I’d like to start by fully explaining the origins of this project. Throughout my years of watching movies and movies and some more movies, I have seen John Malkovich in quite a few films. There is no denying that he is a critically acclaimed actor, and has appeared in some amazing movies, but I have always found myself underwhelmed by him and his craft. He is one of those actors I associate with other that always do the same things in roles, never really stretching himself out for a character or a script (Al Pacino, Bruce Willis, this list can go on for a while). I am hoping that over the year that this will take, week by week, I will begin to see an insight into Mr. Malkovich’s acting methods, and see the true range that he is capable of. I know I am going to see some really bad movies, and some really great movies, and movies I have seen before, so I am excited at what is to come. I hope for those of you who read my crappy blog that this will be an interesting analysis of the man and my feelings towards him. Did that last sentence sound kind of gay? Oh well. Please to enjoy.
Synopsis: Sally Field plays a widow during the depression era, who must find a way to make money at the threat of losing her house and having to send away her two small children. Along comes Danny Glover and John Malkovich to save the day, or something like that. Actually, it’s probably more about the woman’s strength then what they did.
Staring: Sally Field, Danny Glover, John Malkovich, Ed Harris, Lane Smith
Described on the DVD slip as a bittersweet tale, I don’t think that could be more apt. This movie has some pretty depressing moments. In fact, the movie starts off with a bang in the depression department. I see in one an Oscar or two. Sally Field was good in the movie, but I would be curious to see who the other nominees were. And what do you know, our good friend Mr. Malkovich got an Oscar nod too. I wonder if that sky rocketed his career.
So like I said, the movie is about a widow in the south during the depression doing some “crazy” things to get by. For some odd reason, and I suppose I should say SPOILERS but really, I don’t intend to hold anything back during these reviews, there is a side story going on during the main plot. Ed Harris’ character is married to Sally Field’s sister in the movie, and is having an affair with the local school marm. I don’t really know why this was included in the movie other then possibly to take up space, because the side story does not affect the main stories plot line at all. Sure, they live in the same town, have the same friends, get hit by the same tornado, and eventually pick cotton in the same field, but it just seemed really odd to me that the two story didn’t impact each other. Well, the sub plot was affected by the main plot I suppose, but not the other way around.
There is a lot of racial tension in the movie, starting almost immediately. Some of the images were disturbing, but they were kept to a minimum really. The word “nigger” is used like 500 times at least. My sensitive ears begin to cry out in pain! And there is a fantastic appearance by the KKK doing one of their well know numbers. The scene where that happens is a very cool one for John Malkovich. Let’s just say he gets a little Daredevil on them racist folks. You know, minus the martial arts.
If there is one thing in the movie that REALLY grinded my gears, it was some of the strange editing cuts. It seemed that the editor had a liking for having someone say a line, and then RIGHT AWAY cutting to another scene. Also there were a few scenes that were on screen for 10 seconds and then BAM! Another cut to something else. Seems kind of sloppy to me, I’m just saying.
Anywho! This is kind of a depressing movie, I don’t think I would recommend it to anyone, but if someone asked me if it was any good I’d say, sure, it’s worth a watch I suppose. Danny Glover is pretty cool in it, and so is John Malkovich…………
John Malkovich in “Places in the Heart”:
John Malkovich plays a blind man who is insisted upon Sally Field by the bank in order to rent a room from her. Neither she nor he is happy about the situation, and you get the feeling from his character that he used to being pawned off to people because of his handicap and limitations. For some ODD reason, I think Mr. Malkovich did a really good job in this role. I think I can attribute this to his lack of yelling in the movie. Well, that’s not true; he did some yelling during the tornado scene. He seemed very toned down in the movie and I think that really worked for him. And it helped that his character became completely likable as the plot progressed. So kudos to you Mr. Malkovich. This round is yours.
The next movie in the John Malkovich Project is the Killing Field. I plan to have one of these up every Friday (crossing my fingers!) so if you’d like to watch along with me I more than welcome you too. Please send any comment, suggestions or love letters to JDTMovies@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.
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