Dianne-Wiest Movie Reviews

Just so there is no mistake, this is THE worst movie I have ever seen. I have seen a lot of movies. I saw this when it came out. And still, 7 years later it holds this prestigious position. I have to spoil a few parts of this film to make my point. Don't read on if you want to be "surprised" by it.

Lets start with the things that we know about the characters in the film by the end.
Albert Brooks is a washed up Baseball scout until he finds Brendan Fraser. He is really desperate to find his "King Kong" to bring back and show the world. Because of this he plays the mildly pathetic role of the pushy mentor. That's pretty much it for this textbook one dimensional character.
Diane Wiest is the psychiatrist that is introduced to help out Brendan Fraser's character since he has a few "issues". She cares for his well being, well, because she's a doctor. Oh and a woman, so of course she's motherly. Whatever. That's pretty much it for this ( also ) textbook one dimensional character. I think she has about 10 minutes of screen time. I think Steinbrenner had about 10 too.
There is a list of other curious characters that awkwardly stumble in and out of this story but I won't mention them here to save time.
Now lets get to Fraser's character. The things we know ( by the end of the film ) are that he is an inhuman pitcher. He knocks the catchers over with his awesome power. He hits every ball out of the park. He loves baseball. We figure out that he has abandonment issues mostly from the hints dropped early on. He avoids questions about his parents, he freaks out at the airport in New York when he loses sight of Brooks and begs "don't leave me alone again" or something equally obvious. And then of course because Diane Weist tells us this is so an hour into the movie. "He has abandonment issues" I think is her line. "REALLY?" was mine. She also informs us ( and Brooks ) that he had an abusive father with the deeply moving and poetic line "I think he had an abusive father".
Ok now to my biggest problem with the film. The questions that are NEVER answered about Fraser's character.
1. Brooks finds him in Mexico. We never find out why he is living there.
2. His parents are gone. We never find out where or why. No of course we never meet them. That would be to obvious.
3. He hates questions. He freaks out right from the start "I don't like all these questions, I don't like answering questions". We never find out why.
4. Woman walk by him and give him their phone number without ever meeting him. We don't know why. I guess cause he is cute. But this character point is never used again. With the exception of a woman that works for the Yankees who wants to take him home. No nothing ever comes of this. Well maybe it is so that Brooks can deliver the responsible social commentary "You know you need to use protection?". Kill me know.
5. Before he gets signed he says that he has no problem playing in front of people, big crowds or not. When he signs with the Yankees, he freaks out when asked if he is going to pitch this season. "Oh... I .... I don't know about that" he states. WHY?. You never find out. I guess its the abandonment issues. Whatever.
6. And now my favorite character trait. Oh god I love this one. He's really good at doing laundry. That's right. He knows all there is to know about doing laundry.
Laundry my friends.
You know this because he tells you so in one scene. How does he know so much? you ask. That's right, you never find out. Amazing.

This movie actually sucks the quality out of all other movies. It is the movie that I gage all other movies by. In that respect I suggest you see it too. Every thing you see after will at least be better than this one.

A final note, just so you know I'm not the only one that thought this movie stunk. This movie was actually made in 1988 and shelved by Fox. It only saw the light of day because of the baseball strike in 1994 to try to recoup loses.

"The Scout" is one of those movies that leaves you with a warm feeling in your soul after the video has been turned off. It is the story of a man who finds a friend and triumphs over his fears.
Al Percolo is a New York Yankees scout who is experiencing the worst luck of his life. When his boss sends him to Mexico on a grudge trip, Al discovers "the greatest ballplayer that ever lived": Steve Nebraska. Al manages to land a deal with Steve, but is fired while telling his boss about his great find. When the pair returns to the United States, Steve is promptly snapped up with a $55 million bid from the Yankees. Despite all his success, Steve's world is anything but the fairytale it appears to be. Steve has dangerous idiosyncrasies and an abusive past, which are uncovered as time goes on.
Brendan Fraser plays the part of the slightly eccentric, slightly insecure Steve Nebraska with astounding depth. Albert Brooks is perfect as the cheeky, unyielding scout.
However, Dianne Wiest is much too abrasive as Steve's psychologist, Doctor Aaron. She cannot decide who her character is. One minute she is speaking gently to Al, the next she is glaring and snapping at him. I'm afraid this psychologist might need a psychologist herself!
Despite the heavy subject material, the movie has its light moments. There are several comedic occasions provided by Steve's singing, and I must say, these points alone are reason enough to see the movie. Of course, there is also the inevitable victory, which makes everything beforehand worth it.
What is really refreshing about this movie is how clean it is. There are less than ten profanities in the entire film, and they are the only objectionable content.
"The Scout" is simply a fine piece of work, and a wonderful trip to take from everyday life.

