Red Box Failure Turns into Old-Movie Gold

"Wow" From "The Great Escape."

I'm not the kind of guy who can't appreciate old movies. No, I'm not a huge fan of Casablanca, but I own DVDs of several John Wayne films and watch them from time to time. And, of course, there are classics such as “The Godfather,” “The Great Escape,” “The Magnificent Seven” and “Hard Bodies.”

I am waxing on about old movies because I watched one last night. First a bit of background. On Saturdays that I'm in residence at Casa Heaps, I usually rent a couple of Red Box movies. Sometimes they are movies I know about and have an interest in watching, and sometimes they are movies I'm not familiar with.

Yesterday I rented two movies I knew nothing about. One was “London Fields.” It's one of those movies defying description. “Mulholland Drive” meets “Pulp Fiction” is about as close as I can come. Never have I watched a movie so centered around sex in which there was no skin. That, at least, would have been a redeeming quality. At no time before, during or after watching it did I have a clue what it was about. I could have dozed off three minutes into it and awoken in time for the end credits and had the same tenuous grasp of the plot that I have now. I rented it because it stars Amber Heard and Billy Bob Thornton. How bad could it be? I reasoned. Bad enough.

Not since Cheech and Chong has anyone made a career out of burning one.

The other DVD I rented was a comedy? Apparently so. I had never heard of it. Called “Long Shot,” it features Charlize Theron, whom I like a lot, and Seth Rogen, whom I don't. Obviously I rented it based on Theron. I can't tell you what this movie is about either because I ejected the DVD about 20 minutes into it. Rogen has had a very successful 20-year career essentially playing the role of the “stoned dude” in countless movies and TV shows. It's as though he is on the top of Central Casting's list for burned-out doper. “Hey, the script calls for someone who can pull off a couple of marijuana gags; send for Rogen.” Rogen's character's name in this turkey is Fred Flarsky. If that made you chuckle, it would have been the only such reaction you would have watching this thing. I guess the writers went with Fred Flarsky because Paul Blart had already been used.

This brings us to the old movie I wound up watching to fill in for “Long Shot.” I probably haven't watched it in five years, but last evening, as I scanned the 200 DVDs in my cabinet, my gaze came to rest on “Proof of Life.”

I didn't realize until I researched it this morning that this movie was released in 2000. I think 19 years qualifies it as old. I was sort of surprised it was that long ago. It still holds up reasonably well. It's notable on several levels; none having to do with the story or its execution – both of which are solid.

No, what I find noteworthy about this film that failed so spectacularly at the U.S. box office despite being good is, it was the movie that brought Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe together. Their fling began just as her marriage to Dennis Quaid was ending. In one fell swoop, Ryan fell from grace as America's darling. Her career never really rebounded from that six-month tryst. She finally drove a stake through the heart of her reputation with her role in "In the Cut" that released in 2003.

"Bad news, David, looks like your movie career is about over."

"Proof of Life" is also notable as providing our last glimpse of David Caruso on the big screen. If you recall, he left the wildly popular cop series NYPD Blue in 1994, after just one year, to pursue a career in the movies. It never really happened. A supporting role in “Proof of Life” was probably his biggest movie, and it was about his last.

As it turned out, I was sort of glad I had invested two bucks so poorly in renting “Long Shot.” It provided the motivation to revisit an old favorite. Maybe I have finally learned my lesson for taking a flyer on movies I've never heard of. Then again, probably not.