Siskel & Ebert (1988) - Tucker, Vibes, Cocktail, Clean And Sober, Bagdad Cafe

[Music] thank you [Music] moved with the steering wheel the point where the car was going Tucker has played in the movie by Jeff Bridges who enthusiastically describes his dream to his family Dallas took a poll last week to find out what America's won most when the war is over 87 percent of the people who said the first thing they want is a new car which do you think the public would rather buy the same old models Detroit has been giving us before the war or good the car of tomorrow today wow at first things go well as Tucker finds a surplus War Industries plan in Chicago to build his car the biggest damn plant in the whole world and we're the ones who got it oh that's wonderful all we need now is 50 million dollars in a car Tucker gets in trouble after Detroit's big three use their political clout to shut him down okay don't go home there's two police cars waiting for you they're going to arrest you they'll go home and if you won't believe outside the police station maybe it is 50 100 reporters photographers newsreels even in the movie ends with Tucker's defense of himself at his jury trial for fraud but a big business closes the door and the little guy with a new idea we're not only closing the door on progress but we're sabotaging everything that we fought for everything that the country stands for and one day we're gonna find ourselves at the bottom of the Heap instead of King of the Hill having no idea how we got there buying our radios and our cars from our former enemies I don't believe I can't believe it because if I ever stop believing the plain old common horses of the American people there's no way I could get out of bed in the morning and we learned the whole heartbreaking story of how Tucker really did deliver on his promise to deliver 50 of these cars 46 of which are still on the road but nevertheless was never able to keep going because the big three didn't want that competition there was a lot I enjoyed about Tucker and especially the look of those sleek and handsome old Classic Automobiles but the movie as a whole was a disappointment Francis Coppola who usually pumps so much energy into his films never really convinced me this time that he knew why he was really making this one the movie is not a detailed examination of the automobile's history nor does it have much psychological insight into Tucker the man he remains just kind of a cheerful Enigma nor does it ever really even make the conspiracy against Tucker very exciting it's all kind of sad and weary it's been said that Tucker is a somewhat autobiographical film for Coppola it's a movie about a Visionary with a large family and a voted friends and grandiose plans that are shot down by the establishment and it's impossible not to see the parallels with Coppola's own attempts to run his own Hollywood studio so maybe that's the problem with the film Tucker was too close to Coppola for Coppola to see him clearly in the fate of his dreams was too depressing to inspire much energy I don't know that's speculation but I would agree with you that the film had a disappointment quality for me I was caught up as the film progressed and he developed his car and Coppola shoots in a very exciting fluid way breaking through some walls and making some leaps in uh editing that are very exciting and so we get caught up visually as well as in the story pacing with the development of the car however you pick on two major flaws one we don't know who Preston Tucker is we don't know who he is other than the fact that he wants to build a car there should have been more private time with him and who this guy is rather than just what he wants to build and second the film is really a letdown because we know that the big three are going to crush him it's obvious it's their Sinister we know that the Tucker Automobile did not it does not exist today it did not become a hit and so the uh surprise element of the film is totally backing and were shut down so it's a beautiful film the Coppola name is there he makes a film he cannot make a film that is not compelling to watch but at the yeah to watch visually but at the same time this time he did not make a film that was compelling and I think that I think the real thing is who is Tucker I don't know our next film is an awful comedy called Vibes which is a ripoff of the wonderful comic Adventure Romancing the Stone this time with the would-be comic overlay of a couple of lead characters being psychics in search of a South American city of gold the psychics are played by Cindy Lauper who gets a message from a girlfriend from the next World and Jeff Goldblum who can touch things and tell what's happened to them and where they've been I can take an object and tell you where it's been who's come in contact with money in there foreign no not directly I found both the characters and the performances boring and the same holds true for the usually likable Peter Falk playing a con man who tries to use Cindy loper's powers for his personal gain why'd you break into my apartment because I was afraid to stand in a hallway carrying what I'm carrying and it's all yours if you do a job for me it's so obvious to me that Falk is up to of course Jeff Goldblum goes along for the ride and he slowly gets the idea very slowly gets the idea that Falk is a faker this isn't your son's shirt sure no this shirt's only been worn by one man an older man much too old to be your son did I say my son no I'm sorry I'm his son it's my father that's missing I receive it only a few jokes work and that's stunning because Falk and Goldblum are obviously talented actors who have pleased us so many times but not here the storyline is obvious the script is virtually without laughs and the echo of a much better similar film Romancing the Stone is always with us while we're watching Vibes a film that I really think can be described as quite often I wouldn't say quite awful I would say very awful you see there's a slight distinction there this movie is bad and the sad thing about it is the setup the first five or ten minutes five minutes yeah are promising where they have all of these psychics who can do different things goldboom has certain skills Cindy Lauper has skills other guys and if they had stayed in the psychic lab and investigated the comic possibilities yes of different people all of them weirdos who have different kinds of psychic talents might have been fun the everything that happened in South America is utterly ludicrous but that makes it sound like fun it's just utterly a wasted