Another Day in Paradise

Here’s a quick recommendation to flash your way.  Another Day in Paradise follows teenage couple Bobbie (Vincent Kartheiser (Alpha Dog, Mad Men)) and Rosie (Natasha Gregson Wagner (Lost Highway, Urban Legend)) who are both junkies and petty thieves.  One night Bobbie breaks into a row of vending machines to steal quarters when a security guard brutally beats the shit out of him.  Bobbie fights back by stabbing him in the gut with a screwdriver and flees.  He’s hurt real bad so his roommate calls his uncle Mel (James Woods (The Specialist)) to fix him up.  Now Mel is another low level crook (and junkie) but still several steps above Bobbie.  He decides to take the kid under his wing and use him for a job.  So the bulk of the movie is Bobbie and Rosie tagging along with Mel and his lady friend, Sid (Melanie Griffith (Something Wild)), on the road getting high and ripping folks off.

It's pretty undeniable that this is a Tarantino inspired picture despite being based on a book by Eddie Little.  The 70’s aesthetic, somewhat casual yet heightened approach to violence, memorable seedy characters and soul soundtrack all fit.  There’s some snappy dialogue too but almost all of it comes from James Woods.  Safe crackers, gun runners, addicts and other underground figures are given an ultra cool sheen while also showing how quickly shit can go sideways in their world.  For example there’s one scene where Mel and Bobbie are selling a cache of pills they stole from a doctor out of a motel room.  Guns are hidden in the couch Mel is sitting on so he can pull them if there’s trouble.  That’s the cool part.  But then the situation gets sticky and his secret guns aren’t able to save him.  These rapid circumstance shifts are handled very well that can gut punch you even if you sense things might not end well.

The entire cast works wonderfully together.  Kartheiser and Wagner give natural performances as a pair of strung out aimless kids.  They’re in love but are enablers who support each other’s terrible decisions.  They both have such an innocence to them that you wanna root for them despite their actions.  And while not the brightest bulbs they’re not total idiots either.  Bobbie is psyched to get what he believes to be an invaluable criminal education from Mel yet he’s not a total lapdog.  When Mel starts getting aggressive after a botched job he begins to rethink his choice.  Rosie is more or less along for the ride but she’s in Bobbie’s corner all the way which is touching to see that kind of devotion.  Woods is, well, Woods.  He puts on his jokey schtick during the quieter scenes and overacts during the intense ones.  While the guy is an acquired taste and doesn’t work for me in most roles I kinda like him here.  His goofiness helps to lighten the tone so it’s not depressing.  Plus he does tend to exude a certain sleaziness that suits this character perfectly.  You know, a heroin shooting relatively small time thief who thinks he’s tougher than he actually is.  Griffith is the dark horse who’s so damn nice to everyone all the time in her soft spoken way.  She takes on a maternal role with Bobbie and Rosie making sure they’re being taken care of.  Don’t let that fool you though.  She’s no airhead or pushover.  If she needs to blow away a sucker with a shotgun she’ll do it without hesitation.  No one crosses her, no one.  But as long as you’re straight with her she’s your best friend.  Admittedly it’s a bit hard to see someone like Sid (intelligent, measured) hooking up with someone like Mel (hotheaded, irrational at times), but if you don’t think about it too much I think they’re convincing enough as a wild couple.

This was Larry Clark’s second feature and it has to be his best film, better than Kids and Bully anyway (and I like those movies).  I wanna say it shows a maturity that the others don’t but apparently he was a nightmare to work with and turned in a much longer and skeezier picture that had to be re-cut without his involvement.  The positive is the end result has really nice steady cam cinematography that’s never nauseating (Eric Alan Edwards (Cop Land, To Die For)), great editing that accentuates the emotions of the characters (Luis Colina (Overnight Delivery)) and a killer retro song selection that fits the mood of the scenes and film in general.

Everything about this one comes together which is something of a miracle.  Credit to James Woods who’s one of the producers and helped whip the thing into shape.  I’ve been a big fan of it ever since it came out.  Unfortunately it seems nobody saw it or cares about it.  The movie definitely has that 90’s indie film vibe if you dig that kinda thing.  Regardless, it’s an excellently made little crime piece.  Part hang out movie, part thriller, part glorification of thug life, part warning against venturing down that path.  It’s a slice of junkie life with endearing characters, a tight plot, heartfelt moments, spurts of bloody violence and a layer of swagger that sorta knows just how rad it is.  I highly recommend it.

American Flyers

There are all manner of sports movies out there with most of them showcasing the big five: basketball, baseball, hockey, football and soccer (or football).  Boxing is an interesting one that might be more popular on screen than it is in real life.  Anyway, it’s always intriguing to see a film spotlight something less popular like figure skating (The Cutting Edge), horse racing (Seabiscuit) or even arm wrestling (Over the Top).  Well, American Flyers takes on competitive cycling where a large group of riders navigate a punishing outdoor course that could include mountainous terrain and last a hundred miles.  Sounds ripe for your usual scrappy-upstart-takes-on-the-pros-and-omg-he’s-like-amazing-and-has-a-real-chance-of-winning-it-all type arc.

