‘Anger’ another Sandler success

Jack Nicholson is generally regarded as true Hollywood royalty.

Though usually thought of as a dramatic actor, the three-time Academy

Award winner has received two of his Oscars for comedic roles (“Terms

of Endearment” and “As Good As It Gets”).

This illustrious track record places Nicholson in a category

seemingly unattainable by the likes of Adam Sandler. Although he has

enjoyed unquestionable commercial success, Sandler has been

repeatedly skewered by the critics for such lowbrow efforts as

“Little Nicky,” “Billy Madison,” “Big Daddy,” and “The Waterboy.”

After a brief foray into drama (“Punch-drunk Love”), Sandler is

back to comedy in “Anger Management.” Sandler, who also served as

executive producer, plays Dave Buznik, a “loser’s loser” whose entire

life is stalled due to his timidity and inability to express anger.

Dave is constantly abused and humiliated by his boss at a pet

products company and is too shy to even kiss his girlfriend Linda

(Marisa Tomei) in public.

Dave’s life changes forever when he is subdued on an airplane by a

flight marshal after a complete misunderstanding with a flight

attendant that could only happen in our post Sept. 11 world. Charged with assault and represented by hilariously incompetent counsel

(Kevin Nealon), Buznik is ordered to attend anger management

counseling. Enter Dr. Buddy Rydell (Nicholson), the most unorthodox

therapist ever put on film.

It’s fairly evident Nicholson has a good time playing Buddy. The

flamboyant Rydell suits Nicholson perfectly as the audience tries to

discern whether Buddy simply has unique treatment methods or is truly

nuts. Sandler reverts to the charming shy guy persona of “The Wedding

Singer” and capitalizes on his greatest asset, which is that he is

likeable.

There are several cameos of note by such personalities as Heather

Graham, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, Harry Dean Stanton, Roger

Clemens and Rudy Giuliani. Some of these are more effective than

others with the non-actors being especially spotty. Everything is

tied up a bit too neatly in a “feel good” ending, but that’s not

unexpected in an Adam Sandler production.

I laughed out loud at this film, as did most of the audience at

the screening I attended. Judging by the huge box office receipts

this film is generating, the time is right for a silly screwball

comedy. I think it is no coincidence the cross-generational appeal of

36-year-old Sandler and 66-year-old Nicholson is translating into

commercial success. I hope more filmmakers aim a little beyond the

usual teenage to 20-something demographic with their future

offerings.

* VAN NOVACK, 48, is the director of institutional research at Cal

State Long Beach.

A chilling account

of Titanic

As a child, I was fascinated by the Titanic tragedy, devouring any

book I could get my hands on that shed light on the subject. The most

informative was a novel by Walter Lord (to whom “Ghosts of the Abyss

is posthu- mously dedicated) titled, “A Night to Remember,” which

gives a minute-by- minute account of the doomed ocean liner’s

harrowing final hours.

On one level the book painted a vivid picture of human tragedy, on

another, it was a real life event that had all the potent ingredients

for gripping drama: the biggest, most glorious ship ever built is

deemed unsinkable, collides with an ice berg and sinks on its maiden

voyage; families are torn apart as women and children spill into

lifeboats and the men stay behind to face icy death; the rich have

easy access to lifeboats while the lower classes are locked below to

maintain order; greed, treachery, heroism; the band plays “Nearer My

God to Thee” up until the final moments.

Somebody should make a movie out of this. Oh, wait... someone did.

James Cameron swept the 1998 Academy Awards with his depiction of the

fateful night that shot both Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet to

stardom. He even managed to make a movie longer than the two and a

half hours it took the ocean to consume the mighty Titanic. Cameron

dived down to the wreck (which was discovered by Robert Ballard in

1986) in 1996 to get actual footage to use in the final film.

However, Cameron’s fascination didn’t end there. He, like many,

myself included, was hooked on Titanic lore. In 2001 he embarked on a

expedition to make a 3-D IMAX film chronicling the adventure. “Ghosts

of the Abyss” is the result of that effort -- a fully absorbing

cinematic experience that takes advantage of the infinite

possibilities a six story screen can offer -- then lifts it to yet

another impressive level by making the images three dimensional.

