Backlash (John Sturges, 1956) 5/10
This is basically a thriller set within the Western genre and has Widmark investigating the death of his father and the theft of $60,000. Joining him on this quest is Donna Reed whose husband was also killed during that mysterious ambush by Apaches. Beautifully shot in colour the film is mainly a hybrid Western talkfest with an intense Widmark creating sparks with Reed.
Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
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Daisy Kenyon (Otto Preminger, 1947) 9/10
A rare Joan Crawford film where not only is she the most intelligent character but also appears very human. In fact everyone appears very civilised despite the heavy emotions involved. Paired opposite two very unlikely co-stars - Dana Andrews as the married man she is having an affair with and Henry Fonda (in a very tongue-in-cheek performance) as the disturbed war vet she starts seeing when she realises her affair is basically at a dead end as Andrews is unwilling to leave his wife (Ruth Warrick) and kids (Peggy Ann Garner & Connie Marshall). The love triangle moves realistically showing genuine problems that are faced by humans in such situations. Preminger's astute direction with a sharp eye for character, a screenplay that touches on various themes including child abuse and superbly shot sequences - the nightmare sequence is beautifully photographed by Leon Shamroy and acted by Fonda - all combine to make this a superior soap opera with nour overtones. David Raksin's swooning but nightmarish score creates just the right mood for this melodrama enhancing Crawford's intense performance.
A rare Joan Crawford film where not only is she the most intelligent character but also appears very human. In fact everyone appears very civilised despite the heavy emotions involved. Paired opposite two very unlikely co-stars - Dana Andrews as the married man she is having an affair with and Henry Fonda (in a very tongue-in-cheek performance) as the disturbed war vet she starts seeing when she realises her affair is basically at a dead end as Andrews is unwilling to leave his wife (Ruth Warrick) and kids (Peggy Ann Garner & Connie Marshall). The love triangle moves realistically showing genuine problems that are faced by humans in such situations. Preminger's astute direction with a sharp eye for character, a screenplay that touches on various themes including child abuse and superbly shot sequences - the nightmare sequence is beautifully photographed by Leon Shamroy and acted by Fonda - all combine to make this a superior soap opera with nour overtones. David Raksin's swooning but nightmarish score creates just the right mood for this melodrama enhancing Crawford's intense performance.
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The Natural (Barry Levinson, 1984) 6/10
Levinson's film adaptation (written by Robert Towne with a different ending to the book) of Bernard Malamud's acclaimed novel is an ode to the then "golden boy" of cinema - Robert Redford - who plays Roy Hobbs the rookie baseball player, a "natural", who gets shot by a showgirl just when his passion for the sport is at it's start and then makes a comeback years later. This whole production - a fairy tale - bows down to the star who is presented as some etherial mythical demi-god. Caleb Deschanel, the cinematographer, bathes the entire film in hues of gold and brown with the star often in shadows - the filters try to make 48 year old Redford look 34. He is surrounded by an incredible supporting cast - Robert Duvall as a slimy journalist, Wilford Brimley as the baseball team's manager, Darren McGavin as a morally corrupt bookie betting against him, Jo Don Baker as the hotshot player he supplants, Robert Prosky as the team's owner and Richard Farnsworth as the team coach. The rookie's downfall is his attraction to women and he has three in his life - the childhood sweetheart (Glenn Close who was nominated for an Oscar) who waits patiently for him, the mysterious showgirl (Barbara Hershey) who shoots him and then commits suicide and his unhappy main love interest (Kim Basinger) who leads him on. This old fashioned film captures the spirit of the sport - the rousing Randy Newman score soars with every ball that is hit out of the park - along with enshrining a movie star who is a throwback to stars from the Golden age of Hollywood.
Levinson's film adaptation (written by Robert Towne with a different ending to the book) of Bernard Malamud's acclaimed novel is an ode to the then "golden boy" of cinema - Robert Redford - who plays Roy Hobbs the rookie baseball player, a "natural", who gets shot by a showgirl just when his passion for the sport is at it's start and then makes a comeback years later. This whole production - a fairy tale - bows down to the star who is presented as some etherial mythical demi-god. Caleb Deschanel, the cinematographer, bathes the entire film in hues of gold and brown with the star often in shadows - the filters try to make 48 year old Redford look 34. He is surrounded by an incredible supporting cast - Robert Duvall as a slimy journalist, Wilford Brimley as the baseball team's manager, Darren McGavin as a morally corrupt bookie betting against him, Jo Don Baker as the hotshot player he supplants, Robert Prosky as the team's owner and Richard Farnsworth as the team coach. The rookie's downfall is his attraction to women and he has three in his life - the childhood sweetheart (Glenn Close who was nominated for an Oscar) who waits patiently for him, the mysterious showgirl (Barbara Hershey) who shoots him and then commits suicide and his unhappy main love interest (Kim Basinger) who leads him on. This old fashioned film captures the spirit of the sport - the rousing Randy Newman score soars with every ball that is hit out of the park - along with enshrining a movie star who is a throwback to stars from the Golden age of Hollywood.
