1981 Directed by Bob Rafelson
This remake of the 1946 movie of the same name accounts an affair between a seedy drifter and a seductive wife of a roadside cafe owner. This begins a chain of events that culminates in murder. Based on a novel by James M. Cain.
Jack Nicholson Jessica Lange John Colicos Michael Lerner Anjelica Huston John P. Ryan William Traylor Jon Van Ness Brian Farrell Albert Henderson Christopher Lloyd Don Calfa Louis Turenne Thomas Hill Sam Edwards Joni Palmer Lionel Mark Smith Virgil Frye Brion James Ron Flagge Elsa Raven James O'Connell William Newman Raleigh Bond Glenn Shadix Tani Guthrie Carolyn Coates Kopi Sotiropulos
My memory of this film was fading, and although I still haven't seen the 1946 original, I decided it was time for a refresher. What a great reminder of how superlative Jack Nicholson can be at the top of his game, playing the capricious drifter Frank Chambers. And what great sexual chemistry Jessica Lange can stir up when she's paired with the right leading man.
I also enjoyed revisiting the cameos by Christopher Lloyd as a young salesman, Anjelica Huston as the gypsy lion tamer named Madge, and Michael Lerner as the clever shyster Mr. Katz. And I had forgotten how well John Colicos played his role as Greek immigrant Nick Papadakis, the husband of Cora (Lange) and owner of…
The 80s and 90s Neo-Noir Project
I didn't finish this as I fell asleep about halfway through it. I wasn't even that tired but I think this thing just put me to sleep, I was that bored by it.
I'm not going to go back and attempt to finish it because my mind is really fighting me doing that (see, it can work for me sometimes) but what I will say is that sex scene was way more explicit than I was expecting. Absolute filth, I'm fucking disgusted....
....by the way they tossed that really nice-looking bread on the floor like that. I could have eaten that.
i didn't know what tf was going on the whole time HOWEVER in the first 20 minutes there was a legnthy shot of jack nicholson going to town on jessica lange's muff so safe to say i'm pretty shaken up
A super sleezy noir about a married woman who falls for a drifter, then the two conspire to knock off the husband for the insurance money.
There is some Cronenbergian level sexual violence / attraction psychology going on here. Jack Nicholson plays the drifter and Jessica Lange is the wife. Her husband is a much older Greek immigrant. It is not explained how the two got together, but their relationship seems "ok", but she is not passionate towards him at all. It is more like a friendship and mutual respect relationship, more than it is a loving marriage.
But when Jack enters the scene, he gets a job working as a mechanic at the gas station and diner that the…
60/100
The Dissolve review, as part of a career overview on Mamet. Even adjusting for my oddball belief that the '46 version is perhaps the most wildly overrated noir of all time, this is significantly better than its dismal reputation, which I suspect mostly stems from its inexplicable damp squib of an ending. Hadn't realized until watching the story with a Mamet filter on that he refashioned a key plot point from Postman into the big third-act crucible-cum-twist in State and Main.
A remake of the 1946 film, this version features Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange, with a momentous white hot chemistry that can't possibly sustain itself but affords a memorable scene in the restaurant kitchen about ten minutes into the film which leads to the eventual plot to do in her older Greek husband. A story wherein neither would have the nerve to do such a thing alone, but together they make a job of it on one of the darkest nights and darkest rural roads ever. The trial for the murder features another couple of great performances by Michael Lerner as the resourceful to a fault defense attorney (if you were on trial for your life, you'd want this guy…
Bob Rafelson's aimless direction and a terrible ending holds this film-noir remake back. It is an interesting story and features solid acting, but it never completely comes together.
David Mamet's adaptation of James M. Cain's novel sees itinerant drifter and part time criminal Frank Chambers (Jack Nicholson) being hired as a mechanic by Greek garage / cafe owner Nick Papadakis (John Colicos) and his wife Cora (Jessica Lange). Frank and Cora quickly begin a torrid affair and soon begin to see Nick as the impediment to their happiness and their thoughts are soon turning to murder. Bob Rafelson directs with a eye to a grim and gritty depression-era realism and is ably assisted by the grainy cinematography of Sven Nykvist. Between them they paint a realistic portrait of desperate places and desperate times that creates the motivational background for characters like Frank and Cora. Both Jack Nicholson and…
This movie is wayyy too fucking long. The story works better in more contracted films like Ossessione or the 40’s Hollywood original. But Nicholson is always a lot of fun to watch, playing to type as a likeable asshole. They don’t give Jessica Lange much to do besides look pretty and have meltdowns at dramatically convenient moments. Not nearly as bad as it’s reputation would suggest, this is still a pretty superfluous adaption of a novel that’s been handled better before and since.
Capital "A" artists taking a vacation throughout the mud and coming back with little beyond Lange strong performance to show for it. Muted pulp, the seedy atmosphere so overlabored, not a moment of it seems believable. The overall sense of an out of order cosmic world never cames outside of cheap irony.
The acting is first rate but the movies comes in second to the first Postman. Worth a view. Do not have the film.
Nicholson and Lange have good chemistry but the ending lacks the teeth of the original.
Jayce Fryman 17,437 films
This list collects every film from the Starting List that became They Shoot Pictures Don't They's 1000 Greatest Films. This…
toshio 3,336 films
Watchlist of movies that only you and your best friends might appreciate. Suggestion: Use www.random.org to draw which ones to…
