Bob Collins Movies

Director David Fincher's dark, stylish thriller ranks as one of the decade's most influential box-office successes. Set in a hellish vision of a New York-like city, where it is always raining and the air crackles with impending death, the film concerns Det. William Somerset (Morgan Freeman), a homicide specialist just one week from a well-deserved retirement. Every minute of his 32 years on the job is evident in Somerset's worn, exhausted face, and his soul aches with the pain that can only come from having seen and felt far too much. But Somerset's retirement must wait for one last case, for which he is teamed with young hotshot David Mills (Brad Pitt), the fiery detective set to replace him at the end of the week. Mills has talked his reluctant wife, Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow), into moving to the big city so that he can tackle important cases, but his first and Somerset's last are more than either man has bargained for. A diabolical serial killer is staging grisly murders, choosing victims representing the seven deadly sins. First, an obese man is forced to eat until his stomach ruptures to represent gluttony, then a wealthy defense lawyer is made to cut off a pound of his own flesh as penance for greed. Somerset initially refuses to take the case, realizing that there will be five more murders, ghastly sermons about lust, sloth, pride, wrath, and envy presented by a madman to a sinful world. Somerset is correct, and something within him cannot let the case go, forcing the weary detective to team with Mills and see the case to its almost unspeakably horrible conclusion. The moody photography is by Darius Khondji; the nauseatingly vivid special effects are by makeup artist Rob Bottin, best known for more fantasy-oriented work in films like The Howling (1981). ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

This is a tepid film aimed at youngsters and focusing on the warped Martin Steckert (Richard Harris), an escaped convict, and little Martin (Justin Henry), the boy he takes hostage. Steckert uses a ruse to escape from prison when his parole is denied, and once safely on the outside, he kidnaps Martin and heads for an isolated spot along a lake that he himself visited as a little boy. Aside from the developing relationship between the two Martins, not expressed in any great depth, there is the inexplicably fired-up pursuit of Martin by Lt. Lardner (James Coburn) and the psychobabble of Dr. Mennen (Lindsay Wagner), in pursuit of Martin's motivating demons. Martin's encounter with ex-lover Karen (Karen Black) does not reveal very much, and in the end, viewers may be left wondering about everyone's motivation. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Three women find their worst nightmares have become a reality in this horror film that combines extreme violence with dark, absurdist comedy. Abbey (Nancy Hendrickson), Jackie (Deborah Luce), and Trina (Tiana Pierce) have been close friends since their college days, and they decide to celebrate their tenth class reunion by taking a vacation together. The women go camping in the woods of rural New Jersey; however, an idyllic few days in the great outdoors turn ugly when they're ambushed by a pair of subnormal thugs, Ike (Holden McGuire) and Addley (Billy Ray McQuade). Ike and Addley live in a garishly decorated hovel deep in the woods, where they gorge themselves on sugar, obsessively watch television, debate the merits of punk rock versus disco, and strictly obey the instructions of their aged Mother (Rose Ross) -- a vicious psychopath who goads her boys into acts of rape and murder, with Mother shouting encouragement throughout. When one of the women is killed by Ike and Addley, the other two escape, and they plot a gruesome revenge. Mother's Day developed something of a cult following after its initial release, and no small amount of controversy -- many feminist groups denounced its depiction of violence against women, while writer and director Charles S. Kaufman contended that he intended for the film to be viewed as a satire. The film was later reissued in a cut version that eliminated some of the more extreme scenes of rape and violence. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Adapted by Julian Barry from his own Broadway play, Lenny manages to be both brutally frank and highly romanticized in detailing the short life and career of influential, controversial stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce. The chronology hops, skips and jumps between Lenny (Dustin Hoffman) in his prime and the burned-out, strung-out performer who, in the twilight of his life, used his nightclub act to pour out his personal frustrations at great, boring length. We watch as up-and-coming comic Bruce courts his "Shiksa goddess," a stripper named Honey (Valerie Perrine). With family responsibilities, Lenny is encouraged to do a "safe," conformist act, but he can't do it. Constantly in trouble for flouting obscenity laws, Lenny develops a near-messianic complex, which fuels both his comedy genius and his talent for self-destruction. Worn out by a lifetime of tilting at Establishment windmills, Lenny Bruce died of a drug overdose in 1966. Director Bob Fosse chose to film Lenny in black-and-white, giving the film the texture of a documentary. Though a film as verbally graphic as Lenny could not have been made when the real Lenny Bruce was alive, audiences in 1974 responded, to the tune of an $11 million gross. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide