting that he didn't want to be saved.  And if one person doesn't care about something, nothing in the world will make them do so.  And Pamela now had the opportunity to allow herself to save him in a way that will change her life, because that's all that matters at this point.

As curmudgeonly Pamela is, her intentions are true and instructive, mocking the production when she talks about its themes of "encouraging children to face the world unarmed.  All they need is a spoon and some sugar and a brain full of fluff and they're equipped with life's tools.  Wonderful!"  Therein lied another unconscious conflict she had with his questionable example of parenting as it relates to her success as an author.  While he was able to inspire opening up fantastical possibilities in his daughter's mind, he also stood for liberal ideals without a hint of work ethic and discipline.  "One must clean one's room; it won't magically do it itself!"  Her alcoholic father made her world both colorful with his storytelling, and dark with his disease and inability to prioritize the welfare of his family.  He would have been better off with a career in the arts.  Though, I don't believe the screenplay resolves the social (and quasi-political) issues it raises, I commend it for presenting them.  And, Disney's Mary Poppins was intended as harmless fun, not a parenting guide.  Eventually, Travers buckled under the pressures of having to provide for his family.  Pamela had to let go of telling herself the same story in order to pay her own bills, as well as reconcile herself with the past.  In the end, her decision to agree to Disney's wishes had a net-positive effect on the world, giving us another example of the charms of Julie Andrews for generations to come, as well as exposure to Travers' novels (she wrote three more for a total of eight after the movie came out) that money can't buy.

Box Office Prospects
I do wonder about the film's commercial prospects.  While the movie has a huge heart and is incredibly smart, it's also a mature behind-the-scenes Hollywood movie, and I wonder who its target audience is.  There's no sex, violence, or explosions.  Its rating should be mild, but its subject matter doesn't stand out as being of interest to a wide young audience.  Its central character is female and it's pretty rare of a film to deal with father/daughter relationships.  However, it does use sugar to make the medicine go down in relaying the relationship between Disney and Travers.  And, there is something appealing about the premise that I can't pinpoint that may have mainstream value.  As well, it can't hurt to have Walt Disney as a character.  It opens right before Christmas, and will surely be aiming for some awards traction to pull it through the ensuing months.  It seems feasible for this film to make $60 - $80M domestic.

The real P.L. Travers, Emma Thompson

Early Oscar Odds
(4/28 Note: I forgot to add that, like others have mentioned to me, I love the casting.  The three leads are perfect, as well as the three writers (though, truth be told, I'm not a big Bradley Whitford fan), and Griffiths playing Aunt Ellie is kind of awesome.)  I'm not sure what the category designations will be for the principals.  It seems safe to say that Thompson, who should be sporting an Australian accent, will be campaigned as lead, but, as a good portion of her character is played by another actress, that leaves some ambiguity.  That being said, Iris comes to mind, and had no problem getting Judi Dench in as lead, and Kate Winslet, who played her younger self, as supporting.  Speaking of which, depending on her performance and direction, Annie Rose Buckley, who plays the young Pamela, Ginty, may have a shot.  But, with Thompson having no other personal competition for lead, she should probably have no problem getting in.  However, it should be noted, along with Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, and Winslet (to name only a few), this is an UNUSUAL year for so many previous Best Actress winners to be in the conversation at the same time, and not just as possibilities, but holding high-probability odds.

Hanks and especially Farrell will be ripe candidates for the awards discussion.  As far as screen time, they're both supporting.  Hanks also has the baity Captain Phillips coming out.  But, he is playing an icon here as Disney, which may carry with it some weight.  Will he be competition for Farrell, or will the producers be able to justify a split?  Thematically, Travers Goff is part of the central (father/daughter) relationship.  His presence is often felt, and, heck, he's technically the title character.  Farrell has been on a career upswing lately.  After dealing with a drug addiction in 2005, which I imagine informs his performance, and then his reputation taking a hit for a sex tape, he won a lead Golden Globe a few years later for In Bruges, and got commendable reviews for his villainous turn in Horrible Bosses.  He's still in demand in hero-type leads as well.  Frankly, with enough distance from his extreme "bad boy" days, and an established professional good-will, this may or may not be the time for the actor who has never been nominated for an Academy Award.  Being an Oscar-bait production, with Paul Giamatti having a role, there is always the possibility of him getting in also.

