Robocop (1987), When Harry Met Sally... (1989)

Two more heavy hitters tonight. Two of the most popular, most enduring pop culture movies of the whole decade - Robocop (1987) and When Harry Met Sally (1989). 

Robocop I wasn't expecting to like as much as I did. I first saw it when I was eight on a rental VHS, and like most eight year old boys I worshipped the fascistic ultraviolence where elite killing skills are valued far above such petty things like "law" and "order." 

That was a big, big deal in the '80s - action movie heroes tended to be fascist, hyperviolent killed who follow their own inner law and never the law of the rest of society. Think of all the movies like this:

• Escape from New York
• First Blood
• First Blood, Part II
• Rambo III
• Commando
• The Terminator
• Predator
• Cobra
• Missing in Action
• The Delta Force
• etc etc etc

When I say "fascist," I mean it literally. According to Wikipedia, Fascism "views political violence, war, and imperialism as a means to achieve national rejuvenation." Totally right. In Robocop, political violence is used to reunify a broken Detroit whose police are so beleaguered that they are considering going on strike (!).

In fact one of the funny-yet-sad aspects of Robocop is how accurately it predicted modern Detroit. In 2043, Detroit is a run-down crime-ridden bankrupted hell hole where citizens (curiously white, even in the poorest neighborhoods... unsure why this is) are under siege by well armed criminals. Now it's 2013 and real-life Detroit isn't quite a hell hole, but it is bankrupt, the cops are out of money, the citizens face very high crime rates, and whole huge swaths of the city decaying to empty lots. Eerie how close Robocop got it. Future, thy name is Detroit. 

It's directed by Paul Verhoeven, and it shows. I've already reviewed his Flesh + Blood, and it feels like a warm up to Robocop. This movie embodies every single one of his themes in their simplest most primal abstraction. Identity reduction, seen also in Total Recall and Basic Instinct? Check. Explicit link between sex and violence, as in Basic Instinct and Starship Troops? Check. Strange pseudo-feminist ideas, a la Basic Instinct and Showgirls? Check. Main character who breaks the rules to get ultimate vengeance? Check. 

The movie looks and sounds amazing. It really holds up much better than I thought it might. The soundtrack, by Basil Poledouris, cleverly deals with the man-vs-machine theme by mixing orchestras with robotic synthesizers. Nice touch, and memorable. Meanwhile the cinematographer is longtime Verhoeven partner Jost Vacano. The film is full of interesting wide open spaces and big flat colors.

Also interesting are all the ideas that spew forth about "What makes a man?" The visual look of the film (especially the headquarters) is like a daytime Blade Runner, and this motif follows suit. Is Robocop a man or a machine? He has memories, makes new experiences, but in the famous scene late in the film, he's just a face strapped to a metal frame. 

In fact, the whole movie is kind of the inverse of Blade Runner. In that movie, a human cop hunts down android criminals who threaten our idea of humanity. In Robocop, an android cop hunts down human criminals who threaten our idea of robotics with their de-individualized lawbots. All in all, a surprisingly good movie. 

But enough with all the highbrow theory. The bottom line is that Robocop is just a fun action classic. The cool scanline view from Robocop's POV; seeing Kurtwood Smith as the gun-running ultravillain; all the great fake commercials, especially the nuclear variant of Battleship; the great face-and-wires humanized Robocop from late in the movie; the great gun flip he takes from the fictional "T.J. Lazer" show; seeing Ronny Cox as the sleaziest corporate raider of possibly any '80s movie; so many great moments!! Very much worth watching. 

Made about $50 mil or thereabouts on a budget of $13 mil - not bad! A remake/reboot/whatever is due out next year (2014), but I can't report more than that. 

The same can't be said for When Harry Met Sally..., at least not the surprising part. It's entertaining through and through, and has been since its release. This review was sponsored by my friend Elena, the first person to post on this blog!

When Harry Met Sally... (yes, the ellipsis is part of the title) ... (and that one is my own) there is so much joy in it! The hilarious and often touching interviews with the elderly couples. The endlessly quotable dialog. The realistic ups and downs. The cooperatively neurotic personality of Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan). The famous scenes ("I'll have what she's having," "A WAGON wheel??," "When you decide you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to begin as soon as possible," and so many more). 

I might go so far as to argue that even including The Princess Bride, Stand by Me, A Few Good Men, The Sure Thing, and This is Spinal Tap, When Harry Met Sally is the best movie Rob Reiner ever directed. Debatable, certainly. But I believe it. 

First: It may be the single most likeable role Billy Crystal ever had. I've seen most of his movies, and I'll be honest here - he's the same fast-talking neurotic character in every damned role. He's basically the Jewish version of Robin Williams - Mode 1 is fast-talking witty wise-ass, Mode 2 is quiet and depressed and morose. 

Billy Crystal is great in small doses - maybe most famously as Max in The Princess Bride. But here, since we have the cute and equally crazy Meg Ryan to compare him against, he is much more relatable. 

Second: Meg Ryan! She's at the peak of her stardom and her powers here. She's cute, a little quirky (her famous style of ordering food... her short temper ... "Sheldon") and the perfect foil for Harry. You care about both of them, yin to yang. When they experience rough times, you understand and hope they find a way to make it through. When they experience good times, you are right there with them. It's a real coup by Reiner to involve us so much in their lives. 

Third, the movie is also like many a Woody Allen film, a loving depiction of New York City. The restaurants; the apartments; the streets; the shops; the sounds; the crowds; it's like its own character. 

Finally, there is the great soundtrack. All classic jazz standards: It Had to Be You, But Not for Me, Autumn in New York, Where or When, and of course Let's Call the Whole Thing Off. Perfect! It's hand-in-glove with the rest of the movie. Just pitch perfect. All performed by Harry Connick Jr. and his trio (!). 


I hardly even know what else to say about the movie. The bit parts are all expertly played. The great jokes. The wonderful conclusion at New Year's. The final "interview." A real gem.