Good afternoon! We hope this finds you well - as (in the UK, at least) the lockdown has been extended by "at least" another three weeks, we thought you might like some suggestions for something feelgood to watch over the weekend. So here are two more recommendations from The Watchers for films that'll give you the warm fuzzies.
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
Dir: Chris Columbus
Starring: Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Harvey Fierstein, Lisa Jakub, Matthew Lawrence, and Mara Wilson
As a child, Disney’s Aladdin introduced me to
Williams’s mighty vocal talents – and had me counting down the minutes until
the Genie was next on screen – but Mrs. Doubtfire put a face to that
voice, and I’ve been a Robin Williams fan ever since.
Just like Aladdin, this is Williams’s show. Whether
it’s a one liner from Randi Mayem Singer and Leslie Dixon’s script (“Winston
liked a drink; it was the drink that killed him… He got hit by a Guinness
truck.”) or a moment of off-the-cuff improvisation (Williams reeling off
impressions at the job centre), Williams is Mrs Doubtfire’s multi-million-dollar
CGI special effects.
Williams is mostly remembered as a masterful comic actor,
but anyone who has seen Dead Poets Society, Good Morning Vietnam,
or Patch Adams knows the man had heavyweight acting chops. Mrs. Doubtfire will have you grinning from ear-to-ear, but it isn’t two hours of
sickly-sweet optimism. Daniel Hillard’s love for his family never changes, but
he comes to realise that their situation has changed, and there is nothing he
can do to stop it, despite his best efforts in some Oscar-winning make-up.
Williams makes the drama, the tears, both heartfelt and believable. Williams
won the Best Supporting Actor award for Good Will Hunting at 1998’s
Academy Awards, but he absolutely deserved a win back in 1993 with Mrs
Doubtfire, if not earlier.
The supporting cast are all excellent: Sally Field is
brilliant as a mother who first appears cold and detached, but is really trying
to spare her children from the hurt of a family break up; Pierce Brosnan oozes
oily charm as the new boyfriend on the scene; Polly Holliday is on typically
fine form as the Ernie Wise to Williams’s Eric Morecambe; and none of the child
actors (Lisa Jakub, Matthew Lawrence, and Mara Wilson) come across as annoying
or petulant, a trap that many family films fall into.
Special mention to the soundtrack: B.B. King, Frank Sinatra,
James Brown, Frankie Valli, and the song that got me into Aerosmith, 'Dude
(Looks Like A Lady)', just some of the artists on an impressive list.
Mrs. Doubtfire is faultless; it is the perfect
starting point for anyone who has never seen a Robin Williams film.
Matt
* * *
Galaxy Quest (1999)
Dir: Dean Parisot
Starring: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Justin Long, and Robin Sachs
Galaxy Quest is an exceptionally affectionate tribute/parody/spoof of 1960s Star Trek, and rabid sci-fi fandoms in general.
In the eighteen years since Galaxy Quest last aired on TV, the cast have been reduced to doing electronic store openings, and travelling to conventions to meet fans and do signings. When the egomaniacal lead Jason Nesmith agrees to do a solo gig, it causes outrage amongst the rest of the cast. However, due to a mix-up, instead of doing a fan video, Nesmith and- eventually- the rest of the cast find themselves on board a real alien ship and helping a polite race of aliens known as Thermians in their ongoing battle against the evil alien warlord General Sarris. But can the crew put their personal issues aside and survive to help the Thermians?
The script, by David Howard and Robert Gordon, is full of great one-liners and quips and gives the actors some meaty stuff to deal with. Tim Allen is fantastic as the Shatner-esque Nesmith (a.k.a. Commander Peter Quincy Taggart), slicing the ham thick as he relives his glory days. He's not just a one-note character and you can't help but be on his side as the absurdities start to mount. Sigourney Weaver adds a great level of sass as Gwen DeMarco (a.k.a. Lieutenant Tawny Madison, whose job was just to repeat what the computer said in slightly different words) whilst Alan Rickman gives one of the best and most fun performances of his career as Alexander Dane (a.k.a. Dr. Lazarus), a Shakespearean actor reduced to playing an alien on television, despite getting five curtain calls for Richard III...
Tony Shalhoub is great as Fred Kwan (a.k.a. Tech Sergeant Chen) who has become a bit of a space cadet in the intervening years, whilst Sam Rockwell gives an absolutely hilarious performance as Guy Fleegman, an actor who appeared in one episode of Galaxy Quest and died before the first ad break. He gets involved in the escapade and is in mortal fear that (as a literal red-shirt) he'll be the first to die. His hysteria mounts throughout, giving shades of Bill Paxton's amazing "game over, man" rant from Aliens.
There's often a problem with satires or parodies/spoofs if their treatment of their source material is cruel or mean-spirited. Luckily, the parody in Galaxy Quest never feels like its just being done for a cheap laugh or to take the mick for the sake of doing so. It highlights some of the more ridiculous tropes of the sci-fi genre- such as inexplicably dangerous machinery placed randomly in a hallway (serving no logical purpose except to cause peril)- but also makes some sly points about the sexism female sci-fi stars get to face; Gwen's comment that her TV Guide interview spent six paragraphs talking about her breasts and little about her talent is still prescient even now (see Scarlett Johansson's frustration at constantly being asked about her underwear when playing Black Widow).
So, what makes it feelgood? First of all, Rickman's performance. He's on top form as the bumptious luvvie who feels this is beneath him, yet there's an undeniable punch-the-air moment when he slips back into being Dr. Lazarus. The parody is funny but affectionate and never punches low. It's an ideal film for comedy and sci-fi fans and is considered something of a cult classic, twenty years from its original release.
Perhaps the thing that makes it feelgood the most? Its philosophy. Never give up. Never surrender.
Tez
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