Category: Film Review

It doesn’t matter how expensive, inexpensive, fancy, or plain a movie might be. Does it have a good story, with characters you care about, and has it been crafted with intelligence and an eye to accomplish the goals that it has set out for itself? Those are the questions I tend to ask myself when viewing cinema, and after watching Damian Lahey’s warmhearted yet melancholy holiday drama, The Heroes of Arvine Place, I was reminded how some of the better items arrive in smaller packages. Lahey is an indie movie specialist, with various award-winning short films under his belt, while 2014’s The Heroes of Arvine Place was his second feature film; let’s hope that we don’t have to wait much longer for his next effort. Lahey’s natural filmmaking instincts are apparent, from his use of space within the frame, to his penchant for believable dialogue, and a story that feels organic, and at times, sadly all-too-believable.

Set in Jacksonville, Florida around the time of the Christmas holiday, the narrative centers on a nearly down-and-out single dad who is trying to make ends meet for his two young daughters. Still reeling for the recent death of his wife, Kevin Hedges, played by the excellent Cullen Moss, is a man at a mental and spiritual crossroads; how can he keep everything afloat when so much seems so far out of reach? A struggling children’s author, Kevin is, way deep down, a good dad and a good guy, so it’s a bummer to see him rely on so many other people in order for him to call the day a success. He’s entered his newest book into a competition which might provide a financial leg-up, and wouldn’t you know it, but a new romantic possibility might be lurking around the corner. But The Heroes of Arvine Place is more about a particular type of person who is learning as they experience, rather than contrived plotting and needless distraction. When people don’t have all the answers to their problems, they can find themselves in situations beyond their grasp or control, and they have a tendency to get desperate, acting in ways that they might not benefit from in the long run. The Heroes of Arvine Place looks at exactly this idea, and does so with humor, pathos, and a believable sense of the here and now.

Lahey smartly juxtaposes the expected wintry holiday vibe with the sticky-heat of the American south, generating some nice visual humor out of his choices in locations and Jon Bosworth’s art-direction, while cinematographer Tarina Van Den Driessche shoots in unfussy and intimate set-ups, stressing people and their natural reactions over anything unnecessarily gussied-up. Craig Moorhead’s smooth editing keeps a fast but never frenetic pace to the 75 minute runtime; short and sweet is the name of the game, here. But it’s all in the writing with this one, as Lahey’s script sensitively observes a family in a unique form of stasis, with rational questions being explored by the two precocious but never annoying daughters, who, like most kids, are just interested in the life that’s going on around them, whether they understand everything or not. It’s in these smaller, more emotional moments that The Heroes of Arvine Place truly finds its place as a piece of micro-budget but maximum-heart cinema.

This is such a delightful piece of work, a movie that just wants to have fun at nearly every moment, with energetic direction by Sydney Pollack and lots of honest humor in the story/screenplay by Don McGuire, Larry Gelbart, Murray Schisgal, Barry Levinson, and Elaine May, the latter two going uncredited. Dustin Hoffman’s lead performance of a frustrated actor who dresses as a woman in order to land a role on a soap opera is both over the top yet somehow movie-world believable, as nothing was pushed too far or felt overly strained by the contrivances of the busy plot. Co-starring with Hoffman in this film meant you had to enter his orbit and find the proper ebb and flow; Bill Murray, Teri Garr, Jessica Lange, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Doris Belack, Pollack, and Geena Davis (in her screen debut) were all up to the task. Terrific physical comedy abounds, there are pointed observations made about the entertainment industry, and every single performance is in perfect harmony with the rest of the spirited ensemble.

By all accounts, this movie should be a total disaster. And it’s not. Not even close. It’s a wild blast of hard-boiled fun. Directed by John Frankenheimer, co-written by Richard Maxwell and John Sayles, and starring Scott Glenn as an American boxer turned swordsman who gets mixed up in a family feud between rival brothers (Toshiro Mifune and Atsuo Nakamura) who are battling over possession of two sought-after samurai swords, The Challenge defies expectations in more ways than one, putting a unique spin on a long-standing genre. This is a rather violent and nasty film, with Glenn playing the stoic man of action who needs to learn a thing or two before being fully combat ready, while Mifune’s inherent sense of gravitas added a layer of seriousness to an otherwise over the top but no less entertaining scenario. Frankenheimer was always well suited when it came to filming action, and in The Challenge, he was able to mix in a wild chase through crowded Japanese streets, decapitation-friendly sword fights, and all sorts of general mayhem that genre fans will righteously enjoy.

Cinematographer Kozo Okazaki, who also shot The Yakuza for director Sydney Pollack, did a great job capturing all of the set-pieces with a clear sense of spatial awareness and a clean sense of style; Jack and John Wheeler’s editing remains punchy all throughout. And because Frankenheimer never knew a milieu he wasn’t interested in tackling, this film feels even more accomplished, made by a filmmaker who had already made a number of masterpieces, instead here just churning out a rollicking and unpretentious flick. Steven Seagal served as the film’s choreographer during the aikido-based action sequences, while The Challenge features a tremendous musical score by Jerry Goldsmith. The last 15 minutes are an absolutely amazing full-on battle, with swords, machine guns, and all sorts of martial arts being thrown around, with a crazy body-count and tons of humor to match the bloody action. Shot entirely on location in Japan, the film would certainly make for a great double feature with Ridley Scott’s underrated and very stylistically moody actioner Black Rain. The Challenge is available on a beautiful looking and sounding Blu-ray from Kino-Lorber.