The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)

Romantic comedy-drama written and directed by Steve Kloves.

Two pianist brothers (real-life brothers Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges) hire a female singer named Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer) to pep up their act. This decision revives their fortunes but introduces complications when romantic feelings develop between Susie and one of the brothers.

It’s a well-written film with plenty of humour and intelligence.

The War of the Roses (1989)

Black comedy directed by Danny DeVito, who also plays a lawyer narrating the plot. The story deals with a couple, Oliver and Barbara Rose, who plan to divorce but cannot agree on who will keep their large house. Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner are reunited from Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile, both of which also featured DeVito, although this is a very different kind of film. As the couple’s rivalry intensifies, they end up effectively trying to kill each other.

The comedy isn’t really funny enough, with some of the slapstick seeming very extreme. It badly needs more laughs. Instead, it’s certainly interesting and memorable but it’s tonally quite peculiar.

Heathers (1989)

The blackest of black comedies, directed by Michael Lehmann, this is an unusual film.

Winona Ryder stars as one of four girls named Heather in a high school clique. Christian Slater (who exudes the easy, relaxed charisma of a young Jack Nicholson) is new student Jason “J.D.” Dean, who begins murdering anyone who wrongs him. 

It’s tonally strange – a little like a much nastier Clueless – but there’s plenty of wit and intelligence among the morbid and tasteless elements.

Say Anything... (1989)

The first film directed by Cameron Crowe is a highly enjoyable and satisfying romantic comedy starring a very young John Cusack.  

Following high school graduation, Lloyd pursues Diane (Ione Skye), who is cleverer and more “successful” than him. She lives with her pushy father (John Mahoney, of Frasier fame), who has strong ideas about her future. 

As a 1980s teen saga, it’s in the general vein of the films by John Hughes. But there’s far more nuance and sophistication here, with Crowe developing the father character and his complex relationship with his daughter. (In Hughes’ films, adults are merely a one-dimensional “enemy”.)

Cusack and Skye both have a lot of charm and the scenes with the two of them working out their feelings for one another are sweet and endearing. Mahoney comes across weirdly, but we later learn why that is.

Black Rain (1989)

Directed by Ridley Scott, this has something of that director's classic Blade Runner about it – in terms of the visuals, at least. But whereas that was a hugely imaginative sci-fi crime masterpiece, this is merely a reasonably OK thriller.

Michael Douglas plays a New York cop assigned to escort a Japanese assassin back to Japan. When that ruthless killer outwits him, he’s plunged into the criminal underworld.

Andy Garcia has a certain charm as his colleague, and he should have been featured more prominently. Douglas himself looks unwell and it’s unclear whether he’s just being “method” about the character or whether the actor himself is going through a difficult patch. The charisma is unchanged, however – Douglas always has a certain presence, whatever the film. 

The film is arguably quite racist, peddling quite a few clichés about Japanese culture.

Casualties of War (1989)

Directed by Brian De Palma, this tells the story of an American soldier in the Vietnam War (Michael J. Fox) who reports the other members of his squad for kidnapping, raping and murdering a Vietnamese woman. It’s loosely based on the 1966 “incident on Hill 192”, although names have been changed. 

Fox turns out to be fairly convincing as the squeaky-clean Lutheran who resists his sergeant (a believably on-the-edge Sean Penn). He just looks a little too fresh and healthy, even when he’s sent to hospital, and his hair never seems to get ruffled. In contrast, the war scenes are scary and realistic. 

The music is by Ennio Morricone and – despite its appeal – seems a little too prominent for certain scenes.

Shirley Valentine (1989)

Funny and poignant drama written by Willy Russell.

Pauline Collins is stunningly good in the title role as a 42-year-old woman who leaves her dreary Liverpool life to "find herself" in Greece. Tom Conti plays Costas, the Greek man who actually listens to her in a way her husband hasn’t done for years. But beyond a holiday romance she realises she’s rediscovered who she is. 

It’s adapted from the stage play, in which Collins also starred, and you can see how well it would have worked before an audience – especially as she constantly breaks the fourth wall. In places it’s simply a monologue in which she talks about her life. 

What makes the feel so affecting is how real she seems as a character and how universal her predicament is. It’s handled with great sensitivity and wit.

There are also roles for Joanna Lumley, Alison Steadman and Julia McKenzie.

Although the scenes of England in the 1980s look horribly dated, the writing is so sharp that this remains a timeless gem.

Parenthood (1989)

Brilliant mixture of comedy and drama on the subject of family relationships, directed by the always-reliable Ron Howard. 

Steve Martin and Mary Steenburgen are superb as a couple with three children, one of whom is suffering emotional problems. Meanwhile Dianne Wiest is a single mother struggling with two teenage children and her daughter’s relationship with the hopeless Keanu Reeves. Rick Moranis plays a father trying to raise his young daughter as a genius. Jason Robards (who plays Steve Martin’s dad) has to face up to the fact that his other son is addicted to gambling. 

A superbly written script dovetails these characters’ fates and elegantly weaves together multiple narrative threads without letting them get too tangled. 

Some of the scenes are genuinely moving, and there’s no doubting the truth of their insights into human experience, but crucially Parenthood is very funny as well.

