On 08/21/2012 12:44 AM, turquoiseb wrote: > The news that director Tony Scott took himself out in full action movie > style, by leaping from an L.A. area bridge, will be undoubtedly be > followed by eulogies in the press, most of them mentioning and focusing > on the movie blockbusters of his career. You know, films like "Top Gun" > and "Beverly Hills Cop II" and "Days Of Thunder" and "True Romance." > Friends and coworkers will tell stories about him and say "We never saw > this coming" and compare him to his more famous brother Ridley and do > all those things that people do after a Hollywood legend dies. > > Me, I don't feel like doing that. I only met the man once, and then only > long enough to shake his hand after being introduced to him by a friend > who had starred in one of his movies. "He had a firm handshake" is all > that I can remember or come up with on the personal eulogy front. > > So, while others are focusing on his more famous films, I'm going to rap > for a few moments about the two films of his that are my favorites. I've > seen each of them multiple times, and like the other movies, books, and > TV shows that I call my "favorites," they just keep getting better and > better with each viewing. > > The first is a farily unregarded buddy flick called "The Last Boy > Scout." It paired Bruce Willis with Damon Wayans, and gave them both > some of the funniest, snappiest, and wittiest dialogue I've ever seen in > a movie. Although I don't consider this a great movie by any means, I > keep coming back to it because of the dialogue, written by Shane Black, > who has a real talent for that sort of thing ("Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," the > "Lethal Weapon" movies). I doubt very seriously whether this movie made > a lot of money for Tony Scott, and it certainly didn't win him any > awards, but I thank him for making it because it's just such a hoot. > > The second I do consider a great film, and one that is almost criminally > overlooked. I was turned on to it by an employee at my neighborhood DVD > rental store in Paris, back when I lived there. He was young and I was > an old fart, but he had obviously developed an appreciation of my taste > in movies by watching what I rented from him. So one day I was in the > store, scanning the shelves, finding nothing that interested me, and was > about to walk out when he stopped me and said, "Have you seen 'Spy > Game'?" > > I hadn't. He said, giving me the disk, which he already had in his hand, > "Take it home and watch it. If you don't like it, I won't charge you > anything for the rental." > > THAT got my attention. And later that evening, so did the movie. I > watched it three times in a row before returning it to him, and gladly > paid him for the rental. This review is to some extent me "paying it > forward" by turning other people on to the movie. > > "Spy Game" is in my opinion the best movie Tony Scott ever made. It just > *works* on so many levels that it transcends his other, more popular > stuff. It contains what will almost certainly be regarded as Robert > Redford's last great film performance when it comes time for *his* > eulogy, and that performance is matched step-by-step and > nuance-by-nuance by Brad Pitt's. > > The casting is nothing short of brilliant. Redford plays Cold War spy > master Nathan Muir, on what is supposed to be the last day of his career > at the CIA. He's retiring at the end of the day, and going off to live > in the not-quite-paradise-but-good-enough-for-an-old-spy beach house > he's managed to scrimp and save for in the islands. He's one of the > rarest of the rare -- an Old School Spy who managed to survive long > enough to retire. > > And then the phone call comes. A younger former colleague -- who Nathan > would refer to in spy-speak as an "asset," not a friend, or even a > surrogate son -- has been arrested in China trying to break another > former colleague out of prison. He's due to be executed for this. > > Nathan is called into a tribunal of the people who now run the CIA, who > demand that he tell them everything he knows about this rogue agent who > has now embarrassed the Agency so thoroughly. Redford -- and Scott -- do > so through a series of flashbacks, starting with Tom Bishop's (Pitt) > recruitment, and going forward from there. To us in the audience it > quickly becomes clear that no matter how much Nathan may say that the > first rule of being a spy master is to "never risk anything for an > asset," Tom Bishop is not just any old asset. What makes the casting of > this film so perfect is that -- as Tony Scott clearly recognized -- Brad > Pitt could *easily* be Robert Redford's real-life son. The resemblance > is uncanny. > > The questioning of Nathan Muir continues, on many levels. On one level > there are the smug assholes who are glad to see him go, leaving them in > charge of the Agency. They think he's over the hill, and just can't get > him out of the building fast enough, and are resentful that they've got > to rely on his information to figure out what to do about either trying > to rescue Tom Bishop, or just abandon him and allow him to be executed. > > On another level, there is Nathan Muir, completely in charge, like a > chess Grand Master playing simultaneous games with 50 different > opponents, and never having to break a sweat in any of them. I will hint > no further at how this chess game turns out, allowing those who haven't > seen the film to enjoy it for themselves. > > What I will say is that what makes this movie so great for me and that > makes me remember Tony Scott fondly is that it's a film about ethics. > Quiet ethics. The kind that lay low and don't advertise themselves, and > may even be characterized by the ethical character denying that he has > any ethics at all. Redford just ROCKS at this kind of nuanced > performance, and in my opinion he should have gotten a second Best Actor > nomination (his first was for "The Sting") for it. > > Give "Spy Game" a try. I think you'll like it. > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_EbWbr0HDs > <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_EbWbr0HDs>
I reviewed his last film here, "Unstoppable" with Denzel Washington which was about a train that was out of control and their attempts to stop it. I liked the film because it gave one the idea of how the railroads work now days.