My Little Chickadee (1940)
The thin plot about a masked coach-robbing bandit is merely an excuse to bring two aging vaudeville stars, W.C. Fields and Mae West, together for the first time on the big screen.
I like the idea of W.C. Fields; a witty misanthrope who says what everyone else is too polite to say, but, while he’s mildly amusing at times, he tries too hard. In a film released only six years before his death, it’s entirely possible I’m watching him well past his prime, but, for now, I’m unimpressed.
Sadly, I feel the same way about Ms. West. A playfully dirty vixen in an era of straight lace, she’s slightly funnier than Fields, but not as hysterical as advertised. Her witticisms resonate, but her film work is not as effective as her mystique would indicate, and while her peculiar poetic delivery can lead to charming moments, after awhile it’s tiresome.
You’re better off with your imagined Fields and West than the reality of this film.
Air Force One (1997)
The lazy proto-24 comparison writes itself. Xander Berkeley is duplicitous Secret Service agent Gibbs, Glenn Morshower is US Secret Service Agent Walters. Morshower has had one of the most decorated of Hollywood military careers. In addition to the Secret Service, he’s been a sergeant, an admiral, a lieutenant colonel, a colonel, a major, and a general.
In retrospect, President James Marshall may have been Harrison Ford’s last hurrah. He was once an interesting actor in films like American Graffiti (1973) and The Conversation (1974), but after the unprecedented success of Star Wars and Indiana Jones, his immense fame made it difficult to take smaller, riskier roles and since The Fugitive (1993), he’s been playing one character exclusively, an older, slightly more cynical version of Hans Solo.
Gary Oldman is clearly having a lot of fun as Ivan Korhunov, the Russian terrorist who commandeers the President’s plane. Oldman’s career arc is the opposite of Ford’s: despite starring as Sirius Black and James Gordon, he remains relatively anonymous and continues challenging himself with difficult roles. Continuing our 24 theme: in 1991, Oldman was arrested in LA for drunk driving after a night out with … Kiefer Sutherland
Glenn Close is good as Vice President Kathryn Bennett, but the role is one-dimensional and beneath her considerable talent. Nominated six times for an Academy Award, she’s been Cruella De Vil, a terrifying spurned lover, a manipulative bitch, a mail-order bride, and an intergalactic defender. She’s Mona Simpson, Monica Rawling, and Patty Hewes. Pretty good for a woman who grew up in a cult and traveled with their musical group, Up with People:
Dean Stockwell, who plays Secretary of Defense Walter Dean, has had one of the most impressive under the radar Hollywood careers. Anchors Aweigh (1945) with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, Gregory Peck’s son in the Best Picture winning Gentleman’s Agreement (1947), and the son of William Powell and Myrna Loy in Son of the Thin Man (1947). Alongside Jack Lemmon and Marcello Mastroianni, he’s one of three men to win the Best Actor award at Cannes twice. He was in excellent adaptations of D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers (1960) and Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1962). He’s worked with Wim Wenders and David Lynch, and he’s a beloved sci-fi icon because of his work as Al and John Cavil.
I haven’t even mentioned William H. Macy as Major Norman Caldwell or Phillip Baker Hall as Attorney General Andrew Ward.
Wolfgang Peterson previously directed The NeverEnding Story (1984), which means the guy who gave us this:
also gave us this:
The amazing cast elevates the material into a fun, thrill ride, but it never manages to escape its B-movie origins.