Precipitous Declines

As I was flipping through the movie channels last night in a feign attempt to not go to sleep, I randomly found the movie "Freaky Friday". You know, that mother-daughter body-switching movie that is just soooo hilarious. No, I'm not speaking of the awful 1995 made-for-TV adaptation or even the original 1976 Disney version starring Jodie Foster (yep, that Jodie Foster), this one features this good-looking, red-headed actress named Lindsey Lohan (yep, that Lindsey Lohan). This was during her "Mean Girls" hey-day. *swoon*

What is forgotten (I'm guilty of this as well) about Lindsey is that she was a pretty decent actress. Not Oscar-worthy, but better than most of the teen idol slop that is out there today. It was a weird viewing experience because I found myself wishing that I would be able to see a new film from this gorgeous actress, in the same way I dream that I was alive when Humphrey Bogart was making films. I was longing for her like she was dead, and that made me sad.

Now, I know this topic has probably been discussed a million times, but it's something I thought about last night: Has there ever been an actress/actor who has fallen further, faster out of popularity than Lohan? I, mean, short of killing their ex-wife and her friend.

The first one that comes to mind for me is Robert Downey Jr., but I don't know if he was at Lohan's mainstream popularity when he went off the rails. Obviously, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Downey Jr.'s was as fast as Lohan's. Maybe the Coreys? Yeah, the Coreys are a better example.

Stories like Lohan, Downey Jr.'s and the Coreys are interesting because it shows both sides of fame: The ability to make lots of money and the ability to allegedly blow it all on...well, blow. Here's to the hope that Lohan has a comeback like Downey Jr.'s, and doesn't become a reality TV whore like the Coreys. But I honestly wonder if an actor can feasibly make a complete comeback anymore, especially with Google and social media never letting the public forget their past.

Also, if you can think of any other examples, I'd love to hear them.

Day 67 -- Dream a Little Dream

Released: March 3rd, 1989
   
Starring: Coery Feldman, Corey Haim, Meredith Salenger
 
Writer/Director: Daniel Jay Franklin, Marc Rocco and D.E. Eisenberg/Marc Rocco

Description: The elderly Coleman (Jason Robards) and the young and brash Bobby (Corey Feldman) learn what life is like from each others point of view when their bodies are unwittingly switched by way of transcendental meditation.

[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]

***

I still don't get the appeal of body switching movies. It seems like a narrative crutch that a writer uses to inspire a story idea, instead of telling an original story. And the late 80s were ground zero for the genre.

"Dream a Little Dream" could arguably be the best Coreys film with some votes going to "License to Drive", which isn't saying much given their catalog. For those of you screaming, 'What about "The Lost Boys"?', the Coreys play a supporting role to Jason Patrtic and are not the stars. 1989 was the height of their fame and the tipping point of their careers.

The opening of the movie is very confusing and it takes an explanation by Corey Feldman after the switch occurs to allow the audience to get its bearings. As I understood it, Coleman (Robards) conducts an experiment that goes wrong and he becomes Bobby (Feldman) and a piece of his wife, Gina (Piper Laurie), is inside Lainie (Salenger). It's an intriguing idea that gets off on the wrong foot in the first act and recovers slightly in the second act, but not enough to be compelling. 

Compared to future performances by the Coreys, this is the best and most consistent acting they've ever done. Feldman is both charming and funny in the dual roles, but is still very 80s in everything he does, including a dance number where he imitates Michael Jackson. Haim, again shows off the glimmer of talent that drugs destroyed. It's really a shame that both of these guys got way too wrapped up in the fame and short circuited their careers.

The supporting cast was nothing to write home about, but I can't ignore the performance turned in by Salenger. She is beautiful in the film, and not in that big hair 80s hot, and is sublime as Lainie. She gives enough believability to the character that we never question when she begins to believe Bobby. She is the real star of this film because her role is the most memorable.

The writing and direction are not award-winning, but it is solid enough that it isn't labeled with the stigma of an 80s movie. The movie still has it decade stereotypes, such as half-shirts, full-body leotards with leg warmers, and terrible hairstyles. But they don't depend on it to sell the movie, which allows it to feel more natural than just an advertisement for whatever was popular at the time. The writing has its holes, but after you figure out what's going on, everything else flows.

"Dream a Little Dream" is not a classic movie by any stretch, but it deserves more respect than it gets from audiences. It's not a perfect concept, but there are so few original ideas in the genre. The film is also another reminder of how addiction can derail even the most talented people.

Rating: 5.5/10 -- Fun movie if you get past the first few minutes of the film. The Coreys and Salenger do a marvelous job of making the characters feel natural and realistic. Should be a part of an 80s movie night.

Day 13 -- Blown Away

Released: April 1, 1993

Starring: Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Nicole Eggert

Writer/Director: Robert C. Cooper/Brenton Spencer

Description: Teenage beauty tries to convince her new boyfriend that her father murdered her mother and that he should die too.

[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]

***

As you can probably tell, this is not the amazing Jeff Bridges movie of the same name, which was released a year after this "Blown Away". No, this one stars the Coreys, Haim and Feldman that is, and a very hot Nicole Eggert. To call this an erotic thriller would be a stretch. Yes, it's erotic, but it is nowhere near a thriller.

"Blown Away" is your typical femme-fatale movie from the early 90s with the most notable being the Drew Barrymore "classic" "Poison Ivy". And just like the "Poison Ivy" series this movie takes a former popular child star and shows her in a sexier way. To say Eggert did a few nude scenes would be vastly underselling it. The barely over-20 actress at the time, was nude for practically half the movie, including a sex scene with Haim less than 15 minutes in. 

The film's plot, if there's even is one, is your stereotypical revenge/thriller story. Eggert's mother dies from a bomb placed on her car in the beginning, and after seducing Haim like a good femme-fatale, she convinces him to kill her father since she thinks he's the murderer.

Eggert's performance is average. If she wasn't so beautiful, you wouldn't buy that Haim would commit murder for her. She's sexy, but not as sultry as she needs to be. She appears to be more like an angry teen than a conniving seductress.  Even with the big reveal that Feldman, who played Haim's half-brother, and Eggart were in cahoots to take her inheritance by killing her father and Haim, she didn't come off as vindictive.

While watching this movie, I kept thinking that it's a shame that Haim was more into drugs than he was acting. There were actual moments in this and many of his films where you could see that he had actual talent, but it vanished when he began partying too much. Feldman, on the other hand, never had talent.

Honestly, the only reason to see this movie is if you want to see a pre-Baywatch/post-Charles in Charge, Nicole Eggert naked. The movie is generic and the acting is sub-par, with one exception being Kathleen Robinson of "Beverley Hills, 90210" fame, who was solid as jilted lover, Darla.

Rating: 2/10 -- Really, this is for Eggert's breasts because there was nothing else really worth noting in this film.