Originally published in Synapse on Jan. 16, 1997.
I suppose I should begin with a qualifying statement. I am not a professional film critic and I certainly haven’t seen all of the movies that came out this past year (studying tended to get in the way), but I did see many more than ten and I actually liked more than ten of them. Hence my personal top ten list for your reading pleasure.
To make my list, a film had to make an impression on me, be it intellectual, emotional, or both. Put another way, I had to be able to actually remember something about the movie. So here they are in order of greatness:
1. Secrets & Lies: This British film about a young black optometrist who seeks out her birth mother after the death of her adopted mother stands out as the year’s best for several reasons.
First, the acting is incredible with Brenda Blethyn who plays the optometrist’s white, working class birth mother giving the best performance I saw all year as she was able to convey feelings from joy to despair, pride to inadequacy and regret with an intense realism.
While a simple plot description of a black woman discovering that her birth mother is white sounds like a subject drawn from a daily talk show, the film explores the complications of family relationships, race and class differences, and issues of acceptance, love, and loneliness in a moving way.
2. Fargo: Perhaps my perspective is colored by the fact that I lived in Minnesota for 16 years of my life which is the setting for this film by the Coen brothers, but I loved this black comedy/murder mystery.
The protagonist played by Frances McDormand is a pregnant sheriff of a small northern Minnesota town who sports a great Minnesota accent and sets out to solve a series of murders that have broken her town’s usual peace and quiet.
Based on a true story, we follow Ms. McDormand and the criminals whose paths she follows. Well-acted, sharply written and directed, suspenseful, and at times hilarious, Fargo was a great time at the movies.
3. Hate: I am not certain whether this French film was released earlier than 1996, but I saw it in the theater this past year so that’s good enough for me. Shot in black and white this movie shows a side of Paris that we don’t usually get to see, like the housing projects and racial tensions that are sharply contrasted to the glamour and cosmopolitan images of Paris.
The story follows three teenage boys, one Middle Eastern, another Jewish, and the third black. The three of them live in the projects outside of Paris together, and the film begins with them reacting to the brutal beating suffered by one of their friends at the hands of the police during a political demonstration and builds to an ultimately tragic conclusion.
What is remarkable about the film is its ability to convey society’s failings through powerful imagery that haunts you well after you have left the theater.
4. Lone Star: This ambitious film by John Sayles follows a large cast of characters from different races and classes whose lives are all affected when new evidence for the unsolved murder of the town’s sheriff tens of years ago is discovered. The film does an amazing job of developing its characters and deftly moves back and forth from the past and the present while offering insight into race and class issues in a small Texas town.
5. Flirting with Disaster: This film by Ben Stiller was by far the funniest film I saw all year. In contrast to Secrets & Lies’ serious treatment of family relationships and the search for one’s birth mother, this film deals with a similar subject in a whimsically farcical way that pushes credible absurdity to the limit as we follow the main character’s search for his natural parents. The results are absolutely hilarious.
6. Trainspotting: Trainspotting got a lot of publicity for its portrayal of young heroin addicts in Scotland. While criticized by many for either romanticizing heroin use or for not condemning heroin use explicitly enough, the film gives viewers one look at the lives of heroin addicts, exploring what fuels and motivates their addiction and how they live their lives.
Sure, the characters are seen enjoying heroin, but then they probably wouldn’t have become addicts if they didn’t enjoy it at least at some point.
But it also shows the consequences of addiction, including the contraction of HIV by one of the characters and a harrowing scene depicting the main character suffering withdrawal. In addition, the film is quite entertaining with great acting, dialogue, and imagery.
7. Welcome to the Dollhouse: Rarely has a film so brutally portrayed the trials and tribulations of being an awkward adolescent surviving junior high in suburban America.
We follow the life of young Dawn Weiner as she is tortured at school and at home (where she is continually pestered by and compared to her cute little sister who is perpetually dancing around in a white tutu).
Walking the fine line between comedy and tragedy the film makes you laugh and cringe at the same time while telling a story that most people who went through puberty can relate to on some level.
8. Freeway: The story of Little Red Riding Hood has never been told quite like this. In this black comedy Reese Witherspoon plays a street smart high schooler from a broken home who when things get rough decides to seek shelter at her grandmother’s house.
Unfortunately, on the way she gets a ride from Kiefer Sutherland who plays a serial killer who preys on young women. However, he’s in for more than he expected this time around. Creepy and hilarious while continually entertaining; this film also actually makes some strong statements on America’s class structure and system of justice.
9. Shine: This Australian biographical film tells the life story of David Helfgott, a child prodigy whose abusive and overbearing father led to his mental breakdown at a young age. The scenes of Helfgott passionately playing the piano are mesmerizing, and the story’s tragedy but ultimate redemption are genuinely moving. Each of the three actors who plays Helfgott at a different age are excellent with Geoffrey Rush playing the adult Helfgott giving one of the standout performances of the year.
10. Jerry Maguire: I have never been a big Tom Cruise fan, in fact one might call me an anti-Tom Cruise fan, but this film really took me by surprise. Though he does to some extent play the typical cocky, on-top-of-the-world character that is his trademark, there is actually some depth to him and the characters he interacts with.
Both Cuba Gooding Jr. as the wide receiver who is sports agent Jerry Maguire’s last client and Rene Zellweger as Maguire’s lone employee and love interest in fact steal scene after scene from Cruise. Zellweger in particular has the kind of screen presence and glow that brings magic to the film.
What I liked in particular about the movie was its portrayal of the relationship between Cruise’s and Zellweger, as it dealt honestly with issues of feeling passion or not for another person.
