Caine's Eyes are the real menace

 THE HAND (1981)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

When Michael Caine gets angry or acts tough, his mouth tightens up and his eyes become reptilian and menacing as if he is ready to hunt his prey. Such piercing eyes are really the focus, or should have been, for a peculiar and quite fascinating psychological horror film called "The Hand." I remember watching it on video back in 1982 and thought it was a primal, scary film. Today, I can say the film still works a nerve and makes you sweat a little. Caine is the lead star and his eyes say much more than some severed, crawling killer hand. The eyes have it, as far as I am concerned.

Successful cartoonist Jonathan Lansdale (Michael Caine) is having a nearly loveless marriage with his depressed wife (a powerfully understated Andrea Marcovicci) who wants to seek a new environment and a new life. They have a cute, curious child (adorably curly-haired Mara Hobel, memorable in "Mommie Dearest") who one day notices a severed lizard's tail moving on its own (the source novel is titled "The Lizard's Tail") and wonders how that can be. Jonathan is on a car trip to deliver comic-drawing proofs when a near-accident with a truck and another car causes his right hand to be severed. He receives a solid prosthetic hand but it doesn't help with his drawings one bit. After his agent secures another cartoonist to draw and ink Jonathan's ideas and his marriage is going downhill fast, Jonathan takes a job teaching in California. There he has a quick roll in the hay with a dynamic student (Annie McEnroe) who wants to keep it old-fashioned by, you know, "doing it on the bed." Meanwhile, the severed hand that Jonathan and his wife tried to find has a life of its own and starts offing people. One is a bum (Oliver Stone, no less, who also directed) who is also a hand amputee. There are others and it is clear that Jonathan through telepathy (!) and murmuring something in his sleep (and while he's awake) can command that severed hand to kill. 

The ending is quite thrilling though it is perplexing as it leaves some questions about whether the hand is murderous or if Jonathan is actually killing people, or is it both. In one highly dramatic scene, that special hand scribbles all over his proofs which causes Jonathan to lose his job which begs more questions - is this hand trying to help Jonathan or ruin his life? Call it a hand with pin-sized plot holes in it. Oliver Stone already knew how to direct his actors and also manages to create a creepy atmosphere utilizing the scenery of the country setting, though he never did another horror film (Stone completists will notice his early attempt to change color to black-and-white in a couple of scenes, which do precious little to explain if Jonathan has a gradual psychosis or not). 

"The Hand" is never boring and Michael Caine has his incredible charm and steely, reptilian eyes which makes the film far more watchable than you might think. He is a master craftsman who makes the cast look good - that is a special gift. It's the eyes that sell it. The less of the hand that we see, the better. Why nobody ever cast Caine in a remake of "X - The Man With X-Ray Eyes" continues to baffle me. 

Abracadabra

 THE PRESTIGE (2006)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Though I admire director Christopher Nolan's "Batman" trilogy, I had always hoped he would return to the unforeseen twists of a hyperbolic mystery like his "Memento." I am late to the party with my 2022 review of a 2006 film called "The Prestige" yet here we are. "The Prestige" is a solid production with incredible cinematography and two superb performances at its center yet I never quite felt that everything was beyond the mere surface of its various tricks up its sleeve. The unbelievable finale will leave you with your mouth hanging.

Two magicians at the turn of the century begin as "volunteers" for Milton the Magician (Ricky Jay). One of them is Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), who can conjure simple magic tricks yet has very little showmanship. The other is Angiers (Hugh Jackman), who has showmanship and can conjure more elaborate, showier tricks like placing his wife, tied up with ropes, inside a water tank. If anything goes wrong, Cutter (Michael Caine), a magician and stage engineer, will be on hand with an axe - he has a career of being the engineer of such tricks. Something goes fatally wrong when Angiers' wife (Piper Perabo) can't free herself from being bound inside the water tank and drowns. Guess who is blamed? Alfred, who simply made the rope knots too tight. 

