The Films of 2025: When It Rains In LA (dir by David M. Parks)

Posted on January 13, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

When it Rains In LA features Eric Roberts as Nate.

Nate is a happy man who lives in a big house and who obviously has a lot of money. He’s even got a much younger trophy wife, a Russian named Sasha (Monroe Cline). One day, Nate receives an odd package, a box that contains a rather hideous mask. Nate looks at the mask and then takes a sip of tea. He promptly drops dead.

After Nate’s funeral, the suddenly widowed Sasha flies to Los Angeles to see her friends from college. (Or, at least, that’s how I assume she met these people. At times, it’s difficult to really keep track of how anyone in this film actually knows anyone else.) Though she’s just buried her husband, she still flirts with the pilot of her airplane, the likably dorky Harry (Tom Gipson). She also meets a mysterious woman named Anna (Leslie Stratton) and doesn’t seem to notice that she’s being watched by a mysterious, bearded man (Mike Ferguson) who continually hides his face inside of his hoodie.

From the minute that Sasha lands in Los Angeles, it starts to rain. Everyone that Sasha meets mentions how strange it is that it’s raining in Los Angeles. Some people say the rain is probably no big deal. Other people act as if the rain has some sort of secret meaning. Sasha keeps her opinions to herself.

Her friends seem to be curiously unconcerned with Sasha suddenly being a widow. One of them won’t stop talking about the death of his former lover. They go to a club, where the bartender gives out free drinks and the owner seems to be strangely hostile. Sasha meets Harry. Characters appear and then disappear without anyone seeming to notice. Everyone comments on the strangeness of rain in Los Angeles. People start to die in brutal ways but again no one seems to really care. It’s a slasher film where societal detachment is the biggest threat.

It’s an odd film. The budget was obviously low and the majority of the performances are a bit amateurish but, whether it was intentional on the part of the filmmakers or not, the film often plays out like a surreal dream. Sometimes, the film moved at an almost rushed pace and then other times, a heavy sense of ennui seems to descend over the action and the characters. Characters repeatedly do things that don’t make any sense but they do it with such determination that it becomes rather fascinating to watch. The film’s final moments are surprisingly effective, certainly more effective than you might expect from all the moments that came before them. Visually, this low-budget film has moments of almost ghostly beauty. The scenes of the rain falling in Los Angeles are effectively atmospheric and ominous. In the end, the film qualifies almost as a work of outsider art.

And, let’s not forget, Eric Roberts is in it! This was the first Eric Roberts film to be released in 2025. Nate dies before the opening credits and Eric still gets top billing. I imagine it will be the first of many.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

Jennifer Lopez has had ENOUGH (2002)!

Posted on January 13, 2025 by Bradley Crain

This morning I got up to make coffee for me and my wife. When I came back to our room, she had started the movie ENOUGH (2002) with Jennifer Lopez on the new projector that she bought me for Christmas. I’m not that big of a fan of Lopez, but I decided I’d go ahead and sit down to sip on my coffee prior to starting my day. I ended up watching the whole movie!

Jennifer Lopez plays Slim, a waitress in a diner in L.A., who meets a rich guy named Mitch Hiller (Billy Campbell) who impresses her when he gets rid of this rude jerk (Noah Wyle) trying to hit on her. Mitch and Slim get along famously, eventually getting married and having a cute little girl named Gracie. Everything seems perfect in their little world. Unfortunately, things aren’t what they seem, and one night Slim checks her husband’s pager. She calls the number and discovers Mitch has been cheating on her. When she confronts him about the affair, his entire countenance changes, and he begins beating the crap out of her. After the altercation, and before heading out to continue his affair, Mitch warns Slim not to leave because he refuses to live without her. With the help of her friend Ginny (Juliette Lewis) and a couple of others, Slim takes Gracie and they escape from Mitch. With all his money and connections, Mitch is able to track her down no matter where she goes. Feeling like she has no other options, Slim turns to her wealthy, estranged father, Jupiter (Fred Ward). He provides her the funds she needs to set up a new life and identity. Unfortunately, that damn Mitch tracks her down again. Narrowly escaping, Slim decides that she’s done running. She sends Gracie away with Ginny and begins training rigorously in self defense techniques. This time she’s taking the fight to Mitch with plans to end this shit once and for all.

