Cinematic winning streaks. It's hard to think of directors who deliver over and over. Who are excellent consistently. Who string together a series of films that make you excited to see what they are going to do next.
I thought about a lot of different names here. From my 100 Years of Movie project, I thought about and discarded D.W. Griffith (so prolific early, but he has some duds) and F.W. Murnau (but I just did a retrospective on him). I considered my favorite directors of all time: Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg and Akira Kurosawa. Even toyed with the current flavor of the cinematic world, Christopher Nolan (for the record, I do not think he has made a bad film yet).
So why did my mind keep coming back to Meathead from All in the Family?
I think it comes down to two things. First, between 1984 and 1992, Rob Reiner directed some of the most famous and quotable films ever, but he is criminally under-recognized for it. We are more likely to remember the gimmick of This Is Spinal Tap, or the quotes from The Princess Bride ("Inconceivable!" "...Mostly dead..." "My name is Inigo Montoya") or Jack Nicholson's scenery-chewing supporting turn in A Few Good Men than the guy who actually made all of the films.
Second, it's hard to think of a director who bounced around genres so much yet maintained that level of success. Just look at the list below. You have a courtroom drama, an adventure/fantasy/comedy, a mockumentary, agruably the greatest rom-com ever, a coming of age drama, a teen comedy, and a suspense thriller. At the height of his powers, Reiner could do it all.
Without further ado, let's revisit the early works of Rob Reiner:
1984 - This Is Spinal Tap
This Is Spinal Tap is just a ridiculously fun movie and Reiner's debut feature film. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer are so good as the three non-spontaneously combusting members of the band. The scenes are classic: Stonehenge, "These go to 11," the tragic history of Spinal Tap drummers. Reiner even gets in front of the camera as documentary filmmaker Marty DiBergi. A comedy classic that holds up. As an added bonus, the DVD commentary by the cast in-character is almost as funny as the film.
1985 - The Sure Thing
Probably the most underrated film on this list, The Sure Thing follows a very young looking John Cusack who is thrown together with Daphne Zuniga on a cross-country trip to meet a beautiful blonde his friend has set him up with. It's funny and sweet with a supporting cast (including Tim Robbins and Anthony Edwards) that keeps the film moving. I think it's overlooked only because of the films that follow, but definitely worth a revisit to see the early stages of the prototypical character Cusack would perfect in Better Off Dead and Say Anything.
1986 - Stand by Me
Reiner's first Stephen King adaptation is about a perfect depiction of that moment when boys become teens and any innocence we have is lost. The adventure these four friends go on feels intimate and epic all at the same time. It'll make you laugh and cry and hug your kids all at the same time. The lead actors are all amazing as the children and include recognizable faces like Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and a much chunkier Jerry O'Connell. One of my favorite films as I grew up.
1987 - The Princess Bride
It may not be the "best" movie of all time, but it is one of my favorites. The Princess Bride is an adventure film that is funnier than most comedies and more romantic than most dramas. There's not a wasted line or a wasted character throughout it's entire run-time. And the storybook quality is completely driven home whether we're with Peter Falk and Fred Savage as they read the book or with Cary Elwes and Robin Wright as they find and lose each other within its pages. Mandy Patinkin, Andre the Giant, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Carol Kane... the entire cast is perfect. If you have not seen this, stop reading and watch it now.
1989 - When Harry Met Sally...
This is the romantic comedy every other romantic comedy is trying to be. Harry (Billy Crystal) bums a ride to New York from Sally (Meg Ryan) in the opening scenes. From there, we jump forward in time to see the two at various points in their lives. They come close to being together, but circumstances keep them apart. It's ridiculously romantic, but also very funny. And Jerry Maguire wishes it had a line as good as "when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."
1990 - Misery
When noted author Paul Sheldon (played by James Caan) is rescued by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), it seems like a stroke of luck. Soon, Paul realizes that his biggest fan is carrying her obsession a bit too far. Bates deservedly won an Oscar for her role here. Misery is a perfect suspense film in the vein of Hitchcock, with a lead character who is physically at the mercy of a deranged fan. And I can watch the goriest scenes in today's horror movies, but I still need to look away during Misery's hobbling scene.
1992 - A Few Good Men
A crackling script by Aaron Sorkin (from his play) and Jack Nicholson's turn as Col. Jessup in the final scenes are what most people remember. I love the interactions between Tom Cruise, Kevin Pollack and Demi Moore as the legal team defending a pair of Marines accused of murdering one of their own. Most courtroom dramas derive their suspense from the mystery of who did it. Here, we know that early on; the question is whether the good guys can prove it, or if in fact they are good enough guys to want to. And people still say "You can't handle the truth!" to this day.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end. In 1994, Reiner released the big budget flop North. It's a silly movie with Elijah Wood as its title character, and though it's not nearly as bad as its reputation, North is at best an okay movie. From there, The American President (which is a really good dramedy) and Ghosts of Mississippi (a ridiculously obvious Oscar-bait film) before finding himself relegated to awful films like Rumor Has It... and The Bucket List.
I would love to see Rob Reiner return to the directing heavyweight division. He delivered some of the best entertainment of my childhood and no matter what he does from here on, he will always have that winning streak.
0 comments:
Post a Comment