Ace in the Hole

Kirk Douglas is the disgraced urban newspaper reporter who shows up in Albuquerque looking for a newspaper job that will let him get back into the game, even if from the bottom, simply to have a chance at a 'big story' to propel him back to the limelight and New York. He whiles away a year, and on his way to cover a rattlesnake competition, happens upon the story he has been waiting for: a man has fallen into a cave while searching for Indian artifacts, and, if managed correctly, will the "human interest" story that will grab everyone's attention.

Dated, a little naive, reliant on stereotypes, but still, after sixty years, works, because it relies on good acting. Douglas plays the cynical, amoral Chuck Tatum with aplomb. Jan Sterling plays the wife of the fallen-into-the cave hunter, and Ray Teal plays the sheriff who works with Tatum to maximize the benefits derived from the circus that develops. Both actors are recognizable. Good movie.

The Lookout

After seeing Definitely, Maybe, I looked for films that the actors were in, and found this film with Isla Fisher. Didn't work. I'd give it a 5.

An admired high school hockey player with a bright future, drives in the night with his girl friend and two other friends with his headlights off with devastating results. The former athlete is left with a brain injury that prevents him from remembering many things for extended periods of time. To compensate, he keeps notes in a small notebook to aid him in remembering what he is to do. He also lives with a blind friend who aids him. He is unable to have meaningful job and he goes to work as a night cleaning man in a bank. He comes under the scrutiny of a gang planning to rob the bank. The leader befriends him and gets him involved with a young woman who further reels him in. Confused, but wanting to escape his current existence, he initially goes along with the scheme. When he realizes he is being used, he attempts to stop the robbery, which of course immediately goes awry.

That's the summary in Alisweb. An interesting idea, but quite a violent film that runs mostly on empty. Acting is good, especially the lead, Joseph Gordon-Levitt; even Matthew Goode, who plays the chief bad guy, acts well. Isla Fisher is wasted as a damsel who is used to reel in the bait with her body. The film simply relies on the premise of the accident and its effects, and, ultimately, on violence. Maybe a 5.

And Jeff Daniels again gets stuck with bad hair (though not as bad as when he played Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain in Gettysburg.