I like everything about this movie. It's got comedy, it's got drama, and it's something you can watch with your girlfriend's family without getting embarrassed. I love baseball movies and this is one of my favorites. A lot of celebrity cameos, too: Steinbrenner, Saberhagen, Keith Hernandez, Ozzie Smith and singer Tony Bennett. A good movie for any underdog with major league dreams.

Although her screen persona in such films as Starting Over and It's My Turn was being the nice girl next door, Jill Clayburgh
also took some chances. Just think of her vomiting in An Unmarried
Woman and her incestuous opera singer in Bernardo Bertolucci's
Luna. This film is based on Barbara Gordon's book and what probably
helped Clayburgh to deliver her searing performance is that her
husband playwright David Rabe both produced and did the screenplay,
and the director was Jack Hofsiss who did The Elephant Man on stage to
such acclaim. Her Barbara is barely likeable - obsessive-compulsive,
hostile, chain-smoking and valium addicted. It's fascinating to see
how she conceals her pills, and clear that she lacks the support to
accomodate her impulsive decision to withdraw. She is told that valium
withdrawal is as traumatic as opiate withdrawal, and having an
alcoholic abusive lover doesn't help. As Barbara withdraws, Clayburgh
goes all out - convulsing, drooling, shrieking, maniacal, with wild
mad eyes and Frances Farmer hair. When she is eventually
institutionalised we see the anger that the valium had suppressed as
she rages at her therapist played by Dianne Wiest, who matches
Clayburgh. Wiest's first film had been Clayburgh's It's My Turn and
it's generous to think that Clayburgh helped her along with this role,
before she found greater success with Woody Allen. The film is
actually full of interesting actors in small roles - John Lithgow,
David Margulies, Kathleen Widdoes, Daniel Stern, Joe Pesci, Anne de
Salvo, Ellen Greene, Richard Masur, Jeffrey de Munn, and Geraldine
Page as a poet with cancer who Barbara is making a doco on. The poetry
we hear her recite is by Marsha Rabe. Occasionally Page slips into
Method-overdrive, with her hands and her little girl voice, and she
kills the meaning of the title, but mostly she is believable. The
casting of Nicol Williamson as Clayburgh's lover however doesn't quite
work. He is certainly creepy but we never understand his reluctance to
get Barbara medical help during her withdrawal. Hofsiss gives us two
great images - Clayburgh walking down a long corridor after having
been insulted by Page, aggresively wiping away her tears, and her
running on the beach in a white gown. The music of Stanley Silverman
and the Primavera String Quartet is particularly beautiful and
moving. Also Clayburgh is dressed very stylishly here, that is when
not draped in her crazy lady pyjamas.

I have looked everywhere for this video on Vhs. I can't understand why the price is so high. If anyone can suggest where i might find it please let me know. This is the most true to factual movie I remember seeing and my sister is ill with a similar disease. I would like to help by getting this movie and letting my sister, mother, and rest of the family view it. It is very informative. Please help.

I lived her life and it is almost 20 years since I read the book and saw the movie and it still haunts me. Today I am fine, and I can say nothing more than that book really helped me to believe in myself.

I was horrified when I viewed this movie. One thing AA strives for is singleness of purpose - there are other programs for addicts, shopaholics, etc. What went on in the film more resembled a meeting in a treatment center (where nobody there has more than 2 weeks sober) than an AA meeting. There was not one positive role model in the movie, other than the chairperson, and clearly he had lost control of the meeting. Richard Lewis was touching, but profanity like that from the podium is hardly the norm. No two people talked about the same topic. Barely a mention of steps, traditions, sponsorship. Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob would roll over in their graves. If you are considering AA, please know that this movie is NOT what AA is about. Hope is found in AA meetings. People share their experience, strength, and hope. Lives are saved there. Shame on Richard Lewis for distorting the fellowship like that. If this is really his vision of AA, no wonder celebrities can't stay sober.

