Inane Title + Meg Ryan = Awesome
Meg Ryan is a fine actress who has made some excellent films, but few people remember that fact because along the way she has made two key mistakes: 1) she rode her cuteness like a horse until it was lame and tired, and then kicked it to death and 2) many of the great movies she has made have incredibly stupid titles. Here are three great films that sadly, are rarely seen for those very reasons.
• Joe Vs. the Volcano (1990)–Joe’s miserable life changes
in strange and marvelous ways after he is informed that he is dying from a “brain
cloud.” Mention this movie in most circles and watch the snickers fly. Ignore
them; it’s one of the quirkier mainstream entertainments ever made. Where else
will you find a movie where the most beautiful and fascinating set piece is
an anal probe company? And of course Meg Ryan is stellar; skillfully and humorously
transforming herself into three distinct characters who help Joe along his journey
of discovery. Tom Hanks is good, too.
• When A Man Loves A Woman (1994)–I know how it looks: it stars Meg
Ryan, and it’s named after a remake of a song made famous by Michael Bolton.
To the untrained eye, it appears to be a gift straight from the fires of Hell.
In actuality, this film is a profoundly careful and moving study of an alcoholic
mom trying to get her life back together. Ryan, amazingly, shoves her cuteness
aside and turns in a phenomenal performance as the struggling parent.
• Addicted To Love (1997)–A generic sounding film with a preposterous
premise, and yet, this story of two people stalking their ex-lovers with impossibly
sophisticated technology is surprisingly good, thanks to Ryan’s performance
as the punky, afflicted Maggie. Okay, so Ryan rests on her cute haunches a bit,
but Matthew Broderick is pretty cute himself, and the chemistry they share is
worth a look. Not incredible, but a hell of a lot better than the title and
star combination suggests.