Gire: 5 essential Mike Nichols films
Daily Herald Film Critic
dgire@dailyherald.com
Mike Nichols' influence in entertainment and culture was staggering, bold and widespread. But in the movies, he created iconic pieces of entertainment.
Here are the late filmmaker's essential five:
1. “The Graduate” — If Nichols had directed nothing but this 1967 star vehicle for Dustin Hoffman, he'd still be hailed as the J.D. Salinger of cinema. Nichols, with Buck Henry's screenplay, created a generational touchstone with universal resonance, and an iconic soundtrack (featuring the talents of Simon & Garfunkel) that launched motion picture scores into lucrative marketable commodities.
2. “Carnal Knowledge” — Not exactly a first date movie. Nichols' fearless drama concerns two buddies (Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel) who spend years trying to figure out women, but ultimately remain incapable of touching them or being touched by them. A superbly wrought work of classic tragedy in cinema.
3. “Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” — Nichols announced his entry into Hollywood's directorial ranks in this bold, 1966 black-and-white drama dripping with the vitriol of Edward Albee's stage play. This strong adult movie came along at a tipping point in American culture when movies threw off the shackles of 1950s prudery and opened the floodgates of freedom. Nichols rode the wave well.
4. “The Birdcage” — So it's a remake of an international French hit comedy about a homosexual couple posing as heterosexuals for the sake of the conservative parents of their son's girlfriend. Nichols finds the humanity within the farce and, in doing so back in 1996, helped pave society's rough road to gender equality and acceptance.
5. “Primary Colors” — Nichols and his old comedy partner Elaine May together again! She wrote the screenplay (from Joe Klein's originally anonymous novel). Nichols directed. The result? A sharp political comedy that didn't really need overt references to the Clinton administration to work, but they add to the mix. John Travolta's President Stanton dancing offbeat? Priceless.