Tarzan

Many of Disney’s films feature anthropomorphic animals.  In most we are either completely in an animal world (The Lion King) or a in human’s world with animals who band together (101 Dalmatians, The Aristocats).  While The Jungle Book comes close, 1999’s Tarzan beautifully bridges the human and animal world in a way Disney never had before.  The opening scene and song, appropriately named Two Worlds, shows this connection perfectly as a grieving mother finds an orphaned baby.  

Tarzan (voiced by Tony Goldwyn) is raised by Kala (Glenn Close) among the other gorillas.  As a child, Tarzan is frustrated by his differences from his playmates and is often counted out.  The way his mother accepts him and encourages him is moving and encourages Tarzan to be the best ape he can be.  He grows into one of the strongest males in the family and just when Tarzan has defeated the jaguar that has been stalking the gorillas his entire life, a new predator comes to the jungle.  

Enter Jane (Minnie Driver), her dorky dad (Nigel Hawthorne) and Clayton (Brian Blessed).  They have traveled to Africa to study the gorillas, but run into Tarzan instead.  Jane and her father are fascinated by him and teach Tarzan to speak English, hoping that he will take them to the gorillas.  While Tarzan is blown away by the new world Jane is showing him, he is oblivious to the danger Clayton poses.  

One of my favorite aspects of this film is the soundtrack.  Who doesn’t enjoy a little Phil Collins?  All the songs are written and performed by him, and they all rock.  Unlike most Disney films, these songs are not sung by the characters, which I like.  I can’t imagine Tarzan breaking into song, it’s just too out of character.  Trashin’ the Camp is the only song that gets the characters actively singing, but it keeps to the gorillas’ character in a very fun way.  This soundtrack includes one of my all time favorite Disney movie songs, You’ll Be In My Heart.  It’s the ultimate parent/child song and it makes my heart swell when my kid dances to it with me.  

If I were to make a list of movies for mothers to share with their sons, Tarzan would be near the top.  It would also be one of the first to show them, even with elements of death and guns, very young children shouldn’t be too disturbed with their moms nearby.  Since before my son could walk he loved watching the gorillas (he used to call them ah-ahs!).  Now, at age 2, he enjoys making elephant noises with Tantar and drumming with the songs.  Best of all, he knows who Tarzan’s mommy is, even though they don’t look the same.  

Besides the lovely mother-son relationship, Tarzan shows a great message about being a man.  Son of Man is another great song here that helps drive the point home.  In the end, we hope boys are inspired to be a man like Tarzan rather than Clayton.  The moment where Tarzan breaks the gun, rather than firing it, is a powerful gesture.  Staying with his family as their new leader is an even better one.  

“What kind of primitive beasts are responsible for this mess?”

Fatal Attraction

Chances are, if you were a movie going person in 1987 you either saw 3 Men and a Baby or Fatal Attraction, if not both.  Fatal Attraction was the second highest grossing film at the box office that year and seems like a polar opposite to 3 Men.  Like I’ve said before, the most popular films aren’t usually within the Best Picture category come Oscar season, but with its intense plot and brilliant acting, Fatal Attraction found itself competing for top honors.

Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) is a family man and a business man.  One weekend, while his wife, Beth (Anne Archer), and daughter are out in the country visiting family, Dan has to stay in the city for work.  He ends up having a one night stand with a colleague, Alex Forrest (Glenn Close).  Before the affair was even initiated, Dan and Alex seemed to come to an understanding about what was about to happen, “Yes, I’m discreet.  Me too.”  But once it’s time for Dan to leave, Alex is anything but discreet and goes to desperate measures attempting to keep him.  She begins to stalk Dan, seeing him at work unannounced, calling him at all hours at home.  Soon Dan is afraid Alex will not only tell his family, but try to hurt them.  He is planning on moving out to the suburbs where he hopes Alex will lose track of him, but Dan has seriously underestimated what Alex is capable of.

Glenn Close’s performance as the unstoppable Alex is terrifying, so much that her Alex was ranked as #7 on AFI’s top 100 villains list.  What makes Alex so scary is that she seemed normal in the beginning, just a woman flirting a bit.  Once she’s had a taste of Dan, she won’t let him go and she can go from completely placid to ripping his shirt, cutting her wrists crazy within seconds.  And that’s just the start.  She takes her stalking up a level every few scenes and justifies it in her mind.  We’ve all heard that crazy people don’t know they’re crazy.  Alex sees herself as a normal two, while we know she’s completely off the chart.

The lines Alex begins to cross are what can really put us on the edge.  Showing up at the office, calling the house, those start to make us uncomfortable.  But damaging his car and planting a tape at the nearest car rental for Dan to listen to as he drives while she follows him home is way past the creepy boundaries.  She’s sickly obsessive, calculating his and her every move and slowly moving closer to the most drastic measures.

I’ve found that people enjoy a good thriller in two ways: to be on the edge of their seat and/or to have fun yelling at the characters.  Fatal Attraction is perfect for both.  For first time viewers, you never know what Alex could do next, she seems capable of anything and is always taking her game up a notch.  She keeps you on the edge.  Then there’s poor stupid Dan who shouldn’t have been messing around in the first place.  You can yell at him plenty.

Fatal Attraction doesn’t need to be taken too seriously, but it’s a great ride.  It seems like Lifetime has copied off the ‘cheatin’ man ain’t gonna get away with it’ plot in every way imaginable.  I envision this film being perfect girls-night-in for a group of women angry at a cheatin’ man or wanting to make fun of the crazy chick at work.  Paint some toenails, bring on the chocolate, turn off Lifetime and pop in some quality.

“Well, what am I supposed to do?  You won’t answer my calls, you change your number.  I mean, I’m not gonna be ignored, Dan!”

The Big Chill

After Alex commits suicide, his old friends from college get together for a weekend after his funeral.  They discuss the past few years, what they do, what they wish they did and where they wish they could be.  Some have families, others prestigious careers and some haven’t amounted to much.  They discover that what they really need is just each other.

Yes, that is so vague and yet it seems like I’ve given away the ending.  This film is so full of rich characters and ideas that I’ve given away nothing.  At times it’s like the Breakfast Club’s twenty year reunion, but there’s more to it than that.

Most people have a group of old friends that try to get together now and then but slowly drift apart.  This one includes Jeff Goldblum as a journalist for Time Magazine, Tom Berenger as an actor in an action television show, Mary Kay Place as a disenchanted lawyer, Glenn Close and Kevin Kline are a happily married couple and William Hurt as a former talk radio personality.  Like a whole fruit basket from one college.  Throughout the weekend, new motives are revealed and old histories spark new life.

The topic of their late friend is touchy.  There are slight images of how each of them grieves their friend, whether crying alone or making a joke they immediately regret.  Eventually, they’re able to talk about him and bring new life on to themselves at the same time.

The soundtrack to this movie is wonderful.  Just a few artists featured are The Temptations, Three Dog Night and Aretha Franklin.  Maybe I’m going on about the music since I’ve been watching films from the ‘30’s lately.  Still, I don’t know anyone who hates good old classic rock from the ‘60’s.

On the surface, you could think this would be a great movie for when old friends get together, but you might just end up questioning which of your group will off themselves first.  No, it’s hard to suggest a good setting for The Big Chill, but I encourage you to give it a try.  Sorry to keep it so brief, but this is a difficult to review without revealing too much or getting all over analytical.

“Amazing tradition. They throw a great party for you on the one day they know you can’t come.”