The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)

2/5

Cassavetes's The Killling of a Chinese Bookie is far too long for the scintillas of content it contains. The meager plot simply cannot support its 2 hour 15 minute runtime. Ben Gazzara stars as a strip club owner who racks up an immense gambling debt one night and must perform the titular act to pay it back and save his club. It could have lasted less than 20 minutes, but instead they randomly added stuff (perhaps to generate "atmosphere" or "mood" or some other such crap) that I couldn't possibly care less about. For example, Cassavetes wastes 20 uninterrupted minutes showing a strip show--multiple times!--randomly, and without purpose, explanation, or relevance.

While I liked the visuals themselves, the cinematography as a whole was not too appealing. Far too frequently, the shot went out of focus and stayed on something we didn't care about instead of showing us what we did want to see. This is partly due to patient, lingering editing--editing far too loose for the boring subject matter. Also, the audio levels were inconsistent (it was often too quiet or too loud). On the bright side, I loved the music and acting. The music perfectly set the mood and the Gazzara's acting exploded off the screen. There was also a terrifically tense (if a bit extended and misplaced) climax. And the opening credits were pretty cool. But other than that, I can't figure out much reason to watch this movie.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074749/

A Woman Under the Influence (1974)

2/5

John Cassavetes's A Woman Under the Influence is a slice of life tale examining the titular woman and her dysfunctional family life for two and a half hours. There was little plot to speak of, and not that much stuff actually happening. It was just a crazy woman losing her mind without explanation. While it was always interesting to watch, I continually wondered just what exactly I was watching and why. The only reason I started watching it was because Cassavetes is supposed to be the godfather of American independent cinema. I thought that that meant he made his films in a truly independent manner, but as far as I can tell it's because he started the concept of the bizarre, awkward, uncomfortable stories that are "unique" and that I don't care about at all.

This obligatory dysfunctional family is unparalleled--these people are more confusing, more inexplicable, and less realistic than Lars in Lars and the Real Girl. And angrier. There is so much yelling and arguing, it hurt my ears. At the same time, the husband-wife relationship and their inherent difficulties ring true, with genuine family dynamics on display. But do we really need a movie to show us this? The excellent acting by both Peter Falk and Gena Rowlands was a bit exaggerated at times. Add that to over-the-top characters, and the whole thing feels staged and melodramatic. Technically, the movie is a bit more impressive. It looked and sounded really really good. The problem is that, like all indies, this movie had atrociously slow editing--it would meander and linger on unnecessary shots/scenes in the hopes that the audience could find some underlying meaning.

All in all, you can hope to get some meaningful content out of it, but is it really worth all the time and patience you have to put in? Maybe for you, but not for me. (And yet, still I am going to be watching Cassavetes's next movie, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, so expect another pleasantly negative review soon.)

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072417/