BEFORE: I started this process in 2009, so this is the first February 29 falling under the scope of the project. I supposed I could have watched "Leap Year" to finish off the month of romance, but I have a feeling that movie sucks. Instead I'll close it out with this romantic drama, despite it being seasonally inappropriate.
Linking from "The Big Chill", Tom Berenger was also in "Betrayed" with Debra Winger, who of course was also in "An Officer and a Gentleman" with Richard Gere (last seen in "The Cotton Club").
And yeah, I'm back in New York, while the TCM schedule heads to Belgium for "The Singing Nun" and "The Nun's Story" (what's with all the nuns?) and then to China for "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing", "55 Days at Peking", and "Flying Tigers". Who knows, maybe next year TCM will put all the films that rhyme with each other on the same days...
THE PLOT: Romantic drama about an aging playboy who falls for a sweet, but terminally ill, young woman.
AFTER: Still trying to maintain that spoiler-free zone, which is not easy. But I will say that there was an unintentional extra theme among this and the previous three films (can you spot it?). If the IMDB wants to give away key plot points in their synopses, that's out of my control.
I don't have a problem with a character played by Richard Gere dating a character played by Winona Ryder (last seen in "The Darwin Awards") - despite the 30-year (or so) age difference. Ryder was 29 the year this film was released, but her character was only supposed to be 22. To each his own, I say - who am I to tell an older man to stop dating women in their twenties? My boss is 65 and has been dating younger women as long as I've known him.
I had more of a problem with Richard Gere playing a chef/restaurateur - in an industry where people are usually judged more by their food techniques, and not their appearances. Yet this chef manages to make it to the age of 49 (or so) while still looking like Richard Gere. Shenanigans of the highest order - have you seen the people who host food shows on TV? Emeril Lagasse, Mario Batali, Guy Fieri, Beau Macmillan, Adam Richman - they're all big, doughy guys, or at least pleasingly plump (but jolly). And it's not just the men - Paula Deen, Rachael Ray, The Barefoot Contessa, Anne Burrell, I can go on and on. Oh, there are the rare exceptions, like Anthony Bourdain, or Padma Lakshmi, but for the most part, it's an industry dominated by hefty people. And these are the most photogenic ones - Food Network even has a show called "Fat Chef" which is a bit like "The Biggest Loser" for restaurant chefs, where 2 big (and I mean, BIG) chefs are put through a program for 8 weeks to maximize their weight loss and improve their health, and overall stamina in the kitchen.
But how did they get that way? It's no mystery, since the show features clips of the chefs tasting (and re-tasting) pretty much every dish they cook. But once the recipe is established, do they really need to taste EVERY order? I go to a restaurant and pay for a full order of food, not one where the chef took a big bite out of my entree. Here's an idea - instead of checking every order, maybe check every third or fourth one, and not mine. I love it when the chefs then say to the cameras "It's tough for me because I don't have time to eat - so I eat really late when I get home, which is why I gain weight." But there's footage of them eating bite after bite while they're cooking and "testing" the food! When I mass-produce a bunch of DVDs, I don't have to do a quality check on them all, I just have to watch one!
I suppose someone else would watch the film and complain about something else, like Ryder's character wearing white after Labor Day, but that's what bothered me. Gere's character should really have been at least 100 pounds heavier to be realistic.
Also starring Anthony LaPaglia (last heard in "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole"), Elaine Stritch (last seen in "Cocoon: the Return"), Vera Farmiga (last seen in "Up in the Air"), Sherry Stringfield, Jill Hennessey, Mary Beth Hurt (last seen in "The World According to Garp") and J.K. Simmons (last heard in "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore")
RATING: 4 out of 10 Chilean sea bass
No comments:
Post a Comment