Billy Bathgate

1991's Billy Bathgate is a movie that frustrates me. I like the 1930's setting, I love films about organized crime, and the cast is solid. This film should work, but it just doesn't.

Based on a novel of the same name, which I admittedly have never read, Billy Bathgate is the story of a teenager from the Bronx named Billy (played by Loren Dean). Early on Billy meets a gangster named Dutch Schultz (played by Dustin Hoffman) and joins his organization. Alongside Dean and Hoffman the film also stars Bruce Willis and Nicole Kidman, and both are fine in this one. For me, Billy is the weakest part of this film and the main reason why I don't like it more. Unlike a good crime film like Goodfellas in which we see the rise and fall of our main character(s), Billy basically just serves as a personal assistant to Dutch. He doesn't kill anyone, or have to dispose of a body, or launder money, or rough-up a guy... he's a bland, vanilla character. Now, I get that we're supposed to like Billy but, a good movie can get you to empathize with people who do terrible things over the course of the film. In all fairness, even though Billy is a flat character, he isn't the only problem. The movie also has some scenes that drag on too long and yet simultaneously doesn't seem to have time to give any character development to the other members of Dutch's crew. The movie also fails to reach a satisfying conclusion; a main story thread that drives the plot is Dutch's upcoming tax-evasion trial. However, even though Dutch is acquitted of the charges he's abruptly gunned down by a rival gang a short time later.

Overall, Billy Bathgate is a film I want to love but I just don't. It isn't unwatchable, and there are bits here and there that I do think are good, but I don't recommend this one.
1.5 out of 5

80's Month Day 23: Die Hard

The 1980's gave us some of the most memorable action movies of all-time. Films like Predator, Escape from New York, RoboCop, Commando, Missing in Action, First Blood, and Lethal Weapon just to name a few. However, one of the best (and the one that made Bruce Willis an action star) is 1988's Die Hard. I wrote about this one briefly for my "10 Movies to Watch this Holiday Season" list in December of last year, because it is a 'Christmas Movie' (If you want to check out that list, you can by clicking here).

Now, I'm not going to go into the whole plot as Die Hard is one of those films that everyone has either already seen or they need to go see ASAP. The real brief overview is; a NYC cop named John McClane (played by Bruce Willis) travels to L.A. for Christmas with the hope of patching things up with his estranged wife. While he's there, some terrorists take over the skyscraper where his wife works and it's up to John to save the day. It's simple, straight-forward and, if you've never seen it, probably sounds pretty generic. Where the film excels isn't in having a brilliant one-of-a-kind story, but rather from being perfectly cast and having some great writing. 

The casting is all-around solid but, it's the two leads that really stand out. Both Bruce Willis as the wise-cracking hero John McClane and Alan Rickman as the villain, German-terrorist Hans Gruber, are great in their roles and compliment each other perfectly. Now, in addition to the cast the film benefits from the plot moving along at an exciting pace and some of the most memorable action movie lines and moments from the 80's. From "Yippie-Ki-Yay Mother F****r" to "Now I have a machine gun. Ho-Ho-Ho", the movie provides entertainment throughout.

Overall, If you haven't guessed, I love Die Hard and I highly recommend it.

I give it a 5 out of 5.

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Today's Movie: What Just Happened

 

Released in 2008, What Just Happened is comedy-drama about a Hollywood Producer named Ben (played by Robert De Niro) who is going through his fair share of professional and personal problems. His latest film, 'Fiercely' (Which stars Sean Penn), is receiving a lot of push back after it's test screening because a dog is shot at the end of the film. Of course the film's director doesn't want to change the ending which causes concerns among studio executives. Ben is also having a hard time making a clean break from his ex-wife Kelly (played by Robin Wright) who is seeing a screenwriter named Scott (played by Stanley Tucci) who Ben has previously worked with. As if all that wasn't enough, the studio is threatening to cancel a film Ben is producing because Bruce Willis is unwilling to shave the thick beard that he has recently grown and his agent Dick Bell (played by John Turturro) is too scared to confront him.

For the most part the cast is pretty solid, Robert De Niro turns in a good performance but I wouldn't put it up there with some of his best. Bruce Willis, though not in the film a whole lot, provides a few laughs. Overall, the movie far from perfect and feels about 15 minutes too long with a few scenes that could've easily been cut. It's watchable but not a must-see.

I give this one a 2out of 5.

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