A Movie Nearly Every Night: The Year of Living Dangerously

The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
Dir. Peter Weir
Starring: Mel Gibson, Sigourney Weaver, Linda Hunt

Welcome to Jakarta, bastard son of the imperialist West

I like movies about journalism. I like Peter Weir movies. So why didn't I like The Year of Living Dangerously?

Friends, while living in Los Angeles you have a lot of bad days. Traffic sucks, your job is pointless, someone's broken into your car for the third time in a week -- so you need a movie antidote for your tiresome, mundane-but-still-stressful life. That movie used to be Gallipoli. I'd come home from my 3 jobs and pop that sucker into the VCR and sit back and think "Wow, at least my day wasn't that bad."

Guy Hamilton at the mic ... okay, I love that his name is Guy Hamilton

So this is Mel and Peter Weir teaming up again just a scant year after Gallipoli and he's a journalist in crazy, rebellious 1960's Indonesia, so I figure it's going to be pretty good or at least somewhat pretty. Besides, I like Linda Hunt and I remember when it came out how nutty it was that she was a woman playing a man -- now, after the fact, it's difficult to buy into her being Billy because I know she's Linda Hunt, but at the time she could pull it off.

Still amazing, but I know it's you in there, Linda

And Sigourney Weaver is always cool and this is post-Alien pre-Ghostbusters Sigourney, so it's interesting to watch her work into the role of Jill. Honestly, she's not good with the accent and I don't buy her as being British, but there's still something to her that makes you think "Well, so what. She's doing just fine anyway." Maybe I have a girl crush, I don't know. She's a role-model and I don't think you'll find a lot of girls my age who weren't a little inspired by Ripley. So, not great, but I can't help cutting her a little slack.

And those sunglasses are to die for

But this movie just didn't go anywhere. Yeah, stuff happens and he's out for a story and may screw over his friends to get it (Yeah! Go, Mel, GO!) but you're not entirely sure that he will and does he get it in time and isn't he a little too late to everything? It's kind of flimsy and I don't know if it was because I was sleepy or if it really is just sort of ... flimsy. There's no other word.

Is Mel contemplating leaving her a nasty voicemail message? Then it must be love.

However, it does have some interesting and lovely Peter Weir touches because, yet again, he uses the magic of Russell Boyd behind the camera (and kooky Maurice Jarre for the music), but it just wasn't enough to make this compelling film viewing for a Tuesday night.

Mirror images and a tennis racket.
Who brings a tennis racket on assignment to Jakarta?

Noooooooooooooooooo
Mel running to save someone from unnecessary death again
and failing again

In the end, regardless of outcome -- enter on a plane, exit on a plane; right or left -- it's all about the shadow puppets. Billy shows us the prince and the princess; Peter Weir shows us the Gibson and the Weaver. The lights go out and the show is over. If you dig that, then this is your movie.


If you're tired and cranky ... rent Gallipoli instead.