Double Feature

January 2010 - As we begin this New Year, I resolve to make a resolution: I resolve to continue writing this column - whether you want me to or not. So, with the editor's blessing, I'll subject you to reviews of 24 movies in 2010, starting with two oldies but goodies.

First, we go back to 1997 for the R-rated crime drama Cop Land. Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta and Robert De Niro carry the action. Look for Edie Falco in a small role.

Stallone plays Freddy Heflin, sheriff of Garrison, NJ. It's right across the river from New York City and home to several NYPD officers from one precinct. Up til now, Freddy hasn't asked too many questions about what his fellow law enforcement officers are up to. But, things happen, and Freddy can no longer ignore the fact that many of these cops are dirty. Moe Tilden (De Niro) is an Internal Affairs cop who asks Freddy to help bring them down.

Overall review: Liked it. I saw this movie in the theater when it came out, and I remember coming away pleasantly surprised. I think Stallone is the biggest surprise here. He's very good. The plot is a little convoluted, but you can pick up the gist. The action is good, and there are some intimate moments, too.

For our second film, we go back to 1990 for Pretty Woman. Julia Roberts and Richard Gere star in this R-rated romantic comedy classic. Garry Marshall directs.

Gere plays Edward Lewis, a corporate raider who's all business. He's in LA to complete his takeover of a ship building company. The movie opens with Lewis at a party at his lawyer's house. His girlfriend in New York dumps him over the phone. Lewis then takes the lawyer's Lotus and starts driving to his hotel in Beverly Hills. But, Lewis doesn't know how to drive very well. He also doesn't know where he's going. He ends up stalling on Hollywood Boulevard, where a hooker named Vivian (Roberts) talks her way into his car.

They end up in his penthouse hotel suite, and Lewis asks Vivian to spend the week with him so he can take her to business dinners and such. Why does he do this? Because he sees her flossing her teeth and that surprises him. It starts out as a business proposition but, of course, becomes much more.

Overall review: Liked it. The plot leaves a little to be desired, but the dialogue is good and the movie comes full circle as things that characters say early on are thrown back at them later. The supporting cast is good and, for better or worse, Roberts and Gere found the roles that defined their careers.

If I have a problem with this movie it's that there's a current of "ickiness" - for lack of a better word - that bubbles throughout. We're never allowed to forget that Vivian is, after all, a prostitute, albeit one who's very pretty.