The gimmick of the play was the middle aged man fantasised about shagging the hot girl... and did. Here Tom Ewell only thinks about it. But the girl is Marilyn who is lovely and some jokes remain funny like the satire of Ewell's atrocious boomer child, selfish and loud.
It goes on forever but had the right amount of sex for 1955. Marilyn is lovely.
Tony Curtis is excellent. So are Lemmon and Marilyn. Imagine Mitzi Gaynor in this. No thanks! George Raft quite scary. Joe E Brown steals the show. You can tell it was made by an ex hooker.
Some jokes haven't aged well and it's been copied so often that its freshness has been diluted by the leads are in wonderful form.
Douglas had such an amazing life and career even the most basic recap would be interesting. This is not terribly well written but fascinating. There was a fair bit I didn't know - childhood, his hippe youth. I knew he shagged Kathleen Turner but not Diane Morgan and Jeanne Tripplehorn. He talks affectionately of Turner, Danny de Vito. He slags off Joe Eszterhaus for carrying on during Basic Instinct, likes Joel Schumacher, adored Karl Malden, got to like his dad but had proper fatherhood from his step dad, is still annoyed at his first wife, is affectionate about Brenda Vaccaro.
The Jane Fonda part in China Syndrome was offered to Richard Dreyfuss. Walter Hill was 1st AD on Hail Hero. He once drunkenly insulted Julia Roberts. Debra Winger lost Romancing the Stone by biting him.
Douglas was very blessed in many respects - played leads in his first three films, got a part in a fat TV hit. He deserves immense credit for Cuckoo's Nest and China Syndrome and Romancing the Stone. He attributes Coma to improving his attitude in films (he stuffed a sequence through laziness and never did again) and encouraging him to cast Fonda in China Syndrome.
He doesn't mention Ghost in the Darkness, Disclosure, Wonder Boys, Don't Say a Word, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Made in America. Talks a lot about Danny de Vito, Behind the Candelabra, his son Cameron, Catherine Zeta Jones.
Not a masterpiece but unfairly torn to shreds by some British critics who seemed to take it as a personal insult. It's a film about two pretty people with nice tunes. The man is a red flag, clearly not good at sex but he and the girl are easy on the eye and it's pleasantly show.
Random observations:
- Mel Gibson so wonderful - sensitive, caring, angry. It's a stunning performane.
- Joanne Samuels under-rated - warm, lovely. Her death (well, severe injury) packs real weight.
- I forget how well society functioning. Hospitals work. Beach side homes. There are rampant gangs. But it's not post apocapytic.
- Superb performances. Not just the leads. Everyone.
Everything clicked for Ken with this one - location filming, high spirits suited his direction, everyone in the cast is hot. Keanu Reeves is game but Ken gets him doing monologues while stripped and covered in oil. Denzel Washington adds gravitas to a tricky role (Don Pedro). Emma T is splendid with her hair and tan; Ken terrific; Robert Sean Leonard and Kate Beckinsale are as cute as a button and thick as two planks which is what those roles require.
