A Bunch of Amateurs

there's the feeling that this film was designed and constructed by a committee out of focus-group friendly but disconnected components; they then seemingly accidentally hired some great talent to do some of the work. The script is often funny and sharp, but frequently slumps into sentimentality. A lot of the acting is very good, but Burt Reynolds is mostly helpless: he can't act the part he has been given except for some of the calmer domestic comedy. Acting the part of an actor acting King Lear? No, he's lost. Most things are done very well, the photography and direction are fine and the music only really grates during the prolonged sentimental guff that spoils the flow of the film particularly in the middle and at the end. It's worth watching for some fine comic acting from the English part of the cast, and for some very professional filmmaking too. It's worth fast forwarding through some of the sentiment, and some of the American acting too.

A Film that i saw advertised never got to see,but came in the cinemas and went out again straight away.

i found it for a fiver in tescos and thought why not, a good casting, reynolds as lear playing with a British tour de force.

A wonderful i think piece of British cinema, some great one liners and reynolds doesn't steal the show, he shares it with the pigs and his sterilised hot tub and a wonderful cast who all admitted they were starstruck working with "burt reynolds".

even the dog gets some great lines in my opinion watch it, its one of them little gems that i will go on about.

with such trash in the last few year being made Indiana jones and the X files ripoff (thank god i didn't buy it or even cinema to view that ) around this film is a tonic to watch.one i can watch again and again i think.

thank you "you bunch of amateurs".

there were moments that i couldn't help smiled or laughed lightly. the screenplay was quite dramatic, the casting did a very nice job except signed up burt reynolds who actually performed quite poorly when he was doing the rehearsals and played king lear on the stage. he actually became the weakest part of this comedy. fooled him to stradford to play the role was a disastrous arrangement just like chosen him as that character. he performed so poorly on those stage scenes, this was his worst performance ever! and i have to discredit one of the viewers who claimed it's his best performance. it's watchable but not too good just because reynolds' lukewarm, absent-minded and out-of-placed poor performance; if this role recruited michael caine to play, it would be much better. i rest my case.

A very easy comedy around a King Lear representation by a theater of amateurs. A faded American film star and his adventures in a Stratdford of England.

A ball of cliches , easy humor and fake crisis. Short, in some measure, a Hallmark.

But half of glass is not empty. The admirable cast, their nice work, the kiss of Imelda Staunton and Burt Reynolds, a Burt Reinolds reminding, in few scenes, Sir Sean Connery and, sure, Derek Jacobi just admirable, the relation children parents and nice job of Bond are motives to see this film, not great, not impressive but nice.

My wife hit it on the head by saying it was really a TV film and like Midsomer Murders without the Murders!

That's all I really wanted to say except that the performances were generally good and Burt Reynolds wig was excellent and looked almost real. I'm now trying to make this up to ten lines but don't really have that much to say and wish that short, pertinent comments were allowed. Oh I've just remembered that Suffolk suddenly had hills, moved presumably from the Isle of Man so that the film had a tax subsidy. I'm really struggling now to say anything else but I would like these comments to be seen by filmgoers. Phew