The crew includes cinematographer John Schwartzman (nominated for Seabiscuit, he has specialized in comic book, Michael Bay, and Ben Stiller films), film editor Mark Livolsi (The Blind Side, Cameron Crowe movies), production designer Michael Corenblith (The Blind Side, Ron Howard movies, two of which he was Oscar-nominated for), and costume designer Daniel Orlandi (The Blind Side, Ron Howard movies).  It's a period film (set in two different distinct periods), so if it does well with critics, it could show up in a technical category like production design.  Marcel should also be in the conversation for original screenplay (though I don't know if Fifty Shades will boost or harm her profile).  And, because it's a movie that capitalizes on the success and history of another film, which happened to be a musical, I'm left wondering if there will also be an original song for this film.

Thank you for reading.  Feel free to leave comments.

Previous Editions:

American Hustle     August: Osage County     The Counselor     Elysium      Foxcatcher     Fruitvale Station     Grace of Monaco     Gravity     Labor Day     Out of the Furnace     Pacific Rim      Prisoners     Rush     Saving Mr. Banks     The Secret Life of Walter Mitty   

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Norbit: Movie Spoiler Summary

Six years ago, after over twenty-five years in the business, Eddie Murphy received his very first Oscar nomination for Dreamgirls as Jimmy.  While his talent was never in question, the projects he gravitated to, while often commercially successful, tended not to attract critical favor or AMPAS attention.  He won a slew of award body recognitions, including two main precursors the SAG and Golden Globe.  He was the odds-on favorite for an Oscar win.  Then, Dreamworks/Paramount, the studio behind the successful musical, released a movie called Norbit, a crass, political incorrect comedy which played to the lowest common denominator of humor.  Murphy starred in a story about a whipped grown man and his overbearing wife (both played by Murphy, along with another role).  The reviews were not kind (it currently sits at 9% on Rotten Tomatoes) and killed the illusion that Murphy's career had turned over a new leaf and he was ready to take on more sophisticated fair.  The industry sentiment was they couldn't possibly give an award to a man who plays a rude an obese female, as well as an old racist Chinese man.  You could hear the air wafting out of Murphy's campaign as Alan Arkin swept in at the 11th hour, won the BAFTA and ISA (which Murphy was not nominated/eligible for), and ended up swiping what many considered Murphy's to lose.  In a striking bit of irony, Norbit would win Murphy three Razzies just a year later.

I never saw the movie in the theater.  I guess I thought I was too good for it, not realizing that its base brand of humor was right up my juvenile alley.  I must have misunderstood the marketing, as I kept confusing it with The Adventures of Pluto Nash and thinking it was set in outer space (Norbit rhymes with 'orbit,' I guess).  I had a friend reference the movie recently and thought I'd check it out for a good laugh.  I mean, it couldn't be all that bad, right?  Considering the string of box-office bombs Murphy has ignited on opening weekends across the years, it was his first solid showing outside of anything with Doolittle, Nutty Professor, Daddy Day Care, or Disney (or Shrek) in the title.  Norbit almost grossed $100M domestic, but was it a sum worth it for Murphy, who hasn't had another real opportunity since Dreamgirls to break out of his slapstick typecasting.  His legacy seems to remain frozen in the early-to-mid 80s with SNL, Trading Places, and Beverly Hills Cop.  The Norbit script came from Murphy, his brother Charles, and the writing team of Jay Scherick & David Ronn, who, though had a promising start writing on Spin City, have gone on to give us such dreck as Zookeeper, Guess Who, and those CGI-Smurf movies (apparently, they're in the process of resurrecting Popeye).  Director Brian Robbins went on to work with Murphy two more times in Meet Dave and A Thousand Words, to lesser success.

