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Ten Best List for the Year 1985
- Back to the Future -- Above-average entertainment about a teenager (Michael J. Fox) who is transported back through time and obliged to serve as matchmaker for his parents or face retroactive non-existence. A major problem is that his mother-to-be finds him far more attractive than she does his father-to-be Directed by Robert Zemeckis, it is funny and clever with a bit of genuine sentiment that unfortunately is marred by causal profanity, the depiction of violence as manly and, though there is no depiction of it, an implicit acceptance of sexual promiscuity as standard teenage behavior. A-III-adults (PG) 1985
- Blood Simple - A young wife (Frances McDormand) runs away from her Texas saloon owner husband (Dan Hedaya) who hires a seedy private detective (M. Emmet Walsh) to kill both her and her lover. Joel and Ethan Coen's cleverly plotted, well-acted tale of love, hate and vengeance in which nothing works out as the hapless characters intended, proves to be a work of somber, quirky brilliance, with glints of black humor. Some bloody violence subordinated to plot and characterizations. A-IV-adults with reservations (R) 1985
- The Falcon and the Snowman -- Some boyhood friends, now young men (Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn), sell secret data to the Soviets. How all this happened and why is an engrossing and very well-acted story but director John Schlesinger has left too many loose ends and tends to sentimentalize these treasonous actions as mistaken idealism. Brief nudity, some drug use and ambivalent treatment of a complex subject. A-III-adults (R) 1985
- King David -- For half its length, this is a superb biblical fi1m in which the sex, violence and pageantry usually emphasized in this genre do not obscure the central theme of God's intervention in humanity's messy affairs. However, the last half of director Bruce Beresford's work seems badly truncated which, together with a miscast Richard Gere in the title role, make it a severely flawed film, but nonetheless one worth seeing. There is some nudity and considerable violence, but they are subordinated to the theme and not exploitative. A-III-adults (PG-13) 1985
- Marie -- In telling the fact-based story of Marie Ragghianti, a divorced mother of three children and the first woman to head the Tennessee Board of Pardons and Paroles, the movie details her courage in refusing to cooperate in the graft and corruption of the governor who appointed her to office. Directed by Roger Donaldson, this inspiring film portrait owes much to a superb performance by Sissy Spacek in the title role. Several scenes of violence. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG-13) 1985
- 1918 -- Mortality presses in upon ordinary happiness for a family (Hallie Foote and Matthew Broderick) in a small Texas town as World War I is coming to an end in Europe and a killer flu epidemic rages at home. Writer Horton Foote and director Ken Harrison catch the terror and beauty of daily life in such wonderfully evocative fashion that it transcends the period to touch one's own life. Though nothing in it is harmful for children, only youngsters of a certain level of maturity will be able to appreciate the experience. A-I-general patronage (Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America) 1985
- The Official Story -- An upper-class Argentine wife (Norma Aleandro) whose wealthy husband is a friend of the powerful, begins to suspect that her adopted daughter might be the child of a mother victimized by the right-wing government's reign of terror five years before. The Argentinian production, directed and co-scripted by Luis Puenzo, is a extraordinary work that subordinates politics to human characterizations of anguish and nobility. Some brief violence and rough language. A-II-adults and adolescents (Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America) 1985
- Prizzi's Honor -- Middle-aged man (Jack Nicholson) falls in love with a beautiful, mysterious woman (Kathleen Turner) and she with him. It turns out they are both in the same line of work, but since that happens to be killing people, it makes for complications once they're married. Though this very black comedy is directed with great skill and flair by John Huston, its level of violence is extremely mature fare and not suited to everybody's taste. A-IV-adults with reservations (R) 1985
- A Test of Love -- A courageous teacher (Angela Punch McGregor) takes an institution to court to effect the release of a bright child suffering from cerebra1 palsy who has been diagnosed as severely retarded. Fine Australian production directed by Gi1 Brealey offers so1id entertainment and is immensely inspiring. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1985
- Witness -- Tough Philadelphia police detective (Harrison Ford) hides out among the Amish to protect his life and that of a young boy who witnessed a murder committed by a corrupt fellow detective. He and the boy's widowed mother (Kelly McGillis) are drawn to each other despite their different worlds. Director Peter Weir gets excellent performances in a good romantic melodrama that also offers some relative1y thoughtful reflections on violence and non-violence. Some graphic violence and brief nudity are handled as restrained but essential plot devices. A-IV-adults with reservations (R) 1985
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