Silver Age The X-Files: Season 10 Meanders Along The Familiar.

The Good: Good performances, Moments of entertainment
The Bad: Poor continuity, Repetitive quality
The Bottom Line: The X-Files - The Complete Tenth Season returns Mulder and Scully to the F.B.I. and their familiar roles with a fairly familiar plot and adversary.


Nothing speaks to me about how little I enjoy something by how long it takes me to actually finish it. Back when The X-Files returned to television for a six-episode limited Tenth Season, my wife bought me the season and it seemed like it would be a slam dunk of a gift. But, alas, two episodes in and I gave up on the season. The bulk of the season remained unwatched, much like my repeated attempts to get through the second season of Revolution and the final season of Parenthood. But, with the eleventh season of The X-Files kicking off, I figured that it was time to bite the bullet and plow through the tenth season of The X-Files.

My only issue with The X-Files going into the tenth season was that it was hard to imagine just what the show had not done already. The X-Files ran for nine seasons with several permutations to the cast, with two feature films - during the series and after - and, despite the slapdash nature of the way the show's fundamental conspiracy was created, its main arcs were pretty well played out. The X-Files (reviewed here!), in its serialized elements, told the story of an F.B.I. team that slowly uncovered an international conspiracy surrounding alien visitors to Earth. Shadowy government agents from around the world worked with aliens to prepare Earth for an alien colonization before agents Mulder and Scully managed to derail their work and stop their insidious plan. The major players in the government conspiracy were all killed and while there were other aliens still infecting or influencing Earth, the show got to the point where the main danger had passed . . . and there were seasons afterward that were awkward filler.

The idea that it had all been done for The X-Files surfaces almost immediately in the tenth season as, once again, it begins to look like the alien invasion conspiracy on Earth is just an elaborate government conspiracy. Fans of The X-Files will easily recall that idea from the entire plotline surrounding Kritschgau, the apparent suicide of Mulder, and the period that found Mulder entirely disillusioned until he was able to use alien-derived technology to help cure Scully's cancer. Scully started as an active disbeliever until her use of the scientific method allowed her to confirm extraterrestrial influence, genetic mutations and previously undiscovered natural phenomenon, like massive fungi. So, The X-Files has done pretty much all it could and it returns for a tenth season, more than a decade after it went off the air, to provide viewers with more of the same, including a pretty standard The X-Files comedy episode.

Opening with the crash in Roswell, New Mexico, 1947, the government coverup of U.F.O.s begins in earnest. Flashing forward to 2015, Doctor Dana Scully is preparing for surgery when she is contacted by Skinner. Skinner uses Scully to get in touch with Mulder, to put him in contact with a conspiracy theorist who has a popular television show. Scully and Mulder meet Tad O'Malley, who brings them to a remote location in Low Moore, Virginia, where they are introduced to Sveta, a former abductee. Sveta tells the former agents about experiments that have been performed repeatedly upon her, including her fetuses being repeatedly harvested by what she believes to be aliens. O'Malley takes Mulder to a facility where Mulder is shown an alien replica craft and Mulder returns to Sveta where she reveals that she believes she has been abducted by government agents, not extraterrestrials. Mulder meets with an old contact, a man who performed medical experiments at Roswell, who helps convince him that alien technology is being used by government agents against the human populace.

Following the murder of Sveta, Mulder and Scully investigate an apparent suicide at Nugenics, a company with Defense Department ties that is experimenting on children. Mulder and Scully then go to Seattle to investigate an apparent werewolf murder. The pair investigates a serial killer, while Scully's mother goes into a coma. Following the death of her mother, Scully finds herself in a precarious place when two young agents approach the agents for help with communicating with a near-death (would-be) suicide bomber.
The season climaxes with a biological epidemic that promises to be the endgame of the new conspiracy against the human race . . .

. . . if Chris Carter and his staff have the will to see it through. The fundamental problem with the tenth season of The X-Files, other than it being criminally short for a season and resurrecting the show's primary human villain yet again, is that when it is not being derivative of its own works, the season treads in the same direction as Christ Carter's other big show, Millennium. The second season of Millennium (reviewed here!) climaxed with a world-ending virus and it was such a powerful move that in order for the show to return for its third season, the writers and producers had to pretty much redefine the scale of what occurred in the second season finale and sweep it under the rug. Millennium exists in the same universe as The X-Files and as the tenth season of The X-Files rushes toward its climax, it builds a cataclysm and begins to undo it, which has a painfully familiar feel to it.

The tenth season of The X-Files is well-performed by its principle cast. Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny slide easily back into their well-established roles. Duchovny is low-key as Mulder and Anderson makes her way around the jargon and disbelief Scully is usually saddled with nicely. Lauren Ambrose fits nicely into the universe of The X-Files as Agent Einstein; the show returns with a familiar look and feel to it, allowing viewers to return without feeling like they are watching a different show.

As one might expect, the tenth season of The X-Files is dominated on the character front by:

Fox Mulder - Having become a recluse, he returns to the field and the F.B.I. thanks to Skinner. Convinced that the Sveta is the key to proving that the conspiracy surrounding extraterrestrial influence on Earth, he once again believes himself to be the victim of a massive hoax. But, as he witnesses more technology and medical science than ever before, he comes to believe that alien technology is being used by humans to bring about armageddon,

and Dana Scully - Now a medical doctor as Our Lady Of Sorrows hospital, she tries to do good - assisting surgeons with giving children born without ears new appendages. She remains one of the few people with the ability to easily contact Mulder and when Skinner asks her to, she brings Mulder back to Washington. When she gets genetic proof that both she and Sveta have alien DNA, she becomes committed to returning to the X-Files. She is disturbed when her mother falls into a coma and asks for her estranged brother, as opposed to her. As the cases progress, she comes to believe that humanity stands on the precipice of extinction and that her alien DNA might be the key to either destruction or saving the world!

The tenth season of The X-Files adds surprisingly little to the overall story. In fact, outside Scully and Mulder actually dealing the the death of a parent in a realistic way - the deaths of Mulder's parents were glossed over with cases and conspiracies and the death of Scully's father came as a way for Scully to be vulnerable to a serial killer - the tenth season repeats more than it innovates.

Ironically, The X-Files Season 10 hinges almost entirely upon how it is followed up upon in Season 11. If the season's climax is brushed under the rug, like Millennium, then season ten stands as a disappointing waste of time; if the eleventh season actually ties together the conspiracies and commits to the apocalypse then the tenth season is an important prelude to what Chris Carter has painstakingly built.

For other works from the 2015 – 2016 television season, please check out my reviews of:
Love - Season 1
Agent Carter - Season 2
Orange Is The New Black - Season 4
The Flash - Season 2
Game Of Thrones - Season 6
Grace And Frankie - Season 2
Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Season 3
The Walking Dead - Season 6
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt - Season 2
Legends Of Tomorrow - Season 1
Jessica Jones - Season 1
Daredevil - Season 2
House Of Cards - Season 4
Rick And Morty - Season 2
Doctor Who - Season 9

4.5/10

For other television set reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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About Twenty Years Too Late, The 2017 Scully & Mulder Ornament Underwhelms.