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Maggie's Plan (Rebecca Miller, 2015) 8/10
Miller's film has a Woody Allen vibe to it and Greta Gerwig, although certainly not "Annie Hall", plays Maggie, a quirky control freak whose rapid fire delivery is reminiscent of eccentric women in screwball comedies. Obsessed with wanting to have a baby she meets a professor (Ethan Hawke) and finds herself, three years on, married to him with that baby but unfortunately unhappy with her life. A woman who thinks she is in control of her life discovers that things don't quite work out as planned. So she decides to pair her husband up with his ex-wife (Julianne Moore, who is an absolute scream speaking in a hybrid German-Danish-Austrian accent). The lovely screenplay creates a charming role for Gerwig, who has never been better despite once again playing an insecure brainy New Yorker (the female version of Woody Allen?), and has the jaunty repartee and New York setting reminiscent of both Allen and Noah Baumbach. Breezy little gem.
Miller's film has a Woody Allen vibe to it and Greta Gerwig, although certainly not "Annie Hall", plays Maggie, a quirky control freak whose rapid fire delivery is reminiscent of eccentric women in screwball comedies. Obsessed with wanting to have a baby she meets a professor (Ethan Hawke) and finds herself, three years on, married to him with that baby but unfortunately unhappy with her life. A woman who thinks she is in control of her life discovers that things don't quite work out as planned. So she decides to pair her husband up with his ex-wife (Julianne Moore, who is an absolute scream speaking in a hybrid German-Danish-Austrian accent). The lovely screenplay creates a charming role for Gerwig, who has never been better despite once again playing an insecure brainy New Yorker (the female version of Woody Allen?), and has the jaunty repartee and New York setting reminiscent of both Allen and Noah Baumbach. Breezy little gem.
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Ten Little Indians (Peter Collinson, 1974) 8/10
Fascinating production of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None", filmed in Iran and starring an international cast representing the different countries which funded the film - Britain (Sir Richard Attenborough & Oliver Reed), Germany (Gërt Frobe & Elke Sommer), France (Charles Aznavour & Stéphane Audran), Italy (Adolfo Celi), Spain (Alberto de Mendoza) and rounding out the cast were Czech Herbert Lom and Austrian Maria Rohm (married to one of the principal producers). The familiar story has ten strangers who are invited to a remote location and accused, via a recording voiced here by Orson Welles, of having committed crimes. Then one by one each is killed off by an unseen murderer. The film is heavily influenced by the Italian gialo genre in the gruesome way each victim dies. Filmed at the famous Shah Abbas Hotel in Isfahan, the huge baroque structure takes on the role of a character as the camera swirls through the vast rooms and corridors. The ominous wailing music is by Bruno Nicolai and the cinematography by Fernando Arribas both veterans of various classic gialos. This film is a forgotten gem and was part of a series of Christie novels that were filmed during the 1970s although this version flopped or barely got a release. Not to be missed.
Fascinating production of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None", filmed in Iran and starring an international cast representing the different countries which funded the film - Britain (Sir Richard Attenborough & Oliver Reed), Germany (Gërt Frobe & Elke Sommer), France (Charles Aznavour & Stéphane Audran), Italy (Adolfo Celi), Spain (Alberto de Mendoza) and rounding out the cast were Czech Herbert Lom and Austrian Maria Rohm (married to one of the principal producers). The familiar story has ten strangers who are invited to a remote location and accused, via a recording voiced here by Orson Welles, of having committed crimes. Then one by one each is killed off by an unseen murderer. The film is heavily influenced by the Italian gialo genre in the gruesome way each victim dies. Filmed at the famous Shah Abbas Hotel in Isfahan, the huge baroque structure takes on the role of a character as the camera swirls through the vast rooms and corridors. The ominous wailing music is by Bruno Nicolai and the cinematography by Fernando Arribas both veterans of various classic gialos. This film is a forgotten gem and was part of a series of Christie novels that were filmed during the 1970s although this version flopped or barely got a release. Not to be missed.
