The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981): Not Fully Engaging

If after seeing Jack Nicholson's and Jessica Lange's names on The Postman Always Rings Twice cast list you've expected to watch a great film you will be most likely unpleasantly surprised. The Postman Always Rings Twice from 1981 is a remake. And as it often happens with movie remakes this is not a very good one. Bob Rafelson has tried to make a more modern and open-minded version of the film but while he succeeds in this attempt, the movie lacks heart and it barely keeps you involved into any of the events that happen.

The film is based on James M. Cain's novel and it is about the attractive and unsatisfied wife Cora (Jessica Lange) of Greek roadside saloon owner Nick Papadakis (John Colicos) and the crude vagabond Frank Chambers (Jack Nicholson) who is incidentally hired by Nick. Cora and Frank start an uneven affair that finally evolves in a plan for murdering her husband. Naturally, there are complications of all kinds and various fatal coincidences happen all the time. How everything will end is up to you to discover if you decide to see the movie.

While the plot is moderately interesting and could be a premise for a decent movie, in reality The Postman Always Rings Twice does not effectively turn the plot into a good feature. Motivation of the main characters changes quite too often for such important decisions they have to take. Cora's and Frank's behavior is frankly chaotic. At the same time, the pacing is somehow slow. There are too many coincidences for a serious drama. And in addition to all of these, there is not enough heart in the movie as I've already mentioned. The audience cannot dive deeply into the film and cannot associate with its characters.

The acting of the leads is overall good but the truth is that Jack Nicholson being one of the greatest actors of our time has had many better performances than this. Jack demonstrates a solid acting as usual but he does not seem to be the perfect match for his role since he does not present to the viewer a real look and feel of a hard-hearted drifter. Jessica Lange is an appropriate choice for the part of Cora but another unsuccessful side of the movie is that there is not enough chemistry between Cora and Frank. Even the famous sex scenes between them seem somehow forced and unnatural. John Colicos makes a good portrayal of Nick Papadakis and there is a short appearance of Anjelica Huston which is also not bad but both are not enough to compensate the lack of genuine passion and involvement in the picture.

1981's The Postman Always Rings Twice is mildly intriguing and unfortunately even less engaging. It has some sparks here and there and it is not a complete waste of time but the main question should be is it worth watching when there are so many other great movies released through the years. The answer could vary depending on who's asking. In general, if you are a more casual movie viewer you can skip this film and watch one of the better pictures starring either some of these actors or whoever else. If you are seriously into the movies and you've already seen thousands of films, well, you can see this one too.

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Prizzi's Honor (1985): A Subtle Parody by John Huston

Whether Prizzi's Honor has been intended as a subtle parody is beyond the author's ability to know but let's look at it like that because it is the only sensible way to look at this movie if you don't want to call it a failure. Prizzi's Honor is a film with good acting for the most part and it is coming from a very renowned director what John Huston is. Yet, the movie lacks an overall sense of believability and it does not convince us it tells a story that could actually happen. Because of that it is better to consider the film a parody.

Prizzi's Honor is about Charley Partanna (Jack Nicholson), a professional hit-man working for the Prizzis, one of the biggest and richest East Coast mafia families. He falls in love with Irene Walker (Kathleen Turner) which is a hit-woman but this is a fact still unknown to our hero. It appears that Irene has worked with the Prizzis as a free-lancer. In addition, it seems that Irene might have been involved in some affairs not welcomed by the Prizzis. Naturally, problems appear. To make them worse, some unpleasant events accidentally happen which complicate matters more. But the worst is yet to come as both of them receive some painful to fulfil orders by the family godfather Don Corrado Prizzi (William Hickey) and his son while the Don's granddaughter Maerose Prizzi (Anjelica Huston), a former Charley's lover, does not hesitate to make everything even trickier for the couple.

Having Jack Nicholson, Anjelica Huston and Kathleen Turner in Prizzi's Honor's cast presupposes strong acting. And in fact, acting is the most acceptable side of the movie. Nicholson and Turner are not convincing as professional killers but it is mainly due to screenplay issue and not because of their skills. Anjelica Huston does not have a lot of screen time but it seems it has been enough to grant her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film has garnered 7 more Oscar nominations but some of them are disputable, especially the ones for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Writing.

