Congo is a movie that has mixed responses from those who watch it. I am one of the people who absolutely love this film! Tim Curry as Mr. Homolka is fabulous! He totally stepped into a completely different character with this film and even his speech pattern is different than what you would typically expect. The Romanian philanthropist is a simple role that he really made into so much more than it could have been with a different actor in the role. He shone so brightly in this cast and I can't help but come back to this movie over and over again to watch him in this role. The rest of the cast really pulls it together, too. I love Ernie Hudson's role in this film, too. He's smooth and charismatic as the guide through the Congo and has such a great presence in every scene that he's a part of. There are a lot of other well known actors in this film, but those two are my absolute favorites.
The general gist of the story is that a primatologist wants to take a silverback gorilla home to the jungle because she's been dreaming of it and painting it. She has been in captivity since she was very young and was taught sign language, so she is capable of communicating this desire to the scientists. Tim Curry's character is the one that wants to fund the journey because he believes that she knows the location of something he's been searching for his entire life: King Solomon's diamond mines. The problem is, he's starting to run out of money and can't afford the cost of the fuel to get the plane there. In comes Laura Linney's character, Dr. Karen Ross. She works for a telecommunication company who has a crew that has disappeared in a similar region to where the scientists are going. Her company is rich and she has to have some way to get into the country, so they pay the fuel bill and everyone heads out. Then, all chaos breaks loose. There's serious unrest in the African countries surrounding the Congo and a bomb goes off at the airport while they're there. They have to get out as fast as they can and continue on their journey. On the way, their plane gets shot down, their boats get attacked by hippos and they still have yet to find both where the gorilla wants to go and where the telecommunications crew was lost. But they do finally find it and realize that both parties were going to the same place because the telecommunications crew was there to find a new power source for their lasers which happened to be the diamonds that Mr. Homolka has been searching for his entire life. The problem comes when they realize that the diamonds are being protected by a seriously aggressive animal. I can't wait to watch it again!
I really can't describe just how much I love this movie. There's so many little moments that are an absolute joy for me to watch that I couldn't possibly name them all. In the intro of the movie, you have another legend setting the course for the entire film I had actually totally forgotten that Bruce Campbell was in this, too! He plays Charles, the son of a large telecommunications company's CEO who travels to the Congo to find a new source of power to utilize in next-gen technology. He's got such a short part, but you can't help but find a smile on your face the second you see his. He just has a great presence on film, even in such a cameo like this. Tim Curry's role as Herkemer Homolka, the Romanian philanthropist, is another favorite of mine that he's done. There's many roles that he's done and this is one of my favorite, more normal roles he's taken on. Although he's still a character, he's also pretty normal, far from his usual over-the-top performances from other movies. The entire movie, Homolka is searching for something, though he doesn't admit it until you get about half way through. What he's searching for is a long lost city where King Solomon had his diamond mines. He believes that the gorilla, Amy, knows where they are because her home was there before she was taken into captivity. He's led many expeditions searching for it and now he believes he's found a guide.
Another one of my favorite scenes is with Delroy Lindo as Captain Wanta. His entire interaction with Laura Linney's Dr. Ross and Ernie Hudson's Monroe Kelly is amazing! He's so calm and cheerful while distorting them for money and basically threatening their ability to get across the border. He offers them tea and cake, which they don't immediately take and he gets demanding about it. This scene is one of the most quoted and meme'd scenes from this movie. I quote this scene so much in my life for absolutely no reason and I love it! It's one that has to be watched to be understood, so if you've never seen this movie, then at least watch this scene to have it in your life. It's pure movie genius.
Monroe Kelly is everything you'd want for a male lead in a movie. He's charming, confident and competent in any situation. Ernie Hudson played this role so well and his demeanor stuck with me. I'm constantly thinking back to his line of, "I'm your Great White Hunter for this trip, though I happen to be black." It was said with such a debonair charm that you can't help but smile at his delivery of the line. I saw an interview of Ernie Hudson where he said that when he portrayed Monroe Kelly, he wanted to do it like he would for a James Bond role and I can say that he totally succeeded. He's got a million watt smile that lights up any scene he's in and I can say that I definitely enjoy the character he's brought to life.
One of Kelly's right hand men is Kahega and it's not like he has a lot of on screen time, but he's a memorable character made more memorable by just having Kelly call out his name. It's something I find myself repeating every time he says it in the film because it's like an earworm that sticks with you. Another member of the crew is Claude from Mombasa. I think he's one of the men that join them from Captain Wanta. You don't know much about him until the end of the film when the other primatologist, Richard, is left outside the temple of King Solomon with him. He asks his name and where he's from. He believes he's just making small talk, but he is truly showing how little he knows of the world by assuming that someone from an African country should have a name that wouldn't sound very English. His presumption winds up offending Claude, making him storm off instead of staying in the company of someone so ignorant. Presumptions of stereotypical names and actions can cause a lot of strain in getting to know someone because you're holding them to a standard that is more likely to not be standard. I always loved this short interaction between the two because it shows a typical American assumption that the rest of the world is so different from us that they couldn't possibly relate to them. It also, in a way, is assuming that these African countries haven't joined up with the world in the way that they actually have.
Then there's Dr. Karen Ross, played by Laura Linney. This is definitely a woman who is calm under pressure and knows how do get a job done. When she's first sent down there, you have no idea of her background and why she's the first person the head of TraviCom looks to when he needs to know what happened. You just think that he's sending her because she has an important position in the company. You eventually find out her history when she's detained by Captain Wanta's team and it really shows when she quickly adapts to chaotic situations and stays calm when coming up with solutions to each situation as it arises. While everyone else is floundering during turmoil, she's fixing the problem. I really appreciate her character because they show a woman who has the ability to maintain power in a tense situation and who isn't so hard that you are immediately put off by an imposing personality. I also really appreciate that they didn't try to make her into a stereotypical female lead by making her fall in love with the male lead in the film. It gets old when you can't just have two people go through a harrowing situation and just stay friends. It's like the second Hollywood has a male and female together, they have to fall in love. It's so overdone and it's refreshing to see a movie that doesn't have that.
I also have to mention the score of this film. It sets the mood and atmosphere perfectly. I'd never heard of Jerry Goldsmith before looking up the soundtrack for the movie and after looking at his career on IMDB, I noticed he's had a career that has been going strong since the mid 50s. He's been the main go-to guy for Star Trek, worked on The Mummy, The Twilight Zone, The Planet of the Apes, The Omen, The Secret of NIMH, Gremlins, Rambo and so many more! I'm amazed at the span of his work and how he's been such an influential person in film and no one would even know it. It's amazing how often a score gets overlooked, but mostly it's because it feels like the music is such a natural part of a film that we almost forget that someone had to think of the scene and find a way to describe it in time to the editing that had been done. There was also a scene where the crew is getting boats ready for the next leg of the journey and slowly everyone starts singing "California Dreamin'." It's a moment that shows how music can really connect so many people from so many very different places.
If you have never seen this movie before, I highly recommend it. It's a lot of fun, nothing too heavy and has some great interactions between the actors. Now that I've watched it again, I keep thinking I should finally read the book. I've read some of Michael Crichton's other works, like Jurassic Park, The Lost World and Sphere. All great novels. I have a feeling this would be the same. Next movie will be my final Tim Curry movie for the month. I have to finish with the ultimate Tim Curry film, the original one that started the world's obsession with this legend. Rocky Horror Picture Show is the perfect film to wrap up this month's dedication to one of the most memorable men in Hollywood. I hope you'll stay tuned!
For more movie love, check out my other blog! How Have You Never Seen That?!
