R.I.P. M. Emmet Walsh (1935-2024)

R.I.P. M. Emmet Walsh

True movie and TV fans know this guy as he has well over 200 credits mostly in small parts (mostly as corrupt cops or middle men), but he owned his starring part in the Coen brothers’ 1984 debut BLOOD SIMPLE. From his first film role in ALICE'S RESTAURANT through appearances in everything from PLANET OF THE APES and AIRPORT sequels to classics like SLAP SHOT, THE JERK (the madman that shoots at Steve Martin’s Navin R. Johnson!), BLADE RUNNER, and SERPICO the guy put in memorably crusty work. Film critic legend, Roger Ebert once wrote, “No movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad.” Amen.

More later...

Sequels You Probably Have Never Heard Of: THE JERK, TOO

I’ve never liked sequels that used the word “TOO” instead of “2” in their titles. Examples: TEEN WOLF TOO, LOOK WHO’S TALKING TOO, THINK LIKE A MAN TOO, and SCOOBY TOO. One of the earliest uses of the adverb was in the long forgotten (if it was even known in the first place) 1984 TV movie sequel to the 1979 Steve Martin classic, THE JERK. One would assume that with the title, THE JERK, TOO, that it was about the adventures of another jerk, but the star, Mark Blankfield, had the same name as Martin’s in the original, Navin Johnson, and the same background of having been born a poor black child.

You may not know who Blankfield is, but at the time he was apparently considered an up and coming comedy star. He was a cast member on the SNL-rip-off, Fridays; he starred in the 1982 sex comedy, JEKYLL AND HYDE…TOGETHER AGAIN; tried to steal THE INCREDIBLE SHRIKING WOMAN from Lily Tomlin, and made appearances on seemingly every TV series from Taxi to Night Court to Cagney & Lacy to Charles in Charge. He was even in SPLASH, TOO, another forgotten TV movie sequel to a popular comedy.

I bet that none of those credits make any difference, and you still have no clue who this guy is. I think that that be the same for the rest of the cast of this dreadful, colossally unfunny follow-up.

THE JERK, TOO is less a sequel than it is a remake, or re-imagining as none of the narrative reflects what happened in the first one. Navin lives with his family, including his mother played by Mabel King, the only cast member from THE JERK to reprise their role; in the same rundown house from the beginning of the first film (it was comically rebuilt at the film’s end).

This time Navin has a penpal named Marie (Stacy Nelkin), who has the same name as Martin’s Navin’s love interest played by Bernadette Peters, and when she invites him to her wedding, he hits the road to California to attend. This gives this ersatz sequel a road movie scenario sort of like the original. He encounters a group of hobos, led my Ray Walston, whose extensive filmography which includes THE STING, POPEYE, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, and tons of TV series including some of the same shows that Blankenship was on, probably doesn’t mean much to most of you out there I’m guessing.

Walston’s character, Diesel, and his ragtag band of bums attempt to swindle Navin out of his money via a game of cards, but Navin is somehow a poker genius, and he winds up with all the winnings. Our protagonist’s skills at poker is not a trait that Martin’s Navin displayed in the original, neither is his predilection for sloppy slapstick, which at a elegant party scene lands himself in a large punch bowl. The punch bowl gag, if you can call it that, even made the poster art for the film’s video release which means they must have thought that it was the movie’s major gag:

Like many films, the movie builds to a stop the wedding finale, with Navin trying to save his love from marrying the film’s real jerk, Count Marco (Jean LeClerc), a cheating slob after Marie’s money. I’m in awe at how this awful movie tries so hard to get laughs but never comes anywhere near even a slight giggle. And there’s even a musical number in a park just when I thought the movie couldn’t get any more embarrassing.

I’ve heard that this may have been a pilot for a TV show based on the first movie, which is an extremely unsavory, and questionable idea. Luckily this was a ratings, and critical disaster so those possible plans were scrapped.

