My weekly movie reviews. You can also read these on letterboxd.
This week focuses on three films directed by one of my favorite filmmakers, Curtis Hanson.
THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE (1992)
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Rebecca De Mornay makes this film worth watching. She isn’t just a cold, calculating psycho like this type of movie normally features; she has heartfelt motivation and passion behind her psychopathic plans. Her performance is at once intelligent and sexy. She’s ironically the most likable character in the film compared to the nothing-husband, the cringe-worthy Special Ed house worker, and the hysterical mother. Annabella Sciorra’s over-dramatic parent was so without reason and logic for most of the film. I found her impossible to like and therefore ended up rooting for the crazy bitch instead. Until the final fifteen minutes of the movie, which descend into ridiculousness, I sort of wanted De Mornay to steal her husband and kids. Does that make me psycho too? Maybe. But they should have done a better job with the protagonists if they didn’t want me to prefer the bad lady…
Of Curtis Hanson’s thrillers, this is not one of the best. THE RIVER WILD is far superior.
Watched on Tubi
THE CHILDREN OF TIMES SQUARE (1986)
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
The TV effort from Curtis Hanson is better than the average after-school special but can’t completely escape its fate.
Where Hanson goes wrong, though I doubt he had much control over the script, is spreading the story out too much. Following multiple characters including a couple teenagers, I kept thinking during this viewing that the movie would be more impactful if it just focused on the one boy in the style of THE 400 BLOWS. If we never left his perspective, we’d feel even more indoctrinated into this world of gangs, drugs, and pedophiles. Hanson does do a fine job in portraying those three sides of the criminal world, bringing a grittiness to the film that we’ve seen in his other work. It’s the mother’s story and the other teenager’s subplot that distract from the main narrative. I love Joanna Cassidy but here her role just doesn’t work despite efforts from the actress.
Overall, it’s a surprising little film at times but constrained by its own nature.
Watched on Criterion Channel.
TOO BIG TO FAIL (2011)
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
Give one of my favorite directors an ensemble of some of my favorite actors in a dramatic, dialog-driven feature? Yes please. Curtis Hanson gets a cast here that rivals even his L.A. CONFIDENTIAL line-up: James Woods, William Hurt, Billy Crudup, Bill Pullman, Matthew Modine, and many more. They’re all excellent, especially Hurt in one of his last lead roles. The film is supported completely by their efforts and worth watching just to see all of these great actors play off of each other.
Otherwise, it feels like a by-the-books TV movie. It’s script isn’t daring (imagine if David Mamet had a crack at this) and its execution by Hanson is well-crafted but without passion. A director who bounced between genres and worked as a Hollywood craftsman for many decades, Hanson bounces between moments of incredible inspiration (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, WONDER BOYS) and auto-pilot thrillers that sometimes work and sometimes don’t (THE RIVER WILD, THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE). This film falls in the latter category. For any fans of the director’s work, it’s a must-see but is not one of his finest moments.
Watched on Max.
