Prime Time: Christmas Mingle AKA Christian Mingle (2014)

Although it may seem surprising to some of you who know me, I try not to actively dislike people, or things, just because they are based in any faith. I like the idea of personal faith, and I don't mind if some people read a book, take various lessons from it, and apply those lessons to their everyday life. I dislike the situation when it affects others, usually from people who decide things should be read literally on one page and just acknowledged on the next.

This is my way of saying that I know I was not the target audience member for Christmas Mingle AKA Christian Mingle (AKA Christian Mingle: The Movie). But I went into it with an open mind, an unwavering love for Lacey Chabert, and the knowledge that it would be another Christmas movie to mark off my list.

Written and directed by Corbin Bernsen, who also gives himself a cameo role for one scene, Christian Mingle is the story of Gwyneth Hayden (Chabert), a marketing executive who thinks she has everything she needs in life, except for a man. Her friends keep telling her that she will be the last to settle down, and they complain that they, and their husbands, are running out of men to put forward. After seeing the advert on TV, Gwyneth creates a profile on Christian Mingle. She ends up dating the lovely Paul Wood (Jonathan Patrick Moore). It all starts off as something she views as nice, if odd, but soon becomes something more. Which may lead to a problem when people realise that Gwyneth isn't actually an active Christian.

There's nothing REALLY that wrong with Christian Mingle, in terms of it being a TV movie that uses Christmas as a backdrop for a blossoming romance. I mean, despite my ignorance of most faiths, Christians tend to view Christmas as a time of year for more than just hoping some jolly fat guy doesn't forget to break into your home and leave some toys. The technical side of things is perfectly okay, and the cast also includes Stephen Tobolowsky, David Keith, and Morgan Fairchild. There's also a potentially fun sub-plot about Chabert trying to market a pill that the maker (John O'Hurley) claims can cure baldness. Saidah Arrika Ekulona also does a good job of being a Christian who doesn't interfere until she is asked for help.

There is, however, also something really wrong with Christian Mingle. A number of things, actually. The positive depiction of people living by their faith is not one of them. The fact that the film is one big advert for Christian Mingle, and for the way in which Christianity can fill any gap in your life, is. The makers of the movie are quite entitled to do that, which isn't the point I am making. It just sets the whole film up as something even blander and uninvolving than most of these kinds of movies, because you know that they're not going to make the characters suffer too much, and Chabert will find happiness in some form as long as she finds her faith. Another big problem with the movie is not unique, it's just overdone, and that is how desperate the film makes Chabert. She MUST find a man, her life cannot be complete without one, it's almost shameful as she discusses the situation with her friends at the start of the movie.

You'll be unsurprised to know that I didn't love this one, but you may be surprised to know that I didn't hate it. It gets some bonus points for allowing the character played by Moore to be self-aware in his approach to life, and his old-fashioned attitudes that come from a good place. And if I can let I, Robot off with the Converse product placement then I can't exactly criticise Christian Mingle too much for selling itself in the movie named for it.

Not one I'd recommend, but far from the worst I have seen. I almost docked an extra point for it not being Christmassy enough though, before remembering that the word Christmas literally starts with Christ.

4/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy the movie here.

Prime Time: Memoirs Of An Invisible Man (1992)

Arguably the most atypical movie in the filmography of John Carpenter, Memoirs Of An Invisible Man is very much a studio movie/Chevy Chase vehicle that just happens to have been directed by the horror maestro. It's an interesting one to watch, and some of the special effects remain impressive (while some others don't), but it's important to go into it not expecting a Carpenter movie.

Chase plays Nick Halloway, a slick office guy who finds his world turned upside down when he's caught up in an accident that renders him invisible. This makes it more difficult to continue his new relationship with the lovely Alice Monroe (Daryl Hannah). It also makes him a target for some shady government agent types (headed up by David Jenkins, played by Sam Neill).

Utilising noirish narration throughout most of the story, and paced briskly enough to get you along to the fun of the invisibility, Memoirs Of An Invisible Man is a consistent mix of the old and the new. It gets to restrict the need for hundreds of special effects by showing many scenes with Chase visible, although it often cuts to show the reality of how his invisible self is manipulating the environment or people around him, and the plot focuses just as much on the chase aspect than it does on the problem of no longer being able to see parts of your own body.

