July 30, 2010

A Movie "First"

"Salt" director Phillip Noyce knew he had some serious dedication on his hands when he showed Angelina Jolie the facade of the apartment building that her character climbs in one scene, Spider-Man style, 11 stories above the ground.

"We walked up to the building and I told her, 'So, the double will do it and you'll be back in the studio.' And she said, 'No, I want to do it myself,' " Noyce recalls. "I said sure because I didn't think there was any way it would pass muster with the insurance company anyway. And three weeks later, we were shooting it. With Angelina."

If Angelina Jolie is sui generis -- the world's only Oscar-winner who can also sell baby photos for millions, among other traits -- Sony's "Salt" marks a new chapter in her already unconventional book.

Not only does the actress play the lone lead in a big-budget summer action movie, but she was deemed a suitable replacement for Tom Cruise, the man who once wore the crown of the world's biggest action star and who was originally cast as the film's title character.

Instead of Edwin A. Salt, superspy and father, as the initial script had it, filmgoers on Friday will be introduced to Evelyn Salt, superspy (without children).

The film concerns well-reputed CIA agent Salt who is accused of being a Russian sleeper spy. Early on, she goes on the run -- a violent spree that alternately assures her innocence and supports her accusers -- that pretty much doesn't let up until the final credits.

The compact, high-octane film harks back to such twisty Cold War thrillers as "No Way Out" -- who works for the Russians and who for the Americans? -- but with the pacing and shoot-em-up abandon of a present-day action picture.

Much of what we see, however, is a significant departure from the original plan.

In July 2008, Cruise, weighing his next career move, decided not to make the movie. Sony executives, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Noyce gathered for an emergency meeting on how to save their big summer film. Noyce credits Sony Pictures chief Amy Pascal for suggesting Jolie, who at that time was helping carry the action movie "Wanted."

A debate broke out, but soon they all agreed to take a flier on the actress -- she was interested and had the chops -- and audiences just might buy it.

"When you look at it from a dispassionate business point of view, it's a better way to do the genre," Di Bonaventura says, explaining the decision. "With 'Mission [Impossible]' and Bourne and Bond, you're going to be the fourth spy guy. We thought, 'Let's be the first spy girl.' "

Screenwriter Kurt Wimmer ripped up his original script, which he had spent years writing and shopping around, to make sure it fit snugly with a female character. Gone was the man with the endangered wife and child, in was the next MacGyver and Jason Bourne, a resourceful, fleet-footed killing machine in a pencil skirt (and, at one point, in drag as a male military officer).

Jolie does things such as remove her underwear and high heels to dig out of a tough spot in a way that's played seriously; there's no "Charlie's Angels" camp here.

The filmmakers also reconfigured the entire arc of the movie. Cruise's Salt was supposed to rescue his wife and child. Jolie's Salt is married but the filmmakers worried a mother character could read too gentle, so they made her childless and turned her into more of a vigilante with a less clear-cut heroic mission.

In one sense, it's a testament to Jolie's acting skills that, watching the film, you'd hardly guess this was a role that was designed for -- and usually played by -- a man. But those looking to claim a glass ceiling has been broken may be jumping the gun; unlike their television counterparts, who have repeatedly cast female action leads, several film producers privately say they still wouldn't feel comfortable casting any other actress as an action lead.

Jolie hasn't appeared hugely eager to talk about the switch. She told the Los Angeles Times at the film's Hollywood premiere (the only time she spoke to the newspaper about the film) only that she thought the movie became "harder and darker" as it went from Edwin to Evelyn.

But even as Jolie tried to downplay the issue, it certainly hovered over Hollywood and, perhaps, the production. At the premiere, costar Liev Schreiber had a joke at the ready, saying that he was supposed to play Salt but decided to switch parts with her at the last
moment.

The idea of a woman in a spy lead isn't entirely new -- film scholars cited parts going back to Marlene Dietrich's turn in 1931's "Dishonored" -- but the heavy action
does mark a watershed moment for a different reason.

"You do see occasional female characters in these roles, but they usually use rather old-fashioned feminine ways, by seducing or being clever," says film historian David Thomson. "What's new is the physicality, the willingness of Angelina to engage in the action herself."

In an era of CGI, many actors see doing their own stunts as a way of proving their acting chops and combating the perception that much of what they do involves gestures in front of a green screen.

