The Best Years of Our Lives** (1946)

As I write this review of a film following three World War II veterans struggling to reacclimate into everyday life, a heated debate is raging about a film that looks at the same issue. While I have yet to see American Sniper, I have to wonder if this film sparked any controversy upon its release. Re-entry into civilian life was either taboo or not on Hollywood’s radar before The Best Years of Our Lives was made. Granted, the golden age of Hollywood was in the roaring 20s, when glitz and glamour were in vogue and long after the end of World War I, and production codes restricted a wide range of content from being put on film. The content of this film feels like it should have been risky, which is why I think it is so powerful.

Three servicemen meet while heading home after World War II and discover that they all live in the same town. Al Stephenson (Fredric March) returns to a loving upper-middle class family and a job as a loan officer at a bank. Homer Parrish (Harold Russell) lost his hands in the war and is nervous how his fiancée and their families will react to his disability. Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) returns to an unskilled job and a wife who is tired of scraping by. The three men find themselves leaning on each other as they all struggle to rejoin civilian life.

This is a very honest film in its presentation of civilian America. All of the sets were built to real size as opposed to the oversized architecture common to Hollywood films of the day. All of the costumes are real off-the-rack items instead of designed and perfectly tailored by a costuming department. All of this adds up to a tight, authentic look that feels almost like a documentary at times. If you don’t know these facts, then you might find the aesthetic elements of the film to be lackluster. I don’t hold this against the film but the length of it made me restless at times.

The Best Years of Our Lives comes in at just under three hours long. I think any viewer would get fidgety in that final hour because the film lacks any external conflict or rising tension. Instead, it’s like a three-hour case study of three veterans struggling to figure out who they are and what they believe after the war. What we do have are three genuinely interesting men struggling internally with how they want to define themselves. As the film goes on, each of these characters develop in their own way. Harold Russell provides a completely honest portrayal of struggling with disability but he also struggles with his more emotional scenes (this was his first experience as an actor).

Perhaps this film avoided any controversy over its subject matter because it was treated with respect and earnestly raised awareness of the struggles of veterans. Had it been more exploitative or made veterans look bad there probably would have been a row. Still, I was shocked to see Al’s daughter declare her intentions to break up Fred’s struggling marriage in a film made in the 1940s.

Its length and slow but true-to-life pace may turn some off but this really is an excellent film. Other than a few deep focus shots, there isn’t much to see in this film that will dazzle you but that is by design. The film appeals so well to the emotions that one can’t help but root for each of the three principals to find their place in the world. Younger audiences may not care for The Best Years of Our Lives but this is certainly a case of slow and steady winning the race.

RATING: 4 out of 5

Brother Bear (2003)

The three years separating this film from The Emperor’s New Groove feels like an eternity. Other than the mildly entertaining Lilo & Stitch, Disney seems to have lost its magic. Had Pixar been a rival to Disney rather than a business partner during this time frame, the House of Mouse would have been on life support. While Brother Bear seems to check off some of the surefire ingredients that served Disney well over the years, the end result feels more like a misfire.

In a prehistoric time, a young man named Kenai (Joaquin Phoenix) is displeased with the sacred totem (a bear) bestowed upon him by his tribe. Seeming to confirm his disapproval of bears, a wild bear steals food from the tribe during the ceremony. When Kenai and his older brothers hunt the bear down, the eldest brother, Sitka (D. B. Sweeney), gives his life to save his brothers. Kenai kills the bear but the Spirits the tribe worship transform him into a bear. To regain his human form and achieve manhood in his tribe, Kenai must learn from his mistakes and help a young bear cub find his way through the wild.

I do have to give this film some credit for a little bit of trickery. When the film begins, it is presented in one aspect ratio and the art direction portrays the animals and environments very realistically. After Kenai is turned into a bear, the aspect ratio is wider and the environments and animals have a more cartoonish look. It’s not exactly Dorothy walking out into a Technicolor Munchkinland but it’s a clever trick involving a change of perspective, which Kenai needs to appreciate his totem.

Other than that, this film is forgettable. In the time that has passed since I saw Brother Bear, I completely forgot that this film even has songs in it. That’s a cardinal sing for Disney movies that use songs. My lapse in memory is probably in part because most of the songs were used during montage segments, rather than having the characters sing them movie-musical style. More often than not, this musical direction choice hasn’t worked out well for Disney.

When you have a fairly simple story, as in this film, it helps to have complex characters to make up for it. I was not engaged by any of the characters in Brother Bear. Kenai and Koda are too paint-by-numbers and the plot twist that befalls them is predictable from early on. The filmmakers even bring back the goofiness of Bob and Doug McKenzie by way of Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas voicing two sarcastic moose. This is an obvious throwaway joke for parents when the film came out but probably half the people my age don’t even remember that comedy act. Those not in the know just assume they’re a pair of stereotypical Canadian moose. I like Bob and Doug but I did not care for the moose bit.

The prehistoric setting probably helped prevent Native Americans, anthropologists, and history buffs from getting upset when this film was released. Pocahontas certainly irked a number of people but that’s because it butchered a true story. Brother Bear is fiction and I doubt it will elicit a strong response from very many people. It’s cute and colorful but it’s also low-quality Disney. That doesn’t mean it’s bad but being boring is usually worse.

RATING: 2.75 out of 5

Clue (1985)

In what is said to be the first film based on a board game, audiences are handed a delightful mad-cap dark comedy with plenty of screwball antics. It may be easy to dismiss Clue as little more than a gimmick, what with its source material and three different endings, but it is also a lot of fun to watch. A good viewing experience counts for quite a bit and Clue is more than just a guilty pleasure.

Six strangers attend a mysterious dinner event at a secluded New England estate. The butler reveals that a seventh guest, Mr. Boddy, is the one secretly blackmailing them all and informs them that the police are on their way. Boddy counters by encouraging the guests to kill the butler, destroy the evidence, and everyone walks away. When the lights go out, Boddy is killed, leaving the guests to sort out whodunit before the police arrive.

This film was a mixed bag with critics when it was released and I can see why, if you assume that those critics only got to see one ending of the film. On home video, two endings are presented as possibilities and the third as the real ending. The two false endings involve a single mastermind behind all the killing. In the ending listed as the real one, there are multiple murderers for multiple reasons. It’s hard to swallow the two false endings because they border on ridiculously intricate to pull off. The mass chaos of the third ending is both amusing and much more believable.

The more familiar you are with the murder mystery genre, the more you will probably appreciate this film. Most of the characters are based on stereotypes from the genre, so there is actually quite a bit of subtlety and nuance to Clue. If you’re not familiar with the genre much at all, you will still find it amusing for the witty banter and physical comedy. Either way, there is something to like here.

As for the other aspects of the film, they all do their job but they don’t stand out. The sets give off the right stuffy-mansion-playing-host-to-murder vibe and the music is appropriate to the genre as well. The combination of ingredients makes this film a good time for most, which elevates it above mere guilty pleasure status. It’s harmless fun that no one should fault you for watching or passing over when you come across it on the TV.

RATING: 3.25 out of 5