Seen: June 24, 2008
Format: Broadcast (HNDMV - HDNet Movies)
Rating: 3
This film makes me wonder when the habit of creating derivitive, substandard work in the effort to cash in on the popularity of another work began. I'm sure there's examples as far back as the written word, but this film may be the defnintive case.
Everything great about the first film is missing here. Bad plot. Bad Music. Bad Acting. Bad Costuming. The whole thing is just bad.
Except Oliver Reed. Him, I liked. Not the character so much as what he did with it.
The other actors tried. But there really wasn't a whole lot there to work with.
Mac Davis is out of his league. I love Teri Garr, but come on, this character is so thin, and really not her style, there's no where she could go. Karl Malden is game, but poorly cast. His Macalinski is so over the top it's almost a caricature.
Gleason I save for last because his performance may be the most true of all. Newman played Gondorff with panache and style. A bit of tough, a little slick, but intelligent and not a fundamentally evil man. Gleason was a carney, and it shows in his portrayal. His charm here is paper thin, he in wily and crafty, but not so intelligent. He plays his friends, his family, everyone. Gleason's depiction may be much more true to the spirit of the grifter, but it doesn't make this a better film, especially when flying in the face of an established character.
The con here is too loose, too improvised. The interactions are too slick and clever. There's no tension created by possibility of failure, and we really don't believe the consequences are dire.
Bascially, this one falls short along all dimensions. I'd avoid it unless you need it to complete some collection you're compiling.
The Good: Oliver Reed
The Bad: Greed
The Ugly: Absense of style
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