I just watched Pennies from Heaven and I must say you are ABSOLUTELY right about it! It's an audacious musical, that yet has all the classic elements of the golden era in it. Herbert Ross' directing of (especially) the musical numbers is also very impressive. I loved everything about it: the story, the music, the occasional comedy, the atmosphere, the performances, and so on and so on. I can imagine this film was way ahead of its time, though.
It's full of amazing scenes and moments, but this has to be my favorite:
Plain awesomeness!
Thanks for recommending it in your thread here! I would not have discovered this flick for a very long time if it wasn't for your convincing hymn about it.
If I had only started this a few months ago. Maybe I could have introduced enough of you to it that it would have made the MoFo '80s list?
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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra
Directed by L.Q. Jones Screenplay by Alvy Moore, Wayne Cruseturner, and L.Q. Jones Based on the novella by Harlan Ellison Cinematography by John Arthur Morrill Cast: Don Johnson, Tim McIntire, Susanne Benton, Alvy Moore, Helene Winston, Charles McGraw, Tiger, and Jason Robards 1975 / approximately 91 minutes
A Boy and His Dog is an intentionally deceptive title that, with no other context, could easily conjure up images of a live-action Disney movie, either of a Jack London-type tale of surival in nature or perhaps a wacky comedy about a pooch that runs for mayor? This film is about survival, though about as far from a Disney movie as one can get. An accurate, literal title would be something more like A Teenager and His Telepathic Dog Battle Desperate Souls and Mutants for Food and Water in a Post-Apocalyptic Landscape. Tough to fit that on a marquee.
Years after an atomic war has destroyed most of civilization and humanity, in a radioactive desert somewhere in what was the United States, Vic (Don Johnson, a decade before "Miami Vice" would make him a star) and a dog named Blood (played by Tiger, a Bearded Collie) roam the desolate area looking for supplies and food, trying to avoid danger, most of which consists of the other survivors. Blood is the brains of the outfit, smart and thoughtful, and communicates with Vic via telepathy (voiced by Tim McIntire). Blood also has other useful abilities, including an enhanced sense of smell and a radar-like ability to scan for other living things. The film never explains how Blood and some other dogs have gained this telepathic ability, and it hardly matters. But for all of Blood's advances, he can't pull the trigger on a gun or turn a doorknob, so he and Vic are partners. Vic is supposed to be seventeen or so, and is not terribly bright. An orphan who has survived in the post-apocalyptic landscape for years, he can be impulsive, and at times treats Blood's advice the way a petulant teenager would advice from his father. Much to Blood's frustration. Like many teenagers, Vic is also a little sex-crazed, and in addition to food and bullets, Blood also helps him find women to be with.
The first half of the film has what are, by now, familiar scenarios of fending off groups of bandits looking to take what they want from everybody else. This film was released four years before the original Mad Max, so if it seems less elaborate than something like The Road Warrior, less dystopian than Escape from New York, and less stylized than The Book of Eli or Six-String Samurai or any dozen other movies of the sub-genre in the subsequent decades, remember that this is one of the first.
The narrative switches gears and locales in the second half, and gets even more surreal, when Vic is lured beneath the surface by a beautiful young woman named Quilla June (Susanne Benton). He first saves from a gang and then is quickly and easily seduced by her. Post-coitus, she tells him of a better place than the murderous desert, a place where she lives. A place called Topeka.
Buried deep below the ground, clearly made before the bombs started to fall, is en entire society of survivors. Their beloved Topeka is made in the fashion of Smalltown U.S.A. circa 1940-something, a funhouse mirror take on Norman Rockwell Americana. It's all gingham and denim, picnics and a marching band. Because the light is artificial and they have been underground for years at this point, all of the residents wear thick, white makeup, a Kabuki pagent resulting in the people looking like grotesque, life-sized dolls. Topeka is controlled by a three-member committee, the clear leader of which is Lou Craddock (Jason Robards). They seem to have enough food, resources, electricity and space down there to last for a generation or two, if necessary. And the next generation is exactly why Vic has been brought there. Much like the mineshaft scenario described by Doctor Strangelove at the end of Kubrick's film, there is a need for prodigious procreation! But poor Vic finds out it's not quite the Letters to Penthouse non-stop orgy he may have imagined.
"Lack of respect, wrong attitude, failure to obey authority. The Farm, immediately."
