Welcome to 5 Favorites. Each week, I will put together a list of my 5 favorites (films, performances, whatever strikes my fancy) along with commentary on a given topic each week, usually in relation to a specific film releasing that week.
Normally, I would take the wide releases and pick a topic based on those films. While I have surprisingly not tackled Liam Neeson yet, another film release made a lot more sense: Fortress: Spider’s Eye. If you haven’t heard of it, you’re not alone. For the last several years, Bruce Willis has been signing up for dull-witted action films that waste his talents. Recently, he announced that he would be quitting acting. The once box office draw suffers from a degenerative disease called Aphasia. Aphasia affects a person’s ability to express and understand written and spoken language. This could explain why Willis has been unable to find suitable vehicles for his skill. It is disappointing that it has progressed to a point where he will no longer be able to act, something he’s been doing for the better part of 40 years.
In honor of his legacy, I thought I would tackle my five favorite films. There were a few I considered that didn’t make the list such as Bandits and Pulp Fiction. While Pulp Fiction is a better film than most of these, I’ve tackled that film before and wanted to look at a few different ones.
Die Hard (1988)
Some movie stars today made a name for themselves on television before moving on to massive success on the big screen. None made such a meteoric rise as Willis did when he went from his 5-year stint on Moonlighting (which was in its fourth season when this film premiered) to being a huge box office draw. In this film, Willis plays an NYPD police officer attempting to save his wife (Bonnie Bedelia) and her co-workers taken hostage by German terrorists at their annual Christmas party.
As MacLane quietly takes out the members of the German terrorist group, he eventually comes face-to-face with their mastermind played by star-in-the-making Alan Rickman who likewise rode his success in this film to great heights as a film actor. Responsible for one particularly famous movie line, the film was a rousing success and from there, there was nowhere to go but up for Willis who spun his rise to fame into a thriving film career that eventually began to lose its luster after the last film on this week’s list was released.
No original review available.
Death Becomes Her (1992)
By no accounts is Death Becomes Her a great film. It’s great fun, but not a great film. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film stars Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn as rivals who undergo an experimental treatment to bestow upon them immortality. Willis plays Streep’s husband while Isabella Rossellini makes a humorous cameo as the purveyor of said concoction. This satirical black comedy was a huge box office success in spite of its lightweight narrative quality.
Streep and Hawn were hilarious in the film as they unsuccessfully try to kill one another, never quite succumbing due to the rejuvenating potion. A revolutionary step forward for visual effects, the film was nominated for and won the Oscar in that category, one year ahead of the even more revolutionary Jurassic Park. The film’s gorgeous sets and costumes as well as the saturated hues and bold costume design were handsomely filmed by Dean Cundey. It’s a film that is enjoyable to watch, but not to analyze. Willis’ role in the film takes a backseat to its fantastic leads, but it gave him one of his more off-brand roles and that was great to see.
No original review available.
12 Monkeys (1995)
When it comes to films challenging Willis’ gift as an actor, this was probably his best effort. Set primarily in two different time periods, 2035 and 1996, Willis plays James Cole, a prisoner at an underground facility in the distant future after a deadly virus wipes out most of human civilization. Sent back in time to attempt to thwart the people responsible for unleashing the plague, Cole is sent to the wrong time twice before finally landing in his intended reality. Thought at once to be both sane and insane, Willis navigates a complex narrative written by David Peoples & Janet Peoples based on a novel by Chris Marker (La Jetée).
The real visionary here is director Terry Gilliam who is almost single-handedly responsible for the most bizarre and inventive premises of the 1980s and 1990s, including The Fisher King, which also in a way deals with mental illness, and Brazil, which is a fascinating sci-fi fantasy film. While his films aren’t always great (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen), they are always compelling. While this is possibly Willis’ best performance, Brad Pitt outshines him in one of the most sensationally crazy characters he’s ever played.
The Fifth Element (1997)
Before he became persona non grata due to his history of sexual assault, director Luc Besson was on the upswing in the cinema world thanks to his popular action thrillers La Femme Nikita and Léon: The Professional. His 1997 follow up to Léon turned out to be not just one of the most expensive European films that had been made at that time, but was the most successful French film at the international box office, holding the title for more than a decade. For his newfound fans, it was a bit off the beaten path.
Set in Earth’s future, Willis plays a flying taxi driver who’s enlisted to protect a beautiful young woman (Milla Jovovich) who is destined to protect Earth from an invading evil. Gary Oldman plays a ruthless industrialist working to bring the great evil to Earth, Ian Holm plays a priest accompanying Willis and Jovovich on their journey, and Chris Tucker plays an obnoxious talk show host. It was a zany premise, but loads of fun and it includes one of the best adaptations of an operatic song ever filmed. That sequence alone is worth the price of admission.
No original review available.
RED (2010)
It wasn’t long after the release of this action comedy that Willis’ career began to genuinely fade. Whether that was due to his Aphasia beginning to present itself or some absolutely dreadful choices of films is unclear, but this would be the last film he was truly worth seeing in. The film co-starred Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, and John Malkovich as retired CIA agents who come together after a raid attempts to take out Willis’ character and a plot to eliminate loose ends unravels.
When you have such great and experienced actors getting together, the end result is sure to be something immensely watchable and it is. It’s the only reason director Robert Schwentke still has a career as his other work has been mediocre to awful. Mirren and Freeman have the most fun here and we subsequently do as well. She plays an sniper and he plays Willis’ mentor. Along the way, other prominent actors get their amusements in with the likes of Brian Cox, Richard Dreyfuss, and Ernest Borgnine each getting pivotal roles. Mary-Louise Parker co-stars as a woman on whom Willis is soft and who becomes an unwitting pawn in a dangerous game. It’s great fun for the sheer talent involved even if it isn’t well directed.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.