The Good: Good sculpt, Decent sound effect
The Bad: Very animated coloring, No light effect, Good balance
The Basics: So long after The X-Files was popular and commercially-viable for collectors, Hallmark released the Scully & Mulder ornament, which felt very much like the afterthought it was.


Every phenomenon that becomes big has its day and then fades. Even some of the biggest genre phenomenons, like Star Trek and Star Wars had had their ebbs and flows, their periods where the collectibles market for their products simply collapses or lays fallow. Despite the recent revival mini-series (and the threat of a second one forthcoming!), it has been a long, long time since collectors have made The X-Files a commercially-viable property for licensers. Despite that, for 2017 Hallmark made an ornament for The X-Files: Scully & Mulder. And, as far as that goes, the two essential characters for the franchise sharing an ornament makes a great deal of sense.

For those unfamiliar with Scully & Mulder, they are the F.B.I. agents (for the bulk of the series, anyway) who investigate The X-Files (reviewed here!) in the basement of the Hoover Building in Washington, D.C. The X-Files are forgotten, unsolved cases with a supernatural and/or occult nature to them: Mulder inherited an interest in the cases and Scully was assigned to the unit in the hopes of debunking his work. Over the course of many years and many cases, the skeptical Scully began to accept many of the extreme entities and occurrences represented in the X-Files without ever abandoning her scientific methodology.

Hallmark released the Scully & Mulder ornament with little fanfare in October 2017 and the ornament features Scully & Mulder on a base that allows it to have a sound function.

Basics

The Scully & Mulder ornament faithfully recreates the two F.B.I. agents, standing side by side on a black base. Scully & Mulder are well-sculpted and well-molded and they generally look like the characters they are supposed to. The suits Scully & Mulder are wearing look very professional and the ornament was clearly sculpted based upon the promotional images from the early seasons of The X-Files. This ornament is powered by very small watch batteries (included!) which allow the sound effect to be activated.

The 2017 Scully & Mulder ornament is sculpted very simply; the characters, for example, lack finer sculpted details like texturing on the hair or fingernails. Scully is standing with her arms crossed, so Hallmark was able to cheat some of the detailing that way. The facial sculpt for Mulder, sadly, looks nothing like David Duchovny. The pair of agents, in ornament form, stands 5” tall, 2 3/8“ wide and 2” deep. This makes it one of the bigger character ornaments this season from Hallmark and it was released with an original retail price of $17.95, which is pretty fair given that it has the sound function.

Scully & Mulder stands upon a base that has the The X-Files title in the appropriate typeface across the front. Unfortunately, the base - simple and glossy black outside the lettering - outshines the character component of the ornament. Mulder and Scully are painted in monotones, so they look animated, a far cry from anything realistic. The coloring is a huge disappointment, but given that the sculpts are generally good, one suspects a good toy customizer could make the ornament look immaculate with a new paintjob!

Features

As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, the Scully & Mulder could have a light and sound function. The Scully & Mulder ornament only has a sound function. While I thought it might be cool for the ornament's base to light up (especially if they could make the light strong enough to look like one of the usual U.F.O. lights), Hallmark went only with a sound function for the 2017 ornament.

However, a button on the base, when pressed, activates the sound function. When pressed, the battery-operated ornament begins to play the opening theme to The X-Files. The theme is a distinctive one and it fits the ornament nicely. Because the 2017 Scully & Mulder ornament is based on promotional images and not a specific moment from the long-running show, the theme song being the audio clip makes a lot more sense than any dialogue from the show. The sound clip is loud, long, and distinct!

Balance

As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake Scully & Mulder ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. For those creating the ultimate science fiction Christmas Tree, the Scully & Mulder ornament is a conceptually great addition, with a mediocre execution. The ornament has the standard steel hook loop embedded into the back of Mulder's right shoulder. From that point, the Scully & Mulder ornament hangs perfectly level.

Collectibility

Hallmark Keepsake began delving into the collectibles market in 1991 with Star Trek when it introduced the exceptionally limited edition U.S.S. Enterprise ornament (reviewed here!). Since then, they have made ornament replicas from virtually every major franchise, including retro television shows like Battlestar Galactica, Cheers and Star Trek. The Scully & Mulder ornament appears to have been slightly overproduced as I have not found a single Hallmark Gold Crown store where the ornament was stock and sold out. Between the quality and the fact that the ornament is hitting the market about 20 years after the peak of The X-Files, it is hard to imagine that this one will sell-out and appreciate in the secondary market.

Overview

Fans of the The X-Files, Scully & Mulder and Hallmark ornaments are unlikely to be impressed enough with the 2017 Scully & Mulder ornament to want to rush right out and add it to their collection . . . unless they are into customizing their ornaments!

For other 2017 Hallmark genre ornaments, please check out my reviews of:
A Duel To The Death Star Wars ornament
Gringott's Wizarding Bank Harry Potter ornament
Captain Picard And Commander Data Star Trek: The Next Generation ornament

4/10

For other ornament reviews, please visit my Ornament Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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"The Return Part 4" Bears The Burden Of Making Twin Peaks Comprehensible!

The Good: Decent performances, Plot starts to develop, Moments of realism, Hints of character development
The Bad: Irksome new characters, Ridiculous, pointless, monologue from Michael Cera
The Basics: Twin Peaks actually starts to put into focus the various Dale Coopers in "The Return Part 4."


Weird is good. Weird is weird and it can be great, but when it comes to art, weird for the sake of weird has a very short shelf-life. In media, weird works where the purpose is simply to create something that is surreal as opposed to sensible - mood pieces, deliberately obscure, or mysteries where the writers have no idea how they intend to resolve the set-up (I'm looking at you J.J. Abrams!) - have low replayability. Indeed, many at some point forego the mood and the mystery to attempt to deliver concrete answers that both continue to intrigue and reward the viewers for their investment. As the original Twin Peaks (reviewed here!), went on, David Lynch had to pay off the various threads he had woven early on with answering the fundamental mystery of the show: "Who killed Laura Palmer?" After that answer was revealed, the narrative threads that were left for the second season of the show were hardly as compelling or intriguing as the original characterizations and plots suggested and the show meandered. Fortunately, it came back for a big finish as the focus turned to the epic struggle between F.B.I. Agent Dale Cooper and the villainous Windham Earl as they both hunted for the mysterious Black Lodge.

With the revival of Twin Peaks, it is hard not to get a few episodes in and feel like it is time for some put up or shut up storytelling from David Lynch and Mark Frost. The third episode of the season (reviewed here!) was annoyingly convoluted; after a long surreal opening, Agent Cooper may have managed to escape the Black Lodge, despite the fact that Cooper (his Bob-infected doppelganger for the past twenty-five years) is still in the world. Did Agent Cooper actually escape the Black Lodge and is now walking around South Dakota winning at casino slot machines without any memories? Is the new Cooper a construct of some sort? Will the police at Twin Peaks figure out that "something is missing" could mean "you're missing something?" Or will one of them figure out that Lucy only fessed up to eating one piece of chocolate, which means someone else ate the other two in the package? Will viewers keep caring long enough to get actual answers?!

That is where viewers come into "The Return Part 4." "The Return Part 4" opens with the promise that F.B.I. Agent Rosenfeld and Deputy Director Cole might actually learn about Cooper, the doppelganger, for the first time in twenty-five years and begin to piece together that something happened to Agent Cooper twenty-five years prior in Twin Peaks.

Fortunately, viewers get some answers - pretty fast - in "The Return Part 4." Almost immediately, the version of Cooper who was returned to the world is identified by other people as Dougie Jones, which suggests that Jones was someone before Agent Cooper basically possessed him by his unorthodox exodus from the Black Lodge. That idea is reinforced by Jones seeing Phillip Gerard within the Black Lodge and the one-armed man telling him that one of the Coopers must die.

Opening at the Silver Mustang Casino, Dale Cooper haplessly wins twenty-nine jackpots, much to the chagrin of the casino's owner. He is recognized by Bill and Candy Shaker as Dougie Jones and he is given his winnings by the casino owner before being sent home. Arriving home, he is accosted by his wife, Jane. Gordon visits F.B.I. Chief Of Staff Denise Bryson to get Agent Preston approved to his team to investigate the Cooper lead in South Dakota.

In Twin Peaks, Sheriff Frank Truman arrives at the Sheriff's Department where he puts Lucy in shock by using his cell phone. Truman is briefed on a drug overdose at Twin Peaks High. The personnel converge in the conference room where Deputy Briggs is visibly shaken by seeing Laura Palmer's picture on the table. Andy and Lucy's son, Wally, arrives at the station much to the delight of his parents (and the confusion of Sheriff Truman). When Dougie wakes up the next morning, his son helps him through his morning routine (while Jane just yells at him). The F.B.I. team arrives in South Dakota, where the lead homicide detective is surprised that the prints of the dead man at the apartment yeild a hit, but the identity is blocked by the military. The police in Buckhorn show the F.B.I. team what was found in Cooper's car - cocaine, a machine gun and a dog's leg - before Deputy Director Cole begins interrogating Cooper. Cooper insists he was working undercover, but he does not appear to recognize Albert and his speech pattern is erratic. Rosenfeld confesses to Cole afterward that he gave information to F.B.I. Agent Philip Jeffries that was passed on to Cooper, information that led to the death of a Colombian drug lord. Both Rosenfeld and Cole both recognize that something is very wrong with Cooper.

Fans of Twin Peaks are likely to be delighted by Bobby Briggs resurfacing in the new season. Briggs was a troubled youth back in the day and there is a delicious irony in the fact that he is now working in law enforcement.

"The Return Part 4" does a good job with getting some truly realistic aspects of supporting characters right. Candy Shaker is legitimately concerned by how Dougie Jones is acting; Bill tries to correct him when he simply repeats back words. The limo driver who takes Jones home has trouble seeing the color of doors at night and is impatient with waiting for Dougie to move toward his door.

Sadly, that realism is inconsistently executed. Michael Cera arrives in Twin Peaks as Wally and delivers a ridiculous monologue. Cera's scene in "The Return Part 4" is the Twin Peaks equivalent of the podracing scene in The Phantom Menace; "there's five minutes of my life I'll never get back." Similarly, Jane does not seem to have any idea what to do with Dougie. She talks over him and does not notice that he is only repeating words, does not even know how to dress himself or sit on his own or even know how to go to the bathroom until he is shown. While that helps to characterize Jane some, her inattentiveness is frustrating to watch and her failure to observe that he is not actually talking the night before their son picks up that Doug is out of it is infuriating.

"The Return Part 4" finally effectively blends the classic Twin Peaks characters and actors with the new recurring cast members and characters. While Michael Cera does not quite fit in, Robert Forster steps into the role of Sheriff Frank Truman well. Naomi Watts might play an oblivious character in Mrs. Jones, but she plays the part well. David Lynch, Miguel Ferrer, Michael Horse, Harry Goaz, Dana Ashbrook, and Kimmy Robertson all step with an apparent effortless quality back into their distinctive Twin Peaks roles. Even David Duchovny's cameo is not nearly as distracting or pointless as Cera's appearance.

Kyle MacLachlan once again dominates in "The Return Part 4." MacLachlan plays the dual roles of Cooper and Dougie and the two parts are so different that it is refreshing after seeing him walk around in a robotic fashion for almost the entire episode to see him deliver exposition during the interrogation scene - just to prove he has the range. MacLachlan manages to insinuate well that Dougie Jones is slowly learning and adapting to life back on our mortal plane, while Cooper is presented as far less villainous than he was in the prior three episodes.

Ultimately, "The Return Part 4" is the first episode that effectively focuses the mystery of the new season of Twin Peaks on the nature of Cooper and the (potentially) returned Cooper. The episode more effectively uses surrealism and weirdness, while telling an actual story, which is enough to remind viewers what they have been missing from Twin Peaks.

For other works with Sarah Paxton, please visit my reviews of:
Cheap Thrills
The Last House On The Left
Aquamarine

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Twin Peaks - The Complete Third Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the temporally displaced season of the surreal show here!
Thanks!]

7.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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An Amazing Cast Helps Create A Surprisingly Good Family Comedy With Beethoven!

The Good: Decent cast, Moments of plot, performance, and theme
The Bad: Some hammy overacting/family movie conceits
The Basics: Despite its over-the-top silliness at points, Beethoven holds up as a strong family comedy!


As a matter of sharing parts of herself, my wife will periodically have me get out movies I either missed that she watched and enjoyed or films from her past that I have never had the impetus to watch before. A few weekends back, I had a taste from each category when she got out Game Change (reviewed here!) and Beethoven. The irony for me was that the film I expected to appreciate more - Game Change - did not hold up nearly as well as the family flick my wife recalled from her childhood and wanted to see again.

From the opening shots of Beethoven, as I realized I was watching a young(er) Oliver Platt and Stanley Tucci and that this family film that spawned several sequels actually had an impressive cast (mostly talent before they hit it big), Beethoven actually manages to entertain and tell a family friendly story in a way that makes it reasonable that it would start a franchise. Beethoven is hampered by the conceits that make it feel like a Disney live-action film (it is not!); hammy overacting, reversals that are larger than life and a plot progression so predictable that only children will not see the end coming in the opening frames of the film. Even so, for a movie hampered by such obvious conceits and employing both child and animal actors (neither is overly recommended by most directors), Beethoven manages to tell a decent story and, to be fair to it with all of the genre problems it possesses, is not a film I felt like I’ve seen a thousand times over.

