FILM TITLE: SPEECHLESS DIRECTOR: RON UNDERWOOD COUNTRY: USA 1994 CINEMATOGRAPHY: DON PETERMAN MUSIC: MARC SHAIMAN CAST: Geena Davis, Bonnie Bedelia, Ernie Hudson, Charles Martin Smith, Gailard Sartain, Michael Keaton SUPER FEATURES: Well, huhhh, well, ....
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Speechless might have been a better film if it weren't just an acting showcase, and had more to do with the two characters in question. But it tries to get political, and full of ideals and desires, and the ending is a mess of bad design and writing. But the rest is entertaining, at least. Specially if you like to see a good actor going through his motions.
Michael Keaton is a has been Hollywood writer that has just about quit what he does best, and has been taken on as a writer, for a campaign for public office. And he is, at first, clever, a good writer, and gets the results. But his competition is no slouch in the process and has a history of good works, but lacks in the other areas, like a little influence, and being able to get things done efficiently enough to be effective. And Geena Davis, is the other writer.
And they meet. Of course. And they happen to decide that they like each other, only to find out that they are in the opposite camps, writing against each other. This does no favors to any relationship at all, but it does add its moments. The whole thing becomes a war of attrition of words and nerves, to see who is cleverest of all, and who is able to manage the goods better. And the scoop is not cleared up until we see it to keep us surprised. In between these events, some materials get stolen and borrowed, and each campaign works to be better than the other to help the candidate in question. It doesn't matter that she is the pro who has done this before, or that the writer's ex-wife is the one that got him involved in this new role, thus providing a bit of more chaos to the whole thing. All of a sudden it isn't just a writing campaign, but a personal vendetta.
Speechless has funny moments, and they may be on the shoulders of Michael Keaton and his acting ability to keep us busy and entertained. Without it, the film nay have been too drab and boring. And Geena Davis, gets a chance to be next to someone who is good and will be better, and that is good for her character. The question is if it will work out in the end.
Well, it does, and it doesn't. The ending feels like a throwaway. I think that the outcome of the election should have been ignored and not a matter in question. Instead they make a mess of it by implicating bad political precedent onto the running parties, whose behind the back dealings are as dishonest as the relationship between the two writers has become. And even more so, because the public is unaware of it. The film doe snot resolve this, and instead makes sure that the two characters get together.
And in the middle of it is a drab reporter that has some new designs on his past flame, Geena Davis.
Well, it is nice to watch, but someone will have to remind me what it was that was nice. I enjoy solid acting jobs, and the only person that gets his kudos for an evening's work here is Michael Keaton. The rest, you'll have to decide for yourself.
3 GIBLOONS
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews