The Freshman (1990)

Many of the actors' parts in this film had been a sort of a poking fun their most well-known screen roles or celebrity personas. Marlon Brando plays a comedic version of Don Vito Corleone, the character that he parodizes with delight throughout the film. But there is a certain finesse and tenderness in his portrayal of Carmine Sabatini. He made the mobster employer more amiable and endearing than any other mobster character featured in the Godfather films, the kind that doesn't resort to uttering threats regarding offers that one can't possibly refuse. He relies instead on his charm in being an emphatic persuader (e.g. marrying off his daughter) in recruiting the film school freshman or convincing him to stay in his employ. It's his most accessible comedic film performance, if not his entire career. Broderick play Clark Kellogg, a clueless kid that has none of the wiles and a stark contrast to the role that made him the household name, the suave titular character in the hilarious Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Clark who arrives in NYC to enter college but not before he is befriended and smooth-talked by Victor Ray played by Bruno Kirby who will then lead the desperate student Clark to his boss/uncle Carmine. The henchman that Kirby plays is similarity to Clemenza, the one that introduces the young Vito Corleone to the mob life in the classic film The Godfather Part Two, the film which is coincidentally being studied in Clark's film school class, the one that professor Arthur Fleeber conducts. Paul Benedict plays the eccentric and narcissistic film professor who is a penchant for title dropping films every now and then to rub off his expertise in film knowledge that on the surface seems quite ill-suited, but upon closer scrutiny it's incredibly spot-on. Some people might remember him as that Mad Painter guy that always gets into different sorts of trouble because his zealous way of teaching number recognition in those Sesame Street comedic vignettes. Bert Parks, well-known as being the former Miss America pageant host, who also got his share of the fun as well, dedicating the "There She Is" song to a hapless komodo dragon. His musical performances near the end of the film performing classic hits such as "Tequila" and "Mona Lisa" with a live band in a spectacular stage set designed by the legendary Ken Adams is a beholding spectacle. There's also Maximilian Schell, celebrated for his Oscar-winning performance in Judgment at Nuremberg, who hams through his role as Larry London, the chef who's responsible for preparing the dishes for the exclusive nomadic club Carmine is hosting. Also notable are the enjoyable performances of the young actors that will soon make their mark in the film world. Penelope Ann Miller's Tina is someone who embraces her father Carmine's notoriety as a mobster which is quite a hoot, Frank Whaley's charming take as the late-'80s-early-90's dapper roommate/classmate who gets dragged into Clark's mob errands, and B.D. Wong's take as London's Zen-ish associate gives the film it's most significant quote, "Well, without humor, what do we have?" I had to applaud how Andrew Bergman turned a somewhat grim premise into a charming one where he created an insightful script where all the film's characters and elements are seamlessly juxtaposed, kind of resembles the Kandinsky painting seen as a poster on Clark's dorm room. Not a single scene or character is wasted, each one contributes to help the audience understand what the plot is about. And for a film that was released also in the same year as The Godfather Part Three, which can be considered a sad but satisfying conclusion to the Corleone family saga, and Good Fellas, the film that deconstructed the gangster genre, The Freshman kind of gives us an affectionate if not sentimental glimpse of the people living in the fringes of the society that we should be always wary of. My rating: A-minus.

The whole film rests on the Vito Corleone parody perpetrated here by Marlon Brando, close enough to give Clark Kellogg (Matthew Broderick) fits, but just off kilter enough so that the viewer sees something just a bit different and refreshing in Brando's take on 'The Godfather'. In fact, there's a few times if you watch closely that it seems like Brando is throwing a little bit of Rod Steiger into the characterization. You just have to laugh every time he's on screen with that underlying threat of hostility that never really emerges, while the whole time you wonder when it's coming.For his part, and as the story progresses, Broderick's character begins to take on the frustration of Michael Corleone in "The Godfather: Part III" - "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in." I didn't know what to make of the Komodo dragon bit as Clark and Bushak (Frank Whaley) chase it through the mall, but it all ties in, even if rather ridiculously, to the gimmick of the endangered species dinner.And then there's Bert Parks. Doing his Miss America bit with the Komodo was just the right touch of inspired to lunacy to get this thing over the top. You have to give the writers credit for the imaginatively disparate elements they brought to this story while still making it believable. Well, as believable as the movie allows. You know, I was waiting the whole picture for Brando to grab an orange at some point and ad lib his way through a scene but instead he used walnuts. Still, he brought us back to The Godfather one last time with that little hand flick to the chin near the end of the story, making this a picture you can't refuse.

While The Freshman had some qualities in common with bigger crime films, it took a very different spin on old standards. Where most crime movies focus on dark themes and serious, sometimes violent social issues, The Freshman focused on the humor in difficult and strange situations. In the beginning of the film, we are introduced to Matthew Broderick in the role of Clark Kellogg. His stepfather, Dwight, is a pro- animal and environmental extremist, the definition of a tree hugger. After years of humiliation at the hands of his stepfather, young Clark has no qualms about leaving his home to start school in New York. However, during his first day in the big city, he is scammed out of all his money and schoolbooks.In order to re-earn the money required to remain in his classes, Clark decides to attend a suspicious interview with a potential employer, Carmine Sabatini (Marlon Brando.) Clark decides to accept the offer of a flexible job with few hours and big money. He is not terribly worried about the situation- until he finds out his first job is to transport an endangered kimono dragon (How will his stepfather feel about that?). While I liked the movie, In terms of plot, this film fell short: it was pretty clichéd, and story elements were typical of other gangster films. Contemporary audiences will not be surprised when Kellogg is roped into the crime gang and works his way to the top, because we saw the same thing happen in The Godfather, with Michael Corleone. Plot line aside, this film is very enjoyable. It is an encounter of the blurred kind, an adventure as crazy and as unexpected as it can get. Despite occasional plot clichés and fixes, it's a brilliantly told tale. It really nails its comedic angle; it seizes you in its first seconds, captivates you for two short hours and leaves you feeling a little happier than before.

I remember being disappointed the first time I saw this film, I'm not sure if it was just not something I expected. Not even think it made much of an impact the second time. It now rates in one of my top films of all time.It's hard to think of a film in 1990 like this, and I can't really compare it to many others I've seen either. Matthew Broderick plays Clark wonderfully and Marlon Brando does an amazing job of generating this wholly charming character that really only reflects Vito Corleone in status and looks.The poem scene in the dorm is both warm, touching and its very rare to get an exposition of characters relations done in this way, especially on the back of the 80's! The film actually has many scenes like this, where a generally fast moving comedy farce hits the brakes softly to capture a vision of the beauty of the world and the wonder of life through the eyes of a young freshman.The plot is probably a bit involved to fully appreciate this film on the first showing, but when you know what is going to happen, concentrating on the dialogue and the wonderful colourful, and rapturous, characters throughout.There are not enough films like this.