The patriarch of the Newton family, George, is a reticent business-focused man who has worked hard to provide for his wife and three children (two daughters, one son). One morning, after the witless criminals Harvey and Vernon rob a pet shop of its puppies and two of them escape, a cute St. Bernard puppy, wanders into George’s home and wakes up little Emily with dog kisses. Pressured into keeping the puppy by the family that sees him as inhuman, George suddenly starts spending an inordinate amount of time and money on providing for the dog, who is soon named Beethoven. While George struggles to win new corporate patrons for his air fresheners, the family falls in love with Beethoven.

But Harvey and Vernon were not working alone. They were employed by the nefarious veterinarian, Dr. Varnick. Varnick has taken money from a gun manufacturer who wants small animals in order to test its new bullets. When Varnick discovers Beethoven (who by that time has grown to have a skull density that a bullet manufacturer would really appreciate!), he orchestrates a kidnapping that could result in the dog’s death. George has to choose between believing the authoritative vet and his daughter, who witnessed the set-up; it is a choice between mounting a dangerous rescue or allowing Beethoven to be put to death!

Beethoven makes good use of the talent involved and it is easy to see how David Duchovny, Patricia Heaton, Oliver Platt, Stanley Tucci and even Charles Grodin (who plays George unfortunately like a boss I once had who was a complete and total ass!) were eager to take the project. Despite Heaton and Duchovny being tossed about and forced to do the screams one might expect out of a Little Rascals short, they have the chance to play villains who are stiff and eager to take advantage of Grodin’s George. The roles are different from anything else I have seen them play, so it does give them something completely different to play.

The child actors in Beethoven are surprisingly not horrible, which is a rare thing for me to find. Led by Nicholle Tom (Ryce), the Newton children seem like a viable family and they are presented in a professional and realistic way. Sarah Rose Karr brings more to Emily than a cute face – she plays determined and hurt well and when her character, neglected, falls in a pool, the viewer actually believes she is drowning. Even Christopher Castile does fine as Ted.

What was unsurprising to me was that the actor who played the title character, Beethoven, was only in this film. Chris is a big dog and what shocked me was that director Brian Levant included scenes where Chris was clearly limping! Regardless of the disclaimers at the end of the credits, it does not seem like Chris was in the best of health when Beethoven was shot.

And the main plot conceit – testing new bullets on dogs – is absurd and monstrous enough to add menace to the film. It is probably enough to scare children, but as an adult, I was more surprised that the film was audacious enough to present such a strong stance on animal cruelty and testing. Such plots are usually relegated to a b-plot in an animated film, but Beethoven puts it up front as the a-plot in the live-action film. Color me impressed.

Not to be taken overly seriously as a work of great cinema, Beethoven nevertheless impresses in that it has an impressive cast working in ways I had never seen.

For other works featuring Melora Walters, please check out my reviews of:
The Master
Cold Mountain
Matchstick Men
Magnolia
Boogie Nights
Hard Eight

6.5/10

For other movie reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Romanticism About Relationships Dissolving: Trust The Man

The Good: Good acting, Decent subject, Moments of character
The Bad: Predictable resolutions, Opening tone beguiles development
The Basics: While decent, Trust The Man explores breaking up and infidelity with humor without making the viewer care enough about the relationships involved.


It is infrequent that I have a problem starting a review. Usually, I have one or two opening paragraphs in mind for a movie or book or c.d. before I even start talking about the item I'm reviewing. Not so with Trust The Man, the first movie I've watched today.

When Tom finds himself in something of a loveless marriage with Rebecca, an actress who has returned to the stage, he begins to feel anxiety and look elsewhere, at least for sexual satisfaction. Rebecca's brother - and Tom's best friend - Tobey is in the process of avoiding getting tied down to his girlfriend of seven years, Elaine. Elaine decides there is no future in the relationship and dumps Tobey, which is what it takes for him to realize that Elaine is important to him.

Trust The Man is essentially a romantic comedy about people who are breaking up, which is a refreshing take on the romantic comedy. The moments of humor are well timed and actually funny when they pop up. The rest of the film keeps things serious and realistic, which makes for a decent viewing experience. But before writer-director Bart Freundlich starts clapping himself on the back for a job well-done, there is a serious conceptual problem with Trust The Man.

The problem with Trust The Man can be boiled down to the idea that we never see the characters - any of the four - happy. Tom is sexually frustrated and jobless from the beginning, Rebecca is devoted to work and her children, Elaine is feeling anxiety about aging without having children and Tobey is instantly characterized as one of the most self-centered characters to ever grace the screen. Tobey is a good character to stick with on this problem; he is self-centered (he won't drive Elaine to work because he doesn't want to have to find a parking spot when he gets home), he is phobic about death, he lacks sexual inspiration and he doesn't seem to want to change anything or do anything different, include having children.

So, the problem here is that none of the characters are happy either with themselves or each other from the outset. So, what is going to bring them back together? This is especially problematic in the Tobey/Elaine relationship. Neither seems to like distinctive things about the other. Indeed, Elaine's judgment in the relationship area is particularly terrible, courting a man after Tobey for the sole reason that the man wants a child. Both couples have a sense of inertia, a sense that there is only the one for the other that is gutted by any reasonable sensibility. Elaine, a successful working woman, can't find an INTERESTING man in New York City who wants to have children?! C'mon.

While it is chic to root for fidelity and praise the virtues of marriage (and usually, I'm advocating both!), sometimes relationships just do not work out. Sometimes, people are not meant to be married to the person they find themself in a relationship with. From the opening frames of Trust The Man, I found myself rooting for break ups. Elaine's intelligence is immediately called into question by me for sticking with a guy who does not seem interested in her, who won't get off his butt to take her to work or even kiss her good morning in the morning.

That said, Trust The Man is not a complete wash, not by any stretch of the imagination. Despite the character flaws with one another, the characters are all interesting. While I was not vested in Tobey and Elaine together, Tobey was interesting as a guy who simply doesn't get it and who has a very real fear. I empathized with Elaine's desire to have a child and get married, just not with Tobey. Similarly, Tom is a very interesting character. He suffers from a disorder and watching his character's journey makes the movie watchable. The only character that seems completely dull is Rebecca, though she comes into her own near the end.

Even Rebecca, though, is well-acted. Rebecca is portrayed by Julianne Moore. Moore plays her as a straightman and she is very good at that style role. She is articulate and near the end, her ability to emote her frustration is a wrenching performance. Billy Crudup is convincing as the apathetic and fearful Tobey. Maggie Gyllenhaal illustrates that she is more than a cute-as-a-button actress. Her determination comes through expertly when Elaine is pushing Tobey away.

The surprising gem of Trust The Man comes in the form of David Duchovny, who spreads his wings well in this movie. On The X-Files (reviewed here!), Duchovny often had to be understated as Agent Mulder, here he is expressive, passionate, desirous. Duchovny is completely convincing as a man who is frustrated and who feel needs in his life that are not being met. While the viewer might not approve of his character's direction, Duchovny convinces the audience of the authenticity of the character.

