You have to give it up for HBO. The mini-series as a format is on its death-nell. Network television has no interest in the format any more, or hasn’t for a while. They’d rather have a regular series, or a reality show. But the expense of putting on these sorts of things are of an older school, a school that is now all but vanished. But when HBO wants to do something (with the encouragement of Tom Hanks for sure), it gets done, and so the story of John Adams has been made as a seven part mini-series. Harrumph.

My review is after the jump:

Richard Donner’s Inside Moves begins with a scene that evokes his own version of Metropolis, utilizing late 1970’s New York for a quiet, yet quite startling entreat into a character’s life that nearly ends as soon as the film starts. After a botched suicide attempt, Roary, played by Jon Savage, begins a slow recovery (time-compressed by a subtle montage, natch), including some self-medication at a nearby watering hole. There, Roary meets a cast of local characters, like bartender Jerry Maxwell, well acted by a very young David Morse. It turns out Jerry is an injured former basketball player, and he and Roary share more in common than just a hangout.

Inside Moves is treasured character film making from an era when slow moments weren’t boring, and unattractive characters weren’t Hollywood taboo. There’s a special texture to movies like Inside Moves that distinguish them from today’s faire. Not that it’s entirely a stock piece, because Richard Donner has accomplished a wonderful portrait of humanity here, at turns touching enough to draw in the heart, and ugly enough to push it away at times. Among its highs are an Oscar-nominated performance by Diana Scarwid, a great screenplay that celebrates the miracle of friendship in the face of adversity, and Richard Donner’s gift for dramatic directing.

Virtually begged-for by its longtime fans, Inside Moves arrives on DVD in wide screen format and should not be missed.