I happened upon this film by accident. It surrounds the circumstances of one night's Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Richard Lewis falls off the proverbial wagon and goes on a drinking binge. Half of the movie follows him around the city trying to buy booze and get drunk because he managed to stay sober for two years for the sake of his wife... but when she dies, he finds no more reason to stay sober. The other half of the film focuses on the people who have remained at the AA meeting. Confessions are diverse and illustrate how anyone can be a drunk. Dianne Wiest, Faye Dunaway, Parker Posey, Calista Flockhart, Amanda Plummer, and many others make appearances here. I am not sure that I would say this movie is recommendable. It is interesting, but not something I would buy or consciously watch. It just happened to be on tv, so I indulged.

What originally interested me in seeing this film, was the original premise. Richard Lewis is an alcoholic in recovery who has undergone a lot of personal tragedy, and decides to pick up the bottle again. However, what this movie could have been did not quite pan out. While it certainly tries to portray the insidiousness of alcoholism, many other films do this more potency and accuracy. Furthermore, the AA meetings are more like group therapy and everybody is incorrigably depressed and immersed in their personal problems. The movie would have better served if it had provided some comic relief, lighthearted moments, OR hope to show contrast with Lewis' own inner darkness.

The whole film, "It's my Turn", from beginning to end, is jive.

The characters portrayed in this film seem about as real as the two-dimensional cardboard likenesses of film stars that one might see in the lobby of a theatre. In contrast, Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie do a better job of appealing to greater intellect and provide more entertainment value, for sure.

The whole concept behind the movie is laughable. It's full of campy 70's feminist rhetoric, and about as deep as Barbie and Ken. Not much to think about here.

The dialogue sounds more like a set of mindless jokes. Did people really talk like that back in 1979?

Charles Grodin and Mike Douglas portray a couple of Archie and Jughead-types on the make. Jill Clayburg's performance is particularly laughable as a seventies version of everywoman who struggles with the mundane problems of life in Chicago and New York. A meaningless sub plot: Her father fails to comply with her beatific ideas of perfection!

I saw this film at the local cineplex over twenty years ago, and since then, I've never forgotten my feelings upon the conclusion of the film: I had just wasted two hours of my life on this piece of drivel.

At the time, I seriously considered breaking into the projection room, and taking the film from the projector outside to the parking lot, where I could then pour gasoline over it and burn it!

Watching this film was a truly hateful experience.

This is an engaging, thoughtful, funny film. Jill Clayburgh seems at ease with being ill-at-ease and it's fun to watch her struggle as the Michael Douglas character enters her life. Douglas, as usual, adds his own brand of male energy as the baseball star whose injuries have forced his retirement. Also, Charles Grodin is wonderful as the rejected lover.

Jill Clayburgh is this film. It has a wonderful clamness to it and you can sit down and really enjoy watching it. Michael Douglas is great as the love interest. Those who are Yankee fans will love the shots of Yankee Stadium.

Over the space of three years, the reviled triumvirate of hot young (no longer young, these days) '80s New York novelists - Tama Janowitz ("Slaves of New York"), Bret Easton Ellis ("Less Than Zero"), and Jay McInerney ("Bright Lights, Big City") - watched Hollywood turn their books into tepid movies. This adaptation is probably the best of the three, due to a strong lead performance by Michael J. Fox as protagonist Jamie Conway and a lively supporting cast. The movie has an exciting title sequence, featuring a great-looking female bartender with a shaved head, but swiftly loses energy from there. The book was a vague celebration of the nouveau sex-and-drugs scene, with an undercurrent of yearning for simplicity and wholesomeness; the movie, made smack dab in the middle of the Just Say No era, fails to establish what would lure people like Jamie, who now seems to get high solely to blot out the pain of his mother's death and being dumped by Phoebe Cates. (At times the movie is like an '80s remix of "Looking for Mr. Goodbar.")

The coke-snorting, promiscuous Jamie was a stretch for the amiable Fox (remember, at that point he was best known as Alex P. Keaton and Marty McFly; the following year he would make "Casualties of War" and discover that moviegoers preferred him in comedy). He gives the film whatever core of feeling it has. But the coldness of the images (Gordon Willis shot this as if he were still working on "The Godfather") numbs us to his plight. We don't know whether to take Jamie's flailings as desperate comedy or as drama, and McInerney's own script is no help. The novel, written in ironic second-person present tense, like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book for jaded teens (it begins, "You are not the kind of person who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning"), didn't exactly cry out for film adaptation in the first place. The movie is inoffensive but pointless. Two stars, upgraded to three for Fox and the cool '80s soundtrack featuring Donald Fagen, Bryan Ferry, Prince, New Order, Depeche Mode, and others.

