Let’s Make Some Noise, vintage movie style: celebrating the films of yesterday and the day
By: Kevin Vickery
Welcome once again to the latest monthly feature of my column where I continue to dive into feature films from 50, 40, 30, 20 and 10 years ago. Each month I’ll choose a common theme and then highlight and discuss movies of those specific years.
“Stand by Me”: 1986, Rated R
40 years ago, in August of 1986, the late Carl Reiner brought to life this now classic film based on the 1982 Steven King novella, “The Body”. “Stand by Me” is set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Oregon, in 1959 and stars Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O’Connell as four boys who set out on a journey to find the dead body of a missing boy.
Along the way the boys are faced with outer struggles like crossing a creek full of leaches, a near death encounter while crossing a ravine on train tracks and being bullied by a gang of older boys’ lead by Ace Merrill (Kiefer Sutherland). They also face and support each other through their inner struggles with abusive parents, the death of a sibling, and fear of never leaving Castle Rock.
The story is told as a narrative through the adult version of Gordi (Wheaton) as he has grown up to become an author (Richard Dreyfuss) and is writing a novel about their adventures that Summer. He closes the movie with updates on the lives of the boys as the end to his book.
The film was a commercial success and was nominated for an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards and was re-released in theaters earlier this year, to commemorate its 40th anniversary.
The soundtrack is excellent and brought the music of the 50s and 60s back to life for the mid-1980s crowd to discover. Songs like, Jerry Lee Lewis’, “Great Balls of Fire”, “Get a Job” by The Silhouettes and The Coasters’, “Yackety Yack” were all timely tunes featured in the movie and Ben E. King’s title track, “Stand by Me” from 1961 re-entered the charts and eventually peaked at number nine in 1986.
“Stand by Me” is a great movie and I would highly recommend it, especially to those who like remembering the simpler ways of generations past. I think of it like a multigenerational, double dose of nostalgia as the main characters are baby boomers coming of age as kids in 1959 but the actors playing those roles are young Gen-Xers born in the early 1970s.
You can watch, “Stand by Me” for free with ads on Tubi.
“Jack”: 1996, Rated PG-13
Turning 30 this year, “Jack” is a comedy-drama film co-produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola starring Robin Williams in the role of Jack Powell, a boy who ages four times faster than normal as a result of a unique medical condition along side co-stars Diane Lane, Jennifer Lopez, Brian Kerwin, Fran Drescher, and Bill Cosby.
“Jack” debuted at number one at the US box office in 1996 and grossed roughly $78 million worldwide, even after receiving negative reviews from many critics. Despite these generally unfavorable reviews, audiences surveyed by CinemaScore still gave the film a grade of “B+”.
Regarding the film’s reception, Francis Ford Coppola has said, “It was a movie that everybody hated and I was constantly damned and ridiculed for. I must say I find “Jack” sweet and amusing. I know I should be ashamed of it but I’m not.”
The film follows the plot line of Jack Powell (Williams) who although he is mentally and emotionally a 10-year-old child, has the physical appearance of a 40-year-old man. Because of this rapid aging and his mother’s overprotectiveness, Jack is initially homeschooled by a tutor, Lawrence Woodruff (Cosby). At age 10, his parents (Diane Lane and Brian Kerwin) finally decide to enroll him in a public school for fifth grade so he can experience a normal childhood. However, his physical appearance shocks his classmates resulting in severe teasing and isolation.
Jack eventually earns the respect and friendship of his classmates after showing impressive skills on the basketball court. Despite his adult body, Jack’s innocent outlook on life and genuine desire to fit in with the other kids eventually wins them over, and they accept him as one of their own. He befriends four boys, joining them in their adventures, and helping them out of tight spots, particularly by impersonating the school principal in order to persuade Dolores Durante (Drescher) that her son, Jack’s new friend, Louis (Adam Zolotin) is doing well in school.
The film concludes with a seven-year time jump as Jack and his friends have come-to- age and are graduating high school. Despite aging rapidly into an elderly-looking man, Jack delivers the valedictorian speech at the ceremony encouraging his classmates to “make their lives spectacular.”
Overall, I enjoyed Jack as a funny and slightly mischievous take on the life of a 10-year-old-boy as lived in a grown man’s body. I don’t think any actor could have done a better job at bringing that character to life than the late, great, Robin Williams. The way he approached the child-like innocence of a young boy was evident in his every move, and every word spoken. He somehow even managed to capture that young spirit in the gleam of his eyes.
Disney Plus subscribers can stream “Jack” at no additional charge or there are rental and purchase options through Amazon Prime Video.
“Little Miss Sunshine”: 2006, Rated R
It’s been 20 years since Co-Directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris brought Michael Arndt’s dark comedy screenplay to life and premiered it at Sundance Film Festival in January of 2006. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin, and Alan Arkin, all of whom play members of a dysfunctional family taking the youngest, seven-year-old Olive (Breslin) on an 800-mileroadtrip from Albuquerque, NM to Redono Beach, CA where she competes in a child beauty pageant.
“Little Miss Sunshine” was considered a hit with both critics and audiences and grossed over $101 million worldwide. Less than 24 hours after its debut at Sundance, Fox Searchlight had acquired worldwide rights to the film, in a deal that was one of the biggest made in the history of the festival.
It went on to earn four Academy Award nominations including Best Picture. Arndt and Arkin won Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor, respectively, and Breslin was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. It also won an Independent Spirit Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Producers Guild of America Award.
If you’ve never seen, “Little Miss Sunshine” hang on and enjoy the ride as the family’s roadtrip takes you along on their journey plagued by emotional baggage, grief, and severe mechanical problems. The clutch in their Volkswagen van breaks early on resulting in the continued need to push start it and eventually it develops an issue where the horn honks constantly.
The father, Richard (Kinnear) an inspiring motivational speaker who lives by his “9 step path to success” learns his book deal has fallen through. The oldest son, Dwayne who has taken a vow of silence until he reaches his goal of becoming a fighter pilot learns he is color blind, shattering his dreams. Meanwhile, foul mouthed grandfather and Olive’s pageant coach, Edwin (Arkin) dies of a heroin overdose, forcing the family to smuggle his body out of a hospital and along with them for the remainder of the trip.
Once they finally arrive at the competition, the family realizes that the other contestants are highly polished, and adult-like therefore they face scrutiny over Olive’s unconventional appearance. Just before pulling her from the contest, the family collectively decides to let her take the stage for the talent portion only to then witness that her before unseen dance routine, taught to her by her grandfather is actually a wildly inappropriate burlesque routine.
Panic ensues among pageant organizers prompting them to attempt to pull her off stage. Instead of stopping her, the rest of the family rushes the stage to dance alongside Olive, in solidarity. They then leave the pageant, pile back into the van to make their return trip as a bonded, resilient family.
“Little Miss Sunshine” takes the coming-of-age concept and flips it upside down. The characters do not grow up by successfully integrating into the world. They grow up by discovering how to survive its absurdities together. Olive’s story line is the closest to a standard coming-of-age plot which is typically reserved for children, but the film treats adulthood as a continuous process of maturation. I find that concept to be not only humorous but also quite true.
Netflix subscribers can stream “Little Miss Sunshine” at no additional charge or there are options for rental and purchase through Amazon Prime Video.
That puts the wraps on the June edition of celebrating “The films of yesterday and the day before” and I’m assuming you’ve put together the common theme this month is coming-of-age movies. Tune in next time as I explore more great blasts from the silver screen past.
Make Some Noise 