Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

gavin6942 Story of a friendship between an eccentric journalist (Rock Hudson)and a daredevil barnstorming pilot (Robert Stack).The Universal-International film reunited director Sirk with Stack, Malone, and Hudson, with whom he had collaborated on "Written on the Wind" two years earlier. Sirk chose to shoot "Angels" in black-and-white to help capture the despondent mood of the era in which it is set. Faulkner considered the film to be the best screen adaptation of his work.The reviews on this film have improved with age, due in part to Sirk really not getting respect until much later (thanks in part to Fassbinder). I found the film to be solid, and would rank it among the very best of Sirk's work. Truly a must-see. Not quite a noir, but still on the edges of that world.

krocheav Within this movie, we see 50s film making, showing it has little concept of time and era. This is Universal International (at the time, big in television) trying to cash in on the popularity of its earlier hit 'Written on the Wind'. Same stars, same Director, same screen writer, same heavy handedness. The use of the wide CinemaScope screen makes this unconvincing soap opera look even emptier. Film makers needed more than wide screens to get people away from their 50s TVs ~ they needed quality screen writers, with believable stories to tell, not just shows that left you wondering why you took the trouble of going out. With so many movies made using stretched material like this during the 50s and on...it was little wonder theaters were closing in big numbers.The shades of morality are admirable, but even the stars tend to look uncomfortable with their unlikable and unconvincing characters. The end monologue needed a performer of deeper conviction than Hudson. Soap specialist Director Douglas Sirk, had a leaden, turgid script to work with, and fails to inject any pace into the overall slow structure. At least with 'Angels' he's free of the influences of 'Mr Gloss'... producer Ross Hunter, known for his glittery but superficial, chick flicks. Composer Frank Skiner tries hard with his score but he too seems uninspired by the situations (at least Universal gave him a credit on this film, for dozens of earlier works he was un-credited). This film also gives capable Director of Photography Irving Glassberg a chance to get away from talking mules and cowboys ~ here, he turns in some fine flying scenes, but even they fail to lift this one off the ground. This is a pity, because within a year he would be dead at only 54.Viewers who grew up with this style of film --or on 50s and 60s TV-- won't expect much more, and will probably be content with this interpretation of Willam Falkner's novel. Those looking for more, beware. The DVD release is however good quality, with a fine B/W transfer.

grandpagbm Essentially, this is a depressing drama. No surprise, since it is based on a novel by William Faulkner. Filming it in black-and-white was appropriate, because it comes off as a low-class, dingy story. However, the performances by the four main actors are very good. It is interesting that Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, and Dorothy Malone also starred together in the movie Written on the Wind, in 1956, which was a better movie, but with very similar character-types. Another item to note is a small bit part played by Troy Donahue, soon to be a major star in his own right. It's the only time I recall seeing Jack Carson playing a dramatic part, although he still had some sarcastic lines that were apparently supposed to inject a bit of humor - inappropriate in this movie. I probably won't watch this film again very soon, because it's not my idea of entertainment.

Neil Doyle ROBERT STACK is a barnstorming stunt pilot in the '30s who'd been a hero aviator during the first World War. He's abusive to his loyal wife (DOROTHY MALONE) and his expert mechanic (JACK Carson) and anybody he comes into contact with. For some strange reason, newspaperman ROCK HUDSON is interested enough in this threesome to want to do a news story on them as they prepare to enter various air contests. After briefly encountering them, he even puts them up at his place when they're out of lodgings and soon becomes enmeshed in their lives.But Hudson does deliver a solid monologue at the end when he storms into the newspaper office to give his boss the lowdown on what kind of story he uncovered. It's one of his best moments and he carries it off like a real pro.Stack plays his sullen heel with his usual brash, solemn demeanor. A flabby looking Jack Carson plays the mechanic who's secretly still in love with Stack's wife, Malone. Malone is quietly effective as the wife who suffers and suffers while Stack's mistreatment goes unchecked, except by Hudson. Surprisingly, this is all taken from a William Faulkner novel which must have had stronger characters and situations than are depicted here.It's a stormy emotional drama that makes little sense, directed with a certain amount of style by Douglas Sirk even though it does not use his usual trademark--Technicolor. All the emotional strife makes it a pretty heavy-handed, florid melodrama. Hudson's noble turn at the end makes a new woman of Malone, who decides to accept his offer to return to her roots in Iowa with her little son. None of it seems to ring true, at least to me.Best feature: the flying air scenes are well staged and photographed for maximum effect--but it's hard to care about any of the characters.Trivia note: TROY DONAHUE has a small role as an ill-fated pilot competing against Stack. On the debit side, DOROTHY MALONE's costuming and hair style doesn't suggest the 1930s at all, but the 1950s.