While the picture does deal with that business there’s another layer thrown in for dramatic flair.  David (David Marshall Grant (The Devil Wears Prada)) is a young fellow who lives at home with his mother in St. Louis and doesn’t know what to do with his life.  He tried pre-med, pre-law and is now studying eastern philosophy.  He loves to cycle though including all through the apartment.  It’s his passion.  It’s also Marcus’ passion, his older brother (Kevin Costner (Message in a Bottle)).  He’s good enough to have made the 1980 Olympic team as an alternate.  They love each other but there’s tension in the family because their father died of an incurable brain disease and Marcus blames their mother for shutting down during that moment of crisis.  Marcus split shortly after and has had tepid relations ever since.  David holds a grudge against Marcus for leaving and blaming their mother for perhaps not doing as much as she could for their father.  In other words, it’s complicated.

Marcus, now a doctor, shows up on their doorstep some time later looking to reconnect with David and take him back to Wisconsin for a medical examination and to cycle around.  You see they fear that one or both of them might have the same brain disease that took their father so they want to run some tests.  This is also a bit of a ruse to get David to join Marcus in a big time bike competition called Hell of the West that takes place in Colorado.  It’s Marcus’ last time and he wants his brother to be by his side for it.  Naturally it’s a go so they load up and head out.

I know that’s a lot of backstory I dumped on you but it’s the first half of the film and plays heavily into the entire plot.  Now while there’s cycling throughout it’s the second half where we get to see the real action of the contest.  And it’s definitely pretty exciting.  There are loads of cool shots of riders taking fast turns, chugging up steep hills, sweating and breathing profusely, wiping out and all sorts of other events.  Not to mention the absolutely gorgeous landscape they compete in.  The race is split up into three days with each course in a different location and the most beautiful has got to be the second leg.  It takes place in Colorado National Monument Park that’s dubbed the excellent “Tour of the Moon” due to the stunning quasi alien-like scenery.

It's questionable how authentic the racing actually is though.  There are times when the athletes push, punch and grab at each other which seems illegal but then again I don’t know jack shit about this sport.  The one part where someone tries to murder David by driving him towards the edge of a cliff might be grounds for a time penalty at the very least.  Who the fuck does that?

Speaking of which, naturally there’s a rival villain who you’d think would be the brutish looking Soviet competitor but he’s relegated to a lower level antagonist.  Our main one is some joker called The Cannibal (Luca Brecovici (Dir: Ghoulies (!))).  I mean he has a real name but who cares?  This guy’s set up to be a real sonuvabitch who wants to make Marcus suffer before he ultimately beats him.  They were teammates once and Marcus’ girlfriend/pit crewmember (Rae Dawn Chong (Hideaway)) is The Cannibal’s ex-wife.  It’s never stated how he got that nickname or what the bad blood is between he and Marucs exactly but based on evidence given I suppose he wins at any cost even if that means stepping on his own teammates?  I dunno.  He’s a pretty one-dimensional anger machine for the most part.  Except there’s one scene where he explodes on a reporter out of nowhere declaring his major resentment towards America.  He was supposed to compete in the 1980 Olympics but they were held in Moscow so the US (plus many other countries) boycotted due to the Cold War (true story).  He missed his window.  Admittedly this is a fascinating angle and legitimate reason for the character to be so goddamn bitter.  This doesn’t explain why he hates Marcus so much though.  Really this character isn’t necessary.  The brain disease is the bad guy.  It messed up the family and continues to stalk them years later.

On the flip side Grant and Costner do have good chemistry and you can tell they genuinely care for each other.  There are scenes that are fun like the one where Marcus has a crazed dog chase them during a training ride to up their speed and stamina.  But there are also touching ones like when they argue if they should continue in the competition due to complications that arise (the twist is kinda obvious).  Yes, that’s a typical scene in these sorts of pictures but the backstory and lead up is richer than normal so the payoff feels more earned here.  Grant plays it with a likeable innocence combined with a hard work ethic that makes you want to root for him.  And Costner plays the older brother part to a tee where he’s concerned for David but also wants to push him outside his comfort zone and expose him to new situations while essentially being a father figure.  Both of them are making up for lost time so they make the most of the road trip/competition.

However, not everything is great.  There are a few clunky transitions and character turns that sometimes come out of nowhere.  Rae Dawn Chong in particular is awkwardly distant and serious throughout for some reason.  And the backstory isn’t laid out the clearest either.  On one hand I like that they don’t over explain but it also feels like we’re thrown into a situation that we never fully get ahold of.  Like the mother is made out to be maybe, possibly a somewhat terrible person but we’re never told why.

One thing you damn sure can’t miss is who paid for this frickin’ thing.  McDonald’s, Coors and 7-Eleven must have put up some bucks because they’re everywhere.  7-Eleven sponsors The Cannibal’s team so you see their name on their jerseys for half the movie.  And more than once David and Marcus stop at McDonald’s to catch a bite during training!  Then towards the end of the film the last leg of the race begins at the Coors plant.  Honestly this type of shit is funny to me because of how blatant it is.

Steve Tesich also wrote the cycling centric Breaking Away which is a coming of age story about a teen who’s obsessed with the sport and his parents and friends don’t quite understand.  You could argue that’s a better more endearing film, and I might even agree, but I find something like American Flyers with its mostly formulaic overcoming-the-odds-in-competition plot more entertaining.  Strangely, the characters act a bit peculiar in both so that must be a Tesich trademark.

This is another solid effort from director John Badham of Saturday Night Fever fame.  He knows how to deliver the thrills like in War Games and Drop Zone but also the tenderness like in Short Circuit.  And he knows how to deliver one helluva Christopher Walken performance in Nick of Time.

While this isn’t amazing or anything it’s certainly an enjoyable sports drama.  Whether it does a good job of introducing the world of road cycling I can’t say but I was into it.  Ride on down if this sounds like your cup of Schwinn.