Two new films are worth a look not because they are particularly good films. Each one is seriously flawed. But they are worth seeing because of the presences and performances of their stars.
The first is HELLO, MY NAME IS DORIS, and it is a misguided portrait of a woman who is supposed to be likable in a quirky kind of way. Yet if you think about the true nature of Doris, it is clear that she is not someone you would want to let into your world. She is in fact self-absorbed, seriously disturbed, and not at all likable. Despite its occasional laughs, this precisely is what makes HELLO, MY NAME IS DORIS a less-than-pleasurable experience.
However, this film is worth noting for Sally Field’s heartfelt performance as Doris. Back in the 1960s, Field earned her initial fame on the small screen, playing the title characters in GIDGET and THE FLYING NUN. Who would have thought that, two decades later, she would go on to become a two-time Best Actress Academy Award winner, for NORMA RAE and PLACES IN THE HEART.
NORMA RAE, which dates from 1979, is an especially interesting film. Here, Field also is the title character: a textile worker who toils in a small mill where the working conditions are intolerable, and who becomes involved with unionizing her fellow workers. However, right now-- three-and-a-half decades later-- anyone want to bet that Norma Rae and her follow workers would be unemployed, because their jobs would have been outsourced?
Then there is DEMOLITION, an otherwise uneven account of an investment banker and his struggles after his wife perishes in a car accident. What makes DEMOLITION worth a look is the stunning lead performance of Jake Gyllenhaal, an actor who is never less than riveting. It does not matter if his films are first-rate-- a textbook example is NIGHTCRAWLER, for which he easily might have earned an Oscar nomination-- or flawed.
Jake Gyllenhaal and Sally Field may represent different generations, but both are the products of show-biz families. Sally’s mother is Margaret Field, who back in the 1940s appeared in bit roles on screen and then in the 1950s and ‘60s earned parts in several dozen TV series. Her step-father is Jock Mahoney, a stuntman who doubled for John Wayne, Gregory Peck, and Errol Flynn, and an actor whom Baby Boomers might recall as the star of THE RANGE RIDER and YANCY DERRINGER TV series.
Gyllenhaal’s parents are producer-screenwriter Naomi Foner and director Stephen Gyllenhaal. And finally, a while back, I was taking a second look at CITY SLICKERS, the 1991 Billy Crystal comedy, and the young actor cast as the Crystal character’s son seemed awfully familiar. When the film first was released, there was no way I would have noticed him. But there is his name, listed in the end credit roll. He is 11-year-old Jake Gyllenhaal!
Rob Edelman has authored or edited several dozen books on film, television, and baseball. He has taught film history courses at several universities and his writing has appeared in many newspapers, magazines, and journals. His frequent collaborator is his wife, fellow WAMC film commentator Audrey Kupferberg.
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