Ebert Presents: At The Movies

Ebert Presents: At the Movies 
PBS-Check local listings or go to ebertpresents.com

Vishnevetsky, Ebert and Lemire

There is no denying that the greatest influence on me personally as an amateur film critic was the TV show hosted by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, that ran under various names, for almost 25 years.  Their famous "Thumbs Up" or "Thumbs Down" designations that they gave to movies they either recommended or rejected became a part of the pop cultural landscape of the eighties and nineties.  After Siskel's death in 1999 Ebert continued with guest critics until Richard Roeper, columnist for the Chicago Sun Times, was chosen as the permanent co-host in 2000.  In 2006 Ebert's long struggle with cancer resulted in a surgical procedure that robbed him of  his ability to speak, even as it saved his life.  The show continued for another four years with numerous critics sitting in the balcony chairs made famous by the show's founders.  As competent, and in some cases truly excellent, as those substitute critics were (I have to be honest here and say that I was never a big fan of Richard Roeper), the magic of the original show was simply missing.  In 2010 the program that made film criticism popular and accessible to millions of people was finally laid to rest, something that should have been done years earlier.

This past January the show was revived where the original began, on PBS, as Ebert Presents: At The Movies, with Christy Lemire of The Associated Press and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of Mubi.com taking the places of honor in the balcony.  There is the same basic format, with one critic giving the main review and the other responding, then finally deciding thumbs up or down.   There are also contributors who offer short video essays on current trends and cinema history, and even Roger Ebert makes an "appearance" from his office to review a film each week, with Bill Curtis narrating his words over clips of the movies being critiqued.

As with the original show's post-Siskel incarnation there is no arguing that the replacements are doing a competent job. Still, there is also a magic missing, a mysterious chemistry that left the show when Siskel died and can never be reproduced.  That's because Siskel and Ebert had a very complex relationship with one another. These were highly intelligent, accomplished men who knew their own minds, and whose competitive spirits were not going to concede a single point to the other.  Gene Siskel graduated with a philosophy degree from Yale and Roger Ebert was a Pulizer Prize winning journalist, both writing for rival Chicago newspapers when they were matched in 1975 for what started as a local monthly program.  They  really didn't want to be pared with each other at first.  Each thought that he was the smartest critic in the balcony and didn't need the other.  After a while they realized that it was the hotly contested give and take that caused the show to work.  While Ebert speaks fondly of his late partner, there were times when the tension between the two men on camera was clear as crystal.   The arguments could get so fierce you really had to wonder if these two guys liked each other at all.  There was one famous episode, featuring segments on Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, where you almost thought they'd have at it right there in the studio at the end of the show.

In the 2011 reboot new hosts Lemire and Vishnevetsky are young, camera friendly, and truly competent at their work.  They both show an impressive knowledge of film history, especially Vishnevetsky, as well as having their fingers on the pulse of the contemporary scene.  But the reviews themselves are rather bland, and so far I've seen no real tension between the two when they disagree.  I'm not suggesting that they try to imitate the past, or stage some mock Jerry Springer smack down for the benefit of the audience, but a little passion would be nice.  Siskel and Ebert were driven by their own personal competition, but also by their love of film and the belief that this liveliest of  the  lively arts is an important cultural and social expression worth fighting over.  I have to believe that  Lemire and Vishnevetsky have this same passion or they wouldn't be spending their lives as movie critics.  I would just like to see that translated onto the screen more effectively.

As for the special features, they offer nothing that couldn't be seen in a more polished form on a program like CBS' Sunday Morning.  These pieces, done by contributors drawn from various professional backgrounds as well as the blogosphere, are supposed to cover current trends in film making and highlight the medium's social and cultural impact.  But there is something decidedly old school about them.  The analysis is not all that enlightening and the presenters seem stiff, maybe because they're mostly new to television.  But even Jeff Greenfield, an old pro at TV, seems a bit stilted at times.

All in all I give a mixed review to Ebert Presents.  It's not a bad show, just not a necessary one. I can't blame Roger Ebert and his partners for wanting to keep the franchise going, and I'm truly inspired by his pressing forward with his career in spite of a horrible illness.  But this show has been done before and done better.  It's not Lemire and Vishnevetsky's fault that they're not Siskel and Ebert;  in a way they're stuck trying to do someone else's act.  And the chemistry of the original can't be conjured up out of thin air.  The new hosts are willing participants who sought their jobs rather than two rivals forced to play nice with one another.  And if they tried to fake it, then you really would have a bad show instead of what you have now, which is something decent, but decidedly ordinary.  If they ever hope to get the show to work they might need to get out of the balcony, ditch the thumbs and find  their own style.  And yeah, a little of the old passion wouldn't hurt either