Sea of Love (1989)

Brilliant, noirish thriller. Al Pacino is a New York cop investigating a series of murders. But unfortunately he’s falling in love with the main suspect. 

Pacino is effortlessly and endlessly charming in the main role. Ellen Barkin plays his girlfriend and handles the nuances well. Is she or isn’t she the killer? Even John Goodman, usually guaranteed to ruin a film, judges it about right as Detective Sherman Touhey.

A couple of plot holes keep it from being perfect. There’s something not quite tied up about the “Sea of Love” single that the killer plays – and Ellen Barkin’s relationship with the song. Also, the attempt on Pacino’s life comes too late in relation to the killer’s attacks on previous victims. Why does the killer wait so long to strike?

Those points aside, it’s hugely enjoyable.

Ghostbusters II (1989)

A sequel that doesn’t disappoint. Following the events shown in the first film, the Ghostbusters have been sued for property damage, put out of business and forced to work as party entertainers for uninterested children. But then their old friend Dana Barrett sees her baby’s pram being wheeled into traffic by mysterious forces, and at the art gallery where she works a painting comes alive with the spirit of a 16th-century tyrant named Vigo the Carpathian. Meanwhile, a river of pink goo now runs beneath the city. After five years in obscurity, the gang reunite to face this new menace.

It’s slightly less packed with laughs than the 1984 film, but only slightly. The main cast are all superb and the writing by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis is excellent. The snivelling head of the art gallery (Peter MacNicol as Janosz Poha) is too annoying to be pleasurable to watch, but when Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Sigourney Weaver are on screen together everything clicks and comes to life. Rick Moranis and Annie Potts reprise their roles as accountant Louis Tully and secretary Janine Melnitz respectively, but this time they become an item.

There’s a nice theme about the soul of New York City, which has become corrupted but which recovers enough to defeat evil. As with the original film, it’s a feel-good story that’s also intelligent and funny.

Back to the Future Part II (1989)

This sequel is sillier than the first film and not as enjoyable, for various reasons:
• There are fewer laughs.
• Without the romance, some of the warmth is missing.
• The plot is more complicated, with events building up in parallel in different chronologies and talk of time paradoxes. It would make little sense if you hadn’t seen the 1985 original.
• Thomas F. Wilson as Biff Tannen isn’t really charismatic enough to be fleshed-out from local bully to major villain.
• The “darker” moments feel misjudged, such as when we see Marty’s mother Lorraine (Lea Thompson) reduced to a hopeless, broken alcoholic.
• The make-up used to age characters looks horrible.
• The future they visit (2015) is sketchy at best and we learn little beyond the facts that Jaws 19 is now showing in cinemas and that cars and skateboards can fly.
• Musically, there’s nothing in the soundtrack as punchy as “The Power of Love”.

All that said, there are many good things about Part II. Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd reprise their roles effectively and the film is at its best when the pair are in scenes together and able to play off each other. There are some nice jokes based on our knowledge of the previous film. And once again, there are some extremely clever twists.

Weirdly, Marty’s girlfriend is replaced by a different actor: Elisabeth Shue plays Jennifer instead of Claudia Wells. Weirder still, Crispin Glover is barely present as George McFly owing to a dispute over what he was paid. Given that this film recreates entire scenes from the first film – many of the key events are seen again, from different angles – building in his absence must have been even more challenging. For example, you see the Enchantment Under the Sea Ball from a different perspective, painstakingly re-enacted amid the new scenes, with George played by a not-quite-in-focus stand-in.

It ends with previews of Part III, which looks as if it will be even more ridiculous. Looking forward to seeing that.

When Harry Met Sally... (1989)

This romantic comedy directed by Rob Reiner isn’t up to his usual standards. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan play the mutually attracted New Yorkers intent on staying just friends. There are some funny moments, but others fall flat. Billy Crystal emerges as difficult to like. I know that’s meant to be part of the character, but the problem is that I kept disliking him even after we were supposed to believe he had finally stopped being shallow and grown up.

Meg Ryan is as charming as ever and makes acting seem very natural. In particular, her crying scene – in which he hands her tissues and she tosses them over her shoulder – is brilliantly done. Carrie Fisher plays their friend (comically named Marie Fisher) and is also excellent. But overall, something was missing – chemistry, perhaps. Or maybe it’s just not believable enough.

Nora Ephron would go on to write funnier Meg Ryan films – Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and You’ve Got Mail (1998).

Steel Magnolias (1989)

Moving comedy-drama adapted from Robert Harling’s play. Indeed, it works very much as a theatrical piece with long, set scenes and acts. The story concerns six women in a small Louisiana town and examines how their lives interact. At the heart of it is a mother–daughter relationship. There are laughs and tears aplenty. Dolly Parton is a natural as the local beautician. Daryl Hannah proves she really can act as the timid newcomer who gets religion. Julia Roberts is the just-married daughter battling severe diabetes and Sally Field is her endlessly worried mother. Shirley MacLaine and Olympia Dukakis are also just right for their parts as older members of the community. The male characters (including Sam Shepard as Dolly Parton’s distant husband) are deliberately played down, allowing the film to keep its focus on the six women. Things are slow to get going and I didn’t think I was enjoying it, but matters improve when the narrative kicks in and ultimately works round to an emotional and satisfying conclusion.