A Boy & His Dog is insane, twisted, satirical and it, too, was probably ahead of its time. On their face, the action and T&A elements might have made it likely fodder for a Drive-In potboiler, but it's done with a level of wit and insanity that likely would have confused if not outright bored an audience looking for an A.I.P. style flick. And at the same time, too sleazy and nutty for the Art House circuit.
The film's director, L.Q. Jones, is a well-known character actor who had been in the business for two decades, at that point, having been in dozens of television shows and, most fruitfully, part of Sam Pekinpah's stable of actors, starting with Ride the High Country (1962) and following in Major Dundee (1965), The Wild Bunch (1969), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), and Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973). He directed only one other movie before this, a micro-budgeted Western The Devil's Bedroom (1964), and never made another movie after A Boy & His Dog. But this one is a terrific film that has attained cult status, yet still too often gets left out of the discussion of Best Science Fiction films.
Tim McIntire, who does Blood's voice overs, was an actor who worked for many years in the industry, making his film debut with Jimmy Stewart in Shendoah and as an adult had visible roles in The Sterile Cuckoo with Liza Minelli, Brubaker with Robert Redford, and starred as disc jockey Alan Freed in American Hot Wax.
Tim McIntire also wrote the music and sang the title song for the film. He composed scores and songs for several other films, including “The Ballad of Jeremiah Johnson”, which he also sang, in Sydney Pollack’s Jeremiah Johnson (1972).
Ray Manzarek of The Doors also worked on the film's music with McIntire.
If it seems like an odd project for the double Oscar-winning Jason Robards to have agreed to, he did know L.Q. Jones from Peckinpah's The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), which explains at least how the script got to him, if not why he agreed to take the role.
Harlan Ellison, who wrote the original story, tried to adapt it into a screenplay himself. He gave up, under the frustration of writer's block, so Jones and two others actually wrote it. Ellison is gloriously and sometimes even notoriously outspoken, but except for the last lines of the film, a joke that he thought was cheap and undercut everything that went before it, he rather liked L.Q.'s film, and is often cited as the best adaptation of one of his stories or teleplays.
The legendary Jimmy Cagney was considered for the role of Blood's voice, but all involved ultimately decided his voice was TOO recognizable and iconic and would have been too much of a distraction for viewers. He would not come out of his self-imposed retirement until Miloš Forman's Ragtime (1981)
The canine actor is the same Tiger who was the family pet on a handful of episodes of "The Brady Bunch".
Last edited by Holden Pike; 4 weeks ago at 08:03 PM.
That's essentially what this is. At least the first hundred. But I'm just revealing them as I go, it's not ranked (though my top ten is easy to discover, in my profile) or even revealed alphabeticaly.
That's four down, ninety-six to go.
Last edited by Holden Pike; 4 weeks ago at 08:24 PM.
I watched A Boy & His Dog upon its appearance on this list, and then read your writeup (which I enjoyed ). For me though the movie felt like nothing more than a decent campy apocalyptic tale. I personally enjoyed the first (pre-cult) half of the film, while the rest bored me outside of a few entertaining moments. But as you mentioned it has a selective audience.
I love A Boy and His Dog. I'm glad you also appreciated it. But then again I'm not surprised. You have superb taste Holden. The review was well written, and your observations spot on.
”It’s been a long time since I Rock and Rolled. It’s been a long time since I did The Stroll…”
When I started this thread back in 2014, I had every intention of adding at least one or two reviews per month. I stalled after only four. Lots of things had been going on, as I just joined my first band, I had just changed careers in my day job, then a few years after that I got married, got into bigger bands, did a lot of traveling, had a granddaughter, got a dog, etc. All great stuff, but it left little time to devote to this particular effort here at MoFo. I still have all those wonderful IRL things, except that I am taking a break from music. That is giving me what I think will be more time to get back to this. I’m gonna try, anyway. Or at the very least, try to try.
Directed by John Patrick Shanley Screenplay by John Patrick Shanley Cinematography by Stephen Goldblatt Cast: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Dan Hedaya, Ossie Davis, Abe Vigoda, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Amanda Plummer, Barry McGovern, David Burton, Nathan Lane, Carol Kane 1990 / approximately 102 minutes
Joe versus the Volcano is a romantic fairy tale about the power of taking chances, an existential comedy with elements of high adventure and true love. Since its release it has seemed to be a divisive cinematic experience, transfixing some and angering others, but those of us who adore it have turned it into a beloved cult flick.
