Olympus Has Fallen

April 11, 2013

"Olympus Has Fallen" has been called by various critics as "Die Hard in the White House" because that is exactly what it is. The White House was attacked and taken over by a crazy North Korean terrorist Kang (Rick Yune) and his posse. The President of the United States (Aaron Eckhart) himself was held hostage with his closest staff. The entire presidential security in the palace had been ALL killed off. 

Well, that is, except for one Mike Banning (Gerald Butler), who had been removed from the close-in security of the POTUS because of a lapse of judgment 18 months ago. As would be expected in a pseudo-"Die Hard" film like this, Banning single-handedly outwits and disposes off all the bad guys, averts a nuclear attack against the US in the nick of time, leading to the melodramatic uber-patriotic speech from the rescued President that we had anticipated from the start.

As an action film it was quite good. We just have to shut our brain off for two hours and not think. We do not get spared from violent fight scenes which were graphic and bloody, and that is good since we came into this film expecting an adrenaline rush, and indeed we will get that.

Let us just disregard certain unbelievable plot holes, such why Banning security access status was still active 18 months after he lost his job as Presidential Security, or how the terrorist was able to get the final secret code for the nuclear weapons without the POTUS giving it to them, among many other questions. You are not supposed to notice these things anymore.

The release of this film is as timely as could be since North Korea is currently positioning itself as an aggressor in the real world, declaring war on South Korea, and practically, the USA as well by extension. I am just wondering why the US would allow a movie showing their White House so weak in security or their President so weak in resolve. Do these really fire up patriotic fervor, or raise more questions about Washington would do in a crisis like this?

Pitch Perfect

April 10, 2013

I only got wind about this film after I saw a couple of teenagers singing a song a capella while rhythmically flipping tumblers during a birthday party earlier this year. They said it was from a movie called "Pitch Perfect," so I got curious and sought out a copy to see what this film was all about.

This film's theme is very much like "Glee." Some misfit girls try to make their mark in college by joining a disgraced a capella singing group called the Bellas. The story follows the Bellas as they try to be the first all-girl group to win Nationals. However, with all the drama queens in their small group (ala "Mean Girls"), it is not going to be easy an easy task.

This film is currently very popular with the teenage set. However, for me, the humor is already very much at the boundary of raunchy comedy at times for this age group. Definitely, it crossed the gross-out comedy boundary of PG with all the inexplicably voluminous projectile vomiting scenes. There were some weird comedy like the mousy Asian girl Lilly whose voice was so soft you'd wonder how she got into a singing group at all. (She is cute though, but she says the darnedest things, if you actually hear what she says.)

The central character is a freshman named Beca, who want to be a musician against the wishes of her father, who wants her to go into the academe. The personality of Beca, as played by Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick, was so unlikable. She sticks out like a sore thumb playing it so seriously while the others were obviously having fun with their characters, especially Rebel Wilson (as Fat Amy). I can't really say I was rooting for Beca at all to make it in anything, be it career-wise or romantically.

The singing scenes, which were supposed to be the highlight of the film, were hit and miss. Some were very good, like "No Diggity" and the other songs sung during the sing-off in the gym. However, there were those where the mix was not too good. The final song number by the Bellas in particular, while generally good, was marred by a terribly pitchy solo by no less than Beca herself.  As for the a capella number of the boys, well for me, the Warblers on "Glee" were much better.

Anyway, despite all my problems with the execution of this film, in general it was entertaining to watch. I may be out of their target demographic hence my middling review, but I can completely see why the teen set loves this film with all the hip song mash-ups and the funny scenes and lines.  But I do hope these teen fans are mature enough to recognize that this is only comedy movie, so far from what really matters or happens when they are in college.  But hey, who am I to judge, as I also did pass through my own naughty teen movie phase when I was their age.  I don't think I was mature enough when I watched those films back then (which were probably worse than this one), but I think turned out okay.  Haha!

Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie

April 9, 2013

Believe it or not, I have never seen anything Naruto until today. This name though, and the image of the young guy with three stripes on either side of his face, with the yellow spiky hairstyle, and wearing an orange jogging suit has long been familiar to me as a Japanese anime character. However, for some reason or another, I never got a chance nor the interest to see any TV episode nor movie from this franchise before, until my kids convinced me to bring them to watch this film this afternoon on opening day in a local mall.