If you’re looking for a realistic drama about the effects of spousal abuse on the family unit and then across the larger society, ENOUGH is not the movie for you. This movie is more for the Charles Bronson crowd, where the bad guys are truly evil and the audience is in complete agreement with their need to perish. This is a formula that continues to work even if you have to completely suspend your disbelief. For example:

-Is it realistic that Mitch would be able to conceal what a complete and total asshole he is for many years from Slim, but then one night turn out to practically be the sidekick of Satan?

-Is it realistic that Mitch would be able track Slim and Gracie down time and time again, no matter where she goes across the country, even after she uses her Dad’s resources to change her identity?

-Is it realistic that Slim would be able to get enough self defense training in a short period of time to be able to confront the extremely fit Mitch at the end and kick his ass?

While the setup is probably not the most realistic, we have to see images of Mitch beating up Slim on multiple occasions, even trying to kill her at one point. We also see him knock little Gracie to the ground and hurt her. We see him terrorizing her and anyone who tries to help her. This audience member just wanted to see Mitch pay.

I don’t really have any close connections to the main actors in ENOUGH, but they all do their jobs well enough to keep me involved. I have always been a fan of its director, Michael Apted. He’s made a few movies that I really like in CLASS ACTION (1991) with Gene Hackman, THUNDERHEART (1992) with Val Kilmer, and BLINK (1993) with Madeleine Stowe. He’s a more than competent director who knows how to get a reaction from his audience. This certainly may not reflect his best work, but he still handles the material in a professional manner.

My final word on ENOUGH… I enjoyed the film in the same way I like the 3 piece combo at KFC, which I really do enjoy. I know it’s probably not the best stuff out there, but the classic formula still works, and I’m satisfied when it’s all gone!

See the trailer for ENOUGH below:

Lisa Marie Reviews An Oscar Nominee: The Country Girl (dir by George Seaton)

Posted on January 12, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

First released in 1954 and based on a play by Clifford Odets, The Country Girl is centered around the production of a believably terrible stage musical called The Land Around Us.

Director Bernie Dodd (William Holden) is known for his willingness to take risks. One of his previous plays was about a punk-drunk boxer so he cast an actual punch-drunk boxer in the role. For The Land Around Us, Bernie wants to cast Frank Elgin (Bing Crosby), a former singing star who has fallen on hard times. Frank was once a hitmaker but, after the tragic death of his son, his career went downhill. He’s now lucky if he can get a job singing a commercial jingle. Though Frank aces his audition, the show’s producer (Anthony Ross) insists that Frank is just too unreliable and that everyone know that he’s now a drunk. Bernie, however, insists on casting Frank and Bernie, as always, gets his way.

Bernie grew up looking up to Frank and it’s hard for him to see that his idol is now struggling. Bernie squarely puts the blame on Frank’s wife, Georgie (Grace Kelly, wearing glasses and her hair tied back). Whenever Bernie sees Georgie, she seems to be criticizing Frank and micromanaging his life. Bernie tells Frank that Georgie is holding back his career but Frank explains that Georgie is unstable and that, whenever he’s tried to leave her, she’s responded by attempting to commit suicide. Bernie, who seems to have issues with women in general, believes everything that Frank says. Whenever Frank makes a demand during the rehearsal process, Bernie blames Georgie. Whenever Frank seems to be insecure about whether or not he can still be a star, Bernie blames Georgie.

