My Cousin Vinny Review (Revisited Part 2) "I'm finished with this guy!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, just as we are about to reach Easter, I figured I woul try and get another post in and having recently re-watched one of my favourite comedy films from the 90's, My Cousin Vinny, I thought I would give it another look and revisit my previous post on it (which itself was a revisitation again!). 

So, after 32 years, let's take another look at this legal comedy and see how it stands up in court (so to speak!)...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY 

So the film begins with two college students , Billy Gambini (Ralph Macchio) and Stanley Rothenstein (Mitchell Whitfield) while heading through Beechum country in Alabama, accidentally forget to pay for a can of tuna after leaving a convenience store.  However minutes after they leave the store, the store owner is murdered and a police officer pull over Bill and Stan and detain them as they are treated as two suspects for the murder.

At the station due to miscommunications and the two boys believing they have been arrested for shoplifting, Bill unwittingly and mistakenly admits to the crime of shoplifting but asks "I shot the clerk?" which Sherriff Farley (Bruce McGill) mistakes for a confession.  And as result he is booked on a charge of murder, and Stan as an accessory to murder.  In need of legal assistance, Billy speaks to his mother on the phone whom tells them they have an attorney in the family, Billy's cousin, Vincent LaGuardio "Vinny" Gambini (Joe Pesci).  Vinny agrees to take the case and travels up to Alabama along with fiancee, Mona Lisa Vito (Marisa Tomei).  However Vinny has no real experience as a lawyer and he has only recently passed the bar exam (after six attempts) and only deals in personal injury and therefore has no trial experience whatsoever.

And to make matters worse Vinny despite convincing the courthouse judge, Chamberlain Haller
(Fred Gwynne) he has the experience to take on the case, his lack of understanding of basic court procedures and somewhat abrasive nature get's him into trouble with Haller, who at the arraignment holds Vinny in contempt of court.  As the case proceeds Vinny continues to infuriate Haller who puts in contempt of court again as he is put in jail overnight and is bailed out by Lisa.

Vinny also eventually meets up with the prosecution lawyer and DA, Jim Trotter (Lane Smith) for a hunting trip, whom he manages to get his files for the case, without realising that he is fully entitled to, due to the procedure of full disclosure, which Lisa later on reveals to him after reading the state procedural law book that Haller gave Vinny.  As the trial is set to begin, Stan decides to fire Vinny and go with the public defender, John Gibbons (Austin Pendleton) but Vinny manages to convince Billy from not doing the same and to give him one more chance to question the first witness.

On the first day of the trial, Vinny shows up in a secondhand tuxedo (due to a mishap with it landing in a muddy field) and get's in trouble with Haller again who holds him in contempt yet again.  As the trial begins however, the public defender, Gibbons proves to be next to useless as he suffers from a bad stammer and fails to make an impression on the jurors.  Vinny on the other hand finally shows his worth as he questions the first witness, Sam Tipton (Maury Chaykin) and discredits his testimony, which leads Stan to fire the public defender and go with Vinny.

After this Vinny starts to become more adept in the law process as he adapts his style of questioning and learns quickly on procedure as he makes impressive progress with the remaning witnesses.  However Trotter turns up with a surprise witness, a FBI analyst, George Wilbur (James Rebhorn) who provides a report that shows evidence that the tyre track marks left by the vehicle that left the scene of the crime are identical to those on Billy and Stan's car.

Vinny frustrated with this information and seemingly with no way to win the case, Vinny during lunch has a row with Lisa who storms out.  But back in the court house, Vinny finds a photo that holds the key to the trial which shows the tyre marks of the car could not be made by Billy's 1964 Buick Skylark, but by a different car.  But in order to win the trial he will need to rely on getting Lisa back in time to take the stand and give testimony which will hold the case in the balance for Billy and Stan... 

THOUGHTS

As far as comedies go, My Cousin Vinny certainly has plenty going for it and it was a success on its initial release both commercially and critically.  The film also received plaudits from lawyers who said it was quite accurate in its potrayal of courtroom procedures and that in itself was something the director Jonathan Lynn was keen to get over, as he himself said how he disliked films where they got the law procedures wrong.  Lynn himself was also a law graduate as he has a law degree from Cambridge university.

The film's comedy also works well as it simply draws on a comedy of errors, or as the tagline "a comedy of trial and error" and miscommunications of which there are plenty in the film, also combined with Vinny's amusing ignorance in the face of the law and how his argumentative nature while it get's him into alot of trouble it ultimately helps him towards his goal.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers and also strong language!) 

So moving onto the performances which are all excellent from its fine cast.

And to start off we have Joe Pesci who is great in his role as Vinny, as he plays him as a good natured, intelligent, well meaning yet stubborn and argumentative guy, who bluffs his way through most of the court procedure until he begins to find his feet towards the end. Pesci himself funnily enough would later go on to record an album of songs sung in the character of Vinny Gambini in 1998, which was called Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just For You, which unfortunately got negative reviews. 

And some of Vinny's funniest moments include when he first meets with Billy and Stan, and as Billy lies asleep in their cell, Vinny get's off on the wrong foot with Stan, as Stan thinks Vinny wants sexual favours.  And in the scene Stan appears ungrateful and anxious with Vinny at first as Vinny says "Its either me or them.  You're getting fucked one way or another!" and Stan says "Gee thanks".  And this annoys Vinny who says to Stan "Excuse me, I think a modicum of gratitude would not be out of line here".  And Stan says to Vinny "You think I should be grateful??" and Vinny says "Yeah, I think you should be grateful.  I think you should be down on your fuckin knees!".  And as Stan says to Vinny he has one hell of an ego, Vinny angrily says to him " What the fuck is your problem? I did not come down here just to get jerked off!".   

Also there is his scene out in Trotter's cabin (who Trotter lends to Vinny for the weekend) where Vinny fails to get to sleep for so many nights in a row, he is woken up by an owl, yelling "What the fuck is that?!".  So Vinny loads up Trotter's magnum and he runs out side firing the gun at open air and after a moment of silence, Vinny smugly walks back into the cabin but then we hear the owl squawk again.

Another highlight for Joe is in the scene where Lisa gives her "biological clock" speech and Vinny, who has enough on his plate tells in no certain terms he doesn't need her woes just now.  So he says to his fiancee " Lisa, I don't need this. I swear to God, I do not need this right now, okay? I've got a judge that's just aching to throw me in jail. An idiot who wants to fight me for two hundred dollars. Slaughtered pigs. Giant loud whistles. I ain't slept in five days. I got no money, a dress code problem, AND a little murder case which, in the balance, holds the lives of two innocent kids. Not to mention your... (taps his foot) BIOLOGICAL CLOCK - my career, your life, our marriage, and let me see, what else can we pile on?!!!  Is there any more SHIT we can pile on to the top of the outcome of this case??!!! IS IT POSSIBLE???!!".  So Lisa finally relents and says "Maybe it was a bad time to bring it up".  

The scene where Vinny shows up in court for the day of the trial is also hilarious as he walks into the court wearing a cheesy looking tuxedo, and he explains to Haller why he is wearing it.  So in the scene Vinny says to Haller "I bought a suit. You seen it. Now it's covered in mud. This town doesn't have a one hour cleaner so I had to buy a new suit, except the only store you could buy a new suit in has got the flu. Got that? The whole store got the flu so I had to get this in a second hand store. So it's either wear the leather jacket, which I know you hate, or this. So, I wore this ridiculous thing for you!".   

Pesci also has some fun in the courtroom scenes also, such as in the scene where Vinny shows some pictures of one of the witness's trailers and the dirt on the screen and bushes and trees in the way of the view out his trailer. 

So, Vinny asks the witness, Ernie Crane "So, Mr. Crane, you can positively identify the defendants, for a moment of two seconds, looking through this dirty window, this crud-covered screen, all of these trees, with all of these leaves on them, and I don't know how many bushes". So, Ernie looks at the picture and counts them "Five?" and Vinny says "Uh uh, you forgot this one and this one" and Ernie says "Seven" and Vinny says "Seven bushes. So, what do you think? Isn't it possible you just saw two guys in a green convertible and not necessarily these two particular guys?" and Ernie says "I suppose" and Vinny smugly says "I'm finished with this guy!".

particularly in one moment where he questions an old lady who wears thick lens glasses, and he asks her to make an ID of how many fingers he holds up from 50 feet away.  And in the scene Vinny asks the lady how many fingers he is holding up as he holds up two fingers, but Haller interrupts his questioning and says "Let the record know the counselour is holding up two fingers!" and Vinny annoyed says "Your honour, please, huh?!" and Haller says "Oh, sorry".  So Vinny starts again "Right, Mrs Reilly, and this time ONLY Mrs Reilly!" so he asks her again but she get's it wrong and says "four" and he walks toward her still holding up his two fingers saying "What do you think now, dear?" and the witness says "I'm thinking of getting thicker glasses!".

Then there is the scene where Vinny on his lunch break from the case, anxiously looks through all the evidence he has and he is joined by Lisa, who Vinny is not in the mood for as she looks at him.  And Vinny says to her "What does that look mean?  That I'm a piece of shit?!" and she continues to look at him and Vinny relents and looks at Lisa's picture she has brought and he says "Okay, your helping!  We'll use your pictures" and he starts to look through a series of snapshots taken by Lisa and sarcastically comments on them.

And Vinny finishes off looking at the last few saying to Lisa as he comments on each one "What's this over here? It's dog shit. Dog shit! That's great! Dog shit, what a clue! Why didn't I think of that? Here's one of me reading. Terrific. I should've asked you along time ago for these pictures. Holy shit, you got it, honey! You did it! The case cracker, me in the shower! Ha ha! I love this! That's it!".  And Lisa finally snaps and yells "That IS IT!! I'm out of here!" and she storms out of the cafe, leaving Vinny to chase after her but stop at the door and say "Lisa!  I'm sorry!".  And he goes back to his seat and says to himself "I'm missin something, I'm missing somethin!" and the camera zooms in on a key piece of evidence: the tyre tracks of the car from the scene of the crime that is alleged to be Billy's car. 

Last of all is the scene where Vinny grabs a very reluctant Lisa and forces her into the courtroom as he has the key evidence in that picture with the tyre tracks, so he tries to put her on the stand but she attempts to walk out. 

So, Vinny says to the Judge "I call my first wintess, Mona Lisa Vito, who I call to rebut the testimony of George Wilbur" and Lisa frees herself from his grip and walks away but Vinny says "Your honor, would you please instruct the bailiff to escort Miss Vito to the stand". So, Haller does so and the bailiff firmly takes Lisa and leads her to the witness stand. So, Vinny then questions Lisa "Miss Vito, you are an expert automobiles, is that correct?" and she ignores him and Vinny asks "Is that correct?" and he looks to Haller who says "Will you please answer the question" and Lisa angrily says "No, I hate him!". Vinny then asks "Your honor, I would like to ask permission to treat Miss Vito as a hostile witness" and Lisa "You think I'm hostile now, wait until you see me tonight!". 

