Jaws: A Rewrite and Redemption

In the first budding months of The Best Picture Project, I reviewed Jaws.  To date, I would consider that post the worst of all that I have written.  This makes me especially sad, considering Jaws is one of my favorite films.  I keep it here as a reminder to be humble.  I have my share of lame excuses: I was a younger, less competent writer and was damn set to get something up on the blog that day, even if it was that chum bucket of shit.  If you don’t mind, we can celebrate the end of Shark Week with a little rewrite for redemption.  I know I can, and so desperately want to, give this film something so much better.

Jaws is considered the first summer blockbuster and one of the most culturally influential movies.  No one had ever seen audiences react to a film like this before.  There were people of all age, lining up to see it over and over again.  As the film’s profit grew, so did its fans and influence.  After Jaws, there was a sudden interest in the water.  Fear was instilled in swimmers.  I’m sure phantom fins caused unnecessary panic too often.  Many fishermen took the film as a call to arms, and began killing a multitude of sharks.  Arguably, the best result of Jaws was that almost overnight, kids wanted to become marine biologists.

Jaws is the story of how a lone, man-eating, great white shark terrorizes a the small island town of Amity.  Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) is the new police chief, and not the biggest fan of water.  While he’s a leader in the small town, he is still very much an outsider.  After the first shark attack, Brody wants to close the beaches.  However, with the fourth of July, the town’s most profitable weekend, coming up, the mayor coaxes him to keep the beaches open, for their economy’s sake.  This decision turns tragic, and the town blames Brody.  Now they want this shark dead.  So Amity’s most notorious fisherman, Quint (Robert Shaw), and a young marine biologist, Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) set out to the water with Brody to kill or capture the beast.

People always comment on how scary Jaws is.  With a shark attack movie, today you would expect a bunch of blood, gore and teeth sinking into soft flesh.  Here, especially in the opening scene, it’s what you don’t see that is so frightening.  Being above the water and witnessing the woman being physically drug around and screaming is much scarier than seeing the bite.  Hiding under the cool, inviting water is the perfect cloak for this powerful killer.  In fact, the more I see the shark, the less frightening it becomes, to me anyway.  The one moment that always makes me jump doesn’t feature the shark at all.  Hooper and I freak out in perfect synchronization there, every time.

One of my favorite scenes from the movie is when Quint talks about his experience after the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. On a dime, the mood changes from sharing scar stories and drinking to legs to Quint’s painful and horrifying story of being left for dead in the middle of the ocean.  As Quint speaks, his eyes are a little glassy, a combination of drink and old memories.  He looks both straight ahead to Brody, but through him as if looking far away to the past.  The way he talks and the grisly descriptions draw me in everytime and if anyone dares to talk during his speech, I give them an intense shush.

The story of the making of Jaws is one of the most infamous in Hollywood history.  It seems like everything the could go wrong, did, yet the film was a surprisingly huge success.  Director Steven Spielberg had a huge mechanical shark created to portray the beast.  It’s been said that while it worked fine when tested in a pool, the thing instantly sank and started dissolving in the salt water ocean.  During the shark cage scene, shot with real sharks, things became very dangerous.  The best shot from the crew’s work was the shark struggling on top of the cage.  Problem was, no one was in it, so the plot had to veer from Peter Benchley’s novel a bit and let Hooper escape the cage and live.

Jaws is one of the few movies that I never get tired of seeing.  Anytime I happen upon it on television, I cannot pull myself away.  Though I know every minute, the suspense pulls me in perfectly.  That scene showing Brody nervous on the beach with the perfect cuts between him and the water, gets me every time.  Though the film nearing 40 years old, there is a timelessness feeling about it.  This is how any fishing village should look and react to a killer shark.

“It’s all psychological.  You yell barracuda, everybody says, “Huh? What?”  You yell shark, we’ve got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July.”

Thank you, readers, for sticking with me.  I feel cleansed and happy to post a much better review of Jaws.  When writing, there is rarely perfection, but improvements are something to cherish.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

I remember first seeing Close Encounters of the Third Kind at about ten years old.  I had stumbled upon it at the library, enticed by the mysterious space ship on the cover of the VHS tape and recognized the star, Richard Dreyfuss, as the young guy from Jaws.  Already, I was a Steven Spielberg fan and could not wait to see a movie of his that was new to me.  Though my young mind didn’t make all the plot connections, the idea of making peaceful contact with aliens and a psychic message sent to all that had seen them intrigued me.  Now, sixteen years later, I have found this movie on blu-ray and it is like rediscovering the film all over again.  Every image is clear, bright and crisp, so much better than a worn and borrowed tape.  And even though I know what will happen, Close Encounters is a movie that always keeps me curious, excited and fills me with wonder like I was a kid again.