That being said, if you love a good fart joke and unpolitically correct humor (and if the reviews are any indication, chances are you don't), then Norbit is worth a little less than two hours of your time.  Murphy plays a meek cuckold who marries the overbearing Rasputia (also Murphy in some stellar makeup).  His childhood sweetheart Kate (Thandie Newton) comes back into town to buy the orphanage they came from.  Hijinks ensue.  Yes, this movie is stupid, SO wrong, and offensive (to blacks, Asians, females, and overweight people for starters).  But, it plays with stereotypes with its tongue firmly set in its cheek and is more harmless than it appears (or maybe it isn't).  I have to be honest, I haven't belly-laughed at a movie this much in a while.  And it was refreshing.  Perhaps it makes me an awful person in the eyes of some, but I'm pretty self-aware, and can separate the joke from reality.  How YOU doin'?

Movie Spoiler Summary

Norbit starts out with a little background on the title character.  In 1968, we see a car drive by Golden Wonton Orphanage and crudely throw a baby named Norbit Albert Bryce bundled up tightly in a blanket at its doorstep.  Mr. Wong (Eddie Murphy in some pretty amazing makeup, that attracted an Oscar nomination for Kazuhiro Tsuji and the legendary Rick Baker) walks out shoeing away some coyotes nipping at the bundle, “No eat another baby.”  He picks Norbit up and exclaims disappointingly, “Not another black one, can’t give these away.  Ugly black one too.  You be here long time … you ugliest baby I’ve ever seen.”  As a toddler, we see Norbit making friends with a mallard duck in the kitchen.  Wong grabs the bird, chops its neck, and throws its head down to Norbit, “Play with that.”  Another memory has Wong throwing a harpoon at a one-dimensional whale made out of plywood, while being carried by the orphans. 

Norbit becomes good friends with a girl, Kate Thomas.  They spend a lot of time together and we see many scenes of them holding hands, including the two sitting on miniature toilets.  “We even pooped together.”  They have a make-believe wedding, and exchange candy rings; Kate has a watermelon-flavored and Norbit green apple.  Kate ends up getting adopted.  In bed at night, Norbit stares at his ring, licks it, and then sticks it under his pillow.

At the sandbox in the playground, some twin gingers pick on Norbit.  Rasputia Latimore saves him.  “Who are you?”  “Rasputia, what’s your name?”  “Norbit.”  “Norbit?  That’s a stupid name.”  “Why did you beat those boys up?”  “To protect you.  You got a girlfriend, Nesbit?” she says in her most singsong feminine demeanor as she slightly swings her hips.  “Ah, Norbit … no.”  “Well, you do now.  Get your ass up and hold my hand.”  “Okay.”  “How YOU Doing?”  We go through a sequence of the two bonding.  We also see Norbit having dinner over at the Latimore’s, where brother Big Jack (Terry Crews) serves everyone a different part of their cooked bird, Norbit getting the “turkey ass.”  Flash forward to 1985, where we see the Latimore brothers wreaking havoc on the town folk, strong-arming them into mafia-like payouts.  Norbit takes a job at their construction company in their office.  “I’m expecting some important calls today, Norbit.  So, when you answer the phone, try to sound white.”  Norbit and Rasputia get married.

At the reception, pimps Pope Sweet Jesus (Eddie Griffin) and Lord Have Mercy (Katt Williams) discuss Rasputia.  “Back when I was in the game, I used to tell my hoes, ‘Hoes, ain’t no man going to pay for the cow, if he can get the milk for free.’  You needn’t not worry about this brother buying the milk, because he just bought the whole damn cow.”  “That’s a special cow too.  That must be where buttermilk come from.”   “Them are not dimples, them are potholes in her ass.”  Wong gives the best man speech, “When you was a little boy, you say, ‘one day, I find the girl of my dreams,’ and then you marry a gorilla.  I joke, I joke … When Norbit just little boy he like to always run all over place naked …  he had pee-pee size of an egg roll.”  Later, Norbit struggles to carry Rasputia over the threshold.  And then he endures years of Rasputia’s strong sexual appetite, which includes role playing. 

