Sometimes movies that aren’t so great take off and remain highly popular. For instance, Venom, which made Sony a substantial profit when it was in theaters and has continued to do well on streaming and home media throughout the years since. Is it entertaining? To a degree. Is it a great film? Certainly not. Does it have anything to say? Not at all. But that’s just one example that shines a light on how quality does not always equal quantity of butts in seats. Fortunately, the stars do align every now and then. One of the more recent examples of this is Sinners, which excelled with critics and general audiences alike…and deserved every last win it has under its belt.
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But what about the movies that have gone under the radar since their release? Or the films that never really rose above the radar at all, for that matter. The following five examples are just a few movies that deserve to have their fanbase expanded, because they are undoubtedly worth a watch.
5) The Verdict
The Verdict certainly isn’t without its fans, both in terms of critical reception and love from Paul Newman aficionados. But it’s surprising how this, which is one of the best movies of the ’80s, isn’t as frequently discussed these days as it should be.
Newman gives what amounted to the most layered performance of his career as a man who fell out of grace as a lawyer, became an ambulance chaser, and is given a chance for redemption via taking on the financially loaded heads of a Catholic hospital for administering anesthesia to a patient during childbirth. She had eaten recently, and the anesthesia sent her into a coma from which she will never recover. Then, after that, a cover-up began taking shape. It’s an interesting case, the work by the entire cast is phenomenal (James Mason is a scene-stealer as the hospital’s attorney), the direction by the great Sidney Lumet was some of the best of his career, and the screenplay by David Mamet was every bit as impressive as his number one masterpiece, Glengarry Glen Ross.
4) The Last Seduction
Besides the ’80s, 1990s was arguably the decade for erotic thrillers. Eyes Wide Shut, Wild Things, and Basic Instinct, they all fell under the banner of a single decade. But the best of the bunch was one that went a little more under the radar: The Last Seduction.
This is the movie that showed just how talented Linda Fiorentino (most well-known as Dr. Laurel Weaver in Men in Black) is. As Bridget Gregory, she’s charming, icy, and the definition of cunning. Go into this movie cold and expect plenty of twists along the way.
Stream The Last Seduction on Prime Video.
3) At Close Range
It’s hard to imagine an ’80s film with a better cast than At Close Range. Sean Penn, Chris Penn, Crispin Glover, Mary Stuart Masterson, Kiefer Sutherland and, in one of his best villain roles, Christopher Walken. Yet it’s never really spoken of these days.
This is a visceral work, one with an intimate scope that feels as though you’ve been brought into the most dysfunctional father-son dynamic ever committed to celluloid. It’s a gut punch of a movie, and one that is best gone into cold.
Stream At Close Range on Prime Video.
2) The American President
Like Primary Colors and Dave, Rob Reiner’s The American President is an effective Clinton-era, fairly lighthearted political movie. And, while Primary Colors touched upon Clinton’s real-life controversy, The American President chooses to show a more idealized version of him, and what he represented to many in the ’90s: a close to ideal leader of the Free World. Reiner’s film brings in some references to real-world politics, e.g. how Richard Dreyfuss’ Senator Bob Rumson is a clear stand-in for Bob Dole, but mostly it stays away just enough to be taken as its own piece of pure entertainment that nonetheless has a level of commentary on what should be done (e.g. gun control and a larger focus on environmentalism). It was written by Aaron Sorkin after all, four years later before his masterful The West Wing debuted.
This is a movie that is one part romance and one part a look at ethical leadership, where the president is shown to have deep thoughts and complex emotions regarding incredibly tough decisions. Instead of sending a bomb to an overseas building with nary a thought, this president deliberates with his staff when the fewest innocent lives will be taken and, when told it will be a proportional response, says “Someday someone’s going to have to explain to me the virtue of a proportional response.” It’s a lovely movie, and Michael Douglas and Annette Bening have sublime chemistry, but it functions equally well as a political drama as it does a romantic dramedy.
1) Spartan
David Mamet’s directorial projects have always tended to be mixed bags, and Spartan is no different, but there’s enough here that works that makes it worthy of a recommendation to anyone who appreciates a twisty political thriller. It was also one of the last star vehicles that was truly worthy of the late Val Kilmer’s considerable talents (even if he and Mamet really, really didn’t get along behind the scenes, as the hilarious DVD audio commentary informs its listeners).
On one hand this is a fairly straightforward “You’re the one who can save the president’s daughter” type of movie, but the strength of Mamet’s strong script and the work by Kilmer and the outstanding supporting cast help keep it compulsively watchable. This is one that went under the radar at the time and stayed there.
Stream Spartan for free on Hoopla.
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