The two of us: Beetlejuice and Bob in ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’.
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE ***1/2 (105 minutes) M
Given what a flimsy, sloppily directed squib of a film it was, it remains one of the great mysteries of modern pop cinema that 1988’s Beetlejuice has become such an enduring, affectionately regarded touchstone in the 36 years since hitting big in theatres.
Rewatching the film as prep for the sequel, the befuddlement redoubles. There is charm in the supernatural comedy as the ghosts of two deceased yuppies (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) engage the services of a “bio-exorcist” Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) to rid their large country abode of newcomers.
But it’s a clunky ride, with a faltering pace and sluggish direction from a young Tim Burton, still riding high after the surprise success of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. The analog effects were still impressive – it won an Oscar for Special Make-Up – but the room for improvement was sizeable.
Glad to report then that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a massively better movie, with Burton showing how much better a director he has become in the intervening decades.
What huge, unadulterated, loopy fun the film is, with stacks of engaging story, lots of laughs, a great cast and, of course, plenty of messy, goo-strewn special effects to make you go “eww”.
Though the film can be enjoyed on its own, it’s positively studded with references, clearly designed to please the legions who adore the original so much they deem its characters and images tattoo-worthy.
Notably, Beetlejuice appears in the opening reel here whereas it took a whopping 45 minutes in the first film. Talk about not wanting to disappoint fans.
Revenge is one of the story drivers as Beetlejuice’s dismembered ex-wife Dolores (Monica Bellucci) reassembles herself with surgical staples and goes hunting for him, sucking the soul out of everyone she encounters. It’s some testament to Bellucci, now 59, that even with staples and a scar running across her ashen face she is still pulchritudinous.
In the non-netherworld original characters Delia Deetz (Catherine O’Hara), her daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) return to the original small-town house with newbie Astrid (Jenna Ortega from Wednesday) for the funeral of Delia’s husband Charles (Jeffrey Jones).
A typically disaffected Goth child, Astrid happens upon attractive local lad (Arthur Conti from Games of Thrones) who has a fascination with the Deetz legacy, given how Delia is now a renown artist and Lydia is a famous TV psychic.
Holding true to his love of practical effects, Burton recreates the look of the original through animatronics, stop-motion animation and some exacting set replicas. The art department must have free-framed the heck out of their VHS of the original.
More importantly, he moves matters briskly, generating an infectious comic buzz throughout. Time has clearly made his a much better comedy director, especially when it comes to performances.
Keaton re-inhabits the garish Beetlejuice costume with OTT ease; O’Hara’s artiste is marvellously pretentious; Ortega is suitably dour until the faeces hits the fan; and there’s terrific support from Justin Theroux as Lydia’s new-age producer and husband-to-be.
Lovers of the timeless mega-ballad MacArthur Park are likely to swoon at the film’s rendition of the song and devotees of the original will relish the continual dopamine hits from the film’s visual fidelity to the original.
They even give Bob his due.
Alas, Adam and Barbara Maitland – Baldwin and Davis, the stars of Beetlejuice – are only mentioned fleetingly, which is just as well.
As crowded as the film already is with big names, their reintroduction would have required a lot of explaining and probably wouldn’t have made much sense anyway, even in this manic, crazy realm.
LAST SUMMER **** (104 minutes) M
An ill-advised sexual liaison between an aged wealthy lawyer and her attractive step-son gets a red-hot, morally blistering going over by Catherine Breillet, the veteran French boundary rider who, at 76, shows absolutely no interest in mellowing.
Enjoying a contented, successful life in a large, verdant Parisian estate with her loving husband Pierre (Olivier Rabourdin) and their two adopted daughters, Anne (Lea Drucker) finds herself drawing closer to Theo (Samuel Kircher), Pierre’s lithe 17-year old son from a previous marriage.
Breillet’s brilliant, richly nuanced direction makes it hard to tell who’s seducing, but while Theo’s attraction to her remains something of a mystery (temporarily, anyway), the rousing of Anne’s carnal instincts promptly cut through any sense of propriety and the inevitable happens.
Equally inevitable is Anne’s post-coital regret, as she realises the potential costs of having surrendered to opportunistic lust. The sex was phenomenal – as Breillet vividly shows – but was the fleeting tryst worth endangering her happy domestic life?
Unfortunately, Anne’s attempt to negate her momentary sexual adventure by belatedly acting like a responsible adult hits a powerful headwind.
For Theo their coupling wasn’t fleeting and his persistence messes with Anne’s head as her determination to do what’s right has to contend with succumbing again to transgressive temptation.
A strong, and rather obvious, cautionary theme underscores this steamy erotic drama yet rather than get too moralistic Breillet instead tightens the tension between the three main characters, raising piercing issues about deceit, honesty, fidelity, commitment and blackmail.
Made in 2023 and based on the 2019 Danish film Queen of Hearts by May el-Toukhy (unseen by your humble scribe), Last Summer offers an engrossing trek into the complex emotional responses to the prospect of illicit conquest.
Regarding the portrayal of sex, at a guess the film’s intimacy co-ordinator probably took stress leave after the shoot. Breillet is famous – or infamous – for using unsimulated sex in her then-controversial 1999 film Romance and in 2004’s Anatomy of Hell.
There’s no doubting the intensity of the sex scenes here, but one has to wonder: did she get her actors to go all the way before the camera?
Well, what means could procure a more definitive answer to such a vexing question than by consulting the miracle of Artificial Intelligence.
The result: Gemini said: No. ChatGPT said Yes, but when asked a second time (just to be sure), said No – then, on a third go, said “There seems to be limited information available for that specific query”.
So, there.
THELMA *** (97 minutes) M
Delightful revenge comedy in which freshly scammed grandmother Thelma (June Squibb) heads off across suburbia on a mobility scooter with her pal Ben (Richard Roundtree) to secure a refund from those who ripped her off.
In the face of the mean-spirited crime that ignites the story, writer/director Josh Margolin maintains a warm vibe in a fun road-com that incorporates themes of aged care, elder stereotypes and the adventure of latter-life.
As Thelma’s grandson, Fred Hechinger chips in a well-sketched portraiture as a self-aware slacker.
At 94 and after a life in showbiz, Thelma is Squibb’s first movie lead. It is also Richard Roundtree’s final film appearance. Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) has a snappy supporting role.
Lovely comfort viewing.