The rest of "The Prestige" focuses on Borden and Angiers and their attempts to wow the audience. Borden conjures a trick where he is seemingly transported from one wardrobe to the next. Angiers can't figure out his trick - how does he do it? For assistance, he consults Nikola Tesla (David Bowie, talk about electrifying casting) who is working on alternative currents of electricity where our bodies serve as conductors. The idea is that maybe Tesla can build a teleportation device for Angiers, one in which miraculously, oh, heck, I shan't give it away. It is the secret of the film, the prestige factor, that can undo one's enjoyment if I give it away.

"The Prestige" is a handsomely mounted and elaborately detailed production with some very fine performances, notably Hugh Jackman who is and looks larger-than-life so playing a magician was perfectly tailored to his abilities. Christian Bale is a little more remote as he can be, more muted in expressions yet a galvanizing actor all the way (especially since he is playing more than one role, and we will leave it at that). Michael Caine informs the film with his more nuanced portrayal of a man who has seen it all and knows that extreme obsessions (Angiers needs to know how Borden performs his teleportation trick) can lead to destruction. The whole film plays on Angiers and Borden trying to disrupt their own illusions on stage. The film derails a bit with the inclusion of the women in these magicians' lives. Scarlett Johansson is never believable in this time period as Borden's mistress and assistant, who also has an affection for Angiers. Rebecca Hall fits the time period to a tee as Borden's wife, though her character is more than a bit undernourished. 

"The Prestige" is quite forceful in its narrative, especially with the magician rules such as  (1) the Pledge, in which a seemingly real situation is set up, (2) the Turn, in which the initial reality is challenged, and (3) the Prestige, where all is set right again. Once we get past the foreshadowed final twist involving a magical act, the idea of The Prestige rule doesn't quite settle in. All is right again when the film is over yet, not unlike the fabulous sleight of hand narrative tricks of "The Usual Suspects," we come up empty wondering how we arrived at its conclusion. A solid Nolan effort that will make you want to rewatch it and see what you missed.

Harold Pinter has not sprinkled enough fresh powder

 SLEUTH (2007)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

There was no reason in hell to remake the 1972 twisty classic "Sleuth" with its slew of willful mind games and carefully balanced moments of truth and comedy between two of the greatest actors of all time, Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. This 2007 refurbished version with Michael Caine playing Olivier's role and Jude Law playing Caine's role is a novel idea I suppose, not to mention a new spin on some of the original story's events by no less than the legendary writer Harold Pinter. Yet all that is nothing more than faint praise.

Andrew Wyke (Michael Caine) is a very wealthy mystery novelist who lives in a country manor in the middle of the English countryside, the kind where a gunshot could probably not be heard for miles. He has an extensive surveillance system and catches the arrival of a car driven by none other than Milo Tindle (Jude Law), who is having an affair with Andrew's wife. Andrew taunts and teases Milo including Milo's Italian heritage (or is this young man actually Irish?). Eventually Andrew wants Milo to commit a burglary in his own home and steal some priceless jewelry. Why? Well, it is the only way Andrew will permit Milo to take his wife, please, and have the good life. Of course, Andrew still hasn't divorced his wife.

The mind games build and build and lead to a twist involving Andrew and some private investigator who is searching for Milo, and then more twists that lead to a flirtation with homosexual overtones. The latter twist was not present in the 1972 film, nor was the inside of Andrew's home resembling anything like a modernist, cubist-like museum with blue-ish hues present either. I know every remake can use an upgrade but this manor feels like it should be a gallery.

Michael Caine has more nuance and implications in his mannerisms and long stares than anything Jude Law does. Jude is simply fodder for Caine yet I never felt fully convinced by Jude's performance - he seems like a gimmick from the start and never builds his character with a shred of sympathy like Caine did in the original. Director Kenneth Branagh makes good use of the location and with the intense close-ups of both actors yet the art direction of the inside of the manor never quite manages to look like the outside - the inside feels more like a swanky New York apartment on the Upper West Side. 

"Sleuth" is not an execrable remake but it is an unnecessary one and Harold Pinter hasn't sprinkled enough fresh powder on the dusty and exciting original as one might hope.  