from matching the stone I mean it is yeah I mean is there such a thing as theft that's theft coming up next Tom Cruise and Brian Browning cocktail the story of a bartender who mixes stirs and shakes his way to the top so what was it that you ordered what's in that Ellen this is The Saga of a handsome young Manhattan bartender played by Tom Cruise fresh out of the service he gets a job bartending in a slick up or east side Saloon where he comes immediately under the influence of a veteran bartender and philosopher played by Brian brown brown teaches him the ropes which include never pouring too much of a heavy drink develop a routine work the crowd collect tips keep your eyes open for a rich chick who can support you and give you money to open your own bar that's the important one here's one of the movie's best sequences this is the two bartenders do their act together [Applause] [Music] with that choreography I doubt I was making pour very many drinks in an hour but at least it's fun to watch you may remember Brian Brown there from FX one of the big Reasons video hits the two friends are so successful they move to an exclusive private disco where Tom Cruise's big brown eyes attract a lot of fans [Music] later working as a bartender in Jamaica crew stopped playing the field long enough to develop a sincere love for Elizabeth's shoe but then he leaves her for a rich woman and when he comes back to New York to apologize she's hard to convince you say you'd like to see the specials sir I'd like to see the specials [Music] look you know we've been waiting today's specials are meatloaf mozzarella chicken a la king [Music] Justin ketchup [Music] on the surface at least a cocktail is a slick entertainment with some colorful locations it moves well it has great dialogue moments and Tom Cruise and especially Brian Brown create an interesting relationship the kid who takes advice from a veteran who realizes that he doesn't have very much good advice to give their performances are good but the movie milks all kinds of serious questions for whatever entertainment value they have and then forgets all about them for example the movie makes a big deal of how Cruz is looking for a rich chick so Elizabeth Shoe doesn't reveal that she's a rich chick then her father throws the couple out and tells them they're on their own a cruise who has now cured himself of this search sounds real Noble when he says that's just fine with him but then we find out that within a few months he owns his own fancy New York Saloon where you don't open one of those for peanuts so that means the crews did take money the movie Just ignores that by turning up the rock and roll on the final Freeze Frame cocktail is a brainless movie with pretensions I would have liked it more if it had possess the courage to be just a silly Love Story well here's what I think what's wrong with the movie and that is the love story I thought that the most interesting part of the film and I guess you did too was the opening the relationship of those two men if you had taken the tutor who knows less than he thinks and the young impressionable man and followed them through the city of New York as they went through some kind of pyramid scheme together together make them the heart of the movie then you would have had a fascinating film similar to The Color of Money in terms of the relationship of Tudor to pupil with also with Tom Cruise but the love story is totally ridiculous I mean it's just absolutely predictable you know who he's going to end up with we know that from right from the beginning and we know that he's going to be tempted and thrown and come back with her the love story is is not in character it's like with the first part of the film I was just suggesting that they had had a silly Love Story would have been better than all of their pretensions but I agree with your you know prescription for the relationship that's what's exciting that bothers me it's hard to keep yourself from thinking during these movies and that's what you have to do sometimes because you have to forget that these people are drunk in every scene but they never have any problem with alcoholism and they sleep with everybody they come across and they never think about age so these people are apparently somehow an exception to the rule that governs everybody else except no there are scenes where Cruz knocks over some sculptures twice so yeah something against sculptures when he gets bombed he knocks over a sculpture coming up next a movie called clean and sober starring Michael Keaton as a drug abuser On The Run trying to save his neck and maybe change his life let's call clean and sober and it's one of many new films out now trying to deal with the problem of substance abuse be it drugs or alcohol Michael Keaton known for his Breezy roles plays it serious this time as a Young Man addicted to cocaine and taboos and he embezzles 92 000 because of his habit what's more a girl he spent the night with dies of an overdose at the beginning of the film and Keaton is suddenly On The Run he finds a safe house by checking into a drug rehab Clinic I heard about the program and sounds really good to me I just want to make sure I understand the deal as far as the confidentiality aspect is concerned yes well the program is completely confidential so no one would have to know I was in here 's flip attitude is brought up short by Morgan Freeman playing a street smart drug counselor a former addict himself you don't even know you got a problem do you know how long you've been straight man 12 days they're very good together that's a powerful scene a quiet scene there's a love story hang over this film is Keaton finds a woman he likes at the clinic but actress Kathy Baker spots him as just a guy on the make okay I just want you to know you know sleeping alone starts to get you down you know I mean I mean sometimes I just know how tough it can be to have to sleep alone I bet you do there's a lot to like about clean and sober the film does not glamorize drug use Keaton does a convincing job of playing a con man who is also counting himself about his addiction Morgan Freeman who got that Oscar nominee for playing a Pimpin Street Smart is Rock Solid again as the counselor and the ever reliable character actor M Emmett Walsh is terrific as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous who tries to take Keaton under his wing I've named every major member in the cast They and the knowing script by Todd Carroll do open her eyes a bit to the widespread problem of not just drug addiction but the equally difficult problem