Thursday, April 9, 2009

The Great Great Buck Howard

These days, when you run across a good movie, you want to run through the Swiss mountains like Maria Von Trapp and sing to the heavens. Because, for one brief moment, the hills of Hollywood are alive with the sound of creativity.

The Great Buck Howard is just such a movie. Perfect in every way. Acting, writing, cleverness. With belly laughs worthy of the best Billy Wilder film. And, when it ends after just 90 minutes, this is one picture you wish could last longer.

The Great Buck Howard is such a smart movie you wonder how it even got made in the first place. But, with a story that is so spot on, even the dopiest of development executives couldn't fuck it up. And, in its comedy, it examines deeply the plight of what happens when a C list celebrity moves down one more rung to oblivion.

Buck Howard is one of those mentalists who used to show up on every television talk show in the 60s and 70s. As a matter of fact, he boasts having been on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson 61 times, although he later admits that not one of those appearances came in Johnny's last 10 years on the air. Buck Howard is not so loosely based on the Amazing Kreskin who pretty much dominated the airwaves back when. The big finish of Kreskin's act was always that he could, with mental telepathy, tell where his paycheck was hidden in the audience. Buck Howard has the same knack and it is played to the hilt in this film, which depicts his attempts to make a big comeback.

The wonderfully understated Colin Hanks plays Buck's roadie, longing himself for a show biz career after quitting law school, much to the chagrin of his dad played conveniently by Tom Hanks. On tour in small towns and seedy theaters, Colin's character learns about life, the entertainment industry, and, most importantly, how a man comes to grips with the end of his career. As the winding-down mentalist, the always creepy John Malkovich lets his own weird persona embrace the character and the blending is ideal. You hate Buck, you love Buck, you laugh at Buck, and you cry for Buck. Sometimes on consecutive minutes.

In their dissertation on C list celebrities, the filmmakers smartly include cameos of real life once-weres playing themselves. Gary Coleman, the guy who did the sound effects in all the Police Academy, that "you can call me Ray" guy, George Takei. They are all here in their has-been glory. Donny "Ralph Malph" Most shows up inexplicably as the producer of the Tonight Show, as does Jay Leno himself. On Buck's downward journey, you also meet Regis and Kelly, Jon Stewart, Conan O'Brien, and even Martha Stewart. Their cameos provide the cherry on an already exquisite cinematic sundae.

I was sorry to see this movie end. So will you.

Dinner last night: Roast beef sandwich from Clementine's.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Let's give a plug to "Adventureland," a film that improves the more I think about it. Hollywood actually made an original screenplay! Imagine that.