PRESENT DAY

There’s a nice elderly lady, Mrs. Coleman (Jeanette Miller) walking her pug Floyd who greets Rasputia when she walks out the door.  Rasputia immediately gives her the business through the dog’s barking, and threatens to harm the pooch.  She gets into the driver’s seat of her Gremlin with Norbit already sitting on the passenger’s side, honking the horn inadvertently with her big, bodacious body.  “When I inhale my titty, it make the horn honk like this.”  She lays into Norbit, “That scientifically proves that you was adjusting my seat.”  Before Norbit can even make a point, she gets the last word in, “It is.  Just let it go,” and she ends up smacking him when he presses her. 

At the orphanage, the Latimore brothers threaten to take Wong’s home and business with a buy off.  Wong’s counteroffer is wiping his ass with the contract, returning it, and producing the harpoon.  At dance class, Buster Move (Marlon Wayans) leads the group.  Rasputia asks for some assistance, and he immediately takes a shine to her orange and black outfit.  “Look at you looking like the great pumpkin, girl.  Trick or treat.”  He agrees to a give her a “private lesson,” if she’ll help fund his latest entrepreneurial endeavor.  On the street, Norbit runs into pimps and Rib Shack owners Lord Have Mercy and Pope Sweet Jesus.  Norbit orders his food and the two encourage him to join them in the pimping game.  He realizes he forgets his puppets for the orphanage and leaves without all of his food, and when he arrives home to retrieve them, he find Buster diddling Rasputia.  Buster tries to convince him it’s not what it appears to be, while sporting a full-on erection.  Then, they both turn it back on Norbit and blame him.  Buster exits with, “I’m going to be like Jesus H. Christ would do in a situation such as this and I’m going to turn the other cheek, Amen,” revealing his rear end as he leaves.  Rasputia is a jerk to Norbit.  When he stands up for himself, she chases him around the neighborhood.  He drops his wedding ring in a garbage can.

Norbit performs a puppet show at the orphanage with two characters.  The show is going wonderfully, with the children laughing and enjoying themselves, as the Wong's watch.  However, Mr. Wong must cut things short, when Norbit loses track of himself and the performance turns into a hostile interaction between him and Rasputia.  “This reminds me of a Chinese snuff film I once costarred in,” says Wong.  Kate (Thandie Newton) appears, who is now all grown up.  They reunite.  She informs him that she has sold her clothing business in Atlanta and is going to use her profits to buy the orphanage.  They agree to have lunch on Tuesday, which Norbit can’t wait for, repeating the day over and over again to himself in anticipation.  Rasputia: “Say Tuesday again and you ain’t going to see Wednesday.”  He even doesn’t care that Buster has paid Rasputia a visit.  When Tuesday arrives, Kate introduces Norbit to her fiancée Deion Hughes at a restaurant, much to his disappointment.  She explains that Deion knows all about real estate and is going to help her, but we’re made aware that his intentions are nefarious.  That night, Norbit unloads on the silent Floyd.  The next day, later that evening, Rasputia spots the canine and deliberately runs Floyd over.  Norbit leaves her.  She tries to get him to stay by lying about a pregnancy.  