"Road to Ninja" tells a complicated story where Naruto and his friend Sakura are sent into a parallel mirror world by an evil ninja wizard, where their deepest dreams come true. Sakura, who resents her parents meddling with her life, realizes that her parents have both died as heroes. Naruto who had lived his entire life as an orphan, now enjoys the loving presence of his parents, Minato and Kushima. 

Both Naruto and Sakura are still cognizant though that they are living in an illusion that needs to be broken. Powerful ninja battles ensue during the night of the red moon, the only night when the spell can be broken by a mysterious scroll, and Naruto had to invoke the Nine-Tailed Fox within him in an attempt to return their world back to how it used to be.

Despite the fact that I did not even know a single fact about Naruto or his friends, I did not find it difficult to get into the groove of this story. I had to ask a question or two to my son beside me to set me straight on character relationships, but overall it was not too tough to get through. 

The story was told very well, without really requiring an in depth knowledge of the animated series. The flashbacks give us the necessary historical background in order to understand better the current situation the characters are in. The clarity of this story development is quite impressive considering this is already the ninth Naruto film!

I can now see why this anime series had been so popular over the years. No wonder this particular installment had just become the highest-grossing Naruto film. I think I might just go watch the first film and really get acquainted with this popular series more.

The Croods

April 8, 2013

I honestly did not want to watch "The Croods." The ugly title and the crude way the characters were drawn did not really appeal to me. I kept trying to defer it when my kids were asking to watch it. Well, at the mall yesterday on a lazy Sunday afternoon with nothing specific to do, there was no more excuse or escape for this dad to delay the inevitable.

"The Croods" was about the last Neanderthal caveman family on Earth who were forced to get out of the cave that had kept them safe all these years when the mountains around them began to crumble down. With the help of a young inventive caveman named Guy, they follow the sun and venture into the big wide unknown, seeking to escape the destruction of the world they knew. On this journey, the Crood patriarch Grug faces his biggest dilemma as a father when his established way of keeping his family together and safe is challenged by his rebellious teenage daughter Eep, the "modern" ideas of Guy, as well as the shifting continental land masses.

It took time for me to get into the groove of the story. The superhuman abilities of the Croods as well as the incredibly strange flora and fauna around them were simply too unbelievable and weird. Once I got that initial resistance out of the way, I not only had a very good time laughing at their hilarious antics, I was also very personally touched by the situation experienced by Grug as head of his family, now facing the ultimate threat for their very existence, dealing with new untested concepts about fatherhood.  This film is very entertaining and heart-warming at the same time.

The technical excellence of this film is unquestionable. OK, I did not really like how the Croods looked, but hey they ARE cavemen anyhow. Why the baby daughter Sandy looks and acts so horribly, I wouldn't know.  However the artwork and cinematography of the world around them was breathtaking. The visual effects, grand or minute, dealing with rock, or water, or dust, or tar were so realistic. The voice work by Nicolas Cage for Grug is so good, gruff but so sincere. Emma Stone as  Eep, Ryan Reynolds as Guy and Ms. Cloris Leachman as the cranky grandmother also turn in remarkable vocal work. 

Like several Dreamworks animated films before this one, namely "Shrek", "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Megamind", I was initially turned off by the non-traditional, OK non-Disney, look of the artwork. But after hearing much positive word of mouth, I gave them a chance and watched them. Of course, I appreciate them as the excellent films that they are. I now add "The Croods" to that list. I should really learn my lesson and stop judging them by the way they look in the trailer.  

The Host

April 4, 2013

Caught between two big box-office hits over the weekend (local "It Takes a Man and a Woman" and Hollywood "GI Joe Retaliation") not too much was heard about this film in both print nor online media. That made me even more curious to catch it.  I have not read the book. But I have to admit, it was the author's name that intrigued me to watch this movie. Stephenie Mayer, of course, is very famous for her Twilight books, the writing of which I am not exactly a fan. But I am curious about what other stories she is capable to telling us, so I felt I had to check out "The Host."

"The Host" is a sci-fi movie set in a future when the Earth was in its most perfect state, but alas, it was because an alien race had possessed the bodies of nearly everyone on the planet. As in other alien invasion films, there is still that small pocket of human resistance fighting the situation. The story begins when one of the key members of this human resistance force, Melanie Strider, was severely injured in a chase with the alien seekers. Her mutilated body was  healed and given an alien being who called herself "Wanderer." However, Melanie's mind remains alive, and continues to rebel against her alien parasite, who turned out to be of a rather kind and compliant nature. Melanie's family and friends felt drawn to her, calling her "Wanda", yet were at a loss whether to trust this new Melanie or not, as the alien seekers close in on their secret lair in the American outbacks.

