• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 567 0

Kafka to describe Tuvalu, and the movie certainly owes a debt to them and many others, including Rube Goldberg. But in creating an odd, even bizarre, fairy tale for grown-ups, Helmer marks his own territory. The casting, the settings (including a real-life bathhouse in Sofia, Bulgaria), the use of music and visual effects all contribute to a unique and gloriously odd creation. Clearly, this is not for all tastes, but Tuvalu caught my fancy and kept me engaged from start to finish.

138. THE TV SET

(2007)

Directed by Jake Kasdan

Screenplay by Jake Kasdan

Actors:

DAVID DUCHOVNY

SIGOURNEY WEAVER

IOAN GRUFFUDD

JUDY GREER

FRAN KRANZ

LINDSAY SLOANE

JUSTINE BATEMAN

LUCY DAVIS

M. C. GAINEY

PHILIP BAKER HALL

ANDREA MARTIN

WILLIE GARSON

KATHRYN JOOSTEN

Hollywood has turned the camera on itself almost from the beginning of the silent era, taking us behind the scenes of movies in stories as varied as A Star Is Born, Singin’ in the Rain, and The Stunt Man. Examinations of the television industry are more scarce, the shining example being Network, which was written by a veteran of TV’s golden age, Paddy Chayefsky. Some viewers saw that film as a parable, others as a cautionary tale, but there were moments in it that rang painfully true to people in the know.

I don’t think you have to work in the television industry to relate to Jake Kasdan’s movie The TV Set, even though he wrote his screenplay after being in the trenches of network TV. Anyone who’s ever had a difficult, stubborn, or capricious boss should understand full well what these characters are going through—and why they deserve our utmost sympathy. The people in this story have to suffer, but they do so in the service of a clever, funny film.

David Duchovny plays a successful TV writer who’s just created a new series that’s close to his heart, as it was inspired by his late brother. The show is his baby, and he’s very protective of it, so when network boss Sigourney Weaver wants to start making wholesale changes—and doesn’t like his casting ideas—he begins to chafe. Ioan Gruffud, better known as one of the Fantastic Four, tries to smooth things over; he’s just come to Hollywood from England to be Weaver’s number-two man at the network, and he finds himself caught between his own intelligent ideas and his need to survive in the new job.

We go through the process of watching a TV series come to life, and see just how things can go wrong along the way. And we come to empathize with Duchovny and his plight—not wanting to be so stubborn that he kills the project, but not wanting to compromise on the things he really cares about. Most of all, we see how tough it is to deal with a boss like Weaver, who’s used to getting what she wants, all the time. Her characterization is lethally funny, and frighteningly true.

Writer-director Jake Kasdan cut his teeth on the TV series Freaks and Geeks, which was critically praised but barely eked out one season on the air. If virtue is its own reward, he and his colleagues can take comfort in knowing they created something special that still has a loyal following. But I have a feeling he put a lot of himself into the Duchovny character in this bittersweet comedy.

139. TWO FAMILY HOUSE

(2000)

Directed by Raymond De Felitta

Screenplay by Raymond De Felitta

Actors:

MICHAEL RISPOLI

KELLY MACDONALD

KATHERINE NARDUCCI

KEVIN CONWAY

MATT SERVITTO

MICHELE SANTOPIETRO

LOUIS GUSS

ROSEMARY DEANGELIS

VICTOR ARNOLD

DOMINIC CHIANESE

RICHARD B. SHULL

We’ve all seen movies about cockeyed dreamers and ne’er-do-wells. What sets Two Family House apart is that it feels authentic—and there’s a good reason. It was based on bona fide family lore that Raymond De Felitta was smart enough to fashion into a movie.

The people seem real, and De Felitta cast just the right people to play them—not stars but familiar actors who perfectly embody these characters. You’ll know Michael Rispoli the moment you see him, from The Sopranos and dozens of movies and television shows. A number of Sopranos players populate the cast, which is only