The Ten Best Films of 1997
01. The Full Monty
Peter Cattaneo's "The Full Monty" has clearance to join the truly classic British comedies of all time with its hilarious tale of six unemployed and out-of-shape Englishmen who decide that they can strike it rich as male strippers. Sounds funny enough, but what makes it the year's best film? "The Full Monty" could have gone for sight gags alone, but it takes the material one step further, as writer Simon Beaufoy invests his livewire screenplay with six characters you come to care about like few others this year. Doing so we truly get an idea of how important success must be to these and, in turn, all men. There's more than one level of humor functioning at all times in "The Full Monty," a comedy for the ages that got something from me that no other movie of 1997 did--repeat viewings.
02. The Sweet Hereafter
There can't be anything more painful than living to see your child die, and Atom Egoyan's "The Sweet Hereafter" has the bravery and restraint to explore that pain with precision and insight. After a school bus accident kills 14 children in a small Canadian town, lawyer Ian Holm arrives to try to win some financial gains to soothe the parents' pain. Instead, the provide him with a mirror, and he must begin to fully deal with the problems he has with his own drug-addicted daughter. Combine this with some of the most haunting screen images of the year and you get a film worthy of comparison to "Ordinary People" and "Testament," and that's high praise indeed.
03. Boogie Nights
Paul Thomas Anderson's examination of two decades in the pornography industry was a mammoth undertaking for sure, and such a largely successful, never misstepping until the very end. Mark Wahlberg truly came into his own in Boogie Nights, establishing himself as an actor to be reckoned with as Dirk Diggler, a well-endowed variation of John Holmes who rides the crests of the 1970s wave only to come crashing down in the get-real 1980s. Burt Reynolds roared back into respectability as Jack Horner, a sleaze producer with bigger dreams than he can handle.
04. Titanic
The most expensive movie ever made helped re-invent the Event Movie, something Hollywood forgot how to do about 40 years ago. Following a year of pre-release hype and horror stories, the movie that actually arrived on screens was a marvelous fusion of comedy, drama, and action, seamlessly crocheted by James Cameron, whose labor of love has paid off beautifully. Surely one of the most technically proficient films of the decade, "Titanic" accomplishes the impossible: for a split second, you don't know how the film's going to turn out.
05. Good Will Hunting
Gus Van Sant's "Good Will Hunting" is about Matt Damon, sure, and since Damon co-wrote the screenplay with Ben Affleck, Damon has been getting much of the acclaim for the film's success. But I'd wager that the best thing in this fine drama about a genius janitor at MIT isn't Damon, bit is in fact Robin Williams, in his best performance since "Awakenings," as the psychiatrist who finally helps Damon deal with his demons. He's truly humbling. Damon and Affleck deserve credit, though, for keeping the writing smart down to the sixth and seventh characters, including Minnie Driver's nice work as Damon's love interest. Understated direction, too, by Van Sant.
06. In the Company of Men
In one of the most well-acted films of the year, rookie director Neil LaBute delivered a stunner with this tale of two corporate white collars (Aaron Eckhart and Matt Malloy) who devise a plan to both woo the same woman only to both drop her as hard as they can, simply because they can. The pick a (deaf) secretary in their office, beautifully played as more than just a victim, by former soap actress Stacy Edwards. For a movie that is almost all dialogue-driven, "In the Company of Men" conjures up some truly scary scenarios, as it establishes itself as the best movie David Mamet never made.
07. Chasing Amy
In his best film yet, independent director Kevin Smith creates a love triangle that is the movie that 1994's abysmal "Threesome" should have been. Ben Affleck, who co-wrote "Good Will Hunting," stars as a comic book artist who unwittingly falls for the beautiful Joey Lauren Adams, unaware that she's a lesbian. His lifelong friend Banky (the wonderful Jason Lee) tries to help him cope and come to his senses at the same time, but "Chasing Amy's" screenplay even gets better, telling a story about three complex young human beings rather than some trio of cardboard cutouts in a story pitch. It's gotten better with age.
08. L.A. Confidential
If "Titanic" resurrects the memory of Old Hollywood, Curtis Hanson's "L.A. Confidential" actually re-creates it, with a mesmerizing tale of good cop/bad cop starring Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe as two nemeses who have different methods of achieving justice. They are both overwhelmed after a brutal murder leads to a larger portrait of police corruption. "L.A. Confidential" was the year's best film noir, with a suave, smooth performance by Kevin Spacey and Kim Basinger's best work ever as a femme fatale worth dying for.
09. Shall We Dance
Only the second foreign language film to make my ten best list in the 1990s, Japanese director Masayuki Suo's "Shall We Dance" is a wonderfully exhilarating social comedy about a sullen accountant's experiences with ballroom dancing lessons, and the beautiful woman that hypnotizes him into trying an activity that is frowned upon in Asian society to begin with. Like 1993's high camp "Strictly Ballroom" from Australia, "Shall We Dance" manages to be both a hilarious human comedy and a social statement at the same time. Special kudos to the hilarious actress Eriko Watanabe, who excels in a supporting role as a temperamental dancer.
10. Eve's Bayou
Kasi Lemmons, previously only known as Jodie Foster's roommate in "The Silence of the Lambs," certainly made a name for herself with this Southern gothic tale of a young girl's mysterious and sometimes supernatural life in Louisiana, in which she slowly uncovers some startling secrets about her family, particularly her father (Samuel L. Jackson). Jurnee Smollett is striking as young Eve, as is "Port Charles" star Debbi Morgan as her clairvoyant aunt.
Copyright 1997 - Danny Linton
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