Mainstream

One of my favorite things to do is to take a particular director, actor or writer and seek out a number of their films in order to draw out some themes in their work and contrast what they are doing from film to film. Usually, I look for classic films or independents that have a strong artistic bent. But I recently became interested in a more mainstream choice after watching Almost Famous, directed by Cameron Crowe. I've never paid much attention to Crowe's work, since to me he has always been associated with the more popular crowd pleasing segment of the movie world. But I found Almost Famous so genuine and engaging that I began to rethink this viewpoint.

So a few weeks ago, I went back in time to the 1980's with one of the quintessential movies of that period, Say Anything with John Cusack and Ione Skye. It's been a number of years since I'd seen it and although I remembered the iconic scenes with Cusack at the dinner table with the girlfriend's dad and holding the boombox over his head blasting Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes, I couldn't recall much else. I cringe a bit when movies like this are dubbed classics. The word classic should be reserved for films like Citizen Kane or Sunset Boulevard. Nonetheless, these films do have their place in the film lexicon, and with a couple decades of hindsight, anything that's still worth returning to must have some merit, classic or not.

What struck me watching it all these years later is that it's not necessarily those iconic scenes that have the most meat to them. If you were to only watch those two scenes mentioned above, you'd likely have a very different view of the film than if you watched the whole thing. That's why movies that have great trailers often disappoint, because all of the best stuff is in that 2 minutes. Say Anything on the other hand holds up pretty well. One of the things that I love about watching a film like this is seeing a young writer/director and young actors figuring out how to make a movie, and often taking risks that other more seasoned filmmakers wouldn't dare. The film is offbeat, quirky and most definitely unique for it's time. And I daresay it influenced a generation of up and coming filmmakers who would seek to duplicate its success.

From the music to the dialogue, to the pure simplicity with which the film is shot, there is something nice and innocent about it, which seems to match the storyline quite well. It's utterly unpretentious, interested not in being high art, but true life. And while it's a Hollywood representation of love and relationships, it's still quite honest in many ways.

Sticking with the Cameron Crowe theme, I decided to then check out one of his more successful films that I never bothered to see, Jerry Maguire. Much like Say Anything, this flick seems to have a few iconic scenes, even more so than the former. Even if you haven't seen it, you probably recall Tom Cruise shouting "Show me the money!" into the phone with Cuba Gooding Jr. on the other end dancing around his kitchen. Or you might have used the line "you had me at hello", or perhaps had it used on you (if you're lucky). Unlike Say Anything, I found that Jerry Maguire lacked the depth and sincerity that Crowe had achieved in other films.

While it was entertaining, it was also rather predictable, and in many ways, cliche. Worst of all, the characters and the situations were totally unbelievable. There are times when we have to suspend our disbelief, but then there are times when movies ask too much of us in that department. I believe it was Martin Scorcese who said sometimes you have to make one for them so that you can make one for yourself. In other words, get paid to do the stuff that fills the theaters, and then you can afford to make a labor of love. Perhaps that was the case with this film, but it still felt rather strange to see something that so thoroughly lacked the qualities of Crowe's other work. Ultimately, I realized that with all the movies that come out these days, you can't possibly see everything, and sometimes, you're not missing much. Guess I better go back to the classics and indies.