The crucial issue with this so-called sequel is that Blackenfield's Navin is more of a moron than a jerk. His strained and ultra stupid shenanigans are so cringe-inducing that they miss how Martin’s take on the character actually put forth some amusing charm and wit. Next to Blankfield’s bug-eyed rube, Martin’s Navin comes off like Dr. Fauci.

While it’s surprising that this thing was made, it’s more surprising that it was executive produced by Martin, as this type of lowbrow lark does not seem like it would meet his approval. But despite his lofty credit, I bet he never even watched it. Or at least that’s what I choose to believe.

More later...

That Time Stanley Kubrick Wanted Steve Martin To Star In EYES WIDE SHUT

For Steve Martin’s Birthday today, I decided to blog about an odd moment in the iconic comic actor’s career: his brief, almost creative relationship with Director Stanley Kubrick.

Ever since I first heard about it decades ago, I’ve been highly amused that reportedly one of famous filmmaker Stanley Kubrick’s favorite films was THE JERK. Apparently, Carl Reiner’s 1979 comedy, which featured the feature length film debut of the legendary comedian Steve Martin tickled Kubrick’s funny bone, and even inspired him to try to cast Martin as the lead in his last feature, 1999’s erotic thriller EYES WIDE SHUT. Of course, this didn’t happen – Tom Cruise got the role in the end – but the fact that it could have happened is pretty insane.

But, as Martin relayed on an episode of Charlie Rose, it was actually a British broadcast of his stand-up act in 1980 that made Kubrick call the comic up for a meeting.

Martin: “It might have been before 1980, because I don’t think THE JERK was out, but I came to London to do my stand-up act on television. Then I got a call from Stanley Kubrick the next day saying, ‘I’d like to meet with you.’ So I went to his estate, and he pitched me what became EYES WIDE SHUT.”

Rose: “That was ’80, it wasn’t made until 1999.”

Martin: “Right. It was based on a book by Schnitzler, and I think the book was called ‘Rhapsody’ – it had different titles and translations. And it was an enigmatic book, a beautiful, beautiful book. And then, of course, it never happened.”

It should be noted that Kubrick also considered Bill Murray, Woody Allen, Dustin Hoffman and Tom Hanks for the lead. Funny that had comic actors in mind for the part that wound up being played by Cruise.

After sorting through a lot of interviews and articles about Kubrick, I’ve come to the conclusion that the tales of Kubrick’s love for THE JERK may have been a bit overblown. Many internet posts mention that it was one of his favorites but no quotes or other citations are given.

But it did make lists Kubrick made of his favorite movies, but then so did WHITE MEN CAN’T JUMP, so it was certainly a favorite.

This quote from Kubrick’s right-hand man, Jan Harlan, maybe summed it up best: “He didn’t think THE JERK was such a good film, but it is true that he considered Steve Martin as an actor. Early days!”

Early days indeed. Marin has proven in a few films, like David Mamet’s THE SPANISH PRISONER, that he has dramatic chops, so I would love to see his version of EYES WIDE SHUT. Maybe he would’ve been miscast as the doctor who goes deep into New York’s sexual underground because his wife told him she almost cheated on him, but I think he could’ve pulled it off.

More later...  

Comedy Isn't Pretty: Steve Martin's Fall From Funny

The DVD release of CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN this week has been a huge seller. My guess is that it was an impulse buy Dad bought for the kids while picking up MATRIX REVOLUTIONS. Whatever the case, CHEAPER is a horribly unfunny family film that will surely soon collect dust as its target audience moves quickly on.

Kind of like Martin's last film, BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE, which was an exercise in commercial blandness despite some funny moments courtesy of Eugene Levy, CHEAPER is throwaway family fluff that further removes Martin from his former famous funniness.

There is possible redemption ahead with the prospect of Martin's excellent book Shopgirl's film adaptation but unfortunately that's overshadowed by the news that he is set to start filming a new PINK PANTHER movie next month. That news is met with much concern and doubt from me.

