As Good As It Gets

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

I thought the movie was good for several reasons: 1) The movie show how people (even in 2008) running for office will use their military service and combat experience as a means to justify their reasons why they should be elected to office. Ray Walston's character felled on the floor and hurt himself. He stated that if this was combat, he could have gotten the Purple Heart and look good on his war record. In the movie Alvarez Kelly, Kelly told Major Steadman, that Steadman would profit from the war because after the war, the major would use his rank and war record to advance his lawyer career even though Steadman was a believer in the Union cause.2) Cary Grant's character was great in that he was suffering from combat fatigue and just want to be left alone and have fun on his R&R. Most soldiers usually go about drinking and trying to hook up with ladies after being pulled out of combat. One of his fellow pilots was having nightmares about him being shot down in flames. At the end, of the movie, when Grant and his boys go back to the war, we have no idea of whether the third Navy pilot will be shot down or not.3) The movie shows a hidden cost of war because there was a navy pilot from one of Grant's unit who was confined to a wheelchair due to serious wounds incurred in combat. The Navy Warrant Officer who accompany the wounded man inform Grant that the man was slowly dying and would succumb to his wounds in a short time.4) Some of the reviewers stated that Grant was too old and look too old to play a World War II pilot. I read a book about U.S. Navy aviation where the Navy due to expansion of the war first raise the qualification age to fly at 27 and later, they raise it to age 35. I have seen 1940s pictures of General Albert Wedemeyer, and he look like he was in his 50s when actually he was in his 40s during World War II. Grant either had his hair dye black or his hair was still black before it started to turn gray. You also have to remember that before World War II, many military guys in their late 20s, 30s and 40s were still lieutenants, captains, or majors. In the enlisted ranks, you had to wait four years to become private first class and to become a three stripe sergeant rank you had to do 12 to 18 years of military service. Pomotions were slow back in those days, and you usually got promoted (as an officer) based on seniority. There was no up or out policy if you did not get promotion in a timely fashion in the military. The up and out policy slowly started after World War II and is now the norm in today's military even among the sergeant ranks.5) When the leading lady in the movie asked Grant what job he did have before the war, Grant stated he did a little bit of everything. That's not surprisingly considering the fact that America and the rest of the world went through a Great Depression starting in 1929. People had to take what ever jobs they could find (which were far and few) to survive. In addition, the American workforce had no job security protection in terms of better labor laws until Franklin Roosevelt came into office.

Kiss Them for Me is one of the more interesting Cary Grant movies because, like his best work with Hitchcock, Grant plays against type, as a naval officer on a four day leave whose only mission is to...well, enjoy the company of a woman. That he chooses the ravishing model Suzy Parker as his love target adds to the appeal of the movie, as does Grant's smooth but dogged pursuit of his goal. Throughout her scenes with Grant, Parker tries to get him to declare feelings other than carnal ones, but Grant's character never really wavers in his pursuit, and we witness a different type of Grant character, who unapologetically uses his considerable charm to accomplish something that is neither noble nor particularly gentlemanly. Even in Hitchcock films, Grant's more suspect character traits are redeemed in the end by noble purpose; however, in Kiss Them for Me, Grant is charming without being virtuous, although he is serious about his commitment to the navy and to his men. Some might find the Grant character unnecessarily misogynistic but his portrayal of the officer rings true for a man who has seen much fighting and war without the more civilizing company of women. This is a harder, edgier Grant, and it is a delight to watch his characterization. I've long thought it a loss that Grant did not do more edgy roles--for example, I think he would have a made a brilliant Phillip Marlow in The Big Sleep--but Kiss Them for Me gives us more than a taste of Grant's range as an actor and piques our curiosity about other more dangerous roles he might have played in his long and illustrious movie career.

This film was a critical and box-office fiasco back in 1957. It was based on a novel which was later turned into a play--which flopped on Broadway. The story is about some navy officers on leave in San Francisco during WWII. They have 4 day's leave which they spend at the Mark Hopkins hotel. The film meanders a lot and none of the characters seem very real. Cary Grant is generally brilliant in comedy and drama--but here he plays a sort of wheeler dealer and he doesn't really pull it off. Tony Curtis or James Garner would have been better choices. Audrey Hepburn was initially set to play opposite Grant, but had other commitments--so Suzy parker stepped in. She had never acted before, but was America's top photographic model at the time. I think that she did a good job, considering all the pressure that she was under. Grant's pairing with Jayne Mansfield in a few brief scenes--did not really work. The Studio was trying to give her some class by acting with Grant--but the character had no substance at all.

An interesting footnote is that "Kiss Them for Me" marked the screen debut of the Evil Extra, then an undergraduate at UC Berkeley. He can be seen deliberately compromising the continuity of the scenes of the arrival at the Fairmont Hotel: he appears first as a straw-hatted stroller on the sidewalk outside, then faces the camera as part of the crowd just inside the lobby door, then (a few moments later) stands behind the concierge desk during a foreground dialog shot.The Evil Extra was seen most recently standing at ringside in 2001's "Ocean's Eleven," mouthing an obscenity as Julia Roberts and Andy Garcia make their escape from the MGM arena.