Reviews
Lolita (1997)
Neither movie dealt with the central issue of the book.
Nabokov handled the subject of pedophilia with wit and subtlety, but the heart of the story has to do with Humbert's sickness. This fact cannot begin to be understood or appreciated when the movies use post-pubescent girls to represent Lolita. We the viewers are supposed to be repelled by Humbert's sexual choice.
The Sue Lyon version utterly failed, because she was fully mature, thus missing the point. Mason's Humbert may have been foolish, but not repulsive. The Swain version missed for the same reason.
In addition, the "Nymphet" concept was missing. Neither Lyon nor Swain was a Nymphet because neither was seductive enough.
Swain's portrayal was good, but entirely missed the point, because Swain, alas, isn't even pretty, let alone seductive. I agree with many who see merit in both versions; both were exceptionally good movies, but neither dealt with the novel's central issue.
Havana (1990)
Mostly effective and plausible rethinking of Casablanca
Many viewers have noted that Havana is essentially Casablanca in the Caribbean, which is certainly true. But I found the same apocalyptic tension in Havana as in Casablanca, although not quite as effective the second time around. Others criticized the dialogue. I thought it was exceptionally mature, and subtle, which may be what threw some of the reviewers in this forum, who maybe would have wanted something more bombastic. The plot development was very compressed - things had to happen very quickly, and so some thought they happened far too quickly. But I thought Olin in particular showed all of the pain and turmoil necessary to make her quick transitions of emotion believable. You have to believe that the times were so tumultuous that people had to adjust very quickly to changing circumstances. As for Jack falling in love with Bobby so fast, that's entirely believable, and the look they exchanged at the party where Jack meets her husband for the first time was our signal that this love affair was happening, and was one of those insane passions that overtake people, not infrequently, and in this case, again, against the apocalyptic backdrop of this incipient revolution, which made all involved feel very much at loose ends, ready for, or dreading, the vast changes about to happen to them. I though the end was too dragged out, but other than that, the movie mostly plausible.
One False Move (1991)
A standout in spite of it's flaws
By keeping this movie simple and emphasizing character instead of plot, it is much more realistic-feeling and gritty than many films with more gore and action. By keeping the violence to a minimum, it made what violence there was much more affecting and impressive. These were people really getting hurt and killed, rather than the typical movie where everyone takes five bullets each and still lives.
There were many plot problems and character inconsistancies, yet the plot and the characters worked. Is that to the credit of the director, the actors, or both? Unlike most comments submitted about this movie, I felt Cynda Williams' character was not fully realized, in spite of some very fine elements to her performance. I blame that on the director, who may not have worked the character out with her well enough. The emotionless violence of Beach was expected from his character, but I just didn't believe Williams as a cop killer, and her subsequent lack of concern over what she'd done.
Nor was I completely convinced by Michael Beach. His appearance was perhaps just too professorial. There was no hint in his face of the monster he was supposed to be. His dialogue and motivations were sound, but he just didn't look quite right to me.
I found all the talk of race essentially uninteresting because I personally have no qualms about such things. It was intended for more naive people who's blood boils at the thought of racial mixing. I have no idea how a black man (Beach) would react to seeing a mixed couple ( Williams and Thornton) making love. The Beach character seemed annoyed, but I didn't get any insights as to how he really felt, and to what extent it contributed to the friction between them. My lack of empathy in that respect has to be laid at the feet of the actors and director, who failed to communicate this to me.
All that said, this was a much better than average movie.