Examining the state of the movie star vehicle in the early ‘90s
Some say that the age of the movie star and the movie star vehicle is dead. Personally, I think it’s just a bit comatose. There’s no doubting that it’s become harder and harder to get people into theater seats for a movie simply because a certain person is in it. I remember asking a friend of mine a couple of years ago if she would ever go see a film simply because “so and so” was the star of it. The look she gave me in response was one of confusion and ridiculousness, as if she couldn’t believe I had actually asked such a question.
It’s fair enough since the majority of films today are built around franchises, optioned properties, and good ole’ nostalgia more than an actual actor or actress. This isn’t to say that stars such as Jennifer Lawrence or Zac Efron don’t have legions of fans who literally worship them for whatever quality they’ve brought to their projects which have resonated with so many. Yet just like the responses to Red Sparrow and Dirty Grandpa show, not even the most glowing of stars guarantees a full house these days as audiences’ tastes have changed in the era of high concept filmmaking and boundary-pushing storytelling.
Yet for decades, Hollywood seemed to be a sort of dream factory, crafting men and women who represented everything the general public wanted them to be while also finding something relatable about them. It was in the personas of these actors and actresses where a good many movies were shaped and fashioned to the various traits and features which had connected with audiences all over. By the early ‘90s however, the nature of the movie star vehicle had begun to change as A-listers began using their clout to take on projects which strayed from the winning formula which had brought them their initial fame in an effort to stretch and explore new facets of their talent. While plenty of these efforts fell by the wayside (due more to audience preference more than an actor’s ability), re-examining them in a time when the star vehicle is considered extremely passe, carries its own brand of fascination.
Recently, I took a look at two such entries, 1991’s Deceived starring Goldie Hawn and 1994’s Angie starring Geena Davis (both recently released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber) to not only see how both films hold up, but to also find out what they say about the leading ladies at their centers and where the stars were headed during that time.
Deceived came to Hawn when her relationship with audiences was good and solid. She’d already endeared herself to the public thanks to TV’s Laugh-In, was one of the rare performers to take home an Oscar for a comedic performance in Cactus Flower, and officially joined the A-list with the now-classic comedy Private Benjamin (earning another Oscar nomination). Hawn quickly became associated with lighthearted, yet thoughtful comedies, all of which helped her build up more audience goodwill. Shampoo, Foul Play, Best Friends, Overboard, and Bird on a Wire all helped to make Hawn the go-to movie star who could charm and drawn laughs from even the most cynical of moviegoers. The actress did try to stretch herself during this time, however. She gave a gut-wrenching Oscar-worthy performance as a desperate mother in Steven Spielberg’s debut feature The Sugarland Express and used her post-Benjamin clout to produce the touching romantic WWII drama Swing Shift. But these efforts were all in vain as audiences had already gotten used to the unmatched comedic screen persona that had cemented Goldie as one of Hollywood’s top-reigning actresses.
With Deceived, Hawn found her most uncharacteristic acting project to date. The thriller tells the story of a Manhattan art restorer named Adrienne (Hawn) who is happily married to husband Jack (John Heard). When Jack suddenly dies in a car accident, Adrienne tries to carry on with her life until suspicious signs about the man she thought she knew begin to surface which link him to the theft of a priceless artifact. As Deceived ventures from plot to character during the course of its run time, its themes about identity, resilience, and the quest for truth carry it along. If the film doesn’t deliver on its intriguing premise in terms of thrills until the finale, its portrait of a woman questioning the life she thought she had means Deceived remains captivating throughout. Because of its obvious existence as a star vehicle for Hawn, Deceived isn’t automatically lumped together with other neo-noir thrillers of the early ‘90s such as Malice, Shattered, and Presumed Innocent. Yet the film, with its feminist twist on the amateur detective, compelling story, and tight execution, makes a perfect addition to that very niche sub-genre.
Of the two actresses, Davis was the one afforded the freedom to show her versatility, acquitting herself well in the cinematic worlds of David Cronenberg, Tim Burton, and Stephen Frears. Her acting skills have been more than proven. She was easily the best part of The Accidental Tourist (showing that her Oscar win for the film wasn’t a fluke), and though the names of actresses who were considered for the project (including Hawn herself) have become legendary, no one could ever picture anybody but Davis and Susan Sarandon as the iconic Thelma and Louise. The flip side of this kind of success is that Davis’s projects (and oftentimes co-stars) overshadowed her. Davis is by far the least interesting presence among the ensembles of Beetlejuice and A League of Their Own, regardless of the A-game she brings to both movies. It’s because of this that her starring vehicles feel a bit awkward. Most movies like Angie are tailored and fashioned around a star’s persona, serving as a sort of acid test in terms of their relationship with the audience. Because Davis is such a chameleon, there’s a feeling that audiences never got a chance to know her due to the fact that they couldn’t really find her.