BOTTOM LINE: For $10, Fox fans can't go too far wrong.

This movie was very consistent with the book which, if you liked the book, which made this a good movie.

Having read the book before seeing the moving gave me a bit more insight into the story. But even without reading the book first, viewers may watch in disbelief, wondering how long will it take for Michael J. Fox's character to kill himself or change his ways. Suffering through this drives home the ending of the film, and makes this the moving story that it is!

A well done film with a strong cast! The soundtrack isn't bad either...

To me, "Bright Lights, Big City" is a brilliant, well-made film because it talks about Michael's character being dumped by his wife (Phoebe Cates) and how he falls in love with the seductive nightlife that the Big Apple has to offer and going on an alcohol/cocaine binge. It tells the story of one man's journey to discover himself and confront his inner demons before they literally destroy him forever. I don't know if anybody knows this, but "Bright Lights, Big City" is also where Michael J. Fox met his future wife, Tracy Pollan, who also stars in the film. I was at a store one day, and I saw "Bright Lights..." on sale, and it was just too sweet of an opportunity to pass up, so I bought it, and every time I look at the movie, it keeps getting better and better. The soundtrack was exceptional, and kudos to Donald Fagen for the song at the end of the film, "Century's End", also when he sang "Bright Lights, Big City" too. But anyway, all I have to say is that "Bright Lights, Big City" has an excellent supporting cast, including Kiefer Sutherland and Dianne Wiest. Michael J. Fox has never been better in "Bright Lights, Big City"!!

Over the space of three years, the reviled triumvirate of hot young (no longer young, these days) '80s New York novelists - Tama Janowitz ("Slaves of New York"), Bret Easton Ellis ("Less Than Zero"), and Jay McInerney ("Bright Lights, Big City") - watched Hollywood turn their books into tepid movies. This adaptation is probably the best of the three, due to a strong lead performance by Michael J. Fox as protagonist Jamie Conway and a lively supporting cast. The movie has an exciting title sequence, featuring a great-looking female bartender with a shaved head, but swiftly loses energy from there. The book was a vague celebration of the nouveau sex-and-drugs scene, with an undercurrent of yearning for simplicity and wholesomeness; the movie, made smack dab in the middle of the Just Say No era, fails to establish what would lure people like Jamie, who now seems to get high solely to blot out the pain of his mother's death and being dumped by Phoebe Cates. (At times the movie is like an '80s remix of "Looking for Mr. Goodbar.")

The coke-snorting, promiscuous Jamie was a stretch for the amiable Fox (remember, at that point he was best known as Alex P. Keaton and Marty McFly; the following year he would make "Casualties of War" and discover that moviegoers preferred him in comedy). He gives the film whatever core of feeling it has. But the coldness of the images (Gordon Willis shot this as if he were still working on "The Godfather") numbs us to his plight. We don't know whether to take Jamie's flailings as desperate comedy or as drama, and McInerney's own script is no help. The novel, written in ironic second-person present tense, like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book for jaded teens (it begins, "You are not the kind of person who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning"), didn't exactly cry out for film adaptation in the first place. The movie is inoffensive but pointless. Two stars, upgraded to three for Fox and the cool '80s soundtrack featuring Donald Fagen, Bryan Ferry, Prince, New Order, Depeche Mode, and others.

BOTTOM LINE: For $10, Fox fans can't go too far wrong.

This movie was very consistent with the book which, if you liked the book, which made this a good movie.

Having read the book before seeing the moving gave me a bit more insight into the story. But even without reading the book first, viewers may watch in disbelief, wondering how long will it take for Michael J. Fox's character to kill himself or change his ways. Suffering through this drives home the ending of the film, and makes this the moving story that it is!

A well done film with a strong cast! The soundtrack isn't bad either...