Tom Hanks stars as Joseph Banks. Joe has a truly lousy job, working in the advertising library of a large company that manufactures medical equipment. But that description doesn’t do it justice. It is a huge, dark, industrial plant, Joe one of the many shift workers slowly walking to their stations like zombies. Joe has an office off the plant floor, but it is not much more inviting than the industrial Hell around it. It is essentially a coffin lit by buzzing, blinking fluorescent lights. Joe has just three co-workers in his immediate area: the boss, Mr. Waturi (Dan Hedaya), a nameless male zombie, and a mousey secretary named Dede (Meg Ryan). Joe is even cut off from those folks in a dark room with exposed pipes and shelves. This is the so-called library that is his domain, mailing catalogs to potential customers and sales reps. He does have one item to try and personalize the space: an ornate little lamp he keeps squirreled away in a filing cabinet, with a dancing hula girl for a base and a colorful shade that spins to a tinkling lullaby.
Joe is miserable. Not just because of his job, but he also doesn’t feel well physically. We learn he takes many doctor appointments, though none of them seem to help. Today he is going to a new specialist during his lunch hour. The specialist is a Dr. Ellison (Robert Stack) who relays a devastating diagnosis: Joe has a Brain Cloud. It is a rare disease with no symptoms, but it is quick, insidious, and 100% terminal. He tells him he has approximately six months to live, and advises to use that remaining time well. Joe laments that he has no money, having spent what little he had on the long series of doctor visits that led him here. He leaves the office stunned by the news, but it also forces him to change his life. He returns to his horrible job and gets one of the best-ever quitting scenes in film, stage, or literature. After years wasted in that dingy purgatory, he finally tells the crass, pushy, and belittling Mr. Waturi exactly where he can shove this job. He also musters the courage to ask Didi out on a date after years of being too afraid to ask. With a finite amount of time left, Joe has taken the first steps to reclaiming his life.
The date goes well until she learns he is dying, which is too much for her to deal with. The next morning, unsure of what to do, a knock comes on the door. It is an eccentric businessman named Samuel H. Graynamore (Lloyd Bridges). He has learned of Joe’s dilemma from Dr. Ellison and makes him a proposition. His company needs the mineral rights on a small, little-known Pacific island, Waponi Woo, but they have only one thing they will take in trade: a hero. There is an active volcano on the island, and the Waponis believe the fire gods within must be appeased with a sacrifice once every hundred years. That clock has almost run out, but none of the natives are volunteering to sacrifice themselves. That’s where Joe comes in. Graynamore offers to buy his services. He will lavish him with first class travel and any material thing he wants if Joe makes that fateful leap. With a death sentence and no other clear prospects, Joe accepts!
That is the set up for this adventurous fable. We have left the evil dark forest and can now set out to explore the fantasyland! The next two chapters are in Manhattan and Los Angeles. In NYC he hires a limousine for the day and goes on a no-limit shopping spree. The limo driver, Marshall (Ossie Davis), gives him some sage advice on where to shop, buying fancy clothes, random high-end knick-knacks, and four large steamer trunks to carry it all. In L.A. he is met by Graynamore’s daughter, a flighty but depressed artist named Angelica (also played by Meg Ryan). But it is all just preamble to boarding the yacht that will sail him to the island. That boat is also owned by Graynamore, captained by another daughter, Angelica’s half-sister Patricia, who is played by – you’ve probably guessed it – Meg Ryan.
A couple nights into the cruise across the Pacific, the yacht is sunk in a mighty typhoon, with Joe and Patricia the only survivors. Joe is able to fashion a makeshift raft out of his four large, leather, water-tight steamer trunks! At first Patricia is unconscious but Joe nurses her as best he can, giving her the little drinking water they have and fasting himself. She eventually awakens and they are miraculously spotted by the Waponis. He is greeted as a hero, including by the tribe’s Chief (Abe Vigoda), but now Joe must decide if he will go through with the suicidal sacrifice as planned or cling to the life, and new love, that he has left.