Of course, Bernie’s wrong. As is obvious to everyone watching the film (and as should have been obvious to Bernie from the moment he first saw Frank and Georgie together), Georgie is the the only person who is keeping Frank from totally falling apart. If she seems to be demanding, she knows that it’s because Frank is so desperate to be a star again that he tends to let people walk all over him. If she’s overprotective of Frank, that’s because she knows that Frank is an alcoholic who blames himself for the death of their son. Frank is the one who tried to commit suicide, not Georgie. Georgie has dedicated her life to taking care of Frank and, if she is sometimes overly critical with him, it’s because she alone understands that Frank is throwing his life away.

It’s a sad film. Both Georgie and Bernie are almost fanatically loyal to Frank but it’s hard not to feel that the self-centered and self-destructive Frank doesn’t really deserve their loyalty. That we have any sympathy at all for Frank is due to the performance of Bing Crosby, who plays the role with just enough self-awareness that the audience gets a hint of the man Frank was before he turned to alcohol and self-pity. As usual, William Holden is well-cast as a cynical but ultimately kind-hearted character and he does a good job of hinting at what lies underneath Bernie’s rough exterior. Grace Kelly won her only Oscar for playing Georgie and she does a fairly good job, even if she does seem to be miscast. Georgie is far cry from the glamorous characters that Kelly usually played. Personally, I think she was far more Oscar-worthy in Rear Window, which was released the same year and featured Kelly in a far more interesting role. George Seaton directs the film as if it were a film noir, with Holden, Crosby, and Kelly often acting in the shadows. The Country Girl works best when it contrasts the artificiality of Bernie’s show with the real-life human drama taking place backstage.

The Country Girl was nominated for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Actress. While Grace Kelly was named Best Actress, the rest of the awards were won by On The Waterfront, with Bing Crosby losing to Marlon Brando.

Dead For A Dollar (2022, directed by Walter Hill)

Posted on January 12, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

In 1897, bounty hunter Max Borlund (Christoph Waltz) is hired by wealthy Martin Kidd (Hamish Linklater) to track down Elijah Jones (Brandon Scott), the man who Martin says has kidnapped his wife. Accompanying Max is Alonzo Poe (Warren Burke), who served with Elijah in the Army.

From the start, Max suspects that Martin is not being completely forthright about the kidnapping and it does turn out that Rachel Kidd (Rachel Brosnahan) voluntarily left with Elijah and is planning on traveling to Cuba with him. Martin has hired crime baron Tiberio Vargas (Benjamin Bratt) to have Rachel raped and murdered because Martin thinks that the tragedy will help him launch his political career. Because Martin suspects that Max might not be trustworthy, he has hired Max’s rival, Joe Cribbens (Willem DaFoe), to track down Rachel as well.

This film has a cast that is full of talented people and it’s a western directed by someone who has proven himself to be one of the masters of genre, Walter Hill. I wanted to like Dead For A Dollar but the movie just didn’t work. Waltz and DaFoe are great actors but they just seem to be going through the motions and Rachel Bsonahan is miscast. Benjamin Bratt and Hamish Linklater are forgettable villains. Even worse, Dead For A Dollar has a washed-out visual style that you would never expect from a director like Walter Hill.

Rewatch The Long Riders instead.

Made-For-Television Movie Review: Red Alert (dir by William Hale)

Posted on January 12, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 1977 made-for-television movie, Red Alert, opens with a man walking through a cemetery on a rainy day. As we watch Howard Ives (Jim Siedow) move amongst the tombstones, we hear his thoughts. He’s a sad and bitter man, wondering why he’s wasted so many years of his life at work. He thinks about someone close to him who has died. He’s obviously very troubled.

(Of course, any horror fans in the audience will immediately recognize Jim Siedow from his role as the Drayton Sawyer in the the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He was troubled in that film as well!)