At a carnival in the town square, the pimps enlist some innocent women to work for them they find at the kissing booth.  Kate tries to talk business with Deion.  Norbit confesses to Kate that he’s married.  He points out Rasputia as the one “sucking down them donuts.”  Rasputia’s pretty dismissive of Kate.  When Norbit expresses concern about Rasputia’s request for a wine cooler, she informs him that she wasn’t pregnant, “I had gas.  I still go it.”  And she lets one loose.  “There’s your child.  Now, go get me something to drink.”  She lets another one out, “Twins.”  Kate approaches the Latimore brothers about construction work at the orphanage.  They’re excited to find out that Wong is willing to sell the place.  Rasputia chases after some kids who have absconded with her pink hat into a blowup castle.  Kate convinces Norbit to dance with her.  Rasputia sends children flying everywhere and destroys the castle.  (There’s also an odd, off-color joke involving the pimps and a young girl during the sequence that I’m not sure I’m okay with.)  Rasputia spots Norbit dancing with Kate and steam comes out of her ears.  “That’s MY wine cooler.”  She knocks him out with a speaker. 

Kate visits Norbit in the hospital.  The Latimore brothers corner Deion, and entice him with their plans to open up a Gentleman’s Club called Nipplopolis.  Kate persuades Norbit with a defibrillator to join her and the kids at the waterpark Raging Waters.  Deion pretends to have prepared dinner for Kate using takeout and asks her to push up the wedding to Saturday.  On his way out of the house, Rasputia catches Norbit trying to sneak out.  “Lil Miss Skinny Bitch going to be there?”  “Oh, you mean Miss Ling Ling?”  “No, you know damn well I ain’t talking about Miss Ling Ling.  I’m talking about Miss Thing Thing.”  Rasputia invites herself.  “I love them.  They’re just like a beauty parlor, except you ain’t gotta get on the rides to go to the bathroom.  How YOU doing?” 

At Raging Waters, an attendant questions Rasputia with her overhanging belly if she has a bottom portion to her bikini on.  She lifts her skin up to answer his question as an affirmative.  While lounging in the sun, Rasputia tries to play mind games with Kate before getting herself a lamb-kabob and a wine cooler.  Kate informs Norbit that the wedding has been moved up and then rides the Leap of Doom.  

Rasputia catches Norbit watching Kate.  “I’m going to show you how a bitch comes down a slide,” and gives him the hand.  An attendant warns Rasputia that she’s too heavy for the slide.  “I don’t weigh no damn three hundred pounds.  I weigh one-sixty-five.  How YOU doing.”  She proceeds to descend down the slide at rocket speed, flies through a wall, and lands in a kiddy pool, displacing all the water.  A confused little ginger stares at Rasputia, as she shares her catchphrase, “How YOU doing.”  Floyd, who is now in a walker visits Norbit.  Norbit spends some time with Kate, who teaches him how to ride a bike, while Rasputia watches trash TV.  This continues, as Norbit has figured out he can get out of the house and be with Kate, by asking Rasputia to do errands he knows she’s going to refuse to do. 

The pimps try to talk Norbit into thinking that the date he has with Kate later is actually a job.  Kate and Rasputia run into each other at the beauty parlor.  After Rasputia throws her some shade, she gets up for her bikini wax.  “Every now and then I got to mow the lawn … Hell, here I come girl.  It’s a full moon too.”  During the waxing, she kicks over the beautician onto the floor and when she looks down, comments, “Whoo, I was looking for Norbit’s police whistle.”

At the construction site, Jack informs Deion that there is trouble with the rollover of the liquor license for the orphanage (!) and hands him a transfer request.  They decide to use Norbit to get Kate to sign the paperwork.  The pimps give Norbit a makeover.  Norbit meets Kate at Giovanni’s to help her pick food for the wedding.  While seated, he explains that he doesn’t come to the restaurant anymore, because Rasputia was banned from taking an all-you-can-eat buffet as a personal challenge, “It got pretty ugly.”  Kate, rather in a deadpan fashion, changes the subject by making a toast.  They reminisce and discuss their respective relationships.  She signs the papers, and they make their way over to the church.