The sci-fi aspects were generally well-presented with cool computer graphical effects. It was just too bad there was too little background told about the alien race itself and where they came from and why. The shiny futuristic sets and props, as well as the breathtaking desert setting, were enhanced by the vibrant cinematography. The action scenes were only few but well-executed. Being written by Meyer, romance scenes were aplenty and could really be cheesy and corny many times, especially those that pertain to kissing and slapping. I literally groaned in those painful scenes.

The  talented lead actress Saoirse Ronan was impressive, as she makes the incredible conflict of two beings living and arguing inside a single body actually believable.  She has certainly matured and improved a lot from her Oscar-nominated debut role in "Atonement."  The much-missed William Hurt was likewise remarkable in the role of her benevolent Uncle Jed .  The child (Chandler Canterbury) playing Melanie's kid brother Jamie was very good. Their tender scene in the cave of coal worms was very touching. It was also good to see "Titanic" mom Frances Fisher again, this time as a gritty frontierswoman.  The two new young actors who played her rival boyfriends Jared and Ian (Max Irons and Jake Abel) were not known to me, but obviously cast to be the new "Edward" and "Jacob" fighting for Melanie's/Wanda's love. 

Overall, this was quite an entertaining absorbing film, which is unusual for me to say since I do not really like love story movies. I did not expect to like it, but I did.  Above the shallow romance theme, there was a nobler theme in there of humanity and harmony that pervades above all.  And yes, Stephenie Mayer does have a much better story here than she did in the four books of the Twilight Saga.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

March 31, 2013

Honestly I do not remember at all if I had seen the first G.I. Joe film (Rise of the Cobra) at all back in 2009. I think I did but I was not sure, even as I lined up on opening day in theaters with my family today. Even my kids don't recall anything about the first film if we did watch it at all.

In this film, the story was exciting at the onset as the US President (Jonathan Pryce) was replaced by a lookalike who was technically-transformed Cobra operative Zartan (also Pryce, over Arnold Vosloo). This fake President wastes no time to come up with a trumped-up charge and to launch an air attack to decimate the entire GI Joe camp, surprisingly also killing a major Joe from the first movie, all that in the first 10 minutes!

Of course, three Joes, namely Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson), Lady Jaye (Adrienne Palicki) and Flint (DJ Cotrona), survive the sneak attack to save the day for the good guys. On the other side of the world in Tokyo, two more Joes (Snake Eyes and Jinx) join forces, bringing with them a "reformed" (?) Cobra seeking to avenge the death of his master. Together with the original GI Joe, General Joe Colton (Bruce Willis), they fight against the Cobra Commander who seeks world domination (what else?)

As expected the action sequences were very well-executed. The most breathtaking would be a flying and swinging fight among ninjas on snowy rocky cliff sides. All the sword, gun and fist fights were all so well choreographed and shot. A remarkable Cobra minion is Firefly (Ray Stevenson) with this little mechanical flying bugs, which turn out to be highly explosive bombs. Getting the world leaders of countries with nuclear capability together to blackmail them into doing Cobra's will was a cool idea. However, even when London was seen to be totally destroyed, the reaction to that tragedy seemed to be so inexplicably understated. 

Overall it was a good fun way to spend two hours of a lazy Saturday afternoon with the family. However, by the time the next sequel comes along, I don't think I will remember much about this sequel at all, but that remains to be seen.

Two Holy Week Classics Reviewed

March 30, 2013

The Ten Commandments

I think I have not seen this film since "The Ten Commandments" was the only movie being shown in theaters during Holy Week.  Despite the length of four hours, the only thing I really remember about it was the Red Sea scene, and maybe that is more because of the poster than the film.  This Maundy Thursday, I decided to revisit this grand classic film, the last film of renowned director Cecil B DeMille.

While I was watching, I recognized several scenes by bits and pieces only, especially in the first half before the intermission.  The scenes in the second half were more memorable.  This whole matter about the Egyptian princess Nefretiri (whom I am not really clear what the nature of her close relationship is to the Pharaoh Sethi was) played by a very campy Anne Baxter, I do not remember AT ALL.  Maybe I was still too young back then to understand the flowery-worded melodrama involving her double-dealing character, and how she affected the relationship of Moses (an outstanding Charlton Heston) and Rameses (a believable Yul Brynner).  I was touched by the sympathetic treatment the production had for Pharaoh Sethi (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) and his sister Bithiah (Nina Foch).  The scene of Moses meeting his mother Yochabel (Martha Scott) was very moving.  The overseers Dathan (Edward G. Robinson) and Baka (Vincent Price), were contemptible with their hammy villainy.