The script, credited to Robert Collector, Dana Olsen, and William Goldman (who has never seen the finished product and doesn't know how much of his material was left in there), is a bit of a mess. It's good in the way it moves from one (non)sight gag to another but not so good when weaving between the standard thriller aspects and the moments between Chase and Hannah.

Speaking of the leads, they don't do a bad job. Chase, however, would have been better playing this as audiences expected him to, more comedically. There are scenes that come close to capturing that cheeky twinkle he does so well, and then it's all undone by the need to have him acting seriously, either opposite Hannah or Neill, who is entertainingly ruthless in his bad guy role. Solid support comes from Michael McKean, Stephen Tobolowsky (not onscreen nearly enough), and Jim Norton (mentioned because Father Ted may wish to see "Bishop Brennan" in a John Carpenter movie).

The direction is surprisingly flat, you can tell that this was a paycheck gig for Carpenter, who doesn't provide the soundtrack either. Put this into a player without showing anyone the opening credits and I would defy anyone to put the director's name to it. That doesn't stop it from being fun, and Carpenter does well with the variety of effects (showing a wide array of previously-unseen visuals, as far as I am aware, like an invisible man smoking, and also, at one point, vomiting). It's just not a film with any fingerprints on it.

While not worth putting high on your list of priorities, especially if you have other Carpenter movies to see, this is an easy film to watch and enjoy, with a couple of great set-pieces and a fun ending.

6/10

You can buy the movie on blu here.
Americans can buy it here.

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Groundhog Day (1993)

I remember when Groundhog Day first came out and at least one of the many reviews said the following: "how you feel about this film will really depend on how you feel about Bill Murray." That remains as true today as it was then. Of course, back then I didn't realise that there were people who DISLIKED Bill Murray.

The story is known by most people nowadays, but I'll cover the basics nonetheless. Murray plays Phil Connors, a weatherman sent out to cover Groundhog Day, with a producer (Rita, played by Andie MacDowell) and cameraman (Chris Elliott), in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Groundhog Day is when the residents wake up a groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, and claim to receive an answer from him regarding whether or not he sees his shadow. If he sees his shadow then they're due for six more weeks of winter. Once he has filmed his bit, Phil just wants to get out of Punxsutawney. But it turns out that heavy snowfall stops him from leaving. Even worse, when he wakes up the next day . . . . . . . . . . . . it's Groundhog Day all over again. Stuck in a time loop, Phil tries to figure out how to escape his fate.

The only problem I have with Groundhog Day is Andie MacDowell. I'm sorry to any of her fans that might read this, but whenever she appears in a movie I always end up wishing that the director had instead held out for someone who could actually act. To call MacDowell wooden is an insult to a versatile building material. But that's it, that's my only negative comment out of the way.

Murray is fantastic in the central role, giving a performance that people are sick of me going on about as one of the most overlooked of all time. It is. Just because it takes place in a comedy film, that doesn't mean that people should forget what a brilliant, nuanced turn it is. Often broad, admittedly, there are great laughs in almost every scene derived from how Murray reacts to his situation, depending on how he's trying to make his day turn out. Elliott is fun as the cameraman who seems to deserve his assignment alongside Phil, as the two of them are as bad as one another, albeit in different ways. Stephen Tobolowsky steals his scenes, playing an old school associate named Ned Ryerson (bing!), and Brian Doyle-Murray once again gets a decent role alongside his brother, playing the mayor of Punxsutawney.

Harold Ramis does a near-perfect job in the director's chair (this remains his best film, for me) and he's helped by a sharp script, co-written by himself and the man who came up with the whole premise, Danny Rudin. There's also a great score by George Fenton, sharp editing by Pembroke J. Herring, perfect performances from every supporting player (including Michael Shannon in his cinematic debut), and memorable use of I Got You Babe, sung by Sonny & Cher.

Everything works so well that I am even able to overlook the mis-casting of MacDowell in the female lead role. This is, to me, a perfect film. Even if I have just mentioned one main imperfection. I'm not sure if that will make any sense to anyone except me. I hope so. Let me just end with something obvious, although no less true - this is a modern comedy classic that I can watch again and again and again.

