"Marvin's Room" Movie Review

"Marvin's Room" movie poster.

"Estranged since their father's first stroke some 17 years earlier, Lee (Meryl Streep) and Bessie (Diane Keaton) lead separate lives in separate states. Lee's son, Hank (Leonardo DiCaprio), finds himself committed to a mental institution after setting fire to his mother's house. His younger brother, Charlie (Hal Scardino), seems unfazed by his brother's eccentricities or his mother's seeming disinterest. When Lee comes to the asylum to spring Hank for a week in Florida so that he can be tested as a possible bone marrow donor for Bessie, Hank is incredulous. "I didn't even know you had a sister," he says. "Remember, every Christmas, when I used to say 'Well, looks like Aunt Bessie didn't send us a card again this year?'" "Oh yeah," Hank says. Meanwhile, Marvin (Hume Cronyn), the two women's bedridden father, has "been dying for the past twenty years." "He's doing it real slow so I don't miss anything," Bessie tells Dr. Wally (Robert DeNiro). In Bessie's regular doctor's absence, it has fallen to Dr. Wally to inform Bessie that she has leukemia and will die without a bone marrow transplant. This precipitates the two sisters uneasy reunion. In Marvin's room, Bessie cares for her father's every need. In Lee's eyes, the sacrifice Bessie has made is too great and realizing the old man's welfare will fall to her if Bessie dies, Lee's first instinct is to look for a nursing home. "In a few month's, I'll have my cosmotology degree," she says. "My life is just coming together; I'm not going to give it all up, now!" As first Lee is tested and then the boys for the compatibility of their marrow with Bessie's, the women take stock of their lives and rediscover the meaning of 'family.' " Written by Mark Fleetwood (Link below.)

I found this movie to be enjoyable. It's kind of cute, but it has a lot of cliches in it: there was the unfeeling mother, the self-sacrificial sister, the bad boy, that crazy aunt whose breathing machine causes the garage door to open at odd times.

Diane Keaton (L) and
Leonardo DiCaprio.

I actually think it's a shame Mr. DeNiro was in this, because the role was very small. It was important but I can't believe an A-list actor did it. Mr. DiCaprio's part was cool - he actually did burn down a house, so he's actually a really bad boy! Mr. Scardino's part was a bummer though. He was practically a non-entity. They seriously could have cut him from the movie, it wouldn't have made much of a difference. Both Ms. Streep and Ms. Keaton acted their asses off in this film. They are always awesome to watch.

I know that this movie was up for an Academy award - Diane Keaton for 'Best Actress in a Leading Role' - and a whole slew of other awards but that only makes me think it might've been a slow year. Leonardo DiCaprio won a Chlotrudis Award for 'Best Supporting Actor', quite possibly the ugliest award statuette I've ever seen!

The print is small but the script is available here: http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/m/marvins-room-script-transcript-dicaprio.html.

Meryl Streep (L) and Leonardo DiCaprio.

It was an okay movie. I don't think I would watch it again. If it weren't for the big-name actors this would've been a made-for-tv movie. I give it 3 stars.

Favorite Lines:

Lee: Are you behaving yourself? 

Hank: Well, they're not strapping me down anymore.

Lee: We're going to see your Aunt Bessie in Florida. She's not feeling so well. 

Hank: I didn't even knew I had an Aunt Bessie. 

Lee: She came to the house right after your Dad and I were married. 

Hank: I wasn't even born yet. 

Lee: Oh. 

Lee: Don't waste your time trying to make friends with him. We're only going to be here a few days.

Lee: [to her son] My feelings for you, Hank, are like a big bowl of - 

[sighs] 

Lee: fish hooks. I can't just pick up one up at a time. I pick one up and they all come, so I just had to leave 'em alone.

Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116999/plotsummary.

"The Iron Lady" Movie Review

"The Iron Lady" movie poster.

"Biopic of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep, with a younger version played by Alexandra Roach), the United Kingdoms first female Prime Minister. Now elderly and senile, Thatcher spends much of her time in conversation with her husband Denis (Jim Broadbent, with younger version played by Harry Lloyd), who is dead. Interspersed with her everyday life are snippets of her life and political career. The middle class daughter of a grocer (Iain Glen), she obtained a good degree and developed an interest in politics. She was first elected in 1959 and quickly developed a reputation for dealing with difficult issues and showing herself more than capable of taking on her male counterparts in the House of Commons. As Prime Minister, she takes on the very powerful unions seeing her popularity plummet until her patriotic response to Argentina's invasion of the Falkland islands leads to her re-election. In the longer term, her rigid approach with her colleagues leads to her downfall and the Conservative party ousts her from the leadership." Written by garykmcd (Link below.)

Meryl Streep running the House of Commons.

Meryl Streep (with help from her makeup and hair artist, J. Roy Helland), was amazing. And I don't think anyone would ever know that she wasn't as British as all of the other cast members, weren't she not so famous. Although I don't think I would've agreed with her character's policies, it was inspiring to see someone so strong in such adversity. What ups and downs, Thatcher was incredible and I can't help but compare it to the way people view President Obama. It's like people forget it's a very difficult job running a country. I mean the IRA must've been a bitch to deal with, let alone all of the other regular law-making.

And I must thank the people involved with making this film for making Alexander Haig (Matthew Marsh) look like an ass, because he was. (Even though I'm an American, that part about Hawaii made me laugh.) When President Reagan was shot, instead of concerning himself about whether the President was alive or not, Mr. Haig proceeded to say that he was in charge and he was very much wrong in that regard. Though at the time he held the position of United States Secretary of State, which is very high in power, there were still four other people that would've had to die or resign from their positions before he could even suggest he was in charge. And while he was White House Chief of Staff, he suggested to President Nixon to seize control of the army rather than be impeached or resign from office following the Watergate scandal. He's a peach; good old Al.

Jim Broadbent (L) and Meryl Streep.

The only problem I could have with this film, is that they didn't show enough of her rising to the top. But I imagine that could've gotten tedious.

The clothing was marvelous. The director, Phyllida Lloyd (what a pretty name!), did an excellent job. The flashbacks weren't too much to handle. It's a long and interesting life to put in one movie and I feel as though they have done a great job.

Script can be accessed here: http://www.simplyscripts.com/2012/01/05/the-iron-lady-for-your-consideration/.

Favorite Lines:

Margaret Thatcher: It used to be about trying to do something. Now it's about trying to be someone.

Margaret Thatcher: Watch your thoughts for they become words. Watch your words for they become actions. Watch your actions for they become... habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny! What we think we become.

Alexander Haig: So you are proposing to go to war over these islands. They're thousands of miles away, a handful of citizens, politically and economically insignificant, if you'll excuse me.
Margaret Thatcher: Just like Hawaii... I imagine.

Margaret Thatcher: Where did you go?
Denis Thatcher: South Africa.
Margaret Thatcher: Ah, yes.
Denis Thatcher: How many days passed before you realized I'd gone? Probably had to ask the cleaning woman where I was.

Sources: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1007029/plotsummary and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1007029/quotes.