New Beginnings

With January 1st 2009 a couple of days away, I decided on a film topic I will call "New Beginnings".

I place a "New Beginnings" film in the same category of the "Feel Good" movie. A film with likable characters getting a second chance in life.

New Year's day has always been associated with a new start or new beginning. People make resolutions to improve certain aspects in their lives and try to put the past behind them. Even though the best time to improve is always now.

First I want to examine the formula of a "Feel Good" movie. This is the type of film that starts with likable characters going through some kind of common hardship. Low income is often the easiest dilemma for an audience to relate to.

Depending on how heavy the movie is, the first act is spent identifying the hardship, learning who the victims are, and who or what the objective is. A heavy movie will often take 30 to 40 minutes before presenting the characters with a way out of their situation. A lighter "New Beginnings" or "Feel Good" movie like Richard Pryor's Brewster's Millions or Eddie Murphy's Trading Places will do it with in 30 minutes. In those two films the main character is presented with an opportunity to make lots of money after accomplishing certain goals.

Once the goals or objectives have been laid out, the second act or next 30 minutes are spent watching the character accomplishing the tasks put before him/her. The main character will do things to make him/her more endearing by helping some one even less fortunate than they.

The third act or last 30 minutes is spent with the main character or hero reevaluating whats really important. Sometimes they achieve the presented goal or the true goal is revealed.

Brewster's Millions and Trading Places are great movies about second chances. But one of my favorites and a forgotten classic is the 1983 film, Max Dugan Returns.

A GREAT movie with LITTLE fanfare, Max Dugan Returns features the film debut of Matthew Broderick. It also features Marsha Mason who stars in one of my all time favorite movies, The Goodbye Girl. But I will save that movie for my Valentines Day Movie edition.

Prices are double. Your life's in trouble. The car won't start. Your boss has no heart. The Door squeaks. The roof leaks. Your stereo just went mono. All you need is a little Max Dugan.

It's time to feel good again.

Jason Robards plays con-man, Max Dugan, who is on the run and seeks out his daughter Nora, played by Marsha Mason. To give her and her son, played by Matthew Broderick, his estate. Money he laundered for and then took from the mob. Nora is a teacher down on her luck who is dating a police officer, played by Donald Sutherland, who begins to sense something suspicious about her new found wealth. Nora wants no part of the money but excepts the association of her estranged father as his last dying wish.

Max Dugan Returns follows the formula of the "Feel Good" movie I discussed above. But unlike Brewster's Millions and Trading Places, there is no over the top laughs or popular actors of the time. Jason Robards, Donald Sutherland, and Marsha Mason are exceptional, but neither had the box office draw of Eddie Murphy or Richard Pryor.

Written by Neil Simon, Max Dugan Returns relies on clever wit and banter. Not yelling banter with the F word as a crutch. But scripted dialogue that is written and delivered realistically. Each actor plays their role as though they are playing themselves. Allowing you to enjoy the movie and not taking you out of it with over acting or grand standing. Each actor plays off each other well. You never get the feeling of "What's my line again?" Broderick is subtly charming and an obvious star in the making.

Max Dugan Returns plays well with the hope we all have of suddenly acquiring a huge fortune and erasing our financial woes. I loved it when I was a kid and find that the movie still holds up today.

There is never a New Years Eve party or talk of Christmas for that matter. But if you want a movie for the whole family that isn't dumb. That presents "New Beginnings" and some "Feel Good" with out being corny, Max Dugan Returns is what I recommend.

I hope we discover, as Nora did, that "New Beginnings" don't always have to follow the acquisition of a small fortune. I hope in 2009 we can all make the changes necessary to enrich our lives and help us feel fulfilled.

Happy New Year!