Leonard Maltin's 151 Best Movies You've Never Seen - Maltin, Leonard [51]
Watching a bunch of hard-boiled mugs turn soft for the sake of doing a good deed is delightful, and Riskin’s perfectly calculated screenplay makes us root for Annie to succeed, with the help of seemingly everyone in New York, from a legless beggar to the mayor and governor. Riskin and Capra didn’t mind sentiment, but they lace the film with undercurrents of gangland rivalry, political cronyism, and other realities that make the truce (for Annie’s sake) that much more ironic—and sweet. Lady for a Day is a wish-fulfillment movie that seems to ask, wouldn’t life be wonderful if people really did help one another instead of only looking out for themselves?
Such sentiments would be considered unfashionably corny today, but this movie defies convention and plays as a modern fairy tale. It was just the tonic Depression-weary moviegoers sought in 1933, and it still works its magic. Watching it is a joyous experience.
70. THE LAST SHOT
(2004)
Directed by Jeff Nathanson
Screenplay by Jeff Nathanson
Actors:
MATTHEW BRODERICK
ALEC BALDWIN
TONI COLLETTE
TONY SHALHOUB
CALISTA FLOCKHART
TIM BLAKE NELSON
BUCK HENRY
RAY LIOTTA
JAMES REBHORN
JON POLITO
PAT MORITA
JOAN CUSACK
RUSSELL MEANS
IAN GOMEZ
TOM MCCARTHY
W. EARL BROWN
GLENN MORSHOWER
ERIC ROBERTS
ROBERT EVANS
Sometimes the parts of a movie are greater than the whole; when those parts are really good, I tend to be forgiving. The Last Shot is a pretty good movie based on a great idea, but it has so many wonderful performances—and inspired moments—that I recommend it without hesitation.
There are few targets as inviting for satire as moviemakers, but writer-director Jeff Nathanson hit on an irresistible premise for The Last Shot when he read an article about an FBI sting that involved mobsters, crooked union leaders, and a Hollywood wannabe. He optioned the rights to the true story and then took dramatic license in order to create an entertaining farce. The script was so appealing that he lined up a dream cast to fill his major roles.
Alec Baldwin plays an FBI agent who sees his chance to move up in the ranks by convincing naive would-be filmmaker Matthew Broderick that he’s going to finance his movie. In fact, the whole operation is a sting, a setup to trap some crooked Teamsters who shake down moviemakers when they work on location in New England.
The Last Shot opens with a title sequence (by the clever designers at yU+co.) that evokes iconic images of moviegoing, as well as moviemaking, as if to say, “This is going to be fun.” And it is. Nathanson’s screenplay offers opportunities for a number of talented actors to go to town: Tony Shalhoub is funny as a racketeer, Toni Collette is hilarious as a star with an ego that’s out of control, and Joan Cusack is outrageous in an unbilled cameo as an agent with the foulest mouth in town. (I once got to ask her if the character was inspired by anyone in particular; she told me it was a composite drawn from memory.) Even small parts, like the filmmaker’s agent, are played by perfectly chosen performers—in this case, Buck Henry.
The ultimate piece of perfect casting is Matthew Broderick as the movie’s hapless hero. He captures all of the innocence and determination of a born dreamer.
The Last Shot loses its momentum somewhere along the way, but it made me laugh out loud, and I smile just at the thought of it. That’s more than I can say about other more celebrated comedies.
71. LAWLESS HEART
(2001)
Directed by Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger
Screenplay by Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger
Actors:
DOUGLAS HENSHALL
TOM HOLLANDER
BILL NIGHY
CLÉMENTINE CÉLARIÉ
JOSEPHINE BUTLER
ELLIE HADDINGTON
STUART LAING
SUKIE SMITH
HARI DHILLON
JUNE BARRIE
PETER SYMONDS
In a relentless search to find new ways to present stories—and impress young audiences with their cleverness in the wake of movies like Memento and Adaptation—some filmmakers have begun