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A Shot At The Sea

It's the usual mid-week issue of this wonderful column. Have you seen Charlie's Angels? No?? You Should. I have seen it three times already. Don't be surprised if it makes my Top 10 movies of the year list. Only in McG's little head can we have George McFly kicking ass like Jet Li. Anyway, today we have a review of Robert Duvall's film A Shot at Glory. Mr. Duvall invested some of his own money in this project. Does it work like The Apostle? Also, I decided to get off my lazy ass and write a little. I've written an interesting script review of City By The Sea.

A Shot at Glory Review

"Hollyfeld, here. I recently had the privilege of catching two promising upcoming films, (the second analysis will be out soon) but before I begin discussing the first one I would like to send out an open apology to anyone who wrote me an e-mail following my last report. Due exclusively to careless, the address was inaccurate, and thusly I have received no one's e-mails. (That is, of course, assuming anyone sent them - I don't want to get presumptuous.) I heartily apologize now and will heartily apologize again to anyone who write me from here on out saying they sent me an e-mail I never received. My address - my CORRECT address - is hollyfeld_@hotmail.com. Thank you to anyone who wishes to write me in regards to any of my critiques, or, indeed, anything even closely related to film.

Robert Duvall

I was fortunate enough last week to get one of the first glimpses ever of A Shot At Glory, the new labor of love from Robert Duvall. The film features Duvall as the coach of a Scotland soccer (which from now on will be called by its appropriate name, football) team owned by American Michael Keaton. Keaton wants to move the team to Ireland, but has agreed to keep the team in Kilnockie if they can win the Scotland Cup. This is hard enough for a second division team (imagine your local baseball team making it to the World Series), but they do have the good fortune of their most recent addition - two time Golden Boot winner Jackie Quinlan (real life ex-football star Ally McCoist). But this again is a problem, because he is also Duvall's estranged son-in-law, and has not yet been forgiven for either stealing his daughter or leaving her. Then again, his daughter has yet to be forgiven as well, and neither has his old rival, the manager of the Rangers, the best team in Scotland.

So although on the surface the film is about Jackie and his budding new relationship with his wife and team, A Shot At Glory slowly makes it clear that the main character is in fact Gordon McCloud (Duvall). Can he set aside his differences and become a better man? Will Jackie and his wife Kate (played gloriously by Kirsty Mitchell, in what should be a star-making performance a la Minnie Driver in Circle of Friends) get back together? Will Jackie grow up? And does the Kilnockie football team even have a chance at the Scottish Cup?

Michael Keaton

This is a delightful little movie that knows that the key to a good traditional sports movie is characters we can care about, and this film has them in spades. Michael Keaton (who has been doing very well lately - Out Of Sight and Jackie Brown) is appropriately bureaucratic, but then again, he really does seem to love football and care about his players. Duvall's wife (whom I did not recognize) knows the ins and outs of being a football wife, and Kate is the appropriate mix of being sweet and incredibly sexy. Quinlan's son is adorable and a nice introduction to the youthful sporting culture. Also entertaining was Cole Hauser as the American goalie, who is very new and very American, and receives a lot of flack for it. Duvall is wonderful as usual, although his accent did take a while to get used to. At first he actually sounded like a demented leprechaun, but ten minutes later I realized that this was simply because I was not used to him with an Irish accent - by the end of the film, it seemed as natural as any of the other accents in the film.

I would like to take a moment to address one of the funniest things in world. On the form at the end was the question (paraphrasing): Did the Scottish accents contribute to your enjoyment of the film? I admit to being blown away by this question. Were they worried that people would be turned off by Scottish accents? And if so, what they heck could they do about it? Did they film alternate versions of each scene without accents? Of all the stupid things to be worried about...

There are many things to like about this movie. The soccer scenes are filmed with panache and tension (it is always a compliment when an audience actually claps in a movie theater), the comedy is well-done, under-stated and memorable. What I found stuck out in most peoples' minds was the fans of the team, who showed up at every game and rarely had scenes that were outside of the stadium. Every character was well-defined and memorable, and every one was funny. The unexplained guy in the fish suit, for example, or the guy who goes to every game and can't bear to look at the action.) A Shot At Glory deals with their fans very well and very often. It both supports the positive qualities of fandom while condemning the fanaticism that is so often attributed to the sport. It's about time a sports movie both supported and criticized the fans, instead of just using them as comic relief or just showing the family members of the players.