Joe versus the Volcano got some great reviews, including from Roger Ebert, but it had its share of professional detractors as well, and at the time it was a box office dud that large segments of the audience who did actually go to see it found it unappealing. It was the directorial debut of John Patrick Shanley. Shanley started as a New York City playwright, with seven successful off-Broadway shows under his belt before Hollywood came calling, most of which he had also directed. His first two movies debuted in 1987, Tony Bill’s wonderful but underseen Five Corners starring Jodie Foster, Tim Robbins, and John Turturro (Turturro had won awards for starring in JPS plays) as well as Norman Jewison’s Moonstruck, which was a hit and nominated for six Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director, winning the two actress awards for Cher and Olympia Dukakis and Best Original Screenplay for Shanley over such heavyweights as James L. Brooks for Broadcast News and Woody Allen for Radio Days. The third screenplay he had produced was an infamous bomb, an all-star-studded dark comedy/thriller called The January Man (1989). It was a mess of tone and intent, despite the best efforts of Kevin Kline and Alan Rickman. Absolutely savaged by critics and rightly ignored by audiences. But an Oscar win will get you more than one chance, and after Steven Spielberg read Joe versus the Volcano he not only wanted to produce it but also thought Shanley should make his debut as a movie director.
Joe versus the Volcano is very explicitly set up as a fable, which is why I have always found it odd that one of the main criticisms leveled is it is somehow too artificial and superficial. Everything is exaggerated, like a fairy tale, from the stylized netherworld of Joe’s job to the polished veneers of New York and L.A. to the gigantic moon rising over the ocean, and the colorful cultural mishmash on the fictional island. Of course, none of it is to be taken as “real”, these are movie fantasies seen through a child-like lens. The production design is a treat. And while the world he is moving through is obviously highly engineered, what is always grounded is Hanks’ performance. The situations may be outlandish, but Hanks plays it straight. Thus his existential journey and transformation feel earned and meaningful, even when the sets and many specifics are all purposefully fake. I suppose those who dislike the movie find those two elements incongruous, but for those of us who return to it again and again it is as much for the heartfelt examination of a man’s soul being repaired and the redemptive power of love as it is for the fun of the fantasy elements and the laughs from the comedy.
For fans there are literally dozens of quotable and funny lines, including Mr. Waturi’s circular one-sided phone call (“I know he can get the job, but can he do the job…I’m not arguing that with you!”), to some deadpan classics from Airplane! vets Bridges and Stack (“Damned if I know, Kemosabe. All I know is, when you’re making those kinds of calls you’re up in the high country”), Angelica has some real corkers (“I’m a flibbertygibbit” and “Oh…I have no response to that”) including her poetry (“’Long ago the delicate tangles of his hair covered the emptiness of my hand…’ Would you like to hear it again?”), and Abe Vigoda’s no nonsense Chief (“No, you just jump in”) is hysterical.
I have loved this movie since I first saw it and am not surprised it developed a cult fanbase. Although he was proud of the film, the mixed reception Joe received and its reputation as being a dud, financially, coupled with his very next movie that released later in 1990, Brian DePalma’s infamous Bonfire of the Vanities which was universally despised as well as a financial failure, the decade started out kinda rough for Hanks. The rest of the decade was nothing but sustained success of all kinds, a run from A League of Their Own (1992) through Cast Away (2000) that saw him triumphant at the box office as well as nominated for four Oscars winning back-to-back for Philadelphia (1993) and Forrest Gump (1994). But for all of that objectively great and popular work, my favorite is still Joe versus the Volcano.
Last edited by Holden Pike; 4 weeks ago at 09:34 AM.
There are several visual motifs throughout, the most important being the zig-zag lightning bolt shape that reappears. It is first seen and most obvious as the logo for Joe’s company, American Panascope, which is also the shape of the crooked path the employees use. Next it appears in Joe’s apartment, the morning Graynamore visits with his proposition, as a large crack on the apartment wall. We see it again as the actual lightning that cuts the yacht in half and sinks it, and finally it is the shape of the path that goes from the village up to the mouth of the volcano.
Another visual double is the Waponi ceremonial mask worn at the volcano is the same as the exterior of the factory.
The portrayal of the American Panascope industrial environment was influenced by Shanley's experience working as an eighteen-year-old for a company that manufactured medical equipment, including catheters, endoscopes, and artificial testicles. The design of Joe's office is based on the office he worked in there, including the fluorescent lighting and a pipe with a valve that reads, "Do not touch".
Obviously the books Joe has in his desk all forshadow the adventure he is about to take: Robinson Crusoe, Romeo & Juliet, and The Odyssey. Another hint hiding in plain sight is the lampshade on his novelty lamp. As it rotates it reveals a yacht, a pretty blond woman on an island paradise, and a volcano - a volcano that has the exact same zig-zag lightning bolt path we see on Waponi Woo.
