Twitter buddies were, last week, angsting a bit about how the cultural touchstones we had growing up are gradually disappearing and losing their relevance. Ghostbusters and Back To The Future lasted much, much longer in terms of cultural relevance than most movies do, partially because of the rise of cosplay and conventions, partially because each of the two franchises stayed fresh and new for longer than average (Ghostbusters from the first film’s debut 1984 to 1991 when The Real Ghostbusters ended its run, Back to the Future from 1985 to 1993 (again, from first film to end of animated spinoff series). And partially it’s because both of these movies were in the right place at the right time with respect to cable stations adopting the “let’s buy a given number of movies and air them endlessly” strategy that lasted for most of the Nineties and Aughts; you could catch Ghostbusters and Back to the Future and a select number of other films practically once a week on the likes of TBS or AMC or whatever other movie channels were available to you on basic cable, and even non-movie channels ended up having movie nights because it was and is a cheap way to fill up airtime.
But now with the rise of digital delivery, that era is basically coming to its end. People are losing the habit of watching movies on TV or indeed on any schedule other than their own. Which: this is great in many ways, of course, because you get freedom and a la carte selection and all that sort of thing, and you watch movies on your own time and etc etc etc. But the cost of that is that cultural touchstones have their power diminished and their period of relevance shortened. Which means that we are witnessing the rise of the first generation of people since Back to the Future‘s inception that don’t understand references made to it; it is passing out, finally, of the cultural jargon. As most things do, of course. Ghostbuster as well. Hell, Willow is practically an antique. The Princess Bride is the one that seems to be sticking and I think that’s largely to do with it having had wide distribution on kid-focused cable networks over the last decade, but who knows how long that lasts?
All of which is to say: those kids today, and in fact people in their twenties even, are much less connected to the movies I loved growing up when I was younger. On the one hand this is sad, because those movies are awesome. On the other hand, it means that this particular series of columns has way more breadth, because movies I have never considered to be particularly obscure are now, in fact, becoming obscure! Hooray! Or not.
The Freshman was never really a cultural touchstone in the first place, and as time goes on it becomes less and less well-known. This is not because it is a bad movie: it isn’t. It’s a very good one. But it is a movie that relies greatly on a previous cultural touchstone itself, namely The Godfather and Marlon Brando’s performance in it, and while some might argue that The Godfather is timeless – no, it isn’t, because nothing is timeless, and most people today are more familiar with second- and third-degree references to The Godfather than the film itself. So increasingly I see people even my own age are completely unfamiliar with The Freshman, and that is a shame.
The basic plot is simple. Matthew Broderick is Clark, your titular freshman going to NYU, who arrives in New York and is immediately ripped off by Victor Ray (the late, great Bruno Kirby). Penniless and stuck, and with his horrible stepfather unwilling to help him out, Clark manages to track Victor down and Vic promises to make it up to him, despite having sold his stuff, by “getting him a job.” The job is working for Carmine Sabatini (AKA “Jimmy the Toucan”), who of course looks amazingly like Vito Corleone, although everyone explains to Clark not to mention this because Carmine is very sensitive about it. Carmine takes a liking to Clark, and offers to pay him to do some work for him…
…and then Clark has to pick up and deliver a Komodo dragon to an odd, out-of-the-way farm run by a crazed German (Maximillan Schnell).
…and then he’s introduced to Carmine’s beautiful daughter Tina (Penelope Ann Miller, having a ball with her character).
…and then he finds out Carmine has already told Tina that she and Clark are to be married, about which she is greatly enthusiastic.
…and then federal agents show up and tell Clark that the whole Komodo dragon delivery was the tip of a much larger thing.
…and this is about when he starts freaking out.
Those are your plot beats, but the sign that The Freshman is interested in being more than a simple caper comedy lies in the details. Indeed, many people upon hearing the plot are expecting a zany romp, but the movie isn’t really that interested in being zany the excellent bit with the Komodo dragon notwithstanding). It’s much more contemplative than that; still a comedy, to be certain, but a gentle one. Admittedly, it is gentle like the way Carmine is gently re-arranging Clark’s life without talking to him about it first. It doesn’t meander; everything is done with purpose and in its own time.
The Carmine/Clark relationship is the heart of this movie and what gives it dramatic heft. Carmine may be a mob boss or may not be (they hedge about this quite a bit), and he definitely has an iron will, but Carmine is clearly generous and loving as well. Late in the film, he goes to visit Clark and the two talk about children’s books, and Clark’s late father, and Carmine asks Clark to tell him one of his father’s poems, and it’s a wonderful, intimate little scene about a father with no son and a son who lost his father, both of whom clearly respect and like the other greatly, but who are also divided, at the moment, by little things like “being a mob boss” and “federal agents breathing down Clark’s neck” and even though these things are never mentioned they are addressed.
A lesser film would have simply indulged in Godfather references until the audience was mumbling “leave the guns take the cannoli” in their sleep, but this movie doesn’t go that route. Marlon Brando’s callback to Vito Corleone is only skin-deep; Carmine is a different character, a different person, and in this, Brando’s last great role, he manages to convey that difference while using all of Vito’s visual and audible tics. That Carmine looks like Vito is only the movie’s best running gag, and not its interior life. And this means you don’t have to see The Godfather first to appreciate The Freshman, because this movie isn’t about another movie. Honestly, so long as you know Vito Corleone exists, you will know enough to enjoy this flick.
