Made of Honor

"What's your dress size, Tom?"
"I don't know. What's your jock size, Melissa?"

Tom (Dempsey) and Hannah (Monaghan) have been best friends since meeting in college.  Tom is a millionaire playboy who has a long list of rules about dating so he can date several women simultaneously, and Hannah restores art in a museum.  They meet once a week for coffee and conversation.  They are content with the arrangement, and then Hannah is sent to Scotland for 6 weeks.  During this time, Tom realizes he has feelings for Hannah and resolves to act on that when she returns.... but when she returns, she brings Colin (McKidd), her fiance.

They are getting married in 2 weeks and want Tom to be the Maid of Honor.  He takes the job to prove he is the better candidate for Hannah.  With the help of his best friends: family man Felix (Harris), cynical lawyer Dennis (Messina), and Gary (Arquette), Tom prepares to be the best MOH ever.  Colin seems like the perfect guy: no skeletons in the closet, athletic, royalty, etc... and the other bridesmaids, including Tom's hostile ex Melissa (Phillips), aren't overly helpful.  Who is the right man for Hannah?


Predictable... occasionally tacky... took many stupid sex jokes / sight gags.

I wasn't expecting much... so it was better than I planned... but there was so much the filmmakers could edit out of the film to make a better film; or at least make some things a little more subtle (why does no one understand subtlety?).

The scenes in Scotland were beautiful... even if the filmmakers used every stereotype about Scots (the food, the dialect, etc).  The bridesmaids were funny... except for the weight story of Hilary (Emily Nelson).  The filmmakers make comments about her weight a few times... putting her on a liquid diet and the debacle of getting her into the dress... funny, but could have been done better.

When the film ended I thought it was cute and funny... and I remember laughing a few times throughout the film.  Yes it was predictable, but all chick flicks (and most movies in general) are predictable.  The more I think about this film the more I wish the filmmakers had beefed up the relationship between the leads: how did they go from meeting in college to being best friends as adults?  Who made the first move?  Fleshing out that relationship instead of focusing on stupid / disgusting sex references / "jokes".

Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan have great chemistry and are interesting.  And Sydney Pollack was a welcome addition as Tom's oft married father.  No one was glaringly bad, the film just wasn't great.

Similar to My Best Friend's Wedding, but not a remake... o.k., but not worth watching again anytime soon.

Made of Honor (2008) 101 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for sexual content and language.
Director: Paul Weiland
Starring: Patrick Dempsey as Tom Bailey
Michelle Monaghan as Hannah
Kevin McKidd as Colin
Kadeem Harris as Felix
Chris Messina as Dennis
Richmond Arquette as Gary
Busy Phillips as Melissa
Sydney Pollack as Thomas Bailey, Sr.

Dial "M" For Murder

"Do you really believe in the perfect murder?"
"Mmm, yes, absolutely. On paper, that is. And I think I could, uh, plan one better than most people; but I doubt if I could carry it out."
"Oh? Why not?"
"Well, because in stories things usually turn out the way the author wants them to; and in real life they don't... always."

Retired tennis pro, Tony Wendice (Milland), has a brilliant plan to get rid of his wealthy wife, Margot (Kelly)...  He blackmails an old college friend with a dark side, Charles Swann (Dawson), to murder her.  Every detail is planned from how to enter the apartment to what items to move.  It is an airtight plan... including his alibi: attending a big party with Mark Halliday (Cummings), Margot's lover.

However, the plan falls apart when Margot manages to kill Swann.  With the police, led by Chief Inspector Hubbard (Williams), investigating the situation and asking questions Tony has to improvise.


Grace Kelly and Hitchcock's first collaboration... and my first viewing of this film.  While I love Grace Kelly, Ray Millard's Tony pwns this film.  Tony is charming and charismatic... he articulates well and you want his plans to succeed.  The first half of the film is watching his plans come together - to see how well he planned things.  The second half of the film is about watching everything unravel and seeing how he well he thinks on his feet.

The rest of the main characters are Hitchcock regulars: Kelly is a beautiful woman and probably one of my favorite leading ladies, especially when she is paired with Hitchcock.  Robert Cummings was the lead in  Saboteur and here is relegated to the "other man" role.  His character is obviously the good guy, but you don't care...  John Williams is another Hitchcock regular, in too many films to list here.  He is never the lead, but his characters tend to get great lines here and there.  Once again he gets an interesting character with some funny lines.

Once again Hitchcock chose to make a film confined to a single space: the Wendice apartment.  The characters are only shown briefly outside the apartment... Despite the limited space, you don't really notice until the end that you haven't left the space.  The characters and story are engaging enough that you don't need to traipse all over the place or go on chases.  They do some fun things with color: notice the first two scenes and Kelly's clothes / attitude with the two men in her life..

An interesting and memorable film.... and I love that you can tell it was taken from a play (it is apparent in the staging and such).

