Charles Hirsch Movies
- 2001
To escape his enormous gambling debts, the highly unlikable Reese Williams (Marc Singer) decides to fake his own death, with the help of his long-suffering wife, Katie (Michele Greene). Once Reese is safely "deceased," Katie will fall heir to a five-million-dollar insurance policy, which will help the couple square their debts and start a new life elsewhere. But can it be that the scheme has not gone the way it was supposed to -- and that Reese is dead for real? Reese's sister-in-law Ginny (Veronica Hamel) may or may not be able to provide the answers to insurance investigators Logan (William Katt) and Mac (George Dzundza), one of whom has fallen in love with Katie. Though innumerable clues are adroitly planted along the way, the outcome of the story remains a jaw-dropping surprise. Originally intended for theatrical release, Determination of Death was not seen until its premiere on German television in 2002; thereafter, the film was added to the "Monday Night Movie" rotation on the American Lifetime cable channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Cult fave Paul Bartel is the one recognizable actor in Baring it All. The scene is a group therapy session, populated by repressed, withdrawn individuals. As the session progresses, the participants shed their inhibitions-and everything else. Before long, group therapy becomes grope therapy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Brian De Palma takes on late 1960s media culture in his followup to Greetings (1968). Seeking a place in New York life one way or another, Vietnam vet John Rubin (Robert De Niro) moves into a Greenwich Village dive, with hopes of becoming a director for porn king Joe Banner (Allen Garfield). Rubin sells Banner on his idea to make "Peep Art" by filming the racy action in the building windows across from his apartment. He plans to seduce talky window denizen Judy (Jennifer Salt) to get the film he wants; but when that plan fails, John trades his camera for a TV and joins a radical theater troupe for their performance piece, "Be Black Baby." Inspired by the radicals, John decides to make his own violent political statement -- or does he just want to be on TV? Mixing long passages of the TV-framed "Be Black Baby" with John's misadventures in Manhattan, the film sends up political extremism, liberal guilt, and the Chicago 1968 protestors' mantra that "the whole world is watching," as it all becomes one big staged performance for the cameras. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Charles Durnham, (more)
If for nothing else, Greetings would be memorable as the second feature-length directorial effort of Brian DePalma (his first, 1966's The Wedding Party, was released shortly afterward). A satire of late-1960s manners and mores, the film aims its barbs at Lyndon B. Johnson, Vietnam, the draft, the counterculture, Greenwich Village and the John F. Kennedy assassination. Billed first, Robert DeNiro actually has a supporting role as a young longhair who tries to help his best pal (Jonathan Warden) flunk his Army physical. Gerrit Graham is a JFK conspiracy theorist who may well have good reason to be paranoid. Though largely ignored by the mainstream press in America, Greetings was effusively honored at the 1969 Berlin Film Festival. The film was originally rated X due to its considerable sexual content. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonathan Warden, Robert De Niro, (more)
