100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 21: Glengarry Glen Ross

Director: James Foley
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 100 minutes
Year: 1992
Starring: Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Jack Lemmon, Alan Arkin, Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey, Bruce Altman, Jonathan Pryce

Description: An examination of the machinations behind the scenes at a real estate office.

Review: A film set in a dusty real estate office. Doesn’t really sound interesting, does it? “Glengarry Glen Ross” is indeed a very strong movie. With a cast filled with great actors and sharp dialogue.
Verbally the film is very violent. A lot of cursing and competition between all the employees. One-liners and dialogues, people are slaughtered with words. And that’s what makes this film as strong as it is. It’s an acting film, a film where good dialogue is important. The theme doesn’t interest me and the characters aren’t all that likeable, but this film captivated me anyway.
Especially Jack Lemmon shines. He plays an old real estate agent, who is trying everything to keep his job. A lot of smooth talking, his job is all he has. He turns into a broken man, a tragic figure. The intensity and energy that Lemmon put into to this role, it’s very impressive.
Alec Baldwin only has a small role, but he also leaves an impression. And then there is Al Pacino, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin. All strong, but overshadowed by Lemmon and Baldwin.
Like I stated before, it’s an acting film. Actors at their best.

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 164: Some Like It Hot

Director: Billy Wilder
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 117 minutes
Year: 1959
Starring: Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe

Description: When two male musicians (Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis) witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.

Review: Jerry and Joe are two musicians. When they witness a mob hit, they flee the state and join an all-female band disguised as women.
“Some Like It Hot” manages to combine three subgenres perfectly. It’s a crime comedy, which never gets scary. It’s a romantic comedy, with sensuality, lies and misunderstandings. And it’s also a farce, where everything that can go wrong will go wrong. It’s obvious that the two disguised women are men, but the facts that the other characters don’t notice makes it an absurd comedy.
Marilyn Monroe is type casted as the somewhat dumb blonde that wants to score a rich man, but she does makes some clever remarks here and there. And Sugar is smart enough that she isn’t that smart. Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis are hilarious as Joe and Jerry, alias Josephine and Daphne. If a movie like this would be made now, the humor would be juvenile and tasteless. Curtis and Lemmon make it entertaining and funny.
I love “Some Like It Hot”, it’s one of the greatest comedies of all time!

Rating: 5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 119: The Apartment

Director: Billy Wilder
Genre: Drama/ Comedy/ Romance
Runtime: 125 minutes
Year: 1960
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Jack Kruschen, Edie Adams, Ray Walston, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Naomi Stevens, Johnny Seven

Description: C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.

Review: Movies by director Billy Wilder stand the test of time. Wilder is a master in portaying people in the most comical, tragic, honest and human way. These ingredients are all present in “The Apartment”.
Jack Lemmon plays C.C. Baxter, a lonely office worker. He can’t even go to his own apartment, because he lets his co-worker with higher positions use it to have affaires. Baxter plays along, probably to be liked and also to get a promotion. Baxter also has a thing for Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), one of the elevator girls in the office he works in. he is hurt when he finds out Fran is having a relationship with his married boss Sheldrake. And the two also used Baxter’s apartment. When Sheldrake tells Fran he won’t divorce his wife, Fran tries to commit suicide. In Baxter’s apartment.
The power of “The Apartment” lies in the honest and human characters. For both MacLaine and Lemmon this was a new beginning in their career. Jack Lemmon was mostly known as a comedy actor and he showed in “The Apartment” that he can easily switch from comedy to drama to everyday situations. Shirley MacLaine had been in lighter comedies, but “The Apartment” made her a more believable and serious actress.
“The Apartment” has some daring themes for the 1960s: suicide, adultery. But the film was a huge success and to date is still a favorite to many. I simply loved this comedy, over two hours long but I didn’t feel it at all.
For every comedy fan, “The Apartment” is a must see.

Rating: 5/ 5