Making a top 10 movie list was very hard this year. 1997 offered a great variety of strong, well made movies. Hollywood, after being nearly left out of the Oscars last year, rebounded with several entertaining, high-quality films.
Not to say the independents were absent. The art houses showed us male scum, male chauvinists and male geniuses while the big studios churned out an offbeat obsessive compulsive comedy and a certain ill-fated ship epic.
Overall, there were too many great movies to fit into 10 meager slots. Sadly, I couldn't fit in such films as "The Full Monty," "Chasing Amy," "Gattaca" and "Waiting for Guffman," but keep them in mind as honorary runners up.
1. 'The Ice Storm'
An excellent and moving drama about a suburban family in the early 1970s trying to deal with the social, personal and even physical changes in their lives.
Director Ang Lee is remarkably effective in creating a tableau of characters who all seem to be spiraling out of control despite their efforts to maintain an equilibrium. Lee uses the powerful metaphor of the ice storm throughout the film and adopts a somewhat remote style which underscores the isolation of all the characters.
The film builds up to an absolutely unforgettable crescendo that is hopeful, sad and ultimately haunting.
2. 'The Sweet Hereafter'
Atom Egoyan's complex masterpiece skillfully pieces together a multi-layered puzzle in the year's second best film.
The inherent drama of a small town robbed of its children due to a bus accident probably could have been enough to make a rich and powerful narrative, but the film is not satisfied with something that simple. The tragedy of the town is paralleled by, among many other things, the personal losses of Mitchell Stephens (Ian Holm) and a retelling of "The Pied Piper."
In addition, the film effortlessly navigates non-sequentially between five different time periods, ultimately making the film a display of great storytelling and craftsmanship.
3. 'Donnie Brasco'
Released all the way back in the early months of 1997, this film is liable to be forgotten in the end of the year list-making.
Still, this powerful film boasts the best acting performance of the year by Al Pacino and a great, emotional story which raises intriguing questions about loyalty, friendship, and morality.
4. 'Deconstructing Harry'
Woody Allen is in top form with this rough comedy. The writing is witty, if not excessively vulgar, and the jokes are viciously good.
Like "The Sweet Hereafter," Allen uses a unique narrative form that jumps between past, present, fiction and reality. But behind the jokes is a very dark and probing story that stays long after the laughter dies out.
5. 'As Good As It Gets'
This great character study from James L. Brooks not only has superb performances from Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt and Greg Kinnear, but it has wit, poignancy and depth.
By focusing on such details as a disdainful passerby in one scene or a tiled floor in another, Brooks is able to create a realistic and identifiable world. The film has a light tone, but raises serious issues about what is really important in life.
6. 'Good Will Hunting'
Directed by Gus Van Sant, this film is not only moving, warm, smart and complex, but also surprisingly funny -- very funny.
Written by two of the stars, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, "Good Will Hunting" has probably the best original screenplay of the year.
The dialogue is fresh and realistic and allows for some memorable performances by Robin Williams and Minnie Driver.
Damon also is particularly good as the angry genius struggling with his potential and his demons.
7. 'Face/Off'
An action movie in the top ten? Definitely. This film was able to transcend its genre and unbelievable premise and become a poignant, tense and textured tale about identity and morality.
John Travolta and Nicholas Cage, under John Woo's artful direction, do a great job with two very difficult and complex roles.
Ultimately the film reminds us that what is one man's depravity is another's humanity, and vice versa. Good and evil square off and in the end become each other.
8. 'L.A. Confidential'
A slick, sharp and masterful film noir. The narrative is complex, but the movie unfolds interestingly and always stays a few steps ahead of the audience.
The direction by Curtis Hanson is smooth, brisk and even colorful. The film also includes probably one of the best shoot-outs ever where every gunshot is like a jolt of adrenaline.
This is a movie that deserves multiple viewings in order to appreciate all the fine details, if not the dense plot.
9. 'Boogie Nights' and 'In the Company of Men'
These films were two of the most talked about independent breakthroughs of the year.
"Boogie Nights" told a humorous and slightly sad story about the porn industry of the late seventies. With great, if not gaudy, production design and lively performances, the film is able to peel away the cheerful veneers of the characters and expose the deep, ugly problems that have pushed them to the world of porn.
"In the Company of Men" is a scalding portrayal of white collar viciousness. The biting words of the antiheroes sting, but are written with such a sense of knowing that the film achieves brilliance in its boldness.
Playing a deaf woman, Stacy Edwards gives a performance worthy of serious Academy Award recognition.
10. 'Titanic'
Although the first two hours of this great spectacle are fairly standard, the last hour is truly exciting.
Director James Cameron offers great visuals on the grand scale -- the ship cracking in two, people bouncing off propellers and the final sinking while on the small scale he offers a mother singing her children to sleep as the water rises around them, frozen bodies bobbing in the ocean and a father and son being crushed by a wall of water.
This could have been a truly wonderful film had the characters and plot been given as much attention as the set, but as it is, "Titanic" is still a good film filled with enough spectacle to make it worthy of number 10.
