No, these movies don’t have much to do with each other (outside of Washington D.C.?), but I saw them on back-to-back nights, so, this is what we’re doing.
Original Release Date: December 26, 1973/September 22, 2000
Directed by William Friedkin
Written by William Peter Blatty, based on his own novel of the same name
Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowran, Jason Miller, Linda Blair, Mercedes McCambridge (demon voice), Barton Heyman
‘The Exorcist’ is another one of those movies, not unlike ‘Planet of the Apes‘, that exists in the collective unconscious as much as it exists as a film. So many memorable moments have been homaged and parodied time and time again (sometimes involving Linda Blair herself) that it can be difficult to separate the movie from its cultural aura (for example, the actual exorcist doesn’t show up at the house until the third act), but I did my best to maintain a fresh perspective seeing it for the first time.
For a film often regarded as “The Scariest Movie of All Time”, I’m not sure ‘The Exorcist’ has enough in its arsenal to hold onto that crown today, but that doesn’t mean it’s not remarkable in its own right (and certain elements are still plenty shocking).
For one thing, it’s William Friedkin’s follow-up to ‘The French Connection’, so you know it’s going to be well-crafted, but, more importantly, as a human drama, ‘The Exorcist’ is as compelling as you’ll find. The journey of what happens to this young girl and the response from her family and a host of medical, spiritual, and law enforcement professionals feels quite genuine. Everything else, the freezing cold room, the make-up effects, the vomit, the levitating bed, all of the visual realism flows from the realistic tone of the story.
However, I do have a couple of issues. First is pace. This isn’t a huge problem, as overall the gradual speed works in the movie’s favor, but, at times, the film feels like it’s being deliberate for deliberate’s sake. This is particularly true during the prologue, which is ambiguous and laconic to begin with, but it could have used some tightening up as well.
My second criticism is somewhat related to the first, and that is the entire character of Lt. Kinderman. I like Lee J. Cobb as an actor (his turns in ‘On The Waterfront’ and ’12 Angry Men’ are near perfect), but every time he appears in ‘The Exorcist’ he’s an energy vacuum. Whether this is merely due to his performance, the script, how he was directed, or some combination, I don’t know, but his character is boring and underdeveloped and I can’t help thinking someone else in the role would have made a positive difference.
All that said, I don’t want sound too harsh, because the movie is deservedly regarded as a classic. If you can bare the horrific and shocking elements (and, if you can’t, just put your fingers over your eyes; I won’t judge you), it’s definitely worth seeing, even if only for the drama.
Rating: ★★★★☆
Original Release Date: September 1, 2006
Directed by Mike Judge
Written by Mike Judge (story and screenplay) & Etan Cohen (screenplay)
Cast: Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, Terry Crews, Anthony ‘Citric’ Campos, David Herman, Brendan Hill, Sara Rue, Robert Musgrave, Michael McCafferty, Justin Long, Patrick Fischler, Darlene Hunt, Andrew Wilson, Scarface, Thomas Haden Church, Stephen Root, Earl Mann (narrator)
Soundtrack: Theodore Shapiro
“It’s practically a documentary now.”
This is the hacky line many folks have been spouting on account of the tenth anniversary of ‘Idiocracy’ coinciding with a most contentious and outlandish presidential election, but I’m going go ahead and sort of disagree with that there. As frustrated as I am that the internet, an astounding invention that hypothetically should make us all smarter and more united, seems to be making us dumber and more divided, thanks largely to misinformation and lies being able to be spread as quickly as (if not entirely faster than) facts and truth, I don’t think we’ll ever see society devolve to the point that we see in ‘Idiocracy’ (it’s also important to remember that the movie is a comedy, not unlike ‘Back to the Future 2‘, which wasn’t trying to seriously predict the future either).
But hey, enough with the heavy topics.
It’s safe to say that Mike Judge has had and continues to have a successful career in show-business (I’m certainly a fan, mostly). From eight seasons of ‘Beavis and Butt-Head’, to thirteen seasons of ‘King of the Hill’, to an upcoming fourth season of ‘Silicon Valley’ (which I’ve heard nothing but good things about; too bad I don’t have time for television), it would seem he knows comedy well enough to maintain a significant presence for well over two decades. However, when it comes to movies, he has something of a habit of producing things that A. Get buried by the studio, one way or another; and B. Don’t get fully appreciated until after they’ve already come and gone. Of course, we’re talking about ‘Office Space‘, but the principle applies to ‘Idiocracy’ as well (although, I’ll tell you right now, ‘Idiocracy’ is no ‘Office Space’).
‘Idiocracy’ is the kind of movie that you watch clips of on YouTube and laugh hysterically, but when you see the full film you realize it doesn’t quite jell overall. There are individual concepts, moments, and scenes that are brilliant and hilarious (hiring Earl Mann, the voice of NFL Films, to be the narrator, was a stroke of genius), and I give the movie credit for going to a lot of uncomfortable places, but I don’t know if it ever gets better than the first five to ten minutes (especially Michael McCafferty as the Army officer giving the presentation about the hibernation project; he’s great), and that’s problematic.
Maybe I’m being too hard on it. Maybe I’m not giving it enough credit for actually seeing the light of day (albeit briefly), but I think it just comes down to the fact that some comedy holds up over time (like ‘Office Space’), and some comedy doesn’t. As a full movie experience, ‘Idiocracy’ doesn’t hold up well (but you can still find funny clips on YouTube).
Rating: ★★½
P.S.
The 10-Year Anniversary screening was bookended by a livestream Q&A that was more interesting and entertaining that the movie itself, which you can find here (skip ahead as needed).