In The Navy..."Down Periscope"

Down Periscope (1996)

Rated PG-13 for language

Starring Kelsey Grammar, Lauren Holly, Rob Schneider, Harry Dean Stanton, Bruce Dern, William H. Macy, Rip Torn

Directed by David S. Ward

The Story:

Lieutenant Commander Dodge (Grammar) has rubbed some of his superiors the wrong way.  Finally given his chance to Captain a submarine, he is given a relic of a diesel class submarine that is so old, they have to bring on a civilian veteran (Stanton) just to help them know how to work the thing.  Dodge is given a test to elude and defeat a nuclear sub piloted by Commander Knox (Macy) but Rear Admiral Graham (Dern) wants to ensure Dodge fails, and he is saddled with a misfit crew of sailors nobody else wanted, including Executive Officer Pascal (Schneider) and the Diving Officer (Holly), the first female submarine candidate for the Navy.  If Dodge fails... he's out.  Heaven help him.

I don't think I've seen this one since it was released.

Caught it again recently, and it's not bad.

A really good cast with an adequate script, there's nothing ground breaking to be had, but it's an acceptable diversion of 90 minutes.


Grammar flexes his muscle as a leading man on the silver screen, and his comedic instincts are as sound as the years he honed his timing on Cheers and Frasier.

Plus, while it is a comedy, they at least treat most of the war games between the submarines straight- humourous, but not slapstick.  Dodge and his crew actually use strategy and cunning to outmaneuver superior technology.

It's a classic underdog story, and those are almost always entertaining.

Not a bad one to revisit if you see it on cable as you flip channels.

Final Grade: C+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I haven't bought it by now, so I probably won't rush out now, but I have no problem if I were to see it on again in the future

"I Don't Know How She Does It"... Well, I Know, But I'm Not Telling!

Hectic doesn't begin to describe it.

The Story:

Kate (Sarah Jessica Parker) works in a financial firm.  She has two kids and a wonderful husband (Greg Kinnear) who has been trying to get his business off the ground.  A pitch that Kate made to the execs is approved, and she pitches it to Jack Abelhammer (Pierce Brosnan) and it is approved, but it's going to require lots of extra travel and more hours than she's already putting in.  Couple this with the fact that her husband finally lands his dream gig at the same time...

Something's going to have to give.


Here is a nice, mostly likeable comedy about the perils of the working mother.

Naturally, as with any film, they will play up the exaggerations to the hilt, almost to the point of ridiculousness, which takes some of the charm out, and puts in some of the sting.

For example, any movie family with lots of kids, lots being often more than one, always makes me cringe because they make big families look bad.  Or stupid.  Or both.

So in this film, the mother is harried and hurried, often portrayed as disheveled and unorganized, but boy is she spunky and has a can-do attitude!

This again does a disservice to moms, whether they work outside of the home or not, because it is a difficult job to manage, and here the ability to get it done seems almost by accident more than design, and that just doesn't sit well with me.

I do try and give these movies the benefit of the doubt.  They aren't the real world, it's entertainment...  But sometimes it seems like the people in charge just can't conceive that people would want to have a few kids, and that their kids aren't evil.

Your mileage, of course, may vary.

:)

Going in, you know there will be some sort of romantic entanglement between Kate and Abelhammer, but thankfully they decide not to wreck the family and Kate remains strong!   It could easily be a Lifetime movie, except for the star-studded cast.

The cast of course does a great job, they are all old pros who know how to make the movie work.  That includes bit players like Seth Meyers and Kelsey Grammar who make the most out of their minimal screen time.

Like I said, it's breezy and fun enough, and aside from the issues I had, there are worse chick flicks to endure...though I'm not sure this fully qualifies as a chick flick.

Final Grade: B-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I could watch it again, but I won't be rushing out to purchase it.