But you can really see why this biblical epic was an instant classic back then, and up to now.  The "cast of thousands" it boasts of in the poster is literally true (no computer-generated crowds back then.  The sets and costumes were incredibly grand and colorful.  The Oscar Award-winning visual effects (parting of the Red Sea, turning water into blood, etc...) were impressive considering that this was made back in 1956!  While I am sure these effects would have been done differently with the advanced technology now, the last plague which simply depicted the Angel of Death like a green mist creeping on the floor can still elicit fear in the audience.  OK, the burning bush scene could be done much better now, but the memory of seeing Moses' physical transformation when he came down from Mt. Sinai with that incredible brush-up hairstyle change could not be replicated.

Jesus Christ Superstar

I held off watching Jesus Christ Superstar for the longest time.  I could not understand how Jesus and the apostles could be portrayed as hippies, which I thought was disrespectful and irreverent.  I tried many times to start watching the film but found it difficult to get through those radical opening sequences featuring Judas.  However, when I finally did get through that first song number, I found myself quite engrossed in the way the story of Christ's Passion was told and enacted in rock songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.  Yes, the sets and props were strangely anachronistic (like t-shirts, postcard racks and machine guns), but I guess those things symbolize the timelessness of the story's message.  Watched this again yesterday Good Friday, with my 13-year old daughter, who seemed to have appreciated the film and its music as well.

The song "Gethsemane" was so vital, it is just breathtaking to hear.  The lyrics got the conflict within Jesus at that contemplative moment in the Garden.  This song is Ted Neeley's high point in the whole film as Jesus Christ.  Another song that moves me is the LSS-inducing  "Could We Start Again Please?"  With a melody so simple and lyrics so bare, the emotional punch of this song is astounding.  It moved me to tears, honestly, when I hear Yvonne Elliman (Mary Magdalene) and Philip Toubus (Simon Peter) sing those earnest words which echo our own sentiments with our own faults:

"I've been living to see you
Dying to see you, but it shouldn't be like this
This was unexpected, what do I do now?
Could we start again please?

I think you've made your point now
You've even gone a bit too far to get the message home
Before it gets too frightening, we ought to call a halt
So could we start again please?"

The Judas character plays a co-equal role in this interpretation and Carl Anderson so passionately portrays him.  We see and hear a lot from him that was why this play was controversial back in the day.  The words he sings vivify the conflicts within this disturbed man.  Magdalene's love song "I Don't Know How to Love Him" takes on a different meaning when Judas sang it before his climactic suicide song.  Talking about hanging, that scene was so chillingly and realistically shot.

Special mentions would be the odd but welcome comedy respite provided by Josh Mostel as King Herod, and the unusual contrast of the deep voice of Bob Bingham vis a vis the falsetto voice of Kurt Yagjihan, as the high priests Caiaphas and Annas.  The 39 Lashes scene with Barry Dennen as Pontius Pilate was also very painfully memorable.

Dead Man Down

March 15, 2013

I did not know what to expect when I went in to see this film. With the title, I initially thought it would just be some sort of generic action movie. However, far from that, "Dead Man Down" turned out to be a very good character drama. In fact, the dramatic scenes were better than the action scenes.  I should have expected this focus on character development especially with a European director making his Hollywood debut, Niels Arden Oplev, who megged the original Swedish "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

The story is about Victor (Colin Farrell), a member of a crime syndicate led by the dapper Alphonse (Terrence Howard).  The members of this gang are being killed one by one by an unknown rival. Meanwhile, Victor meets and hooks up with Beatrice (Noomi Rapace), a mysterious French woman with a scarred face who lives in the apartment across his own. As the movie progresses, we will witness the unfolding of an intricate plot of ulterior motives, blackmail and secret plans of revenge that tie the characters together, drawing them to a violent climax.

The relationship between Victor and Beatrice is what gives this movie that unique edge over the usual crime drama. Colin Farrell really gave an intense portrayal of a basically good man forced into a life of crime, haunted by a violent recent past event that destroyed his life. He was very good, never seen him tackle a role so passionately as this in his recent films. Noomi Rapace has that distinctive face that immediately suggests a wounded psyche. As she did in her breakout role as Lisbeth Salander in Oplev's "Girl with a Dragon Tattoo," she was able to project the torments suffered by a fragile victim of a disfiguring incident. Together, the two of them were able to let the chemistry build between them so gradually and believably, making us want to root them on.