The two flaws in A Shot At Glory are forgivable, but become more pronounced due to the overall quality of the rest of the film. The character of Jackie Quinlan was unfortunately under-developed, though not to the point where he becomes two-dimensional. In short, I would have liked his character development to have been more fleshed out instead of so quick. (His main change in the film seems to occur almost overnight.) Also, at the end, there is a somewhat forced 'inspirational voice-over scene,' which could have been dealt with more subtly. A simple flashback to the action alluded to by Duvall would have sufficed. These problems do not in any way ruin the film, but the former is a notable flaw and the latter runs too long, slowing down the climax. Not horrible, but luckily at least the latter could be fixed.

A Shot At Glory will appeal both to football fans and people who just like entertaining movies. One can see why Robert Duvall worked to get this movie made, although it is nothing new. Like most good sports movies of the last decade (Rudy, Tin Cup, Cool Runnings), it knows the conventions of the genre and works within them, rather than re-inventing the wheel. A Shot At Glory is worth going to a theater for when it is released.

For anyone interested in contacting me, I can be reached at hollyfeld_@hotmail.com I appreciate all your comments, questions, or discussions. Thank you."

(Review sent in by 'Hollyfeld'.)

My review of the City By The Sea script

Urban dramas about cops are a dime a dozen. Every once in a while one of those generic story comes out of nowhere and is really interesting. That's the case of City By The Sea by Ken Hixon, based upon an on an Esquire Magazine article written by the late Mike McAlary. Director Michael Caton-Jones (The Jackal) is scheduled to start shooting sometime next week in NYC. Here's a brief look at the plot:

James Franco

Joey Nova (James Franco), a junkie, kills petty thief/drug-dealer Bobby Salem over a robbery gone wrong. The NYPD investigates the murder and Detective Vincent LaMarca (Robert DeNiro) is put on the case. The investigation brings Vince back to his estranged hometown of Long Beach, Long Island aka The City by the Sea. Vincent's father Angelo was sentenced to death and executed in. As the investigation progress we learn that Joey Nova is in fact Joseph LaMarca, Vincent's lost son. After a police officer is killed and fingers are pointed at Joey, Vincent races to save his son from police revenge-minded brutality and a vicious biker name Spyder.

Robert De Niro

I obtained this script only to trade it with a friend. I didn't really want to read it. Three months ago, I became pretty bored and started reading it for fun. After the first 25 pages I was hooked. It's an amazing story with a strong dramatic storyline about three generations of men. Could crime be genetic? Would Angelo's criminal behavior genes be passed on to his grand-son Joseph? There's also Vincent coming to term with his life. The man is in love with his neighbor Michelle, but he can't commit to her. Suddenly his earlier life, which he's been hiding from, comes crashing down on him. How does he handle it?

Robert DeNiro is going to have a ball playing this role. Al Pacino would have been an interesting choice to play Vincent, but DeNiro will be perfect. 2001 will see DeNiro's dramatic/action action persona comeback again. His comedic roles in Analyze This and Meet The Parents have brought him huge box-office success. We'll see him next in 15 minutes, The Score and this project.

Eliza Dushku

James Franco's only known performance has been as a macho goofball in Whatever It Takes. His looks are perfect for Joey Nova, but does he have what it takes inside to play the confused Joseph. This performance will be a good test to see if he has "Harry Osborn" inside of him. Eliza Dushku, who was drop dead gorgeous in Bring it On, will have an interesting role of a young woman who is caught up between her drug addiction and (SPOILERS) her new baby. (END SPOILERS)

Director Michael Caton-Jones has helmed Bobby D. in This Boy's Life and it should be interesting to see what they do together this time. Let's pray Caton-Jones' direction is more Rob Roy then The Jackal. If the direction is right and everyone involved pulls it together, they could have an Oscar Contender for 2001 or 2002.

Stay tuned...

That's all folks...

Jean-François Allaire (aka DeadPool)

Questions, comments, praise etc. Email me at deadpool@tnmc.org

SEND ME A SCOOP!!

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Jean-François Allaire is TNMC's first columnist. At only 24 years old he has become a respected entertainment journalist, with his columns appearing in Corona's Coming Attractions and Scr(i)pt magazine. He also writes a monthly column in Screenwriters Monthly entitled 'The Last Word.' Hailing from Montreal this young writer is determined to dig up all the details on the movies before they hit your local theater. If you're part of a movie production then you really need to be talking to him.