Singin' in the Rain (1952)

4.9/5

Singin' in the Rain is an amazingly fun movie. The plot follows silent film stars Don Lockwood (Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Hagen) as Hollywood begins shifting to talking pictures after the success of The Jazz Singer. Lina has a scratchy voice and the mental capacity of a five year old. She takes the tabloid stories as fact and believes that she has an intimate real-life relationship with her on-screen partner Don. But Don hates her guts; he's closer to his best friend Cosmo Brown (O'Connor). At a party, he meets the young Kathy Selden (Reynolds) and falls in love with her. Unlike the rest of his teeny bopper fans, she doesn't even recognize him. And once she finds out his occupation, she thinks even more lowly of him. He sets out to win her over. I'll leave the rest of the story for you to discover yourself.

The movie is not without a few problems. There are some random, unnecessary scenes (like that last Broadway dance number) and the story is fairly simplistic and predictable. But those problems are masked by the fact that this movie is such a joy to watch. The characters are fairly bland, but they are portrayed with heart and emotion by each actor. You want to grab them off the screen, hug them, and tell them it's going to be all right. There are some clever twists to keep you intrigued and a wealth of absolutely delightful jokes to keep you laughing. You smile the entire time. The dances are phenomenal in every sense of the word. They are a breath of fresh air in the modern world of close-ups, quick cuts, and CGI effects. You feel the energy and vivacity at every moment. You are happy to watch this movie. And despite any nit-picky faults in cinematography or editing, that is what makes this movie great. And that is what keeps me coming back and watching this movie again and again.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045152/

Inherit the Wind (1960)

3/5

Inherit the Wind is a good movie based on a good play, but it's not great. Following the minutiae of the sensational Scopes monkey trial, it feels somewhat dated. The best part about it was the amazing acting by Spencer Tracy and Gene Kelly. I didn't get much more out of it except a few good lines, a couple good laughs, and some neat cinematography. The rest just failed to impress. It may have been because I directed the play in high school and was already very familiar with the material; the movie to me was just the sum of the cinematic qualities distinct and separate from the story and message. As with Crash, the point the movie seemed to be making was the equality of all (in this case to be able to think). Both Haggis in Crash and Kramer here failed in their filmmaking because they bias the movies. Kramer very evidently takes the side of the evolutionists and makes the fundamentalists laughable. Brady should have been more of a commanding presence than a farcical caricature; Drummond always struck me as a little meaner and more arrogant than he's presented here. The editing was uninspired and common. I hated the music so much; it was pedestrian and irritating. Overall though, an interesting piece and recommended if you know nothing about the movie or are interested in the Scopes monkey trial, but it doesn't stand well to repeat viewings.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0053946/