The supporting characters were also very good. Dominic Cooper plays Darcy, Victor's friend in the gang, who was hot on moving up the crime organization. F. Murray Abraham, wow! I have not seen him for such a long time, maybe since his Best Actor Oscar-winning portrayal in "Amadeus". He was notable as Gregor, Victor's adviser in his plans. And French actress Isabelle Huppert, perhaps too young to realistically play Noomi Rapace's mother Valentine, yet she was very touching in her portrayal of this gentle character.

The action sequences were not that bad, mind you, but there was nothing really that original or memorable, except maybe one that involved a hanging, and another that involved rats. The climactic final action sequence, for example, seemed to be coming straight out of "The Expendables" with its over-the-top fiery explosions and gunfire. However, I enjoyed this more as the dramatic film than as the action film. It is just too bad performances in action movies do not really get noticed, but the acting of the lead cast here was more than up a notch from most other action-oriented movies.

A Film About Piaf vs. A Play About Piaf

March 14, 2013

Edith Piaf is an iconic chanteuse in France.  I have to confess that I do not know anything about her except for her similarly iconic song, "La Vie en Rose."  Last week I was fortunate to have been given the chance to witness an amazingly gritty stage play entitled "Piaf" by Atlantis Productions, which introduced me to the tormented musical genius behind the iconic persona and song.  You can read my full review of this must-see piece of serious theater HERE.  This 1978 play written by Pam Gems revealed a most dramatic and tragic character in Ms. Piaf.

Of course there is this 2007 biographical film about Ms. Piaf, entitled "La Mome".  This was later called "La Vie en Rose", perhaps to use the more popular song title to whet audiences' interest and familiarity.  I have long heard about this film, but have not seen yet for some reason.  Its main claim to fame was that it had won the Oscar Best Actress prize for then unknown lead actress Marion Cotillard for her total embodiment of the central character.  After seeing the play "Piaf", I now felt compelled to finally watch this movie "La Vie en Rose" and compare notes.


Aside from a short flashback style introductory scene, the play generally employed a straightforward telling of Piaf's life in chronological order.  Thankfully for that, when watching the movie I was able to get the flow of the whole story despite the distracting technique employed by the film director Olivier Dahan of telling her story non-linearly, in erratic flashbacks and fast forwards. Some of the flashbacks would inexplicably merge into main story which may confuse a lot of viewers who have no knowledge of Piaf's life story. If you knew how the story goes in the first place though, his story telling style choices may actually come across as artistic. 

Unlike the play, this movie tells a lot about Edith's sad and eventful childhood. This part of her life would include interesting stories about her being raised in a brothel, living in a circus, going blind and being miraculously healed by her patroness Therese of the Child Jesus. These details of course were perhaps beyond the scope of the play, but they were similarly interesting to know. The play though spent significant time to tell about Piaf's activities during World War II, as well as about her second and last husband, Theo Sarapo. On the other hand, the film totally skipped these two important episodes of Piaf's life.  The latter was only mentioned in passing by Piaf on her deathbed in the film

But both in the movie and play, the music of Piaf is front and center. In the film, the incandescent Ms. Marion Cotillard perfected the peculiar stance, facial expressions and hand gestures of Piaf. However, she only lip-synched to the original recordings or recordings done by a sound-alike. The stage Piaf (the glorious Ms. Pinky Amador) though had to sing LIVE with bravura with every performance. The final song "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" was a truly a spectacular showstopper in both film and play as sung in French. However the film fortunately had English subtitles to tell me what the song really meant, and I saw how much meaning the song had to Piaf's life as whole at that point.

The checkered life of Madame Edith Piaf is truly a dream role for any actress to tackle. With the film and the play, I witnessed both lead actresses transform into Piaf. Lucky for Cotillard that she just needed to do this once right to be printed on film, the actress in the play had the additional challenge and difficulty to do repeated performances of this very physically and vocally draining role. In any case, both this biopic and the play will have you interested to listen more to the music of Piaf. Fortunately for us in the age of Youtube, we can also check out video recordings of the real Piaf in action, and we will marvel more about how these talented actresses had portrayed her so convincingly.

Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away

February 7, 2013

Confession: I have never seen a single real Cirque du Soleil show live. I have seen approximations of what it must be though, like the "Kaos" show at the Resorts World in Manila. While some stunts can be really breathtaking, I feel I cannot sit through an entire performance awake with its hypnotic instrumental soundtracks. I do not really like mimes and clowns as well because I find them and their facial make-up creepy.  

