January 11, 2002

The Mann has got me down
   by daisygreenhalgh <binkster79@yahoo.com>

A quick note: I went to high school with one of the editors, and I found out that this is her domain. I decided I'd wreak havoc on her and start posting my banal dronings. (In case you don't know who this is, I've got one word for you: ALOOF.)

I want to smack Michael Mann (from now on, he'll be known as Mr. Mann just because I think it's funny).

Michael Mann has got the worst case of ADD and OCD of any Hollywood type ever. He's a spaz. Mr. Mann cannot tell a story to save his life. Oh, sure, some of his projects are truly great ("The Insider" comes to mind) but even in that one, he starts chasing a rabbit.

I recently went to see "Ali" - Mr. Mann wrote the screenplay and directed. Some of the acting choices was inspired, though for a while, I kept thinking that every black person in Hollywood was cast in the movie. Jon Voight was great as Howard Cossell. Will Smith was good as Ali, also (for anyone who says Will Smith is a hackneyed actor, I DARE you to watch "Six Degrees of Separation" and say that).

But the problem is that Mr. Mann takes what would be a good story and buries it under FIFTEEN TONS OF CRAP. Like a rabid Saint Bernard chasing it's tail, his movies keep going around and around and AROUND AND AROUND until you're dizzy and nauseous. Why not direct your vision on one part of the Ali story? Why not give your subject the respect it deserves? Why did you saddle the talented actors with a screenplay that consisted of plots picked from random over at Ask Jeeves? WHY, Mann, WHY?????

And so, to Michael Mann, I give a big, juicy PFFFT!

Daisy

Published: January 11, 2002
Editor: stacy