Hampstead

***

Diane Keaton plays a British widow who lost her husband a year before She is not interested in the well-meaning friends who want to introduce her to a well-heeled accountant. From an apartment window with a pair of binoculars she sees a guy (Brenden Gleeson) living in a shack in some large wooded area seemingly either part of the metropolitan city or just on the fringes of it. She sets out to meet him and see what is going on with him. There are well-meaning demonstrators, some of whom want the wooded area cleaned up and others who want to be on the side of the “hermit,” who claims he has single-handed deserved ownership of the house since he has built it on his own and lived in it for the past 17 years. There is courtship, romance, do-gooders, and actual dramatic court room scenes. However, it is Diane Keaton’s realistic and lovable character that carries the movie and ultimately touches our heart.

*****

The Godfather

Recently my son, grandson and I got together for an evening of pizza and watching the original Godfather movie, which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1973. It also won the Oscar for Marlon Brando as Best Actor in a Leading Role and Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola won an Oscar for Best Screenplay. Coppola (who was a high school classmate of mine) was nominated for the Oscar for Best Director as were James Caan, Robert Duvall, Al Pacino for Best Supporting Actor. Also in the film were Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Ali MacGraw, Robert De Niro, Jill Clayburgh, the singer Al Martino and many other excellent actors and actresses. The movie also won the “75 years of Golden Globes Best Picture”.

The storyline, if you don’t know, is about an organized crime family in the 1950s led by Don Corleone (Marlon Brando) referred to as the “Godfather” and how they confronted the appearance of narcotics on the New York City crime scene. It is also about how the Godfather is transferring his power to his youngest son, Michael Corleone, a decorated United States Marine just returning from the war (Al Pacino). The movie depicts the lifestyle of this crime family with grandiose lovely wedding celebrations, as well as brutal murder scenes.

The fact that our viewing team of three did not notice nor mind the about three hours of running time of the film attest to the well-deserved success of the movie. In fact, it was my impression that the classic depiction of the Godfather by Marlon Brando appeared to be a much shorter role than I remembered it (although no one questioned his well-deserved acclaim). It was also interesting that his mumbled speech and the Italian accent of some of the characters led to the youngest member of our viewing team to turn on the English subtitle feature, which I didn’t even know was possible. Another feature of this movie was the recurring, haunting and memorable music theme, which was voted Best Grammy Score of a Motion Picture for that year.

If you are interested in re-experiencing a “blast from the past,” taking another pass at this great movie is highly recommended. Keep in mind  that there are two sequels also available. (1972)

****

Book Club-sp

It is a rare phenomena that we will see four outstanding veteran actresses star in a film with each of them having roles portraying an in-depth character who has an arc of development and change.

Screen writer and first time director Bill Holderman teamed up with Erin Simms to co-write and co-produce this movie. They won over Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen to come together in this movie about relationships, love and sex in women of a certain age. The well-known male actors who joined this romantic film were Andy Garcia, Craig T. Nelson, Don Johnson, Richard Dreyfuss, Ed Begley Jr. and Wallace Shawn. In case you are curious about the name of the book the “Book Club” was reading, it was “Fifty Shades of Grey” although the film was not R rated.

We predict that in addition to being a big hit with the older demographics, word will get around that this film will have great appeal to romantics of all generations and it will be a great success. (2018)

***

5 Flights Up – rm

This movie played to a full theater on a Saturday evening at 5:40 PM, with a full crowd lined up to come in for the next showing. Most were senior citizens.. This is not surprising as Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton play a senior couple.

He is an artist and works at home and she is a retired schoolteacher. They have no children but their dog has just been brought to the vet because she couldn’t walk and appeared to be in pain. By coincidence Morgan Freeman’s character is having trouble walking up the five flights of stairs of the couple’s apartment. They decide that it’s time to sell their Brooklyn apartment and find an apartment with an elevator in Manhattan. Going through this experience with their niece (Cynthia Nixon) who is the real estate agent , became an emotional one which allowed flashbacks to earlier courtship years and among other things the reaction of her mother when they decided to marry. We see the trials and tribulations as people view their apartment and they check out possibilities for a future apartment for themselves. There are repetitive bids and counter bids as their anxiety and ambivalence comes to a crescendo.

The storyline is quite contrived and not very realistic . There also is an extremely negative characterization of the real estate agent. But in the end, most of those moviegoers lining up to see this picture will not be disappointed. They will see a loving couple who are facing life’s challenges with continued affection for each other and will walk away having seen a “feel good movie.” (2015)

****

Darling Companion- sp  This is a wonderful “ feel good “ movie that everyone can enjoy. It will be especially meaningful to anyone who has been part of a family when the last child is married off and the parents deal with their  adult relationship  with each other and other members of their families. It was directed  and produced by Lawrence Kasden (Big Chill, Grand Canyon and many more big time hits) who also wrote the script along with his wife Meg Kasden . They  put together an honest story that showed love, romance and  every day comedy in a way that most people should be able to relate to and immensely enjoy. They assembled a cast of actors who were able to embody the characters they created in a skillful and very authentic manner. Beth (Diane Keaton) and Joseph (Kevin Kline) are the newly “empty nested” parents  as their daughter Grace (Kate Moss of “Mad Men” fame) ,the youngest of their children, finally finds Mr. Right and gets married. Joseph  is a spine surgeon whom Beth acknowledges may have always been a little full of himself but is shown to ultimately be a good guy. Penny is Joseph’s divorced  sister (Diane Wiest) who has found her new love Russell  (Richard Jenkins) who is a bumbling guy who wants to marry Penny and open an English pub in Iowa. Bryan (Mark Duplass) is Penny’s son who is also a spine doctor and  has a touching flirtation with a gypsy like housekeeper (Ayelet Zurer) of the family’s vacation house in the beautiful Colorado mountains (which was filmed in the beautiful Utah mountains) . Sam Sheppard is Sheriff Morris who adds further warmth to the already tender story. What we haven’t told you yet is that the story is tied together by a loveable  dog – that almost magically appears and then disappears ! The movie is the story about the search for the dog which occurs while the characters are finding themselves and their own bearings. The story is just right at 103 minutes . The acting is perfect-Diane Keaton is at her mature best, the country type music hits the spot and the film features a a dog! How can it go wrong? (2012)