{"id":3588,"date":"2009-07-06T22:54:50","date_gmt":"2009-07-07T03:54:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.regrettablesincerity.com\/?p=3588"},"modified":"2012-04-30T20:26:11","modified_gmt":"2012-05-01T00:26:11","slug":"lookin%e2%80%99-to-get-out-vs-lookin%e2%80%99-to-get-out-revisionist-history-vol-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regrettablesincerity.com\/?p=3588","title":{"rendered":"Lookin\u2019 to Get Out vs. Lookin\u2019 to Get Out: Revisionist History Vol. 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"vlcsnap-8457936\"David Fincher\u2019s Alien 3<\/em> is the best example of a very flawed film that was improved in a longer version, while still retaining all of those very same flaws. The theatrical cut, running just under two hours, has very little character development. And, therefore, apart from Sigourney Weaver\u2019s character, Ripley, doesn\u2019t make you care about anyone else. There are hints here and there of skipped-over backstory. But it\u2019s mostly a muddled experience that\u2019s made tolerable by some incredible art direction and camerawork.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s anything that undermines the movie, it is the primitive CGI of the Alien crawling around and the endless chase around the hallways of the prison set — as one prisoner after another narrowly escapes death and closes the door on the Alien. This laborious action sequence has some interesting camera angles. But it\u2019s so dull and repetitive, taking up what feels like the majority of the third act, that the eventual martyr conclusion of the film is a relief rather than the moving drama it should have been.<\/p>\n

\"vlcsnap-8455199\"The \u201cassembly cut\u201d of Alien 3 <\/em>is \u00bd an hour longer than the theatrical version. And while it still has the crummy CGI (some of which was tinkered with for the 2003 DVD release) and the boring chase, it takes up less of the film, and becomes 20 measly minutes among the 145 that you can ignore. The extra footage and changes are an improvement in terms of concern for the characters and explanations for their predicament. But mostly, this assembly cut proves that sometimes more is less. (More distractions, less annoying.)<\/p>\n

Hal Ashby\u2019s Lookin\u2019 To Get Out<\/em>, just released in a longer version that\u2019s supposedly closer to Ashby\u2019s original intent, follows Alien 3<\/em>\u2019s example — but in reverse.<\/p>\n

\"vlcsnap-8455360\"Ashby had the best run of any director in the 1970s, chronologically from The Landlord<\/em> to Harold and Maude<\/em> to The Last Detail <\/em>to Shampoo<\/em> to Bound For Glory <\/em>to Coming Home<\/em> and, finally, Being There<\/em>. You\u2019d think that would allow Ashby a little leeway. But his four theatrically released films that followed (until his death in 1988) were shelved and\/or taken away from him in post-production, including Second-Hand Hearts<\/em>, Lookin\u2019 To Get Out, The Slugger\u2019s Wife<\/em> and 8 Million Ways to Die<\/em> <\/em>. This new cut of Lookin\u2019 To Get Out<\/em> was one that Ashby had hidden from the distributor, Lorimar, and was recently championed by Lookin\u2019 <\/em>star and screenwriter Jon Voight. Obviously, Voight had an emotional investment in the project — no doubt depressed by its initial failure — and wanted to prove his original instincts correct.<\/p>\n

\"Acid

Acid Reflux is a bitch.<\/p><\/div>\n

But the important thing to remember about Jon Voight in his recent capacity as a creative force is that he also produced Baby Geniuses<\/em> and Karate Dog, <\/em>in <\/em>which he starred as the villain. Is it fair to judge Voight on his choices, based on his attempt to exploit the mentally ill children\u2019s market? Does everything he did with producer Steven Paul and director Bob Clark nullify years of challenging and quality acting work? And wasn\u2019t it Ashby\u2019s edit that had been hacked down by soulless moneymen, not Voight\u2019s?<\/p>\n

However, just because a movie loses 15 minutes doesn\u2019t always mean it suddenly becomes a bastardized version of a classic. Ashby\u2019s lack of control on the set of Lookin\u2019 To Get Out<\/em> seems apparent right from the start; simply by letting Voight show up with Bugs Bunny teeth and laughing at every one of his unfunny jokes.* In the longer cut, the laughter is contagious, as Voight\u2019s co-star, Burt Young, joins him whenever possible (a better title for the movie might have been Slow Gas Leak<\/em>). The longer version also tries to turn Voight into a misguided, lovable loser. As opposed to the choppy theatrical version, where he\u2019s just a curt asshole.<\/p>\n

