Make Way For Tomorrow (1937)

2/5

Make Way For Tomorrow is a movie about an elderly couple (Moore, Bondi) who gather their kids together to announce that the bank is taking their house for failure to make payments on it. None of their children can seem to find enough room in their houses, their schedules, or their lives to take them in except for one son (Mitchell). He only has enough space for his mother, so he manages to convince his sister (Risdon) to put up their father until a more permanent situation can be sorted out. And so they are forced to go their separate ways after 50 years of marriage. They miss each other dearly as they try to adjust to their new living arrangements.

The movie itself was competent, but it was overwhelmingly heavy-handed and blunt in its message. It felt like they were hitting me over the head with every lonely composition and sad line of dialogue. Despite the sappy melodrama, a number of parts actually felt realistic. The parents themselves were somewhat annoying, which made the children's frustration easier to relate to. The entire movie was slow-paced, to match the speed of speech of the parents as they complained about random things. The last half of the movie felt a little more spirited--although it didn't make the movie go by any faster--as the couple reunited and relived the happiness they shared in their youth. The most powerful moment for me was a bit earlier on, however, when they are talking on the phone and you realize how much they sacrifice for the little happiness they get by being with each other. All in all, I am not a huge fan of this movie, but then again I am not yet a curmudgeonly grandfather who has shared the majority of my life with a meddling grandmother, although I fully intend to be when I grow up.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029192/

The Thin Man (1934)

3/5

The Thin Man, despite all the critical acclaim and crossword hoopla, is little more than a simple detective comedy. The plot is more convoluted than a film noir, with characters that look oddly similar to other characters and unnamed coppers and gangsters appearing and disappearing randomly. If I understood it better, I might give you a synopsis. Instead, I do not even know to whom the title refers. Hand in hand with its tortuous plot is its rather tepid, ordinary dialogue. The writing as a whole is average at best and boring at worst. The same could be said about the rest of the technical aspects of the film, from cinematography to editing.

So far, I'm painting the picture as a rather humdrum one. But the acting of the two leads (William Powell and Myrna Loy) as Nick and Nora Charles truly elevates the film above its mediocre components. Their playful antics and face-making, their incorrigible yet lovable dog Asta, and their unflappable sousing all come together to make an indelible impression on the audience. I can see why they made five sequels starring the couple. Despite my praise for the leads, they weren't on screen enough for me to make this movie worth it. I want more Nick and Nora. And Asta. I don't picture myself watching the sequels because I don't know if I can sit through all the subpar qualities engulfing their talent.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025878/