Gideon58's Reviews

Nice review Thanks

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Thank you for taking the time to read it.

It's kind of funny that you said that about Emma Stone because that's exactly how I felt about Andrew Garfield. He was so much better than Tobey Maguire's Spidey. Like you said about Gwen Stacy, Andrew Garfield's Spidey was "less wimpy and more likable".

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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

Oh, if I didn't make that clear, I preferred Garfield to Maguire as well.

The Country Girl

The Country Girl is the emotionally charged film version of a play by Clifford Odets that received six Oscar nominations including Best Picture and won two Oscars for its seamless blending of character study of a man struggling with addiction and an on target look at the business of show business.

Bing Crosby, in the finest performance of his career which earned him an Oscar nomination, plays Frank Elgin, an actor whose alcoholism destroyed his career who's being offered a chance to revive his career by director Bernie Dodd (William Holden), who wants Frank to play the lead in a new Broadway musical he's directing called THE LAND AROUND US. The show's producer, Mr. Cook (Anthony Ross) does not want to risk the money he's pouring into this show on an alcoholic has been, but Bernie cannot be swayed and is firm that Frank is perfect for this part. Bernie becomes concerned though when he meets Frank's wife, Georgie (Grace Kelly), a quietly controlling woman who seems miserable with Frank but completely devoted and fiercely protective of him. Bernie believes that Frank will have an easier time doing this show if he can get his wife's tentacles out of him. What he doesn't realize that Frank is lost without Georgie, despite their misery, which developed after the death of their son.

This film is probably most famous for being the film where Grace Kelly blindsided Judy Garland by winning the Oscar for Best Actress over Garland in A Star is Born and after this recent re-watch, my opinion about this Oscar win has not changed...Garland was robbed. Don't get me wrong, Kelly works very hard to be believable in this role and actually dared to step in front of the cameras sans eye makeup, but the performance just didn't work for me but I don't blame Kelly entirely. I don't think it was necessarily the matter of a bad performance as it was a matter of Kelly was miscast. This character is a simple, unsophisticated woman from the country, as the character describes herself and no matter how many unattractive frocks you put her in or how much makeup you deprive her of, there is nothing about Grace Kelly that says simple or unsophisticated. The woman claims complete disdain for show business yet knows an awful lot about it, in some ways, even more than Frank, which just doesn't make sense. Kelly's onscreen persona, and Frank even uses the word to describe her as such, is regal and the sophisticated dialogue she is given on top of the allegedly simple woman Georgie is supposed to be, the character never jelled for me and Kelly failed to convince in this role.

Bing Crosby, on the other hand, is a whole other story. This film was actually made the same year he made one of his biggest hits, White Christmas, and you would never know it's the same actor in both films. Crosby has never lost himself in a character the way he does here...the charming crooner who inhabited so many classic musicals is but a distant memory here. Crosby's Frank Elgin is a confused frightened child who wants this chance to revive his career more than anything, but convinces himself at every turn that there's no way he can do it. Though he does his best to conceal his feelings which he can only accomplish by lying to everyone about everything, something very common with addiction. There are a couple of moments in the film where Georgie and Bernie ask Frank the same question and he gives them completely different answers. Crosby really understands Frank and gives him an emotional center that is, at times, heartbreaking. I would have given Crosby an Oscar over Kelly...it also easily trumps his Oscar winning performance in Going My Way.

William Holden, who actually has the most complex role in the story, is absolutely kinetic here as the man willing to stand behind Frank as long he can get him away from Georgie but even Bernie's motives come into question near the end of the second act, but Holden's performance never does. He manages a viable chemistry in his individual scenes with both Crosby and Kelly that always rings true.

George Seaton's direction is intense and he won an Oscar for his adaptation of Odets' play. Mentioned should also be made of Anthony Ross as the slimey producer Mr. Cook. Other than Kelly and an overbearing music score, this film is a gripping experience and if I do a thread about favorite movies about show business, this film will definitely be somewhere in the top ten.

FOOTLOOSE (2011)

My love of the original 1984 musical had me very wary about watching the remake but I broke down today and got pretty much what I expected. If you're going to remake a film, it is important to bring something new to the piece without sacrificing the integrity of the original and despite a modicum of updating, this remake really doesn't bring anything new to the cinematic table.

