SalsaSharky 1 Posted October 24, 2019 NOT the 1958 William Whitney-directed B-film from legendary shlockmeister Samuel Z. Arkoff, this is the Ralph Bakshi live-action non-theatrical* movie starring Jared Leto & Alicia Silverstone that seems to be set when that movie came out (Arkoff gets a thank you credit for the film title) as a 19 year-old couple with a kid who start having blatant affairs with mostly nefarious criminals or Abstract-Expressionist painter/jazz-aficionados who cohabitate with Jack Kerouac?!?! (Why they don't do what sexless couples try in any other context, which is to dump the kid with the grandparents or a sitter and go have a romantic weekend in a cabin or Vegas or whatever, is never explained). Every shot & all the bizzare AF blocking of actors in every shot makes this movie feel like a documentary of a Bakshi full-length animation film come to life. The inverse of Cool World (1992) if you will. Also, voiceover dialogues are cut into a few scenes where the two actors are in the same frame but not talking, for no damn reason! Terribly wooden acting from Leto in particular, and Silverstone ends up mostly screeching by the end, too. Most of the supporting cast fares better, but they're playing ciphers or libido-given-human-form rather than characters with any backstory. It's cool to see John Hawkins of Deadwood fame in what must be an early role. Nevertheless the vibrant cinematography is on-point especially given the era it's attempting to evoke (there are two Ballhauses on this film but none are Oscar-winner Michael Ballhaus) & the meticulous billboards & company logos for some of the exterior shots captures the era well & shows Bakshi had an eye for graphic design elements. The theme of the movie underlines Bakshi's obsessive preoccupation with letting America know the 1950s wasn't the repressed, Red Scare decade of conformity we might think it is watching History Channel. Bad but watchable & parts of it are defensable. YMMV as always. * Seems to be a Showtime original made-for-TV production, so the aspect ratio is the square 1.33:1 format which doesn't do this film (that's trying to evoke the Technicolor and Cinemascope era of Hollywood) any favors. Share this post Link to post
SalsaSharky 1 Posted October 24, 2019 Oh and there's young Jared Leto ass. Silverstone reveals a bare back at most (Sorry, 40 year-old horndogs still lusting after her). Share this post Link to post
