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CXIX: Grace Quigley (Anthony Harvey, 1984)
Not quite Katharine Hepburn's last movie - but late enough that it's not clear that she's acting rather than being old (there's a distinct shake to her head). Having witnessed a hitman (Nick Nolte) off her evil landlord, Quigley approaches him to kill her. She raises the money for his fee by acting as an agent for her peers.
This needed a Charles Crichton or a Billy Wilder to make it sharper and darker - to go for broke one way or the other about the (supposed) obsolescence of the old. The ante isn't sufficiently upped. As it is, a black comedy, but one which misfires and veers from the prim to the sordid alarmingly. Nolte does Nolte whilst Hepburn is a ghost of former glories; a clash of acting styles as well as generations.
CXX: A Complete History of My Sexual Failures (Chris Waitt, 2008)
Having been dumped by yet another girlfriend, Waitt decides to interview his exes to get an idea of why he can't maintain a relationship - although a few seconds of footage of his hair, clothes, demeanour and attitude ought to clinch it. Some refuse to appear, others only appear via computerised voice - and some appear because his mum (who has his old love letters in his attic) has asked them. Meanwhile Waitt tries more dates, sorts out his erectile dysfunction and visits a dominatrix.
And yet - he reminds me of Steve Coogan in A Cock and Bull Story - either no ego at all or the biggest ego evah. His ignorance of his stupidity is either cringe-making or willful, the honesty of his exes is too bad to be true. Would someone really do that with viagra? The ending seems too pat. And the credits admit to changing names and re-enactments.
Very funny and very embarrassing - but Waitt needs a good slap.
Totals: 120 (Cinema: 50; DVD: 65; TV: 5)
Not quite Katharine Hepburn's last movie - but late enough that it's not clear that she's acting rather than being old (there's a distinct shake to her head). Having witnessed a hitman (Nick Nolte) off her evil landlord, Quigley approaches him to kill her. She raises the money for his fee by acting as an agent for her peers.
This needed a Charles Crichton or a Billy Wilder to make it sharper and darker - to go for broke one way or the other about the (supposed) obsolescence of the old. The ante isn't sufficiently upped. As it is, a black comedy, but one which misfires and veers from the prim to the sordid alarmingly. Nolte does Nolte whilst Hepburn is a ghost of former glories; a clash of acting styles as well as generations.
CXX: A Complete History of My Sexual Failures (Chris Waitt, 2008)
Having been dumped by yet another girlfriend, Waitt decides to interview his exes to get an idea of why he can't maintain a relationship - although a few seconds of footage of his hair, clothes, demeanour and attitude ought to clinch it. Some refuse to appear, others only appear via computerised voice - and some appear because his mum (who has his old love letters in his attic) has asked them. Meanwhile Waitt tries more dates, sorts out his erectile dysfunction and visits a dominatrix.
And yet - he reminds me of Steve Coogan in A Cock and Bull Story - either no ego at all or the biggest ego evah. His ignorance of his stupidity is either cringe-making or willful, the honesty of his exes is too bad to be true. Would someone really do that with viagra? The ending seems too pat. And the credits admit to changing names and re-enactments.
Very funny and very embarrassing - but Waitt needs a good slap.
Totals: 120 (Cinema: 50; DVD: 65; TV: 5)
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