The title can feel long and clunky if you do not know what it means.  Basically, there are three main kinds of alien encounters.  The first is a small fluke with no evidence left, like just seeing a saucer overhead.  The second is an encounter that does leave evidence, like a crop circle or the half sunburn Dreyfuss sports in the film.  The third is actual contact.  Knowing that ahead of time gives you a better understanding of what to expect.

In the film, these encounters are happening all over the world, with a government team not far behind them, investigating.  In India, planes that were deemed missing in 1945 are found in the desert.  The people witnessing this event say that the sun came out in the middle of the night and sang to them.  In Indiana, a power outage sends Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) out to fix the problem, but he has an amazing encounter.  Nearby, Jillian (Melinda Dillon) discovers her three year old son being drawn to something.  Soon, we are all dazzled by the bright lights of alien spaceships whizzing along the roads and off into the sky.

After the eventful night, Roy, Jillian and others who saw the lights begin obsessing over an image in their minds.  While Jillian draws, her son plays five notes on his toy xylophone and Roy sculpts the image.  The scene where Roy pulls up plants, steals his neighbor’s fence and throws dirt into his house to create this image is wonderfully hilarious, while bringing out the seriousness Roy sees in his vision.  Eventually, Roy, Jillian and many others figure out that they need to travel to Devil’s Peak in Wyoming, where the government officials are preparing for contact with the aliens.  But they are trying to keep the alien situation under wraps, and their plan to evacuate the area makes Roy’s journey there much more hazardous.

The more I see this film, the more I understand how Roy is a perfect candidate for alien contact.  He feels like a full grown Elliot from E.T., a real kid at heart.  I doubt that model train in his basement is for his kids, and after his initial contact, he drags his wife and kids out in the middle of the night in hopes of all of them seeing the alien ships.  They could not care less.  I always feel that Roy’s real personality is shown best when he is recklessly collecting dirt and plants for his giant sculpture.  And the wonder and joy on his face in the final scenes are uplifting and perfect.

One of the most memorable thing about Close Encounters of the Third Kind is the five note message.  It progresses from singing in the Indian desert to calculated tones, later with matching colored lights and hand gestures.  The film comes down to this simple, peaceful communication that brings closure to some mysteries and opens up more and more.

While this film was nominated for many Oscars, won for Cinematography and a special achievement award for Sound Effects editing, it was not nominated for Best Picture.  To me, it feels like such a crime that Julia got the nomination while Close Encounters of the Third Kind did not.  Part of me guesses that putting two science fiction films up for Best Picture would have been too much for the Academy and Star Wars was the more obvious contender.

Nonetheless, Close Encounters of the Third Kind has survived the test of time well.  The special effects used are even more beautiful on Blu-ray and do not have an obsolete feeling.  Best of all, the tale of a shared psychic communication and the drive to find its meaning feels full of hope and wonder, like only a Spielberg film can.  This is one of those films that I suggest everyone see at some point in their lives.  Turn the lights down, the volume up and just immerse yourself in it.

“If everything’s ready here on the Dark Side of the Moon… play the five tones.”

The Goodbye Girl

Paula (Marsha Mason) is an out of work dancer who has just been dumped by her boyfriend that she and her ten year old daughter, Lucy (Quinn Cummings), have been living with.  He has left, but sublet the apartment to a struggling actor from Chicago, Elliot Garfield (Richard Dreyfuss), without telling Paula.  When Elliot shows up in the rain, claiming legal rights to the apartment, Paula isn’t stupid and Elliot isn’t cruel.  They agree to share the apartment.

Immediately, Paula and Elliot start butting heads.  Paula’s uses her squatter status and daughter to pull her weight on setting the ground rules, but Elliot insists on his own ways with idle threats of legal action.  He makes it clear that he enjoys playing his guitar in the middle of the night, sleeps in the nude and meditates every morning.  The combination is great for laughs and detrimental to Paula’s beauty sleep.