For those unfamiliar with the original film, this is the story of a kid from the big city named Ren McCormick who moves to a small town in Texas where loud music and dancing are forbidden because of a horrible accident in which five teenagers were killed and how Ren fights to get that law changed, initiating a battle of wills with the local minister, while dating his daughter, a girl who spends her time trying to not be "the preacher's daughter". This movie was the surprise hit of 1984 and officially made Kevin Bacon a movie star, who was assisted by a kick ass music score which included a memorable title tune by Kenny Loggins and a memorable turn by John Lithgow as the minister.

Dean Pitchford, who wrote the screenplay for the 1984 original also served as co-writer for this film, along with the director Craig Brewer and that becomes obvious very quickly as this film is pretty much a scene-for-scene remake of the first film, much like Gus Van Sant's remake of Psycho, but like that film, it attempts to reproduce the original film than find its own footing as an original work. There were a couple changes to the story that may or may not have been necessary. It was decided for this film that the film open with the actual accident that inspired the law and one of the victims turns out to be Rev. Shaw's son and Ariel's brother. Ironically, when they are in the car, they are listening to Kenny Loggins' original song, which was kind of odd.

There are couple of scenes that work...the scene where the four leads drive to a nearby town and visit a western bar features some spectacular line dancing and my favorite scene in the original film, where Ren teaches Willard how to dance to the strains of Denice Williams belting out "Let's Hear it For the Boy" did not disappoint but the rest of it just felt like Pitchford was so obsessed with maintaining the spirit of the original film that this movie never really finds its own footing and because of that, is very slow going in spots. This movie even lifts actual choreography and costuming from the first movie.

Kenny Wormold inherits the role of Ren McCormick and he's cute and can dance, but doesn't have the charisma that Kevin Bacon brought to the role and Julianne Hough also fails to convince as the good girl who wants to be bad. Dennis Quaid is fine as Rev. Moore, but it is Miles Teller who steals the show playing Willard, the role played in the original by the late Christopher Penn, the farm boy who loves to fight and can't dance. Yes, this is another one of those remakes that motivates my accustomed reaction to most remakes: Stick to the original.

DISCLOSURE

When does sexual harassment become assault? Does no really mean no? When does assault become rape? Is submitting to your attacker required if the attacker is your boss? And are any of the answers to these questions altered by the fact that the attacker is female and the victim is male? These questions provide the canvas for a sexy and stylish thriller from 1994 called Disclosure.

Michael Douglas stars as Tom Sanders, an executive at a computer software company who learns he has been passed over for a promotion that went to a former lover named Meredith Johnson (Demi Moore). After Meredith's first day at the firm, she calls Tom to her office for an after hours meeting and forces him to have sex with her. Tom goes home, takes a shower, and says nothing to his wife Susan (Caroline Goodall). Tom arrives at the office the next day and learns that Meredith has gone to their boss (Donald Sutherland) and claimed that he sexually harassed her. Boss Sutherland is in a panic because he's afraid that this scandal will disrupt an upcoming merger for the company that means millions. He tries to manipulate a transfer for Tom, who's not having that and decides that his only option is to sue Meredith and the company for sexual harassment.

This is such a fascinating, little talked about subject that has rarely been addressed in the movies and it really gets an intelligent and balanced look, thanks to a very clever screenplay by Paul Attanasio, based on a novel by Michael Crichton and the meticulous direction of Oscar winner Barry Levinson. The filmmakers really score here by having this story unfold very leisurely...until the fateful confrontation between Tom and Meredith occurs, we have absolutely no idea what this movie is about. And regarding said confrontation, this scene is brilliantly directed, edited, and acted and worth the price of admission alone. There is evidence to support that what begins as sexual assault becomes consensual sex but that is for the individual viewer to determine. It does aggravate that when the trial/mediation proceedings begin, that Tom's sexual past is open to examination but Meredith's is not. Levinson does offer subtle clues as to what's going to happen, but they are so subtle you don't really notice. There is a moment early on where Tom is observed patting his secretary on the ass with a file folder and the camera zooms right in on it and we're not really sure why at that moment, but it definitely comes into play later.

The movie loses steam during the final quarter after the trial ends, but this film is riveting entertainment for most of its running time. Douglas and Moore create a steamy and combative chemistry and Sutherland is appropriately oily as the boss whose loyalties change from scene to scene, not to mention Dylan Baker as his toadie. Goodall also has some strong moments as Tom's wife and Roma Maffia is wonderful as Tom's attorney, but more than anything, this film is a testament to the directorial style of Barry Levinson.