\"vlcsnap-8456115\"Having Voight be unlikable makes the movie easier to swallow; you don\u2019t root for him during his reckless gambling travails from NY to Las Vegas — you just observe. And Burt Young\u2019s relationship with Voight begins to make more sense as well; Young\u2019s just an enabling punching bag. In the longer version of the film, Voight is portrayed as wild and charming and Young is just a softie (instead of a sap) with the subtext of the love that dare not speak its name with Voight. Because the story never makes sense from point to point (Voight owes some gangsters some money and so he takes Young along with him to Las Vegas to\u2026 Um\u2026 It\u2019s never quite clear what the actual plan is), the faster it goes by, the easier it is to ignore the logical fallacies.<\/p>\n

\"vlcsnap-8463917\"And the constant cackling, which is so grating in the longer cut, seems far more appropriate in the theatrical cut. First because there\u2019s far less of it. Second because it happens right after some calamitous occasion, as if to say, \u201cWe\u2019re such idiots.\u201d In the longer cut, while laughing, it isn\u2019t clear whether Voight is scared, confused, fine-tuning a very bad stand-up act, or just can\u2019t improvise anything interesting and Ashby forgets to edit it out. Ashby\u2019s instincts are so off throughout Lookin\u2019 To Get Out<\/em> that he only accentuates his major weaknesses as a filmmaker — plot twists, slapstick (the endless fistfight conclusion), chase sequences (there\u2019s a dreadful Benny Hill style-chase that goes on for 10 minutes in the long cut, but luckily only two in the short version, like the opposite of Alien 3<\/em>), and lots of screaming that eschews any character development or scenes of insight.<\/p>\n

\"vlcsnap-8459869\"The intended intrigue and surprises in Lookin\u2019 To Get Out<\/em> are either confusing or poorly established. From the moment Young (playing Jerry Feldman) and Voight (playing Alex Kovac) arrive in Las Vegas, everything becomes rather hazy — even visually — as opposed to the hideous blown-out lighting of the NY scenes. Voight\u2019s idea in Las Vegas is to have Young pose as someone important at a hotel so they can score a free room. Voight drops the name of the owner of the hotel, Bernie Gold, to the concierge who checks with the corporate staff on how Jerry Feldman should be treated. Coincidentally, it turns out that Jerry Feldman gets the best suite in the hotel, meaning Ashby and Voight want us to believe that Bernie Gold has someone who is also named Jerry Feldman on his list of high rollers. Or maybe they didn\u2019t work it out that far, because one scene after another has that sort of garbled logic. Voight\u2019s plan to win money to pay back gangsters (two schlubby middle-aged guys named Harry and Joey) involves randomly running into a former great card player, Smitty (played by Bert Remsen), who happens to be a bell-hop\/waiter at the very same hotel and even delivers Alex and Jerry\u2019s bags to their room.<\/p>\n

\"vlcsnap-8465370\"

Eyepatchalypse Now!<\/p><\/div>\n

These coincidences become more glaring when spread out every 10 minutes. But the shorter cut skips over even attempting an explanation most of the time, acknowledging itself as a fantasy cartoon. The fractured nature of the movie in the theatrical cut matches the way that Alex\u2019s brain works. The mysterious relationship between Smitty and the man with the patched-up eye, who is either his roommate, lover**, partner, colleague, or all of the above, adds a level of creepiness to the scattered mess of the theatrical cut. In the extended cut, this mystery man has some poorly explained connection to the gambling scam. (The scam is, Smitty\u2019s good at blackjack and Alex and Jerry stake him the money and watch him win. Really. That\u2019s it.) And the mystery man contributes to a bewildering final scene that runs counter to anything in the previous two hours.<\/p>\n

\"vlcsnap-8454979\"None of this is to suggest that the theatrical cut of Lookin\u2019 to Get Out<\/em> is a well-made film, or even a moderately entertaining one. It\u2019s just that the very few pleasures of the extended cut are spread out — such as the hippie doorman who\u2019s like an older version of Crispin Glover (or a cast member of Repo Man<\/em>, which he is). He has an energy that is unforced as opposed to Voight\u2019s hamming. Burt Young does his usual bit, he\u2019s either mumbling or truly miffed, meaning his voice goes from gravelly and cracked to squeaky and whiny. His irritating laugh does<\/em> have a precedent; he employed the same tactic in Robert Aldrich\u2019s meretricious The Choirboys<\/em> made a few years previous to Lookin\u2019 to Get Out<\/em>, and playing a character aptly named Scuzzi.<\/p>\n

