Der Himmel von Hollywood

At the movie's start, Kage is playing a cop in a movie and messing up take after take after take. Tom is his partner, and during a break in filming, his girlfriend Paula says she has written a movie script called 'The Hollywood Sign', though she has been told to revise the ending.

Seven years later, Tom can't get work as an actor and he is having to take a real job. At the hotel he moves into, he meets Kage and discovers Kage is in the same situation and living there too. Later in the movie, we see just why these two actors are washed up--they haven't got it any more (but the results are hilarious!). Tom has revised Paula's script, but the process of making the movie gets put on hold for a while.

At a funeral, the two meet Floyd, another has-been actor who is still able to make a good living installing burglar alarms. If needed, he could also install bugs and other surveillance equipment.

The three actors go to the movie's title landmark and discover a body. What they decide to do about the body, and about finding out how it got there, results in quite a few laughs.

Rod Steiger gave this movie's outstanding performance, especially toward the end, but Tom Berenger and Burt Reynolds both did fine jobs as well. Reynolds leaned more toward comedy and did quite well. I'm not saying it was one of his best performances, but it was enjoyable.

Jacqueline Kim made a confident and intelligent Paula. And she looked good too--especially wearing little or no clothing.

The bumbling gangsters connected in some way with the body were funny and not that threatening. Rodney, one of Floyd's clients, was the head gangster and halfway intelligent, while Muscle seemed to be just that. Steve seemed more street-smart. Charlie, the clumsy sidekick to the veteran actors, also provided comedy relief.

The ending was very strange but entertaining.

I thought this was worth seeing.

"The Hollywood Sign" is all about a trio of washed up, has-been movie actors (Berenger, Reynolds, Steiger) who decide to turn fiction into reality by using a movie screenplay as the blueprint for a Vegas casino ripoff (sorta). Everyone in this unfortunate flick seems to be waiting for the other cue to drop. Performances are hickory; the screenplay is clumsy; timing is waaay off; and God knows where the director was during the filming. There is one poignant moment when Reynolds watches himself in an old western and a few funny moments where the trio, playing like detectives, interview some hoods. Otherwise the film is a waste of talent and a waste of time. (D)

If you can get past the far-fetched plot (full of weird schemes and big coincidences) this can be pretty funny movie. The three main actors (Tom Berenger, Burt Reynolds and Rod Steiger) are all pretty good. OK, so they overact sometimes, so the plot is flawed and the pace sometimes uneven--but I still found myself laughing throughout the film.

My mom was with me when I saw this film and we both got a huge kick out of the last portion of the movie--where these three bumbling has-been actors are trying to con a bunch of gangsters into believing that they (the actors) are cops. Each actor almost blows it, improvises, over-acts, acts badly, and it's all pretty hilarious.

In my opinion this film is worth seeing for the fun scenes between the three main stars. I think they played off each other well. I especially liked Rod Steiger (in one of his last roles) but I enjoyed the performances of all three.

I recommend this film if you are willing to look past the flaws, and allow yourself to be amused by the fun stuff. There are definitely laughs to be had in this film.

"The Hollywood Sign" starts with some sharp comedy, but quickly deteriorates. Rod Steiger and Burt Reynolds hold things together for a short time, while Tom Beringer comes across as if he had a bad case of constipation. I had expectations that this was a black comedy, but what attempts were made at dark humor fall flat, mostly because of terrible timing. The script is very muddled, and the exact nature of the crime caper never clear. What is crystal clear is that "The Hollywood Sign" wastes good performances from Burt Reynolds and Rod Steiger. Because of the weak script, boredom eventually evolves into disinterest. A real sleeper. ZZZZZZ - MERK

Silly comedy in which three decadent actors team up in a ridiculous farse to catch the money stolen from one cassino of Las Vegas. Lame story, with a direction which tries all the time to be clever but is just dissapointing. Anyway, the three leads (Berenguer, Reynolds and Steiger) are good and seems to be having a good time just for the fact they are working together.

I give this a 4 (four).