CHINATOWN

A pair of charismatic lead performances, a meticulously crafted screenplay, and the undeniable artistry of Roman Polanski in the director's chair made 1974's Chinatown an instant classic that received ten Oscar nominations, including Best Picture of the Year and deserved every accolade it received. This film is, simply a masterpiece and I am kicking myself for waiting so long to see it.

The setting is 1930's Los Angeles where we meet a slick private investigator named JJ Gittes who is hired by a woman named Evelyn Mulwray to find out if her husband, the Los Angeles Water Commissioner, is having an affair. It is soon revealed that the woman who hired Gittes is not the real Mrs. Mulwray and a short time later, Mulwray is found dead and Gittes wants to find out exactly what happened and is confused when the real Mrs. Mulwray just wants him to drop it and even pays him to do so. And thus begins a convoluted and fascinating tale of murder, greed, corruption, and family dysfunction whose many plot twists are difficult to keep up with at times but not so difficult that we don't stay on the edge of our seats for the entire running time.

Say what you will about the man's personal life, there is no denying that Roman Polanski is a master at screen storytelling, crafting a moody and disturbing crime thriller that will have names like Bogey, Bacall, Chandler, and Marlowe going through your head as Polanski proves his understanding and appreciation for the film noir and provides us with a dead solid perfect homage to the genre that entertains from start to finish with a grand assist from Robert Towne's flawless screenplay, which won the film its only Oscar. With the aid of some superb production values, Polanski beautifully recreates the gritty 1930's Los Angeles that this story demands, it's so dead on accurate that there were moments as I was watching that I almost wished Polanski had done the film in black and while...almost.

Polanski's cast delivers the goods as well, serving the story and always keeping it center stage...Nicholson was Oscar nominated for his sexy and unpredictable JJ Gittes and I don't think Faye Dunaway has ever been better, perfectly channeling Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Crawford in her role as the real Evelyn Mulwray that earned her a nomination as well. Dunaway would win an Oscar the following year for Network, but I have to wonder if that award was partially a consolation prize for being overlooked here. Dunaway is just flawless as the femme fatale who should have had a sign hanging around her neck that read "I haven't told you anything close to the truth and never will." There is a very stylish cameo by Oscar winning director and actor John Huston and even Polanski makes a cameo appearance as a menacing thug who cuts up Gittes' nose. Anyone who has any questions on how to make an effective film noir need look no further than here.

PAL JOEY

Frank Sinatra fans will be in heaven with Pal Joey, a sparkling 1957 re-tooling of the 1940 Rodgers and Hart Broadway musical that is definitely a watered down version of the original stage piece, but revamped to fit Ol' Blue Eyes, it still provides solid entertainment value.

The 1940 Broadway musical actually starred Gene Kelly, who made three films with Sinatra, so Sinatra taking over for the film version seemed like a no-brainer. Sinatra plays Joey Evans, a womanizing nightclub singer who gets a job at a club in San Francisco and finds himself torn between two very different women. Linda English (Kim Novak) is a chorus girl at the club where Joey works and catches Joey's eye immediately but she won't give him the time of the day, which makes her all the more attractive. Joey and his band are hired to perform at a charity gala at the home of high society matron Mrs. Vera Prentice-Simpson (Rita Hayworth), whom Joey immediately recognizes as a former stripper known as "Vera of the Vanishing Veils" and finds himself drawn to her when she offers to finance his very own club called Chez Joey and you have what has become a staple of musical comedy: the romantic triangle.

What is different here is that Joey is really not a very nice guy and makes no apologies for it. Joey's character is established in the opening scene where he is being escorted by the police onto a train out of town for having the mayor's underage daughter in a hotel room. When asked about how he handles women he explains, "You treat a dame like a lady and a lady like a dame." And as much as Joey enjoys female company, he has no desire to be attached to a female either. Joey shows his true colors as he pulls away from Linda when he realizes he can make his dream of being a club owner come true with Mrs. Simpson and it is Joey's shabby treatment of these two women that becomes the draw of this musical.

The role of Joey fits Sinatra like a glove and he doesn't shy away from the negative aspects of the character at all...creating a three dimensional musical comedy leading man who doesn't always act the way he's supposed to. Rita Hayworth is as alluring here as she was 11 years earlier in Gilda and though she looks amazing, Kim Novak's wooden performance made it hard for me to understand Joey's interest in her. I found the chemistry between Sinatra and Hayworth much more interesting and it is their complex relationship that makes this musical worth investing in.

