Does he point at someone?: Yes. But only with one hand.
Best Line: "MANDRO ISN'T POGO!"
What a film. On the one side, this is exactly what Caineology is about........on the other, this film is bloody terrible. A very early Oliver Stone film (who appears in a drunken cameo as a victim to...............THE HAND) and a very very, well I'm not quite sure what - dedicated perhaps? - Caine.
The man really throws himself into this one, but never really comes across as anything other than CAINE even when acting the part of John Lansdale, a comic artist (yeah, I know - Caine as a comic artist? Disbelief shattered straight off) who enjoys living the country life but is in marital problems and on the point of separating from his wife and child.
Whilst having a domestic with Mrs Lansdale in the car and gesticulating madly/pointing at her in a rage, an accident happens and means that he suffers the loss of his hand...............THE HAND. Obviously, as an artist, this means the end of his career and forces him to readjust. His wife sticks by him, but its clear that they will end up going their separate ways as they move back into New York during Winter and the old troubles start again alongside her desire for a new life.
But, this ain't no domestic drama, oh no, this is a disembodied hand film and gives us plenty of what we want from a disembodied hand film. i.e. people being menaced by a rubbery device and flailing about pretending to be strangled whilst holding it to their throats. And this film does NOT disappoint on that front!
Caine becomes obsessed with going out on a limb to solve this mystery of his living hand and all manner of insanity follows over the next hour.
To be fair, this film has its good points, but really its not a good film at all..........its just a bit flat. Its a bad film, but not a truly awful one. Entertaining enough, I suppose. Without Caine, this would have been properly shite.
Apparently, Caine was pleased with the success of his previous horror film (Dressed to Kill) and "was interested in making another horror film to earn enough to put a down payment on a new garage he was having built"
And that is why we love you, Michael Caine.
(Also - a point to Stone for showing Caines titular hand before we actually see Caine himself.)
Details:
1 - We should really start with the hand off scene (more on that later).
That impassioned acting is the force of a man knowing he's getting a new garage at the end of this.
2 - Michael Caine Disapproves of your Life.
Disapproval of Life Coaching
Disapproval of yoga
Disapproval of your life choices.
3 - We get Hand PoV. Well, if yer gonna have PoV, may as well go full bore.
4 - New York. Winter. 1981.
Beautiful....and with All That Jazz showing? What more?
5 - Later in the film, Caine takes a teaching position out in California. Comes complete with wonderfully cosy pied-à-terre
Where there is little else to do but drink J&B all night.
6 - The return of Drunken Mike. Did he have lessons in drunken acting or just relive some of those nights out with O'Toole in the 70s, I wonder?
7 - Never mind THE HAND, this film should be subtitled THE HAIR.
8 - Finally, at one point a heartbroken MC takes a moody drive out into the night to get away from his problems whilst cranking a bit of Blondie and staring into the road. Never had Caine pegged as a Blondie fan. Maybe that explains why he went to New York?
Outfit of the film - a few to choose from, but we're partial to a good leather jacket around here at Mount Mickelwhite. Looks like a Lewis Dominator, maybe?