CAMEOS: Carol Kane has a very brief scene as Cassie the hairdresser who cuts Joe’s hair in Manhattan. Though clearly recognizable, she is billed as Lisa LeBlanc in the credits. This was not Nathan Lane’s first film, it was his third, but still long before his Broadway acclaim had transferred to the big screen. He is one of the island inhabitants. His character’s name is Baw, and other than Abe Vigoda’s Chief he is the only other Waponi who seems to speak any English. You may not initially recognize him under his heavy, colorful makeup and headdress, but when he says, “Are you Joe Banks?” his voice is unmistakable.
Meg Ryan plays three roles, and in a bit of foreshadowing it turned out to be the first of three projects she and Hanks would co-star in, subsequently headlining Nora Ephron’s Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and You’ve Got Mail (1998).
While most critics gave negative reviews back in March of 1990, Roger Ebert was an immediate supporter. He gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up on the syndicated TV show with Gene Siskel (who gave it a measured thumbs down) as well as a three and-a-half star print review. His full newspaper review can be found on his website HERE as well visiting critic Collin Souter’s essay, How We Choose Our Favorite Film, and Why Mine is Joe Versus the Volcano.
An alternate, extended ending was scripted and filmed before reworking the ending we all know and love. After being blown into the ocean as the island sinks, the sister yacht, the Tweedle Dum, arrives. On board are not only Dagmar and the rest of the crew from the sunken Tweedle Dee, but Mr. Graynamore and Dr. Ellison. If the footage still exists, it hasn't been made public. Maybe some day? There are only a couple stills with Joe and Patricia on the deck of the boat. However, you can read the screenplay including the original ending HERE. Without having seen the footage, I prefer the ending as is. More appropriately magical.
Last edited by Holden Pike; 4 weeks ago at 12:27 AM.
Just a side note... more later, but Joe Versus the Volcano did get a small contribution to its box office by an eight year old me in 1990 and I loved it then and still do today!
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"A candy colored clown!" Member since Fall 2002 Top 100 Films, clicky below
Directed by Clint Eastwood Screenplay by John Lee Hancock Cinematography by Jack Green Cast: Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, T.J. Lowther, Laura Dern, Leo Burmester, Keith Szarabajka, Bradley Whitford, Bruce McGill, Ray McKinnon, Linda Hart, Jennifer Griffin, Lucy Lee Flippin, Elizabeth Ruscio, Kevin Jamal Woods, Mary Alice, and Wayne Dehart 1993 / approximately 138 minutes
Clint Eastwood’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning triumph Unforgiven (1992) was another masterpiece, though it somehow missed connecting with mass audiences or awards in 1993. Set in 1963 Texas, on Halloween night two cellmates, Butch Haynes (Kevin Costner) and Terry Pugh (Keith Szarabajka), escape from prison and abduct an administrator and his car, as well as his revolver. In the minutes before dawn while cruising nearby neighborhoods for another car to steal, Pugh enters a kitchen where a woman is making breakfast for her children. There is no husband in the house, but her eight-year-old son Phillip (T.J. Lowther) walks in on the scene. Pugh is clearly a sociopath, striking the boy and groping his mother. Butch bursts in, beating Pugh, but a neighbor has seen the commotion and enters with a shotgun. Butch gets the pistol, controls the situation without killing anyone, and decides to take Phillip as a hostage.
So begins the coming-of-age, criminal road trip of A Perfect World. Eastwood plays Red Garnett, Chief of the Texas Rangers who along with two of his deputies as well as an F.B.I. sniper (Bradley Whitford, six years before ”The West Wing”), and criminologist Sally Gerber (Laura Dern, just after her Rambling Rose Oscar nom and the year before Jurassic Park) pile in a fancy Gulf Stream RV to coordinate the pursuit. Butch and Pugh were cellmates but not friends, leading to the film’s first confrontation. Soon it is just Butch and Phillip, who he nicknames “Buzz”, on the small backroads of central and western Texas, avoiding the authorities and bonding along the way. We learn Butch, though a career criminal, is a relatively moral and very bright fella. A bad childhood, with a prostitute mother and a brutal, mostly-absent father, set him on his path. Phillip is the opposite, loved but incredibly sheltered. His mother is a practicing Jehovah’s Witness, meaning young Phillip has missed out on simple American cultural traditions like Halloween, Christmas, carnivals, roller coasters, and sweets. Butch has a vague plan of heading to Alaska, the last place he got a post card from his father years ago, but he doesn’t seem to be in a huge rush, enjoying the problem solving of being on the road and educating his young passenger.