of self-rehabilitation there have been a lot of Hackney movies made about this issue clean and sober I think is an honest solid treatment of the subject I agree with you Gene and what I like best about it was that it was not just some kind of a noble sermon or some kind of preaching about how bad drugs are and how Noble Michael Keaton is here's a guy who does almost everything wrong correct he's addicted not only to cocaine but he's also addicted to wine and Kathy Baker the girl when he meets in the cocaine and booze Rehabilitation place is addicted not only to drugs but also she's got into an addictive relationship so it's a movie effective personalities and of course the worst thing these two people could do would be to fall in love with each other which is going to screw up both of their recoveries and almost does so that the movie is very realistic in showing that it's not just a case of you check into Betty Ford and then the sun rises the next day but then it takes honesty and it takes an ability to admit that you have a problem and that you do need help what I was particularly impressed with was the work of Michael Keaton now here we have seen Jane Fonda try and play an alcoholic in her film and I can't come up with the name of it but doesn't matter because the film wasn't that good the morning morning after Mike that was played almost as a thriller it was like halfway into it Michael Keaton does a very good here's a guy who is you know Mr Jolly in most of his films from the first moment that we see him in bed hung over and we've seen Michael Fox try and play a drug addict in Bright Lights big city not as well Michael Keaton an excellent job in this role Michael Keaton everybody else in the movie too I mean it's a it's it's a lot of good performances very impressive as far as this subject is concerned maybe the best movie I've seen on it coming up next sorry said Nancy I think it's also an excellent subject on the on abusive drugs instead of Nancy never quite got to the Rehab Clinic of course yeah coming up next after Manhattan bars in Philadelphia cocaine abusers Baghdad Cafe a little bit more simple place in which a German woman tries to put a little life into a bar in the California desert Magic the name Baghdad Cafe and this is an offbeat an oddly infectious comedy that takes place in a desolate and almost forgotten truck stop at the edge of the Mojave Desert the movie starts when a German woman is ditched there by her husband in the middle of the desert and in desperation she checks into the nearest motel she doesn't exactly get a warm welcome you gotta carry your suitcase yourself we ain't no Grand Hotel before long the woman has become part of the little family at that truck stop including a legendary local character played by the equally legendary Jack Palance allowing me to introduce myself Rudy Cox how do you do TNA I'm from Hollywood that's Marianne sagebrack as the woman from Germany eventually she performed the transformation in the cafe enlisting the owner in a magic show but as the customers lined up outside 37 chunks [Music] [Applause] [Music] and that was CCH Pounder is the owner of the cafe there I know that I enjoyed this movie while I was watching it mostly because it provided me with a lot of unusual people and gave me absolutely no idea of what they were going to do with themselves or do with their Cafe but after the movie was over I sat there looking at the screen and asking myself what was that all about the answer I think is that maybe it wasn't about much of anything and maybe that's okay you have to accept that this Cafe is there and the people in it are kind of stagnating and into their lives comes this woman who was either from Germany or maybe from the Moon and things get shaken up a lot I'm not sure but I think that was enough I don't think the movie was about much more it was not enough for me uh the only character that really caught my attention was Jack palinton is because it was such a departure for Jack Palance I mean and I thought he was fascinating the rest of the thing I think you describe something is that is boring I have seen that that Locale used more effectively by Foreign directors years I mean Paris Texas is a more interesting news a visually of the same area of the country I really got no energy from the film only Palance interesting you weren't interested even in the fact that these people were totally unlike any other people in the movie well Roger I know what you're saying I mean I will take this crew over cookie cutter Hollywood types any day but I want to see the director do something with them and I don't feel that would happen now let's recap our reactions to the movies on this show two disappointed thumbs down for Tucker a great film to look at but one that leaves its Central character a mystery two thumbs down way down for Vibes remember this rotten film when you're compiling your list of the worst movies of 1988 I know I will two thumbs down also for cocktail a film that sacrifices a potentially exciting relationship between Tom Cruise and Brian Brown in favor of a standard love story two thumbs up however for clean and sober one of the finest films ever to treat the subject of drug abuse and alcohol abuse and finally a split vote on Baghdad Cafe a film I thought lacked energy but Roger found strangely absorbing so obviously it is Michael Keaton's wonderful performance the whole ensemble performance work in cleaning so when you talk about The Ensemble work we know that Michael Keaton Morgan Freeman and Emma Walsh are great actors we've seen them before they're great again this time I was thinking about Kathy Baker in this film and you remember she was the prostitute yes in street smart I don't know who she is or where she comes from but both of those movies really good work and as soon as she hit the camera too I mean I mean he picks her up but I pick her out for another reason I want to watch what's going to happen here so that's clean and sober that's a good actress that's it for this week next week a personal selection by Gina myself of four Hollywood actors who we think are really very good and don't get nearly as much attention as they deserve we're going to take a look at the film careers of Barbara Hershey Albert Brooks Theresa Russell and Charles groden that's next week and until then the balcony is closed [Music]

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Views: 6,046

Keywords: Tucker, Vibes, Cocktail, Clean And Sober, Bagdad Cafe

Id: UvwxC0E50D4

Length: 20min 11sec (1211 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 01 2023