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Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (Joachim Rønning & Espen Sandberg, 2017) 2/10
Another loud, obnoxious and totally unnecessary fifth installment in the adventures of pirate Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) who joins forces with the young son of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Kightley) - both stars appear in cameos - to search for Poseidon's trident which has the power to undo bad spells or some such nonsense. Chasing them across oceans are slimy Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and a dastardly ghost - Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem) - and his band of ghostly cutthroats. The film is like a cartoon with non-stop action that refuses to let up as men are hanged, stabbed and shot at. The plot also manages to throw in 3 ghost sharks (as maybe an homage to Jaws IV?). Depp repeats his by now very tired act of the seemingly stoned pirate constantly rolling his eyes. They desperately need to flush this franchise down the toilet but apparently the studio has greenlit a sixth installment. The only thing going for this crappy film are it's visual and makeup effects.
Another loud, obnoxious and totally unnecessary fifth installment in the adventures of pirate Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) who joins forces with the young son of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Kightley) - both stars appear in cameos - to search for Poseidon's trident which has the power to undo bad spells or some such nonsense. Chasing them across oceans are slimy Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and a dastardly ghost - Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem) - and his band of ghostly cutthroats. The film is like a cartoon with non-stop action that refuses to let up as men are hanged, stabbed and shot at. The plot also manages to throw in 3 ghost sharks (as maybe an homage to Jaws IV?). Depp repeats his by now very tired act of the seemingly stoned pirate constantly rolling his eyes. They desperately need to flush this franchise down the toilet but apparently the studio has greenlit a sixth installment. The only thing going for this crappy film are it's visual and makeup effects.
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The Hero (Brett Haley, 2017) 5/10
This rather innocuous little film is a charming celebration of Sam Elliott and his whiskey soaked voice. The actor is getting a late career resurgence as a lead in films and is quietly magnificent. The conventional screenplay is well-worn and familiar - a has-been elderly actor, long out of commission, whiles away his time doing voice commercials, smoking pot with a former co-star, has an easy going relationship with his ex-wife (Katharine Ross), has neglected his daughter and is in a relationship with a much younger woman. When he discovers he has cancer he tries to figure out which way his life should move. The film is a loving ode to Sam Elliott whose calm demeanor, laconic wit, masculinity and old fashioned romanticsm come through in his relaxed performance. Watch this for him and see an old pro create magic on screen even if the story falters.
This rather innocuous little film is a charming celebration of Sam Elliott and his whiskey soaked voice. The actor is getting a late career resurgence as a lead in films and is quietly magnificent. The conventional screenplay is well-worn and familiar - a has-been elderly actor, long out of commission, whiles away his time doing voice commercials, smoking pot with a former co-star, has an easy going relationship with his ex-wife (Katharine Ross), has neglected his daughter and is in a relationship with a much younger woman. When he discovers he has cancer he tries to figure out which way his life should move. The film is a loving ode to Sam Elliott whose calm demeanor, laconic wit, masculinity and old fashioned romanticsm come through in his relaxed performance. Watch this for him and see an old pro create magic on screen even if the story falters.
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Angel (Ernst Lubitsch, 1937) 6/10
Elegant and sly dissection of a marriage gone sour as Lubitsch explores boredom, neglect, flirtation, passionate amour, jealousy and reconciliation not exactly in that order. The bored and neglected wife (Marlene Dietrich) of a diplomat (Herbert Marshall) briefly meets a man (Melvyn Douglas) who falls head over heels in love with her. This simple premise of a husband almost fooled by his wife is used by the director to reflect the uncertain dangerous conditions in pre-war Europe. This is not topnotch Lubitsch but even second tier is better than most. Dietrich is her usual exotic dead-pan self (dressed to her teeth in Travis Banton) but unlike with von Sternberg she is not relaxed here - she clashed on set with Lubitsch and looks uneasy. She comes off best opposite the delightful Laura Hope Crewes playing a Russian Grand Duchess who is no more than a high class madam running a sophisticated bordello. Marshall is dull as the husband but Douglas is playful and debonair and manages to hold his own opposite Dietrich creating sparks in their scenes together. The film, however, lacks the delicate and risqué innuendo for which the director was so celebrated and his famous "touch" is sadly missing.