We are the Self-Preservation Society

 THE ITALIAN JOB (1969)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

There is nothing particularly thrilling about the caper in "The Italian Job," other than the complications in setting it up. At the point this caper comedy was released in 1969, and we already had the standard set by the wonderful 1964 heist picture "Topkapi." The truth is that "The Italian Job" is a hysterical, partly wacky comedy that is more concerned with the aspects of escape than the caper itself. 

Michael Caine is an affable crook just out of the pokey named Charlie Croker, who is ready for a new heist job just as he's being released! The heist includes robbing a truck containing 4 million dollars worth of gold in Turin, Italy and part of the plan involves replacing computer data reels to cause a traffic jam and knock out surveillance cameras so the thieves can escape with the loot. Benny Hill (yes, Benny Hill) is the Professor who is something of a computer expert...and a sexual pervert! We also have the Mob on hand who materialize out of nowhere on the cliffs just as our robbers travel through dangerously curvy roads. 

"The Italian Job" contains many laughs throughout and the extended chase finale involving mini Cooper vehicles is comically zany and enticing on many levels (literally). Unfortunately, the thieves are nondescript at best with no color or variety to them except for Benny Hill as the beaming Professor who just has to grab a woman's behind. Michael Caine comes off best of course and dominates the proceedings, especially the brief interlude that involves having a romp in the hay with a few women (Swinging 60's after all)! But even Caine's relationship with his dutiful girlfriend Lorna (Maggie Blye) comes off stale - there is not much chemistry there and hardly any close-ups. However there is Noel Coward as a crime lord still serving time in prison who finances the plot - he has a patriotic bent to him as if this heist was a political statement of England winning one over Italy.  

"The Italian Job" is a nutty 99-minute entertainment with a nerve-frying cliffhanger of an ending that is just about perfect. The characters are colorless yet it is Caine who gives it enough maximum vitality to maintain interest. No movie this zany is worth passing up.  

Getting Away with Murder

 A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM (1990)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Michael Caine's smoldering anger and witty charm can easily go hand-in-hand with black comedy. "A Shock to the System" is the perfect film to encapsulate his gifts because Caine can do just about anything - he is at your disposal to entertain and boy does he deliver.

Something is already off at the beginning of this lacerating black comedy. Caine's Graham Marshall is fixing a light bulb in the basement and almost gets electrocuted as he holds onto a lead pipe. He starts laughing, thought not maniacally. Boom, he has an idea but we don't know what that is. Graham and his semi-annoying wife (Swoosie Kurtz) are hoping for Graham's promotion as boss of the marketing firm in Wall Street. Lo and behold, he doesn't get the job. It angers him to such a boiling point that he accidentally pushes a homeless person onto a speeding subway. Graham gets away with it, and that light bulb in the basement? Well, geez, imagine if his wife were to touch the bulb and the pipe! Once, it doesn't work, second time's the charm? 

Graham has a snarling contempt for his boss (Peter Riegert) who got the promotion and has a wealthy lifestyle that includes a speedboat, a ranch and a stunning girlfriend named Tara, not the plantation! Yet Graham is old-school since he has no use for such wealth, he only wants to rewire his house! Graham knows he is older than the yuppies at the firm and possibly on exit mode soon enough. Yet the murders keep him young and alert. Oh, yes, more murders and twists and turns are to be expected. Elizabeth McGovern plays the caring account executive who falls for Graham in a time of need yet slowly becomes suspicious of his behavior. It all comes down to a gold lighter and a smart, knowing detective (Will Patton), though nothing that happens can be anticipated. Boom and Bravo!

"A Shock to the System" is neither too sardonic nor too satirical - think of it as "American Psycho," in retrospect, without the bloodshed. Director Jan Egleson sometimes refuses to show certain violent acts committed by Graham - the director often quickly cuts away from a murder that is about to happen. When Egleson shows a violent act, it has black-humored impact. One superbly-timed explosion in the film will rattle your nerves not to mention the clickety-clack music score to provide extra tension. And sometimes you think Graham is ready to show how much power he has, and he doesn't use it. "A Shock to the System" is shocking in how clever the film plays with us. Michael Caine is the movie and has a great supporting cast to keep him and us on our toes. Boom!

