Rgdemond

This is a tissue-tugger if there ever was one! I haven't seen this movie in several years but growing up, I always made a point of seeing this movie. It is one of the few movies that as a young man and an adult that I have watched multiple times. I always found it very moving and an emotional experience. I don't normally cry at movies but this one always made me misty. I looked for it for several years, telling my wife what a great movie it was to see and how I wanted to share it with her. I finally wrote to several of the TV networks and got one to respond with the next time it was going to be on television. It was a big night in our household, popcorn popped, tissues handy, and kids to bed as we watched the movie. As the finally credits start rolling and I'm holding back from getting misty, I look to my wife, ask her what she thought and she answered with, "Is that all there is to it?" I was crushed to say the least.

At any rate, it still moved me, though I hadn't seen it in years. You feel for the struggles of the family, the harshness of the wilderness and the era for growing family. You see how adversity makes the family more close-knit and the bond between one another grows. No TV, no Nintendo, none of the amenities of today but the love and understanding that builds in a large family that relies on each other.

This movie has gotten more bad press and reviews than it deserves. I've definitely seen much worse movies,either prison, boxing or a combination of both. Now it's not Rocky but enjoyable. It has a fair plot, decent acting and average fight scenes. I was most disappointed with Peter Falk's character. Not enough background to appreciate the power he wields while in prison. Using an obscenity every other word was totally unnecessary and took away from the movie. The fight scenes would have been much better without looking through the bars of the cage for so much of the fight. It was decently choreographed but it was pretty antiseptic. You don't feel the pain like when you're watching any of the Rocky movies or any other notable boxing movies like Raging Bull. Bottom line, it was decent entertainment, but I'm glad it was rented and I didn't pay the exorbitant prices of going to the movie theater.

I am shocked that this movie has received such glowing reviews. I am more shocked that I watched the entire movie. I am shocked that Jeff Bridges and John Goodman, who have had such exceptional roles in movies and TV would lend themselves to this movie. Acting was so over the top in the pursuit of lampooning stereotypes, that I failed to see the humor. I suppose some of the action was meant to be slapstick but only seemed stupid. The movie was so gratuitously laced with obscenities throughout that it seemed to serve no purpose and lost its shock value after the first couple of minutes. The only redeeming value of this movie are some of the interesting camera shots like the bowling ball cam and some of the hallucinatory dream sequences (and the soundtrack). The Coen brothers have been asked if they came up with this storyline while under the influence. Perhaps but I think you would have to be under the influence to find any enjoyment out of this waste of time.