“The Princess Bride.” “This Is Spinal Faucet.” “Distress.” “Stand By Me.” “When Harry Met Sally.” “A Few Good Males.”
Director Rob Reiner leaves a dizzying legacy of flicks behind following his Dec. 14 loss of life. Early indications level to his grown son, Nick, as the one who allegedly killed each the director and his mom, Michele Reiner.
It’s a Hollywood tragedy of the primary order.
Followers will spend days, even weeks, revisiting Reiner’s movie canon, one which additionally contains stable entries like “The Bucket Listing,” “Ghosts of Mississippi,” “The American President” and “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life.”
One film will get little point out within the crush of studies recalling his life and legacy – “The Positive Factor.”
The 1985 charmer didn’t get a lot love on the field workplace that yr – a stable however unremarkable $18 million. It’s additionally pushed apart by Reiner’s different, iconic movies.
Films like “The Princess Bride” endure, encourage memes and seize the easiest of populist Hollywood. It’s powerful for any movie to measure up. “This Is Spinal Faucet” launched a wave of mockumentaries, from “Ready for Guffman” to “Borat.”
But “The Positive Factor” is each raunchy and candy, a singular rom-com with nice chemistry and a eager understanding of the gender divide.
Walter “Gib” Gibson (Cusack) is having a tough time with the women at his new school. So when his outdated highschool chum (Anthony “Discuss to me, Goose” Edwards) invitations him to go to his California campus, it comes with a tease.
There’s a “positive factor” ready for Gib, the type of woman who doesn’t take a lot to woo. ’nuff mentioned.
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Naturally, Gib falls in love en path to his dream woman. His street journey companion, Alison (Daphne Zuniga), is buttoned-up and cerebral. She’s additionally in a dedicated relationship with an older man (Boyd Gaines).
They’re a horrible match, at the very least on paper.
Humorous issues can occur while you’re crossing the nation, dropping your cash and warding off present tune-loving drivers.
“The Positive Factor” confirmed Reiner’s reward for comedy and skill to wring successful performances from younger stars. It’s the proverbial film they couldn’t make right this moment, though the story eschews the bawdy template set in movement by the plot (and title).
The unhappy half? In keeping with JustWatch.com, there’s no present option to stream “The Positive Factor.” Your finest guess is to select it up on Blu-ray or DVD.
It’s nicely well worth the funding.
Reiner’s place in Hollywood historical past is etched in stone, and “The Positive Factor” is one in every of many the explanation why.