Flick of The Day: Game Change

The American television network HBO, in addition to its output of cutting edge drama has recently developed a neat sideline in Zeitgeist capturing film feature's looking at various aspects of recent American history. Following on from 2008's Recount which examined the aftermath of the US state of Florida turning into Nicaragua after the 2000 Presidential Election and last year's star laden look at the financial crisis Too Big to Fail, comes Game Change. An adaptation of the book of the same name, it looks at the fateful decision to choose Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate. 

Game Change 

HBO seems to have the style of these political drama's down to a tee and there is much here in style and scope that would be familiar from their previous efforts. Short takes and an emphasis on telling the facts as they are. The film opens with John McCain, played by Ed Harris in a word perfect turn and his campaign manager Steve Schmidt played by the always reliable Woody Harrelson debating how they can catch the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut that is Barack Obama. After a very brief search, they alight upon an obscure Governor of Alaska. With time tight before a nominee must be announced, Schmidt does not properly vet Palin. Julianne Moore inhabits the role of Sarah Palin in a performance that out-Tina Fey's Tina Fey showing her for perhaps what she really is. An intellectually limited but passionate individual who can make a connection with those of a similar type. The bulk of the movie is then made up of documenting how quickly the decision to choose Palin goes awry. Perhaps anecdotes of her legendary lack of general knowledge have been over done but there is till much to squirm at in the various coaching sessions and interviews that highlight her inadequacy. The realisation that they have made the wrong choice causes a rethink in the campaign. As this general malaise sets in, Palin herself becomes unable to deal with the pressure and we are led to belief comes close to mental collapse. However she regroups and realises that by sticking to her strengths and being difficult she is more than a match for the campaign staff. From then on, Palin is very much a rogue agent out for her own career post the election with its inevitable defeat for the centrist McCain.

Ultimately this is an entertaining portrayal of one of the iconic American election campaigns of our times. Moore and Ed Harris give startlingly life like portrayals of their characters without veering too much into imitation. Perhaps its main failing is to attempt to shoe horn too much detail into a two hour running time though there is a need to tell something new. Given this, they do make a bold decision to posit the idea that Palin is mentally unstable.

As regards its accuracy as a film, both candidates have accused it and the book upon which it is based of being a false narrative though against this, Steve Schmidt portrayed by Harrelson has said it is an accurate reflection of events. 

All in all, this is an entertaining romp through an interesting topic led by a perfectly cast group of American character actors combined with the high production values typical of a HBO production. While it carries the slur of being a TV movie, it is a decent political drama worthy of any cinema. Well worth a look.

Flick of The Day: Glengarry Glen Ross

David Mamet was one of the great voices in American theatre in the late 70's and early 80's. As a playwright, he was a founding member of the legendary Atlantic Theatre Company, winning acclaim for his 1984 play Glengarry Glen Ross, which he adapted for the screen in this 1992 drama which is today's flick of the day. Mamet's writing is heavy in dialogue which is itself fast paced and peppered with scatological language, and it reeks of the stage. However it is the kind of rich language that draws the best out of actors. Apart from his theatrical work, he has a rich body of film work with particular highlights being his Oscar winning script for The Verdict and The Untouchables.

Glengarry Glen Ross

A simple tale of the goings on behind the scenes at a real estate office in Chicago, this film has an ensemble cast of some of the best acting talent in recent memory. Al Pacino is cocky top salesman Ricky Roma, Jack Lemmon is the ageing salesman living on past glories, Alan Arkin and Ed Harris are disgruntled and desperate while Kevin Spacey is the much put upon office manager. In a role created for the film, Alec Baldwin steals the film as a hard nosed motivational speaker. Times are hard at Premiere Properties with the pressure on the salesmen to deliver land sales in a downturn. They bitch and moan about the leads they are given and generally fail to sell apart from the big swinging dick Ricky Roma. The plot centres around a theft at the office but ultimately this is a character study of men under pressure, with a tense atmosphere reminiscent of something like 12 Angry Men.

Perhaps the strength of James Foley's direction is to keep the camera moving around the theatre like sets, to make this feel less like a play. It is not fully successful however as you can't really escape the origins of the tale. Mamet's dialogue is his greatest strength but it often feel over the top and almost unrealistic here. That said, it is terribly enjoyable to see greats like Pacino and Lemmon and Spacey chew through the scenery in capital lettered verbiage. 