Elegant and sly dissection of a marriage gone sour as Lubitsch explores boredom, neglect, flirtation, passionate amour, jealousy and reconciliation not exactly in that order. The bored and neglected wife (Marlene Dietrich) of a diplomat (Herbert Marshall) briefly meets a man (Melvyn Douglas) who falls head over heels in love with her. This simple premise of a husband almost fooled by his wife is used by the director to reflect the uncertain dangerous conditions in pre-war Europe. This is not topnotch Lubitsch but even second tier is better than most. Dietrich is her usual exotic dead-pan self (dressed to her teeth in Travis Banton) but unlike with von Sternberg she is not relaxed here - she clashed on set with Lubitsch and looks uneasy. She comes off best opposite the delightful Laura Hope Crewes playing a Russian Grand Duchess who is no more than a high class madam running a sophisticated bordello. Marshall is dull as the husband but Douglas is playful and debonair and manages to hold his own opposite Dietrich creating sparks in their scenes together. The film, however, lacks the delicate and risqué innuendo for which the director was so celebrated and his famous "touch" is sadly missing.
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Evensong (Victor Saville, 1934) 7/10
The life of Australian soprano Dame Nellie Melba gets a fictional work out with charming Evelyn Laye playing a tempestuous Irish soprano who sacrifices two men who love her - a young student (Emlyn Williams) and an Archduke (Carl Esmond) - for a career in opera in which she is supplanted eventually by a younger singer (Conchita Supervia). Old fashioned stolid musical drama covers several decades with Laye performing excerpts from "La Traviata" and being bossed around by the impresario for whom she performs played by acclaimed German stage star Fritz Kortner who escaped Nazi Germany and eventually settled in Hollywood. Laye has great screen presence.
The life of Australian soprano Dame Nellie Melba gets a fictional work out with charming Evelyn Laye playing a tempestuous Irish soprano who sacrifices two men who love her - a young student (Emlyn Williams) and an Archduke (Carl Esmond) - for a career in opera in which she is supplanted eventually by a younger singer (Conchita Supervia). Old fashioned stolid musical drama covers several decades with Laye performing excerpts from "La Traviata" and being bossed around by the impresario for whom she performs played by acclaimed German stage star Fritz Kortner who escaped Nazi Germany and eventually settled in Hollywood. Laye has great screen presence.
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Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982) 10/10
Visually stunning film is a futuristic neo-noir thriller with serious 1940s Raymond Chandler overtones. It's 2019 and Los Angeles is a hellhole of smog, acid rain, crowded air traffic zooming in between towering skyscrapers and derelicts of all kinds populating the streets. Four renegade replicants (Rutger Hauer, Joanna Cassidy, Darryl Hannah, Brion James) arrive from outer space hoping to get life extention by their maker. An ex-cop, a blade runner (Harrison Ford), is assigned to "retire" the replicants and along the way not only falls in love with a specially engineered replicant (Sean Young) but also begins to question his own origin. The film is full of great action sequences - the spectacular chase involving Joanna Cassidy, the encounter with the child-like but deadly Darryl Hannah and the final confrontation with Rutger Hauer. Ridley Scott's most personal film, his masterpiece, which initially flopped but has since gained in stature over the years. Every element of the film comes together to create a classic of the science fiction genre. Dazzling cinematography by Jordan Cronenweth, the iconic production design (copied by so many films since) and Vangelis' outstanding score using different motifs (even a "tabla" is heard at one point) throughout. The long awaited sequel soon arrives in cinemas 35 years after Scott's imaginative original.
Visually stunning film is a futuristic neo-noir thriller with serious 1940s Raymond Chandler overtones. It's 2019 and Los Angeles is a hellhole of smog, acid rain, crowded air traffic zooming in between towering skyscrapers and derelicts of all kinds populating the streets. Four renegade replicants (Rutger Hauer, Joanna Cassidy, Darryl Hannah, Brion James) arrive from outer space hoping to get life extention by their maker. An ex-cop, a blade runner (Harrison Ford), is assigned to "retire" the replicants and along the way not only falls in love with a specially engineered replicant (Sean Young) but also begins to question his own origin. The film is full of great action sequences - the spectacular chase involving Joanna Cassidy, the encounter with the child-like but deadly Darryl Hannah and the final confrontation with Rutger Hauer. Ridley Scott's most personal film, his masterpiece, which initially flopped but has since gained in stature over the years. Every element of the film comes together to create a classic of the science fiction genre. Dazzling cinematography by Jordan Cronenweth, the iconic production design (copied by so many films since) and Vangelis' outstanding score using different motifs (even a "tabla" is heard at one point) throughout. The long awaited sequel soon arrives in cinemas 35 years after Scott's imaginative original.