While it has all the ingredients for a straight action picture full of high-octane chase scenes and gunplay, instead A Perfect World is a character study and contemplative meditation on the legacy of violence. Butch Haynes’ actions have led him to prison, but almost from the moment he locks eyes with Phillip in that kitchen and sees an innocence he wants to both protect while also passing on the bits of wisdom he has cobbled together during his mostly wasted life. There is a backstory with Eastwood’s Ranger as well, where a judgment he made decades ago with the young Haynes that he hoped would scare him straight ultimately contributed to his crooked path, despite the good intentions.
And while the themes are heavy, the movie has plenty of genuine charm and fun, especially watching the relationship grow between Butch and Phillip. It all leads to an inevitable conclusion, one where we see how deep Butch’s traumatic scars really are and the darkness that is lurking when the wrong buttons are pushed. To me this is easily Costner’s best performance, bar none, using his movie star charisma but shading it with danger and compassion. The seven-year-old T.J. Lowther is very good himself. His character is as important as Costner’s, though he must relay his emotions and discoveries without the benefit of as much dialogue.
A Perfect World did generate money at the box office, though it was mostly foreign receipts. It managed a quiet $35 million in domestic tickets but over a hundred million in the rest of the world! In the U.S. it was released in November but couldn’t keep up with the two big dramas of the season, Philadelphia and Schindler’s List, while the escapist fun of Mrs. Doubtfire and Wayne’s World 2 gobbled up the rest of the business. A Perfect World remains underseen to this day. Give it a look.
Last edited by Holden Pike; 4 weeks ago at 05:16 PM.
The script was originally optioned by Barry Levinson’s Baltimore Pictures before drawing the interest of Steven Spielberg. Spielberg had to back off of the project when he realized how much pre and post production time would be needed for Jurassic Park. A Perfect World has many elements in common with Spielberg’s first theatrical feature, The Sugarland Express (1974). Based on a true story, that narrative follows a woman (Goldie Hawn) who breaks her husband (William Atherton) out of a Texas prison so they can get their infant son, who has been taken away by the State and placed in foster care. On the way they take a State Patrolman (Michael Sacks) and his squad car hostage, leading to a chase of the fugitives headed by a sympathetic older Captain (Ben Johnson).
Eastwood originally read the script while on the set of Wolfgang Peterson’s thriller In the Line of Fire, the first film since 1968’s Where Eagles Dare where Eastwood was only hired as an actor, not producer and/or director. In the Line of Fire and A Perfect World both reference the assassination of President Kennedy, which took place thirty years prior. Another 1993 production, the drama Love Field starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Dennis Haysbert, also references JFK’s death.
Eastwood originally envisioned Denzel Washington for the role of Butch Haynes, but Washington turned it down. Eastwood did not plan on playing Red Garnett, wanting to stay behind the camera this time, but once Costner signed onto the project he insisted Clint play the role.
When Costner’s character stops in the small town to get clothes for Buzz, an advertisement for Bull Durham chewing tobacco can be seen painted on a brick wall behind them. Costner starred as Crash Davis in Ron Shelton’s Bull Durham (1988), playing for the Durham, North Carolina Minor League Baseball team sponsored by the tobacco company.
Actress Linda Hart, who plays the amorous waitress at Dottie’s Squat 'N' Gobble roadside diner that Costner’s character has an all-too-brief tryst with, went on to play Doreen in Ron Shelton’s Tin Cup (1996), Costner’s Roy McAvoy’s ex who holds the deed to his Texas driving range.
Released just two weeks apart in November of 1993, Brian DePalma’s Carlito's Way and Eastwood's A Perfect World have similar openings and framing devices, with us witnessing the main characters shot and dying, before the narrative moves backwards only to end up back on the opening scenes.
Last edited by Holden Pike; 3 weeks ago at 12:35 AM.
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). For me though the movie felt like nothing more than a decent campy apocalyptic tale. I personally enjoyed the first (pre-cult) half of the film, while the rest bored me outside of a few entertaining moments. But as you mentioned it has a selective audience.
