Wish fulfillment cinema, by its very nature, rarely works for everyone. It’s a genre of total commitment, where every part of the film’s craft is bent to the single goal of fully expressing the fantasy. Because of that, it—like pornography—can fall flat for audiences who aren’t looking to dream that particular dream.
Luckily, in 1984’s Tank, director Marvin J. Chomsky hits on one of the most universal and timeless fantasies of all: “What if, when confronted with a corrupt, poisonous, and sadistic system, you had a tank?”
Well, well, well. How the tables have tanked.
Tank gets everything right to be the kind of movie it wants to be. It makes its first strong strategic move in casting James Garner as Zack Carey, a world-weary Army Sergeant Major who—in a grand cinematic tradition—is this close to retirement. He’ll see out the end of his career in a fort in rural Georgia, sprucing it up with a combination of crankiness and kindness. Oh, and he has a pet Sherman tank.
It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Garner nailing this combination of eccentricity and salt-of-the-earth decency, let alone wearing it so lightly. No matter how ridiculous the situation gets, Carey seems human: an ordinarily good, likable, and gently flawed man elevated to archetype first by profession and then by necessity. To play him as a square-jawed, grim-faced badass would take away all the fun—Garner makes him funny, nuanced, and (eventually) genuinely desperate instead.
The desperation erupts because Carey lives in a corrupt world. The Army comes off much better than the fictional Clemmons County Sheriff’s Department, but one of the bleakest scenes happens on-base, when Carey sees a young corporal’s wife trying to calm her bloodied toddler: “Don’t worry,” she says, “Daddy’s not mad at you anymore.” Carey does his best to stop the abuse, but we know he’s likely just pushing it further underground … and the film probably knows it too. He can cajole, reason, and even threaten, and those are all legitimate tools—but the authorized toolbox can only take you so far.
He says he’s willing to go further. (To go “full tank,” if you will, and obviously I will.) The film presses him to that point by sucking him into a feud with the vicious, blustery Sheriff Buelton (G. D. Spradlin), who runs Clemmons County as his own personal criminal fiefdom. Carey winds up disrupting Buelton’s sunny dictatorship by humiliating a violent pimp of a deputy (James Cromwell) to stop him from beating Sarah (Jenilee Harrison), a young woman the sheriff has coerced into sex work. Carey has the Army on his side, so Buelton’s outmatched—until he frames Carey’s teenage son, Billy (C. Thomas Howell). Carey does his best to resolve the situation peaceably, but it soon becomes obvious that Buelton’s petty sadism is going to get his son brutalized, raped, and possibly killed.
Earlier, when trying to intimidate the abusive corporal, Carey says: “If that boy is ever in there again with a mark on him, I will destroy you …. My retirement won’t mean shit to me, my stripes won’t mean shit to me, the stockade won’t mean shit to me.”
And for his own son, we see, he certainly means it. It’s tankin’ time.
Tank sets its pieces out carefully. It takes its time building its setting and characters, adding color and touches of realism, and again, it does this—correctly—in service of the fantasy. Because the dream here is about rolling through all that. Flattening it. Demolishing it. And just as it’s more satisfying to watch real buildings and real cars, rather than facades and CGI, crumple beneath a Sherman tank, it’s more satisfying to watch a real world crumple too. Buelton’s folksy evil empire is fully realized and convincing, adorned with all the corruptions and abuses of the real world, and we get to see a tank go through it. There’s even the hope, at the end, that escaping his immediate orbit and exposing all the bullshit will matter in the long run. But if that seems farfetched in these troubled times, we still have a tank plowing into a police station. We still have a sincere quest for justice given extraordinary, game-changing armor.
It all still probably depends on how much you want to dream this dream. But I’m here for it.
Tank is streaming on Netflix. I know, I’m also surprised it’s not Tubi.
About the writer
Lauren James
Lauren James is a writer who wears many different hats (and pen names). She lives in Connecticut with her wife and two cats.