Ultimately, this is a very shaky "recommend." It is entertaining, has moments of amusement, but it's not as good as it could be. For that, it would have to illustrate the stakes of the relationships, other than the characters simply being alone and Trust The Man does not do that.

For other works with Billy Crudup, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Watchmen
Mission: Impossible III
Big Fish
Almost Famous
Princess Mononoke

6/10

For other film reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Almost All The Twin Peaks Answers, Poisoned By Subplots - "Episodes 15 - 19!"

The Good: Some powerful moments and actual answers to big Twin Peaks questions, Acting, Surrealism
The Bad: Powerfully dumb subplots
The Basics: Despite finally identifying Laura Palmer's killer, Twin Peaks begins some cheap subplots that ridiculously place plot over character and undermine the show.


[IMPORTANT NOTE: As I proceed through the episodes of Twin Peaks with reviews, it is absolutely impossible to discuss some of the episodes without revealing some of the surprises I will work hard to keep while reviewing earlier episodes, especially when discussing second season episodes. No matter how careful I am, it is impossible to write about some of the later episodes without letting slip that some of the characters were (ultimately) not the killer of Laura Palmer or killed, etc. I shall do my best to minimize that, but given how serialized Twin Peaks is, it is almost impossible to do even a minimal plot summary without some nuggets slipping out. These reviews may be ideal for fans of the series who are sitting down to watch individual episodes and want to have a guide as to which episode did what, because Twin Peaks episodes do not have names, just episode numbers!]

And then comes the critical turning point for Twin Peaks. After all the foot dragging and suspense, some questions needed to be answered and the resolution to the Laura Palmer murder investigation left a significant gap that was filled like the Three Stooges running through a single doorway. That kind of crazy action of plot bottled up the series and left it mostly stuck until Windham Earl came to the forefront. But that comes later. This boxed set, "Episodes 15 - 19" is a tough one to rate fairly because it has the complexity of some of the series highs (Episode 16) followed by some of the genuine loser episodes of the series.

"Episode 15" opens with Bob having claimed his latest victim and Benjamin Horne is locked up for the murder of Laura Palmer and he turns to his brother to represent him and exonerate him. Cooper and Truman find Leland Palmer singing and dancing his way around the Great Northern and driving erratically as they search for Phillip Gerard to get his take on Benjamin. Pete torments Benjamin with the knowledge that someone unexpected is alive and working against him. And Norma Jennings's mother comes to Twin Peaks and her new husband, Ernie, has a strange connection with Hank Jennings!

"Episode 16" involves the discovery of Bob's latest victim and Cooper's determination of who Laura Palmer's killer likely is. When James proposes to Donna, she accepts until she learns that the creepy neighbor who led her to Harold did not exist. At the home of that shut-in, Donna and Cooper find the final clue; a note from Laura Palmer from the day she died. While Norma struggles with her picky mother and Benjamin Horne is tormented by an unlikely person, signing over Ghostwood in the process, Cooper assembles his suspects. While James flees Twin Peaks in reaction to the recent casualty, Cooper has a vision and correctly identifies who was possessed by Bob!

"Episode 17" finds the show adrift following the end of the first big mystery. Three days after the suicide of Laura Palmer's killer, Twin Peaks is reeling from the news. There is a wake and Big Ed and Nadine attend, shortly before Nadine begins attending Twin Peaks High because of her belief that she is a high school student. Norma's mother reveals her true nature to Norma and Hank and Ernie become involved with Jean Renault. As Cooper prepares to leave Twin Peaks - breaking Audrey's heart in the process - he is set upon by Internal Affairs. Relieved of his duties, he is free to go with Major Briggs into the woods, a visit that has profound results. Also, Richard and Deputy Andy compete for Lucy's heart.

"Episode 18" has James Hurley fleeing Twin Peaks where he meets Evelyn, an abused housewife who needs his help in fixing her husband's car, which she crashed. Agent Denise arrives from the DEA to take over the investigation into Cooper's connection with the drugs running into Twin Peaks and the wedding party for Milford and his young bride happens. As well, in the competition for Lucy's heart, Richard and Andy babysit a young boy who has a cruel streak in him. And Cooper receives a message from Windham Earl, while Benjamin Horne descends into madness and Josie Packard returns to town to tell Harry the truth about her past.

And "Episode 19" has Bobby starting work for Horne, who sets him to tailing Hank. Doug dies as a result of his wife and their honeymoon night, Richard learns more about Nicky - the orphan he is using to try to prove his suitability as a father to Lucy with, and Nadine joins the wrestling team where she takes on Mike, the team captain. Cooper discovers the real culprits bringing drugs into Twin Peaks and Windham Earl makes his first move. Josie bides her time waiting for Thomas Eckhart to arrive and James begins to work on Evelyn.

The problem with this collection of episodes is that they represent some of the highs and lows of Twin Peaks. So, for example, it is truly a thrill to see Laura Palmer's killer be brought to justice and the nature of Bob is very much in the spirit of Twin Peaks. The a-plot in episodes 15 and 16 wraps up the primary thrust of the series in an amazing and worthy way. The difficulty is that it is combined with the severe lows of things like the Nadine superhuman strength, going back to high school storyline and the ridiculous appearance of Nicky and Richard to complicate the lives of Lucy and Andy. Similarly, the addition of the Milfords (Doug and the mayor) and the soap operatic James-helping-Evelyn plot is just painful to watch.

And those who follow my reviews know I'm a huge fan of serialized television. As a result, I have a lot of patience with the Major Garland plot that is begun in these episodes and the seeds of the Windham Earl chess match. The whole drug subplot is passable and justified considering that there ought to be consequences for Audrey being rescued by Cooper and Truman and in this case, those consequences are interesting.

Less so is the appearance of Norma's mother and it seems like that is only the justification to introduce Ernie and his involvement with Hank. The result as one might guess from the lack of analysis thus far is simple: Twin Peaks adds a bunch of characters and takes a buckshot approach to the storyline in an attempt to find something that sticks as opposed to telling a coherent narrative.

In other words, character is sacrificed for plot. The plotlines diverge and very little is done with the characters other than move them around. They spend these five episodes so busy doing things that they do not grow, change or develop and the series stalls as a result of that. There are few quiet moments that involve actual development and that lessens what Twin Peaks is. There are exceptions, but almost all of them are in the earlier episodes of this block.

So, for example, in "Episode 17," Cooper explains to Audrey why - outside their ages - he will not pursue a relationship with her and the revelation is an intriguing one that answers a number of questions about Cooper's past and his eccentric professionalism. He is enhanced by the exchange and the viewer comes to empathize with him a bit more.

And poor Audrey for wanting him! Audrey's character takes a turn for the weird in this block as well as she develops a friendship with Bobby Briggs and like the terrible subplot that involves James fleeing Twin Peaks into the arms of Evelyn, it has the feel that now that the Laura Palmer investigation is over, the writers and producers simply had no idea what to do with Audrey.