Howard works at the local nuclear power plant. Ominously, when the film cuts to the plant, the first thing we see is a leak of very hot water. I don’t know much about nuclear power plants but I imagine any type of leak is not a good thing. The water leak causes the computer that runs the plant assuming that a nuclear disaster is minutes away from happening. The compound is automatically sealed off, trapping fourteen men (including Howard), inside the reactor. As Commander Stone (Ralph Waite) tries to keep a possible nuclear disaster from occurring, two investigators (played by William Devane and Michael Brandon) try to determined whether the accident was the result of a malfunction or of deliberate sabotage. When the local sheriff (M. Emmet Walsh) informs them that Howard Ives’s wife has committed suicide, the investigators look into the troubled man’s history. Eventually, the two investigators realize that the only way to prevent a nuclear disaster is by risking their lives by entering the sealed-off power plant. The two investigators attempt to do their work under the cover of night and without causing a panic. Needless to say, it doesn’t work. One of them calls his wife (Adrienne Barbeau) and tells her that she needs to leave the area. She tells her mother, who then tells her neighbor and soon the airport is crowded with people looking to get out of town.

Red Alert contrasts the intuitive approach of the two inspector with Commander Stone’s insistence that every bit of a data be fed to his computer before any decisions are made. Stone’s hands are so tied by protocol and red tape that he stands by while the fourteen men who are trapped in the nuclear power plant die. Wisely, though, the film doesn’t turn Stone into a cardboard villain. He’s very much aware of what will happen if the plant suffers a core meltdown. When one of his assistants mentions that he hasn’t been given any instructions on how to evacuate the town in case the plant does explode, Stone tells him that no plans have ever been drawn up because the plans would be useless. There would be no way to evacuate everyone in time.

In the end, Red Alert is scary not because it deals with nuclear power but because it presents us with a world where no one — not even Devane and Brandon’s heroic investigators — seems to know what to do. Everyone is slowed down by a combination of red tape and their own personal angst. Devane is a strong investigator because, as a widower whose only son died in Vietnam, he has no family to worry about. Unlike everyone else in Red Alert, he has nothing left to lose. In the end, the film suggests that the only way to save the world is to cut yourself off from it.

Red Alert is a compelling and intelligent thriller, one that is well-acted by the entire cast and which builds up to strong conclusion. The film’s anti-nuclear message is a bit heavy-handed but I imagine it was an accurate reflection of the fears that people were feeling at the time. Today, the film works best as a warning about bureaucracy and depending too much on AI to make important, life-or-death decisions. In the end, it’s human ingenuity that saves the day and that message is timeless.

Film Review: The Hole In The Wall (dir by Robert Florey)

Posted on January 12, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Released in 1929, at the dawn of the sound era, The Hole In The Wall tells the story of The Fox (Edward G. Robinson) and two women known as Madame Mysteria.

The Fox is a con artist, a veteran criminal who takes care of the people working for him. He may not be an upstanding citizen but he seems to truly care about his sidekick Goofy (Donald Meek) and his partner-in-crime, Madame Mysteria (Nellie Savage). Madame Mysteria is a fake psychic. She sits in a chair and does readings while The Fox sends her a series of electric shocks in morse code to let her know what she should say about each victim of their con. They’ve got a pretty good thing going until Madame Mysteria is killed in a train accident.

(Since this film is from 1929, the train accident is recreated with a miniature train that falls off a track in what appears to be a plastic city. Basically, it looks like a primitive YouTube video made by an enthusiastic toy train hobbyist. It may not be convincing but there’s something charming about just how cheap it all is.)

Shortly after Mysteria is killed, Jean Oliver (Claudette Colbert) wanders into The Fox’s shop. Jean is looking for a job and for revenge. As she explains it, she used to have a good job in a department store until her manager accused her of stealing. Though Jean was innocent, she still spent some time in jail. Her life was ruined. Now, she wants to be the new Madame Mysteria and she wants to kidnap the daughter of the woman who accused her. She doesn’t want to get any ransom or anything like that. Instead, she wants to raise the little girl to become a criminal. Fox and Goofy agree, which leads me to wonder if the Fox is really as clever as he thinks he is. Is Jean really the only person they could find to be the new Madame Mysteria? Surely they could find a Madame Mysteria who doesn’t demand they commit a major felony just for her services. Still, kidnap the little girl they do and strangely enough, she never seems to be upset over being taken from her parents. (Even more strangely, we don’t actually see or learn the details of how she was kidnapped. She just suddenly shows up at the Fox’s home.) Goofy becomes a babysitter and Jean becomes Madame Mysteria.

