Auteur Watch - Harry A. Davis

Oh good!  Another simple one.
Harry A. Davis.  World-class athlete........ so-so filmmaker.  Okay, so he doesn't have a lot to prove.  So what.  So let's go through the résumé.  But first, before we dive into that, I want to try diving into the seamy underworld of sports statistics... holy Crap!  Is that him on page 184?  Might could!  But it would force me to look up a second data source to confirm, and who has time?  Not me, that's for damn sure!  Probably not the Huffington Post either.
So let's jump right to the good stuff, because sure, he produced commercials 'n stuff.  Big deal.  Ridley Scott apparently directed 2,000 commercials.  2,000!!!!  Too bad he didn't spend more time on his films...aw, s'z'nap!  The point being, how am I supposed to go to my local video store (now a non-profit) and ask to see the commercials of Harry A. Davis with a straight face?  I went there for years and they had no such section for directors' commercials.  And that'll be the day when the IMDb starts having data for commercials.  What a depraved idea.... but I tell ya.  It sure would pad out this guy's résumé, for one.  And I think her too.
So let's go right to 2004's Joy Road... oh, I LOVE that movie!  Paul Walker, Leelee Soo... something.  And of course, a script by Mr. Star Wars-Star Trek J. J. Abrams... oh, wait.  That's actually 2001's Joy RIDE.  Oldest trick in the book.  For lack of a better, or Latin, term, this is what's known in the biz as Title Mimicry.  Same thing happened with 1988's Platoon Leader, as Jay Leno rightly glommed on to.  Quit Bogart-ing my title, Dudikoff!
Anyway, so I'm reading a review of Joy Road, and it says "Lawyer Tony Smalls grew up in the impoverished streets of Detroit..."  Now, why does that sound familiar?  Oh, right.  Harry himself's a Detroit native.  Well, sometimes you gotta direct what you know.  Sam Raimi was born in Michigan, which might explain why Spider-Man 3 sucked so bad.  Takes place in New York!  I'm kidding, of course.  Sam Raimi's not totally to blame.  No, I think the blame goes squarely on the shoulders of Theresa Russell.  I don't know what it is, but there's some kind of Voodoo curse on her.  It's like a witch doctor said to her "You will be the next Kathleen Turner... in reverse!"  But let's get back to Joy Road... nah, let's not and say we did... hey!  Do the Right Thing's Smiley plays the lead?  Niiiiiice.  Well, at least Davis has an ear oar an eye for casting, more or less.
Which, of course, he throws completely away by doing a documentary next.  Currently set for a 2016 release, Fast Dreams is about... wait for it... you guessed it, a bunch of runners.  Okay, so he's not big on intellectual curiosity.  I mean, it's hard enough getting your own sh... I mean, your own house in order, know what I'm sayin'?  Who's got time for something else that could be going on in the so-called "world"?
Now, everyone and their mother's got a production company these days.  Harry's is called 99 Ways Entertainment.  Because as there is fifty ways to leave your lover... at least, there was in the pre-Internet age... so too are there 99 ways to get your film made.  And so far, Harry's mastered two of them.  Let's all hope things pick up for Harry, but not way too much.  Stress kills.