Attack of the Puppet People

The title is a misnomer in this Svengoolie entry since not only are the "people" here supposed to be dolls, they do not really "attack" except to a degree to free themselves. (Well, at least the two are supposed to care about.) I switched it off after the silliness of the office assistant going to the police (basically on her say-so) that um her boss changed people into dolls. The police officer just goes over and well the guy denies it. 

(Turns out he has a bunch of dolls that look like the boyfriend and destroys one of them to show they are just dolls.  Knowing his secret, and wanting to leave, it's time for the woman to join the rest of the dolls. The officer does investigate further later on.)

I reserved it in the library and will see if the DVD is the one with a commentary track. [It does not.] The film has some charms before that bit of silliness that (unsurprisingly) leads to another victim. The evil doll maker (already looking old, though in his 50s, he later was on the sitcom Gimme a Break!) was very good. John Agar does his usual stolid hero role.

June Kenney, who had a much shorter career, makes a good heroine. The two ironically see another sci fi specialty effects film involving a man shot up to a gigantic size. Overall, the first half provides some creepiness and character while I suppose (from reading about it) the second half has some fun even if some plot issues.  If I see more, I'll add to this a bit. [I did]

From my uneducated eye, the 1950s reduction special effects look pretty good.  How a puppeteer/puppet maker figures the science of reduction is unclear, but hey, it's all so simple.  

The main character is good though the others are a rather boring bunch if okay. His somewhat troublesome old friend comes off the best.  The salesman hero is pretty boring; the woman has potential but mostly has little to work with.  There are some creepy touches and a bit when a girl sees the shrunken cat is handled well.  

The movie is about eighty minutes long and I think it could have been about ten minutes shorter.  One person who works at the theater later was on Green Acres.  Also, what happened to the old postman? Was he too boring or troublesome to be a live friend?  

There is a good bit where the puppeteer forces the woman to be part of a sort of puppet show.  A believable bit of trickery for the two to disappear is imagined, but then basically the movie disappoints.  The movie thus far was pretty good story-wise, minus the police bit.  It sorta gives up now. 

How do they manage to even get outside of the theater?  Then, our two heroes need to go a mile outside back to the factor. It's early in the morning but no one sees them?  They would be about ten inches tall.  That part is weak and other than seeing a few animals (cat, dog, mouse), nothing much is shown.  

And, sudden our heroes are full sized.  We don't know how they got that way (it skips from them being outside the office to them full sized and walking out).  The movie then ends with the dollmaker crying about being left alone. 

We last heard about the others at the theater, when the dollmaker heard them cry out for help.  There is no sign he found them, him winding up alone at the office.  One guesses they will be found.

The whole thing is a sorta partial credit thing.  

The Sure Thing might not get as much kudos at John Cusack's Say Anything,  but both are clearly his best teenage comedies (here with a special focus on the love story).  I recall, though I would have only been around 14 at the time (I'm still a bit of a review junkie), Roger Ebert reviewing it on his show, the credit card bit in the rain the clip that comes to mind.  He enjoyed standard fare when feeling it was done honestly and with skill. 

I saw it again with the director Rob Reiner's interesting (and telling, such as his assumptions about boys being less mature about girls; suggests why his films have certain stereotypes) commentary.  It is also notable to recall the film was released in the mid-1980s, in the midst of less classy teen films of this nature.  The college freshman here had sex multiple times in high school, but you know, was deep down looking for something more.  

The core of the film is John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga (amusing when she comments once she dreamed as a little girl of being a princess and later she played one in the Mel Brooks Star Wars spoof) going cross country ala It Happened One Night.  But, like a third of the movie happens before then, and we see the two (if John Cusack clearly the bigger focus) at college.  

A chunk of the film is thus something of a character profile as compared to a comedy.*  And, it also has various actors who people probably recognize from later roles from Tim Robbins (show tune loving carpool driver), the guy who played "Mr. Heckles" on Friends, and Anthony Edwards as Cusack's pal.  Nicolle Sheridan plays the "Sure Thing," who turns out to look the part, but seem like a nice girl not quite sure about what is going on. 

[Nicolle Sheridan later had her most success on television. She had one of the more atypical Hallmark Channel lead performances in Honeymoon for One, in her late 40s.  These days some older actor [including guys] like that would be more likely to pop up in a supporting role.]

It's a charming movie though I felt the first part of the movie went too long (not that it was badly done).  Also, John Cusack plays decent guys in his 1980s movies, but there was also a tiresome goofball quality to him too.  Here, it was complicated by someone who appeared to basically realize that it was time to grow up (and he was only 17/18, so had time). 

Still, it was a bit tiresome.  One wished for more of these films to be through the point of view of the Alison character.  Daphne Zuniga herself is still acting, only having a few big roles in films, but making a go at least for now forty years all the same.   

[Looking, she is actually over 3 1/2 years older the Cusack and she does look somewhat more mature than the baby faced Cusack.  He looks notably older in Say Anything.  Cusack was only around eighteen when this film was released.  

I added this comment along with the third review.  The DVD also has a "trivia" track, providing Pop Up Video style trivia throughout.  Neat  idea.]

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* The "oh my dad said to only use it in case of emergency" moment was a very funny moment.  As was Cusack pretending to be a nut when a driver went to sexually attack Alison [hitchhiking is okay, you know, but best to do it together!].  

The scene with Cusack going to a bar to fuel his sorrows about Alison talking to her boyfriend and meeting up with some lovable loser types was one of the more tiresome moments where it was time to shift to the commentary track. 

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Uncorked was also on again.  

I talked about it before, and the same basic thoughts basically hold.  The widower at one point makes a comment about God and faith.  Shows how a film can be Up TV friendly without being heavy-handed.  

Interesting to read the IMDB reviews. Some appreciated it as somewhat different Hallmark fare; others didn't like it much.  I had a profile there and like 100 reviews, but it was attached to a defunct email.  Checking, someone told me the old account therefore could not be reestablished.

I skipped starting from 0 again.