And that's a shame because prior to this, she had been such a rich an intriguing character, easily one of the bright lights of the younger half of the Twin Peaks cast. In fact, the only prior cast member who benefits in this block is Hank Jennings. Okay, that's not entirely true. Josie Packard is fleshed out quite a bit upon her return. We see her and Truman together and she provides her backstory, setting up the upcoming Thomas Eckhart storyline. The reason I do not go into too much depth on that storyline is simple: Twin Peaks is a fun show and it is filled with twists and turns and surprising developments. The first season finale is a huge episode (reviewed here!) that is fraught with consequences, many of which resonate through the second season. Some of those consequences involve characters who are killed, disappear, flee or are otherwise maimed. Some of those characters, I am forced to discuss - like Nadine - because they become big characters who dominate plotlines (even if they are utterly ridiculous ones!). In order to truly appreciate Twin Peaks, though, you ought to be open to the surprises that come and deeply related to Josie is another character, whose fate was sealed in the first season finale. But rather than reveal too much of that, I avoid ruining the surprises. Pardon the conceit.

Josie's return sets up a storyline that puts Truman in potential danger and it puts Josie in a diminished place. Forced to work for one of her enemies, she reveals her backstory of her childhood essentially a mobster's favored slave, as an act of confession and for the first time, her character truly pops. It becomes more than a soap operatic series of character conveniences that Truman is drawn to Josie and the viewer is left feeling less cheated by that relationship.

Unfortunately, in the parade of new characters, the setup of the Thomas Eckhart plot makes the dangers of characters like Hank Jennings diminished. After all, Hank Jennings's great unspoken claim to fame was helping Josie knock off her husband, Andrew, and then becoming incarcerated for a lesser crime to lie low for a while. Lacking that, Hank is something of a goon and the viewer's appreciation for the menace he might represent is undermined.

But Hank makes a good showing in this section of the series and his relationship with Ernie continues to establish him as a man who cannot be trusted and who has some secrets that are still veiled. Despite the problems of Hank's character, he is wonderfully played by Chris Mulkey. Mulkey, of late seen in about four frames of Cloverfield (reviewed here!), has a natural charisma that he brings to the role that makes it seem very real that he would be able to make the crime connections he does, yet successfully avoid being reincarcerated. Mulkey is smooth and he plays off James Booth, who plays Ernie quite well.

The real treat in this section of episodes is seeing the performance by David Duchovny. Duchovny, best known for The X-Files (reviewed here!) appears in this section of episodes as Denise Bryson, the DEA agent who happens to be a transvestite. Duchovny is given the acting challenge of playing a male who has gender-identified with women and expresses that without appearing to be Duchovny playing a woman. In this case, Duchovny pulls it off and he is quite convincing and deeply human as Denise.

The first two episodes of this block involve some great performances by the person who plays the character possessed by Bob and that individual gives an amazing performance once they are revealed.

But the series still largely revolves around Dale Cooper, despite the ever widening circle of ridiculous plots. Kyle MacLachlan is wonderful as Cooper, infusing a deeper sense of humanity into the characters - especially once he is relieved of his FBI duties. MacLachlan consistently plays Cooper as something of a genius with a weird formality to him and in this section, they give him some choice scenes with Don S. Davis who has a similar characterization for Major Briggs. MacLachlan illustrates a profound sense of understanding that his character is not just weird of esoteric and that allows him to make Cooper shine as an intriguing protagonist.

But these episodes are the start of the plummet. The first two reach a crescendo and from there, the viewers are dashed to the proverbial rocks below with the splintering of the show into subplots that are plot heavy and character weak, involving ridiculous characters and ideas like Nicky, the psycho child and Richard who Lucy may have been impregnated by . . . these are turns that do not follow the logic and reality of the first season of Twin Peaks and depart it - surprisingly fast - from what made the show so great to begin with.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Twin Peaks - The Complete Second Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the second and final season reviewed here!
or check out the entire series, available in the Gold Box Definitive edition, reviewed here!
Thanks!]

For other works with David Warner, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Titanic
"Chain Of Command, Part II"
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret Of The Ooze
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Tron

5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Return To The Weirdest Place On Earth For An Erratic Season: Twin Peaks - Season 2!

The Good: Some wonderful characters, Some great performances, Resolution to Laura Palmer murder, Finale, DVD interviews
The Bad: No commentaries, Some of the most ridiculous plot and character twists with terrible acting!
The Basics: When Agent Cooper wakes up after being shot and given new clues in his near-death dream, he continues to pursue Laura Palmer's murderer as Twin Peaks falls apart!


After years of waiting patiently, fans of Twin Peaks were suddenly told in 2007 that the second season of the series would be released. Not only that, the entire series would be anthologized as one Definitive Gold Box set, which would offer American audiences the first opportunity to legally own the pilot episode as well. As a result, there were generally only three groups of people who would even consider purchasing the Twin Peaks - The Complete Second Season boxed set that was released: 1. People who purchased Twin Peaks - Season 1 (reviewed here!) who would absolutely refuse to rebuy the content of the first season by purchasing the later "Definitive Gold Box Edition," 2. People who did not know the second complete anthology set was going to be released by the end of the same year, and 3. People who want to have everything they can involving Twin Peaks. That last group consists of everyone who wasn't so furious that the "Definitive" edition set would not have everything that had already been released on the DVDs that they couldn't see straight! There's something terribly wrong about having something considered the gold standard of a presentation of a series and have it lacking commentary tracks that already exist (from the first season DVD boxed set) and interviews (which were included in this second season only boxed set) from key members of the cast talking about the show.

The second season boxed set of Twin Peaks includes all twenty-two episodes from the second season of the acclaimed surreal murder mystery drama series, including the double length season premiere. It is worth mentioning at the outset that the first season went out with a bang with the fate of several characters completely up in the air and it is impossible to talk about the second season in any coherent way without letting the fate of some of them be known (fear not, I would never reveal the identity of Laura Palmer's killer in a review!). And it is also worth mentioning that the second season is remarkably erratic so that while it starts high and fresh where it left off, it rapidly plummets to terrible depths before pulling itself out for a race to a nail-biter of a season (and ultimately, series) finale!

Agent Dale Cooper, shot and lying on the floor near death, despite having worn his FBI-dictated bulletproof jacket, is rescued from oblivion by the dim waiter at the Great Northern whose presence sends Cooper into a new dream realm where he sees a giant who gives him new clues to how to find Laura Palmer's killer! Once he is out of immediate danger, Cooper's thoughts turn once again to finding the killer, though the webs of intrigue continue to interrupt and thwart him from dealing with the investigation as the top priority.