Anyway, I was curious to see what this movie was all about. Maybe because it carries the CdS name, yet it was a feature film. I thought there would be a real fleshed-out story interspersed with CdS numbers. Well, now that I have seen it, there was actually a skeleton of a love story between a girl and an Aerialist, with a collection of various best numbers from several CdS shows that the two encounter in the fantasy world under the circus ring, serving to move the movie along. This is basically a silent film, no dialogues nor narrations, just a rich musical soundtrack.

Frankly I only liked the main protagonists and their story, the girl and the Aerialist she is fascinated with. So when they were not on screen, I felt bored. Lucky there were several numbers from the Beatles "Love" show to keep me awake -- because of the Beatles songs though, mind you, not really the performances. The best number for me was the one at the end when the girl and her Aerialist reunite and perform their daring and graceful pas de deux in the air. That special beautiful moment alone was already worth the price of admission.

However, you can really see and appreciate the amount of acrobatic talent, bravery and production expense in each CdS show. This film is really for fans of CdS who want to watch all the currently running CdS shows but cannot. Aside from "Love", this film incorporates numbers from "O", "Ka", "Mysterie", "Zumanity" and others. For people who are curious about CdS but could not afford their expensive tickets, then this would be a good introduction.

******
"Worlds Away" is now showing exclusively in Megaworld Lifestyle Malls.

No Way to Treat a Lady: Film vs. Stage Versions

March 6, 2013

I just saw the musical theater production of "No Way to Treat a Lady" last week staged by Repertory Philippines (which I reviewed HERE).  This musical version, with music, book and lyrics by Douglas J. Cohen, debuted off-Broadway in 1987.  When I found out that there was actually a 1968 film of the same title that covered the same story, I wanted to see and compare the interpretations of both the film and theater versions. Both movie and play were based on a well-reviewed 1968 novel by William Goldman (who also wrote "The Princess Bride").

The story was basically the same, of course. There was a failed actor named Kit Gill who had an oppressive relationship with his Broadway diva mother. Upon her death, his twisted mind turned to killing senior women who reminded him of his mother, wearing various disguises to gain their trust before strangling them to death. Hot in pursuit was a NYC detective Morris Brummell, who was still tied to his overbearing mother's apron strings. There is a side plot of Morris meeting and falling in love with pretty art museum hostess. 

The theater version, being a musical, had a heftier amount of lighthearted comedy. I wonder what exactly inspired Douglas Cohen to write this musical version of an atypical subject matter for a musical.  This film was definitely a more serious telling, with its comedy so much darker in tone. I found it interesting that the play similarly echoed a lot of situations and lines from the film, especially those that involved the female characters. However, overall, I felt the play actually told the story much better. The ending of the movie felt very contrived, hurried and relied too much on coincidence, unlike the play when the resolution was a lot more logical.

Unlike the stage Kit Gill, Rod Steiger was very sinister as the killer. He was excellent in his various disguises, especially the plumber and wig-maker. Mr. Steiger is really old school hammy in his intense acting style, really over the top, which was actually good in this particular role.  The stage Kit Gill (portrayed by Audie Gemora) was more sadly tragic in the sense that his sick attachment to her mother's memory was highlighted from the beginning. You will still feel sympathetic to this character in the play.   In the movie, the influence of the dead mother was only revealed towards the end, almost only as an incidental mention.

George Segal does well as the mama's boy Jewish cop. He played it quite laid back, in sharp contrast with Steiger. On stage, Joel Trinidad also followed the same laid back approach to the character.  The stereotypical annoying Jewish mom was played with glee by Eileen Heckart.  There was basically similar interpretation by the stage Flora Brummell, Ms. Sheila Francisco, since this character is essentially a cliche.  Mo's love interest in the film was named Kate Palmer (played by 60s beauty Lee Remick), while in the play the name was Sarah Stone (played by Carla Guevara-Laforteza). The scene where mom and girlfriend meet was a delightful moment in both the film and the stage musical.

One excellent feature, a conceit really, of the musical version (but not the film) was that all the victims of the killer were all played by the one actress who also played Kit's mother (Pinky Marquez)! This of course brings to fore that these victims reminded Kit of his domineering mother, the central psychotic motive of the serial murders.  

Now I want to read the book! The reviews say it is better than the book (as usual).

By the way, as a bonus, this film version also features a young David Doyle (of the "Charlie's Angels" TV series) playing a cop! It was good to see him here.