By an amazing coincidence, the reporter (boring David Newell) who decides to write a story on the amazing psychic Made Mysteria just happens to be Jean’s ex-boyfriend! While the Fox falls in love with Jean and the police search for the abducted child, Jean herself starts talking to the dead….

In many ways, The Hole In The Wall is typical of the melodramas that came out during the early sound era. The majority of the supporting actors are still adjusting to acting with sound and the action often feels rather stagey. That said, it’s an entertaining film, largely due to the performance of Claudette Colbert and Edward G. Robinson, both of whom were just starting their careers and on the cusp of stardom. This was Robinson’s first role as a gangster and he snarls with style while Colbert actually keeps the audience guessing at her motivations. The Hole In The Wall is definitely a film from a different era but, for a film that was made nearly 100 years ago, it holds up remarkably well.

#SundayShorts – WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE (1986)

Posted on January 12, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Since Sunday is a day of rest for a lot of people, I present #SundayShorts, a weekly mini review of a movie I’ve recently watched. Today’s movie is WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE from 1986.

Former CIA agent Nick Randall (Rutger Hauer) now works as a bounty hunter. After the authorities find out that Malak Al Rahim (Gene Simmons) is responsible for blowing up buildings in Los Angeles, Nick’s former employers request his assistance. With the help of his old friend Philmore (Robert Guillaume), Nick signs on to take Malak out and end his reign of terror!

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE is one of those movies I enjoyed watching back in the mid-80’s as a junior high teenager. Rutger Hauer makes for a badass bounty hunter and Gene Simmons makes for a mean villain. Robert Guillaume plays Hauer’s friend and primary law enforcement contact in the movie. He was just coming off his 158 episode run on the TV show BENSON (1979-1986). Although he was good in the film, I still remember being surprised when Benson kept saying the F-word. If you like 80’s action movies and Rutger Hauer, like I do, WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE is still a fun watch.

Five Fast Facts:

Rutger Hauer plays Nick Randall, a descendant of Josh Randall, who was played by Steve McQueen on the WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE TV series that ran from 1958-1961.
Actor Ted White who portrays Pete, Charlie Higgins friend in the bar & the store robbery, also portrayed killer Jason Voorhees in FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER (1984).
According to writer and director Gary Sherman, Mel Gibson was also considered for the part of Nick Randall since he was still largely unknown outside of Australia at the time. The producers settled on Rutger Hauer for the role because it would have cost twice as much to get Gibson for the role.
Gary Sherman also directed the 1982 film VICE SQUAD starring Season Hubley, Gary Swanson, and Wings Hauser. I loved Rutger Hauer and Wings Hauser in the 80’s. Wings’ son Cole plays Rip Wheeler on the YELLOWSTONE TV series.
Gene Simmons from the rock band KISS specialized in playing bad guys on screen in the 1980’s. Aside from WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE, he was also a villain in RUNAWAY (1984) and NEVER TOO YOUNG TO DIE (1986).

I’ve included the trailer for WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE below.

January Positivity: Mercy Streets (dir by Jon Gunn)

Posted on January 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

2000’s Mercy Streets is a strange film.

Two twin brothers, John and Jeremiah, grew up in a series of terrible group homes. One night, John fell off a bridge and Jeremiah failed to rescue him from the water below. Jeremiah was convinced that John drowned. Wracked with guilt, Jeremiah turned his life around. He became an upstanding citizen and, as an adult, he’s an Episcopal deacon who is just a few weeks away from being ordained. His girlfriend (Cynthia Watros) loves him but can tell that he’s not always open with her about his past and his emotions.