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19 users responded in this post
Typo: Should be: Maximilian Schell — there’s no “n” in is last name …
Other than that, a nice homage to a wonderful film that I hadn’t really thought of in a while. You’re totally on-target about the cultural memory being diminished somewhat by the changes in how we receive our media these days. Although the upside is that the advent of things like internet streaming also means you can more conveniently find movies and shows that were previously relatively difficult to find, so maybe that takes the curse off a bit =)
Yeah, I haven’t seen the Freshman in forever, but it was definitely a great movie. Now I must find it to watch again! 🙂
Yyyyyyeeeeeah not really
Every now and then I remember this film, which I watched once back in the 90s, and think “That was a pretty good film – I should track it down and watch it again.”
And you’ve reminded me once more that I really should (if nothing else, to figure out what the hell Brando was saying – seriously, I think I understood less than 10% of his dialogue).
Eventually all movies will fall off the cultural map. I’ve been listening to a lot of 40s radio shows lately and they are making pop culture references all over the place that I have no knowledge of, and this didn’t happen because the medium changed, it happened because a new generation of people grew up watching other movies.
There is a whole new batch of pop culture touchstones out there I am barely even aware of because I am TOO OLD. And they day will come when the kids grow up and are bemoaning that the new generation doesn’t ‘get’ Avatar or Pokemon or something, and they’ll blame on braincasting or internet3 or something, but the real reason is the world has passed them on, too.
The Freshman (1990) is fun. It flopped in the U.S. because Brando dissed it just after the filming wrapped up. He apologized to Broderick later, but it was too late by then.
It’s not at all connected to the 1990 version, but I recommend The Freshman (1925) starring Harold Lloyd. It was later homaged by Adam Sandler in The Waterboy.
So they stayed relevant longer due to their staying relevant longer.
Got it.
Thanks for the catch, have edited to fix. — MGK
I could hardly process how good this article is or remember how much I love the Freshmen because I’m so bummed to find out Bruno Kirby is dead. I love(d!) that guy.
“My father thinks Clark is an A student.”
“He’s a fine young man.”
“A student, my father said A student.”
“Absolutely, A, A+!”
Re: “Back to the Future”: One of my happiest theater moments was before a screening of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1.” The teenager behind the snack counter asked what I was seeing, and I told him, and he said, “You know it ends on a cliffhanger, right?”
I replied, “I survived ‘Back to the Future II;’ I think I can survive this.”
And he was *delighted* to meet someone who had vivid memories of seeing the “Back to the Future” movies in a theater. He started asking me how much people talked about it at the time, what the wait was like, everything. And for just a minute I felt less like a cranky middle-aged man and like someone who was alive for something special.
I could’ve sworn you’ve already talked about this movie…
“Although the upside is that the advent of things like internet streaming also means you can more conveniently find movies and shows that were previously relatively difficult to find”
“Yyyyyyeeeeeah not really”
Look at it this way: If you’ve never seen “The Freshman” before, what’s easier: Ordering the DVD online and waiting two days for delivery, or hitting-up Netflix / Amazon / iTunes / whatever and watching it pretty much instantly?
And that’s not even going back to pre-internet days when it all depended on what Blockbuster had in stock. Or before even VHS, when you really had to rely on the networks re-broadcasting or a movie house re-screening older stuff — otherwise you were pretty much out of luck.
So, yes, *relatively* speaking, having access almost instantly to older films / TV shows *is* an upside to the problem you’re talking about. If some buddies of mine are referencing a film I’ve never heard of before, there’s at least the possibility I can be caught-up in a few hours — and that little bit of cultural memory lives on to fight another day 😉
Hey, this is an excellent choice for your list. I especially like the way the film toys with audience expectations without ever been obnoxious about it, something I’m not sure would be fashionable today.
I’d also like to give a shout out to Kenneth Welsh in a minor supporting role as Clark’s weirdo stepfather who gets embroiled in the plot. As a big Twin Peaks fan I was delighted to see him.
Whatever happened to Penelope Ann Miller’s career? She was poised to be a major leading actress, then fizzled out. IMDB says she’s been working steadily, but not in the kind of roles she use to get.
I think I’ve heard somewhere along the line that she’s difficult to work with. Not as difficult as Kathryn Heigl, mind you, but difficult.
I saw The Freshman when I was a kid, and LOVED it, and yeah, I’d never seen The Godfather, but I did know that Brando played said Godfather. I should probably watch it again now that I’ve watched the trilogy. And, because it’s a good movie.
For any other UK readers, this is airing on MovieMix (Freeview 32) at 6.50pm on Thursday
One of the main things that I remember about The Freshman is how graceful Brando was; there’s a scene, I can’t remember if he’s dancing or ice skating or what, but it’s just astonishing.
@Matt : go try to find the John Stamos epic “Never Too Young to Die” then get back to me on ease. (and I mean legally…illegaly, just go to YouTube)