Sunday, 2 March 2025

Newman brothers double bill: War of the Roses (1989 Danny de Vito) / A Man Called Otto (2022 Marc Forster)

The Douglas - Turner war is scored by David Newman and photographed by Stephen Burum, who photographed  Rumble Fish  and  The Outsiders, Body Double, The Untouchables, The Escape Artist and St Elmo's Fire. So it's a handsome and well presented tale of marital discord with black comedy moments ("If I were you I'd pass on the fish course").

There's a non-Bond Ian Fleming short story called 'A Quantum of Solace' about a simple man who marries an air hostess, then she takes him for anything he can afford, and has affairs, and he ends up by demarcating areas of the house that she's allowed to live in. I wondered if this might have spawned the idea in the head of novelist Warren Adler (the screenplay's by Michael Leeson). 

As I found last time, the gimmick of de Vito's client never saying a word was stupid. Ida Random is the production designer.



A Man Called Otto is a simple and moving story told in drip-feed style,scored by Tom Newman in at times his recognisable style, at other times sounding totally something different.

I didn't notice the over-directing / editing thing this time, was enjoying Hanks' performance and the relationship between he and Mariana Treviño.

Photographed by Matthias Koenigsweiser.


Loved the line "She always paints you in colour". Hanks' frustrations at the world are totally understandable. The pay-off is fabulous.


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