What Jeremiah doesn’t know is that John did not drown. He survived and grew up to be a career criminal. Having spent the last few years in jail, he tracks down his mentor, Rome (Eric Roberts), as soon as he’s released. (That’s right! This is an Eric Roberts film!) Rome wants John to help him out with a scheme involving counterfeit money. John decides to grab the money and run. When Rome can’t catch John, he decides to abduct Jeremiah instead.

Meanwhile, John takes over Jeremiah’s life. Pretending to be his brother, John fixes Jeremiah’s relationship with his girlfriend and he even proves to be better at delivering sermons than Jeremiah, despite the fact that John is not religious at all. While Jeremiah gets a crash course in how to be a counterfeiter, John learns how to be an upstanding member of society.

Of course, it doesn’t last. Jeremiah eventually escapes from Rome and finds himself on the streets, where he struggles to not fall into the same criminal lifestyle that previously captured his brother. Fortunately, Jeremiah runs into a priest named Tom (Stacy Keach), who offers some good advice. Meanwhile, John learns about the importance of forgiveness and redemption and discovers that Jeremiah has spent his entire life mourning the brother who he thought was dead.

Mercy Streets is an odd mix of religion and action. On the one hand, the film features David A.R. White playing two brothers who feel like they could have walked out of one of his wholesome Pureflix movies. (White, while being a decent actor, is not exactly the most believable hardened criminal that I’ve ever seen.) On the other hand, you’ve got Eric Roberts teaching Jeremiah how to be a criminal and basically taking over the entire film whenever he’s onscreen. (The scene where Rome teaches Jeremiah how to pass fake money is surprisingly well-acted and directed.) The movie runs into the same problem that plagued many a DeMille production. The heroes may all be Godly but the sinners appear to be having more fun. That said, this film at least reminds us of what a good actor Eric Roberts can be when he’s got a decent role.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

A Blast From The Past: Cindy Goes To A Party (dir by Herk Harvey)

Posted on January 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In the 1955 short film, Cindy Goes To A Party, Cindy is upset because she hasn’t received an invitation to a party. Even her dumbass friend Dennis has been invited! Cindy’s mom assures Cindy that her invitation has probably just gotten lost in the mail. Consumed by ennui, Cindy goes to bed at 2 in the afternoon.

Cindy is visited by her fairy godmother who, with the help of her magic wand, transports Cindy to the party and then gives Cindy and Dennis a long list of rules to obey. For those of you who don’t have 9 minutes to watch this film and discover the rules for yourself, here they are:

Be Clean and Neat
Arrive on Time
Leave on Time
Join In The Games (even if the games are totally lame)
Don’t Be Noisy and Rough
Don’t Break Things
Don’t Tease or Make Fun of Others (even if Dennis kind of deserves it)
Obey the Rules of the Game
Be a Good Loser (this rule is specifically given to Dennis because it’s obvious Dennis will never have to worry about being a winner)
Be Considerate
Be A Good Winner (something that Dennis will never have to worry about)
Be Polite
Be Considerate of other (wait a minute, we just did that one)
Remember Your Table Manners
Leave On Time (again, we already did that one)
Thank Your Hostess

That’s a lot of rules! I think Cindy would have more fun just staying home.

This short film was one of the many educational films directed by Herk Harvey. Today, of course, Harvey is best known for directing the horror classic, Carnival of Souls.

Lisa Marie Reviews An Oscar Nominee: King Richard (dir by Reinaldo Marcus Green)

Posted on January 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Slap.

Oh lord, the Slap.

I have to admit that I was hesitant about reviewing the 2021’s King Richard because the last thing that I wanted to do was talk about the moment that Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscar Ceremony. That moment has been talked about and written about to death. The last thing I want to do is rehash it but The Slap has actually overshadowed the Oscar that Smith won that night. As King Richard was specifically made to win Smith that Oscar, the Slap has become a part of the film’s story.

