MovieChat Forums > Jaws 3-D (1983) Discussion > Bouchard portrayal adds to picture's wea...

Bouchard portrayal adds to picture's weaknesses

posted 10 years ago by slazenger_7
20 replies | jump to latest

The Calvin Bouchard character--an entrepreneur--could have used a serious reinvention. Lou Gossett, Jr.'s interpretation really detracts from the character. Gossett looks like a Harlem pimp and talks like one. At least in THE DEEP, his portrayal of the Carribbean "Cloche" was convincing and spot on.

A more articulate, dignified characterization of the Calvin Bouchard character would have served this film a whole lot better...I personally would liked to have seen James Earl Jones or Billy Dee Williams cast as Bouchard. Or even having Bouchard re-envisioned as a colorful, portly Anglo-American from New Orleans, Louisiana would have worked, with a Ned Beatty playing the role in a heavy Southern accent.

As almost all reviewers have pointed out, the 3-D effect was unnecessary and makes the film's texture look too fake in its underwater scenes...

This film is not as bad as many have stated. It had great potential with Carl Gottlieb co-scripting. Gottlieb is the unsung genius behind the "Jaws Log" about the making of JAWS I. Gottlieb also heavily contributed to the humorous elements which greatly defined the first JAWS. The idea of a mega aquatic theme park invaded by a voracious Great White was terrific. However, a 35-footer was ridiculous, as the two largest Great Whites on record were 23-feet and 21-feet respectively. Plus, NO Great White can ever swim backward. The demise of this Great White could have been different. Rather than having it blown up again (as it had in JAWS I), they could have had the orca Shamu (or a pair of killer whales) let into the lagoon to finish off the Great White. It has certainly been proven that a single orca can destroy even a 20+ foot Great White with ease by using tonic immobility to drown it. The orca is THE apex predator of the ocean, not to mention the entire planet earth itself.

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[–] frog_clarke 10 years ago

I respectfully disagree. Outside of the hot pants, Calvin was probably the best part of the film. He was under immense pressure throughout but always remained professional and upbeat. A lot of people forget that despite being born and raised in the ghetto, he was able to hold his own with Fitroyce during dinner in the underwater restaurant.

Is this your student... The champion?

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[–] slazenger_7 10 years ago

Are we discussing the same film? Calm under pressure? "Get some medics dow here...And get some *beep* down here...!" --That doesn't sound very calm...But then again the lines were not written by the actor. He just delivers them. The Calvin Bouchard character could have been one most colorful in this film...But I must reiterate that Gossett's Harlem pimp interpretation, does detract from this movie.

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[–] airspirit77 10 years ago

If you watch the Making of the film, "Sharks Don't Die" as you can on youtube, Gosett Jr. reveals that, being that he'd just won an Oscar that year they filmed, he was given a little more reign, as Oscar winners usually are. He wanted to express the African American culture in his attitude and the way he talked, so his background and culture could be properly represented in the character.

In "An Officer & a Gentleman" he was still speaking a uni-cultural characters words, written by a white man, and he wasn't able to give it a bit of pizzaz of his own. With Calvin, he was, and I think it helped. He certainly cared for his character and gave a performance you can feel.

Come, Fly the teeth of the wind! 

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[–] slazenger_7 10 years ago

Interesting point. However, Afro-Americans vary in their vernacular. A Roscoe Lee Browne, William Marshall, Robert Guillaume, or James Earl Jones-type interpretation would have served an "entrepreneur" of an aquatic resort far more convincingly than a Bedford-Stuy pimp. How many Harlem pimps back in the early 80s were potential aquatic park "entrepreneurs"...? Only in B.S. Hollywood...lol.

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[–] airspirit77 10 years ago

Well anything in Hollywood requires imagination. I think the approach worked.

Come, Fly the teeth of the wind! 

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[–] slazenger_7 10 years ago

Agreed...An overactive, out-of-touch-with-reality, often propagandist b.s. social and political agenda-driven imagaination...My post is about why I thought the Harlem pimp interpretation of Louis Gossett, Jr. did not work...Each to their own perception, I guess.

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[–] airspirit77 10 years ago

There's NO need to be an aggressive douche-bag about it. I was simply answering this DISCUSSION thread about why I felt differently. Stop being an a$$hole.

Come, Fly the teeth of the wind! 

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[–] slazenger_7 10 years ago

I didn't call you any names...No need to do that with me. Your response clearly indicates that it is you who has gotten aggressive and is the actual douche-b**g and the real A$$HOLE...Not me. Btw, was that your daddy you were describing?

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[–] airspirit77 10 years ago

Agreed. I'm sorry for my recent post. But you said

An overactive, out-of-touch-with-reality, often propagandist b.s. social and political agenda-driven imagaination...

what's that? a compliment?

Come, Fly the teeth of the wind! 

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[–] slazenger_7 10 years ago

Lol...It wasn't referring directly to you by any means. Revisit your statement...It was Hollywood's "imagination"...That is what I was referring to. I said no ill of your input about "the approach worked". No need to take things personal in any kind of message boards such as these. I have learnt that from experience. These are just movies anyway. Just entertainment to pass the time...To take one's mind off of serious issues in life...Certainly not worth verbally abusing someone nor being verbally abused. My apologies too.

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[–] airspirit77 10 years ago

HaHa! I guess the answer is between both our opinions. It was an agenda that Gossett Jr. himself must've had as he was the one with Oscar reign over the role.

Come, Fly the teeth of the wind! Share My Wings. 

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[–] frog_clarke 10 years ago

That kind of arrogance probably led to his career's downward trajectory. You can also see shades of the Harlem pimp in his character in Enemy Mine.

Is this your student... The champion?

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[–] 10 years ago

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[–] scubadivergeek 9 years ago

<<The demise of this Great White could have been different. Rather than having it blown up again (as it had in JAWS I)>>

It wasn't blown up "as it had in Jaws I", but rather as the giant killer whatever-it-was in Up From The Depths and the shark in Great White was, ie using a dead scuba diver booby trapped with explosives. Jaws 3-D stole it's ending from a movie that stole it from another movie, ie Up From The Depths came first, the came Great White (which stole so much from the first two Jaws movies that Universal got an injunction against the movie being shown Stateside), then Jaws 3-D.

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[–] slazenger_7 9 years ago

Thanks for the info. Will have to check out < Up From The Depths > and < Great White >. What I had meant was that in essence, the shark was blown up as in JAWS...Different scenarios of how that came about, of course.

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[–] scubadivergeek 9 years ago

<<What I had meant was that in essence, the shark was blown up as in JAWS...Different scenarios of how that came about, of course. >>

Yeah, I know. The original Jaws ending surely inspired the other two movies. I've heard it suggested that part of Universal's settlement with the producers of Great White was they could use anything that was in Great White in the next Jaws picture. If that's true, that would explain why they repeated the same trope that had already been used in two movies in Jaws 3-D.

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[–] PopperTheKungFu-Dragon 9 years ago

I actually liked the movie, but I agree that Gossett Jr.'s portrayal of Bouchard was very weak.

Very good. But brick not hit back!

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[–] Walls Of Jericho 9 years ago

He was working on a crap film and chewed some scenery. Bouchard is a bit of a huckster and Lou had fun with it.

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[–] Hendry_William_French 9 years ago

Get me some sh!t down here!!

He was my C.O. in Nam. CIA listed him as MIA but the V.A. ID'd his M.O. and put out an APB.

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[–] 9 years ago

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