Dial 'M' For Murder (1954) 105 minutes
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Ray Milland as Tony Wendice
Grace Kelly as Margot Wendice
Robert Cummings as Mark Halliday
John Williams as Chief Inspector Hubbard
Anthony Dawson as Captain Lesgate / Charles Swann

Rear Window

"Tell me exactly what you saw and what you think it means."

Daredevil photographer L.B. Jeffries (Stewart), known as Jeff, is living his worst nightmare: after suffering a broken leg, he is stuck in a wheelchair in his apartment.  To occupy his time, he spends most of the time looking out the window at the lives of his neighbors.  He even comes up with nicknames for some of them: the ballerina is Miss Torso (Georgine Darcy), the struggling composer / musician is the Songwriter (Ross Bagdasarian), and the lonely woman is Miss Lonelyhearts (Judith Evelyn).  One night he hears a scream and notices strange behavior from his neighbor across the courtyard, Lars Thorwall (Burr).  Mysterious trips in the middle of the night, and the absence of the bedridden Mrs. Thorwall (Irene Winston) lead Jeff to believe Lars murdered his wife.

His nurse, Stella (Ritter), thinks watching the neighbors can only lead to trouble... but soon she is caught up in the story.  His girlfriend, well-known fashion model Lisa Fremont (Kelly), dismisses the theory... but then the pieces add up.  His detective friend, Tom Doyle (Corey), thinks it's all a product of Jeff's imagination, but is willing to follow up some leads as a favor.  Is Jeff assuming too much, or is Lars hiding something?


Wow!  I love this film.  The set, the story, the planning that went into all of it... how can you not be impressed?  All the action takes place from the vantage of Jeff's living room.  We see everything he sees, and his reactions.  Much later in the film, the camera moves into the courtyard, but overall, we have the same limited perspective as the stars.  The crew built the apartments, which were livable, and Jeff's apartment on the same sound stage... with special lights rigged to simulate different times of day.  And all that planning and attention to detail pays off.

The cast is great, from the stars to the random small parts, everyone is perfectly cast and has a specific personality.  The leads had both worked with Hitchcock before (he was in Rope and she was in Dial M for Murder which was filmed prior to this film), and would work with him again... and they are great.  Stewart is the embodiment of the audience: the everyman you can identify with.  Grace Kelly is a classic beauty who exudes charm and charisma (I love her).

Everything about this film works.  And that is the reason it remains one of Hitchcock's beloved pictures.  If you ever get the chance to see this film, get the restored DVD.  There is a great documentary that includes interviews with some of the cast, crew, producers, and Hitchcock scholars, and you learn so much about the film and how it was filmed.  Definitely a must!!

Rear Window (1954) 112 minutes
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: James Stewart as L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries
Grace Kelly as Lisa Fremont
Wendell Corey as Detective Lt. Thomas Doyle
Thelma Ritter as Stella
Raymond Burr as Lars Thorwall

For Richer or Poorer

"Hmm. It's actually soft over here."
"Probably because you're sitting in cow dung."
"Excuse me?"

The Sexton's have an idyllic life: they are successful and celebrating the 10 year anniversary.  But appearances can be deceiving.  Brad (Allen) and Caroline (Alley) disagree about most subjects and have not been happy for years.  After their anniversary party, they decide to get divorced, but before they can start the proceedings something bigger happens.  Brad is the owner / visionary of a successful corporation... his slimy accountant (Knight) has been skimming money from the company and making the books look shady.  The IRS are investigating the company account and are preparing to arrest the Sextons for tax fraud.  When their bank accounts are frozen and the IRS, legendary recluse Inspector Lester (Miller) and the new and creative Inspector Hall (Nunez Jr.), attempt to arrest Brad, he hijacks a taxi and his wife and they escape.

But their plan is thwarted when they swerve to miss a stray cow and end up in a pond.  They are stranded in Amish country in Intercourse, Pennsylvania.  Their attorney, Phil (Lerner), tells them to stay where they are for a few days while he looks for a way to save them.  With minimal money and the IRS still looking for them, they decide to pose as visiting cousin Jacob & Emma Yoder and stay with Amish Samuel (Sanders) and Levinia (Megan Cavanagh) Yoder for a few days.  Can they survive the 4:45AM wake up call, plowing the fields with an unruly horse, scrubbing the floors, teaching sewing classes, outhouses, and taking a bath out of a pitcher of water?


Not the greatest comedy ever, but it always makes me laugh.  I'm from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania... there is more to Pennsylvania than the Amish, but I digress... and have seen Witness, probably the biggest / best known film about P.A., many times and can point out factual errors in the film.  The filmmakers even acknowledge Witness, when Brad tells Caroline, "I've seen Witness" and uses that film as a basis for their Amish wardrobe.  Funny stuff.

This film features several well-known comedy actors: has Wayne Knight ever played a none slimy / shady character?  Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley were doing well.  He had "Home Improvement" and she was making films in a post-"Cheers" world.... it's interesting how far they have fallen from the spotlight.  He makes a slapstick movie occasionally, but they don't tend to do well... and she has a reality-esque show about weightloss.

