Fri 14 Dec 2018
DIAMOND MEN. Lions Gate, 2000. Robert Forster, Donnie Wahlberg, Bess Armstrong, Jasmine Guy. Screenwriter-director: Dan Cohen.
This a movie with a lot of facets to it, and I can’t think of a better word to use. What it is at the beginning, is a road film. After having had a heart attack and no longer insurable, a long time diamond salesman by the name of Eddie Miller (Robert Forster) is forced to show his replacement, Bobby Walker, the ropes (Donnie Wahlberg).
It does not go well. Forster is in his mid-50s, laid back, likes jazz and quiet motels at night. Bobby is young, brash (ultra brash) and likes a lot of night life (girls picked up in bars).
But then, not too surprisingly, it turns into a buddy film. If two men sit next to each other in the front seat of a car for miles on end, taking the same sales route through central Pennsylvania over and over again, they begin to talk to each other and reveal things about themselves, no matter how opposite in personality they are. Things they certainly wouldn’t bring up on their first day together, which goes disastrously bad.
Eddie’s wife died several years ago. They had a happy marriage, and Eddie has not had a date with a woman since. Bobby decides to do something about that. This does not go well, but Bobby persists, and the film now transforms itself from a raunchy-ish sex film to a romantic one. What Eddie does not know, though, is that Katie (Bess Armstrong), the woman Bobby has found for him has a — shall we say — past.
At which point the movie decides to go in a totally different direction, one that I won’t tell you about because I have to leave something for you to see on your own. And while this is a very minor film, by Hollywood blockbuster standards, I think you should. See it yourself, that is.
And one of the major reasons why is the presence of Robert Forster in this film. He has one of those faces that looks lived in, with the ability to make you know what he’s thinking by simply watching his face, maybe even more than by the words he’s saying. I don’t know how it does it, but he does.
December 14th, 2018 at 5:56 am
A sparkling gem of a review! This one goes on my “find-it” list.
December 14th, 2018 at 12:11 pm
And to my mind, it’s a small gem of a film. It’s light in tone, but there’s an edge to it throughout that’s hard to explain, but it’s there.
I don’t know how many movie theaters it played in, but it’s easy and very inexpensive to find on DVD. Try amazon for example.
December 14th, 2018 at 6:16 pm
Forster has long been on my watch list as an actor almost always worth catching in any film.
December 14th, 2018 at 7:08 pm
I’ve been a fan of his since he did BANYON, first as a TV move in 1971 then as a series for the 1972-73 season. There is at least one source selling copies on DVD, but I think for most people, it’s a completely forgotten show.
December 14th, 2018 at 11:09 pm
BANYON is what I mainly do remember of Robert Forster. It was a vividly filmed series. Then I lost track of Forster.
This film sounds interesting!
December 15th, 2018 at 12:48 pm
I was lucky enough to meet Robert Forster and we talked about his film HOLLYWOOD HARRY (86). I liked the film about a PI looking for a missing woman. He starred, directed and produced, and his daughter Kate co-starred in the film. It had been a huge financial failure.
I asked him if he was interested in directing again (he has not), and he said he might but he would never produce again – he felt guilty about losing all his friends money. While he has never produced again, I notice he is executive producer for this film.
He was and I suspect still is a very nice person.
As for BANYON you can read my review here
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=18335
As far as I can find the TV movie is all that is available. The series was a disaster behind the scenes. NBC turned the series over to Quinn Martin. This was a dream project for its creator and producer who would fight for his vision versus QM Productions and who would die of a heart attack during the making of the series.
December 15th, 2018 at 4:27 pm
I envy your chance to talk to him. It’s also nice that you can confirm that he’s a nice person. Sometimes you can just tell.
December 15th, 2018 at 1:30 pm
I just re-read the comments to my review of the BANYON pilot and discovered there are a couple of episodes of the series out there but I have never been able to find them. And the creator and producer I mentioned in comment 6 was Ed Adamson.
December 15th, 2018 at 4:25 pm
An online DVD store is offering 15 episodes for $64. I can’t vouch for the seller, but the stor is called DVD Planet.
Hopefully this link will work:
https://www.dvdplanetstore.pk/shop/drama/banyon/
Other sources may have them also.
December 15th, 2018 at 4:30 pm
I realize that I’ve steered the comments toward Robert Forster, so it’s my fault, if any, but let me get back to the movie and say that everyone else in the cast is also just about perfect for the parts they play.
It may not be the best movie I’ve seen this year, but all in all, it very well could be the one I’ve enjoyed the most.