Copyright
©
Brought to you by Peanut.org
Heartbreakers
and The African Queen
Sigourney
Weaver, Jennifer Love Hewitt,
Ray
Liotta, Jason Lee,
Jeffrey
Jones, Gene Hackman,
Nora
Dunn, Anne Bancroft
Directed
by David Mirkin
Writing
credits Robert Dunn and Paul Guay
Runtime
123 minutes.
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sex-related content including dialogue.
Information
from
Internet Movie Database
Well,
Heartbreakers is not bad, and that’s the worst kind of film.
It doesn’t push any envelopes or buttons either.
It’s a modest little mother and daughter flick that you can catch on
cable later or not catch at all and not miss much.
But, it’s not bad, and in recent weeks, that sounds like fairly high
praise. I questioned whether Julia
Roberts and Brad Pitt could carry The Mexican (apparently, they do), but
Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt leave no questions for me about this
film. They make it, playing Max (Weaver) and Page (Hewitt), two
con-people looking for rich old (emphasis on either word) men good for what Max
calls “widow money.”
At
least they are honest with themselves, if not with their intendeds (that is,
victims, not fiancés): a tobacco zillionaire (Hackman) who has used too much of
his own product and the owner of a bar (Lee).
Basically, the film gives us a lot of not squeaky clean fun in which
values, family or otherwise, get served up in the broken glass in the salad
(next time you want to get a free meal in a posh restaurant).
By
the way, the film is supported by some great but wasted actors, most notably Ray
Liotta as the ladies’ first victim and Anne Bancroft as the IRS agent from…
well, from the IRS. Enough said.
And
that is enough said. Fortunately, The
African Queen came chugging onto cable again this week, and I can’t say
enough. At a half-century, it shows
no signs of aging. In not much over
an hour and a half, it packs more noble thoughts but very soggy feet, witty
dialogue, sexual energy (but no anatomy lessons) and what I call the most
special effect of all—a close-up of a talented actor’s face—than any three
films at the megaplex today.
Katharine
Hepburn, from prim missionary to not-so-young woman in love with being in love
and with Humphrey Bogart, too, gives Bogart a run for his Oscar (he got one, she
didn’t), and Bogart for once goes beyond Bogart, as a man who learns a few
things himself. Put two fireballs
like these onto a thirty-foot boat, and stand back.
Oh, some great writing doesn’t hurt (and it doesn’t).
The ending is improbable, but it feels right.
These two really are too strong or stubborn to die.
Tim
Dirks gives a great review of
the many pleasures of The African Queen.
His articles on classic film are especially rewarding because he includes
substantial passages of dialogue, giving us a chance to see just how good the
writing of these old films is. A
special treat in his article on The African Queen is his revelation of
three other endings that were considered. Keep
your feet dry, your heart full of noble thoughts, and your cable bill paid so
you can see something worth watching.