Kevin Smith (kvnsmith@colba.net)
Mon, 2 Aug 1999 11:50:08 -0400
Gee, you people really don't like Gibson, huh?
Ah, bien, I still prefer PAYBACK, but don't get me wrong, I
thought Lee Marvin was great in the same role in POINT BLANK,
a cold machine, totally professional. It was the way Boorman
told the story that I found less than enthralling.
In fact, if the time machine was working, it might have been
neat to see Marvin in PAYBACK. Maybe Gibson is too much a
lippy smart ass for some of you, but look on the bright side:
at least it wasn't Bruce Willis. Would Marvin in the lead
change the way you see the rest of the film? I've just always
thought Gibson has a dark side that is sorely underused, and
often betrayed by his own worst instincts (pick a LETHAL
WEAPON, any number).
And I'm sorry for linking Brian Helgeland to the direction of
LA CONFIDENTIAL. That's another highly-touted flick that
failed to impress me. I mean, Bassinger Best Actress? For
what? Wearing a dress? What are the members of the Academy
smoking out there?
I guess I'm just a guy that likes his movies as stories,
well-told. The best of the pulp writers, be it Black Mask or
Fawcett Gold Medal, Hammett or Chandler or Spillane or
Collins or Ellroy or whoever, whatever else they did, told
their stories well. The art was in the telling. Any writer
who let his art get in the way of telling a good story didn't
last.
I guess I feel the same way about movies. Gussying up a story
with tricks, be it too many slo-mo split screen flashbacks or
300 pages of sub-plots involving the hero's love life, just
don't impress me much.
Kevin Burton Smith The Thrilling Detective Web Site http://www.colba.net/~kvnsmith/thrillingdetective/
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