Leonard Maltin's 151 Best Movies You've Never Seen - Maltin, Leonard [93]
The Steel Helmet also celebrates the incredible pluck and determination of the ordinary American GI, and the way good soldiers lean on each other for support and survival. No one ever accused Sam Fuller of being subtle, but his rata-tat-tat dialogue still crackles after all these years. I think The Steel Helmet is one of the most underrated war movies of all time.
If you like this lean, mean movie you might want to explore Fuller’s other movies, including his early works (The Baron of Arizona, I Shot Jesse James, Park Row, Pickup on South Street) as well as his later Westerns and melodramas (House of Bamboo, Run of the Arrow, Forty Guns, Shock Corridor, The Naked Kiss). And if you want to immerse yourself in a really great story, I encourage you to read his autobiography, A Third Face: My Tale of Writing, Fighting and Filmmaking. You’ll soon discover that Fuller was just as colorful as the characters he brought to life on-screen.
128. STILL CRAZY
(1998)
Directed by Brian Gibson
Screenplay by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais
Actors:
STEPHEN REA
BILLY CONNOLLY
JIMMY NAIL
TIMOTHY SPALL
BILL NIGHY
JULIET AUBREY
HELENA BERGSTROM
BRUCE ROBINSON
RACHAEL STIRLING
I don’t know if rock ’n’ roll should last a lifetime,” says a young woman who’s spent the last twenty years pining for the musician she loved, before he self-destructed. But, given the chance to help keyboard player Stephen Rea reunite their ’70s band, Strange Fruit, she jumps in wholeheartedly. And so do we in the audience. I was rooting for Still Crazy from the opening scene. Not only does it have an irresistible premise, but it features many of my favorite British actors.
In the case of the rock ’n’ roll band Strange Fruit, it’s been twenty years since they performed together, and that last concert was an utter disaster (lightning struck the outdoor stage). The band’s former keyboard player (Stephen Rea) now services condom-dispensing machines, so when the son of that fateful concert’s promoter approaches him about a reunion, he’s game. For one thing, he’s got nothing to lose, and besides, he’s never completely abandoned his love for rock ’n’ roll. He looks up the band’s intrepid girl Friday (Juliet Aubrey) and together they go in search of the former musicians who have fallen off the show-business map. One is a roofer (Jimmy Nail), one is a gardener (Timothy Spall) who’s on the lam from tax authorities, another (Bill Nighy) tries to keep up a good front as a wealthy (if henpecked) retiree who lives in a Gothic castle…and one apparently died of a drug overdose. The guy who’s most enthusiastic about hitting the road again is, of course, the band’s erstwhile roadie (Billy Connolly).
At this point the movie could go in any direction, from farce to tragedy. Still Crazy is essentially a comedy, but it has just the right amount of bittersweet in its makeup and surprise in its plotting. What’s more, the music is actually good.
Having recently made two “straight” musical biopics, The Josephine Baker Story and What’s Love Got to Do with It, Brian Gibson was a fortuitous choice to helm this film. The screenplay was penned by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, the most durable and prolific writing team in recent history. Their TV and movie credits, spread over four decades, include much-loved British comedy series like Porridge, features ranging from swingin’ ’60s fare like Otley and The Touchables to Flushed Away and The Bank Job, and one of the greatest movies ever written about a band, The Commitments. They know both comedy and character and fill this film with both commodities; the former bandmates aren’t stick figures but colorful people with a variety of peccadilloes. Of course, having them played by the likes of Bill Nighy, Timothy Spall, and Billy Connolly doesn’t hurt.
129. STONE READER
(2003)
Directed by Mark Moskowitz
Screenplay by Mark Moskowitz
A good