The Vanishing (1993)
Rated R
109 Minutes
Directed by George Sluizer (better known for the other The Vanishing).
Starring Jeff Bridges, Keifer Sutherland, Nancy Travis, and Sandra Bullock.
Budget: $23,000,000.
Box office: $14,000,000.
Reasons that it's a Frank Movie:
1. It's such a Frank story. Apparently the Dutch version has a much more Frank-like ending, but this one will do for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBg7gjX9xBM
2. Jeff Bridges as Barney.
Jeff is beloved as The Dude in The Coen Brother's "The Big Lebowski". That's not my thing. Of course, I love Bridges in several things: The Coen Brother's True Grit remake, Crazy Heart, Tron... but I think that his best acting job may be as Barney in this. He's diabolical. He's so believable that'll you'll be looking more critically at your anonymous neighbors. Or maybe you should be.
3. The Pacific Northwest.
It's set in post-Mount St Helens Washington state. The eruption of Mt St Helens was a very memorable experience for me, and the setting is so alien to me, I have never spent anytime in the Pacific Northwest. Its role as the setting is so well done, and very intriguing to me.
Runner-up: Varsity Blues (1999)
Directed by Brian Robbins (Smallville, One Tree Hill)
Starring: James Van Der Beek, Jon Voight, Ali Larter, Amy Smart, Scott Caan.
Reasons that it's a Frank Movie:
1. Culturally defining. I don't know that there is a movie that is more culturally defining of millenials than this. Even if it features some of the worst fake West Texas accents that I've ever heard in my life. Just definitive.
2. I'm going to bypass the monumental performance of one of my all-time favorite actors, Jon Voight, in one of his best roles as Coach Bud Kilmer. I'm also going to leave out the fantastic use of Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher" as strip music for Ms. Davis and her world-class nips. Not to mention, one of the greatest fictional strip club names of all time, "The Landing Strip". Yep, those will all have to take a back seat to The Whipped Cream Bikini.
Honorable mentions: Valley Girl (1983), Visionquest (1985), Virgin Suicides (1999).
