moonspinner55

Screenwriters David Newman and Robert Benton, then-hot off their success with "Bonnie and Clyde", penned this story of a bandit in 1880s Arizona who is given 10 years in a desert prison after robbing $500K from the home of a rancher (the crooked man gets caught when he and the rancher visit the same brothel on the same night). Also incarcerated: an infamous train robber; a drunk who took a shot at the sheriff, plus a couple of inept con-artists and a young man who accidentally killed his date's father with a billiard ball. Although the film never rises above the level of inconsequential fare, there are a lot of talented people on-screen to watch, including Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Warren Oates, Burgess Meredith, Lee Grant, Bert Freed, Jeanne Cooper (who flashes a breast or two), Pamela Hensley (who flashes a breast or two), Victor French, Alan Hale and Barbara Rhodes. Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz later complained that his 165mn final cut was drastically edited down to 126mns by Warner Bros., leaving Grant in particular with reduced screen-time. It looks good and moves fast, but there's nothing overwhelmingly memorable about the picture--it fades quickly in the memory. Trini Lopez sings the awful title song, composed by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams. **1/2 from ****

This slick update of 1948's "The Big Clock" from screenwriter Robert Garland and director Roger Donaldson is amusingly overheated (and overrated by both critics and audiences at the time), though it does boast a terrific cast. Kevin Costner is solid as a lieutenant commander in the US Navy grilled over his relationship with his boss, the Secretary of Defense (Gene Hackman), whose sexy mistress (Sean Young) is someone the seaman is also intimately involved with... The picture has some marvelous moments after a sluggish start, though a plot-twist at the final gate is a bit tough to swallow. The public ate it up, anyhow. ** from ****

Producer-writer-editor-director Sean Baker is quite the quadruple threat here with chaotic misadventure of Brooklyn lap-dancer who gets involved with the young, thrill-seeking son of a wealthy and powerful Russian family. The film's built-in T&A isn't really exploited for the expected titillation factor (a nice surprise), with the accent more on character--and what volatile characters these are! Our 23-year-old heroine, Anora (aka "Ani"), is blasé about her work, happy to hustle a bit on the side, and yet still has little girl fantasies about becoming a Disney princess. She is absolutely outraged at the injustices that befall both she and her newlywed husband, whom she refuses to believe is just a dumb, reckless kid (she's also a bit naïve). "Anora" isn't a masterwork, it isn't tricky or intricately-wound; still, this story of self-deception and self-worth is absorbing and enjoyable. A few of Baker's minor details don't play--I didn't believe, for instance, that Ani would freely give up her sable coat near the end, especially after causing such a fuss over her wedding ring--and yet lead actress Mikey Madison makes Anora a living, breathing cliffhanger. She's a memorable lady: feisty, funny, constantly p.o.'d, and always up for a fight. **1/2 from ****