Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton and Edward Herrmann in the Warren Beatty movie ‘Reds’

A love triangle mixes with the epic historical drama of the life and career of socialist, journalist and activist John Reed today. Reed reported on the Russian Revolution in his book Ten Days That Shook the World, which held a large sway in the Warren Beatty directed and written movie Reds (1981). Trevor Griffiths also wrote Reds along with Beatty.

(From left, Edward Herrmann as Max Eastman, Warren Beatty as John Reed and Diane Keaton as Louise Bryant in the Warren Beatty movie Reds).

The movie Reds begins when suffragist and journalist Louise Bryant, married to another man at the 1915 encounter, meets radical John Reed for the first time at a lecture in Portland, Oregon. The intellectually engaging meeting convinces Bryant, portrayed by Diane Keaton, to join Reed, as portrayed by Warren Beatty, in Greenwich Village, New York City, New York. The womanizing ways of Reed is at odds with the idealism of his writing for Bryant.

(Maureen Stapleton as Emma Goldman in the Warren Beatty movie Reds).

The opportunity to meet Emma Goldman and Eugene O’Neill in the district folds into conversations on writing and the radical feelings of the group. O’Neill and Bryant develop intimate feelings for each other in this period, as the strikes of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) alongside the St. Louis, Missouri Democratic presidential convention stirs Reed‘s passions even further. The subsequent marriage of Reed and Bryant hits the difficulty of Reed‘s infidelity, prompting professional, interpersonal and political turmoil between the pair. Goldman and O’Neill were portrayed by Maureen Stapleton and Jack Nicholson.

(Jack Nicholson as Eugene O’Neill in the Warren Beatty movie Reds).

The story of John Reed‘s health, losing a kidney in the midst of this, leads to another instinct to head to Russia as the possibility of what became the Russian Revolution. Professionally reuniting for that trip, Bryant too experiences the ideals of that revolution. The love the pair once experienced reignites, at least until Reed and other communist sympathizers in America break ideologically. Practitioners of the Bolshevik ideology in the Petrograd (St. Petersburg), Russia put Reed to work as a propagandist. With help from O’Neill, Bryant aims to reconnect with Reed while the two are kept from having any legitimate communication. The parallel storylines of history and love were messy and difficult. The way both stories come to resolution reflect the successes of the story.

(From left, Paul Sorvino as Louis C. Fraina and Jerzy Kosinski as Grigory Zinoviev in the Warren Beatty movie Reds).

There is so much more to the tale of Reds than what this introduction to the story of the movie does in more than three hours of movie. Airport Friend rates the movie in the top ten movies he has ever seen. I grant the movie Reds and directed and partly written by Warren Beatty 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Brian Dennehy, Wilford Brimley and Steve Guttenberg in the Ron Howard movie ‘Cocoon’

Ron Howard wasn’t the original director slated for the movie Cocoon (1985), though this Richard D. Zanuck production most certainly crossed the finish line with the actor who was Opie Taylor and Richie Cunningham. Today’s movie review brings you a science fiction comedy drama of elderly people rejuvenated by aliens.

(From left, Don Ameche as Art Selwyn, Hume Cronyn as Joe Finley and Wilford Brimley as Ben Luckett in the Ron Howard movie Cocoon).

Three of the men underpinning the discovery of a hypothetical fountain of youth include Don Ameche as Art Selwyn, Hume Cronyn as Joe Finley and Wilford Brimley as Ben Luckett. The men stumble upon a swimming pool rented by a group of aliens from the planet Antarea, where the three trespass and discover rejuvenation.

(From left, Brian Dennehy as Walter, Tahnee Welch as Kitty, Mike Nomad as Doc and Tyrone Power Jr. as Pillsbury in the Ron Howard movie Cocoon).

The Antarean aliens, renting a pool, and the oceanic charter of Jack Bonner include Tahnee Welch as Kitty, Brian Dennehy as Walter, Mike Nomad as Doc and Tyrone Power Jr. as Pillsbury. It’s Walter who rents the boat service from Jack Bonner as portrayed by Steve Guttenberg. While the gentlemen are rejuvenating, romantic feelings develop between Kitty and Bonner.

(Steve Guttenberg as Jack Bonner in the Ron Howard movie Cocoon).

Romantic feelings are rejuvenating among the ladies and their elderly husbands and their wives / significant others, as portrayed by Gwen Verdon, Jessica Tandy and Maureen Stapleton. Jack Gilford and Herta Ware offer a parallel storyline adjacent to the three other couples worth the investment.

(From left, Barret Oliver as David and Wilford Brimley as Ben Luckett in the Ron Howard movie Cocoon).

The role of David as grandson to Ben Luckett offers a sweet exploration to another, terrestrial form of rejuvenation for grandparents that the world has offered for a long time. Barret Oliver portrays the role sweetly alongside Wilford Brimley, making for a fond memory for my connection to my own grandfather.

(From left, producer Richard D. Zanuck and director Ron Howard on the set of the Ron Howard movie Cocoon).

Cocoon is many sweet and charming things, yet up to the level of a film such as E.T. the Extra Terrestrial (1982) it is not. Relationships looked at through a lens of innocence with some overlapping content of a borderline mature nature are offered with dramatic moments and a deliberately comedic sensibility. That the movie chose to focus on a retirement home group was a refreshing take on traditional cinematic fare. For these qualities coupled with charm, I give Ron Howard‘s Cocoon 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, April 21, 2021