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Precious Doll
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Boomerang (2015) Francois Favrat 6/10
A Bag of Marbles (2017) Christian Duguay 2/10
Glory (2016) Kristina Grozeva & Peter Valchanov 8/10
The Treasure (2015) Corneliu Porumboiu 7/10
By the Time It Gets Darks (2016) Anocha Suwichakornpong 5/10
Repeat viewings
Howards End (1992) James Ivory 8/10
Sometimes a Great Notion (1970) Paul Newman 5/10
Careful, He Might Hear You (1983) Carl Schultz 4/10
The Mafu Cage (1978) Karen Arthur 6/10
Crimes of Passion (1984) Ken Russell 10/10
That Sinking Feeling (1979) Bill Forsyth 4/10
A Bag of Marbles (2017) Christian Duguay 2/10
Glory (2016) Kristina Grozeva & Peter Valchanov 8/10
The Treasure (2015) Corneliu Porumboiu 7/10
By the Time It Gets Darks (2016) Anocha Suwichakornpong 5/10
Repeat viewings
Howards End (1992) James Ivory 8/10
Sometimes a Great Notion (1970) Paul Newman 5/10
Careful, He Might Hear You (1983) Carl Schultz 4/10
The Mafu Cage (1978) Karen Arthur 6/10
Crimes of Passion (1984) Ken Russell 10/10
That Sinking Feeling (1979) Bill Forsyth 4/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Precious Doll
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Kuso (2017) Flying Lotus 5/10
Mother (2017) Darren Aronofsky 3/10
Victoria and Abdul (2017) Stephen Frears 4/10
After the War (2017) Amarita Zambrano 6/10
Patti Cake$ (2017) Geremy Jasper 4/10
Sicilian Ghost Story (2017) Fabio Grasadonia & Antonio Piazza 6/10
Repeat viewings
Stop Making Sense (1984) Jonathan Demme 9/10
Iphigenia (1977) Mihalis Kakogiannis 7/10
Pink Narcissus (1971) James Bidgood 1/10
Fear City (1984) Abel Ferrara 7/10
I Want to Live (1958) Robert Wise 10/10
Major Dundee (1965) Sam Peckinpah 5/10 (Extended Version)
Mother (2017) Darren Aronofsky 3/10
Victoria and Abdul (2017) Stephen Frears 4/10
After the War (2017) Amarita Zambrano 6/10
Patti Cake$ (2017) Geremy Jasper 4/10
Sicilian Ghost Story (2017) Fabio Grasadonia & Antonio Piazza 6/10
Repeat viewings
Stop Making Sense (1984) Jonathan Demme 9/10
Iphigenia (1977) Mihalis Kakogiannis 7/10
Pink Narcissus (1971) James Bidgood 1/10
Fear City (1984) Abel Ferrara 7/10
I Want to Live (1958) Robert Wise 10/10
Major Dundee (1965) Sam Peckinpah 5/10 (Extended Version)
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Kidnap (Luis Pietro, 2017) 5/10
Stale but pulse pounding B-movie that efficiently creates what it sets out to do - a horrific nightmare for every parent. A single working Mom (Halle Berry) gets to face her worse fears when her six year old son is kidnapped from a park. Hell hath no fury as a mother scorned - here she jumps into action and relentlessly chases the kidnappers across motorways, small towns and alleyways. Frightened and hysterical at first, she quickly realises she's on her own and nobody but she can save her child. The horrendous devastation - crashed cars and wounded pedestrians - she and the kidnappers leave in their wake gets a shortshrift by the screenplay. Berry, a former Oscar winner, is sadly reduced to such fare in Hollywood although she is very good within the confines of the screenplay which amusingly is a big finger to small town red-neck America.
