1995 - A MONTH BY THE LAKE, entertaining romantic comedy

At 58 years old when this film was released Vanessa Redgrave is the whole show in this romantic comedy.  Set in 1937 at Lake Como in northern Italy. It’s now a place that only the very rich can afford to vacation at.  Redgrave plays a single woman who would probably be called a "free spirit."  She meets an Englishman played by "The Jackal"  himself, Edward Fox and finds herself attracted to him.  Unfortunately he is being led on by a younger woman played by Uma Thurman.  Will Vanessa win the heart of this stuffy British guy?

The film was shot on location and the production design does a good job capturing the mood of pre-World War II Italy.  John Irvin was the director.  Irvin worked in a lot of different genres whether it was the war film, the thriller or the drama he was for the most part an excellent craftsman.  The cinematography was by Pasqualino de Santis who had been associated with Luchino Visconti, Federico Fellini, Robert Bresson and Ettore Scola.  De Santis was a real heavy hitter in the Italian film industry.

 

If there is one objection that I have to this film, it's that the very magnificent Vanessa Redgrave would never fall for Edward Fox's English twit character.   The guy just acts like a complete jackass most of the time. Still this is an entertaining romantic comedy. Vanessa Redgrave even late in her career is a pleasure to watch and this film shows again what a unique talent she always is.

 

This film was written by Trevor Bentham, the running time is 92 minutes.

1986 - RAW DEAL, Standard Schwarzenegger action movie,

It you are looking for a pure action film with no plot to speak of and a lot of fighting, shooting and blowing up of stuff then Raw Deal is the film for you.  Arnold walks through the film hitting and shooting and generally making a mess of the Chicago underworld.

However for all the talent involved in front and behind the camera there is a curious lack of engagement.  The director John Irvin had proven himself in the action genre with films like The Dogs of War and Hamburger Hill.  The writers Gary Devore and Norman Wexler were good Hollywood professionals and Alex Thompson the cinematographer and the editor Anne Coates were well regarded film technicians.  But nobody seemed even remotely interested in making a good action film.

 

The producer put together an excellent cast for Raw Deal, Ed Lauter, Steven Hill, Paul Shenar, Sam Wanamaker, Darrin McGavin and the underrated Kathryn Harrold as a past her prime party girl.    Harrold is probably the best thing in this film. Unfortunately it was all for nothing.  There just wasn't much they could do to breath any kind of life into this film.

 

At the climax when Arnold shoots up most of the cast the action is so rote that a viewer probably won't care if he succeeds in eliminating all of the bad guys or not.  In essence this is a very generic action film.

The running time is 101 minutes

1980 - THE DOGS OF WAR, a good action film with a creepy performance

A decent director, John Irvin films an adaptation of a typically clever Frederick Forsyth novel and someone gets the inspired idea to cast Christopher Walken as the mercenary Shannon.

The Dogs of War is very well made but the reason to watch this film is Walken's hyper creepy performance.  This is not a guy you would want to be left alone in a room with.  Walken's character seems completely devoid of any genuine feelings towards anyone.  He only seems comfortable when he is killing someone his love scenes with his ex wife are shall we say spooky.  Even when he cracks a joke he gives off his creepy vibe. 

Walken had a small memorable part in Woody Allen's Annie Hall as Diane Keaton's very crazy brother.  The Dogs of War gave him the opportunity to expand this character into an entire film.

The film making skill in this film is very high.  The legendary cameraman Jack Cardiff did the photography and John Irvin was very adept at staging the action stuff.  But again, the real reason to watch this film is Christopher Walken in his ultra weirdo actor phase of his career.

102 minutes. Written by Gary DeVore and George Malko.