As Cooper and Truman move closer and closer to the identity of Laura Palmer's killer, Audrey Horne needs to be rescued from the drug-peddling Blackie, Donna Hayward discovers Laura Palmer's secret diary in the hands of a shut in who is delivered food from Meals On Wheels, and Shelly and Bobby have to deal with a vegetative Leo, whom they deign to keep alive for the insurance money. Truman wrestles with his feelings for Josie, who begins to show signs of her guilt for her arrangement with Hank Jennings and Nadine, having woken up convinced she is in high school, abandons Big Ed. And as Cooper nears the end of the investigation that brought him to Twin Peaks, he finds himself under investigation by the FBI and the Canadian mounted police and an old adversary returning to his life to torment him with a deadly game of chess that begins to rack up bodies around Twin Peaks and leads Cooper into one of the most terrifying possible places!

The problem with season two of Twin Peaks is that it is, at best, erratic. The series had two essential plots running through the first season: the Laura Palmer murder investigation and the Packard Saw Mill conspiracy aimed at gutting the value of the property and getting it into the hands of developer Benjamin Horne who wants to make it into a resort area. Season two does not take long to wrap up the murder of Laura Palmer and the Mill plotline is almost entirely burned up in the first season finale (yes, that's tongue-in-cheek). As a result, the series exploded like a shotgun with buckshot plotlines that range from the absurd (Nadine's sudden superhuman strength and regression to high school age in her mind) to dull (as soon as Laura's murder is resolved, James Hurley takes off, only to run into a woman who tries to frame him for killing her husband). The low-key romance between Lucy and Deputy Andy is complicated by the introduction of Richard, an elitist snob who seems to have no real affection for Lucy but may be the father of her child and she contacts to try to get him to do right by her and the baby.

In order to accommodate all the characters, some of the better ones are brought down - Benjamin Horne goes crazy for several episodes and becomes obsessed with recreating Civil War battles in his office - and some of the ones that remain are given the bum treatment (Bobby suddenly becomes a somewhat ridiculous executive assistant to Benjamin). It is only when the series begins to focus on the return of Windham Earl, Cooper's psychotic ex-partner, and his quest to find the great evil in the forests of Twin Peaks and the way all of the other stories begin to converge around that the second season pulls itself out of the rut of ridiculous, boring and just shamefully bad that it plummets into as a result of the plot freefall following the resolution to the first major case.

What makes Twin Peaks unique and interesting and worth watching is that it relies on an intriguing combination of brilliant detective work based on logic and intelligence and a healthy appreciation and use of the supernatural. So, for example, Dale receives most of the clues to find Laura's killer in dreams he has, which he then interprets information from and applies to the real world. Thwarting Windham Earl's terrorizing of Twin Peaks involves a lethal literal chess match combined with the quest to find the White Lodge and the Black Lodge, places of concentrated good and evil that do not physically exist in our reality, from which many of the dreams Cooper had seem to originate.

In order to fill out twenty-two episodes and get to the final resting place of the season (and the series), though, there is a lot of space to fill and some of the plotlines just feel like filler. When Major Briggs disappears in the woods while Cooper is investigating a second murder, it seems random and over-the-top supernatural. But it comes to fit neatly into the overall story being told with Windham Earl's obsessive plot to find the Black Lodge. But plots like the Nadine returning to high school and choosing Mike over Big Ed and especially the forced conflict between James and Donna and his subsequent fleeing of Twin Peaks go nowhere. As well, something is begun where three characters - independent of one another - have a shaking hand accompanied by eerie music, but that goes nowhere.

But with all the plots, decent and shaky, what remains is a series that has some of the most interesting and unique characters in television history. While there is a massive cast and character list, for the purpose of the second season, the essential characters include:

FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper - A brilliant detective often guided by an understanding that the mind is receptive to clues from outside the spheres of normal reality. Having survived being shot - only one bullet actually pierced him - Cooper begins to track the three clues given to him by the giant to find the killer of Laura Palmer. He soon finds himself relieved of duty and facing suspension on drug smuggling charges, charges he works to prove himself innocent of and become brushed aside when Windham Earl arrives near Twin Peaks and begins a reign of torment and bloodshed in his quest to get revenge on Cooper,

Sheriff Harry S. Truman - Relieved to find Cooper alive, Truman risks everything to help him rescue Audrey Horne from One-Eyed Jacks, even as he finds his relationship with Josie complicated by her involvement in the mill fire. Truman becomes the truest friend to Cooper and the two rely on one another more and more as the investigations turn dangerous,

Benjamin Horne - As the Laura Palmer murder investigation reaches its peak, he finds himself one of the prime suspects when Audrey outs him as having had an affair with Laura. He degenerates into a non-dangerous form of crazy and fancies himself a civil war general (for the South) when he is robbed of all potential to make the Ghostwood Estate project into a reality,

Audrey Horne - Having found a clever way to avoid sleeping with her father as a worker at One-Eyed Jacks, she soon uncovers vital clues to Laura's murder, but her identity becomes known to Blackie and she is captured by the drug cartel pushing in Twin Peaks. She begins to look past Cooper for love and finds an intriguing new man who impresses her,

Donna Hayward - Determined as ever to find Laura's murderer and distressed over her perception that James has feelings for Maddy, she follows an anonymous tip to a shut in horticulturist who possesses Laura's secret diary,

James Hurley - Still in love with Donna, he finds himself confused by Maddy and flees Twin Peaks into the arms of another woman entirely,

Maddy - Laura's cousin, she soon finds herself tormented by visions of Bob, the same twisted man Sarah Palmer believes killed Laura,

Leland Palmer - Having vindicated Laura through murdering Jaques, his hair turns white and he takes a spin as a lounge singer before returning to his lawyerly ways as a friend and asset to Benjamin,

Pete Martel - Deals with losing Catharine in the fire and becomes a great asset to Cooper when it is revealed that he is a brilliant chess player,

and Windham Earl - The deranged master of disguise who comes to Twin Peaks with one thought on his mind; revenge on Agent Cooper, who once fell in love with his wife! He begins a series of killings and captures that lead him and Cooper to the edge of madness, the end of the world and into a nightmarish realm that neither might survive!

There are others, but many of them are distracting or as annoying as some of the plots. Series creator David Lynch appears in several episodes as Gordon, Cooper's boss. What makes his character absolutely irritating is his inability to hear (anyone but Shelly) and his constant shouting at everyone present in a ridiculous and over-the-top comedic way. Fans of The X-Files (reviewed here!) will thrill at David Duchovny's short arc as a cross-dressing narcotics officer sent to investigate Dale and his presence is almost as distracting as the late entrance of Heather Graham and appearance of Billy Zane who both are brought in as part of a late push to emphasize new relationships. Don't get me wrong, I loved Heather Graham in Boogie Nights and Billy Zane in Orlando (reviewed here!) but their appearances suddenly bring a sense of Hollywood beautiful people to the very real world of Twin Peaks and it feels intrusive and obvious - the characters they play and who they end up with is troublingly obvious.

