CS Film Club II

Reversal of Fortune

It's not every day that you turn on a movie and realize that not only was it based on a novel written by famed lawyer Alan Dershowitz, it also features Dershowitz as one of the main characters. I knew little about the movie before watching but it was soon evident that it was based on actual events where Dershowitz took on the appeal of Claus von Bulow, husband of the wealthy and comatose Sunny von Bulow whom Claus was convicted of trying to kill on two occasions via insulin overdose. I primarily knew of this movie as the one that got Jeremy Irons his Oscar before he was featured in the films that I really know him for; Die Hard With A Vengeance, The Lion King and Kingdom of Heaven. The beginning does have some noir elements including the supposed setup on an intricate attempted murder along with narration by Glenn Close whose character is in a permanent vegetative state, an incapacitated secondary character who guides the audience along while her case is wrapped and immediately unraveled.

In a way the structure of Reversal of Fortune is rather unique. It begins with Claus being convicted of two counts of attempted murder after quickly asserting that Claus was probably the one who made his wife slip into a permanent coma. She's rich, they were having marital problems, it only makes sense that he would try to rub her out, right? That's when the film begins, with Dershowitz taking on not only a difficult case but one where public opinion is clearly and steadfastly against him. We then pull the thread on Claus' relationship with his wife, his stepchildren and the events that lead up to Sunny's near death and coma and, more importantly, who was responsible for it. Half of it focuses on the lifestyle of the wealthy von Bulows while the other half is, well i wouldn't call it a courtroom drama, more like a pre-trial preparation where Dershowitx employs his hand-picked students to help him perfect every square inch of his appeal. It's quite an interesting movie whose story and structure had to have been precisely laid out and established for it to work with the end result being a satisfying and sometimes sympathetic look at class, marital woes and presumed innocence even after guilt is established.

And apparently the real Sunny von Bulow was in her persistent vegetative state for almost thirty years before she died. Oof, if I'm in one for more than a couple days just let me go already.

B+ so says Doomsday

Yeah, I mean I guess I can understand the logic of how he takes cases at least in the way it's presented in the movie and certainly agree everyone is entitled to a defense but at the same time I'm also left scratching my head a little bit on some of his selections.

I'm aiming to have my review up by Friday, Dooms

Hoping to have it within next couple days.

Got sidetracked watching Elia Kazan movies before they leave Criterion Channel.

Yup. Got Panic in the Streets and Gaslight done this month

Tagging everyone again because we have a nice little weekend coming up.

PG Cooper - Nilade
thebtskink - donny
PhantomKnight - 1godzillafan
Dracula - Doomsday

Film has been completed. Review henceforth.

My internet is still trash. Arguably more so than last weekend.

The File on Thelma Jordon

I have been on a bit of a run since the start of the New Year banging out a lot of noirs, particularly in black in and white. A few of them have starred screen legend, Barbara Stanwyck, a 4-time Best Actress nominee from the late 30's to 40's. Thelma Jordon happened to check all of those boxes, so the timing was perfect.

Starring the aforementioned Stanwyck as the titular character, Thelma Jordon begins it's story in the DA's office, when Thelma reports a series of burglaries at her Aunt Vera's home. There she meets the handsome, yet inebriated Cleve Marshall (Wendell Corey), the Assistant DA, who happens to he in an unhappy marriage. Despite not intending to see Marshall (She wants to speak to the DA), the two begin seeing each other, and as usually tends to happen, develop a romantic relationship. As the story progresses, we begin to realize that our friend Thelma isn't all she seems, with murder and deception right around the corner. 

This is a pretty solid noir all around, hitting on many of the tropes or themes one would come to see in this genre. Stanwyck, a veteran of these performances, was fresh off her last Academy Award nomination* when this came out. Once again, she is hard to look away from when on the screen, playing the role of femme fatale to perfection. The beats are a bit predictable as this plays out, for example you quickly see that Jordon does have another love interest, and that not everything she is telling Marshall is true. It's pretty clear from the onset that Jordon has more to do with her Aunt's murder than Marshall may think, although to be fair, he does constantly treat her in this with a certain level of apprehension. He's great in this as well. 

Noirs tend to have a little more downtrodden or fatalistic endings, for at least one of if not all of the main characters. Thelma Jordon follows suit for the most part, leaving a little bit of hope for our friend Marshall as this story comes to a close. I appreciated that. All in all, this is a well acted melodrama, with confident direction from Robert Siodmak, a veteran of the noir circuit. 

7.5/10

In for next round. 


* thebtskink Stanwyck/Marshall teamed up in 1949's Sorry, Wrong Number, another noir I'm currently watching. 
Also, the director Siodmak made a great one called The Killers with Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner. 

Had typed out something lengthy but my internet blinked and deleted the entire thing and I'm not typing it again.

You're Next

It sucked.

Hunt For the Wilderpeople

It's fine.