Jim on Film
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Because I was a busy college student during the season it aired, its Saturday night time slot made for a difficult show to catch, though the few episodes that I did see were always smart and funny in a classic sitcom style. In the one episode I recorded, Julia decides to try out the dating scene for the first time since her divorce. While her mother is suspicious about her date’s awkward behavior, Julia finds him to be polite and enjoyable company. That is until he gives her “the cheek,�? followed by a date in which his toupee almost falls off his head in a restaurant and his credit card is declined. She discovers that he is recently divorced himself, and he is still struggling to cope with the loss.
Not only was Maybe This Time funny, but to me, it was the first time on television I saw the idea that divorce could be something both necessary and painful. Growing up, the shows I saw were like Sandy Duncan in The Hogan Family, in which divorce was something you did and then moved on, smiling the whole way.
Sadly, with only one season under its belt, it’s not likely Maybe This Time will ever see the light of day again.
Smoke Signals (1998) Based on the classic collection of Sherman Alexie stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, and released by Miramax, Smoke Signals presented a story that was both funny, heartfelt, and literary in nature. Adam Beach (from Disney’s Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale) plays Victor, a man grappling with the disappearance of his father from his life. When he learns that his father has died, he goes on a journey to retrieve his ashes. Accompanying him is childhood friend and annoyance Thomas (Evan Adams), who has a penchant for telling stories and driving Victor mad. As in Alexie’s other work, Smoke Signals, for which he wrote the screenplay, explores what it means to be a Native American in a white world, while Victor’s journey is a universal one of discovery and forgiveness. Also seen in the film is Michelle St. John (Nakoma in Pocahontas) as a woman whose car is stuck driving in reverse and Irene Bedard (speaking voice of Pocahontas) as Suzie Song, the woman whose story unlocks the secrets in Victor’s journey.
It’s tragic that a story as beautifully told as Smoke Signals was relegated to an art house-style release, though Miramax deserves kudos for picking it up. Granted, as a literary film, it lacks the thematic completion of an ending that lends itself to a clear interpretation (or sets of interpretations), but even that it attempts such a feat is amazing, let alone in a film that has a beautifully told story with comedy and popular appeal. The artistic success of Smoke Signals warrants more film work from Native American creative talent and starring Native American performers in contemporary stories.
Quiz Show (1994) Robert Redford’s absorbing analysis of the quiz show scandals of the 1950s is a film that, with the removal of a ton of language and a few other references, could have embarked that new, mature side of Disney mentioned above had it been released under the Disney banner instead by the now-defunct Hollywood Pictures label. Ralph Fiennes stars as Charles Van Doren, a professor at prestigious Columbia University and son of noted writer Mark Van Doren, who allows the producers of a television quiz show to provide him with answers. When contestant Herb Stempel, played by John Turturro, is no longer given the answers and forced to take a dive in favor of Van Doren, he brings to light the illegal rigging of game shows, which leads to an investigation that tears down Charles Van Doren as the public face of the scandal.
One of the few movies released by the studio to be deserving of an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, Quiz Show is a fascinating story that explores the lure of fame and the destructive nature of media-driven madness. Because it is a film that is essentially people talking, it struggled to find an audience during its release, despite much critical acclaim. Quiz Show is not a movie that needs lots of action; instead, its suspense and emotion comes from its captivating characters and their universal dilemmas.
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-- Jim Miles
The opinions expressed by our guest columnists, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future of Disneyland and the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted May 18, 2005