Lake Placid (1999)

Directed by Steve Miner, this is an awkward horror-comedy that never really comes to life. 

A huge killer crocodile is on the loose in Maine. The local Fish and Game officer Jack Wells (Bill Pullman), paleontologist Kelly Scott (Bridget Fonda), sheriff (Brendon Gleeson) and an eccentric professor of mythology (Oliver Platt) try to track down the beast. 

The film can’t decide if it’s meant to be funny or scary and ends up neither. There are hints of Jaws and Crocodile Dundee in there, but with none of the ingredients that made those films so engaging.  

Fonda has a degree of charm, as always, but the script is weak and you long for wittier lines. Gleeson seems entirely miscast as the grumpy sheriff and you can only wonder exactly what the actor or character was meant to contribute to the film. There are a couple of laughs but with some tweaking it could have been so much better.

It Could Happen to You (1994)

Highly unusual and enjoyable romantic comedy drama. A New York cop called Charlie (Nic Cage) wins the lottery and – honouring a promise – donates half of the money to a waitress called Yvonne (Bridget Fonda) who he’d never met before. 

As with A Simple Plan, in which Fonda also featured, it explores what happens to poor people who suddenly have money. The twist this time is that Charlie and Yvonne are such kind people that – unlike their selfish spouses – they cannot be corrupted by their windfall. 

The big flaw is Rosie Perez gratingly hamming it up as Charlie’s wife Muriel. She’s almost unbearable to watch. The character is clearly meant to be annoying, but maybe they took it too far. Cage and Fonda, however, are both tremendous. There’s great chemistry between them, and their gentle romance is sweet and charming. 

All in all, it's refreshingly different.

A Simple Plan (1998)

Superb drama. 

Brothers Hank (Bill Paxton) and Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton), plus Jacob’s friend Lou (Brent Briscoe), find a crashed aircraft buried in snow in remote, rural Wright County, Minnesota. There’s $4 million inside it, which – after some debate – they decide to keep. That decision changes everything in their lives. 

This is a devastating story. It works as an edge-of-your-seat thriller, but really it’s a profound morality tale. 

Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton are excellent as the conflicted brothers with little in common. Bridget Fonda is great, too, as Hank’s wife who becomes increasingly pulled into the drama of their own making. The escalating situation is perfectly handled by director Sam Raimi. 

The novel, by Scott Smith, is even better.

Doc Hollywood (1991)

Uneven romantic comedy. 

Dr. Ben Stone (Michael J. Fox) is driving to Los Angeles for a job interview as a plastic surgeon when he takes the wrong road and crashes his fancy car in the small town of Grady, South Carolina. He’s forced to stay there for a few days, working a punishment of community service in the medical centre, and slowly comes round to the locals’ way of life.

It’s a good idea, but some of the characters fall flat (such as Woody Harrelson as a crazed insurance salesman) or completely fail to convince. Ben starts falling for Vialula (Julie Warner), the town’s ambulance driver, who improbably first greets him by stepping out of a lake naked. 

Another flaw is that the comedy isn’t as sharp as you’d hope. Michael J. Fox is excellent, as usual: a very sympathetic hero with some good lines and some amusing moments. He does the “running around” escapades extremely well. Also, I really liked Bridget Fonda as Nancy, the mayor’s daughter. If only she was in the film more.

The small-town atmosphere begins to come together in the later stages, although not nearly as well as it does in films such as Local Hero or Roxanne, and there are a few laughs and a couple of touching scenes. But that’s not enough to make it truly satisfying.