Very few, myself included think it is a good idea to try to revive a series that is over 20 years dead with 3 failed awful attempts to revive it since long buried. Maybe Martin can pull off playing the famous part of Inspector Clouseau defined by the late great Peter Sellers (which was #67 on Premiere's Greatest Movie Characters list in their latest issue, Martin's Navin Johnson, a.k.a. THE JERK is #66 interestingly) but judging by his strained slapstick work and the forced physical comedy that dominates CHEAPER I wouldn't put money on it.

In my estimation the last truly good Steve Martin comedy was BOWFINGER. It had a good premise: aspiring filmmaker scams a cheapie sc-fi movie out of a actor (Eddie Murphy) who doesn't know he's being filmed. It had a funny screenplay with moments like when starlet Heather Graham flirtaciously offers - "I love Smashing Pumpkins" and Martin's Bowfinger excitedly responds - "I love to do that!" And it has a good nature to it even with the bit about the self-promoting lesbian that Graham's character becomes which made everyone think Martin was taking a swipe at former lover Anne Heche.

But to get to that comic gem though we had to suffer through SGT.BILKO, THE OUT OF TOWNERS, and MIXED NUTS. Hiding behind those flops was a little seen David Mamet movie THE SPANISH PRISONER which featured a rare mannered dramatic performance by Martin.

Another failed foray into this direction was the thriller NOVOCAINE which was silly, but I have to admit I enjoyed.

For the record, here's Film Babble Blog's pick for the best Steve Martin comedies. It's an unsurprising but essential list : 

10 GREAT STEVE MARTIN COMEDIES:

  1. THE JERK (Dir. Carl Reiner, 1979)

  2. THE MAN WITH TWO BRAINS (Dir. Carl Reiner, 1983)

  3. ALL OF ME (Dir. Carl Reiner, 1984) 

  4. DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID (Dir. Carl Reiner, 1982)

  5. ROXANNE (Dir. Fred Schepisi, 1987)

  6. PLANES, TRAINS, & AUTOMOBILES (Dir. John Hughes,    1987)

  7. L.A. STORY (Dir. Mick Jackson, 1990)

  8. BOWFINGER (Dir. Frank Oz, 1999)

  9. PARENTHOOD (Dir. Ron Howard, 1989)

10. LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (Dir. Frank Oz, 1986): Just a cameo, but his song "Dentist" steals the whole show.

SPILLOVER: 

11. ¡THREE AMIGOS! (Dir. John Landis, 1986)

12. THE LONELY GUY (Dir. Arthur Hiller, 1984)

13. MY BLUE HEAVEN (Dir. Herbert Ross, 1990) 

14. LEAP OF FAITH (Dir. Richard Pearce 1992)

15. DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS (Dir. Frank Oz, 1988)

5 BAD STEVE MARTIN MOVIES:

 1. MIXED NUTS (Dir. Nora Ephron, 1994)

 2. SGT. BILKO (Dir. Jonathan Lynn,1996)

 3. THE OUT-OF-TOWNERS (Dir. Sam Weisman, 1999)

 4. LOONEY TUNES - BACK IN ACTION (Dir. Joe Dante, 2003) 

 5. SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (Dir. Michael Schultz, 1978): Just a cameo but still!

5 WORTHWHILE NON COMEDIC STEVE MARTIN MOVIES:

 1. PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (Dir. Herbert Ross, 1981)

 2. THE SPANISH PRISONER (Dir. David Mamet, 1997)

 3. NOVOCAINE (Dir. David Atkins, 2001)

 4. GRAND CANYON (Dir. Lawrence Kasdan, 1991)

 5. AND THE BAND PLAYED ON (Dir. Roger Spottiswood, 1993) (HBO telefilm)

We haven't given up on you Steve - we're all hoping you can do some good with SHOPGIRL (now in post production) and that you will prove us wrong on the PINK PANTHER deal.

We all loved when in your only bearded role as a schlock movie producer in Lawrence Kasdan's GRAND CANYON you said to Kevin Kline: "That's part of your problem: you haven't seen enough movies. All of life's riddles are answered in the movies." 

And if you don't agree with that or any of this, well EXCUSE ME!!!!

More later...