Reviews

I ran into this one during a bonus showing of the Romance Channel,and it hooked me well enough that I watched it all the way through. I honestly don't remember a lot of the details of the story, only that the acting was good, the writing well above average for a TV movie. This was better than 90% of all made for TV films. I would watch it again if I ran into a showing. I'm sure its pretty much gone unnoticed and under-appreciated.

To this is one of the great movies(another example would be "Ferris Buellers Day Off"), that manages to be purely entertaining from beginning to end. Not really loaded with laugh out loud gags or thought provoking drama, its just plain fun all the way through.

This genre ALWAYS is open to criticism as to plot contrivances- so films belonging to it must be judged on relative criteria. This one is well above average. The stand-out performance in the film is Billy-Bob Thornton's.I didn't even recognize him right away- he completely disappeared into the role. The most well-rounded and non-stereotypical portrayal of a "dummy" type character that I can ever recall seeing on film. He gave remarkable subtlety to the character. This role and his role in Sling Blade together suggest that this guy is one of the most talented actors in film today.

I finally got around to seeing this movie on pay-per-view after having heard quite a few very positive reviews. What an amazingly overrated movie! It stinks!!At least in contrast to expectations. So many of the other negative reviewers made their cases so articulately that I won't bother to say more than that I agree with them all wholeheartedly. Its remarkable to see a film that is so obviously weak in so many different aspects garner so many glowing reviews. I'm scared for the future of the human race. Something is really haywire here.

Why can't someone make a film that has great special effects AND a high quality script.This is one of a couple of 90s megahits that are remarkable for the contrast between ticket sales and script quality. Titanic would be another example. It could be done-I'm sure it could. I guess there just aren't that many good writers out there, so the producers don't even try.

By far this was the best film of its genre that I have ever seen. Visually stunning, wonderfully paced, great acting and powerful performances all the way around, with a top-notch sound track. This movie deserved more recognition than it got. If I had to focus on one element that stood out the most it would be the staging of the battle scenes. The spectacular panorama as our heroes emerged upon the scene of the fort under siege is unparalleled in its beauty and atmosphere of authenticity. The brutality of some of the hand to hand combat is gut-wrenching, yet so beautifully filmed and choreographed that I found myself feeling both deeply moved and violated at the same time.

There is real genius at work in this film.

I had never even heard of this film before I stumbled into it on cable one day. I was never a big fan of the Stuart Smalley character before seeing this film, but this movie converted me. Wow, what a great film! It made me laugh, and it made me cry. I have since read that it did terribly at the box office, which just goes to show how little box office performance has to do with the quality of a film. It probably helps to have some awareness of 12 step programs and to have at least a little experience with family dysfunction to fully enjoy it. A real diamond in the rough.