10/10

http://www.amazon.com/Groundhog-15th-Anniversary-Special-Blu-ray/dp/B001KEHAI0/ref=sr_1_2_twi_2_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1421090645&sr=8-2&keywords=groundhog+day

Single White Female (1992)

Psychopaths, how can you avoid them? Because, according to Hollywood, they're absolutely everywhere and you need to be careful and vigilant at all times. Don't have a fling (Fatal Attraction), don't take in tenants (Pacific Heights), don't become the object of affection for any young girl (The Crush), don't hire a temp (The Temp), don't visit any dentists who are having severe emotional problems (The Dentist & The Dentist 2), don't go white water rafting (The River Wild), don't pick up any hitch-hikers (The Hitcher), don't ever go to summer camp (almost every teen slasher movie ever), don't fall for a charming landlord (The Resident), don't let anyone put you at ease and begin singing the praises of Huey Lewis & The News (American Psycho) and don't, under any circumstances, spend a night at the Bates Motel. Of course, there are many other places to find psychos but I think that provides a decent cross-section of the main pitfalls to look out for. Oh, and if you were thinking of advertising for a flatmate then Single White Female advises you not to do that either.

Based on the novel, "SWF Seeks Same", by John Lutz, Single White Female is a glossy, Hollywood thriller that stays very entertaining and enjoyable for about 3/4 of its runtime. Sadly, like many movies from this particular subgenre, it starts to fall apart under the strain of numerous silly choices made and a number of characters being far too slow on the uptake.

Bridget Fonda plays Allison Jones, a decent young woman trying to make it on her own in the big city. Well, she was actually trying to make it with the support of her boyfriend (Sam, played by Steven Weber) but it turns out that he's actually not been entirely truthful with her. Upset and angry, Allison considers giving up and moving back home but instead makes the decision to carry on and to get herself a flatmate. She lives in a great, rent-controlled, apartment so the flatmate wouldn't be on the lease and would have to not really introduce herself to everyone as a tenant of the building. This suits Hedra Carlson (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a quiet and pleasant girl who makes a great impression on Allison. It's only as more and more time passes that Allison realises something isn't quite right about Hedra. Things seem to escalate as Allison and Sam reconcile - Hedra often becomes snappy and also starts to feel more like an overbearing intruder rather than a friendly flatmate. And it also becomes obvious that she is trying to emulate Allison in her appearance and wardrobe choices. Is she a shy young woman looking to style herself upon someone she admires or is she getting obsessive?

There's a decent enough screenplay by Don Roos and solid direction by Barbet Schroeder but I'd have to say that Single White Female is a movie made into something very entertaining by the cast members. Both Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh are great in the lead roles, able to show vulnerability when required and also steely resolve. Steven Weber is just fine as Sam, Peter Friedman is enjoyable as the upstairs neighbour who gets on well with Allison and Stephen Tobolowsky is fantastic as the sleazy Mitch Myerson, a man who hires Allison for her computing skills but assumes that he has the upper hand in their working relationship.

By the time the movie starts to get bogged down by the number of thriller cliches and poorer moments it doesn't really matter so much because you've gone along with the leads and been rewarded with some surprising nastiness, a fun build-up and an enjoyably warped sexual frisson weaving throughout the developing plot.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Single-White-Female-Bridget-Fonda/dp/B00004CX4O

The Glimmer Man (1996)

This time around the gruff and slap-happy Steven Seagal is a cop paired up with Keenen Ivory Wayans as they race to apprehend a serial killer known as “The Family Man”. Seagal has inner peace and outer hardness while Wayans is the standard cynical cop with a good heart (illustrated by the way he cries at Casablanca, obviously). Seagal also has a murky past, connected to a ruthless character (Brian Cox) who may know something about the serial killer. In fact, some people begin to suspect that Seagal may actually BE the serial killer.

While it’s not really a buddy-cop movie and not really an all-out martial arts flick, The Glimmer Man is an entertaining blend of the two. The exchanges between Seagal and Wayans are amusing enough and the fight scenes, when they pop up, are energetic and well done.

Director John Gray has the benefit of working from a decent enough script (by Kevin Brodbin) and getting a few key players in some supporting roles. Seagal and Wayans may headline this movie but Brian Cox steals every scene that he’s in and Bob Gunton is very enjoyable as a rich, rich man used to getting his own way. 

 

It’s definitely not an essential viewing but Seagal fans will be happy to know that this is one of the better movies from what was, surely, the peak period of his career. 

6/10

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