Blake: You got leads. Mitch & Murray paid good money. Get their names to sell them. You can't close the leads you're given, you can't close shit, *you are* shit, hit the bricks pal, and beat it, 'cause you are going *out*. 

Shelley Levene: The leads are weak. 

Blake: "The leads are weak." The fucking leads are weak? You're weak. I've been in this business fifteen years... 

Dave Moss: What's your name? 

Blake: Fuck you. That's my name. 

[Moss laughs] 

Blake: You know why, mister? 'Cause you drove a Hyundai to get here tonight, I drove an eighty thousand dollar BMW. *That's* my name.

A tour de force then, but also a dark look at the harsh realities of the working world and the lengths people will go to, to survive. Lemmon's salesman is a loser but at heart a good family man while Pacino's Roma is a slimy charlatan yet one is a failure and the other prospers. There is a morality tale in there somewhere. 

Very much a character study, this is worth seeing if only for Mamet's dialogue and the excellent performances from the ensemble cast. It couldn't be called a compelling drama for very little happens but for sharp dialogue and tense well acted scenes, this is hard to beat. 

Flick of The Day: Buffalo Soldiers

It is funny how in the history of cinema, the relative success or failure of a film has hung on a very simple twist of fate. John Wayne's The Green Berets was a critical and commercial failure upon its release in 1968 due to its pro-soldier depiction of the Vietnam conflict and Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life was never fully appreciated till it was rediscovered on television. Today's flick of the day is another such film, Buffalo Soldiers. A biting satire of American soldiers stationed in Germany in 1989, it had the misfortune of being set for release in September 2001. After the events of 9/11, its cinema release was put back almost two years and whatever success it might have had disappeared.

Buffalo Soldiers

Set in 1989, just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Buffalo Soldiers is the story of Ray Elwood, a brilliant turn from Joaquin Phoenix, as a conniving and ruthless member of the US Army who views soldiering as an entrepreneurial activity. If he isn't selling drugs, he is profiteering with stolen Army merchandise. Elwood and his colleagues are portrayed as drug addled thieves, and with every scene it becomes more apparent why this film was not suitable for a post 9/11 America. After a military accident, Elwood lucks upon a cache of weaponry which he plans to sell to a local hood for 35 kilos of heroin. Of course, Elwood doesn't have it all his own way. A new Sergeant, Robert Lee played by the very underrated Scott Glenn, is onto Elwood and displays an almost psychotic zeal in his attempts to ruin his life. As the film heads for its grand finale, it becomes apparent that while War maybe hell, peace time can be just as dangerous.

This is a very entertaining and darkly comic look at life in the US Army. It paints a bleak portrayal of the readiness of these troops to fight has the cold war ever become hot and this boldness of direction leaves a lot to admire. Joaquin Phoenix proves once again why he is one of the best actors of his generation. His career choices since then have been well documented, but it is a question worth asking that if this film has garnered him the success it should have, where he might now be. The bitter rivalry between his character Elwood and Scott Glenn is a sight to behold. It is central to the film and its most entertaining aspect.

Ray Elwood: There's basically two types of guys in the army - the motherfuckers and the motherfucked

It helps that there is a decent script at the heart of the film, at times wickedly funny and always memorably quotable.

If the film has a weakness, it is it's overt amorality. Elwood is a ridiculously awful individual and is set up early on for a comeuppance that never arrives. This is a tacit endorsement of his behaviour which deteriorates as the film goes on. His superiors are portrayed as incredibly inept. The always reliable Ed Harris gives a fine turn as Elwood's commanding officer and a cuckolded buffoon desperate for promotion. At every possible opportunity for Elwood to be found out, fate in the form of a scriptwriter's hand steps in to keep him out of harms way.

Ray Elwood: So how come they assigned you here? 

Knoll: I put in for it. My fiancée is here on base, so we arranged for a transfer together. 

Ray Elwood: Oh, how sweet. Who's she? 

Knoll: Margolis, Carol-Anne. Private first class. 

Ray Elwood: You call her by her last name? What do you do, salute in bed?

Overall, this is a worthy film and very entertaining at that. As a satire, it isn't exactly Jonathan Swift but there is much to enjoy. Harris, Phoenix and Glenn deliver strong performances and make the best of a decent script. If the directing is at times heavy handed, it evens out over the course of the picture. Decent if unspectacular but worth a look.