So, Vinny finally get's Lisa to look at the picture of the tyre tracks and says to her "Miss Vito, it has been argued by me, the defence, that two sets of guys drove two 1964 metallic mint green Buick Syklarks drove to the Sac of Suds at the same time. Now from what you can see in the picture, does the defence's case hold water?". Lisa examines the photo and Vinny asks her again "Miss Vito, please answer the question, does the defence's case hold water?" and Lisa with a look of surprise says "No! The defence is wrong!". Vinny then smiles and asks her "Are you sure?" and Lisa grins and says "I'm positive" and Vinny asks "How can you be sure?" and Lisa says "Because there is no way these marks were made by a 1964 Buick Skylark, these marks were made by a 1963 Pontiac Tempest!" and Vinny nods and smiles. Vinny then with a fake sense of incredulity says "I find hard to be believe this sort of information could ascertained, simply by look at a picture!" and Lisa asks "Would you like me to explain?" and Vinny, delighted sits on the court table and says "I would LOVE to hear this!".

So, Lisa goes into a very detailed and impressive explanation as to why it is a 1963 Pontiac Tempest in the photo and Vinny concludes by asking her "And because both cars were made by GM, were both cars available in metallica mint green paint?!" and Lisa delighted says "They were!". So, Vinny triumphantly says to her "Thank you Miss Vito. No more questions. Thank you very, very much!" and he kisses her hands and says "You've been a lovely, lovely witness!".

Getting onto other performances, Marisa Tomei is also great in her role as Vinny's long suffering girlfriend, Lisa, who has worked as a mechanic in her father's garage and has extensive automotive knowledge.

And whether or not Marisa's performance warrants on Oscar or not is up for debate but there is no doubt she brings a great mixture of being sassy, sexy and above all very intelligent, and when it comes to holding an argument she is Vinny's equal.

Tomei has a few standout moments in the film, which include "biological clock" scene where she complains to Vinny about how she thinks they will never get married.  And in the scene Lisa anxiously paces around Trotter's log cabin and she tells him what's on her mind "ou wanna know what I'm nervous about? I'll tell you what I'm nervous about! I am in the dark here with all this legal crap. I have no idea what's going on. All I know is that you're screwing up and I can't help!".  And Vinny almost sarcastically says to her "You left me a little camera, didn't you?" and Lisa anxiously continues "Oh, Vinny! I'm watching you go down in flames, and you're bringing me with you and I can't do anything about it!".

And Vinny, who can see where this is going asks "And?" and Lisa says to him " Well, I hate to bring it up, because I know you've got enough pressure on you already. But we agreed to get married as soon as you won your first case. Meanwhile, TEN YEARS LATER, my niece, the daughter of my sister is getting married. My biological clock is (taps her foot loudly) TICKING LIKE THIS and the way this case is going, I ain't never getting married!".   

And then there is the scene where she get's her best line in the whole film when Vinny says to her that he is going out hunting with Trotter and she disagrees with him and storms out the room.  And when Vinny asks her about what she thinks about the pants he is wearing (or trousers to us Brits and Scots!) she comes out and says "Imagine you are a dear, you spot a brook and put your little lips to the soft water.  BAM!!  A fucking bullet rips part of your head off, and your brains are lying on the ground in little bloody pieces!  Now I ask you, would you give a fuck what kind of pants the son of a bitch who shot you was wearing??!!!".

And another funny moment between Lisa and Vinny comes when Vinny arrives back in town with the car and he get's out and says to Lisa what he's got to do.  And Vinny angrily says " I got thirty fucking minutes to take a shower, get a new suit, get dressed and get to the fucking courthouse!" and Lisa replies by saying "You fucking shower, I'll get your fucking suit!".  

And lastly there is the scene when Lisa give her testimony in the courtroom scene for Vinny and at first when Haller asks her to answer Vinny's questions she says "No, I hate him!" and Vinny asks if he can treat her as a hostile witness and Lisa relies "You think I'm hostile just now, wait till you see me tonight!". 

So, in the scene Vinny gives Lisa the picture of the tyre tracks and asks her if the defence's case holds water referring to possibility of two identical Buick Skylarks being driven at the same time. So, in the scene, Lisa looks at the picture and after a moment she says "No! The defence is wrong!" and Vinny smiles and asks "Are you sure?" and Lisa breaks a smile and says "I'm positive" and Vinny asks "How can you be sure?" and Lisa says "Because there is no way these marks were made by a 1964 Buick Skylark, these marks were made by a 1963 Pontiac Tempest" and Vinny nods. Trotter however stands up asks "Objection your honour, I would like to confirm if the witness is stating their opnion or fact?" and Lisa says firmly "Its a fact!". 

So, as Vinny mockingly says out loud "I find it hard to believe that this sort of information could be ascertained, simply by look at a picture!" and Lisa says "Would you like me to explain?" and Vinny says "I would LOVE to hear this!" and Haller even says "So would I". So, Lisa explains "The car that made these two, equal-length tire marks had positraction. You can't make those marks without positraction, which was not available on the '64 Buick Skylark!". So, Vinny asks "So, why not? What is positraction?" and Lisa says "It's a limited slip differential which distributes power equally to both the right and left tires. The '64 Skylark had a regular differential, which, anyone who's been stuck in the mud in Alabama knows, you step on the gas, one tire spins, the other tire does nothing".

Vinny then asks "Is that it?" and Lisa says "No there's more. You see? When the left tire mark goes up on the curb and the right tire mark stays flat and even? Well, the '64 Skylark had a solid rear axle, so when the left tire would go up on the curb, the right tire would tilt out and ride along its edge. But that didn't happen here. The tire mark stayed flat and even. This car had an independent rear suspension. Now, in the '60s, there were only two other cars made in America that had positraction, and independent rear suspension, and enough power to make these marks. One was the Corvette, which could NEVER be confused with the Buick Skylark. The other had the same body length, height, width, weight, wheel base, and wheel track as the '64 Skylark, and that was the 1963 Pontiac Tempest!" and she triumphantly puts the photo down. So, as Vinny asks her were both cars available in mint green paint and she smiles and says "They were!" and with that one Oscar landed in her hands! ;-)

Fred Gwynne is terrific in his role as the cranky old judge, Haller, who takes an instant disliking towards Vinny and his cavalier attitude to the law.  This was also sadly Gwynne's final performance on film before his death the following year in 1993 at the age of 66.

Gwynne's exchanges with Pesci are clearly some of the film's funniest moments, especially in the scene with the arraignment where he pulls up Vinny for just about everything, from his appearance to his lack of knowledge on proper procedure. And he says to Vinny "It appears to me you want to skip the arraignment, skip trial and ask for a dismissal!" and "the next words I want to hear out of you are either guilty or not guilty.  It don't wanna hear commentary or argument.  I don't even want to hear you clear your throat!".

Then there is the funny moment where the DA, Trotter, the prosecution gives his opening speech to the jury to lay down Billy and Stan's guilt for the crime.  And when it comes to Vinny's turn he has nothing to say and afterward, Haller adjourns the court and looks at Vinny disdainfully, who is still wearing his leather jacket.  And Haller says to Vinny "Mr Gambini, stand up!" and Vinny stands up and Haller says "Now didn't I tell you the next time I see you in this court you were to dress appropriately?!" and Vinny looks on confused and says "You were serious about that?!" and we cut to Vinny on the prison bus with Billy and Stan.    

And then comes the scene where Vinny questions the first witness and he says "Is it possible that the two youths..." and cause of his accent Haller has to ask Vinny what he said, "What was that word?".  And Vinny says "What?" and Haller asks "Two what?" and Vinny asks again "What?" and Haller asks "Did you say a yute?"  and Vinny again says in his accent "Yeah two youths!" and Haller finally asks "What is a yute?" and Vinny finally get it and sarcastically replies "Oh I'm sorry your honor.  Two youths!".

And lastly there is the scene when Haller asks to speak to Vinny in his chambers as they approach the end of the case.  And Haller holds a fax in his hand regarding Vinny's claim that he used another for practising law "Jerry Gallo" who was a real lawyer but he had died recently.  So in the scene Haller says to Vinny "You're a dead man!" and Vinny anxiously says "I'm a dead man??" and Haller says to Vinny "I faxed the clerk of New York and asked him what he knew about Jerry Gallo.  You wannna know what he replied?".  So Vinny tries to bluff his way out of it by saying "Did you say "Jerry Gallo"?  Gallo with a G?" and Haller says "That's right" and Vinny replies "Jerry Gallo's dead!" and Haller looks at the fax and says testily "I'm AWARE of that!".  And Vinny bluffs Haller again and says to him "I'm Jerry Callow!  C-A-L-L-O!".

So they go into Haller's office who is fed up and tries to call the New York clerk's office again but doesn't get through.  So Haller says to a very nervous Vinny "He's gonna call back after three.  That gives you a stay of execution.  Unless by some miracle you win this case in the next 90 minutes!  Why don't you go to lunch".  

Ralph Macchio also does fine with his role as the innocent college kid, Billy, who ends up on trial for his life, and Ralph despite being 31 or 32 at the time, with his everlasting youthful looks manages to continue playing teenagers or youngsters in their early 20s!

And Ralph's best scenes include the scene where Billy and Stan having been arrested are questioned by Sheriff Farley (Bruce McGill) at the police station and Farley tries to get Billy to confess about the murder.  And in the scene Farley asks Billy regarding the murder of the store clerk "When did you shoot him?" and Billy, confused, asks "What?" and Farley asks "At what point did you shoot the clerk?".  And Billy, stunned, asks "I shot the clerk?" and Farley asks again "Yes.  When did you shoot him??" and again Billy asks "I shot the clerk?!" but Farley is called away from his office and then it starts to sink in for Billy what is going on and jumps in surprise and yells "WHOA!!!  WAIT A MINUTE!!".

And lastly there is the scene when Billy tries to convince Stan that Vinny, despite his slip ups so far in defending them, could still be the right man for the job.  And Billy tells Stan a story regarding Vinny rumbling a magician's tricks at a wedding "Well, he did his act, and every time he made something disappear, Vinny jumped on him. I mean, he nailed him! It was like, "it's in his pocket", or "he's palming it", you know? Or, "there's a mirror under the table." I mean, he was like, he was like, "wait a second, wait a second, it's joined in the middle, and there's a spring around it, it pops it open when it's inside the tube." It was like Alakazam's worst nightmare. Vinny was just being Vinny. He was just being the quintessential Gambini!".  And then the lights dim in the prison from the electric chair being used to execute a convict and both young men look very uncomfortable at the prospect of them being next.   

Mitchell Whitfield also does well in his role as Stan, Billy's college buddy, who is something of a neurotic guy who also has some amusing moments.

And Mitchell's good moments include the one where Billy has just learned they have been booked for murdering the store clerk.  And Billy asks Stan "Do you know what this is all about?" and Stan says "Yeah, they're fucking with us!" and Billy asks him "You don't believe them?" and Stan says "They don't execute for shoplifting".  And Billy asks Stan "You think we're being booked for shoplifting" and Stan says "No, you're being booked for shoplifting.  I'm being booked for an accessory to shoplifting!".  And Stan tells Stan "No, Stan.  I'm being booked for murder, and you're being booked for an accessory to murder!".  

