Play It Again, Please

Two Great Oldies

These two movies have been replaying again on several of the channels lately, and they are two favorites.  I’ll pass them on to you.

Enemy  of the State (1998) One of the amazing things about this movie is that it was made about 16 years ago…it’s all about government surveillance gone amuck, and perhaps more relevant today than years ago.  Tightly plotted, you’ll have to pay attention.  Midway, the street chases get a little tiring but hang in there for a terrific ending.

Will Smith is delightful as the cocky young lawyer, who stumbles into a murder conspiracy of a rogue CIA official.  A cast of good solid characters:  Gene Hackman and  Jon Voight give their typically excellent performances.  A large cast of others you’ll recognize and appreciate:  Lisa Bonet, Regina King, Barry Pepper, Scott Caan, Gabriel Byrne, Jack Black, Anna Gunn. Written by David Marconi and directed by Tony Scott, it’s 2 1/2 hours of  a thrill-a- minute and, as I said, one great ending. It’s in the  mystery/suspense category, but so humorous as well.

Something to Talk About (1995) Classified as a romantic/comedy starring Julia Roberts, Robert Duvall, Dennis Quaid, Kyra Sedgwich, and Gena Rowlands.  A young Julia Roberts shows her comedic abilities, and all the performances are right on:  very funny  and yet we all know real someones just like these characters.

Two scenes are my funny favorites:  Grace (Julia) breaks up a women’s club meeting as well as numerous marriages in one fell swoop,  and Grace takes her grandmother’s advice on how to handle a cheating husband.

Robert Ebert gave this movie a strong review, and why it didn’t attract more attention, I’ll never know. It’s an hour and 45 minutes long.