Prizzi's Honor begins and ends very improbable. A man falls in love and is convinced he has found the love of his life in just a few minutes. A woman cheats one of the most powerful mafia families in the country, yet she does not try to hide and even puts herself in the family's paws. Concerning the screenplay further, let's skip some of the ending's boners in order not to spoil the movie anymore. And as far as the directing adds to the film's lack of any clear vision and good storytelling details, Prizzi's Honor is definitely not among the best directed John Huston's motion pictures which is a pity since Huston has undeniably created some very enjoyable and important movies in the history of cinema.

One distinctive feature of Prizzi's Honor could be that it gains some momentum in the middle of the narrative and this does not happen so often. Usually, if a film is uneven, it is good at the beginning or during its second half but rarely sparks just in the middle. And it is exactly the case with Prizzi's Honor. Yet, this alone is not anything that could improve the movie experience considerably.

To be objective, the film possesses some charm if we consider it a parody. There are funny moments and there are some characteristics of a parody. But it is really a subtle parody. And for some reason, usually, subtle parodies do not work very well. If it's an obvious and even rude mock as Mel Brooks' ones, you either love it or hate it. But when it is a concealed skit, it most often loses its strength. Not that it's impossible a good subtle parody to be created but it is not the most common thing to happen.

You can still see Prizzi's Honor and find it enjoyable. At least Jack Nicholson stars in the film and he is someone that often could save a movie cause Nicholson is indisputably one of the greatest actors ever. But if you are in the mob films you better try something else, e.g., A Bronx Tale.

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The Grifters (1990): A Critically Acclaimed Movie You Can Skip

The Grifters is a movie with strong acting. Among the actors and actresses listed in its cast, the film has names like Anjelica Huston, Annette Bening and John Cusack. Certainly, the movie does not sport the best performances ever but its 2 Oscar nominations in acting categories could give you a hint about this aspect of the film. The Grifters has also 2 other Academy Award nominations, for Best Director and Best (Adapted) Screenplay. Now, these two have not been deservedly given. But before we go in details, let's make a brief summary of the plot.

The Grifters is about Roy Dillon (John Cusack), a small-time grifter, his alienated mother Lilly Dillon (Anjelica Huston) and his girlfriend Myra Langtry (Annette Bening), the latter two being grifters themselves but on a far higher-stakes level. Lilly accidentally visits her son only to find out that he has been beaten in a result of an unsuccessful job. She hospitalizes him and saves his life but Roy is not happy to see Lilly even after her good deed. His mother does not like Roy's girlfriend Myra and that additionally strains their relations. Because of the spent time in the hospital, Lilly fails to fulfil a job for her boss, a big-time bookie. Subsequently, this leads to serious problems for her too. Myra tries to convince Roy to become a bigger swindler but he has some reservations about it. As a result everyone becomes suspicious of everyone and additional complications follow.

The plot outline of The Grifters may seem interesting and in fact, it is, for an hour at least. But as the film progresses everything become a mess not only in the characters' relationships but also in the movie itself. The actions of the protagonists and especially the Dillons become more and more chaotic and not well motivated. The son begins to wonder whether to drop cheating or not without any strong reason. The mother that has faced serious consequences because of saving her son, all of a sudden, starts treating him almost like an enemy. Some incest insinuations appear without any good explanation or confirmation. And finally, The Grifters reaches almost to a dead end for both, the characters and the audience. We will skip any deeper criticism of these issues because to elaborate more upon them will mean to completely ruin the movie for you.

Another issue of this film is that Anjelica Huston, although acting very well and in reality being at the right age for the role of Lilly in the movie, seems, for whatever reason, a bit older in The Grifters, which is not good having in mind Lilly is supposed to be a glaringly young mother. Additional problem could be that some of the con jobs seen in the movie are not explained well enough in order even people without an idea about that kind of stuff to get effortlessly their meaning.

As a whole, The Grifters appears somehow pointless. There is not real character development. There is not a message. If the purpose of the movie is to show us how several supposed to be strong criminals transform themselves in a bunch of unhinged people, the goal is not achieved. If the intention of the film has been to announce that shit happens, then it could be deemed successful but still, it does not make the movie any better and there are a lot of other movies that deliver it in a better way.

We can see where the critical acclaim of The Grifters comes from. The acting is good. The film has a very potent premise and during most of its time span the movie and characters are interesting. There are also some plot twists although they are pretty much forced and not very believable. Maybe The Grifters is even based on a good novel (unfortunately unknown to us). But although the film is not all bad, chances are high you'll feel like being grifted after the ending.

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