And then after this in the next scene Stan calls his mother and Billy says to his mother regarding the police "We think they're trying to set us up as patsies.  You know how it is, they're all corrupt down here".  And Stan loudly interrupts their call saying "The Klan's here, they're inbred, they sleep with their sisters!" which get's some disproving looks from the police station staff and Stan looks awkwardly and says "well some of them do!".

Then there is the scene where Billy has been convinced by Vinny to stay on as his defence lawyer much to chagrin of Stan.  And Stan refers to Vinny's previous statement that he thinks they should give him the chance to be their lawyer, so Stan says "He thinks you should give it to him???  What was he in his last job?!  A fucking comedian??!!".  And Billy says "It can't hurt, I mean if he asks the wrong questions then your guy can still ask the right ones" and Stan says "No, he could still fuck things up!  There's more to cross-examination then knowing what to say, its knowing what NOT to say!  How did he ever talk you into it?!".  And Billy tells Stan the story about the magician at the wedding Vinny attended, who kept catching out the magician's tricks and that Vinny was just being the "quintessential Gambini".  And at that point the lights dim in the prison as one of the prisoners has been executed in the electric chair and both of them look very nervous and Stan says anxiously "there goes the quintessential Norton!".  

And lastly there is the moment where Stan decides to go with the public attorney, Gibbons, who turns out to have a bad stammer and get's nervous when he questions the first witness.  And after Vinny questions the first witness and successfully discredits his testimony, Stan looks angrily at Gibbons and says "You're fired!" and he stands and shouts to the judge, pointing at Vinny "I want HIM!". 

Lane Smith is also excellent as the DA, Jim Trotter, and he provides an unusual Southern quirkiness to his role in his delivery which adds nicely to his performance. 

And Smith has some highlights too such as the scene where Trotter gives his opening statement to the jury and he says to them "You're the jury. It's your job to decide who's telling the truth. Truth. That's what 'verdict' means. It's a word comes down from Old England and all our little old ancestors!".  

And then there is the scene where FBI anaylst, George Wilbur, reveals the tyre marks of the accused's car to be identical to the marks of the tyres found after the killer's made their getaway.  And as Trotter asks "Now, Mr Wilbur.  What was the result of your analysis?" and Wilbur says "The chemical composition between the two examples was found to be identical".  And then Trotter announces to the court "I----dentical!" as he smacks his hands together in between the "I" and "dentical".

And lastly there is the scene where Vinny calls Lisa to the stand to give testimony and Trotter questions Lisa's expertise on cars with herself having being an auto mechanic.  So Trotter asks Lisa "Now, uh, Ms. Vito, being an expert on general automotive knowledge, can you tell me... what would the correct ignition timing be on a 1955 Bel Air Chevrolet, with a 327 cubic-inch engine and a four-barrel carburetor?!".  And Lisa incredulously says "That's a bullshit question!" and Trotter goes up close to her and asks "Does that mean you can't answer it?!" and Lisa says "Its a bullshit question, its impossible to answer!" and Trotter teasingly says "Impossible because YOU don't know the ANSWER!".  And Trotter rather smugly says to Haller "Your Honor, I move to disqualify Ms. Vito as a "expert witness"!" and as Haller asks Lisa why she can't answer the question she tells him it is a trick one and the reason why much to the surprise of both Haller and Trotter.  And after, Trotter looks somewhat embarrassed and says akwardly "Um...she's acceptable, your honor".    

And then we have Austin Pendelton who provides a hilarious performance as the nervy public defender, John Gibbons, who suffers from a bad stammer and he get's a bad case of nerves in front of the jury on the first day of the trial as he tries to address them "Ladies and gentlmen of the jjjjjjjjjjjj...jury!  My client did indeed visit the Sac-o-Suds c..c.convenience store but-but he...he didn't kill anyone.  And we intend to prove that the pppppppppp....prosecution's case is circumstancial and and-and-and circumstancial.  Thank you!".   

And then there is the scene where Gibbons questions the first witness, Mr Tipton and he asks him "Mr T-T-T-....Tipton!  Now when you viewed my clients, how far away were you from them?" and Tipton says "about 50 feet".  And Gibbons says to him "Now, do you think that's close enough to make a positive i-i-i-i-i-identification???".  And Gibbons goes on to try and discredit Tipton's testimony based on him not wearing his glasses when he witness the two men fleeing the store but Tipton tells him the glasses he wears are simply for reading and he goes on to successfully tell the colour of Billy and Stan's eyes.  So after Gibbons unsuccessfully sits down and says to Stan "Boy he's a tough one!" and Stan complains to him, and the defender says "I get a little nervous.  I'm getting better!".

And lastly Bruce McGill who has always been a reliable veteran actor also provides a fine performance as Sheriff Farley.

And McGill has a couple of scenes worth mentioning such as the one where Farley questions Billy about what happened at the store.  And Farley asks Billy "Did Stan try and stop you at anytime" and Billy says "No.  I mean he was..." and Billy notices Farley write something down on a piece of paper on his desk.  And Billy asks "Is that a big deal?" and Farley says "Aidin and abettin!" and Billy asks "Aiding and abbetting??  Is that a major thing?" and Farley laughs out "Oh yeah!  Yeah!".

And then in the scene just after Farley questions Stan, thinking Stan is an accessory to the murder that Billy is alleged to have committed.  And in the scene Farley asks Stan "You didn't try and stop it?" and Stan says "No, I found out later in the car" and Farley asks him "Why didn't you get out and the call the police then?" and Stan says He's my friend" and Farley says to Stan "Well your friend has put you in alot of trouble!".  And before Farley leaves, Stan asks him "What is going to happen to Bill?" and Farley says "Nothing.  Unless he's convicted.  If he is, we're gonna run enough electricity through him to light up Birmingham!" (Birmingham, Alabama that is!).   

WARNING: BIG SPOILER IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH

Lastly, there is the scene where Farley is called to the stand to provide a key piece of evidence at the end of the trial where Vinny asked him to trace a car. So, as Farley sits in the witness stand, Vinny asks him "So, Sheriff Farley, what did you find out?" and Farley says "On a hunch, I took it upon myself to check out if there was any information on a '63 Pontiac Tempest stolen or abandoned recently" Farley then points to his print out "This computer readout confirms that two boys, who fit the defendants' description, were arrested two days ago by Sheriff Tillman in Jasper County, Georgia, for driving a stolen metallic mint green 1963 Pontiac Tempest, with a white convertible top, Michelin Model XGV tires, size 75-R-14". Vinny during this smugly walks around the court and looks to Trotter, who looks annoyed. So, Vinny then asks "Is that it?" and Farley says "No, a .357 magnum revolver was found in their possession" and Vinny asks "Just refresh the court's memory, what caliber bullet was used to murder Jimmy Willis?" and Farley says ".357 Magnum" and Vinny smugly says "The defence rests!".

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC 

As for the film's director, Jonathan Lynn, he does a fine job, as he is no stranger to comedy, having previously been behind Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister as well as previously directing the British farce, Nuns on the run (starring Robbie Coltrane and Eric Idle).  And Lynn keeps the film's tone nice and light hearted and only in one or two scenes does he highlight the danger the two young college kids are in, such as the scene where Billy and Stan see the lights dim in their cell as the electric chair is used elsewhere in the prison.  But for the most part Lynn get's the tone of the comedy just right and he keeps the film moving at a nice pace which rarely lags. 

And lastly moving onto the music, Randy Edelman provides a pleasant, jaunty score that fits the film rather nicely even if the score isn't overly memorable it is still fit for purpose and is perfect for the film's comedic tone. The soundtrack also features the upbeat and country themed track "Way Down South" performed by The Fabulous Thunderbirds, which plays during the opening credits, which is OK but nothing too special imho.   

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain the odd spoiler!)

So flaws.....yes My Cousin Vinny does have some (for a moment that almost reads like he was my cousin!). 

And for me part of the film's problems are to do with its padded length as it does take its time before we finally get to the courtroom scenes and to the nitty gritty of the film, with some inconsequential moments in the film.  And such moments include Vinny arguing with a town local who owes Lisa money for a game of pool, which we come to a few times before Vinny finally pounces on him and takes the money, which is admittedly quite a funny moment.

Then there is the scene where Vinny and Lisa decide to spend the night out in their car rather than stay in Trotter's log cabin but in the morning they find the car is stuck in the mud.  And in the scene Vinny get's out his car and goes flying on his arse and ends up covered in mud but when he tries to get up and he suddenly slips and falls face down so he is covered in mud on both sides.  However the way it is done is pretty obvious and a bit pat that Vinny would end up slipping face down as well and its one of the comedic scenes in the film that, no pun intended, does fall flat.   

And perhaps if you want to be really picky you could get argue there are some moments where the film's logic and timeframe is a bit muddled.  And as an exmaple starter there is the scene where Vinny and Lisa argue over a dripping tap and if Lisa turned the tap firmly enough to fully shut it off, she goes through a whole spiel of how the engineers who installed the taps made sure it was "dead on balls accurate" for turning on and off or for "torquage".  But instead of arguing about it, why didn't Vinny just get out of bed and go over twist the tap to see if it would stop dripping or not, rather than make a song and dance about it!

Another thing, I found a bit strange was how Haller didn't realise that Vinny and Lisa knew each other when he questioned her on the stand, as he had seen them together in the courtroom this whole time, surely he must have twigged they knew each other in some capacity! However, Haller doesn't seem to have noticed but I guess he was more concerned with the case instead of who was in the courthouse and who knows who. 

And lastly there is the moment where Vinny tells Lisa during lunch as the case draws to an end that Haller found out that Jerry Gallo was dead but in the scene he didn't tell her that he bluffed Haller again and said his name started with a "C" and not a "G" i.e. Jerry Callo.  However later on at the end of the film after the case has finished, Haller commends Vinny and tells him that he got a fax through telling him that he was a recognised trial lawyer.  And afterward as they drive off, Lisa tells Vinny that she called his friend, Judge Molloy and told him to do her a favour and send a letter confirming was Jerry Callo, but again Vinny didn't tell her!  So this scene at the end doesn't make any sense as Lisa couldn't possibly know that Vinny bluffed Haller in the first place and it remains the film's main plot hole.

Update: however, it is is possible that Vinny could have told Lisa about the Jerry Callo thing after he won the case and she went and made the call to help him then before they run into Haller. You could also argue that she was making the phone call in the courthouse to Vinny's friend, Judge Malloy but at that point he hadn't told her though, so its unlikely. 

Oh and an additional last of all here and this is a big one, there is arguably one big flaw in the film with the exception of one line from the prosecution lawyer Trotter mentions, is completely overlooked and that is the absence of a murder weapon. I mean at no other point in the film was there any mention of Billy and Stanley being accused of having a gun or being interrogated as to what they did with the alleged weapon they used to kill the store owner. So, this to me is a real big oversight by the writers, which was glossed over and mentioned in just one line by Trotter where he said "I'd like to have the murder weapon" and apart from that NOTHING else is made of the fact that neither of the boys HAD a weapon to shoot the clerk with! But then again, the police probably assumed that Billy and Stan threw it away or something before they were arrested.

