This film at first glance might seem to have all the makings of a great film, with its main stars (Sinatra, Kelly, Crosby), as well as Louis Armstrong's singing, Cole Porter's songs, and Nelson Riddle's scoring. Which was why I wondered what in the world made this movie fail. It came nowhere near as close to the brilliance of "The Philadelphia Story," as well as failing to even be a good musical.
The script was not as tight as in the original. It came off as being far too contrived and an overall horrible redo of the original. They seemed to stretch the script a bit thin in an attempt to make the musical aspect of it seem logical, and fell flat on its face doing so.
The songs were not really that good in my opinion. I think a good musical leaves you humming the song after you hear it, or maybe even singing along of you know the song. The songs had no such effect on me this time, unlike a great musical like "The Sound of Music" or "My Fair Lady."
Perhaps the greatest disappointment was just how poor everyone's acting was in this movie. For one, there was absolutely no chemistry whatsoever between Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra or between Kelly and Bing Crosby. To use my previous terminology, everyone's acting seemed far too contrived. The rest of the supporting cast was also highly disappointing, especially when compared to the original "Philadelphia Story Cast"
Grace Kelly's acting was outright horrible. She was excellent in "Rear Window" and in "High Noon," so I expected much out of her in this movie. Was I ever let down. Sinatra was great in "The Manchurian Candidate" and fairly good in "From Here to Eternity," but gave a horrible acting performance in this film (I also think his acting sucks in "Guys and Dolls"). I think the fault must be the director's fault, since I know all of the actors could have and have elsewhere done excellent jobs.
I gave this movie a 4 out of 10. I'd say stick to the original "Philadelphia Story," and look for a good musical elsewhere.
The script was not as tight as in the original. It came off as being far too contrived and an overall horrible redo of the original. They seemed to stretch the script a bit thin in an attempt to make the musical aspect of it seem logical, and fell flat on its face doing so.
The songs were not really that good in my opinion. I think a good musical leaves you humming the song after you hear it, or maybe even singing along of you know the song. The songs had no such effect on me this time, unlike a great musical like "The Sound of Music" or "My Fair Lady."
Perhaps the greatest disappointment was just how poor everyone's acting was in this movie. For one, there was absolutely no chemistry whatsoever between Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra or between Kelly and Bing Crosby. To use my previous terminology, everyone's acting seemed far too contrived. The rest of the supporting cast was also highly disappointing, especially when compared to the original "Philadelphia Story Cast"
Grace Kelly's acting was outright horrible. She was excellent in "Rear Window" and in "High Noon," so I expected much out of her in this movie. Was I ever let down. Sinatra was great in "The Manchurian Candidate" and fairly good in "From Here to Eternity," but gave a horrible acting performance in this film (I also think his acting sucks in "Guys and Dolls"). I think the fault must be the director's fault, since I know all of the actors could have and have elsewhere done excellent jobs.
I gave this movie a 4 out of 10. I'd say stick to the original "Philadelphia Story," and look for a good musical elsewhere.