Noyce, however, says that it wasn't the more straightforward explanation of adrenaline or even authenticity that drove Jolie, who again worked with her trusted stunt-coordinator Simon Crane.

"I'm from a small Australian town and when I was a child, the traveling show would come through. And it would be filled with performers who just liked entertaining," Noyce says. "Angie is the same way. The blood that runs in her veins is to connect with people, to entertain the audience."

It was a goal, producers say, that dovetailed with, and even surpassed, their desire to ratchet up the film's impact.

"We wanted to go for it in the most hard-edged way, partly because we wanted to make sure no one would say we pulled a punch because we had a female lead, but partly because of her," di Bonaventura says. "When she takes out someone, it feels hard. You feel the metal against the bone."

Movie Review:

Little Big Man - 3 Stars (Good)

You know that "Little Big Man" has the makings of a good film when an historian visits Jack Crabb (Dustin Hoffman), a forgotten, 100-plus-year-old centenarian in an assisted living facility, to ask about how Native Americans lived in the Old West. It is said that Crabb lived among the Cheyenne, and indeed he did.

Both young Crabb and his sister Caroline were the sole survivors among their family during an Indian attack while heading West and are rescued by a Cheyenne and taken to their leader, Old Lodge Skins (Chief Dan George), who raises young Jack as a son after Caroline escapes back to civilization.

Jack finds life as a Cheyenne to be good, and becomes important by saving the life of Younger Bear. He is named "Little Big Man" by Old Lodge Skins because while small in size, he has a big heart.

From this improbable start, Jack recounts his walk through life with some amazing characters, including a preacher's wife with an appetite for illicit sex, a snake-oil salesman, a Swedish woman who becomes his wife, a Cheyenne woman who becomes his wife and mother to his son, General George Armstrong Custer and Wild Bill Hickok.

He becomes a huckster of phony products, a gunslinger named the Soda Pop Kid, a friend of Will Bill Hickok, a general store owner, a drunk, a "mule skinner" and scout for General Custer, a trapper and a hermit.

It is General Custer who orders his troops to attack Jack's Cheyenne family without cause and Jack's Cheyenne wife and son are killed in the slaughter. Ultimately, it is Jack who leads Custer into the trap at Little Big Horn and becomes the "sole white survivor of the battle of Little Big Horn."

Little Big Man, based on the 1964 novel by Thomas Berger, was directed by Arthur Penn and released in 1970. The film is not historically accurate, and does treat the Native Americans favorably and the U. S. Cavalry less favorably.

The screen adaptation with the help of Calder Willingham makes Little Big Man a balanced blend between humor and drama. The narration by the character Jack Crabb makes this film likeable and then some. Little Big Man is really the story of Jack's relationship with his adopted grandfather, Old Lodge Skins.

Chief Dan George received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations as the Best Supporting Actor in this film. He was outstanding in his role as Old Lodge Skins. When his people are attacked and killed for no good reason, he will not run, saying "today is a good day to die."

Old Lodge Skins calls his Cheyenne people "human beings", noting that there is "an endless supply of white men" and "a limited supply of human beings." He sees and feels the injustice being done to Native Americans who are given their own land and then attacked and killed without cause.

There are too many funny, poignant and dramatic moments in this film to recount them here. One of my favorites is when, after escaping with Jack's help from the last of the brutal attacks on his people, Old Lodge Skins goes to the top of the mountain to die. He prays, and then lays down to die but wakes up when it begins to rain, asking Jack if he is still in this world.

Jack answers yes, to which he replies, "I was afraid of that. Well, sometimes the magic works, sometimes it does not," and proceeds back down the mountain with Jack to eat dinner.

Dustin Hoffman set a record for portraying the greatest span of a single character in Little Big Man, playing Jack Crabb from age 17 to 121.

The narration by Jack Crabb, his walk through life, his contact with important people and his poignant story remind me of Tom Hanks and his role in "Forest Gump". Both of these films are well done, have a story to tell worth hearing, and leave us a better person for the experience.

It has been 37 years since Little Big Man hit the big screen. Not much has been made of it, but there is a certain group of moviegoers like myself who will not let this film die a slow death. It is too good to not be seen and enjoyed by others. I feel the same way about "A Christmas Story" and a lot of others do too.

If you have not seen Little Big Man do yourself a favor while you still can.