Of course, the iconic score by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart is a big drawing point as well. I never saw the stage show, but I have heard the original Broadway cast soundtrack and the original score was butchered, not an uncommon practice in bringing Broadway to Hollywood, but we still have "I Could Write a Book", "Zip", "There's a Small Hotel", "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered", "The Lady is a Tramp", and "My Funny Valentine". The songs are well-performed, even if Sinatra is the only lead doing his own singing. JoAnn Greer sings for Hayworth and Trudy Stevens sings for Novak, but both actresses do lip-sync convincingly. There is a dream ballet near the climax of the film that seems out of place, but the film is watchable thanks to George Sidney's breezy direction and the talents of Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, and Frank Sinatra.

THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY

After a 4th watch, I think am ready to tackle reviewing the richly complex psychological thriller from 1999 that is as mesmerizing as it is aggravating and leaves all kinds of story elements open to personal interpretation. This is all a part of the cinematic enigma known as The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Tom Ripley is a washroom attendant who accidentally meets a millionaire whose son is living in Italy and Tom claims that he and Dickie, the son, were schoolmates at Princeton. This motivates Dad to offer Tom $1000 to go to Italy to get Dickie to come back home. Upon arrival in Italy, Tom instantly bonds with Dickie and his fiancee, Marge but the bonding reaches beyond friendship slipping into obsession and maybe even further than that and when Dickie decides he can't play by Tom's rules, it forces a fatalistic move on Tom's part that forces him into a dangerous charade that gets stickier and causes more collateral damage as Tom goes into self preservation mode.

Anthony Minghella has mounted a fascinating drama here, based on Patricia Highsmith's novel, where a lot is left to viewer interpretation. Each time I have watched this film, I find myself waffling as to whether Tom falls in love with Dickie or if he wants to be Dickie and being unable to decide what's going on in Tom's head I've finally realized is rather futile because Tom is a sociopath and I'm still not sure if he was in love with Dickie or not. This is made all the more aggravating because the sexual tension between Tom and Dickie is off the charts, though both men are in denial about it and that's what makes this story so fascinating...how does Tom justify what he does and how does it affect Marge and how does he sleep at night and is he going to get away with this?

Minghella's intelligent screenplay is matched by his crisp and detailed direction that always raises questions for me every time I have watched this film, but the brilliant performances by Matt Damon and Jude Law, who received a Best Supporting Actor nomination are a primary selling point as well. The sexual heat these two actors generate onscreen is undeniable, whether or not it was intended it's there and it's what makes this film sizzle. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Cate Blanchett, and Jack Davenport are solid as more collateral damage in Tom's orbit. Gwyneth Paltrow's Marge is a little hard to take, but does not deter from a film that I never tire of re-watching but still feel like there's a payoff I should be getting that I'm not.

You have been busy Gideon Nice reviews I own most of these movies

LEAVING LAS VEGAS

Nicolas Cage won the Oscar for Outstanding Lead Actor of 1995 for his performance in Leaving Las Vegas, an, at times, over-the-top, but for the most part, revealing look at the disease of alcoholism, bringing home the isolation and insanity that the disease can cause and also providing a rare look at the pain and suffering that can come from enabling an alcoholic.

This was my second watch of the film, which placed at # 23 on my list of favorite movies about addiction and I'm inclined to think this placement is pretty accurate, though there were many who didn't think so when I posted the list. The film is an insightful look at the disease of alcoholism; however, director and screenwriter Mike Figgis uses the same sledgehammer approach that Robert Zemeckis utilized for Flight, taking this story to the very extremes of where we are introduced to these characters, trying to make us accept unacceptable behavior that we are supposed to forgive because the root of the behavior is a disease.

Cage plays Ben Sanderson, a Hollywood screenwriter whose drinking destroyed his career and his marriage, which ended with his wife and daughter leaving him. When Ben gets fired from the studio, instead of taking a serious look at what his life become because of alcohol, he decides to liquidate his assets, move to Las Vegas and drink himself to death, where he meets an intelligent but lonely prostitute named Sera (Elisabeth Shue), who inexplicable finds herself drawn to the man and thinks she has accepted who Ben is and wants to be with him anyway.

Figgis mounts this drama with an unapologetic eye, beginning the story with some really outrageous behavior on Ben's part...a moment where Ben is observed driving down a busy Hollywood street downing a bottle of vodka with the law behind him is almost laughable, but the story settles into a more realistic vein once Ben gets to Vegas and I like that Ben never makes any qualms about why he came to Vegas. When he first meets Sera, he tells her flat out that he came here to drink himself to death, which initially amuses Sera but when she realizes that it's the truth. she actually gifts him with a flask, a symbol of her understanding and the beginning of her enabling Ben that would be instrumental to his downfall. She thinks she understands and accepts Ben for who he is but she really doesn't.

