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Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

I think the strength of this movie was Harry's (Tim Robbins) attempt to come to grips with his father's death through non-violence. It was so interesting to see how Martin Luther King Jr. inspired him, and his journey to make meaning of his life in the turbulent 1960's era by helping others. The ending dramatizes the limitations of non-violence, that very small percentage of people who are so clinically insane they will throw their own mother out of a window. Yet, we all know that non-violence was very helpful for the civil rights movement, so I think what this movie is really exploring is not whether non-violence is valuable, but how much complexity it makes for someone who is able to experience their full humanity and feel compassion for others. It is, in a way, so much easier to be Linda's (Jodie Foster) boyfriend Jamie (Todd Graff), who sees things in black and white - "He isn't a rival - he's a phenomenon, hahaha!!" For Harry it isn't so easy. Harry knows he can kill Heinz (John Tuturro) but he doesn't want to. He can't feel any righteous vengeance when Heinz dies. He just feels sadness for the fragility of human life.Also, in the reviews here I see a lot of comments about the seemingly unrelated subplot with the two glue-huffing girls. I'm not 100% sure, but it seems to me in the end their presence becomes clear - the two boys they spend the night with are the Indians. We see two of them in the shadows after the last arrow is shot - one taller and maybe blond, one shorter and dark. Especially considering the short brown-haired guy said, "I have the day off because my teacher died", it suggests he was the one who shot the arrow because the teacher failed him. Apparently they were also around the neighborhood that night, and shot the arrow to kill Heinz.I will agree with other reviewers though - the fact that Linda goes to see Heinz by herself in the middle of the night is pretty stupid. I found this movie on Netflix under the the heading 'comedies featuring a strong female lead," but I don't think it was very much of a comedy, and I certainly wouldn't describe Linda as a strong female.That said, I'm really glad I saw this movie. Definitely a worthwhile 2 hours spent on a sick day.

Five Corners" concerns several people living in a Bronx neighborhood in 1964 .There are two independent plots ,one involving two girls who look like if they were part of girls group of the era ,the Ronettes,the Crystals or most likely the Shangri Las .The merit of this period piece is to be able to create an atmosphere without using the oldies but goldies of the time (the girls group's classics for instance).The only songs we hear are the Beatles ' "in my life" which 1) is British 2)was released late 1965 and is a bit irrelevant as the movie is not treated as a flashback and a brief excerpt of Dylan's "the times they are a changing" ,which makes sense since the hero (Tim Robbins)wants to help his black brothers (it was the Civil Rights time ,and Luther King was the Man of hope)who,on the other hand, are not that much excited by his "help" .A psychotic (John Turturro) ,released from jail ,scares a young girl (Jodie Foster) he tried to rape before.Both Robbins' and Turturro's are present:the former is a widow -her husband was a policeman killed in a riot- who does not want her son to commit himself (to fighting for causes she does not believe in anyway:for her,black people are still n......) ,the latter is an extravagant woman ,who seems to live in another world,who seems interested only in her ludicrous hairdo .In 1964,before Flower Power ,bed-ins and peace and love hippies ,the question which must be asked after watching "Five Corners" would be :is non-violence the solution?The movie would tend to prove that it isn't.

...were the couple in the convertible--really don't see what the actual point of their subplot was, and the fact that the big dramatic ending scene relies on the premise that in 1964, cops had yet to figure out how to climb stairs--leaving them helplessly watching from the street wondering "How did they get up there?"Tim Robbins and Jodi Foster are worth a look--if for nothing more than historical interest, and I think they were going for almost a "Fargo"-like approach (yes, I know this predates Fargo) to some of the mayhem like the cop in the phone booth's fate and the mother of the psycho's final reward.

Set in 1964 Bronx, the film starts off great with the Beatles "In My Life" and just keeps getting better.A psycho Heinz (John Turturro) is released from prison and goes after the woman Linda (Jodie Foster) who put him there. Harry (Tim Robbins) and James (Todd Graff) try to protect her. Then there's the man that "sells" his girlfriend and her friend to two guys. And there's people being shot with arrows...This got some noteriety in it's 1988 release because its writer, John Patrick Shanley, had just won the Oscar for "Moonstruck". But this film disappeared without a trace after that. That's a shame because it's a fantastic movie.The script is sharp and believable with three-dimensional characters and ALL the performances are great. Direction by Tony Bill is perfect...he gets a real feel for the era and captures it on screen. It's also interesting to see Tim Robbins before he hit it big. Engrossing from beginning to end...a must see!There's so many great lines in this movie! But a particular standout is "Someone murdered our teacher, so we have the day off. Want to go for a ride?"