Rasputia figures out that something is up and storms over to Giovanni’s.  Everyone plays dumb, but she demands to know, fuming at the top of her lungs, “Then, who was eating the turkey ass?”  The preacher (Richard Grant) goes over the vows with Kate and Norbit.  Rasputia crashes the car when she sees Norbit kissing Kate inside the church.  Norbit chases the confused Kate to the Boiling Springs Bed & Breakfast, where she’s staying.  The Latimore brothers take the papers from Norbit when he gets home and laugh at him as he makes his way into the house, where the wrath of Rasputia awaits.  She knocks him through the front window.  Lying the grass, Norbit asks Floyd (voiced by Charles Q. Murphy) for advice and he tells her to, “Kill the bitch … She took my legs, Norbit … I can’t raise one up to pee.  God, I can’t even hump anymore, Norbit.  Humping was my thing.”  Rasputia walks out on the porch and threatens bodily harm to Kate if he ever gets near her again.

Deion shows Kate the paperwork she signed transferring the liquor license to the Latimore brothers.  Rasputia orders Norbit to complete a series of chores, while she takes a bubble bath.  Kate informs Norbit about the paperwork.  Afraid Rasputia will do something to her, he tries to get Kate to leave.  Rasputia walks out onto the porch in front of the now boarded up window she sent Norbit through, to tell Kate that Norbit played her.  She runs off in tears.  Norbit leaves Rasputia that night and bumps into Wong.  They share a heartfelt conversation.  “I love you like my own child.  Like a boy child, not girl child.  Wong once had girl child back in Shanghai.  When she two years old, I trade her for yak.”  And, “You can’t run from your problems, Norbit.  Black people run fast, but problem even faster.”  He walks off and debates opening up dry cleaning businesses in Norbit’s neighborhood.  Norbit checks the mail and receives the background check on Deion he has been waiting for.  He tries calling Kate, but she hangs up on him.  The Latimore brothers arrive on Norbit’s doorstep.  They inform him of their plans and that Deion has to marry Kate.  They lock him in the basement. 

The Latimore brothers pick Rasputia up for the wedding.  She leaves Blue (Lester Speight) behind to guard Norbit.  As Kate prepares, she gazes at her watermelon-flavored candy ring and contemplates the life she really wants.  Blue watches one of Buster’s workout tapes.  Wong walks Kate down the aisle.  Norbit escapes.  Big Jack answers his cell during the ceremony.  And when a guy in front of him shushes him, he punches him out.  The Latimore’s take off to stop Norbit.  The pimps create a distraction by “objectulating prematurely” to the proceedings, which includes a sermon and gospel number.  Rasputia attacks Norbit from her brother’s moving truck, while he’s riding his bike.  He escapes their clutches, and breaks up the wedding, letting the whole congregation know about Deion’s past four marriages and divorce settlements, as well as the Latimore’s plan to take over the orphanage.   Kate still decides to go through with the marriage.  Norbit then produces Deion’s ex-wives and children.  Deion flees and the Latimore’s chase Norbit.  When they trap the hapless guy, the townspeople come to his aid.  Rasputia steals a shovel and tries to take them all down.  Right when Rasputia is about to pummel Norbit, Wong calls her a “whale hoe” from off in the distance.  “Did somebody just call me a whale?”  “Yeah, and a hoe,” Wong answers and harpoons her from afar. 

Kate and Norbit reunite, while Wong and the pimps fondly observe.  Norbit narrates their happily ever after, which includes a candy ring exchange.  He explains that the Latimore’s ended up supposedly in Mexico, where they opened up El Nipplopolis, featuring Rasputia as their star attraction.  She struts down the runway, but then has to get stern with a patron when he gets his hands near her privates.  “Hold on now, Pepe.  Ain’t nothing going down there, unless it got the word peso written on it.”  Pulling down her eye mask, in butchered Spanish, she asks, “¿Cómo estás usted?”  The final shot is Rasputia pulling a release that drops water on her as she sits in chair in a shot reminiscent of Flashdance.  Roll credits.  

What a Feeling

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