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Anthologized
A little slice of American folklore that feels like it's been here all along.
Streaming Shuffle
You make your royal bed, and you lie in it.
Anthologized
Alone in vast space and timeless infinity: one man in a ghost town.
Streaming Shuffle
A beautiful slice-of-life film that helped make a career.
Department of
Conversation
What did we watch?
High Potential, Season One, Episode One, “Pilot”
Stan is playing up and I was both too strapped for time and too old in general to spend time looking for a functional extremely legal alternative for my Hacks fix, so I just loaded this up because it’s started streaming on one of my services. Sadly, I was a lot less impressed with it than I thought I would be. It’s obviously of a piece with the new Matlock in being a progressive spin on the procedural, but that comparison hurts it; High Potential is a lot less breathless in its presentation and a lot less clever.
The basic myth they’re trying to sell here is that Morgan is an underappreciated raw genius finally getting her shot to show off her mad talents, and they’re doing it in such a way as that the average person can identify with her, and those two things are blatantly in competition with each other. This is already at a disadvantage with me; I run D&D, and the biggest thing I see from that is average people who have a good memory and watch a lot of documentaries who pull that Sherlock Holmes crap end up going down a lot more blind alleys than they seem to realise.
But I think they honestly make it worse by constantly drawing attention to her process in great detail, fucking with my suspension of disbelief. The thing about the Sherlock Holmes approach is not that it’s actually correct, it’s that it gives you confidence to charge forward; Morgan’s skill isn’t that she knows a lot or puts things together well, it’s that she’s confident and charges in (and admittedly does have a good memory), and the episode doesn’t really recognise that, so even the criticism she gets from other characters feels false.
(Again, comparable to Matlock, which is also silly and also has the character making huge leaps but a) consistently sells that Matty’s persistence and commitment are a huge part of how she pulls her scams off and b) moves way faster than this does so I simply don’t have time to register how ludicrous it is.)
On top of that, the emotional arc doesn’t really resonate – when it’s not straight up cliche (the climax uses a goddamned ‘characters nod at each other from a distance after success’ beat), it’s characters mostly barking diagnoses at each other. The one bit that really worked for me was the final scene, largely down to Kaitlin Olson’s performance, where she gets across that Morgan is doing something difficult and necessary and scary, especially in asking for help.
I’m sticking with it, but not a great start. I do like the aesthetic; I deeply enjoy Morgan’s imagination sequences showing the ludicrousness of her thoughts, and on a smaller scale I enjoy the effort put into Morgans’ ridiculous tacky outfits as well as the cinematography.
I think the second or third episode shows how Morgan’s process can founder, at least for a while, which you might appreciate. I watch it in the background while I’m making dinner, and I think it’s good enough for that. It’s not really sophisticated enough to demand my full attention.
This is a huge problem with how intelligence and genius is depicted in movies/TV, it’s almost always dumbed down or (even in the good stuff) alien and impossible to understand. See also the “autistic genius in movies versus autistic in real life” jokes about curling up in bed after a phone call.
One thing I have liked about High Potential is that it doesn’t feel unrealistic or dumbed down. Morgan is hyper-observant and notices things most people miss, and she has a lot of specific, esoteric knowledge (admittedly, the esoteric part can border on the absurd), but in a way that doesn’t feel unrealistic so much as someone whose mind is super-active (and thus possibly not sleeping much) and reads a ton and retains it all. (I definitely don’t find her an unrealistic character, based on my own experiences and remembering how much I used to read just out of sheer boredom.)
And then the flipside is that these cops aren’t stupid, just not possessed of her particular gifts. It’s a tricky balance to walk without making Morgan seem superhuman or the cops seem incompetent, but I think High Potential walks it well.
I summed it up to my husband as The Mentalist with Erin Brockovich. His response: “I’ll be in the other room.”