Thankfully, the film doesn’t keep to an odd couple style for long.  When you live with someone, it’s hard not to form a bond.  With Paula desperately trying to get into a dance number and Elliot becoming more and more nervous about his controversial portrayal of Richard III, the two have enough to worry about.  They realize this and become supportive of each other.  It is simply respect and friendship and eventually leads to romance.

Wedged in between all this is young Lucy.  She is surprisingly mature and docile for a ten year old, but perhaps that is just the product of the lifestyle her mother has exposed her to.  Lucy has grown up knowing the theater world, what productions her mother was in and going to shows to support whoever her mother was dating at the time.  In the opening scene, just before Paula finds her breakup letter, she and Lucy talk have a conversation that doesn’t quite sound like mother and daughter, but more like equal aged friends.  The tone reminded me of The Gilmore Girls, only more intelligent and taking moments to breathe.  When the letter is found, Paula is the weak one, who breaks down crying and can hardly speak.  It’s Lucy who reads it aloud.  Immediately, it’s established that Lucy is the tough one of the family, but still only a child.

I’ve been a fan of Richard Dreyfuss since I was about five years old and first saw him get in the shark proof cage, but his performance here might be his best ever.  He brings such a bounding enthusiasm to Elliot in every way.  When he puts his foot down to set some rules, he’s a perfect mixture of cunning, threatening and sarcastic.  In the rehearsals and his big play, his stereotypically gay Richard III is one of those “so bad it’s good” moments that had me rolling.  But his greatest achievement, and what I think won him the Oscar, was his ability to make Elliot a completely lovable, endearing, dare I say it, even adorable person without going overboard and turning the whole performance into lovey-dovey mush.  Even in the moments of grand romantic gestures, he smartly keeps everything down to Earth.  Only he can pull off the surprise dinner on the roof act, complete with a rented white tux and Bogart line, without feeling like a pushover.

While I can hardly stand 90% of the romantic comedy genera, I loved The Goodbye Girl.  The characters are smart and believable, never cardboard or over-the-top.  And the situation does not seem to far fetched.  Just think how many ways this film could have gone wrong: painting a line down the middle of the apartment, ending with a race to the airport.  It’s like someone was reading a Choose Your Own RomCom Adventure book and made all the intelligent and believable choices.  Except for bringing that guitar out into the rain.  I swear, lovey-dovey people have no common sense.

“What is it about you that makes a man with a hundred forty-seven I.Q. feel like a dribbling idiot?”

American Graffiti

My parents have always been fans of classic cars, drive-in movies and restaurants where they’ll deliver a rootbeer float on roller-skates to your car.  But they were teenagers of the seventies, those were already long gone for them.  This movie feels like a time machine.  The neon lights, beautiful shined up classic cars and food delivered on roller skates.  It’s amazing.  I mean, what a great idea, to just cruise around real slow, picking up chicks.  It looks like a parade down Main street all night!  And to think, there was a time where it was cool to dance at the dance.  What a fantastic time to live in.

American Graffiti is a coming of age story set in 1962 filled with a variety of adventures in this little town.  Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve (Ron Howard) are leaving for college in the morning; it’s their one chance to get out of that little town.  But Curt’s got cold feet, he’s very sentimental about his home, so he looks around for advice.  Steve is more willing to go, but he’s got some loose ends he needs to take care of before leaving.  He’s got to take care of his girlfriend Laurie (Cindy Williams) and make sure they can see other people while they’re apart.  “It would strengthen our relationship. Then we’d know for sure that we’re really in love. Not that there’s any doubt.”  And Steve gives his friend Terry (Charles Martin Smith) the responsibility of taking care of his car, which leads to Terry meeting a hot blonde chick and some adventures about teenagers trying to attain booze.

There’s also John Miller (Paul Le Mat) rolling around in his yellow Coupe, the fastest in town.  While he’s cruising for chicks, he gets stuck with a girl about twelve years old, but that might be the best way to have fun in this town.  John is being sought after by Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford), looking for a drag race.

The film seems to be in a world where nothing is more important than cars, cruising, chicks and rock and roll.  Even the prospect of going to college doesn’t seem to match cruising around town.  And when Curt sees a blonde beauty driving a white Thunderbird looking back at him, ah!  It’s like the sky parted and angels sang just for him.  How can he leave this place when that girl is out there?

