Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

 

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

Director: Tim Burton

Stars: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara

Short Review, no spoilers

The exhumation of a beloved film is a tough task – especially when more than three decades have passed - but mostly Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is very successful and very funny. Surprisingly grislier than the first, it’s pleasingly true to the characters and dark wit of the original and overall a joy, if slightly overloaded at times.

Full Review (spoilers)

Frighteningly, this sequel arrives 36 years after the first and wonderfully original Beetlejuice, so the fact that it is so loyal in tone and the performances so rewarding is impressive. Ironically it means that the film is quite fresh, adopting as it does its characteristic flippancy towards the theme of death and general embrace of things ‘strange and unusual.’ Micheal Keaton gamely dons the black and white suit again and musters the mania to bring the grottily loveable Beetlejuice back in to our sanitised world, and he’s even more disgusting than before. Touchingly though, he still holds a candle for Lydia and, like it or not, she and stepmother Delia are unable to prevent his resurrection back in to their lives. In fact, for all their grimacing complaints, it always seems to be this grubby king of chaos that is needed when all else is lost.

Women are enjoyably pushed forward in to the action but without contrivance. Catherine O’Hara embraces the wonderfully awful Delia again like an old glove, and there is a nice chemistry between her and Winona Ryder’s Lydia, like a resigned acceptance between chalk and cheese relations. Ironically Lydia is having motherly struggles of her own with daughter Astrid – Jenny Ortega who, like Ryder before her, manages to play the grumpy teenager in sympathetic fashion. And there is a very clever twist in terms of Astrid’s love interest, a charming young lad with old-fashioned interests.

Another twist in meta terms is the representation of original character Charles Deetz – in a reversal of the recent AI controversy of conjuring up actors who are deceased, the character is made dead to cover for the living actor, Jeffrey Jones. Rather than recast, eliminate a well-loved character or, as above, design an AI doppelganger, the filmmakers honour the character’s memory in true Beetlejuice style by wittily including him as a blood-spurting, headless ghost.

Minor complaints are that some parts were a tad underwritten and thrown in, such as Monica Bellucci as Beetlejuice’s ex, who is excellent in terms of spectacle but ultimately not a great deal more than a prop. A bit more Beetlejuice would have been nice, while Willem Defoe is disappointing and Justin Theroux doesn’t fully hit the mark. Overall though, a very enjoyable ride and respectful sequel.

The Wedding Singer (1998)

 

The Wedding Singer (1998)

Director: Frank Coraci

Stars: Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore

Short Review

The Wedding Singer was ahead of its time as possibly the first film to look back at the horror of the 80s, but does so in such a sweet and funny way as to bring a happy closure to those haunted by the big hair and tacky clothes of that era. All round it’s a perfect romantic comedy with universal appeal, and also the first pairing of Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore in what would continue to be a winning combination.

Full Review

Although it followed Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison, The Wedding Singer was less an Adam Sandler vehicle and more a product of a very successful collaboration. With a script in place by old buddy Tim Herlihy, apparently Drew Barrymore pursued Sandler and the role vociferously and once secured, recommended Carrie Fisher as script doctor, something which clearly aided the authentic balancing of male/female characterisations. Moreover, it would be the first instance of what would prove to be a consistently well-played chemistry between Sandler and Barrymore, with both on the cusp of a new era of super stardom.

Essentially, it’s a sweet story and although loaded with 80s signifiers, this is arguably the icing on a [wedding…] cake that reflects as much about 1998 as anything. For one, it critiques greed and yuppiedom, with flashy materialism out and a grungier, more down to earth ethos in. Judging by online comments today, it is actually now seen as odd that one era should be so different to one only 13 years previously, however this sadly just confirms the stalling and stagnation of cultural activity and production that we have fallen in to in recent times. The fact is, post-war 20^th century decades were all very different from each other in a constant wave of change. Perhaps 1998 is even a sea change year itself, a peak of daft romance and care-free optimism before the darkness set in - The Wedding Singer, Furbys, the year Google was invented, Brad and Jennifer before Brad and Angelina …

As for the film itself though, it wears its kitsch trappings with ironic obviousness, with characters who dress like Madonna and Michael Jackson, but it is also a heartfelt romcom and a rare one with appeal for men and women. There are supporting oddities in Sandler-esque fashion, including cameos from Steve Buscemi, Alexis Arquette and Jon Lovitz that add to its idiosyncratic charm, and an excellently emotionally damaged Cure-inspired song performed by Sandler himself. Even Billy Idol shows up at the end looking virtually like he did in the 80s so saving money on prosthetics.

Perfect for Valentine’s, The Wedding Singer has wide ranging appeal and happily looks to be standing the test of time.