The story then becomes a challenge between Ben and Sera as Ben doesn't want to do anything but drink and Sera discreetly tries to foster an interest in something else, anything else...she suggests that they gamble one night and it ends in an explosive meltdown for Ben that has them being thrown out of the casino. Her suggestion that Ben move in with her eventually has circumstances for her that she calmly accepts. We get an interesting mirror to Ben's predicament as we see Sera try to explain her feelings to a therapist and trying to leave her complicated relationship with her pimp (a brilliant turn by Julian Sands) behind her.

The performances are strictly a matter of taste. I read that before filming began on this movie, Cage and a friend took off for two weeks and drank as "research" and there is some effective scenery chewing here and there, but for me, the secret of playing a good drunk scene is trying to act like you're not drunk and Cage doesn't have a single moment in the film like that. On the other hand, I guess he wouldn't because Ben never tries to conceal his disease from anyone in this movie. Elisabeth Shue was also nominated for Best Actress for her Sera. Shue works very hard to be a convincing prostie-with-a-heart-of-gold, but I just kept picturing Chris in Adventures in Babysitting playing dress up and just couldn't get behind the performance, but the actors and Mike Figgis reveal a passion for this project that puts the ugliness of alcoholism center stage.

When you say the scene of Ben driving down the street swigging a bottle of vodka with the police next to him is laughable, do you mean humorous or silly?

I'm not sure what the difference would be, but the sight of the man behind the wheel of an automobile chugging a full bottle of vodka was kind of difficult to take seriously...even the most serious of alcoholics are not going to get behind the wheel of a car with a FULL bottle of vodka and chug away like that...he didn't even have it in a bag. I also had a hard time believing that the cop didn't see it...and then the cop pulls ahead and he just pulls out the bottle and back to business? Sorry, just didn't buy it.

The Big Bus

Disaster movies were all the rage during the 1970's and anyone who has ever seen The Poseidon Adventure or Earthquake is well aware that this is a genre rich for lampooning and the first lampoon actually came right in the middle of the disaster craze, a 1976 comedy called The Big Bus. And if the truth be told, I can see where the Zucker brothers got some of their inspiration for Airplane!

This film made my worst comedies ever made list and though a re-watch proved that it wasn't as terrible as I remember, it still belongs on that list. This comedy is the overblown adventure of the first nuclear-powered passenger bus and its maiden voyage from New York to Denver. This bus looks more like a train..it has three cars and has a swimming pool, a bowling alley, and a cocktail lounge. Apparently there are rich oil lobbyists trying to stop the bus from being built but it gets done anyway. The driver who had been pegged for this journey gets injured and Kitty Baxter (Stockard Channing), the designer of the bus must turn to a disgraced former driver and ex-lover named Dan Torrance (Joseph Bologna) to take over as driver. who agrees as long as his new BFF Shoulders O' Brien (best character name ever) can be his co-driver. Unfortunately our crew has to deal with an insane millionaire in an iron lung (Jose Ferrer) and his insecure brother (Stuart Margolin) who have planted a bomb on the bus.

Of course, this landmark journey is taken by the expected nutty assortment of passengers, including a horny fashion designer (Lynn Redgrave), an about to be divorced wealthy couple (Sally Kellerman, Richard Mulligan), a disgraced veterinarian (Bob Dishy), a priest doubting his faith (Rene Auberjunois), and a man with six months to live (Richard B. Schull).

As I said, this is a genre rich for parody and screenwriters Fred Freeman and Lawrence J. Cohen have definitely done their homework...all of the stock characters that we've seen in disaster films make an appearance in some form here. Ned Beatty appears as a some kind of ground technician who seems to be a takeoff on Joe Patroni, the character George Kennedy played in the Airport movies and Auberjunois' character is a spot on jab at Gene Hackman's character in The Poseidon Adventure. There is a little too much time spent on exposition here...the scene in the bar where Bologna's character is introduced is way too long and the bit with Harold Gould being injured and doctor Larry Hagman saying he cannot be moved, even in the middle of a blinding rainstorm gets old quickly, but once the bus actually begins its journey, there is sporadic fun.

