Diamonds

"Diamonds" was a very good movie. I initially rented it because a former teen crush (Jenny McCarthy) of mine had a starring role in it. As I watched the movie I began to see that there was a lot more substance to it than just being a flick with a former Playboy playmate in it. It was well worth the money and it most certainly was one of the best I have seen to date. Go see it. It was Kirk Douglas's best (and last) movie in my opinion.

I saw this movie on the rack at the video store and decided to rent it. I thought the movie was well written, and the kid (Allred) was great, BUT Kirk Douglas' performance was superb and overpowering. He made me laugh out loud. I had my next-door neighbors watch it to confirm my thoughts. They couldn't stop laughing. A must-see film!!!

The scenes between Dan Aykroyd and Kirk Douglas where they are working through Dan's disappointment that Kirk was not a better father are fantastic! Every man who has ever been disappointed in his father should watch the old post stroke Kirk Douglas telling his son "I never kicked you in the ass, and I'm proud of that. My father beat me and I didn't beat you and that was a great thing." Maybe the definition of growing up is learning that your parents were children once, and they were hurt and disappointed and did not get enough from their parents, and that we are just all in this together, trying to find love. Maybe I am not a grown up until I have cried for the pain and disappointments my own mother and father have had in their lives, even though they also disappointed me.

It is just lovely to know that even in a movie I never heard of, that never really made it, I can find such moments of genuine humanity.

A quietly charming film that starts slow and builds: Father (Dan Ackroyd) and son (Corbin Allred) take Grandpa (Kirk Douglas) along on a vacation trip, despite the fact that Gramps has had a stroke and his health--physical and mental--is in question. Those who've read Kirk's books, "Climbing the Mountain" and "My Stroke of Luck" will realize just how many of Kirk's real experiences have been written into the role, especially his continuing efforts to improve his damaged speech. (Who will ever forget the 1995 Academy Awards, when Kirk, just weeks after the stroke, came out to accept his honorary Oscar, and forced recognizable speech out of a mouth that was, at the time, very much a ruined instrument?) The film begins with a uneasy tenseness that makes it hard to enjoy, but this moderates as we come to know the characters, and a certain largeness of spirit appears when the three generations enter a brothel, run by Lauren Bacall, whose screen magic hasn't diminished one little bit. Incidentally, this is only the second film Douglas and Bacall have made together; the first was "Young Man With a Horn" in 1949. Does that mean we have to wait until 2O49 for them to do it again?

Its one of those films that makes an impact on a more subtle level than were used to these days. Its like a classical black and white, but with more sex and swearing. But don't let that put you off, every moment is justified, the emotion and the expression tell the story more than the words alone ever could. I don't think I would ever have watched it had it not been for the lack of anything to do at work (TV broadcaster's master control room), but once I got started I was sorry when it ended. So, I'm not saying throw out the mainstream block buster, but why not try adding it to the B-Roll list and watch it before something else to make you feel good.

Bob