1969: i giorni della rabbia

I admit that I rented this because of Miss Ryder's name on the cover. However, this isn't really a Winona-Ryder-movie, she is secondary to the plot. Kiefer Sutherland and Robert Downey Jr. play the main characters, two irresponsible kids at the end of the 1960s, trying to avoid getting drafted or growing up. However, it didn't really touch me. The anti-war message could have been stronger if the war had felt more present. As ususal for a movie about kids, their parents are portrayed as being clueless about how things have changed since they were young. Scott's father seem to be thinking 'Whatever happened to the 1950s?' all through the movie.

Anybody who lived in the 60s, studied the 60s, or even heard about the 60s, knows that this movie reflects what the 60s were like about as accurately as the Barney movie shows us what dinosaurs were like. The script does all it can to tug at our emotions and make us feel all gushy about a better time while supplying no real plot and no interesting characters. Big loser of a movie. If you want to see a good movie about the 60s that also stars Kiefer Sutherland check out the great film Flashback.

On the surface, the film is about two friends: one straight, the other into drugs etc. The film explores their relationship. Then there is the dysfunctional families and how they impact on the boys. The backdrop is the vietnam war, the death of family members, and the draft. All these issues intertwine closely making the film complex.

The acting is excellent. A film to be watched

I only watched 1969 late night one night because the title indicated to me that it might be a film dealing with the issues of the time in the year with sincerity or promise, or even as a documentary. I didn't know how the film would go after the first couple of scenes I saw, but Bruce Dern seemed formidable enough to keep a watch. When the credits started to roll though I thought to myself, "what a cliché ridden disaster this became, why did I stick with it?"

I guess I stayed tuned because the actors seemed promising enough- Dern in a supporting role as a hard-nosed father, his son in the lead played by Kiefer Sutherland, his cocky best friend played by Robert Downey Jr., and his beautiful sister played by Winona Ryder. Sutherland's character, Scott, decides he doesn't want to go to Vietnam like his brother, so he enlists into college with Downey's character, Ralph, and the two begin to discover what they've been sheltered from- free-love, drugs, and soon enough sex.

Some of these early scenes seemed to look kind of silly, but I enjoyed the (partly obvious) soundtrack and thought if I stayed with picture (instead of flipping to a different, better movie) it might pay off in the second or third act. I got proved wrong, as line after line and moment after moment seemed to lower my expectations, and the characters headed towards an last scene that made me want to puke in my lap.

The probable cause of the pits in this movie come from writer/director Ernest Thompson. I don't know who he is really, and I haven't seen any of his other efforts as a filmmaker, but it looked as though he was either tapping into his own by-the-numbers first account of the turmoil that went with coming of age in that year, or was tapping into the memories of other baby boomer yuppies who still try to think back to when they wanted freedom before gluing themselves into the "me" generation.

The players tried to do what they could, a couple of scenes had some laughs, and I grinned at a line or two from Downey Jr. Yet I couldn't get over how much the movie hit its well intentioned points home with near propagandizing techniques. To sum it up, this is absolutely the soapy, "made-for-television" version of what life was like in 1969. If you want the truer, earthy version(s) see Woodstock or Easy Rider - those two may be folklore at this point for that generation, but at least they work as being entertaining thirty-four years later to the following generation. Grade: D

i can see why some people dislike this movie, but i enjoyed it.

good stuff: music (CSNY, Canned Heat, Creedence), costumes, subject, issues dealt with, cast! young Winona, Keifer & Robert Downey Jr., plus the van and cars, conflict btwn generations

bad stuff: melodramatic, simplistic, like a TV movie or Walt Disney.

there was a 1999 'mini-series' (2-part) on cbs i think that was a lot like this. ie; it's more a TV movie than an Easy Rider or Platoon. If you go in with the 'TV' mindset i'm sure you'll enjoy it if you like this subject and/or era -- the Vietnam War and its effects on American families.

i only knew of this era thru documentaries and books, but living in America in 2003, there are real war-tearing familial similarities that are only likely to get more exaggerated. seeing a portrayal, even a 'TV movie' version, just helps a little bit.