Despite the many ridiculous character convolutions and supposed twists that define season two's characters, the acting remains as top notch as the scripts afford. So while some of the performers, most notably Lara Flynn Boyle's portrayal of Donna gone bad by a change in stride and having her smoke, make obvious - if unexplained - character leaps and deal with them as best they can as actors, many of them fall short of doing anything remarkable. I was pretty constantly rooting for Big Ed and Norma, but when the opportunity comes, Everett McGill illustrates no real passion in his performance for Peggy Lipton's Norma. This guts the emotional intensity of his character arc.

But most of the young and more mature cast works surprisingly well together. Dana Ashbrook and Don Davis play off one another beautifully in a way that makes for a surprisingly complex and real father/son relationship portrayal. Similarly, Ashbrook and Madchen Amick play off one another well in the increasingly complex relationship between Bobby and Shelly.

But three performers rock the show and make it worth watching, no matter how bad the series gets. They are Michael Ontkean as Sheriff Truman, recurring guest star Kenneth Welsh as Windham Earl and Kyle McLachlan as Dale Cooper. Ontkean is given the opportunity to show some real range when he must portray Truman as the skeptic turning to appreciate the supernatural. He also gives a great performance as Truman broken when the romance between Truman and Josie goes sour. He is convincing angry, good-natured, or running into the bathroom to vomit after a night of heavy drinking!

Kenneth Welsh clearly defines Windham Earl and while the character is put into many ridiculous places where Welsh is required to adorn himself with the most obvious disguises, Welsh does well in the role. When Earl dresses up to get close to his victims, he establishes very real personas for his alternates and Welsh does an amazing job of portraying that with his ability to modulate his body language and voice. And he plays creepy remarkably well!

But much of the responsibility for the series falls to Kyle McLachlan, who plays Dale Cooper. McLachlan quickly re-establishes the efficient and quirky Cooper at the outset of the second season, then progresses him well through the character changes. Just when the part seems like it might be getting stale, the series finale rushes up and McLachlan is given one of the most complex acting tasks to portray and he knocks it out of the park! He's brilliant and the boxed set is worth the price of to see him act alone!

As far as DVD extras go, the season two boxed set is a little thin, though it contains a series of interviews with cast and production workers that is not replicated elsewhere (grr!). There are no commentary tracks and ultimately, given the extensive nature of the bonus features on the "Definitive Gold Box" edition, I'd opt for that instead of this set. Ultimately, I decided to recommend this set, but it comes with caveats. Buy this set if you're never going to buy the Definitive Gold Box edition (reviewed here!), which I'd understand because if one already has season one, that's seven episodes of duplication by buying the bigger boxed set! But for those who love Twin Peaks, have seen it and want to add it to their permanent collection, avoid this set and go for the big boxed set. The erratic quality of the second season is somewhat muted in the presence of the great pilot, wonderful first season and all the bonus features there.

And anyone who loves a good supernatural murder mystery will love Twin Peaks and want to add it to their collection. And despite the quality roller coaster that season two represents, it's still a damn fine show and it was worth the wait.

For more information on the specific episodes in this boxed set, please check out my reviews of the episodes at:
Episodes 8 – 9
Episodes 10 - 14
Episodes 15 - 19
Episodes 20 - 24
Episodes 25 - 29

5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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A Trip To A Pathetic Zoo: Zoolander Doesn't Impress Me!

The Good: Moments of humor, David Bowie cameo
The Bad: Lame characters, Idiotic plot, Utter lack of decent acting
The Basics: A pathetic mockery of slave labor and a pointless male modeling industry, Zoolander puts dimwitted model Derek Zoolander in a precarious position of being brainwashed to kill.


[Note: Three times is not a charm. This morning, to cleanse our palates after watching "Citizen Kane" (reviewed here!), my wife and I watched "Zoolander" again. This was my third time watching it and we picked it off her shelf because while reviewing "True Blood" Season 3 (that's here!), I learned that one of her favorite actors from the show - Alexander Skarsgard - was in "Zoolander." So we watched it again. Yes, he's in it. No, it does not make the movie better. I stand by my original review, which I wrote almost a decade ago now! Enjoy!]

I don't think I realized how terrible Zoolander was until I watched all of the extras on the DVD. If one wishes to, one may watch the VH1 Fashion Awards sketches Ben Stiller did in which he originated the character of Derek Zoolander. Between those two sketches and the trailer for the film, the entire movie is presented.

Zoolander follows the dimwitted male model Derek Zoolander, as he loses his established success in the modeling world to a new, grungier-looking male model, Hansel. Zoolander becomes the target of an international fashion industry conspiracy to kill the liberal Prime Minister of Malaysia. Betrayed by his agent, Maury, to the infamous Mugatu, Zoolander is brainwashed to become an assassin with the Prime Minister as his target. And the only one who can figure all of this out is investigative reporter Matilda Jefferies.

The laundry list of problems with Zoolander begins with the problem of trying to take a pair of five minute skits and extending them into a feature length film. I watched the sketches and laughed. All of the best jokes in the Zoolander were from the two Fashion Award skits. And that's just plain pathetic. It's a tough thing to realize that the best moments of humor were done before the film ever began.

It's even more unconscionable that those going through the effort of making this film would not develop it with the goal to expand on the skits, rather than anchor the film with the jokes that were already out there.

The high point of the movie was easily the surprise cameo by David Bowie who appears as himself to judge a runway contest between Hansel and Zoolander. It takes the viewer out of the film and allows us a moment of genuine humor.

But even the David Bowie cameo is indicative of the problems of Zoolander. Too many of the characters are actors either doing rolls they have already done or actors playing themselves. Jerry Stiller, for example, plays Maury Ballstein is acting almost identically to his portrayal of George Costanza's father in Seinfeld. It's disturbing that no one bothered to utilize his talents as an actor, instead forcing him to recycle another character he played.

Similarly, Will Ferrell is used in an excessively disappointing manner. Ferrell does not act as Mugatu. Instead, he's playing Will Ferrell. Ferrell is a screwball comedian and his acting talents either are not used or are used poorly as the outtakes where he flubs lines are almost identical to his performances in the film. They are also identical to his performance in Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back. Therefore, he's not acting. That's not to say he's not funny, but he's not doing anything he hasn't done in anything else he has ever done.

Even Ben Stiller fails to deliver after the first five minutes of the film. Alas, he can't sustain the complete idiot that Zoolander appears to be. And he can't sustain the idiocy that is this film.

The parody of fashion models is a one trick pony. That is, once you've played the "male model is an idiot" card, it's played. Zoolander attempts to make the same joke over and over again. Within fifteen minutes into the film, the same joke is repeated no less than a dozen times. It's simply not funny after a point.

Zoolander is an idiotic attempt to extend two skits into a feature film wherein a prejudice against male models is played out with a ridiculous plot involving genuine social issues being mocked. The issue of Malaysian slave labor funding a pointless American fashion industry is made fun of, but never intelligently addressed. It's insulting that Zoolander uses this forum to even mention it.

For other works with Will Ferrell, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
The Other Guys
Step Brothers
Family Guy - Season 4

3/10

For other movie reviews, please visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011, 2002 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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