You know the feeling. Your friends are talking about a movie, television show, book, etc., and there’s a consensus of universal admiration among the group regarding the title at hand. Except that you don’t agree. You try to voice your opinion on the matter and are immediately shut down by an onslaught of disapproving head-shakes and wide-eyed skepticism. As a critic, I get these disgusted looks more than my fair share. So I’m going to let my opinion take center stage and brace the response I get.
It sucks to be in the minority, but there’s something liberating about being in the underdog position. For my first Top Ten List (a two-part special, with #20 to #11 coming now, and the top 10 later in the week), I will be putting the record straight on movies that I feel are wildly overpraised and appreciated far beyond the level that they deserve.
Here goes Part 1 of the list...
20. Dead Poets Society
Likely the first movie about opportunistic teenagers to actually integrate “Carpe Diem” into its screenplay, Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society is, for the most part, a sincere and solidly acted (especially from Robin Williams and a pre-House Robert Sean Leonard) coming-of-age tale about a class of prep school boys. That’s before it ushers in one of the most ludicrous climaxes I can remember – one that’s not only bewildering but one that flies in the face in the film’s seize-the-day message. Even an inspiring and oft-imitated final scene can’t repair the damage.
19. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Auteurs are known for putting a personal stamp – usually thematically or stylistically – on each of their films, but this snoozer is a big stain on Wes Anderson’s otherwise terrific filmography. An A-list ensemble is being led by Bill Murray’s title character on an expedition to hunt down the shark that killed the oceanographer’s partner. It’s nice to look at, and the Bowie-packed soundtrack is a hoot, but with flat jokes, bland characters and an unfocused narrative, it’s a difficult movie to stick with. Anderson’s dry quirkiness and deadpan humour is usually refreshing, but here, it just feels tired. Now, go rent Fantastic Mr. Fox!
18. Ghost World
The cult hit, based off an adored comic book by Daniel Clowes, has one thing going for it: it features one of Steve Buscemi’s finest hours. But the misadventures of two misfits (Thora Birch and Scarlett Johannson) trying to figure out what to do after graduating from high school is featured in a film as smug, off-kilter and aimless as the girls themselves.
17. Across the Universe
If you were ever curious to what The Beatles’ classics would look like on MTV, filmed by the most coked-up crew of storytellers one could summon, you may enjoy this movie. Or you may hate it with a deeply venomous passion like I do. This big-budget musical disgrace to the Fab Four has nothing fabulous about it. The story of a group of teenagers living it up in the 1960s are messily held together by 34 Beatles tunes. Compiled together, they actually make the narrative more difficult to figure out. Julie Taymor, often cited as a visionary, bombards the senses with hyper, migraine-inducing visuals and the set-pieces are overly pretentious. 30 minutes in, I wanted to… turn… this… off…
15 [tie]. Wedding Crashers
Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn make a dream team for a fantastic comedy concept… for an SNL sketch. But stretched to a 2-hour running time, this R-rated raunchfest loses steam quickly. The duo’s rocket-fire chemistry is strong, but the film fails to offer much else. Even Will Ferrell's beloved cameo at the film’s end seems like a desperate attempt to milk sorely needed laughs. Unable to balance a saccharine-filled romance with its overwhelming crudeness, this is one adult-oriented comedy blockbuster that I didn’t care for…
15 [tie]. The Hangover
… And here’s another. An initially inspired premise about a trio of friends trying to piece together a wild night in Vegas turns into a loud, queasy, crass, immature, mean-spirited, and only sporadically funny affair. The cast tries hard, and manage to inject their under-developed characters with spunk and a tad of heart, but their efforts only go so far. The script is more concerned with piling on the bewildering situations than it is with giving these characters much to do. You know your film’s off-track when the only dignified performance comes from an air-drumming Mike Tyson. Some guys just can’t handle Vegas, but others (like me) have a tougher time handling dim-witted comedies.
14. Clerks
This black-and-white film shot for a miniscule budget has endured as a cult classic, having launched the career of writer/director Kevin Smith. His ear for crafting sequences composed mainly of snappy, irreverent dialogue is as astute as ever, but the vile profanity, episodic story-line and low-life characters can only go so far. Following a day in the life of two convenience store clerks, the film is an uncomfortably demeaning and dim hour-and-a-half.
13. Cool Runnings
You know the poor, live-action, family friendly Disney comedies of the 1980s and 1990s? Cool Runnings is the one that somehow manages to remain unscathed by the masses, having adopted a large fan following. It may be uplifting in sections, and John Candy does a nice job in one of his final roles, but it also features an ill-conceived, stereotypical depiction of Jamaicans that comes off as patronizing. Also, the film, “inspired” by the story of the first Jamaican bobsled team, is completely off-base from the real-life events. It’s hard to cheer for this team when the film seems to be cheating with its own story and characters.
12. My Cousin Vinny
And the most undeserved win in Oscar history goes to… Marisa Tomei’s shrill, caricature performance in this brainless attempt at a litigation-style comedy. Joe Pesci stars as the under-experienced lawyer called on to defend his cousin in a murder trial. But, the actor’s efforts are wasted in this one-note comedy that’s not only a disgraceful depiction of the American legal process but a total misfire with cheap and obvious situational humour.
11. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
The original film was fresh and frightening, a sci-fi adventure that managed to be both compelling and no-holds-barred fun. Its sequel feels bigger and has a broader appeal, but it’s also bloated and watered-down for mass consumption, making it far more sterile (i.e. less riveting) than the original model. This seems like an attempt to cash in on the merits of a sci-fi classic by moving forward with the pyrotechnics and backwards on just about everything else; in essence, it epitomizes much of James Cameron’s filmography.
The Top 10 Picks will be posted later in the week... including a Best Picture winner, a film from both Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese, and two starring Johnny Depp! Stay tuned.
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