Bologna and Channing are credible leads and Kellerman and Mulligan are very funny. Some of the funniest moments in the film actually come from Murphy Dunne as the lounge pianist in the cocktail lounge, a role he would briefly reprise in the Mel Brooks comedy High Anxiety. The screenplay could have been a little more economic, but James Frawley's direction is just manic enough for this kind of satire. If you liked Airplane!, there are laughs to be found here.

The Big Bus sounds kind of fun and after hearing about if from Captain Steel and reading your review. I will give it a watch

Thanks for the reply. The reason I asked is because you're wrong about that, and I know that from experience. I was just like Ben, and I wouldn't drive without chugging booze, and it didn't matter who was looking. I even drank alcohol inside a police cruiser-on two seperate occasions! Diving around Montreal I pulled up next to a cruiser, asked them in a fake Australian accent where the whores were, and chugged my beer while I was talking to them. I used to intentionally bump police cruisers when I pulled up behind one at a red light. I don't know why I did these things, but the fact is that some people drink themselves to obliteration and display outrageous behavior. The point is that, if you were to come to the realization that his actions in the movie were realistic, would you like it more?

I would like it more if a subject as serious as alcoholism is going to be dealt with in a film then it needs to be dealt with in a serious manner...this is a disease that kills more people than anything. To show this man doing what he was doing with no consequences was wrong. You may not agree with me and you have that right, but telling me I'm wrong is inappropriate...we can agree to disagree. To have that scene and not at least have him be caught by the cop was wrong, case closed.

FAME (2009)
My recent viewing of the remake of Footloose gave me the cajones to brave the 2009 remake of Fame and I'm going to come right out and say it...I liked this movie a lot.

This is a splashy and imaginative re-thinking of the 1980 Alan Parker musical that won an Oscar for its title song and spawned a long running television series. I must qualify the review that follows by saying that this movie is not for everyone...there are two particular demographic segments to whom this movie will appeal: Of course, if you loved the 1980 film you will definitely find entertainment here. The other demographic that this movie will work for is people who have any kind of direct experience with theater or show business. I possess a Bachelor of Arts in Musical Theater that I earned at a school very much like the School of Performing Arts and just about everything that happens here is something that I can tap into in some way or form and understand what these kids go through.

This film follows the basic premise of the first film to the letter..we follow a group of high school students from the audition process to graduation from Performing Arts. Screenwriter Allison Burnett has taken the characters and situations from the original film and tweaked them just enough that this film finds a life of its own while paying complete respect to the film it is based on. The film touches upon all the subjects that you would expect from this film such as having a passion for the business is pointless if you don't have the talent, that people in this business do not always have the most honorable intentions and if you don't enjoy what you're doing, you're never going to be really good at it.

Among the characters we meet are a brilliant keyboard player named Victor (Walter Perez), a shy aspiring actress named Jenny (Kay Panabaker), a very angry rapper (Collins Pennie), and a dancer named Kevin (Paul McGill), who wants to dance professionally more than anything but doesn't really have the talent. The most compelling story for me revolved around Denise (Naturi Naughton), a girl who has been forced to be a classical pianist by her father, but her real passion is singing, which is beautifully revealed in Naughton's breathtaking rendition of "Out Here On My Own", the only song from the original film utilized here, but given a fresh rebirth here.

The "Hot Lunch" jam from the first film is faithfully recreated with the addition of rap and tap. I loved that the art of tap dance is not overlooked in this film, but it did bring up one minor quibble I had. There is a fabulous scene of a tap class that is taught by the school's ballet teacher (Bebe Neuwirth), but technically a ballet teacher would not be teaching a tap class, but I digress. Neuwith has a first rate moment of drama though when she tells Kevin the truth about his future. Also loved Kelsey Grammer as the piano teacher and Megan Mullally as the voice teacher. We even get treated to Mullally bringing down the house with a rendition of "You Took Advantage of Me". Another loving salute to the original film is the casting of Debbie Allen, who had a small role in the original film and was the star of the TV series, playing the head of the school. Charles S. Dutton also brings a wonderful depth to his role as the acting teacher.

This film is consistently entertaining for the most part, rich with some very talented singers and dancers. There is some dazzling choreography aided by some sharp editing and the gospel choir rocks, despite the fact that a lot of the singers were white, but another minor quibble regarding one of the most entertaining remakes I have seen in a long time, creating its own effervescent life while honoring with style the film from which it originated.

There's a saying that when a person gets caught drinking and driving, it's never their first time. He died, and I would consider that the ultimate consequence. A person is way more likely to not get caught drinking and driving, than to get caught.