Coco Cohen

A sweet feel good movie with some nail biting moments. You can tell from watching that the cast and crew were like a family, making a great family film.

Haters of this film are falling for the bad PR it had BEFORE it ever opened. Insider info: It is well documented that the film was WAY over budget WAY before filming was finished. In the days of real film insurance, (practically non existent now) it became clear to the execs that they would be better off “canning” it in a way that their policy would cover, than they would be if they released it as planned. It was a double edged sword and a hell of a gamble, but facing the barrage of bad pub everything related to the film was getting, they went for it. A PR team was hired to purposely bash the film. The idea was to make sure that the gross was less than the threshold for when the insurance would kick in. If you look at interviews with Warren and Dustin before the film wrapped and compare them with interviews afterwards, you will see a hint of what I’m talking about. Both actors thought highly of the work they were doing, until they didn’t. Some say it was purely an editing problem. But again. Watch carefully. The smooth transition from scene to scene and a clear plot/story line that never disputes itself are proof that the editing staff were fully committed to what they saw as a fine piece of work. Who knows if it paid off. What I do know is that there are reasons why the conversations about this picture have never stopped since filming it ended. Yes, it is geared toward a very specific audience, and yes, it hit theaters just as that audience was becoming savvy and a bit overloaded with quality offerings, but a non-prejudicial viewer will see it for its’ pure comic value. You are not supposed to LIKE Beatty and Hoffman. Perhaps that was one concept that the casting agents overlooked. We want to see our A list actors in their best light. But I dare anyone…tell either of them that you loved that film, and you could tell how much fun they had making it, and wait for their reaction. But your timing would have to on spot. Just as theirs was in every scene of this greatly underrated bit of legendary celluloid.