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, My Cousin Vinny is still a very funny and enjoyable comedy, which is also very clever and well written and deservedly got plaudits for its depiction of legal procedure. The film also features great performances particularly from Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei, who won the best supporting actress Oscar and Fred Gwynne, in his final onscreen performance prior to his death a year later from the release of the film. So, 32 years on this comedy is still great and provides many laughs and is well worth a look.

So, with that, I will rate My Cousin Vinny.

9 out of 10 

 

 

Poor Things Review "You're in my sun!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, just for a change, I thought I would do a new review of a new film for a change and the film in question is the acclaimed dark comedy fantasy (I think we can call it that anyway!) Poor Things starring the Academy Award winning actress, Emma Stone in the main role as a young woman who has been re-animated after her death.

So, this film had been getting rave reviews for its whackiness, visual design, unusual soundtrack and of course its performances but does it warrant all that? Well, let's find out...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY 

So, the film begins with a young woman, Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) who is at first very child-like and moves around like an infant learning to walk and talk. However we soon learn that Bella is in fact the result of an experiment conducted by an eccentric surgeon named Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) who took the body of the woman, who was prgenant at the time of her death, removed her baby and take out its brain and placed it into the woman's head and brought her back to life in an Frankstein-esque manner, meaning that Bella now has her own child's brain for her own (yep its that kind of film!).

Bella however soon begins to mature rapidly and her intelligence grows as does her sexual curiousity with her own body (as she does things with an apple!). Godwin is also assisted in his work by a medical student, Max, who is infatuated with Bella and Godwin suggests that he marry her in order to keep Bella in the confines of his home. Bella curiosity with the outside world begins to overwhelm her and she soon demands to leave and explore the world as she meets Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) a sleazy lawyer, who also takes a liking to Bella (Duncan was brought in to look over a marriage contract for Max and Bella). Bella then travels with Duncan much to the annoyance of Godwin and Max although she insists she will return to marry Max. 

Bella and Duncan then embark on a wild journey, which begins in Lisbon where they have regular sex but Bella's curiosity with her surroundings makes her difficult for Duncan to control. So, Duncan decides to smuggle her onto a cruise ship where she befriends two passengers, who open her mind to philosophy much to Duncan's frustration as fails to try and stunt her growth and begins to drink and gamble. Bella however is soon shown the darker side of the world, with a stop off in Alexandra, she witnesses the poor and destitute. Bella then decides to donate Duncan's winnings to help them but gives the winnings unwittingly to two crew members who pretend they will honour her wish. Unable to afford the rest of the cruise, Bella and Duncan are turfed off the ship in France and they make their way to Paris.

Once they arrived in Paris, Bella in an effort to seek money and accommodation, begins to work in a brothel, much to Duncan's horror, who is outraged and Bella decides to abandon him. Bella also befriends another prostitute working at the brothel, Toinette (Suzy Bemba) who she begins a relationship with and she also expands Bella's learning and educates her about the concept of socialism.

However back in London, we learn that Godwin is now dying from cancer and he insists tht Max try and find Bella and bring her back home. Bella soon get's word of this and returns home but she also soon learns of Godwin's experiment on her but she forgives him. Bella then decides to go ahead with her promise to marry Max, however at the day of the wedding Duncan reappears with a stranger, who claims to be Bella's husband. 

And its from here we learn what happened to Bella before her death and what fate awaits ahead of her ...

THOUGHTS

As far as whacky out there films go, Poor Things certainly is a prime candidate on that front is it is a truly bizzare and eccentric film that tries to pay homage to different genres from fantasy to horror to comedy to drama, Poor Things is an amalgam of all these. Yet despite its weirdness, Poor Things is also highly entertaining and its also visually impressive in its of black and white and colour as well as fisheye lenses to give the film a kind of peep show view of things in certain scenes. The film also doesn't hold back in its graphic depiction of surgical scenes, particularly where we see what happens to Bella (yikes!). 

The film of course is also based on the book by Scottish author, Alisdair Gray, although the main difference between the book and the film is that the book is based in Glasgow and the film in London, which was a creative choice made by the film's director, Yorgos Lanthimos. Bella herself is a truly unique character here as she is a developing child in a woman's body and her course to self discovery is both truly bizzare and also very funny and the supporting characters are equally as weird and intriguin particularly Godwin, Bella's "father" and Duncan the sleazy lawyer, Bella runs off with.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers and strong language!)

As for the performances, the cast are all on top form throughout here. 

Starting with Emma Stone, who is superb in the main role as Bella Baxter, the child-like woman, who develops quickly as a result of a somewhat gruesome experiment by Godwin and she dservedly won the Oscar for her performance at this years Academy Awards. 

Emma has numerous highlights in the film but I will try and keep it to just a few here to not make the post too long winded. For starters there is the scene where Bella on the cruise ship sits with her two new friends, Martha and Harry and Duncan approaches her and tries to pry her away from them. 

So, in the scene Duncan says to Bella "You're always reading now, Bella. You're losing that adorable way of speaking" and Bella says "I am a changeable feast. As are we all. Apparently according to Emerson, disagreed with by Harry". Duncan testily then tells Bella "Come, come, just come!" but Bella stays put and says "You're in my sun" as Duncan grabs her book and throws it away overboard but then Martha gives her another book but Duncan throws that one overboard too.

Then there is the scene where Bella and Duncan have been thrown off the cruise ship and they arrive in Paris with no money. So, Duncan is outraged on learning that Bella gave his gambling winnings away to the poor (or more accurately two crewmen on the cruise ship!) and berates her for it. So, Duncan shouts at her "You selfish, thoughtless, careless bitch!!" and Bella says "I am not thoughtless Duncan. More like, it is true my ability to think things through to the logical conclusion is not strong. I did help those suffering people. I have ruined us as you pointed out. But I do believe my actions came from a good place" and he sits forward in dispair and she pats him on the back.

And then there is hilarious scene where Bella having started working in a local brothel in Paris, returns to Duncan as she eats a cone, leaving Duncan horrified on learning this (the brothel not the cone). So, Duncan almost in tears says to her "You are a monster! I see nothing in you but ugliness!" and Bella says to him "That last bit was uncalled for and makes no sense, as your odes to my beauty have been boring but constant. And this simple act erased all that". Duncan leans over devastated, he says "You whored yourself!" and Bella none the wiser says "Which are you now going to explain to me is bad. Can I never win with you?" and Duncan says "Its the worst thing a woman can do!". Bella then says "We should definitely never marry. I'm a flawed, experimenting person, and I will need a husband with a more forgiving disposition. Farewell Duncan Wedderburn" and Duncan now furious shouts a rather bad word "CUNT!!!!". 

Then there is the scene where Max is reuinted with Bella as they walk together and she tells him of her adventuring and says "I have been a whore you understand. Cocks for money inside me. Are you okay with that? Or is the whore thing a challenge to the desire for ownership men have" and Max says "I feel merely jealous of the men's time with you, rather than a moral aspersion against you. It is your body, Bella Baxter. Yours to give freely" and Bella tells him "I charge 30 francs" and he says "Seems low". Bella then stops him and asks "Will you marry me, Max McCandles?" and Max delighted, says "I will" and they kiss and she smiles and says "We will need less of your tongue in future but overall most agreeable". 

And last of all is the scene where Bella returns to Godwin as she asks him over her "surgery" to become who she is. So, in the scene Belle says to Godwin "So, Bella says to Godwin "So I am your creation, as is the other one?" and Godwin says to her "Neither of you are that. She wanders the halls with a hammer and a song, that is not my doing, and I have read your cards and letters home and watched you fearlessly create Bella Baxter with wonder". Bella then icily tells Godwin "I am finding being alive fascinating so I will forgive you the act but hate the lies and trapping that followed. Anger, confusion and brain disonance aside, I have missed you. I arrived home and smelt the formeldyhyde and knew what was next. I will be a doctor".  

Mark Ruffalo next is great in his role as Duncan Wedderburn, the sleazy lawyer, who Bella runs away with as they go on a mad explorative journey together and he is often very funny in the film even if his English RP accent isn't that convincing! 

And Ruffalo also has plenty of highlights in the film that include the scene where after Bella and Duncan have sex when they are in Lisbon, Bella urges him to go again although Dunca has his limits! 

So, in the scene Bella asks "Why do people not just do this all time??" and Duncan tells her feeling a bit exhausted "Well, at the risk of not sounding too modest, you've just been thrice fucked by the very best. Its probably no other man can bring the raptures I've ever bring you. I feel bad for you". Bella then asks "Well, it be just you I do "furious jumping" with?" and Duncan laughs and says "Jumping, I love that!" and Bella says "I'm rested, let's go again!" and Duncan smiles and says "Again? Unfortunately even I have my limits. Men cannot keep coming back for more". Bella then asks "Is it a psychological problem? A weakness in men?" and Duncan says "Probably. You'd be best advised not to fall in love with me, I have little to offer in terms of consistency, just adventure" and Bella says "I see" and Duncan says "Let us sleep".

Then there is the scene where on the cruise ship, Duncan takes offence of Bella's bluntness infront of the some of the passengers they dine with. So, Duncan sharply tells her off for use of language and says to her "Your behaviour is unconscionable. Will you behave?!" and Bella angrily says to him "The foo was cacking my throat, the baby annoying and woman boring with words!" and Duncan firmly tells her "You will rejoin the table and confine yourself to the following thee phases "How marvelous", "delighful" and "How did they get the pastry so crisp?".

And then there is the scene where Duncan is devastated on learning that Bella not only whored herself at the brothel but also had a stash of money that Godwin gave her for "emergencies". So, Duncan furiously says to her "YOU ARE A MONSTER. A WHORE AND A MONSTER! You are a demon sent from hell to rip my spirit to shreds to punish my tiny sins with a tsunami of destruction. To take my heart and pull it like taffy, to ruin me. I look at you and see nothing but ugliness!!". Bella then says to Duncan "I am a flawed experimenting person and I need a more understanding husband, so we cannot marry" and she takes out some money "I shall buy a passage back to London" and Duncan looks shocked and says "You had money the whole TIME??!" and Bella tells him "It was for emergencies" and Duncan shouts at her "Its been a fucking emergency for weeks!!". Bella then says "I belive this time whole time you would rise to the occassion but now I see there is something broken in you" and Duncan angrily tells her "YOU broke something inside me!!" and Bell says "I feel this conversation has become circular" and Duncan furiously yells "CUUUNT!!!!".  

Willem Dafoe next is also great in his role as Godwin Baxter, the surgeon who operates on Bella to bring her back to life after her death by implanting her unborn baby's brain in her own head. 