So This Is Paris – Silent film from Lubitsch where a woman is smitten with her handsome dancer neighbor and her husband turns out to be an old flame of the neighbor’s dancing wife. Flirtations and complications ensue, but this never engages me, let alone makes me laugh. I get that it was a technical accomplishment for the time, but that doesn’t make it good.
Kojak, “A Killing in the Second House” – Good ol’ Martin Balsam is great as a disgraced cop turned shady PI, who makes the suicide of the man he was taking photos for look like a murder so that the widow can claim the insurance. And then tries to milk it for everything it’s worth and then some. Only making a suicide look like a murder isn’t so easy. The title refers to Balsam’s wife gig as a horoscope reader, and indirectly to her role in all this. This one is very noir, though blaming the wife for Balsam’s downfall, however appropriate for noir, just feels sexist. Mainly because this is now four stories where a wife or female relative betrays someone. The pattern is not great, if of the time.
Started Frasier, “Can’t Buy Me Love” and stopped when I realized what episode it was. One thing that differentiates Frasier from other sitcoms I love. When it’s bad, it’s almost unwatchable. There are weak episodes of Mary Tyler Moore or Bob Newhart, but none of them ever made me cringe. And there are at least three on Frasier that do. Maybe because Mary or Bob were never the butt of the joke the way Frasier is.
Love Lubitsch but haven’t engaged with his silent era. Surely poly millennials would love this guy.
Poppa’s House, “Puppy”
Well, I had a ridiculous day at work Monday, and I tried to take a dinner break to watch this, but I might have to watch it again. Junior throws a fit over Poppa never getting him things he wanted growing up, like a dog (which Poppa claims Junior is allergic to). So Junior retaliates by finally getting a family dog, but Poppa was right (and taking some delight in watching Junior find out the hard way). Dr. Ivy is a cat lady, of course. And when Poppa takes in the dog until the family can find someone else to take it, of course he doesn’t want to let go.
Some funny stuff in the outtakes, too, particularly Poppa recording the podcast with the dog.
St. Denis Medical, “You Gotta Have a Plan”
The story is kicked off by a family whose father is 96 and has a DNR, and is going to die that day. The rest of the family fighting over it and how to handle his estate has some of the others thinking about their own end-of-life orders. Joyce decides to name Alex her executor, a role that Joyce takes extremely seriously… to the point where Alex decides to try to foist the role off on Ron.
Ron (David Alan Grier) has quickly become my favorite character. His kind of lovable curmudgeon, who’s old enough and wise enough to see how people are deluding themselves with their plans because of their foibles, whether that’s naivete (like Matt with the gang members) or vanity (Bruce with the consent forms) or unwillingness to be honest about what they want (Alex with Joyce this episode), and thus are destined to fail… and then uses that to goad them along and screw with them, is perfect for this kind of sitcom. So, you can imagine how this plot isn’t going to go well for Alex.
Also, Steve Little shows up as Joyce’s notary! 45 minutes late, but still.
A side plot has Bruce being obsessed with his health and longevity, Bryan Johnson-style. And then, after taking a DNA test, he learns he has a genetic condition that has a 20% chance of being fatal in 30-40 years, and starts freaking out, Bill McNeal-in-”Halloween”-style, about his mortality. Slight but a couple of good laughs from Bruce’s ego. Also, Matt’s shot with Serena seems to take a blow when he realizes Serena thought he was gay. (“You had that picture of Shawn Mendes on your phone.” “That was for haircut inspo!”) But then he steps up to deal with the family squabbles, and maybe he’s made of sterner stuff than we thought, and maybe Serena is starting to see something in him too. We’ll see!
