Hi, Mom!

A very young De Niro incorporates his fresh muscles into acting. And he succeeds in an excellent scene, making the cop on his own, fighting the walls and some garbage cans, striking them very convincingly with the cop stick, anticipating somehow the famous "Taxi Driver" scene. A very good Allen Garfield and a very good Lara Parker. Some good music in the soundtrack too.

I liked this movie a lot. Part of what is so good about it is its unique story and style. It seems like so many movies tell the same old boring story over and over again. The ones that end up feeling original usually do so by telling the same old story in a new way. Hi, Mom! succeeds doubly, however, by telling an original story in an original way.

Additionally, a very young Robert De Niro plays the lead role very well, as always. This is a different sort of role than what we're used to seeing him in, but it's nice to see that even so early on in his career he was just as talented as he is today. His character is hilarious, often defies logic and leaves the viewers baffled about his intentions and decisions and wondering if he is a crazy person. The character is fun to watch but would be totally unbelievable in the hands of another actor. De Niro pulls it off!

Director Brian De Palma's inexperience is evident at this point early on in his career, but that's not a bad thing. I think most would agree that it was his later films that turned out to be the real stinkers, and his naiveté is put to good use here as it adds to the film's overall style and originality. The style changes to a documentary feel and then back again. Scenes are comically sped up and colorful intertitles are used sporadically. They at first feel out of place this far away from silent films, but then feel as if they could never have been more right. Just like a child learning to walk, De Palma is unsure what he can and can't do, and he doesn't care! He tries it all, and since he's not afraid to fail he only succeeds that much more. Unconfined by convention, he goes off instinct. The world is his oyster and he makes the most of it with what I consider one of his best films.

My favorite part of the film was the very last shot. I won't spoil it by giving it away, but it is totally unpredictable and unexpected, just like the rest of the film. I got the idea that the filmmakers could very easily have been making things up as they went along and not always following the script, making use of what they had available on their limited budget, which in this case worked out well. And the film's final shot is set up so well, from the camera angle to the colors to the overall setup. Then De Niro's perfect delivery to the perfect line makes it perhaps the greatest ending of any movie I've seen.

But the film is not perfect. Even despite its relatively short running time, it still feels slow at certain moments. It's a fun experience, but not everyone will enjoy it. Some may be frustrated by what could be perceived as nonsensical scenes and a disjointed, unrealistic plot. Some may not understand the film, but my advice to them would be to quit trying so hard. Just sit back and enjoy this fun, wacky movie and take from it whatever you will. It doesn't always make perfect sense or wrap up into a neat little bundle, but no one said it has to.

I rated this movie in the middle only because I feel there were two distinct parts to the movie with an indecisive end. The first part, with Robert De Niro prominent is very funny, at time uproariously so. (The opening with Charles Durning is priceless.) The part with the theater of "Be Black Baby" was pretty strong stuff, even today. It was real and scary and had no relationship to the first part. This part was really tense and made me shudder several times.

The problem I had was what did the De Niro part have to do with the "Be Black Baby" part. Maybe I am old-fashioned and wanted something more linear or, really, coherent. Perhaps the appeal of this movie is the lack of obedience to strictures. I do applaud that kind of freedom, but only when it works. I laughed and cringed during what felt like a double feature. Both parts work very well. But together they make an uneasy mix.

Robert De Niro plays a would-be filmmaker in New York City who is given $2000 by a porno producer to make Peep Art--filming the sexual exploits of his neighbors directly out his apartment window--but action is slow, so he gets to know the woman living across from him by pretending they had a date. Another of De Niro's neighbors, a white stage producer, promotes his show, "Be Black Baby", by stirring up the public with on-the-street commentary on what it's like to be black in America. Audacious early effort from writer-director Brian De Palma, a quasi-follow-up to his "Greetings" from 1968, has some very funny revue-style sequences with tricky staging, although the second-act (with white actors in black-face and black actors in white-face) is too hostile and ugly and shuts down the comedy. The two halves of the picture never really jell, anyway, and one begins to miss the easy, naturally comic dialogue from the opening. ** from ****

They made some weird stuff together. Brian De Palma always has been a director with an unique and unusual style, that always had been quite experimental and I love him for that but that doesn't mean that I think that all of his movies are very good.

"Hi, Mom!" is far from a great movie because it feels like such a big mess. The story is being all over the place and it makes lots of sudden jumps and which the story just completely takes another turn and becomes one about something totally different. Like basically all of De Palma's earliest movies, this one feels more like an art-house one.

The movie got shot as if they improvised a lot of stuff just on the spot. Also the actors seemed to have improvised quite a lot while playing, which is something that I do like about this movie. The movie does not feels stylized or planned out but more feels rebellious and simplistic, which adds to the whole satire element of the movie.

As a satire this movie does has some messages in it and it also at times does this in a good way. The movie does really become an effective one in certain parts but this doesn't of course prevent the movie from being a very disjointed one.

Not an horrible movie but still far too messy and odd for me to really like it or consider this a watchable one for just everyone.

6/10

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