Noel Curry reviews this week’s films on TV …
Carlito’s Way, Friday 28th September, 23:00, ITV4
Director De Palma teams up with Pacino for another high-octane gangster flick, but thankfully steers clear of the levels of hysteria that marred Scarface. Pacino is Carlito Brigante, a Puerto Rican crime lord who’s determined to clean up his life after getting released early from a thirty year prison sentence on a technicality. However, with friends like coked up lawyer Dave Kleinfeld (a brilliant turn from Sean Penn), he finds it increasingly difficult to stay on the straight and narrow. De Palma’s handling of the action and tension is as expert as ever, but this film exemplifies one of the major problems with much of modern Hollywood cinema. The film is too damn long. It clocks in at nearly two and a half hours, which is a big ask for what should have been a taut, involving drama. And Pacino’s relationship with dancer/stripper Penelope Ann Miller is ripe for exclusion. Their screen chemistry has less fizz than a week old soda and all the energy that Pacino and Penn create when they’re on screen together is quickly dampened by another scene that trudges through the rather predictable romanctic subplot. It prevents what is a good gangster film from being a great one. Still worth a look though, if only for Sean Penn’s crazy seventies perm.
Goodfellas, Saturday 29th September, 23:15, ITV4
Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to review this film. Yes, you’ve seen it before and yes, you don’t need me to persuade you of its many charms, but I’m going to spout off about it anyway. Scorsese said that he wanted to maintain the energy of a movie trailer throughout the entire film and his relentless changes of pace, frantic editing (courtesy of his regular editor, the great Thelma Schoonmaker) and crackling dialogue help to stretch the frisson of a great trailer throughout the movie’s length. What, perhaps, is sacrificed is a little depth. Scorsese’s best work, such as Raging Bull or Taxi Driver, have an emotional heft that can leave you flattened after viewing. Goodfellas, whilst brilliantly entertaining, never quite works up similar momentum. However, films such as Raging Bull are a bit daunting and I don’t watch them that often. Goodfellas, at a guess, would top the list of “Films I’ve Watched The Most Times” (with Raiders Of The Lost Ark running it a close second). It’s a classic example of what Tarantino refers to as a Hangout Movie (a film that you watch over and over again, just to spend time with the characters). I don’t think I’ve ever not been in the mood to watch it. So, all together now, “Funny how?”
Spider-Man 2, Sunday 30th September, 19:40, Five
The general rule of thumb is that sequels are never as good, but the exception to that rule seems to be the superhero genre. Superman 2, Batman Returns and The Dark Knight Rises all bear this out and Spider-Man 2 joins the group, as director Sam Raimi delivers the best Spider-Man film yet (let’s politely draw a veil over Spider-Man 3 and the Spider-Man reboot, whilst good, didn’t quite capture the comic book spirit of Raimi’s work). My theory is that in the first film, the obligatory origin story has to be shoehorned in along side the regular plot and both suffer as a result. Come the second film, we know who the character is and then the action is freer to take centre stage. One of these days, someone will be brave enough to launch a superhero film without hobbling it with a attempt to explain the hero’s entire back story. Did we need to see how Indiana Jones became an archaeologist/adventurer or how John McClane became a New York cop?
No, we find out about these characters through what they do. Okay, mini-rant over. Spider-Man 2 finds him up against my favourite foe, Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina, who lends the role a unexpected degree of Faustian gravitas). Raimi’s Spider-Man films capture the primary-coloured tone of the comics books and provide a bright contrast to the moody Batman films. A youthful cast, with Kirsten Dunst as girl-next-door Mary Jane and James Franco as Harry Osborn, and some fine comic moments (J K Simmons nails it with an over-the-top turn as perpetually enraged editor J J Jameson) ensure that it all never takes itself too seriously.