Cameron is a visual master, and uses every tool at his disposal to

give his audience a visceral, stunning, moving experience. Digital

recreations of the ship’s opulent interiors are used to orient the

viewer, then dissolve to the murky image of the same space as it

exists now, 12,500 feet below the ocean’s surface. Split screens give

the viewer multiple angles to visually digest the same interior. In

another particularly effective technique, he takes actual images of

the eerie wreck and superimposes recreations of people moving about

the decks -- echoes of a haunting past that resuscitate the ghost

ship, injecting it again with life.

Did I mention the film is in 3-D? The Titanic literally leaps off

the screen. I was surprised at how much anticipation I was feeling

when the first submersible reaches Titanic -- and the bow appears

ominously from the murky depths. It is nothing short of awe

inspiring. Even photographs of the ship taken in its 1912 heyday are

cleverly rendered three dimensional -- the figures moving ever

slightly in a subtle feat of animation.

The movie wears many hats. It is an unscripted documentary crafted

by an expert storyteller. Cameron delivers all the emotional punch

and adventure you would expect from his narrative work. He knows how

to manipulate his footage for maximum entertainment value. The

expedition footage is shot like a straightforward documentary, but

Cameron’s digital recreations of real life events have been molded

with a keen eye for drama, making this project a successful fusion of

both. He’s sticking to the facts, but structuring them in the most

suspenseful way possible -- just like a screenplay would.

Although “Ghosts of the Abyss” is as close to a sequel to 1997’s

“Titanic” as Cameron can get (not a lot of loose ends at the

conclusion of that story), it is a natural companion piece. It brings

the Titanic legacy away from fiction and into the present, wisely

jettisoning any references to the fictional characters from the first

movie, sticking to the real life people and events. Cameron even

recasts real life personalities depicted in “Titanic” with look-alike

actors, underscoring his intention to stick to the facts of the

tragedy, as opposed to dramatic embellishments.

“Ghosts of the Abyss” feels more like a documentary when it

focuses on the present day research crew who have come to behold the

spectacle of “Titanic,” each with their own reasons. Bill Paxton, who

played salvager Brock Peters in the feature film (the man who wanted

to find the diamond), is meant to be the link to the original movie.

He acts as a narrator here, and often, his humor feels forced, his

emotions staged and his words pretentious and scripted. He offers us

dime-store emotions that often contradict each other.

For example, when the diving crew surfaces to learn of the Sept.

11, 2001 tragedies, Paxton exclaims, “Suddenly, Titanic didn’t seem

so important anymore,” only to follow it up moments later with, “We

decided Titanic was still important.” His words only trivialize the

shock of the expedition crew -- their faces say more than enough.

Cameron relegates his role to the background, but anytime he’s on

screen his presence is felt. He’s far too strong a personality to be

anonymous. He spends a lot of time fussing over two little

mini-submersibles named Elwood and Jake (after the “Blues Brothers,”

and designed by Cameron’s brother Mike) who have been designed to

slip deep into the cavernous hull and bring back images that would

otherwise be impossible to capture. It is here we see Molly Brown’s

brass bed, John Jacob Astor’s top hat still on the floor of his

stateroom, a pair of shoes lying together on the ocean floor, both

turned to their right side, the only remnant of a body that has long

since dissolved. The biggest moments of impact come from these little

objects, personalized when connected to real people who perished.

If I have only one regret. The movie doesn’t answer the question I

always have when a new documentary is produced on the subject: How

many survivors remain alive, if any? This seems like a no-brainer

when you consider “Ghosts of the Abyss” works so hard to pay tribute

the nearly 1,500 victims of the disaster.

An earlier IMAX film that explored the wreck, 1996’s “Titanica,”

was a relative bore compared with “Abyss,” but it did interview a

survivor, Eva Hart (she has since passed away), at length. Her

personal recollections were chilling. So, naturally, I checked the

Internet. As of six months ago, three survivors were still living out

of the nearly 800 who survived in lifeboats, each of them only an

infant at the time of the sinking and have no first-hand memory of

the experience.

* ALLEN MacDONALD, 29, is working toward his master’s in

screenwriting from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.