Stale but pulse pounding B-movie that efficiently creates what it sets out to do - a horrific nightmare for every parent. A single working Mom (Halle Berry) gets to face her worse fears when her six year old son is kidnapped from a park. Hell hath no fury as a mother scorned - here she jumps into action and relentlessly chases the kidnappers across motorways, small towns and alleyways. Frightened and hysterical at first, she quickly realises she's on her own and nobody but she can save her child. The horrendous devastation - crashed cars and wounded pedestrians - she and the kidnappers leave in their wake gets a shortshrift by the screenplay. Berry, a former Oscar winner, is sadly reduced to such fare in Hollywood although she is very good within the confines of the screenplay which amusingly is a big finger to small town red-neck America.
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Ludwig (Luchino Visconti, 1973) 3/10
Erratic, lifeless and extremely overlong screen biography of the "mad king" Ludwig II of Bavaria. Visconti appears to have gotten a bit too carried away presenting his muse and offscreen lover, Helmut Berger, in the title role. The actor's physical beauty is used to good effect in what unfortunately becomes a four hour trudge through a seemingly exciting life presented in a dull manner not helped by Berger giving a stiff performance as the king covering his life from when he was crowned in 1864 to his death by drowning in 1886. The screenplay crawls through the events in his life - his platonic love for his cousin, Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Romy Schneider), her attempts to pair him off with assorted women, his obsession with composer Richard Wagner (Trevor Howard) who holds great influence over him and eventually betrayed him, tormentented by his homosexuality and ending with his descent into madness and drowning. Sumptuously produced film is peppered by familiar faces in the supporting cast - Helmut Griem, Gert Fröbe, Silvana Mangano, Umberto Orsini - but the film just drones on and on with no end in sight. It's a relief when the king finally drowns.
Erratic, lifeless and extremely overlong screen biography of the "mad king" Ludwig II of Bavaria. Visconti appears to have gotten a bit too carried away presenting his muse and offscreen lover, Helmut Berger, in the title role. The actor's physical beauty is used to good effect in what unfortunately becomes a four hour trudge through a seemingly exciting life presented in a dull manner not helped by Berger giving a stiff performance as the king covering his life from when he was crowned in 1864 to his death by drowning in 1886. The screenplay crawls through the events in his life - his platonic love for his cousin, Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Romy Schneider), her attempts to pair him off with assorted women, his obsession with composer Richard Wagner (Trevor Howard) who holds great influence over him and eventually betrayed him, tormentented by his homosexuality and ending with his descent into madness and drowning. Sumptuously produced film is peppered by familiar faces in the supporting cast - Helmut Griem, Gert Fröbe, Silvana Mangano, Umberto Orsini - but the film just drones on and on with no end in sight. It's a relief when the king finally drowns.
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The Reagans (Robert Alan Ackerman, 2003) 7/10
This was a cut up version of the tv miniseries concentrating only on the White House years. The Reagans come off very human - totally devoted to each within their hysterically dysfunctional family unit - as the screenplay moves quickly ticking off all the important events during their life in the White House. James Brolin gives an amazing impersonation capturing the quivering voice and the President's sense of naivety without reducing him to a joke as the media portrayed him. However, the film belongs to Judy Davis. She takes the part of Nancy Reagan and runs with it at full throttle playing a ferociously ambitious woman resembling the Joan Crawford of "Mommie Dearest" fame - everything but the wire hangers. Just when you think Nancy is getting too campy Davis manages to bring the character several notches down making her sympathetic. The film zips along touching on the behind-the-scenes power struggles with Alexander Haig and Donald Reagan, the assassination attempt on the President's life, his illnesses, Iran-Contra and Nancy's spending sprees. In the end it's about a couple who never bothered about their children but lived only for each other.
This was a cut up version of the tv miniseries concentrating only on the White House years. The Reagans come off very human - totally devoted to each within their hysterically dysfunctional family unit - as the screenplay moves quickly ticking off all the important events during their life in the White House. James Brolin gives an amazing impersonation capturing the quivering voice and the President's sense of naivety without reducing him to a joke as the media portrayed him. However, the film belongs to Judy Davis. She takes the part of Nancy Reagan and runs with it at full throttle playing a ferociously ambitious woman resembling the Joan Crawford of "Mommie Dearest" fame - everything but the wire hangers. Just when you think Nancy is getting too campy Davis manages to bring the character several notches down making her sympathetic. The film zips along touching on the behind-the-scenes power struggles with Alexander Haig and Donald Reagan, the assassination attempt on the President's life, his illnesses, Iran-Contra and Nancy's spending sprees. In the end it's about a couple who never bothered about their children but lived only for each other.