*SPOILERS AHEAD*
The Last Duel, Ridley Scott’s latest effort, has much to like. The cinematography is very strong. The focus on the legal norms of the day, including the loophole of sorts exploited to arrive at the duel itself, is highly interesting. The action scenes are excellent. In particular, the titular duel is so well-choreographed that I actually wasn’t entirely sure who was going to win at one point.
The problem was that, by that time, I barely cared.
The Last Duel has a structure that will be familiar to anyone who grew up with 1980s television.
The story comes in three “chapters,” each of which represent the respective point of view of the three main characters, played by Matt Damon, Adam Driver, and Jodie Comer—in that order. Now, as anyone who experienced that 80s TV trope can tell you, the whole point of this form of storytelling is to show that each person has a slightly different perspective on the same events (and also to give a break to writers who had to crank out 22 episodes’ worth of “WHATCHOOTALKINBOUTWILLIS?” jokes).
This technique can be used to highlight the more humorous personality traits of the characters, each of whom normally makes himself the singular hero of the same story. In terms of drama—and this is key—it can be used to show nuanced versions of the same event to get the audience to try to decide what objective reality might be.
Often, that reality can mean some mid-point among all of the versions. Or, the creator might leave it to the audience to debate and decide which is the actual “correct” story is, perhaps picking up on consistent threads in the various versions to separate fact from embellishment. This can be a captivating storytelling device when used correctly.
Note: Correctly.
That isn’t what happens in The Last Duel.
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Untimely Movie Review – Warner Bros. 50 Film Collection: 1989-1994
Driving Miss Daisy (1989): Showing this film to the median 25-year-old in 2022 would be an interesting exercise. This movie depicts what most of us in the 80s and 90s believed to be a positive, hopeful representation of race relations, but today would likely be mocked or sharply criticized as naïve or condescending or worse. I’m not convinced that this shift is “progress.” Still, contemporary critics and the Twitterati would almost certainly pillory Morgan Freeman’s Hoke as demeaning or servile—even though that’s sort-of the point! In 1989, though, critics loved it, and the Academy honored it with a boatload of nominations, including Jessica Tandy becoming the oldest Best Actress winner, and Dan Aykroyd(!!!) getting a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. To date, it’s the last PG-rated movie to win Best Picture. For me personally, it’s fine, if a bit paint-by-numbers. It’s certainly better than some of the other films you’ll read about in a moment, although it’s probably one of the weaker Best Picture winners. The only thing that I actively disliked about Driving Miss Daisy was that I found it implausible that a backwoods highway patrolman would instantly identify the rather uncommon surname “Werthan” as Jewish.
Goodfellas (1990): Here’s where I drift in to heretical territory. Goodfellas is undoubtedly a strong movie. Let me say that at the outset. Excellent performances abound, including the best of Ray Liotta’s career. Here comes the “but.” But, I think Casino is actually a better version of this type of film. Goodfellas has some of the hallmark “Scorcese”-isms, including requiring a voiceover to drive the plot, and having some scenes that clearly include partial improvisation, but Casino handles both of these elements better. Goodfellas gets credit for coming first, but Casino took much the same formula and smoothed out some of the rougher edges. On the other hand, the rough edges are part of what so many people like about Goodfellas. For me, it’s a good movie that’s plagued a bit by the eternal “book-based-on-a-movie” challenge, where time leaps and glossing-over are necessary to fit the story within a three-hour window. But I don’t want it to sound like I don’t think Goodfellas is good. I absolutely do. I just wouldn’t put it in my top three of Scorcese’s movies—which is as much a testament to his work as it is to my opinion of Goodfellas. Continue reading →
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