When I watch this, it’s so sad to think that times like these are gone.  Kids today can’t get away from their hovering parents long enough to cruse the town without getting twenty texts asking when they’ll be home.  Besides, there’s no where to hang out anyway.  And if you look at the girls in car next to you, they think you’re a stalker and they’ll get out the mace.

Teenagers today might find the whole film completely-backwards.  Today, college is where you go to get booze, drugs and chicks and only losers stay around town after high school.    But back then it was only a choice few who left town for better things and made the idea of leaving home more daunting.

American Graffiti is not a film to easily dismiss.  This put George Lucas on the map but few Star Wars fans branch out of their galaxy to see this film.  The more I think about it, American Graffiti may be the most important film of the 1970’s.  Without it, there would have been no Star Wars, which completely changed the film industry.  Even if you don’t look to the future, by 1973 the innocence that American Graffiti portrays was completely gone.  And Lucas brought it back, as if to say, “Look at what we’ve lost.”  I recommend American Graffiti for everyone.

“You’re the most beautiful, exciting thing I’ve ever seen in my life and I don’t know anything about you.”

Jaws

There aren’t many films that you can watch over and over and feel the same wide-eyed rush of adrenaline every time.  Somehow, Jaws has that special quality and Steven Spielberg became a master.  I’ve been watching this movie as long as I can remember, I know exactly what happens and when, yet I feel my pupils dilate and little hairs start to stand every time that music starts up.

duuu dun….duuuu dun. du-dun du-dun du-dun…

It all starts with a late night sna- I mean swim.  That first scene in the calm, just before sunrise, is one of the scariest things ever captured on film.  One second, the girl is just jerked like a fishing bobber, next she’s being thrashed around in the water screaming and then she’s gone.  No bubbles and hardly a ripple.  The world was back to that calm at dawn.

I’ve heard today’s all-knowing teenagers complain that “Jaws isn’t scary” “there’s not enough gore” and “you never see the shark.”  Well la-te-da, why don’t you just blow a shark whistle and have it fly up on land and hump kids to death.  That would make a great movie, right?  Sadly, it would make millions.

You see, Jaws is the kind of scary movie that relies on psychological aspects, rather than shoving fresh guts in your face.  What’s better than a day swimming at the beach on the 4th of July?  The water’s nice, and everything seems fine so you go out deeper where the shark is under full cover and then it’s too late.  Take that little piece of vacation and turn it into shark bait and you’ve scared everyone out of the water for decades.

Of course, there is more to this film than an ominous cello, red water and beach panic.  You see, this is Chief Brody’s (Roy Scheider) first summer on Amity Island since his family moved from New York.  To the islanders, he’s still an outsider, so when he wants to close the beaches over the shark, they worry how they’re going to make money.  Summer is the season that keeps them afloat.  To make Brody look even more conspicuous, he doesn’t even like the water.  “It doesn’t make much sense for a guy who hates the water to live on an island.”

When the shark business heats up, Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) a young shark guy, arrives in town to bring his expertise on their shark problem.  He discovers that the shark they’re looking for is probably a huge great white.  After another grizzly scene with all the tourists as witnesses, the Mayor finally closes the beach and sends Brody and Hooper to help the salty fisherman, Quint (Robert Shaw), go capture and kill the bloodthirsty shark.  Quint is one of my favorite characters from any movie.  He’s got the slurred swagger and big fish tails to rival any fisherman.  From his hardened hands, his sunbaked mind and the terrifying tale of his time on the USS Indianapolis he’s the crazy old pirate of Amity Island, and bringing home that shark would be his greatest story.  Three men on the open water against a giant man eating shark, movies don’t get much better than that.

Jaws is the reason I hate to swim and love to fish.  It is why I have a set of bleached little shark jaws in my box of treasures.  And it is one of the first films that got me hooked on movies.  And I know it is one of the best films ever made.  If you or a loved one (including children) have not seen Jaws, just drop whatever you’re doing and watch it.  We’re just heading into summer, so it’s the perfect time for Jaws.  Just remember: “This shark, swallow you whole. ”

***Well, of course I’m picking Jaws for 1975.  Cuckoo’s Nest is fantastic but there’s not much ever made that can beat Jaws.  ’75 was a wonderful year.***