Leading ladies

What did you think of Penelope Cruz as the heroine? I didn't mind her, but I think she lacked that real spark that was so fantastic in Pepa in "Women on the Verge." And I think Carmen Maura stole all her scenes in "Volver," too. I adored her hiding under the bed and laughing about farts.

Funny

"Volver" was categorized as a comedy everywhere I looked, and it certainly had its amusing moments. But the inclusion of the rapist stepfather and incestuous grandfather gave me pause. I was not expecting that sort of thing, and I found it somewhat difficult to keep it from distracting from the rest of the movie. Your thoughts?

The wind

What was the significance of the east wind? And the wind turbines? KC made the comment that perhaps they were a Don Quixote reference. I've since read that "Volver" was set in La Mancha. Do you see any connection?

The sexes

"Volver" gives us an ensemble of females to root for and a couple of low-life males to despise (one unseen). What do you think Almodovar's thoughts are about men and women? This is only my second film of his, but I'm reminded somewhat of the women and men in "Women on the Verge," who didn't exactly make beautiful music together.

Erin's pick: "Volver"

Let's revisit Pedro Almodovar, shall we? This looks like an interesting storyline.

second opinions

Selected critic comments for "Sheila":

Since I'm told that (Stephen) Sondheim and (Anthony) Perkins are serious game people, I assume that the plot, if run backward, would make sense. More important to me was the generally festive air in which all this genteel mayhem takes place, as well as the rather charming, Agatha Christie manners that are observed. As plot points are explained, people get themselves drinks from the bar. If someone is murdered, the pall of gloom lasts for a maximum of five minutes. -- Vincent Canby, The New York Times

The movie was written by Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins, and they exhibit a very fine eye for showbiz behavior and dialog. They've also played a sort of Jacqueline Susann guessing game for us; we can have fun wondering who the bitchy agent (Dyan Cannon) was inspired by, or the down-at-his luck director (James Mason), or the sexpot (Raquel Welch, who may very well have been inspired by herself). -- Roger Ebert

The Last Of Sheila's chief failing lies in its overemphasis on tricky construction, which gets in the way of its lightly bitchy '70s Hollywood exposé. The Sheila DVD release is invaluable because it adds a gossipy commentary track by Benjamin and Cannon, with drop-in comments by Welch (recorded separately). All were A-list actors when they starred in Sheila, and hearing them reminisce about socializing on the set in the south of France provides an open window onto the slick, professional side of '70s show business that Sondheim and Perkins are skewering. It's diverting as nostalgia and as middlebrow drama. -- Noel Howard, The A.V. Club

superfly!

Some fans tune into "Sheila" for its over-the-top costumes, designed by Joel Schumacher, who went on to direct a lot of bad movies, among them "Batman & Robin." (Would "The Incredible Shrinking Woman" be to his credit or discredit?) Anyway, while Dyan Cannon ran around in a few amusing frocks, like that multi-colored knit jacket she wore the first night of the game, I thought the men were far more fashion-forward. How about Clinton in his tight white jeans and blue-and-white-striped shirt? With the little scarf around his neck? Very natty. Anthony wore a series of curious shirts and open-collared vests.

And I began to suspect Tom was the murderer once he donned that expensive leather jacket. I don't know why. Something in that big, flared collar said "killer" to me.

Lee -- homely?

I can't find a good photo of Joan Hackett for this post.

Various descriptions of "The Last of Sheila" paint Joan Hackett as a Plain Jane (via Wikipedia, she is called a "homely wife"). I found that incomprehensible -- I thought she was the loveliest of the three women. She isn't a flashy beauty like Raquel Welch, but she had a certain class and breeding to her. As such it seemed improbable that Lee would tell Christine she was "trying to hold on to a husband" or that said husband wanted to murder her. Or that the other two women would slight her every chance they got.

Not exactly Poirot

James Mason's "Philip" is an unusual choice for the movie sleuth the audience cheers on to the finish. On the one hand, he seems the smartest and perhaps kindliest of the players. (Maybe I'm just a sucker for that accent.) But by process of elimination, the audience is left with the uncomfortable choice that Lee and Philip are the "hit-and-run killer" and "little child molester," respectively. Lee confesses to the car accident, and we never get back to Philip's card.

Later, Philip and Tom are unraveling the "SHEILA" mystery, and Philip denounces the "little" in "little child molester" card as a contrived way for Clinton to achieve the acronym he wanted. Was Philip just referring to how Clinton went about setting up the game, or was he saying he wasn't, in fact, a child molester, that Clinton had introduced a false clue?

Even if Philip was an innocent in the game, he still confessed to turning on the boat motor that nearly drowned Christine. (He apparently was after Clinton.) I thought that didn't make any sense, unless he had caught on to the nature of the game already AND knew someone had the child molester card. Or he was sick of Clinton's has-been remarks? In any case, whether our "detective" was a child molester or not, he still tried to commit murder. The game's survivors, Philip included, still get a morally murky getaway.

S-H-H-E-I-L-A

Did anyone else pull out a pen and paper to play "The Last of Sheila" game? I did on my first viewing (c'mon, I do the same with a revolving set of 72 Agatha Christie novels). Because I noted the cards displayed toward the beginning, I figured out pretty quickly that the clues would spell "SHEILA." But I wondered why there were two "H" cards (Homosexual, Hit-and-Run Killer) in addition to the "Alcoholic" card.

