This is a film I have wanted to see since it came out. It was my belief that the film went straight to VHS, with no cinematic release. Having read the notes here on IMDb, I now see it had a limited release.
From memory, the film was not very well received. The cast is quite diverse. We see Randy Quaid, Madonna, Jennifer Grey, Julie Hagerty, Rutgar Hauer and Matt Dillon, to name just a few. It must be said that both Grey and more so Hauer are greatly underused.
The film start badly with a musical number with the main singer clearly singing something completely different. This is listed as a musical but it is far from it. Looking at the credits, there are four listed: I can only remember two! Having said that, the duet where Madonna & Jennifer Grey sing 'I Surrender, Dear' is really a stand out moment. Even then, there voices don't quote fit the song, until the last note where they combine beautifully.
The one thing that makes this film fail for me is that the 'music' soundtrack in the first twenty minutes and occasionally throughout, is way too loud. I had great difficulty hearing what the actors were saying at times. I know the answer would be to bring up the subtitles but sadly I was watching this on a obscure UK channel called 'Movie Mix'. It really did make me lose interest early on.
Another thing I feel worked against the film was that, as the opening titles were in black and white, I feel the film would have worked better as period piece if it had stayed in black and white. Though there are certain shots that work in colour, there are not enough. Even the fake snow was annoying. At one point you could clearly see that it was just foam! It irritated enough that you could even picture the sound effects man, faking the sound of walking in the 'snow'.
I must say as the film moved into its latter stages, I did find it slightly more interesting. When I worked out what the hell was going on and finally could hear the actors, I did start to care for the characters. I guess I should take into consideration that this is the first film I have reviewed here that I have never seen before. Perhaps this needs another viewing, though I am not going to rush to do that.
As I stated earlier, Hauer was underused. Grey didn't seem to fit at all. At one point when she is confronting someone gives the look that she is about to fall into another character completely and quote something from Dirty Dancing. Madonna was wooden to begin with but grows likable as the movie progresses. I could go on but the film just doesn't come together that well. By the time it does, the film is over.
Interestingly, there is a film of the same name that was made in 1952. Though it has no direct link to this film. They are both based on four different Damon Runyon stories. As a footnote, yes this is worth a watch but with the subtitles on!
1 out of 2 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
