Les rois de Las Vegas

Most of us of a certain age will remember the events in this movie as newspaper headlines. I have no idea how much fictionalisation there is but the film does capture the mood of the time and the sleazy blend of Las Vegas show business, gangsterism and American politics. There is no attempt to get look alikes for the main roles but their personalities are suggested rather cleverly. In the smaller roles I thought Dan O'Herlihy was a standout as the evil, conniving Joe Kennedy. The musical numbers are well integrated into the plot and nicely done.

The HBO movie, "The Rat Pack" chronicles the high-living times of the famous Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Peter Lawford) during the years 1958-1962. Supposedly based on fact, the story centers on the collision of personalities between the Rat Pack's leader, Frank Sinatra, and the Kennedy clan. In the story, Frank Sinatra so admires Senator Jack Kennedy that he'll do anything to help him be elected President. When it involves the dirty and unethical dealings of Joe Sr., Frank's reluctant, but game. Frank manipulates friends, brings in the Mafiosi, dumps on the downtrodden. So when Kennedy is elected what's Frank get? The shaft.

How much of the story is true? Who knows? But it does make for good entertainment, bringing along Marilyn Monroe, Bobby Kennedy, Joe DiMaggio and other period luminaries. The story is moved along by some excellent acting especially Don Cheadle as the tortured Sammy Davis Jr, Ray Liotta as Frank Sinatra and Joe Montegna as Dean Martin. It may twist the truth, but it's decent entertainment.

Liotta is the only weak link to this decent about the the elite group of entertainers who lived a life of luxury and prestige. Cheadle, Mantegna are impressive as Davis and Dino, but it's especially MacFayden as outsdier Peter Lawford who adds dimension to the piece. The story is a bit unbelievable, but then again, these guys weren't exactly angels. Cheadle won a Golden Globe.

"The Rat Pack" was a fairly good film. There were some squabbles over the casting but there's only so far that you can go with a film. Ray Liotta does a fairly good portrayal of Old Blue Eyes by playing him off as a cocky, brash, fast living human being with a penchant for being connected. The always good Don Cheadle portrays Sammy Davis as a human torn apart by bigotry during those days. Angus MacFayden, despite the fact that he looks like Peter Lawford when he was a teenager, is good at playing Lawford as an adulterer and reluctant political confidant to Sinatra. Joey Bishop lookalike Bobby Slayton has all the mannerisms and the look of Bishop himself. Joe Mantegna once again delivers portraying Dino as the real confidant to Sinatra who kept the middle ground between Sinatra and everything else. The film focuses on the Rat Pack's glory days as well as it's tie to the Kennedy family. It's very good despite how short the film is. The only problem I have is that it stops abruptly and doesn't continue on about the Rat Pack, how it's days ended and what not. Other than that, The Rat Pack is a satisfying rental for any fan.

Y'know, I really liked this film which recalls a year or two in the life of the Rat Pack, but I can't tell you why. I've watched the DVD four times in the last three days.

On the one hand, it is just a rehashing of some old cliches and an extended display of celebrity impersonations. (When Sinatra performs, for example, it is Ray Liotta's body and the voice of a fellow named Michael Dees)

Forget about the rest of the players ... they do OK, but this anonymous guy named Michael Dees is the real star ... a flawless recreation of Sinatra's phrasing on the Kennedy campaign song, the best-ever rendition of "One More for the Road", and more. This guy is so good it is eerie.

I guess what I liked about the movie is that it was just so much damned fun to live in those days again for a couple of hours. The movie did a decent job of showing what it was like to be hung up in the ring-a-ding, koo-koo life of the guys who had "the world on a string" for a couple of decades.

Forget the deep insights. There aren't any but, as Dino said, "you can't share your deepest feelings when you don't have any". The film did make an effort to show Sammy's inner conflict between his own sense of self-worth and the second class citizenship he was accorded by his country and even his buddies, but it was a clumsy attempt to be serious, like a drunken guy telling you how much he loves you, and frankly it provided some of the slowest moments in the movie.

But you'll marvel again at Dino's centered calm, Sammy's dazzling talent, Frank's complex and godlike power, JFK's charisma, and Frank's incomparable phrasing of a song ... even when it's actually sung by Michael Dees.