High Potential, “The Sauna at the End of the Stairs”
Cold case with a cold open confession! A wealthy and formerly prominent family’s patriarch, on his deathbed, confesses to the murder of his son-in-law a decade ago, the case that ruined the family’s reputation. He was put on trial but the DA couldn’t satisfactorily prove it. Soto has been fixated on that as the one case that she can’t get off her mind, though, because she doesn’t think he did it. (Melon, her partner at the time, thinks he did, and is ready to celebrate the case with the chief.) Soto gives Morgan the case file, and she immediately notices some things that suggest Soto was right. So they get the family to agree to let them look around the house to “tie up some loose ends before we close the case,” so Morgan can get to work on her theory… and hopefully without Melon and the Chief (Keith David!) finding out.
Meanwhile, Nasim Pedrad plays the black-sheep daughter, who comes to the precinct filming a documentary on the case and tells Oz and Daphne that her father’s confession is bunk. (By this point, Morgan and Soto have already figured that out.) So these two work in parallel… but Melon and the Chief seeing the daughter in the precinct starts the ticking clock on Soto, Morgan, and Karadec getting to the truth before they find out.
Pretty good episode. I like how the cases continue to be pretty varied (even though they usually involve a murder). Also, Thursday night we finally have the returns of Elsbeth and Matlock!
The Shield, “Family Meeting”
When you turned out the light
And walked out the door
I said to myself
What did I come here for?
Did you have a good time
Drinking whiskey and rye
And did you want to be
Bonnie and Clyde?
What goes on in your mind
What goes on in your head?
Who did you think I would be
Ha, well you got me instead
You think there’s some connection
That I’m your female reflection
But no…
I can be loyal
And-a I can be true
But that’s for somebody else
And it will never be you
You think we’re predetermined
But babe you’re learning
Way too slow…
But it seems such a long time ago…
No matter how many times I’ve seen this show, or this finale, it never loses its impact.
Nothing I’ve ever seen on TV is as devastating as GIANT SPOILER SCENE BUT IF YOU’VE SEEN IT YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT. And it hasn’t lost its impact, either.
After all this time, nearly 13 years after I first saw it, after probably a good six or seven times through, to still have that impact, that’s how I know… truly, this is the greatest TV drama there ever was.
And if that isn’t love, I guess I’ll just never know.
Shoresy, “Skill vs. Will”
Season 2, episode 2. Really just needed some comic relief after The Shield finale, and this episode was only 19 minutes.
The Shield doesn’t really need me praising it further, but to praise it further, it’s impressive how it incorporates things that would be destabilizing “very special episode” material in other shows but doesn’t make it feel like a cheap shock effect, even though it’s usually pushed further. But yeah, all-time devastating TV moment, astounding series finale.
13 Women – a murder mystery from 1932 in which a bunch of women who attended college together start dying off in various accidents and suicides that don’t quite add up. Is it all a coincidence? Or is Myrna Loy using her psychic powers to enact revenge? I think it’s fairly obvious why a film with that premise would catch my eye, and it somewhat lives up to it. There is some stuff that has aged terribly and it runs out of steam a little in the second half despite only being an hour long. But Myrna Loy is great and the early scenes of women dropping dead are a clear early influence on the slasher genre. Some fun flowery dialogue too, even if the whole thing never quite reaches b-movie greatness.
Justified – the two episodes leading up to the S3 finale. I’m just finding it that compelling at the moment? I know S4 is widely held to be better so I’ll probably carry on but happy to take a break after this season I think.
Happy Theatrical Misfit Release Season!
One of Them Days – A comedy carried by a strong cast and a relentless series of setpieces. Sometimes the setup is funnier than the execution, but there’s cackle-eliciting lines and character moments aplenty. What these films need, even with strong leads in Palmer and SZA, are scene stealers. This one has a number of them, and shockingly Lil Rel Howrey only finishes in the middle of the pack, easily the standout in that category is Keyla Mejia as a caustic payday loan rep. Midday theater was half full and receptive*. Hopefully this doesn’t disappear when it gets to streaming, this feels like a cable replay classic.
* Although they were understandably put off by a trilogy of red band horror trailers that all delighted in sadistic gore, come on theater, choose your previews wisely.
