Love Field (1992)

Following the Oscar nominated performance in "The Fabulous Baker Boys" (1989), two Golden Globe nominated turns in "The Russia House" (1990) and "Frankie and Johnny" (1991) and the iconic career defining role as Selina Kyle/Catwoman in "Batman Returns" (1992), "Love Field" all too often  slips under the radar in discussions regarding the film career of Michelle Pfeiffer. Which is sad, cause it's an incredibly strong performance and a very interesting piece of cinema. Sadly, like many Oscar nominees that don't claim the title (and even some winners) the film has largely been lost under the sands of time. Although it is worth noting that Michelle did win the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival, so at least her performance wasn't completely unrewarded.

"Love Field" tells the story of Lurene Hallett, a Dallas housewife with a fanatical obsession with the first lady, Jackie O, going to the length of emulating her hairstyle and clothing. Rattled by the assassination of JFK, the second act of the film shows Lurene on a journey of self discovery (accompanied by a father and daughter she meets along the way) across the country, trying to get the the funeral for JFK in Washington. The story explores racism, women's rights in the 60s and the gigantic cultural effect of the JFK assassination. Supported by a superb cast including Dennis Haysbert and Stephanie McFadden, Michelle completely encapsulates the essence of the impact of the assassination. In a lot of ways, her performance as a Jackie O obsessed housewife is superior to that of dozens of other performances by people actually playing Jackie O.

The film still feels fresh to this day, the issues raised are still of relevance. It somehow successfully blends a serious social issue with romance, without being insensitive in doing so. The film is unafraid to show a different perspective on the Kennedy era, showing opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of political perception of the president. The pacing is well timed, varying between more subdued drama to fast paced chase scenes.

The way the film is shot has a kind of timeless feel to it. It certainly does not feel like a product of 1992. The costuming is excellent and feels completely seamless with the time period in which it belongs (there are few things more distracting than clothes looking like they could've been bought today when a film is set in an entirely different time period). 

In short, "Love Field" is a cinematic gem that is worth a look. One of the most interesting and overlooked films of Michelle's career, the film also serves as an interesting insight to the JFK assasination whilst capturing mid-sixties America in a way that is visually and emotionally stimulating.  

Happy Endings (2011 - 2013)

Severe lack of posts lately due to being inundated with university work but now I'm off for Easter so normal service (whatever that is) shall resume. 

ANYWAY, I've had this post waiting as a draft in my posts for a week or so now. I've recently started a re-watch of Happy Endings after catching an episode on E4 a couple of weeks ago and regaining the urge to watch it all over again. For those that don't know, Happy Endings was a single camera sitcom that ran on ABC (and Channel 4/E4 in the UK) from April 13, 2011 to May 3, 2013.

I got really behind on my TV watching last year and pretty much didn't watch the third season of Happy Endings, telling myself I would watch it when I wasn't so busy with uni work. Now i'm glad this happened, cause I can slowly pace myself through what is in fact the final season of the show. All the while telling myself that the cancellation of this show is one of the most ridiculous TV decisions ever made.

It's hard to pinpoint what exactly is so good about Happy Endings, mainly because there are so many things that are great about it. It has a classic sitcom feel to it (kind of a Cheers/Seinfeld/Frasier/Friends vibe) with elements of more contemporary comedies like 30 Rock and The Office. The casting is completely solid, and is reminiscent of the same dynamic applied to the casting of "Friends" way back in 1994. Happy Endings is one of the only shows (if not the ONLY) to successfully utilize the "Friends" formula.

Tina Fey summarized this idea really well in her 2011 autobiography, "Bossypants"  -

"For years the networks have tried to re-create the success of Friends by making pilot after pilot about beautiful twenty-somethings living together in New York. Beautiful twenty-somethings living in Los Angeles. Beautiful twenty-somethings investigating sexy child murders in Miami. This template never works, because executives refuse to realize that Friends was the exception, not the rule."

Perhaps the shows setting in Chicago rather than in NYC or LA was what allowed it to prosper. But there's a lot more to it than that. The casting is solid. Casey Wilson, Elisha Cuthbert, Eliza Coupe, Adam Pally, Damon Wayans Jr. and Zachary Knighton are all relatively fresh talent, all capable of expressing the comedy material to full effect. The shows clever dialogue and unsurpassed use of pop culture references never seem forced on them, they make the characters so believable that they seem like real people, not weird two dimensional sock-puppets that are so often present in run-of-the-mill sitcoms that fill up the TV schedule every September. 

I particularly enjoy the way in which the screen time is distributed. As a general rule, throughout a season of Happy Endings, there has been an equal share of story-line for each of the 6 characters. There are six protagonists, not a couple of main characters and 4 other supporting cast members that only serve the purpose of filling the remaining screen-time. I'd also like to throw it out there whilst on the subject of the characters that Max Blum (played by Adam Pally) is one of the most significant representations of a gay man in television history. Seriously. As previously mentioned, the screen-time of this show is very well distributed, meaning that Max receives the same amount of story-line as his straight counterparts, something which is frustratingly still quite rare on mainstream prime-time television. 

In short, i'm still very much in mourning for this show. It is baffling to me how something that was so critically acclaimed with a regular viewership & avid fan-base could be disposed of, whilst dozens of lesser shows continue to be renewed season after season. I really hope that it gets some kind of revival, if not from another network then perhaps by Netflix or something. Here's hoping.