Odelecol
Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
Geraldine
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Curt
Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.
Kimball
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
leethomas-11621
Marilyn holds it all together as the square peg in a round hole. She is rarely off the screen. Realistic drama of four friends coping with their personal demons.
garethrleyshon
The Misfits tells the story of recently divorced Roslyn (Marilyn Monroe), and the friendship that she develops with car mechanic Guido (Eli Wallach), aging cowboy Gay (Clark Gable) and failing rodeo rider Perce (Montgomery Clift). Centered on how their relationships develop during their time at Guidos house in the Nevada desert and at the Dayton rodeo, these relationships finally become tested when the three men decide to hunt horses to be sold to a dog food manufacturer, much to Roslyns distress.The Misfits essentially is about the way that people inadvertently treat others badly, culminating in the obvious mistreatment of the mustangs, innocent beings in the proceedings. The irony here is The Misfits script was meant as a gift from Arthur Miller to his wife, Monroe; the role of Roslyn being one that Marilyn could truly act. Yet Miller strangely unfavourably portrays Roslyn from time to time in the film. Occasionally naive, occasionally nothing more than the image of the sex symbol Monroe desperately craved to escape.Regardless, Marilyn puts in her greatest performance, one which sexy and alluring, but filled with sadness and sensitivity.All the characters are reaching points in their life where they feel they having nothing left; the washed up cowboy, the failing rodeo rider, the new divorcee and the mechanic looking to quit his job. Meeting each other sees changes in our two protagonists; Roslyn starts to become a poster girl for independence, while drawing out Gays never seen before domestic side. However these changes are minor, meaning the development of the characters and any intended arc they are meant to have to their personas are more like a gentle incline. Gay retains his stubbornness, catching the horse himself at the end just to release it again in an act of defiance, to show he can still make his own decisions. Roslyn's breakdown at the fate at the horses, is sweet, but ultimately shows her as weak. Despite being part of the titular misfits, Perce and Guido are reduced to supporting characters who have no development whatsoever.The genre of the film is mixed too, with elements of buddy movie, romance, western and probably more, all rolled into one. While genre blending is all fine and good when its done well, here it seems halfhearted on all counts. The western element is perhaps the most dominant, but the whole film isn't stylised enough to be a classic western. There are moments when the narrative also feels like several stories that don't always fit together as they should. Perce, the rodeo cowboy generally feels superfluous to the plot, except when Roslyn hears his life story and expresses sorrow at his past.Overly long, The Misfits would have benefited from a shortened run time, the catching of the mustangs in the closing act, seems needlessly long. There are moments also, for example, Guido wrangling the horses in the plane for Gay and Perce to capture, when the score is overly dramatic and out of place, building up to an anticlimax of nothing at all. And finally the ending of the film, is strangely abrupt considering the run time, and one can only assume that Gay and Roslyn live happily ever after.BOTTOM LINE: Marilyns greatest performance in a film where the characters, or lack of, misfits.
leplatypus
I joke for sure as the name of the regretted Clark Gable is irrelevant actually. Anyway, I was very reluctant to watch this movie as I'm not really into cowboy genre. But I picked it as it was the last movie (released) with Marilyn. Honestly while I have seen only colored stills of this movie, I was disappointed to discover that the movie is finally in black and white. Now after the watching, I can say that the movie is a good one. Personally, I think that Marilyn was more and more beautiful as she got old and in addition she really shows her true split personality: a luminous, happy one and a dark, anguished one. This revelation finds surely its source in the fact that it was her husband writing the script: for those who know her biography, I think that a lot if her lines can be heard on two levels: the movie and their story: So pay attention when you will see that she speaks about her mother, of having a child, of drinking…Beyond Marilyn, the movie is also brilliant analyzing the change of time, the need to adapt and the extinction of old dinosaur. For that, Gable was really the man for the part and he is truly excellent. Sure I still don't have understood why Marilyn cares so much for animals and I found Wallach as irritating young as he was old but the movie is finally a good surprise with a lot of inspiration.
GeoPierpont
Great location shot, OK that's about where I end my praise for this film... Sure you have MM who had such a trembling upper lip that looked drug induced, could not tell whether she was up or down or both... Gable and Clift acted so very unnatural, forced, with atypical low confidence... extremely surprised after e3tensive years of experience. Contemptible when she kept teasing the poor pooch with the food treats at the restaurant table, very mean Miller! Found those ass shots and boob fest incessant peeks were just over the top, what a pervert Huston! Think this was a perfect fit of miserable folks except Thelma, of course, who was dropped off after the 3 on 1 deal came to fruition... Knew Arthur was a world renowned author and playwright, but this mess, cmon babe this is utter carp... So disheartening to view this as final film effort for most of the cast and why I see this disaster a "perfits" ensemble piece... RIP