40 for 40: 1988
We've got Big, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Working Girl, and Beetlejuice.
Good morning.
We’re back with the next installment of the 40 for 40 series. This is the series where, because I am turning 40 later this year, I pick one movie from every year I’ve been alive if I could only have one movie from that year to watch for the rest of my life.
If you’re keeping score at home the results so far have been
1985: Back to the Future
1986: The Color of Money
1987: Empire of the Sun
Today, we do 1988. But first I have to cop to a correction. I got my research notes a little mixed up. The humanity-uniting film Die Hard came out in 1988 and not 1987. That is a very regrettable error. I’ll try to avoid those going forward.
Let’s get into it. This is an interesting year. Some tough decisions to make, but not nearly as hard as a year like 1987.
When you look at the full slate of movies released in 1988 it’s an interesting mix. Classic horror franchises are humming along or about to take off. There’s a few sequels in the mix. And, as we’ll see, there’s several standalone classics.
I turned three in 1988, so I was spending a lot of time at the cinema, listening to Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation and Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden, and pondering if the Lakers could three-peat in the 1988-1989 NBA season.
Just kidding. I had no idea about any of that stuff! I was three!
For 1988, here’s what I whittled things down to.
Beetlejuice
Big
Crossing Delancey
Coming to America
Die Hard
A Fish Called Wanda
Midnight Run
Rain Man
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Working Girl
That’s a pretty amazing slate of movies! But is it on the same level as 1987 or 1985? Is it on the same level as 1989 coming up? Debatable.
Let’s start with some of the comedies.
Working Girl is a movie that lots of people love. In fact, they just did a Rewatchables episode about it. I’ll never say no to prime Melanie Griffith (Milk Money from 1995 is a foundational text for me), Harrison Ford, or Sigourney Weaver. But this just wasn’t ever one of the flicks in my rotation.
There’s been a quiet Peter Riegert renaissance over the last few years as Local Hero (1983) has been getting more and more play as an overlooked masterpiece and Crossing Delancey becomes cited more and more as an influential rom-com. I can’t say that Crossing Delancey was on my radar until I heard Michael Showalter and David Wain refer to it as a reference for their 2005 movie The Baxter. And while I think Crossing Delancey is awesome, I wouldn’t pick it as the one movie from this year.
I love A Fish Called Wanda. It’s such a fun movie. And, as you’ll see in a later year, Kevin Kline stars in one of my favorite movies of all time. But I can’t pick it.
Coming to America is one of those movies that almost everyone of a certain age has watched countless times. This movie was on cable all the time and it was one of those “rite of passage” movies to see when you started to understand and appreciate comedy. Is it Eddie Murphy’s last truly great movie? That’s a debate for another time. I love this movie, but I can’t pick it for this year.
Then there’s Rain Man. I rewatched this movie recently and I have to say. Absolutely not! I do not like this movie at all. Yeah, yeah, yeah the performances are great and everything but it is kind of incomprehensible. Sorry Barry Levinson. You’ll always be a god to me for creating Diner (1982) but this movie stinks.
OK, that leaves the following movies.
Big
Beetlejuice
Midnight Run
Die Hard
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
I already covered Die Hard accidentally in 1987. You all know how I feel about that. Even in its proper year against slightly easier competition, this isn’t the pick for me.
Beetlejuice was a major part of my childhood. I had Beetlejuice action figures. I watched the Beetlejuice cartoon. I had Beetlejuice pajamas. In hindsight, that is fucking insane! All of that merchandise aimed towards kids was built from this character? Truly wild and amazing that life was once like that. This movie was also a big one for my dad. He has a great story of flying either to or from California back in the late 1980s. Beetlejuice was the in-flight movie. The way he tells it, he was dying laughing during the movie on the flight because he had never seen anything like it. That’s how special Beetlejuice is. But, alas, it’s not my pick.
Last summer, I sat in a movie theater full of adults and children and rewatched Who Framed Roger Rabbit? It was a fantastic experience. The movie still works for kids today because Roger Rabbit is timeless. He’s zany, he’s whacky, he does great toon pratfalls. Of course it still works. And, of course, for adults it remains a great film noir homage that is incredibly smart. There is truly nothing like this movie. But…Roger Rabbit…he’s a bit much. You can’t watch this movie over and over again. Part of its lasting charm is being able to get some space from its very particular vibe. So, this can’t be the pick.
Now, for Big. What can be said about this movie that hasn’t already been said? It’s a classic feel good movie with an amazing concept that becomes slightly disturbing when that concept is interrogated a little more closely. It made the Zoltan machine and electric floor pianos icons of pop culture. No one else could’ve played the adult Josh Baskin as well as Tom Hanks. No matter how many times you watch Big, it’s charms never get old and if you catch part of it on TV, chances are you are going to get hooked in to watch the rest. Big is an amazing title. I wish I had been movie-going age in 1988. I would’ve loved to have been able to say, “Yeah, I’m going to the movies to see Big. Yeah, third time seeing it.” That would’ve been so sick. Yet, somehow, it is not what I’d pick from this year.
No, of course the pick has to be Midnight Run.
I told you I fucking love two-handers and Midnight Run is one of the absolute best examples of the form. One guy is focused on getting to a particular place, is burdened with a partner/companion that drives him crazy, and in the end they both learn to appreciate and maybe even love the other. Does it get much better than that? I think about this movie’s form and what it achieves at least once a week. A lot was made of De Niro’s late career comedic turns in Analyze This (1997) and Meet The Parents (2000), but he was doing comedy at a high level much earlier and this movie is a prime example. He’s so good in this movie and maybe never looked cooler. I could write way too much about why I love Charles Grodin, so just watch this movie and understand he is a genius. Dennis Farina is the bad guy in this movie and he’s both hilarious and completely menacing. What else do you need to know?!
The pick: Midnight Run.