Half-baked gumshoe plot

 PEEPER (1975)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Michael Caine has always had the uncanny ability to make us notice him, his every move, his every gesture. Caine makes the most of it in "Peeper" and for the first forty minutes or so, he's got us glued to the screen wondering what playful excursion he will be embroiled in next. "Peeper" unfortunately loses ground and can only keep its flimsy plot aloft for long.

Caine exudes the mannerisms of a private detective way in over his head as Leslie Tucker. His name comes with some derisive laughter and, naturally being a noir story to some degree, he is the narrator and since that it is Michael Caine with his dry delivery, this works for a while. An irascible client (Michael Constantine) wants Tucker to find his long-lost daughter who may been adopted and could be the potential heir to a fortune. Enter the less than pleasant Prendergast family, who have a wealth of riches, and there are two key sisters in the family who might fit the bill of the adopted daughter. Kitty Winn is one daughter and there is the resplendent glow of Natalie Wood (all apologies to Winn, an exemplary actress in her own right, but Wood steals the movie from her). There is also the kooky Uncle Prendergast (Thayer David), a grumpy old man who seems to hate everything and everyone, including Tucker. Oh, lest we forget there are two goons after Tucker and Natalie Wood, both well-played with pizzazz by the reliable Timothy Carey and Don Calfa.  

"Peeper" has a smooth handling of itself at first, poking fun at the noir trappings of a silly plot and investigation but it ultimately doesn't lead to much. But that is only part of the problem: as good as Caine is as a bumbling detective, we only believe it for so long. The screenplay doesn't give him or the plot any real spin or find any real twists. The finale aboard a cruise ship is so flat and poorly edited that it is difficult to figure out what happened to the two goons who have been hounding Tucker throughout the movie. There is a vicious, snarling dog at one point threatening Tucker and his ability to outsmart the dog lacks basic comic timing. The scenes do not gel or provide much payoff. Only Caine gives it his all because the guy is that damn good an actor. It also needed a damn good screenplay. 

Footnote: Why start the film with a Bogart impersonator and not end it that way as well? 

Unpatriotic spy business

THE WHISTLE BLOWER (1986)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

In the first half-hour of the often riveting and disquieting "The Whistle Blower," we witness what looks like a  funeral procession for someone though we are not sure who - Queen Elizabeth II is seen at the procession. It turns out it is Remembrance Day in Whitehall, London as war veterans march past the Cenotaph, a monument to fallen soldiers which is sort of like the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in D.C. Then we see a domestic drama of sorts with Michael Caine as Frank, former naval officer who once worked for intelligence talking to his son, Bob (Nigel Havers, who really looks he could be Caine's son) who works as a linguist for the same intelligence headquarters (GCHQ) and is revealing top-secret information to his dad. We know something is afoot when vans are seen following them, recording their conversations including when they are in Bob's apartment. Disquieting indeed.

I will not reveal much except to say that Bob is killed - there is an apparent accident where he fell from the roof of the apartment. Frank knows something is up, and he starts making inquiries including his son's colleagues. It all eventually to a truly nail-biting sequence where Caine is in front of what could be a British echelon of leaders who control the spies and the information leaks, not to mention talk of Soviet moles and how people are expendable. The film does more than imply that the British spy circuit have a fondness for Soviet Russia, more so than the capitalist might of the United States or Great Britain. Some of these utterances by reliable pros like James Fox and  Sir John Gielgud give the film a greater credibility - they ooze the power of maintaining their secrecy over treasonable actions.

As I said, I can't divulge much more though many will see the parallels to spy novelists like John Le Carre. "The Whistle Blower" is not refreshing in its storytelling or plot, more so with its laid-back tone, restrained performances and its muted moments of violence with gravitas added by the cast and director Simon Langton. It is ultimately Michael Caine who envelops the film with his heartbreak over his son's death and Great Britain's patriotic death as well - it is not the country he thought it was since his early days of fighting the Korean War and working for GCHQ. I would not call "The Whistle Blower" a great movie -some will have issues with the slightly uneven pacing and the ending, which works beautifully I thought - but it is an exceptional chapter in the cinematic spy business and how deeply rotten to the core it can be.