directed by Michael Caton-Jones
I initially chose to watch this movie because it starred Ron Perlman. For my money Perlman is one of those rare actors who are just too cool for words. He just walks and talks cool and that is all there is to it. Perlman brings masculine gravitas and often some hidden intelligence or sadness/sensitivity to his roles. It could well be that a definition of being an American is the unrelated quote by George Eliot that "It is never too late to be what you might have been". Although Eliot was not American, I have always found her quote to be relevant to how Americans view themselves. It mirrors similar statements by Norman Vincent Peale. That worldview is at the core of this movie. Although the hero is not a good man, he is something of an everyman. He's concerned about his career choices. He wonders if he's made the right decisions throughout the years.
Asher, (the name is derived from the Hebrew word for happy, ironic given that the role is played by the hangdog looking Perlman), is an Israeli-American man transitioning from late middle age to old age. Asher also happens to be a former soldier, former Mossad agent, and current contract killer for a Brooklyn based Jewish organized crime organization.
Usually Asher just plods around, does his job and goes home. He lives alone. He's lonely. Asher is still processing some loss. Asher gets his assignments and pay from an organization middle manager Abram (Ned Eisenberg). Abram is both coldly business minded and like every good Jewish uncle, concerned about Asher's lack of a social(sexual) life. Asher worries that the organization is slowly cutting him out of the loop. Asher doesn't get the well paid high visibility jobs any more. Those jobs go to the up and coming Uziel (Peter Facinelli), a younger co-worker whom Asher trained. Asher was even a sort of surrogate father to Uziel.
On one assignment having to take the stairs instead of an elevator is more than Asher's heart can stand. He collapses into an apartment rented by Sophie (Famke Janssen). It's bad enough to mess up the assignment but showing weakness mortifies Asher. But there's something about Sophie which intrigues Asher. She could be a kindred soul. Sophie is just as lonely as Asher is. Sophie is a ballet instructor who's dealing with the emotional pain of taking care of her elderly mother (Jacqueline Bisett) who is suffering from dementia.
Asher understands pain and loss and guilt. He and Sophie begin a halting romance. But even as Asher debates telling Sophie the truth about who he is and what he does, events beyond their control put both of their lives in danger. Maybe Asher should have paid closer attention to the office politics.
I liked this film. Perlman can say more with a raised eyebrow, grunt or shrug than many actors can say with a three minute monologue. Sophie is not just window dressing. She has reasons for her choices and decisions, which are often independent of Asher's. This is one of the few times I've seen a movie like this make a realistic concession to age's increasing limitations. Asher is a classy gentleman with a taste for life's finer things. A gourmet cook and wine expert, Asher is never outside without shined shoes and pressed pants. This is not so much an action movie as it is a drama film about whether it really is too late to change your life. If you're into the genre or just like Perlman, check this one out.
TRAILER
A Fare To Remember
directed by Jim Yukich
But the strangest thing about this movie was that Malcolm Jamaal Warner did not use his inside voice for most of the film. In both looks and presence I think he was trying to channel Robin Williams from that actor's role in The Fisher King. No disrespect to Warner but he's not Robin Williams. His vocal mannerisms were offsetting. Anyhow there's no accounting for taste. Perhaps the director wanted to emphasize that fact or underline the whole opposites attract thingie.
Tamara Gault (Challen Cates) is a hard driving ad exec. She's going to marry an equally ambitious man. It's apparent though that her marriage will be a business merger and something for Tamara to check off her to do list. She and her fiance don't so much as whisper sweet nothings to each other as they give status updates. Tamara is nonplussed that now that she's about to become a Mrs., her husband to be has started contradicting her, telling her what to do and changing decisions that she made.
But in the cheesiest plot contrivance ever seen all the flights from Seattle to Los Angeles are cancelled. The only way Tamara can get to LA is to hire the obnoxious cabbie she previously dismissed, Winter Valen (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) to drive her to Los Angeles. The other plot contrivance is that Tamara lacks cash or credit cards.
But there's no movie without the roadtrip. The squabbling duo take off for the City of Angels. Winter speaks his mind without caring what others think. He also makes friends easily. Winter disagrees with almost all of Tamara's opinions. This works Tamara's nerves. At first. Slowly the buttoned up Tamara starts to wonder if Winter's frenetic approach to life might not have some utility. Tamara wants to know what secrets Winter is hiding as he is apparently far too well read in Bronte and Yeats to just be a cabbie. Winter becomes protective of the upper class woman he dismisses as "Jackie O". Well you know where things are headed. It's a romantic comedy. It just didn't have a lot of real comedy. Halfway decent but that's it. Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ratzenberger, Mark DeCarlo, and Jerry Springer have roles.