For those who need to be reminded, Chris Rock was brought out on stage to introduce the presenters for Best Documentary Feature. Rock did some material, which largely consisted of making jokes about the nominees in the audience. Myself, I actually remember being a bit annoyed when Rock started in with his jokes because the ceremony was already boring enough without having to spend however long listening to Chris Rock go on about how Penelope Cruz losing Best Actress meant that Javier Bardem would be in trouble if he won Best Actor. I had actually stopped paying attention when Rock made his now famous joke about Jada Pinkett Smith starring in G.I. Jane 2. I did not see Pinkett role her eyes at Will when Will laughed. I heard Rock say, “Uh-oh, here comes Richard,” but I initially missed the slap. I hard the audience gasp. I looked at the screen and I saw Smith yelling at Rock but the audio had been cut. I had to go on YouTube to see an unedited clip of what happened.

Making the moment even more awkward was the knowledge that Will Smith would soon win his first Oscar for King Richard. On Twitter, there were rumors that Smith had been escorted out of the theater but those turned out to be false. After Smith was announced as the winner for Best Actor, I sat there and thought, “Oh no, he’s going to invoke God, isn’t he?” Smith went on stage and promptly invoked God.

We all know what happened next. For two weeks straight, the Slap discourse was nonstop. Will Smith was described as being a bully, though I can only guess what we would have said about him if he hadn’t done anything in response. (“Would you slap Chris Rock if he made fun of me?” I asked Jeff at one point. Wisely, he promised he would.) A lot of people predicted that Will Smith would never work again which, in retrospect, was a pretty stupid thing to predict. America has forgiven its celebrities for a lot worse than just being a jackass at an awards ceremony. Smith’s career has recovered just fine. Quite frankly, no one is going to look at the trailer for a new Bad Boys or Men In Black movie and say, “But Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on national television.”

In the end, the most interesting thing about the Slap is that, before Chris Rock made that comment about Jada, the Oscars were supposed to be Will Smith’s greatest night. From the minute the first trailer for King Richard dropped, it was obvious that the film was going to be the one the won Will Smith an Oscar. It didn’t even matter whether or not he gave a good performance, though he does give a good one in the film. The Academy will often decide that it’s an actor’s time and it was obvious that was what had been decided as far as Will Smith was concrned. Will Smith had been a star for a long time. He had made a lot of people a lot of money. Before the Slap, the public perceived him as being a likable and goofy guy. It was time to reward him. From the start of 2021, everyone knew that Will Smith would be getting his Oscar. For The Academy, it was also a chance to make up for not nominating him for his adequate if not particularly memorable performance 2015’s Concussion. Smith not getting nominated for that film was often (incorrectly, I would argue) considered to be the starting point of the whole “#Oscarssowhite” movement. (Personally, I would say the movement’s roots could actually be traced to Ava Duvernay not being nominated for directing Selma.) Along with everything else, honoring Will Smith would be a way for the Academy to say, “See? We learned our lesson!”

Will Smith does give a good performance in King Richard, playing Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams (played, respectively, by Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton). Smith does a good job of capturing both Richard’s stubbornness and his anger but, even importantly, he makes you believe that, as obsessed as he is with his daughters becoming champions, their will-being is still his main motivation and concern. Richard and his daughters may go from practicing on dangerous courts at night to practicing at an exclusive Florida training center but, through it all, Richard always looks after his daughters. Like 2024’s Saturday Night, this is a film where it’s important that the audience already knows what the future is going to hold for its main characters. The coaches played by Tony Goldwyn and Jon Bernthal may not agree with Richard’s decision to keep his daughters out of the juniors tournaments but those of us watching know that Richard’s right and, as a result, we’re on his side. Richard can be cantankerous and difficult. We understand why his wife (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) get frustrated with him. But, the important thing is that we know that he will be vindicated and Will Smith has such a likable screen presence that we root for Richard even when he’s acting like a jerk.

King Richard is not a bad sports films, though I do think there were other films more deserving of a Best Picture nomination in 2021. (The Tragedy of MacBeth comes to mind.) It’s unfortunate that Smith’s performance (which was so much better than his work in Concussion) will probably forever be linked to The Slap. As for the film itself, it lost Best Picture to another heartwarming film, CODA.