Mad City

100495 / 12 / US / 1997 / Costa-Gavras / / drama

Mad City / Yksinoikeudella. PC: Warner Bros. P: Arnold Kopelson, Anne Kopelson. D: Costa-Gavras. SC: Tom Matthews. CAST: John Travolta, Dustin Hoffman, Mia Kirshner, Alan Alda, Blythe Danner. 114’. Scope. MPAA 35278. PG-13. Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Timo Porri. DIST: Warner Bros. Finland. Viewed at VET, Helsinki, Wednesday 17 December 1997. *** Viewed at VET after Money Talks, both sharing the premise of mortal danger being exploited as a media attraction. This is a serious contribution in the reliable Costa-Gavras tradition of social issues. The grandfather of all the media films of this type was Billy Wilder’s The Big Carnival (1951). However, Dog Day Afternoon (1975) is the closest prototype to Mad City. It’s a well-known formula, but still a good and valid one, and the screenplay has a lot of wit and good dialogue. Costa-Gavras, then, is to be blamed for the fact that the film is not brilliant but only good enough in spite of the first-rate cast and crew

She’s So Lovely

100421 / 16 / US/FR / 1997 / Cassavetes, Nick / drama

She’s So Lovely / She’s So Lovely. PC: Hachette Premiere. A Miramax release. D: Nick Cassavetes. SC: John Cassavetes. CAST: Sean Penn, Robin Wright Penn, John Travolta. 97’. Scope. MPAA 35349. Rating R = 17. Finnish subtitles by Movision. DIST: Scanbox Finland. Viewed at VET, Helsinki, 7 October 1997. *** The ancient Greeks thought love is an illness which brings unhappiness and disaster. This film shares the same view. It’s a jazzy story about madness, alcohol and love. It wears a smile on its face, but there is stark staring madness raving underneath. The film is character-driven, and the performances are powerful.