Word: chicago
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John Clark (Richard Gere) is a middle-aged lawyer living in a posh Chicago apartment with his wife (Susan Sarandon) and teenage daughter. Still, he’s unhappy—and, in a movie whose characters never exceed tide-pool depth, it doesn’t seem to matter that we never know why. “It’s not true that I don’t want anything,” he whispers to his wife one night...
...Chelsom never explains what makes ballroom dance equally taboo in 21st-century Chicago. He tries to plug this plot hole subliminally instead by making Miss Mitzi’s look a lot like a brothel, but it’s hard to salvage a bungled plot with neon lighting and sweaty-palmed patrons...
...Vietnam War and his outspoken protest upon his stateside return. The film casts no aspersions about its political leanings, as the official synopsis consciously emphasizes Kerry’s bravery, courage, and eloquence. Nonetheless, it has been extolled for its honest overall assessment of the Vietnam era; the Chicago Tribune praised the film as “measured, calm, well-researched and thoughtful...
Skip it, and go instead for Kuper's far more interesting adaptation of Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel "The Jungle" (NBM; 48 pages; $16). When first published, its exposure of the Chicago meatpacking industry's outrageous conditions created a scandal that resulted in the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act. But far more immortal than mere reportage, "The Jungle" retains its power to shock thanks to the artistry of the novel's characterization and cracking plot. It stars Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian bear of a man who, at the novel's beginning, has just arrived in America...
...rendering Sinclair's vision, Kuper uses the full power of his graphic style to remarkable effect. His airbrush effect implicitly evokes a sense of violence or sex gone wild, which perfectly matches the blood and sweat of the Chicago slaughterhouses. In the fertilizer factory, for instance, he makes it appear as if Jurgis is working in a literal shit-storm. By adding his own purely visual commentary, Kuper essentially doubles the power of the book's social message. The swirling winds turn into predatory monsters when Jurgis loses his job, for example. In spite of its bleak story, "The Jungle...