Leonard Maltin's 151 Best Movies You've Never Seen - Maltin, Leonard [59]
Streep plays a stressed-out working-class mom whose older son (DiCaprio) is nothing but trouble; he’s even set their house on fire. Out of the blue she hears from her estranged sister, who’s been taking care of their ailing father in Florida. It seems that she’s facing a health crisis of her own and needs a bone-marrow donor, if she can find a proper match. Streep packs up her kids and makes the trip, still wondering why her sister chose to put her life on hold to take care of their elderly dad, who’s lost the ability to speak.
To be perfectly clear, Marvin’s Room isn’t about death or disease: it’s about family dynamics and life choices. That’s what makes it so universal in its appeal. (Indeed, the perpetually angry young DiCaprio establishes a warm rapport with his aunt, whom he’s never really known.)
McPherson’s screenplay also scores points with its disarming sense of humor, acknowledging the absurdities of life, the indignity of aging, and the unpredictable ways people relate to one another.
Marvin’s Room would be worth seeing on any account because of its stellar cast, all of whom are at the top of their game. Streep is her usual superlative self, and DiCaprio fulfills the promise he showed in such earlier films as This Boy’s Life and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. (He made this simple domestic drama in between Titanic and William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet.) People who only associate Keaton with comedy should savor her warm and assured performance here. Robert De Niro, whose company produced the picture, has an amusing role as a doctor who is slightly off-kilter.
The casting of Hume Cronyn is particularly effective; he never utters a word, yet his presence is strongly felt in every scene he’s in. Those moments wouldn’t have had nearly the same impact if an unknown—or less skillful—actor had been in his place.
Marvin’s Room also marks the feature-film debut of longtime Broadway director Jerry Zaks. The former actor has since lent his talent to a variety of A-list TV sitcoms, but this sensitive movie reveals his great skill at telling a story and getting the very best from his actors.
81. THE MATADOR
(2005)
Directed by Richard Shepard
Screenplay by Richard Shepard
Actors:
PIERCE BROSNAN
GREG KINNEAR
HOPE DAVIS
PHILIP BAKER HALL
DYLAN BAKER
ADAM SCOTT
PORTIA DAWSON
ROBERTO SOSA
An actor works for years to find a part that suits him, and puts him in the spotlight, then, as often as not, works even harder to make people forget the character so he can move on. Pierce Brosnan came to America’s attention as the title character in the clever TV series Remington Steele in the 1980s and then inherited the daunting mantle of James Bond a decade later. He’s fought ever since to find movie vehicles that will let him (and audiences) leave 007 behind.
Greg Kinnear became famous as the snarky host of the television show Talk Soup but happily left his TV persona behind when acting opportunities arose. He surprised critics and moviegoers alike with his moving performance in As Good As It Gets (1996), which earned him an Oscar nomination, and later played against his all-American looks in the dark biopic Auto Focus (2002) as radio and TV star Bob Crane.
In The Matador, both Brosnan and Kinnear defy any preconceived ideas we might have about them and the kind of roles we’re used to seeing them play. That’s one reason the movie works so well. The other is an inspired and thoroughly unpredictable screenplay by director Richard Shepard.
The two characters meet one night in the bar of a Mexico City hotel. Kinnear is a thorough square who’s hoping to rescue his faltering business career at an important meeting. Brosnan is there to rub someone out; he’s a hit man. They have nothing in common except, as it turns out, a touch of desperation that—away from home and the everyday routine—brings them together. Brosnan even takes his new pal to a bullfight and