Angie sees Davis starring as a Brooklyn career gal who re-evaluates her life when she discovers she is pregnant with her longtime boyfriend’s (James Gandolfini) baby. Initially a project for Madonna (who claims she left due to scheduling issues), the film is a compressed jumble of a mess featuring a slightly annoying protagonist who should know better than she does at her age, particularly when it comes to relating to people other than herself. Some of the film’s half-hearted comments on culture, class, expectations, pressures, and fears that stem from them manage to be somewhat thoughtful. The same goes for the film’s overall theme of rising above and figuring your life out. Still, it’s evident that the makers of Angie were seeking to capitalize on the resurgence of romantic comedies a la Pretty Woman and tried their hardest to fit the problematic film into a mold it was never meant for. The film tries extra hard by giving Davis not one, but two paramours (the other being a lackluster Stephen Rea), both of whom are as bad for Angie as she is for herself.
One of the biggest common traits shared by the two films is that both bombed hard at the box office, with neither one even coming close to recouping their healthy-sized budgets. Angie asks its audience to suffer through one too many downer moments (the movie is actually quite depressing when all is said and done) before finally rewarding them with an admittedly hopeful ending. Meanwhile the deliberate pace of Deceived may have been a bit too carefully measured for thriller audiences, particularly in the film’s middle act. I feel these are valid points which are ultimately superfluous since in the end, both movies were fashioned purely to let their stars shine, which they do.
Both Davis and Hawn work wonders with the material in front of them. First off, the camera loves them in the way it loves most movie stars, and neither actress has ever looked more ethereal in either film, regardless of what she’s getting up to. But more than that, the two really give the roles their all. Davis’s Brooklyn accent is spot on. You never once doubt her background as a scruffy, yet beautiful Italian gal from Brooklyn and the way she lends optimism and vulnerability to the part is commendable. Hawn may have a harder time coming across as a credible art expert in her film, but that doesn’t matter. The cavalcade of emotions the actress is called to put on display throughout Deceived says it all. The bubbly blonde goes from serene warmth, to fear, terror and ultimately strength. Audience is king however, and it seemed that in the early ‘90s, moviegoers were more content to see Hawn giggling and Davis in the company of other stars and films much bigger than her.
Never short on determination, Hawn tried once more at showcasing her dramatic chops after Deceived with the mother/son drama CrissCross the following year. The movie is an earnest one, and she’s quite good in it. Not that audiences would have noticed, as the success of Housesitter and Death Becomes Her (both released shortly thereafter) eclipsed CrissCross, sucking Hawn back into the lighthearted comedic roles which made her a name. Turns in the insta-classic The First Wives Club, the charming Woody Allen musical Everyone Says I Love You, and The Banger Sisters further cemented her comedic status. When Amy Schumer coaxed her out of retirement for last year’s Snatched, new audiences found themselves treated to classic Goldie who proved she still never misses a comedic beat.
Davis continued to try her hand in the rom com world with the cute, yet forgettable Speechless. But the actress was hell bent on trying out every type of property under the sun, from the infamous pirate bomb Cutthroat Island to the action thriller The Long Kiss Goodnight (now a cult classic), before settling down as Stuart Little’s mom. The thing about Davis is that she’s always a more than capable actress when she isn’t trying to be a movie star. Her TV work, including the gone-too-soon Steven Bochco political series Commander-in-Chief (in which Davis played the first female president) and The Exorcist reboot gave her excellent platforms for which to show her true essence as an actress. When she appeared in last year’s acclaimed indie drama Marjorie Prime as a woman dealing with grief and mortality, the audience saw an accomplished Davis who had hit her stride and was truly at one with her craft.
Star vehicles may be seen as nothing more than pricey excuses for studios to showcase their talent and the marquee value they carry. The practice still exists today, albeit on a far more subdued level. Recent offerings such as Hotel Artemis and Ocean’s Eight feel more like camouflaged star properties disguised as ensemble pieces, with their main storylines revolving around Jodie Foster and Sandra Bullock, respectively. Maybe it’s because of the growing sophistication among large pockets of modern-day audiences who crave something more than a movie built around a photogenic individual that accounts for the death of the star vehicle as we once knew it. As throwaway as they seem, titles such as Deceived and Angie, and the stars which carried them, deserve applause for taking the concept of the star vehicle and subtly turning it on its head. Perhaps without ever meaning to, both Hawn and Davis took their established personas and used them as a revolt against typecasting and the Hollywood system in general through their seemingly standard offerings. It’s a move which, in its own way, proves far more richer (and long-lasting) in value than any amount of box-office receipts.
Deceived and Angie and both available on Blu-ray and DVD from Kino Lorber.