So, I will mention just two of Dafoe's scenes starting with the one where Godwin and Max sit and eat and Godwin suggests that Max marry Bella but Max asks why Godwin doesn't have her, so Godwin rather hilariously explains why.

So, Max says to Godwin "I thought you were raising her to be you mistress, a dark though, unworthy of me I know. So you are not laying with her". So, Godwin candidly and scientifically explains "Spermatic ejaculation can only induce homeostasis in me if accompanied by prolonged stimulation of higher nerve centres whose pressure upon the ductless glands changes the chemistry of my blood not for a few spasmodic minutes but for many days". Max puzzled asks "What??" and Godwin spells it out for him "I am a eunuch and can’t fuck her!! To get a sexual response from my body would take the same amount of electricity as runs North London! Besides my paternal feelings seem to outweigh my sexual thoughts". 

And last of all is the scene where Bella returns to London when Godwin is dying and on returning to see him, she is initially angry with him for creating her the way he did but she soon forgives him. So, Bella says to Godwin "So I am your creation, as is the other one?" and Godwin says to her "Neither of you are that. She wanders the halls with a hammer and a song, that is not my doing, and I have read your cards and letters home and watched you fearlessly create Bella Baxter with wonder". Bella then icily tells Godwin "I am finding being alive fascinating so I will forgive you the act but hate the lies and trapping that followed. Anger, confusion and brain disonance aside, I have missed you. I arrived home and smelt the formeldyhyde and knew what was next. I will be a doctor". Godwin smiles and says to her "My surgery is yours. My father once said, always carve with compassion. He was a fucking idiot but its not bad advice" and Bella smiles.

Ramy Youssef is also very good in his role as Max, the young medical student, who studies along with Godwin and falls for Bella despite her wild behaviour. 

And Ramy has some good moments too such as the one where Max finds papers and diagrams of surgical procedures relating to Bella. So, Max decides to confront Godwin about what happened to Bella and he says to him "What did you do to her? And why are you hiding her? Tell me what all this means, or I go to the police?" and Godwyn tells him "For it is a happy tale!".

Another good scene is when Max is reuinted with Bella as they walk together and she tells him of her adventuring and says "I have been a whore you understand. Cocks for money inside me. Are you okay with that? Or is the whore thing a challenge to the desire for ownership men have" and Max says "I feel merely jealous of the men's time with you, rather than a moral aspersion against you. It is your body, Bella Baxter. Yours to give freely" and Bella tells him "I charge 30 francs" and he says "Seems low".  

And lastly there is the scene where Max and Bella are about to marry but the ceremony is interrupted by Duncan and a man claiming to be Bella's husband. So, in the scene Ducan in a fit of mad ramblings accuses Godwin of this being his evil doing "He is the God of it! It is a devil's hand at work. As you see, he coughs blood and not air!" and Max says "He has cancer you fucking idiot!".

Christopher Abbott, is very good in his role as Bella's real life husband, Alfie Bellington, who Bella learns the real truth of what happened to her and why she took her life (as depicted at the start of the film). For time and to not spoil the ending as much, I won't mention his scenes but he does have a pretty bizarre and amsuing ending! 

And last of all is Suzy Bemba as Toinette, a prostitute at the brothel where Bella works, who becomes romantically invovled with her during their time working there but again I won't mention her scenes for time. And last last of all is Kathryn Hunter, who does well in her creepy role as Madam Swiney, who runs the brother in Paris and we find she has some weird tatoos all over her body later on. So, yeah, she fits right at home in this film! 

DIRECTOR 

As for the director, Yorgos Lanthimos does an excellent job overall and has created a truly bizzare and surreal experience for the viewer as he expertly mixes in both colour and black and white and also adopts the use of fisheye lenses to create a peephole sensation, as if the characters are being spied on or viewed by outsiders. Yorgos also provides some incredible sets for the film and most of the exterior scenes where shot at Origo studios in Budapest. Its a film that definitely has an arty look to it but it also is a generous mix of styles blended together all at once making this like collage film-mkaing if you like. Its also worth noting that Lanthimos also adopts the same font for the titles as used in Stanley Kubrick's comedy Dr Strangelove only he plasters them around the corners of the frame in a unique manner. All in all though, this is a fine effort from Lanthimos.

MUSIC

As for the music, it was composed by pop musician Jerskin Fendrix and it is entirely appropriate to the bizarre tone of the film as it is mix of goofiness, horror, drama and adventure all at once. So, overall its a pretty good score and well suited to the film without a doubt, there are perhaps parts of it I thought were a bit too loud and overbearing but that aside its still pretty good. 

FLAWS

As for flaws..its hard to pick out flaws for this film but it does have some worth a mention at the same time.

For starters, I think the film does threaten to choke itself on its own eccentricity and early on it could potentially alienate an audience with the setup of Bella as a child, it might give people the wrong idea of this being a really stupid, goofy B movie as that was my initial thoughts in the first 20 minutes or so of the film. 

I also think Bella's rapid intellectual growth throughout the film suggests that her longevity could be limited given if her brain advances too fast then she could die young also, as her brain could age quicker than she does. However, this is of course just a theory and she could mature and maintain her cognitive functions normally for the rest of her life but it does raise the question of just how long will Bella have to live? It makes me think of the Blade Runner situation in which the replicants have a four year lifespan, so just maybe Bella might have one too but who knows? Anyway it is just a thought. ;-)

I also thought the setup of the end was a bit bizzare too as well given that Bella had a relationship with Toinette and is presumably married to Max by the end, does this mean that they will all get involved in a threesome?? Or will they have separate relationships together, so to speak?? Its hard to say, as they might just be good friends at that point. 

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Poor Thing is a very much a wild ride of a film, which doesn't hold back in its depiction of an experimental woman on her own journey of self discovery with plenty of sex scenes and gory surgery scenes, its not a film for the faint hearted (so not really for me either lol!). However there is still alot to enjoy here and it is often very funny and the performances are great, particularly Stone, Ruffalo and Dafoe, and Emma Stone thoroughly deserved her Oscar win for this role. So, if you go into the one with no expectations, then you might just enjoy it as it really surprised me.

So, I will rate Poor Things:

9 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post. 

Until then bye for now! 

The Abyss Review (Revisited) "Bud, do you know your hand is blue???"

 

 

 

 

 

So, as we are now into March, I figured it was time for another post and this one is a revisit of a revisit (again I know!) and the post in question is James Cameron's undewater sci-fi epic, The Abyss. 

Now, the Abyss has just had its 4K digital release in the US however here in the UK the release has been cancelled indefinitely because of a specific scene I will mention a bit later, which the BBFC wanted to be cut out. However, James Cameron's company, Lightstorm refused to budge on this, so they vetoed the release in the UK as a result, which is a real pain to say that least! 

Anyway with that said, I thought I would take the time to have another look at this film anyway, and see how it fairs 35 years on from its release and as usual, the review sections here will be a bit more expanded with some updates.

And the usual warning is coming....

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY 

So, the film is set in 1988 and it begins with a US submarine encountering an unidentified object underwater, which leads to the sub sinking near the Cayman Trough.  So, the US Government decides to send in a SEAL team to a privately owned experimental underwater drilling platform near Cayman Trough, which they intend to use as a operations base.  The team are accompanied by the platform designer, Dr Lindsey Brigman (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) who insists on going even though the current rig foreman, Virgil "Bud" Brigman (Ed Harris) is her estranged husband.

During the initial investigation of the sub, Lindsey, who dives down with the Navy SEAL team along with Bud and some of the other rig employees, she witnesses a strange light that circles the sub.  Not long after their initial dive, the SEAL team, lead by Lt Coffey (Michael Biehn) receive orders to go down again in one of the mini-subs to retrieve a nuclear warhead from the sunken US sub, much to Bud's annoyance as they used it without permission.   

However things take a turn for the worse when a violent storm hits the area and it ends up damaging and tearing up a cable crane, attached to a ship that is tethered to the rig.  The crane crashes down through the water toward the rig and it causes the rig to be dragged toward the trench but it stops just short.  This results in the rig being severely damaged and several crew members killed as they are drowned by flooding water that spreads through parts of the rig, however the others survive.  After Coffey and his men return with the warhead, he shows little in the way of remorse for Bud's men.

Sometime later while Lindsey goes outside underwater to effect some repairs to the rig, she encounters what she would later call an "NTI" non-terrestrial intelligence and tries to explain to the others, who remain somewhat sceptical of what Lindsey saw.  However, not long after one of the NTI's makes its way into the rig as it forms itself with water and Lindsey and the other crew members see it and it is clear the NTI means them no harm.  Coffey, who by now is suffering paranoid effects from high pressure nervous syndrome, panics when he sees the NTI and closes a hatch, which cuts it in half and it disappears back into the waters.

Coffey then decides to take Lindsey, Bud and the other rig members hostage as he locks them up and he heads for the mini-sub, which is armed with the warhead that he intends to use to attack the NTIs.  Lindsey and Bud soon manage to escape when one of the rig members, Jammer (John Bedford Lloyd) subdues the SEAL holding them hostage.  Bud tries to fight Coffey in hand to hand combat but Coffey gains the upper hand due to his SEAL training until one of the rig crew, Catfish (Leo Burmester) knocks Coffey down with a single punch.  Coffey then flees and Bud and Lindsey pursue him in another mini-sub and as they clash subs, Coffey's mini-sub is sent crashing over the edge of the trough, which implodes from high depth pressure, however Coffey does manage to activate the warhead before he is crushed by the impact.

And due to the damage sustained in Lindsey and Bud's mini-sub, it is rapidly flooding with water and with only one diving suit, Lindsey opts to go into deep hypothermia and have Bud swim her back to the rig.  On bringing Lindsey back to the Rig, Bud and the other rig members desparately try to revive Lindsey at first however to no avail but Bud refuses to give up and continues his attempts to resuscitate her using CPR and she eventually comes around much to the delight and relief of Bud and the others.

After this however, the crew realise they still have to deactivate the warhead that Coffey had armed, which lies at the bottom of the trough for which Bud volunteers to go.  So, one of the Navy SEAL's decides to help them out as he was unaware of Coffey's plan and has Bud put on an experimental diving suit that is equipped with a liquid breathing apparatus and Bud will only be able to communicate via the use of a wrist keypad.

So its from here Bud makes his dangerous and deep dive down the trench in an effort to save themselves and the NTIs from potential annihilation....

THOUGHTS

The Abyss has always been one of James Cameron's most underrated and least talked about films of his career.  The film's production was notoriously known as one of the toughest and most horrendously difficult shoots of any movie, which saw many struggles between the actors, Cameron and the production crew.

And as an example of the problems, Cameron had the production crew build a massive tank for the underwater scenes, which sprung leaks that lead to further delays in production.  The cast and crew also become agitated by the lengthy daily shooting schedule and the slow pace of the production.  As for the two leads, Ed Harris to this day has stated that he never wishes to discuss the film and its production ever again.  Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio also was said to have suffered an emotional breakdown during the film and she particularly hated filming the scene where Bud tries to revive Lindsey due to intense efforts of Harris's pounding and slapping her in the sequence, which lead to her storming off set and leaving Harris to film the scene without her. 

