Noirvember: Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead (1995)

Director Gary Fleder has a strange, but not uninteresting, filmography. He's done a lot of TV work in recent years, and started his directorial career with a TV movie (which also paired him up for the first time with writer Scott Rosenberg), but he's also delivered a few real gems throughout the last few decades. Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead is one of them, and maybe that's as much to do with the fact that it was Fleder's first theatrical release as it is to do with the script and execution of the material. Or maybe he just does well with star-studded ensemble casts (considering that Runaway Jury is also up there with his best work).

Andy Garcia plays Jimmy "The Saint" here, and he's a man who ends up between a rock and a hard place when a big boss (The Man With The Plan, played by Christopher Walken) tells him to put a team together in order to give some young guy a fright. Jimmy ends up working with Pieces (Christopher Lloyd), Franchise (William Forsythe), Easy Wind (Bill Nunn), and Critical Bill (Treat Williams). If all goes well then the team will end up in the good graces of a very powerful individual, but the title may have already clued you in on the fact that all doesn't necessarily go well.

Read through that list of names again, but let me add to it by mentioning Gabrielle Anwar, Fairuza Balk, Steve Buscemi, Jack Warden, Bill Cobbs, Marshall Bell, Don Stark, Jenny McCarthy, Don Cheadle, Tiny Lister Jr., and Josh Charles. You may not recognise all of those names, but anyone who appreciates '90s cinema will recognise their faces as soon as they appear onscreen. Not only is that a truly stacked cast, everyone feels perfect in the role given to them. Garcia stays cool and calm for most of the runtime, Walken enjoys getting to wax lyrical in a couple of scenes, and Williams almost steals the entire film with his portrayal of someone who seems to be a real liability. While both Anwar and Balk are slightly sidelined, both get to do a bit more than may be expected, and their inclusion certainly lifts the film above the complete sausage-fest it otherwise would have been.

Fleder may not indulge himself too much, this is a straightforward tale told in a straightforward manner, he knows how to make the best of Rosenberg's screenplay, which could easily have been ruined and made more forgettable by an attempt to match the many other Tarantino-esque crime thrillers (of which this is certainly one) from this time. The dialogue feels natural to the characters, as opposed to trying too hard to be super-cool in every exchange, and the cast are allowed to give enough substance to their performances to make them feel like more than just stereotypes/archetypes.

It's easy to see why some who didn't see this back when it was first released would continue to ignore it. It's a specific type of film from a specific time that makes it a risky proposition. I would say that it exceeds any expectations, however, and the traditional approach to the material, including the score from Michael Convertino, as well as every other element, allows it to feel more timeless and enduring than many other titles that just had the idea of putting criminals at the heart of the plot and trying to give them all memorable soundbites.

9/10

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Body Snatchers (1993)

Although not his usual kind of film, and it's unsurprising to see that this was originally due to be directed by one of the co-writers (Stuart Gordon, who I think would have also done a great job), director Abel Ferrara finds himself well-matched to the classic alien invasion story represented here, helped by the fact that the setting is now an army base, instead of any standard town or city.

Gabrielle Anwar plays Marti Malone, a young woman who has just arrived at another temporary home with her family, made up of her mother, Carol (Meg Tilly), her father, Steve (Terry Kinney), and a little brother named Andy (Reilly Murphy). Keen to have some fun, Marti soon ends up in trouble, but that's nothing compared to the trouble that she could be in if she becomes replicated by some alien invaders. Because if you're going to replicate humans without finding a way to ensure they also have access to emotions, there are few better places to do that than an army base.

Based on the Jack Finney story, reworked by a couple of people updating the premise (including Larry Cohen), the script here is finalised by Gordon, Dennis Paoli, and Nicholas St. John, and it's a 1993 movie that, for better or worse, feels like an '80s movie. There are some great practical effects throughout, there's a younger lead character than we have in any other film adaptation (up to this point), and the pacing helps the 87-minute runtime just fly by. There are also one or two moments that stand out for the wrong reasons, one showing the fate of a character that maybe should have been edited around the limitations of the time, but it's generally all working to an impressively high standard.

Ferrara handles the whole concept well, and he can build tension and craft scares so well that it makes you regret the fact that he didn't give us some more "straightforward" horror movies throughout the '80s and '90s. Maybe most movies coming under that genre umbrella wouldn't appeal to him as much as the premise here. After all, Ferrara has always tended to feel like an outsider, an uncompromising individual who would never make life easier for himself if it meant giving up something that he felt was intertwined with his DNA. If there’s any surprise here it is the fact that it took so long until Ferrara decided to work with this material.

Cast-wise, this is full of treats. Anwar is an appealing lead, a young star who never seemed to get the BIG role that would put her on a higher status level, and she works well alongside Billy Wirth, who plays a soldier/ally/believer ready to help humanity survive. And Christine Elise fans will enjoy her work here, despite her limited screentime. Murphy is a decent little brother, a more vulnerable character who manages not to be too clingy or annoying. Kinney may be the least of the adult stars, simply due to his character being the blandest, but there are many treats elsewhere, from the sly menace of Meg Tilly (who has long been a favourite of mine) to the standard stern military officer role for R. Lee Ermey. There’s also an enjoyable little turn from Forest Whitaker, another individual on the army base who starts to suspect that something strange is going on, and plans to avoid the fate of so many others.

Sadly all too often forgotten in favour of the previous films based on the Finney tale, Body Snatchers actually earns a place alongside both the 1956 and 1978 movies. It reworks things without trying to change it into something too far removed from the source material, has some nice scenes of gloopy terror, pairs up the visuals with a fine score from Joe Delia, and generally deserves to be better known than it is. It’s top-tier Ferrara, it’s just a step aside from most other movies that Ferrara has preferred to give viewers throughout most of his directorial career.

8/10

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