Freshman (1990)

Freshman: Directed by Andrew Bergman. With Marlon Brando, Matthew Broderick, Bruno Kirby, Penelope Ann Miller. An N.Y.C. film school student accepts a job with a local mobster who resembles a famous cinema godfather and who takes the young man under his wing, after demanding total loyalty.

“What a wacky plot. Broderick is hired to convey illegally imported endangered species by Brando, playing Carmine (u0026quot;Jimmy the Toucanu0026quot;) Sabatini, in order to provide million-dollar-a-plate dinners for a bunch of international degenerates who revel in eating forbidden fruit, or in this instance lizards. Itu0026#39;s the kind of plot you dream up while sitting around all night half-gassed with a couple of buddies who have a good sense of the absurd.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBroderick is Clark Kellog (whom Sabatini calls u0026quot;Kentu0026quot;), a naif just in from Vermont to attend film school at NYU. Sabatini is the u0026quot;importeru0026quot; he works for and a ringer for u0026quot;The Godfather.u0026quot; (The original was almost a self parody.) Those are the principal roles and Broderick handles the role of straight man, being sucked into a Mafia-like existence, competently. Brando is unforgettable. He tried one or two comedies before and they tanked, but heu0026#39;s a winner here, cracking walnuts in his fist, weeping with emotion as he embraces his new employee.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut itu0026#39;s not just the relationship between Clark and Sabatini thatu0026#39;s amusing. Itu0026#39;s also just about everything in between, including what we see of the film school, where the professor assigns seven hundred dollars worth of his own books as required reading, and is working on a paper that will combine — what was it? — Plato, Marx, and semiotics in a deconstruction of u0026quot;The Godfatheru0026quot;, or something equally insane? Maximilian Schell is a much under-rated or unnoticed actor. He consistently turns in riveting performances but has never achieved major stardom. It doesnu0026#39;t matter whether itu0026#39;s drama (u0026quot;Judgment at Nurenbergu0026quot;), comedy thrillers (u0026quot;Topkapiu0026quot;), or, as in this case, comedy. He never fails to bring something extra to the role. His first entrance here knocks the whole situation askew. Clark has enlisted a fellow student to help him carry this giant lizard (Varanus komodoensis — they pronounce the specific name wrong) and a bearded sunglassed Schell ambles into the scene during the delivery, fondling a ferret, looks up with a big smile, and says, u0026quot;Sabatini said one boy…. Here are two!u0026quot; Clark runs through his explanation while Schell listens politely before replying, u0026quot;Sabatini said one boy…. Here are two!u0026quot; He says it a third time before ambling off. Thatu0026#39;s ALL he says.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;ve seen this about three times since I first commented on it and, although this is anything but a u0026quot;deepu0026quot; movie, Iu0026#39;ve continually found things, mostly jokes, that Iu0026#39;d missed earlier. I must give a few examples.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNever before had I noticed some particular details in the scene in which Brando cracks the walnuts. I had just seen him cracking walnuts. More recently Iu0026#39;ve noticed that in this scene Brando, apparently dead serious, tells Broderick that he wants him to accept the job offer. u0026quot;I donu0026#39;t want to hear u0026#39;nou0026#39;, I want to hear u0026#39;yes.u0026#39;u0026quot; And that, immediately after these lines, while Broderick is pondering an answer, Brando picks up TWO walnuts, rolls them in his palm, and slowly but noisily CRACKS them.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd another of the many allusions to u0026quot;The Godfatheru0026quot; finally registered on my interpretive apparatus. As the end credits begin to roll, Broderick and Brando are taking the monitor for a walk through the cornfields in long shot. And we can hear Brandou0026#39;s voice offering Broderick some career assistance. u0026quot;Yu0026#39;know, Clark, when you get out to Hollywood, maybe I can help you.u0026quot; u0026quot;No, please.u0026quot; u0026quot;It wouldnu0026#39;t take much. Just a few phone calls.u0026quot; u0026quot;NO!u0026quot; u0026quot;I could kick open a few doors for you.u0026quot; The penny finally dropped and I could see Brando arranging to have a lopped-off horse head planted in some produceru0026#39;s bed.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJust a few other points. One is that the score owes something to u0026quot;The Stunt Man.u0026quot; Another is that Brando seems so perfectly comfortable in this self parody. He seems to be genuinely enjoying himself. His body language is exquisite. He lolls around in his chair, sticks his tongue in his cheek (literally), waves his hands, shrugs, and does everything else flawlessly. Sometimes his whiskery voice gets away from the Don Corleone model. I donu0026#39;t think Vito Corleone would be so indignant when talking about Polaroid and IBM on the phone. u0026quot;I told you before, Charlie, I donu0026#39;t LIKE it when they go DOWN. Listen. I had another stock broker once and he only called me with bad news. It got very UNPLEASANT, Charlie, yu0026#39;unnerstand me?u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd anyone who thinks of the later Brando as a bloated hypocrite who has lost whatever acting chops he once had should take another look at the scene in which he visits Broderick in the college dorm room. Broderick, at Brandou0026#39;s own request, recites a poem written by his father, a rather elliptical one, and Brandou0026#39;s character picks it up immediately — u0026quot;Ah, the cat.u0026quot; And the discussion about Curious George. And Brandou0026#39;s momentary melancholy as he looks around the college dorm, an environment as alien to him as the planet Neptune, shrugs and comments, u0026quot;Well, I didnu0026#39;t miss nuthinu0026#39;.u0026quot; It isnu0026#39;t funny. Itu0026#39;s touching. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI thought this movie was very funny and quite original, considering the stale material it was sending up, and I still think so. Two yearsu0026#39; worth of additional viewings hasnu0026#39;t changed things. You must see it, if only to hear Bert Parks sing u0026quot;I ainu0026#39;t gonna work on Maggieu0026#39;s farm no more.u0026quot;”