Still, I failed to solve the mystery, and when Tom trotted out his hypothesis and Lee confessed to the accident, I thought the movie was over. Instead, a whole new plotline developed. Did you find this to be a convincing or intriguing mystery? Did anything about it (Tom counting on Lee's cooperation in Clinton's death) seem contrived or far-fetched to you?

star power

"Sheila" had some big '70s names in its cast, but that didn't guarantee five-star acting. Raquel Welch CANNOT act, which I had always heard but never confirmed, and the worst scene had to be her breathy tell-me-your-clue close-up on board with her mystery lover (Tom). Compare with the magnificent James Coburn, who seemed to relish his Machiavellian role (puffing those big cigar rings). I have never before seen an actor who could emote with his teeth!

Thoughts on any standout performances? I was mixed on Dyan Cannon. I know her character was supposed to be annoying, but ...

A 7. Or an 8? Or a 7.

"The Last of Sheila" -- a great film, a bad film. We had a peculiar theme track followed by a hit Bette Midler tune, an excellent mystery, some terrible dialogue ("Tom, do you really think that there could be a homosexual on board the yacht?"), terrific plot twists, a running advertisement for Newports and the inexplicable presence of hand puppets. My kind of movie.

Ben mentioned that the film isn't listed on Film Affinity, so I'll give my rating here: a 7. No, an 8. No, a 7. Or it's a 7 with the great James Coburn, which probably makes it an 8.

What would you give it?

what time can do

Alvin had a sense of serenity and wisdom to him that seemed to generate from his grasp of what time is about, what it is worth and has the power to accomplish. It's as though the elderly have seen and wrangled with enough of it to make peace with its reality. He can take several weeks to make an excruciatingly slow trip to see his brother -- their falling out has lasted 10 years, and he needn't rush over in a day's time to set things right. (I even like to think he was on a sort of quest or pilgrimage, paying some kind of slow penance to atone for his short temper at the time of their fight).

With the cyclists, he can acknowledge missing the vitality and mobility he took for granted in his youth, now that he's left to long days of remembering them.

Best of all, he knows that 10 years will wash away a bitter grudge between brothers. One of the best parts of all is that we never learn what exactly their disagreement was about; they both have a proper appreciation of the magnitude of that 10 years, and that it can sweep away all the bitterness and bad blood. All of the insignificant stuff they don't need to take with them.

Straight's Story

I have read a couple of reviews that have a different take on this film. The central issue is the story that Alvin tells the young pregnant girl about Rose's children. He says, "Someone else was supposed to be watchin' them, and there was a fire, and her second boy got burned real bad." One article argues that Alvin's vague references—"someone else" — and passive constructions — "there was a fire" and "got burned" — imply that he was the "someone else" who let Rose's children get hurt and then get taken from her.

The article says another clue is the burning house that appears in the background as Alvin flies down the hill. "This scene functions as a flashback to the earlier fire, the one in which Alvin's grandchildren were burned. Alvin's face, bathed in sweat and flickering orange with firelight, and his eyes, bulging and rolling in his head like a frightened animal's, express a terror that transcends his immediate situation. When intercut with those quick, jarring shots of the blazing house. The real object of that terror is unmistakable. Alvin is the unnamed 'someone' who was supposed to be watching Rose's kids. He let his grandson get burned. He caused his daughter's children to be taken away by the state. After he manages to stop his tractor, he sits panting and shaking in terror, staring at nothing, the burning house clearly framed in the background. He is trembling not just in reaction to his near-accident, but in an abreaction to that original trauma — another time when Alvin Straight lost control and events took on their own scary, unstoppable momentum."

It's a really long article, so I won't list all its points here, but it basically argues that everything on the journey, from the deer woman to the WWII vet, comes back to Alvin's role in the fire.

So, what do you think? Is this reading things into the story that just aren't there? Or is it a plausible reading?

A quirky mystery

My pick for July 16: "The Last of Sheila."

This odd whodunit is a lot of fun, especially for puzzle enthusiasts. When I saw it more than a year ago, I paused it shortly after starting so I could grab a pen and paper to play along as characters try to solve a murder mystery via process of elimination. (Not all of them survive the process.)

It's a little obscure, even for cult status, but Netflix does carry it. It has the greatness of James Coburn, the vapidity of Raquel Welch, terrific and terrible dialogue, a lot of that '70s campy nuttiness and a top-notch, twisty plot.

Harvest

And what was the importance of all of the harvest shots?

Subtlety

What did Alvin’s subtle reactions to his journey add to the story? For example, when several semis passed Alvin and he turned his head and smiled, what did that mean? Did it set up an expectation that something important was about to happen? Did you ever think that there would be an encounter in a scene and then it just cut to the next scene?

Richard Farnsworth

Richard Farnsworth in this role was the oldest person ever to be nominated for Best Actor. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer and killed himself with a shotgun just a year after this movie came out.

He had been a stunt man for 40 years before becoming an actor. He despised cursing, and he told Roger Ebert that the thing he was most proud of in his career was that he never had to say a bad word.

How much of his performance in this film do you think was acting, and how much of it was just Farnsworth being himself? Was Farnsworth perhaps a lot like Alvin Straight? What does Farnsworth’s death say about aging and how does that align with what Straight had to say about aging?

Encounters

What was your favorite of Alvin’s encounters?

Reaction

Did you like The Straight Story? If so, you are in large company -- the average rating on Film Affinity is an 8.0, and according to Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of critics gave it a positive review. The consensus review was “slow-paced but heart-warming.” Do you agree?