It will never win awards, but it's mindless fun (and sometimes you need that) and everyone involved seems to be having fun!

For Richer or Poorer (1997) 115 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for some sexual innuendo and one use of strong language
Director: Bryan Spicer
Starring: Tim Allen as Brad Sexton
Kirstie Alley as Caroline Sexton
Jay O. Sanders as Samuel Yoder
Michael Lerner as Phil Kleinman
Wayne Knight as Bob Lachman
Larry Miller as IRS Inspector Derek Lester
Miguel A. Nunez Jr. as IRS Inspector Frank Hall

Knight and Day

"Some people are gonna come looking for you now."
"Why?"
"They'll tell you I'm mentally unstable and violent and dangerous and it will all sound very convincing."
"I'm already convinced."

At the airport, mechanic June Havens (Diaz) keeps literally running into Roy Miller (Cruise)... they chat a few times and end up seated near each other on the plane.  And then Roy kills everyone else on the plane, including the pilots.  He lands the plane, and tells June that bad people will be looking for her.  She is given 3 rules to remember: don't get in a car with them, don't say you know him, if they say the words "safe" or "secure" run because that means they will kill you.

Eventually, people come asking about Roy... and soon he has to save her again.  They go on the run, trying to stay one step ahead of Roy's old friend Fitzgerald (Skarsgard) and boss (Davis) and the arms dealer, Antonio (Molla), who wants something they have... while trying to save genius Simon Feck (Dano) from harm.


The trailers looked good, so imagine my surprise when the word of mouth and the actual film turned out to be pretty good summer fun!  Overall I'm not a huge Tom Cruise fan... he has some good action movies, and has done alright with comedy, I just don't love him.  And Cameron Diaz doesn't make films that I love (excluding the Shrek movies), or even like.  But somehow it worked here.  The rest of the cast is populated with critically acclaimed actors, and all of their characters work.  They had good chemistry and were funny.

The best part: it wasn't overly predictable.  For a summer fluff movie, that is quite the feat.  There was a good blend of action and humor, and a story... it's crazy!  It may only be fluff, but I had fun!

Knight and Day (2010) 110 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for sequences of action violence throughout, and brief strong language.

Director: James Mangold

Starring: Tom Cruise as Roy Miller

Cameron Diaz as June Havens

Peter Skarsgard as Fitzgerald

Jordi Molla as Antonio

Viola Davis as Director George

Paul Dano as Simon Feck

Cactus Flower

"What did she say?"
"It's not what she said, it's what she didn't say"
"Tell me what she didn't say, word for word"

Dr. Julian Winston (Matthau) found a way to keep his much younger girlfriend, Toni (Hawn), from expecting commitment:

"She thinks I'm already married."

"Julian, you pulled that old stunt on her, huh?"

"The minute I met her I knew this girl could make me do anything. So just to protect myself in the clinches, I told her that I had a wife and three children."

"Three children is a nice touch."

 But when he falls for Toni and proposes, she wants to make everything right, "But what about the children?" "I'll divorce them too."  She wants to meet his wife and won't rest until he agrees.  With no other choice, he convinces his loyal nurse / secretary Stephanie Dickinson (Bergman) to pose as his wife and convince Toni the marriage is over.

But Stephanie is in love with Julian and Toni gets the wrong idea.  Soon Julian is adding others to the scheme, to keep up with Toni's questions.  With his sleazy best friend, Harvey (Weston), posing as the new boyfriend... Latin patient / diplomat, Señor Arturo Sánchez, (Vito Scotti), passionately pursuing Stephanie, and Toni's neighbor, Igor (Lenz), showing up everywhere, Julian's plans get more complicated...

I discovered this film through Netflix, as a suggestion of a film I might enjoy, and I wasn't disappointed!  Based on the Broadway play by the same name, which was based on a French play, this film is fast paced and funny... despite it's predictable ending (which is easy to figure out early on).  The fun is in how everything plays out.  What crazy story will Julian come up with next.... how will he get out of the next predicament... etc.

The best scene occurs at a swinging nightclub, where all the characters go because it's the only place they don't expect to run into the other characters.  It looks like they are having lots of fun (see picture above of Hawn and Bergman "dancing"), and it is hard to keep a straight face watching how it all plays out.

This film was the debut of Goldie Hawn, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role.  She makes Toni lovably quirky with in an array of short skirts / shorts.  It was a delight to see Ingrid Bergman in a comedy... still a gorgeous woman in her 50's, she oozes charm and charisma in every scene.  Walter Matthau displays a range of emotion and comedy chops (not at the level of his work with Jack Lemmon, but nothing really tops that collaboration)... while the other men get some great reaction shots...

This film has aged well and remains funny for the right reasons.  If you find it, watch it!

Cactus Flower (1969) 103 minutes
Director: Gene Saks
Starring: Walter Matthau as Dr. Julian Winston
Ingrid Bergman as Stephanie Dickinson
Goldie Hawn as Toni Simmons
Jack Weston as Harvey Greenfield
Rick Lenz as Igor Sullivan