It was also said that James Cameron was reported to have angrily confronted a 20th Century Fox exec, who turned up on the set as the move had gone over budget and Cameron shoved a diving hemlet on the exec and closed the seal to express his anger and frustration at how he nearly ran out of air earlier that day and wanted the exec to well...understand the feeling of that too, I guess!

However for all its production issues, the film itself has alot going for it as it features some engaging characters and a pretty decent story, even if the element of the extra-terrestrial lifeforms seems a bit out of place at times given the otherwise grounded nature of the story itself.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section will contain spoilers!)

As for the performances, well they are all excellent as the cast give it their best and it clearly shows throughout.

Starting with Ed Harris, who is great as Virgil "Bud" Brigman, the foreman on the rig, who ends up being saddled with his estranged wife, Lindsey, who designed the rig systems and together they also have to deal with an untrustworthy Navy SEAL time and some non-terrestrial lifeforms.

And Harris has his share of good scenes in the film such as the one where Bud first chats to Lindsey again for the first time quite a while on a video screen.  And as Lindsey angrily sits down and appears on the video screen, Bud feigns cheerfulness and says " Hi, Lins.  I thought you were in Houston" and Lindsey angrily says "I was, but I managed to bum a ride on the last flight out here.  Only here isn't where I left it, is it, Bud?!".  And Lindsey complains about how a company grabbed control of the rig that she designed "I can't believe you let them grab my rig!" and Bud asks "Your rig?!" and Lindsey says "My rig!  I designed the damn thing!".  Bud then tells her "Yup, a Benthic Petroleum paid for it.  So as long as they're hold the pink slip, I go where they tell me".  Lindsey then continues to accuse Bud of selling himself out to the company and he becomes fed up and says to her "I'm switching off now" and Lindsey shouts "Virgil, you wiener!  You never could stand up to a fight..." and Bud switches it off.  And he sighs and says "God, I hate that bitch!" and one of rig crew, Hippy says to him "Probably shouldn't have married her then" and Bud nods.

Then there is the scene which appears in the director's cut where Bud tries to appeal to Lindsey over their ruined relationship as she is currently seeing someone else, who Bud calls "the suit".  So, in the scene Bud asks Lindsey "What happened?" as she tells him "I haven't seen him in a few weeks.  Bud, its not a part of your life anymore!".  So, Bud stands behind her closely and says "I'll tell what you happened...you woke up one day and realised "this guy never makes me laugh!" and Lindsey angrily tells him "Jesus! You're clever! You should get your own show...ask Dr Bud, advice to the lovelorn from 300 fathoms!".  And at this point, Bud gives up and storms out with Lindsey saying "Thank you!" as he leaves.  Then we cut to Bud going into a toilet and pulling off his wedding ring and throwing it down the toilet and he slams the door.  However a moment later, Bud changes his mind and goes back in and reaches down into the toilet pan for his ring, which he get's and sticks back on his finger and we see that his hand is all blue and Bud shakes his head and says "Oh, shit!".

Another good scene is when Bud learns that Coffey and his men are taking their mini-sub to go underwater (although he doesn't know why).  So, Bud rushes over too late as he sees Coffey is already submerging the mini-sub into the water.  So, Bud yells at him "Shit!! Coffey!!  COME BACK!!  We need the big arm to unhook the umbilical!  THERE'S A GODDAMN HURRICANE COMING!!!".  However it is too late and one of the rig crew, Lisa "One Night" Standing (Kimberly Scott) tells Bud of Coffey "He's switched off" and Bud says "Unbelievable!".

Then there is the moment where Bud tries to help three of the rig crew members, Finler (Captain "Kidd" Brewer Jr) who become trapped behind one of the doors, which floods with water and one of the men bangs on the door frantically.  So, Bud shouts at him "FINLER!!  Cut the hose!  Cut the hose to the motor!  I can't open it from out here!" however, Philip is powerless to do anything as the water pressure builds and Bud yells out in horror "FINLER!!!!!!!!" as the water bursts out through the door and starts to flood into the compartment where he is.  So, Bud desparately tries to make it into the next area and one of the bulkhead doors is about to shut on him but stops it with his hand and his wedding ring prevents his hand from being injured.  So, Bud yells out for help "HEY!!!!!! HEY!!!!!!!!!" and Cat soon comes to the rescue and Bud shouts "CAT!!! CUT THE HOSE!!!  CUT THE HOSE TO THE MOTOR!!" and Cat takes out a flick knife and cuts the hose lines for the doorand they manage to force it open and Bud get's through and sighs with relief and kisses his wedding ring.

Another good scene from Ed is where Coffey starts to really show signs of instability when Hippy has recorded cam footage of Coffey and his men priming the nuclear warhead and Lindsey sees the footage and storms off and angrily confronts Coffey.  And Coffey's men grab Lindsey, which forces Bud to sound an alarm to bring his other crew members to help and he warns Coffey "OK, man, let her go!  DO IT NOW!" and Coffey's SEAL member let's her go.  Then after this, Bud says to Lindsey "Linds, I want you to stay away from that guy.   Look, he's operating on his own. He's cut off from his chain of command. He's showing signs of pressure-induced psychosis, and he's got a nuclear weapon. So as a personal favor to me, will you try to put your tongue in neutral for a while?".

Then there is the film's most dramatic and tense scene where Lindsey drowns in the mini-sub when it is submerged in water after the skirmish with Coffey in the mini-sub battle and Bud takes her back to the rig and he attempts to revive her with CPR.  And after a brief attempt to revive Lindsey, the crew give up as there is no response, leaving Bud devastated.  However, Bud suddenly yells out "NO!!!!  SHE HAS A STRONG HEART!  SHE WANTS TO LIVE!!!  COME ON, LINDS!!!  COME ON, BABY!!!" and he starts frantically doing the CPR again.  Then he yells at One-Night to zap Lindsey with the cardiac defribilators again "Zap her again.  DO IT!!! DO IT!!!" and One-Night zaps her again but to no aval, so Bud continues the CPR.  And Bud then yells at Lindsey "Come on, goddamn it!  Breathe! GODDAMN IT YOU BITCH, YOU NEVER BACKED AWAY FROM ANYTHING IN YOUR LIFE!!!!  NOW FIGHT!!" and Bud slaps her twice to try and bring her around.  Bud then yells desparately "FIGHT!!! RIGHT NOW!!! DO IT NOW!!  FIGHT GODDAMNIT!!!!  FIGHT!!!!! FIGHT!!!!!!!" and he frantically shakes her and yells with all the breath that he can muster "FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!!!!".  And Lindsey finally starts to come around with to Bud and everyone else's delight and relief and Bud sobs and says "You did it, Ace!".

WARNING: THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH IS A BIG SPOILER!! 

And last of all is the scene where Bud makes the dive down to the bottom of the trench to disarm the nuclear warhead and after he successfully disarms the missile, the one Navy SEAL that is on the crew's side, Ensign Monk (Adam Nelson) asks Bud how much oxygen he has left and Bud types on his keypad "FIVE MINUTES WORTH".  And at this point the crew react in surprise and Lindsey becomes emotional and pleads with Bud to start his ascent right now and the guage could be wrong and she starts to break down crying.  So, Bud types on his keypad "DON'T CRY, BABY.  KNEW THIS WAS ONE WAY TICKET.  I HAD TO COME.  LOVE YOU WIFE" and he lies at the bottom of the trench, waiting to die when all of a suddeny an NTI appears and takes his hand and leads him into an alien ship.  And in the ship, Bud is then able to take off his diving helmet and gear and they relay the message to Lindsey on a big screen and Bud smiles and salutes the NTIs.

Mary Elizbaeth Mastrantonio next up is also excellent as the feisty and headstrong, Lindsey Brigman, who at the start of the film has a tense and uneasy relationship with her estranged husband, Bud, but the two of them start reconnect again as the rig crisis unfolds.

And Mary has her own share of good scenes that include the one where Lindsey angrily confronts Bud in a video com.  And Bud says to her "Hey, Linds.  I though you were in Houston" and Lindsey says "I was, but I managed to bum a ride on the last flight out here.  Only here isn't where I left it, is it, Bud?".  Lindsey then angrily says "We were that close to proving a submersible drilling platform could work.  We had over seven thousand feet of hole down for Chrissake. I can't believe you let them grab my rig!".  Bud asks "YOUR rig?" and Lindsey tells him "Yeah, I designed the damn thing!" and Bud tells her Benthic petroleum own the rig and they tell him where to go.  However Lindsey is not interested and angrily says to Bud "You wimp!  I had alot riding on this...They bought you...more like rented you out cheap!".  Bud however has heard enough and says "I'm switching off now" and Lindsey spits at him "Virgil, you wiener!  You never could stand up to a fight...." and Bud switches her off.

Then there is the moment where Lindsey goes down to the rig with the NAVY seal team and they undergo the decompression process before they enter.  And Lindsey tells the team "The bad news is we got six hours in this can, blowing down.  The worse news is it's gonna take us three weeks to decompress back to the surface later".  And Lt Coffey says to her "We've already been fully briefed, Mrs Brigman" and Lindsey irritably says "Please don't call me that, OK?  I hate that" and Coffey says to her "OK. What shall we call you?  Sir???" and Lindsey manages a faint smile.  And after they decompress, Cat let's them onboard and the SEALs move out first with their gear, all without saying anything and Lindsey says to Cat "They're really very sweet!" and then "These guys are about as much fun as a tax audit!".

Another good scene is when after the rig sustains heavy damage from when the cable crane breaks loose from the ship above that is tethered to the rig, Lindsey is in the machine making repairs and Bud joins her.  So, Bud asks her "What's the scoop, ace?" and Lindsey tells him "I can get power to this module and sub-bay if I remote these busses.  I've gotta get past the mains, which are a total melt-down".  Bud asks "You need any help?" and Lindsey tells him "Thanks.  No, I can handle it.  Bud... there won't be enough to run the heaters.  In a couple hours this place is going to be as cold as a meat locker".  And Bud asks her about oxygen situation and she says they will have 12 hours worth if shut off unused sections but she then says "I can extend that.  There's some storage tanks outboard on the wrecked module.  I'll have to go outside to tie onto them".  Bud then smiles and says "Hey, Linds....I'm glad you're here" and Lindsey smiles back and says "Yeah?  I'm not!".

Then there is the moment where after Lindsey first encounters the NTIs, she goes back onboard and tells Bud about it, who remains sceptical.  However tries to convince Bud of what she saw "I saw these things.  I touched one of them.  And it wasn't some clunky steel can like we would build... it glided.  It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!".  Lindsey then says "It was a machine, but it seems almost alive. Like a... dance of light.  Bud, you have to trust me... please.  I don't think they mean us harm.  I don't know how I know that, it's just a feeling".  Bud says "How can I go on a feeling?  You think Coffey is going to go "on a feeling"?".  So, Lindsey says "We all see what we want to see... Coffey looks and he sees Russians, he sees hate and fear. Bud, you have to look with better eyes than that".

