Category: 1990s

This is the wild story of how the three widows of Frankie Lymon, famed singer of the titular song, battled for the claim of his royalties. Told through courtroom scenes and flashbacks detailing each of Frankie’s relationships, the film is buoyed by over the top performances by the three women (and some unfortunate aging makeup), played by Vivica A. Fox, Halle Berry, and Lela Rochon. It ends up being a fun biopic that belies the tragedy of Frankie Lymon’s life, dead of a heroin overdose at the age of 25.

After seeing the gritty 70s realism Rocky and the cocaine fueled 80s Cold War Rocky IV, here we see what Rocky has to offer in the 90s. Just use nonsensical character actions (some idiot gave Paulie the ability to sign over a power of attorney) to steal plot points from previous films (Rocky is at the top of his game only to lose it all) then wrap it in sweat suits and lame hip hop music, taking it to the streets. Rocky, in an attempt to embody the ghost of Mickey, tries on the father figure role first with a new boxer, played by Tommy Morrison, and then with the preternaturally teenaged Rocky Jr., played by Stallone’s son Sage. Unfortunately both the roles and the actors in said roles aren’t up to snuff.  

Directed by Martin Bell, starring Jeff Bridges, and set in Seattle, I really wanted to check this out. Bridges is an ex-convict trying to put his life back together while being saddled with a recently un-estranged teenage son. Indeed, the scenes with the teens on the streets feels a lot like they are attempting to be a fictionalized version of Streetwise. Unfortunately they feel extremely manufactured, the actors aren’t as charismatic as the kids of the documentary, and they are all brought down by a lackluster, whiny Edward Furlong performance. Bridges is unsurprisingly the best part of the movie and the reason why I stuck with it.

I know the joke is corny and old, but this movie is far from flawless. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robert De Niro have great chemistry as sparring neighbors, a transgender woman and bigoted former cop respectively, who find themselves thrown together after De Niro’s character suffers a stroke and seeks help from Hoffman. Hoffman is particularly lovely and sensitive in his role. The rest of the story involving criminals and stolen money drags the acting quality seen in that relationship deep into deep dirt and doodoo. Simply mix in Hoffman’s group of catty friends and it could instead have been a better version of As Good As It Gets.

I hadn’t meant to watch another Robin Hood film so soon after The Adventures of Robin Hood, but sometimes I am a prisoner to the whims of the library holds system. This isn’t amongst the best Mel Brooks films, but it still has its chuckle-worthy moments. It does feel like a product of its time, more of a simple parody of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves than anything else. The cast is fairly solid. I particularly enjoyed Richard Lewis and Roger Rees playing the baddies.