\"vlcsnap-8455286\"The Choirboys <\/em>is actually a good film to compare to Lookin\u2019 To Get Out<\/em>. That\u2019s true even if, instinctually, the choice would be another film about gambling addict losers in Las Vegas — Robert Altman\u2019s masterpiece, California <\/em><\/span>Split<\/em><\/span><\/a>. <\/em>Altman\u2019s film is patient, not so concerned with plot, and has very well-drawn characters and funny dialogue. The Choirboys<\/em> is a complete mess, ugly, mean, hateful and unpleasant. These are traits it shares with Aldrich\u2019s final film, also co-starring Burt Young, the overlong women\u2019s wrestling comedy \u2026All the <\/span>Marbles<\/span><\/em><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\"Pedophiles

A young Angelina Jolie. Pedophiles rejoice!<\/p><\/div>\n

Lookin\u2019 To Get Out<\/em> isn\u2019t built from the sheer lowbrow misanthropy of those two films. But it is misogynistic in similar ways; women are whores or manipulative shrews in all three films, even when they\u2019re the heroines. This is true of Ann-Margret\u2019s totally thankless \u201cliaison\u201d role in Lookin\u2019 to Get Out<\/em>, where she looks confused and braless as Voight, as her former lover, acts up a storm around her. The secret she\u2019s keeping isn\u2019t a surprise so much as a nag (and an excuse for an Angelina Jolie cameo, as well as a Sigfried and Roy stage show), since her part could have been eliminated without it affecting the story negatively. And Alex and Jerry\u2019s obvious chemistry could have been made more overt. According to Lookin\u2019 to Get Out, <\/em>it makes perfect sense for straight guys in their 40s and 50s to have male roommates in buildings fancy enough to have doormen.<\/p>\n

This denial extends to the featurette on the new Lookin\u2019 to Get Out<\/em> Warner Brothers disc, where the entire subject of the movie being buried for two years and being taken away from Ashby isn\u2019t even broached. There\u2019s the suggestion that Lookin\u2019 to Get Out<\/em> is a lost, important work. But then, I\u2019m sure Richard Brooks, while making his final film — another movie about whitebread losers gambling at the MGM Grand*** — thought his absolutely delirious and hilariously bad Fever<\/span> Pitch<\/span><\/em><\/a><\/span> was profound, too.<\/p>\n

\"vlcsnap-8458055\"

Did I tell you the one about the closeted gay couple?<\/p><\/div>\n

Neither cut of Lookin\u2019 to Get Out<\/em> is as entertaining as Fever Pitch<\/em>, <\/em>which leaves Ashby\u2019s film in the neighborhood of a poorly paced, forgettable and draggy failure — as opposed to what Brooks managed to accomplish, which was pure and unadulterated lunacy. And Brooks\u2019 didn\u2019t even have material with Siegfried and Roy to fall back on.<\/p>\n

* The longer cut opens with the sounds of a sputtering car engine, which could not have been more appropriate for the two hours that follow.<\/p>\n

** The new, extended cut has a rather distracting amount of homophobic jabs by Harry and Joey and continuous re-assertions of the various characters\u2019 heterosexuality. None of this material is in the theatrical cut, suggesting that Ashby might have been uncomfortable with the nagging obviousness of his character\u2019s sexual interests.<\/p>\n

*** Both Lookin\u2019 to Get Out<\/em> and Fever <\/span>Pitch<\/span><\/em><\/a> have scenes where a mobster stabs the protagonist through the hand with a knife as punishment for some outstanding gambling losses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Fincher\u2019s Alien 3 is the best example of a very flawed film that was improved in a longer version, while still retaining all of those very same flaws. The theatrical cut, running just under two hours, has very little character development. And, therefore, apart from Sigourney Weaver\u2019s character, Ripley, doesn\u2019t make you care about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,12],"tags":[324,4740,5188,644,4736,1450,291,4730,3493,3334,4747,4757,3417,4735,548,4745,1656,130,4758,4746,4752,98,2608,1862,253,4760,1135,4750,4755,4756,4732,1107,4731,1145,1814,4734,4753,277,1136,2402,2403,667,639,2485,267,518,342,1449,1074,3428,3492,705,4733,3491,4742,1208,95,4751,386,3127,1813,4600,1654,4741,709,719,3077,1122,1653,4748,4759,4737,310,3190,5189,1738,1670,268,1655,1429,1671,4738,276,2145,3197,4754,411,192,4749,698,547,525,1658,754,4743,4744,1661,4739,758,4761,3888,4042,24,57],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regrettablesincerity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3588"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regrettablesincerity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regrettablesincerity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regrettablesincerity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regrettablesincerity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regrettablesincerity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3588\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regrettablesincerity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regrettablesincerity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regrettablesincerity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}