Another good scene comes when Lindsey angrily confronts Coffey when she discovers he has brought a nuclear warhead onto the rig.  So Lindsey sees Hippy's footage then storms off and grabs a fire extinguisher and says "Goddamnit!  If you're not gonna something about it then I will!" and she angrily bangs it against Coffey's cabin door.  Coffey then finally opens the door and barges in and uncover the warhead and she looks aghast and says to him "You've got some heuvos bringing that thing onto my rig!  WITH ALL THAT'S GOING UP IN THE WORLD YOU GO BRING A NUCLEAR WEAPON IN HERE???!".  Coffey then tells her "Mrs Brigman, you don't need to know the details of our mission and its better if you don't".  Lindsey however is still furious and shouts at Coffey "You're right... I don't.  I just need to know that this thing is out of here! YOU HEAR ME, ROGER RAMJET???!!!".

Then there is the scene where Bud having made his dive down the trench and successfully deactivated the warhead reveals that he has only 5 minutes worth of oxygen left.  And Lindsey becomes emotional and says to Bud "Bud! Do you hear me? You drop your weights and start back now, Bud. The gauge could be wrong! Do you hear me? Just drop your weights and start back now! Your gauge could be wrong!".  Bud then types on his keypad "GOING TO STAY A WHILE" and Lindsey then starts to break down in tears "No, you won't stay there, do you hear me, you drop your weights! You can breathe SHALLOW, do you hear me? Bud, please listen to me, PLEASE, goddammit, you dragged me back from the bottomless pit, you can't leave me here alone now, please...!".  Bud then types her message saying he had to go and knew it was a one way ticket and that he loves her and she tearfully says "I love you" back.

WARNING: THIS SECTION REFERS TO THE END OF THE FILM!!! 

And last of all is the moment where (SPOILER!!!!) Bud is rescued by the NTIs and they rise their massive ship out the water, which lifts up the rig and the ship with it.  And Lindsey and the other rig crew and the two remaining SEALs, Monk and Schoenik emerge outside and Lindsey says in surprise "We should be dead.  We didn't decompress".  Hippy then suggests "Maybe they did something" and Lindsey smiles and says "Yeah, you could say that".  And then Bud emerges from the ship and he waves and smiles and Lindsey smiles back and rushes to him and they hug and she says to him "Hey, Brigman...." and Bud says "Hey, Mrs Brigman..." and the two kiss to end the film!

Michael Biehn, who by then had become a regular in Cameron's films, puts in another really good performance as the Navy SEAL, Lt Coffey, who as the film carries on, becomes emotionally unstable as he suffers from high pressure nervous syndrome.

And Michael has his share of good moments also that include his first main one when Coffey and his team of SEALs and Lindsey arrive on the rig and decompress before they enter.  And in the scene Lindsey appraises the men of their situation and Coffey says "We've already been fully briefed, Mrs Brigman" and she annoyedly says "Please don't call me that.  I hate that" and Coffey says "OK...what shall we call you?  Sir???" and then men laugh and she manages a weak smile.  Lindsey then mentions the dangers of high pressure nervous syndrome and to watch each other for signs of it.  So, Ensign Monk quotes it "High-Pressure Nervous Syndrome.  Muscle tremors, usually in the hands first.  Nausea, increased excitability, disorientation...." and Coffey jokingly sings "...and a partridge in a pear tree!".  Lindsey however warns them "1 in 20 people can't handle it, they just go buggo" but Coffey insists "Look we've all made runs to these depths.  We're checked out".  However as Lindsey and the SEAL team move out, Coffey heads back in to get his case and suddenly notices his hand is trembling.

Then there is the scene where Coffey briefs Bud's men on their initial dive to check out the sunken sub and they are all handed out radiation counters and Hippy objects to going, saying of his bonus for the mission "What good is the money if after six months your dick drops off?!".  Coffey then angrily stands up and says to Hippy "What is your problem?!  On this dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion.  Is that clear?!  Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes!".  So as the crew all get ready for the dive, Bud goes up to Coffey and asks him to cut his team a little slack "Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around.  It won't work.  You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here".  Coffey however is not interested and tells Bud "Right now, I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive". 

Then there is the scene where Lindsey angrily confronts Coffey when she discovers he has brought the nuclear warhead onboard the rig.  So, Coffey tells her "You don't need to know the details of this mission... you're better off if you don't" and Lindsey yells at him to get the warhead off the rig.  So, Coffey glares at her and says "Mrs. Brigman, you're becoming a serious impediment to our mission.  Escort her back to her quarters" so Schoenik grabs Lindsay but then Bud sounds the alarm and the others run into the cabin.  So, Bud yells at Coffey to let go of her and Coffey says "Let her go" to Schoenik and they leave.  And afterward, Coffey really starts to signs of HPNS as he becomes shaky and tells Schoenik "They can't be trusted.  They're turning against us.  We may have to take... steps!".

Another good scene for Michael is when Coffey panics as he sees the NTI onboard the rig and cuts it off as he seals a bulkhead door and the NTI roars and goes back into the water, leaving Coffey cowering in fear.  Coffey then later says to Schoenik of the NTI as it floated toward the warhead "It went for the warhead they think its cute!" so he goes into his quarters and grabs his machine gun and even Schoenick suggests to Coffey that he get some sleep but Coffey is not interested.  So, Coffey says to Schoenick "Now we have no way of warning the surface.  Do you know what that means?" and he suddenly grabs him and says "It means whatever happens....its up to us!" and he gives the machine gun to Schoenick, who has little choice but to take it.

Then we have the moment where Coffey and Schoenick take Bud, Lindsey and the others hostage and lock them up and just before, Hippy sneaks around to see Schoenick load the warhead onto the mini-sub.  And as Hippy tries to sneak off walks right into Coffey, who by now has really started to lose it and he says to Hippy "Sniff something???  Did ya, rat boy??!".

Coffey then grabs Hippy and throws into a room where the others are and Lindsey tries to reason with Coffey but he suddenly grabs her and puts her against a wall and he says to her "This is something I wanted to do since we first met...!" and he takes a piece of tape and puts it over her mouth.  Coffey then locks them into one of the quarters and tells them "Everybody just stay calm.  The situation is under control" and he locks them in and says to Schoenick outside "If anyone touches that door...kill them!" and he head off to the mini-sub with the warhead.

And last of all in the film's funniest moment when Bud and Lindsey chase Coffey in their mini-sub and clatter into Coffey's mini-sub, it inadvertently brings on One-Night's radio, which plays country music.  So, Coffey furiously smashes it to pieces with his elbow!  Its a pricelss moment just before Coffey meets his own end............

Todd Graff next up is also very good as Hippy, a nervy rig crew member, who is paranoid of the Navy SEAL team and what they intend to do.

And Todd has his moments also that include the scene where Coffey briefs Bud's crew on the dive to investigate the sunken US submarine.  And in the scene, the SEAL team handout radiaton counters and One-Night asks "Is this to tell how much radiation we're getting?" and Hippy suddenly panics and says "Whoa.  Whoa.  Whoa!  I ain't goin near no radiation!".  So, Cat mocks Hippy and says "Aww, Hippy you pussy!" and Hippy tells him "Yeah, what good is the money, six months later your dick drops off!".

Then there is the controversial scene where Ensign Monk takes Hippy's rat and submerges it in a container filled with liquid oxygen much to Hippy's concern.  And Hippy tells Monk "Take her out of there!  She's gonna drown!" but Monk reassures Hippy "Relax, she won't drown.  I've breathed this myself" and we then see the rat first off all panic as it takes in the liquid and then it calms down.  And Monk says to Hippy "You see, she's digging it" and Hippy angrily says "She's doin it!  She ain't digging it!  OK let her out now!".  So, Monk let's the rat out of the container and hands it to Hippy and Monk tells him "See, he's fine!" and Hippy corrects Monk about the rat's gender and says "She's a she!".

Another good scene is when just after watching a news broadcast on a worsening crisis between the Soviets and US, Hippy walks off saying "This sucks!".  And in the next moment, Hippy raises his concerns to Bud and Lindsey " Now we're right in the middle of this big-time international incident.  Like the Cuban Missile Crisis or something!".  And then Hippy says "We got Russian subs creeping around.  Shit! Something goes wrong they could say anything happened down here, man.  Give our folks medals!".  Hippy then says "Those SEALs aren't telling us diddly.  Something is goin on!" and Bud dismisses Hippy's concerns and tells him "Hippy, you think everything is a conspiracy!" and they walk off leaving Hippy alone and he says to himself "Everything is".

Then there is the scene where Hippy shows Bud the footage on a video camera he has of Coffey and his men working on the nuclear warhead only for them to be interrupted by an angry Lindsey.  And as video reveals the warhead, Hippy says in a "Here's Johnny!" style "And here's MIRV!!!" however Bud remains sceptical of what he sees as it is poor quality footage and Hippy says "Come on, what else could it be?!".  And Hippy theorises "It's gotta be, like, an emergency plan to keep it away from the Russians... Hotwire one of the nukes with some kinda detonator, put it back in the sub, and fry the whole thing, slicker'n snot!".  Hippy then says "And I'm not being paranoid..." and he suddenly sees Lindsey standing at the door with a look of fury on her face and Hippy says to her "Hey, Linds!".

And last of all there is the scene where Coffey and Schoenick lock up Bud, Lindsey and the others and as Schoenick drags Hippy away, Hippy yells "Your boss is set to pull the pin on fifty kilotons and we're all gonna be ringside!  He's havin a full-on meltdown!!".  Then after Coffey locks them in, Lindsey shouts to Schoenick on the other side "Schoenick, you're Lt is about to make a real bad career move!" and Hippy yells "He's crazier than a shithouse rat!!". 

Leo Burmester is also pretty good in his role as the tough but good hearted former Vietnam vet, Catfish De Vries, who works on the rig.

And Leo has some good moments of his own but I will only mention the one scene where Cat sets the decompression chamber for Lindsey and SEAL team as they have arrived on the rig.  And on seeing Lindsey, Cat gives her a warm welcome and says "Hey, Lindsey!  I'll be damned!  You shouldn't been down here, sweet thing, ya'll might run your stockings!".  And as they undergo the decompression process, Hippy who is with Cat asks him "Are those guys SEALs?" and Cat says "Those guys ain't so tough.  I fought plenty of guys tougher than them!".  And Hippy jokingly says "Now we get to here about how you coulda be a contender!" and he pours some of his cereal down Cat's back, who angrily hits Hippy with his cap.  Cat then holds up his fist to Hippy and tells him "You see this???  They used to call this "the Hammer!"" and Hippy pretends to look afraid.

And of course later on there is the scene where Bud and his men put their diving gear on to go down and investigate a downed vessel along with Kaffe's men. So, Cat notices that Bud's hand is blue due to having retrieved his wedding ring from a toilet after having a row with Lindsey. So, Cat says the line "Hey Bud, do you know your hand is blue?" and Bud warily says "Cat, shut up and put your gear on!". P.S. This is actually a mistake as this line was said by the character Finler and NOT Cat, so my bad! 

