As Hollywood films increased in budgets and hype in the 1990s, their overexposure distracted from other smaller achievements. Movies that deserved recognition and praise ended up receiving tepid box-office success due to Hollywood’s other financial triumphs that overshadowed them.
These are some of the unacknowledged highlights from the decade.
“In the Line of Fire” (1993)
Many actors cannot match Clint Eastwood’s onscreen presence, but his “In the Line of Fire” co-star John Malkovich gives him a run for his money. They seldom share the screen together, aside from phone conversations, but it amounts to some tense scenes with the pursuer doggedly trailing the pursuee for much of the running time.
The scenes involving Eastwood as the secret service agent finally encountering Malkovich are some of most suspenseful scenes in a thriller in awhile. Terrific direction by Wolfgang Petersen and a tense score by Ennio Morricone round out this finely crafted thriller.
“The Paper” (1994)
“The Paper” follows a day in the life of a lowly newspaper’s staff pursuing a hot story, and its struggle to assemble the paper on the very chaotic day. The details about the newsroom are mostly credible and accurate, even when exaggerated for comedic effect.
Director Ron Howard’s story juggles many elements at once, so what should be a mess actually turns out quite well. The following year Howard directed “Apollo 13,” eclipsing one of his more lighter, humorous films.
“Nixon” (1995)
To quote Roger Ebert’s praise of Anthony Hopkins’ performance as President Richard Nixon, the brilliance of the actor’s performance in the film is that he “suggests Nixon,” rather than impersonating the former president.
The director of “Nixon,” Oliver Stone, stuffs the screen with history and even more hearsay to probe the origins of the paranoid persona that caused Nixon’s downfall.
“Bound” (1996)
Two lovers (Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon) plot to steal money in the possession of low-level mobster Caesar (Joe Pantoliano) in a complex scheme.
The construction of the caper element in the narrative of “Bound” is so incredibly precise, finely tuned and well-executed by the Wachowski siblings, that it’s almost a shame they never returned to the well for more before they reached box-office success with the The Matrix trilogy.
“Snake Eyes” (1998)
Director Brian De Palma’s thrillers leave stylistic fingerprints that define his filmography — the way his direction takes on almost omnipresent qualities and how he reexamines pivotal moments in the film’s narrative from different character perspectives and presents double dealings in between.
These Alfred Hitchcock-inspired elements ignite the powder keg that is the plot of the film: the political assassination of the secretary of defense at a boxing fight. Despite being nowhere near De Palma’s masterpiece “Blow Out,” it’s still a thoroughly entertaining thriller and a good gateway film for those interested in the director’s filmography but not sure where to start.
“Zero Effect” (1998)
Before Sherlock Holmes was brilliantly portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch on British television, Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective was given another modern rewrite by writer-director Jake Kasdan, who transplanted the essential framework of the character to present day Los Angeles and renamed him Daryl Zero.
Instead of being an eccentric Victorian private investigator, Zero (Bill Pullman) is an obnoxious recluse who obtains his cases through a proxy (Ben Stiller).
“Zero Effect” represents one of the better Holmes adaptations that recognizes the genius in the character, while at the same time showcasing his perplexity and mostly apathetic views of humanity, which Pullman perfectly captures in his performance.
Reach the reporter at tccoste1@asu.edu
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