To me, "Bright Lights, Big City" is a brilliant, well-made film because it talks about Michael's character being dumped by his wife (Phoebe Cates) and how he falls in love with the seductive nightlife that the Big Apple has to offer and going on an alcohol/cocaine binge. It tells the story of one man's journey to discover himself and confront his inner demons before they literally destroy him forever. I don't know if anybody knows this, but "Bright Lights, Big City" is also where Michael J. Fox met his future wife, Tracy Pollan, who also stars in the film. I was at a store one day, and I saw "Bright Lights..." on sale, and it was just too sweet of an opportunity to pass up, so I bought it, and every time I look at the movie, it keeps getting better and better. The soundtrack was exceptional, and kudos to Donald Fagen for the song at the end of the film, "Century's End", also when he sang "Bright Lights, Big City" too. But anyway, all I have to say is that "Bright Lights, Big City" has an excellent supporting cast, including Kiefer Sutherland and Dianne Wiest. Michael J. Fox has never been better in "Bright Lights, Big City"!!

"Cops & Robbersons" strongly reminds me of a Griswold Vacation movie. In fact, I kept expecting Chevy to call his kids Rusty and Audrey. The only difference is that the family in this film don't get to go anywhere. They are stuck at home with a couple of cops as live-in visitors. The police are doing surveillance on a criminal who lives in the house across the street.

Chevy is up to his old "Boy, am I a clueless ... or what?" routine. What's extremely frustrating is the fact that nobody around him gives it any thought. Look at these two examples: First, he hides the two cops in the closet (don't ask!) and his wife comes downstairs. She asks what the noise is coming from the closet. He states that it is the cat. Then the daughter comes down the stairs holding the cat. What does his wife think about that? Nothing. Another example is when Chevy asks his neighbor (who is under surveillance) if he could use his bathroom. While his neighbor is on the phone, Chevy sneaks upstairs and cuts open the guy's mattress to the point that springs are actually popping out. What does his neighbor think of this? Nothing!

I think you get the idea. The people in this film are so completely ignorant that the comedy falls flat. To make it worse, Jack Palance is downright vicious. I was absolutely stunned at something he stated to one of Chevy's kids. This is supposed to be a family movie. I can't tell you what he said because it violates Amazon's review guidelines against obscenity.

The only reason that this film gets 2 stars instead of 1 is the presence of Dianne Wiest. She appears as if she is in a film all her own. She is caring, charming and feisty all at once. However, I would only recommend this movie for diehard Wiest fans or for people who enjoy watching Chevy Chase act really dumb for 90 minutes.

Any fan of Palance or Davi will love this movie. Chevy Chase fans will be treated to a revamped version of his "National Lampoon" character, but played with a slightly more restrained hand. Robert Davi provides his usual stellar performance as the dangerous and disturbing next door neighbor, and Palance provides a hysterically funny twist to the movie; at the very beginning, you will see him feeding the dead fish in his office. It only gets better. This film is surprisingly realistic, delightfully cheesy, and the perfect Saturday night entertainment. Enjoy!

I am a huge fan of both Chevy Chase and Jack Palance. This movie is worth-while, for sure. It is Chevy Chase at his best. One of the funniest scenes was with the garage door opener. Right before we watched the movie, we had a new opener installed and had some interesting experiences of our own. So we could relate. I do agree it was almost like a typical National Lampoon movie, but that's what makes it so good. I have seen better Chevy Chase movies, but I've never seen one that I didn't like. Buy it! If you are a true Chevy or Jack fan, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I wasn't! Get it today!

This is a really cute story about the relationship between a father (Peter Falk) who is a mobster just released from prison who meets his daughter for the first time. It's a comedy with some foreseeable events but it's the performances that are fun to watch. Falk is terrific. Weist is lovingly hilarious as the "oversexed" mistress and mother of the daughter. Brenda Vacarro is wonderfully funny in a campy role as the wife. But Adrian Pasdar as the daughter's love interest and "young sidekick, mobster wannabe" is usually the perfect foil for the rest of the other outrageous, campy roles. Pasdar charmingly steals the scenes. Even though he is often the "straight man" in this comedy, he manages to play the comedic parts very well and is as funny as the more seasoned actors. Though dated (the daughter is a "Madonna wannabe") it is a truly fun ride.

A great sunday afternoon fun story.

This movie was very boring and I don't feel it acurately captured the Warsaw uprising. A much better movie to view would be "Uprising" starring Leelee Sobieski, among others.