Kimberley Scott is also very good as Lisa "One Night" Standing, the African American, cowboy hat wearing rig member, who likes country music of all things!

And Kimberley has her moments too but the one scene of hers that I will mention is one that appears on the director's cut where Bud and One Night work together, while One Night makes repairs, Bud is tending hose for the divers, including Lindsey, who is outside.

So, in the scene Bud and One Night talk about Bud's relationship with Lindsey and how they met and she says to Bud "So there you were...." and Bud says "There we were, side by side, on the same ship, for two months.  I'm tool-pusher and we're testing this automated derrick of hers.  So, we get back on the beach and... we're living together".  One night then says to Bud "It doesn't mean you had to marry her" and Bud says "We were due to go back out on the same ship. Six months of tests.  If you were married you got a state-room.  Otherwise it was bunks".  One Night then says "Okay, good reason.  Then what?" and Bud says "It was alright for a while, you know.  But then she got promoted to project engineer on this thing, couple years ago".

So as she listens, One night says "So she went front-office on you...tighten that for me will you?" and Bud tightens a bolt for One Night with a wrench and Bud says "Well you know Lindsey....she's too damn aggressive....son of a...!" as he strains himself, tightening the bolt.  So, Bud then tells One Night "She didn't leave me, she just left me behind" and One Night says to Bud "Bud, let me tell you something.  She ain't half as smart as she thinks she is!" and she then grabs Lindsey's air-hose and pretends to kink it and Bud laughs and says "Get out of here!".

Last of all is Adam Nelson who is also pretty good as the Navy SEAL, Ensign Monk, who is the one SEAL on the side of the rig crew and doesn't approve of Coffey's irrational behaviour and Monk ends up helping the crew toward the end. I also cannot help think that Nelson looks quite a bit like the former US tennis player, Andy Roddick!

And Nelson has his good moments also that include the somewhat controversial scene where Monk places Hippy's rat in a container full of liquid oxygen, which the rat breaths in.  So, Hippy asks Monk in the scene "What is all this stuff?" and Monk tells him "Fluid breathing system, we just got it. You use it when you go really deep" and Hippy asks "How deep?" and Monk simply says "Deep" but Hippy asks again "HOW deep?" and Monk says "Its classified".  Monk then says "Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you".  Cat, who is with them asks "So, you got liquid in your lungs?" and Monk says "Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion" and he pours some liquid in a plastic container.  Hippy however remains sceptical and says "Bullshit!".

Monk then has an idea and says "Check this out" and he grabs Hippy's rat "Can I borrow your rat?" much to Hippy's protests and Monk places the rat into the liquid and uses a wire mesh container to hold the rat it as it takes in the liquid.  Monk says "I breathed this myself" and he explains the process but Hippy while intrigued, is more concerned for the rat and Monk says "See, she's digging it" and Hippy says "She's doin it, she ain't diggin it!  OK, let her out now!".  So, Monk releases the rat and holds it by the tail and says "OK, now we let the fluid drain from his lungs.  There's your rat" and Hippy snatches her back and Monk says "See?  He's fine!" and Hippy corrects him "She!".

And lastly there is the scene where Coffey, who at this stage has become deranged from the effects of high pressure nervous syndrome, locks up Bud, Lindsey and the others as he plans to go ahead and use the warhead against the NTIs, however Monk is injured (as a result of the damage to the rig) and against the idea.  Coffey says to Monk "We're goin to stage three?" and Monk says to him "Stage 3?! We haven't got orders for that!" and then "We can't go to stage 3.  What about these people?!" and Coffey takes Monk's gun from him and says "Shut up!  What's the matter with you?!".

So, after Coffey locks in the others and has Schoenick keep guard, Monk tries to persuade Shoenick to go after Coffey to stop him.  So, Monk says "You gotta stop him!" and Schoenick says "Shut up!" and Monk continues "We can't get to minimum-safe-distance in three hours.  The shockwave will kill us.  It'll crush this rig like a beer can!" and Schoenick again shouts "SHUT UP!".  Monk then says "This is not our mission!  We can't detonate without orders!".  And in the next moment, the crew member, Jammer, emerges from his coma and subdues Schoenick and releases Bud, Lindsey and the others.  So, Hippy grabs Schoenick's gun that Jammer had taken and points it at Monk and shouts "Don't move, jarface!" and Monk puts up his hands and says "Hey, I'm the least of your problems!".

DIRECTION, MUSIC AND EFFECTS 

As for the director, James Cameron, well he does a great job with The Abyss, as he delivers a film with great performances, a solid script (written by Cameron himself) and his direction for the most part is pretty taut despite the film's lengthy running time.  Cameron also expertly builds up the film's tension and suspense throughout as the rig crisis worsens but he also nicely juxtaposes that with its sci-fi elements also, which thankfully don't drown out the film (no pun-intended!).

Cameron however of course endured one of the toughest shoots of his career on making the film, which consisted of a long gruelling schedule that was riddled with technical problems to dealing with tensions in the cast members as well as 20th Century Fox studio execs, which I already mentioned earlier on. Cameron also rather amusingly in the making of documentary for the film introduced it by saying "My name is James Cameron and I am going to take you on a journey into a world that is dark, dangerous and mysterious...the movie business!". But regardless of the film's production issues, Cameron still has produced one of his very best directorial efforts with The Abyss and it remains one of the highlights in his career.

Its worth noting as I mentioned earlier that Cameron's company, Lightstorm, had vetoed the release of the Abyss on 4K digital and UHD Blu-ray formats in the UK due to the rat scene being requested to be cut from the UK version. This was actually down to a UK parliamentary law, which forbids the depcition of animal cruelty onscreen. However, the scene in question is of course where one of the Navy seal team, takes Hippy's rat and traps it in a container of breathing fluid, which it breaths in but the rat afterward survived the scene unharmed and apparently four other rats were used also for this scene and they weren't harmed either. However an ironically in stark contrast, a film such as Apocalypse Now! also depicts animal cruelty where a calf is slaughtered onscreen yet this was left in uncut in its release in the UK. Hmm!

As for the music, well the score is by Alan Silvestri and for the most part it is very good although I have to say there are times where I do get a bit tired of listening to Silvestri's style of composing (well back in the 80s anyway!) when he overuses orchestral strings and how they rise in pitch all the time.  And by this I mean its the way in which, Silvestri ups the tempo of his score during the film's more dramatic moments and in the 1980s he was guilty of always doing this as his scores in Back to the Future and Predator are both in the same vein too (but both very good too!). However all that aside, Silvestri's score for The Abyss is still pretty good overall and it has enough drama, suspense and excitement to it, to make quite an enjoyable one that compliments the film pretty well.

Last of all, and I don't always do this but I figured given how good the film's visual effects are, I would given a special mention to the special visual effects guru, Dennis Muren, who along with a whole team of visual effects designers created some truly stunning effects here.  The film is also one of the earliest to utilise CGI, although of course Tron, back in 1982 was the first film to really utilise it properly.  Regardless of this though, the effects of the aliens and indeed the water based NTI, which can manipulate water into different shapes, such as Bud and Lindsey's faces, are terrific and the film was more than deserving of its Academy Award for best visual effects that year. 

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

As for flaws....yeah OK, The Abyss still has some.

So, to kick off one of the problems I think the film suffers from actually comes down to the theatrical cut in that there are certain scenes that feel a bit incomplete and these are corrected in the director's cut.

So as an example, the scene where Bud throws his wedding ring down the toilet but later changes his mind and retrieves it from the toilet bowl again in the theatrical cut, this scene doesn't have a strong enough reason for him to do it.  And the reason being there is a whole scene that was added into the director's cut (which I mentioned in Ed Harris's performance section of the review) where Bud tries to charm Lindsey and she turns on him and tells him pretty much to get out and he angrily walks out then he goes to the toilet and chucks the ring down it.  And when that scene is left in, it makes Bud's reasoning for chucking his wedding ring down the toilet much stronger than in the theatrical cut where Lindsey simply says to him "We all have our priorities" in reference to chosing her career over their marriage.

Another issue is to do with the presentation of the NTIs (or aliens really) in the theatrical cut and the end sequence with Bud is basically far too short when one of the NTIs saves Bud's life and takes him onboard their mothership.  And this sequence alone seems pretty underwritten in the theatrical cut, where the NTIs simply let Bud onboard, show the footage of his keypad message to Lindsey and that's just about it!  So, again the NTIs are a bit more fleshed out in the director's cut where we get a bit more of a sinister feel from them as they are concerned about the idea of nuclear weapons beind used against them.  So, the NTIs use their water control technology to create massive tidal waves, which they threaten to use but they relent given Bud's message to Lindsey as maybe a sign of compassion that made the NTIs change their minds from using the waves.

And this brings me onto another issue to do with the NTIs in that scene where they suddenly present Bud's typed keypad message to Lindsey on a big screen.  I mean how could their technology suddenly be able to pick that up from a very small typepad screen and plaster on a big monitor screen in their own ship.  It seems just a bit daft that all of a sudden they can transpose such things but then again their tech is obviously way more advanced than humnas.

I also found it a bit strange how no one really noticed Coffey's signs of paranoia and psychosis that bit earlier or more to the point, the early signs of HPNS when we see his hands shake not long after they decompress and board the rig.  I guess, Coffey simply did his best to cover up his shaky hands but there are certainly plenty of opportunities for it to resurface, especially when he is briefing Bud's team on the diving mission.

And lastly there is of course the scene where Bud desparately tries to revive Lindsey using CPR after she drowned in the mini-sub and in this scene at first, Bud and the others give up too easy on Lindsey and its only Bud's insistence to keep going that ultimately saves her.  However in reality, you should never actually stop performing CPR on someone until you are either exhausted or until medical services arrive (OK in this case an ambulance isn't just a few miles away!).  So, Bud in the end does the right thing as he keeps on going but basically that's something he should have done anyway without the others telling him to give up.  So, shame on them! ;-)

Anyway, so that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, in summing up, The Abyss for me remains James Cameron's most underrated film that often is overlooked by many fans of his work and are usually more caught in watching the likes of Aliens and Terminator's 1 and 2, or Titanic and Avatar.  But here, Cameron really was on his game in creating a very entertaining, suspenseful and at times even moving sci-fi film that works very well, also simply because despite its sci-fi leanings, it feels very much based in reality and works as a credible story even without the sci-fi stuff.

So, basically for me, The Abyss is one of Cameron's best works and the acting, direction, writing and special effects are all spot on here and its great to see that it has finally made its way into the realms of HD and even 4K as it was released just this week in the US on 4K Blu-ray format as well as digital. However unfortunately due to the bs UK parliamentary laws and Cameron's own refusal to have the scene cut, we will never get to own this film in the UK, which is a real bummer, so if you don't want, you will need to wait and buy a US import disc.

Anyway, so after that lengthy and extensive review, I will give The Abyss:

9 out of 10 

So, that's it for now and I will be back soon with some post or other.

Until then, bye for now!