Presence – Apparently Soderbergh has two projects coming this year, which maybe is why this one seems like it had only half attention to quality control. The setup is intriguing and the formal conceit – a series of single takes from the point of view of some kind of ghost or entity observing a family on the brink of collapse – makes for some suitably eerie moments. We’re confined to the house but this is no Here, the gliding camera shows the layout so well that at a crucial moment you can anticipate the best route through the house.
Unfortunately, the ending isn’t done with the same kind of care as the build. Loose ends remain, which would be less of a problem if there were more than about three threads being dangled. Actors get warped by the edges of the wide angle lens and no effort is made to solve this distraction. At least with SS there’s always next time.
I think only Stephen King rivals Soderbergh as someone who completely failed at retiring from their respective field. (I’m not complaining, just pointing it out)
Comedy trailers almost always feel like Homer Simpson yelling “ARE YOU READY TO LAUGH?” while I’m thinking about a dead dog, I saw the One Of Them Days trailer in the theater and had the usual reaction while sensing the actual film might be something better than the rhythmless bluster on display. Sounds worth a watch!
Gonna try and see Days soon, support a comedy in theaters.
Why is this not on Tubi? I need to see it. Garner has never steered me wrong.
I would genuinely love to know what labyrinthian path this took to getting included in some library package deal with Netflix
One reason I dropped Netflix is that the sorts of movies I like were vanishing from there and going to Tubi or Freevee or Prime. But how which pre-2000 movies end up anywhere is a mystery.
Yeah, I tend to forget Netflix even has much these days outside of its original content (which can be impressive, to be fair), so I often don’t even think to scroll through its larger movie library.
This sounds amazing. Genuine laugh-out-loud at “How the tables have tanked”.
Same, great line. On the watchlist, and I’m in a tankin’ mood a lot these days.
And now YOU’RE on a watchlist!
It’s a great ride. And thank you, I’m delighted by that!
“Oh, you think the tables have tanked? That means you thought there were untanked tables!”
Coming in February, you can sign up to write about anything from 2016 along with these fine folks:
TBD: Bridgett Taylor: Rogue One
TBD: Cori Domschot: Ghostbusters, Hidden Figures, and/or Sing
Tentative: Sam Scott: The Neon Demon
Feb 7th: Gillian Nelson: Queen of Katwe
Feb. 11th: Lauren James: Inside
Feb. 14th: Gillian Nelson: Milo Murphy’s Law
Feb. 18th: JRoberts548: Silence
Feb. 21st: Gillian Nelson: Pete’s Dragon
And here’s how we’re wrapping up 1947:
Jan. 31st: Pluto’s Blue Note
And March is going to be Silent Era Month, where you can join these writers in examining your favorite silent movies and anything else from the 1910s and ’20s!
Mar. 26th: Sam Scott: Peter and Wendy by J.M. Barrie
Mar. 31st: John Anderson: The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog
“a violent pimp of a deputy (James Cromwell)”
Babe did not prepare to see these words in this order. Hell, L.A. Confidential couldn’t have prepared me for this.
“that’ll do, pimp.”
James Cromwell had such a niche carved out as ‘sadistic lieutenant’ before he turned all noble for Dexter.
Replying to myself to observe that I was clearly confusing my Jameses – I was thinking of Remar!
Believe it or not, I had a friend who used to talk about the Tank fantasy film as a genre, citing this and the George C. Scott film Rage (I think) as prime examples. anyway, this brings back memories
Rage is now on my list! Fury, too. (I’m sensing a theme to these titles ….) I feel like I need all the tank fantasies I can get right now.
“What if, when confronted with a corrupt, poisonous, and sadistic system, you had a tank?”
While any replacement of “tank” can only be a downgrade, this wonderful sentence works very well for Convoy if you swap in “truck,” this is a great explication of large vehicle fantasy. I will be making my close personal friend TUBI aware of our collective disappointment in Tank somehow not being available there.