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I guess that everyone has to make a comeback at some point. And that's exactly what embarrassed Taft resident Jack Dundee (Robin Williams) intends to do in "The Best of Times". Yep, the man who went all crazy with the radio in "Good Morning, Vietnam" is playing football. In this case, he seeks to replay a game that cost his high school a prestigious title. But ex-teammate Reno Hightower (Kurt Russell) isn't just going to go along with it so easily.

Granted, it's not the best movie for either man. But Williams and Russell are actually a pretty good comedy team. And some of the names in this movie are likely to give you the giggles (to say the least). Check it out.

Moron, California was renamed Taft after the discovery of oil. The town suffers from a losing streak until 1972 when star quarterback Reno Hightower (Kurt Russell) seemed poised to win against hated rival Bakersfield. Hightower suffered a career ending knee injury as he launched the perfect game winning pass. Jack Dundee (Robin Williams) dropped the ball and has been haunted by that moment. Present day, he is a bank VP and married to the boss's daughter. His boss, the Colonel, is a big Bakersfield booster who taunts him relentlessly. Reno's life is stale and his wife Gigi (Pamela Reed) wants a divorce to try singing in L.A. Jack gets his car fixed every week by Reno but it's only an excuse to drive the loaner out to the massage parlor to see former Homecoming Queen Darla. She comes up with the idea to replay the game which ended in a tie. Using lies and blackmail, Jack convinces the town to battle Bakersfield once more.

I like the general concept of this black comedy. I'm fine with Jack being a little weasel although Robin Williams may be wasted in this role. I would like more friendship between him and Reno. Their bitterness taints the chemistry. It makes the movie less fun than it should be. In the end, the few laughs are just enough to make this work.

Kurt Russell and Robin Williams star in this comedy about two men who try to get back their past and hopefully their futures by replaying an old high school football game where Williams dropped a Russell pass...Kinda like this movie, the ball was dropped. A good leading cast but there is not enough script to make the viewer care or laugh..on a scale of one to ten...5

Jack & Reno have become very mediocre married men, but they have one claim to fame: they were heroes in high school when they played football. The only problem is they lost "that game," the one most important game of the season; then they went on to live their lives, marry the high school sweethearts, and never got a chance to redeem themselves. This has become an obsession, to the point where they can't do anything but think about football. They watch every game that's on.

The problem is, their wives are sick to death of hearing about it- so sick of hearing about football, they are talking about divorce. Still- this obsession is almost as important to them as their marriages.

There is an hilarious scene in which they have finally talked their wives into giving them one more chance, and the four of them are having dinner together. Unfortunately, the wives have picked the worst night of the week to ask them over for dinner: football night. As the four of them sit at the dinner table, the wives are unaware that the football game is on in the next room, and they are more absorbed in the game than in the conversation at table. Watching out of the corners of their eyes, they finally blow their own cover by hollering and screaming at an exciting football play.

Of course, they end the movie with a horribly-played game in which they redeem themselves and everybody is happy ever after. It is the study of men and how they tend to focus on their masculine pursuits to the most ridiculous extremes. And it is a study of how women deal with these "boys will be boys" types. Very real, very funny, and something many of us can surely identify with!!

Who doesn't have something in their past they wish they could go back and do over? In THE BEST OF TIMES, Jack Dundee (Robin Williams) has been known in Taft as the "guy who dropped the ball" in a high school football game 13 years ago. But honestly, he isn't the only one in that small town who longs for the glory days. With him is Reno Hightower (Kurt Russell), the town's star quarterback who now runs a car repair shop. And to complicate things further, both of them are having marital issues, some of which stem from Jack's insistence at not letting go of the past. The whole story is quite a mess, with some scenes leading nowhere, and others being cringe-inducing in their reliance on cliché. Still, there are a couple of scenes which stood out as being particularly good. First, there is a dinner scene between Jack, Reno, and their wives which reminded me of a similar scene in Mrs. Doubtfire. Also, the climactic game was well-done, even if the way it ends is a foregone conclusion before the film really even starts. Full disclosure: I'm not much of a football fan (or sports, for that matter). However, I can appreciate a good sports movie when I see one. This isn't one of those movies. As a comedy, it's adequate and Robin Williams does give a good comic performance as a put-upon man with some unresolved personal issues regarding his past. Kurt Russell also does a nice job as the straight man, but the chemistry between him and Williams isn't as good as one would expect. Still, both of them do the best with the material they were given. Ultimately, I like to think of this movie as not really being about high school football. It works better as a feel-good comedy about wish-fulfillment and fixing past mistakes. On that level, I think the film can be enjoyed. Overall, this isn't particularly essential viewing but should prove a decent diversion for Robin Williams or sports fans.

I love this movie, but the music at all the alumni gatherings is just stupid.

The fateful game took place in 1972. That means that the protagonists graduated in 1972. But almost all of the music played at the dances etc. is from the 1950s and very early 1960s.

Having just attended my 30th high school reunion, I can assure you that the last music to be played at a reunion or dance of former high school people is their parents' music.

I understand the difficulty of finding relevant 1970s music -- we all know what a desolate time it was musically. But it wasn't completely bereft, and the producers of the film should have taken more care. I found those dance scenes very jarring to my otherwise willing suspension of disbelief in the rest of the film.

This was a bad director and/or producer decision.

This film looks like it did nothing at the box office and with only 28 reviews at the time of this writing one can say it was not the most memorable of films. However, despite the fact it was not a success at the box office it had its moments. It was not all good, but not all bad. The film stars Robin Williams, a man who in high school dropped the winning touchdown against his school's biggest rival and ever since that time the town has gotten stale and so has his life. So too, has the life of the star quarterback played by Kurt Russell. So to try and put things right in a way, Williams character tries to get a football game together between the schools again using the same players that played that fateful game so many years ago. It is humorous in some parts, but one of those films that gets slow too, it also has Robin Williams and he can be a bit over the top a lot of the times. Here he is actually kind of reserved, for him anyway. His character has a nifty way to get everyone on board with his idea as at first people are a bit hesitant about doing it. However, the film plays out in rather predictable fashion as one just knows how this one is going to end.

If you can ever wrap your mind around the concept of Robin Williams as a high school jock I think you might enjoy The Best Of Times. What this is not is a film using the hit song from La Cage Aux Folles as a theme.

Instead Robin Williams plays a guy with a reputation of blowing a long pass from quarterback Kurt Russell in a final game with Bakersfield that blew the state championship for the best high school team that Taft, California ever produced. In fact the opening narrative makes it quite clear that Taft, California is one loser of a town throughout its history. Still living in a small town and married to Holly Palance, daughter of Donald Moffat who was a booster of the Bakersfield team has made life pretty miserable.

No more miserable than it was for Kurt Russell who blew out a knee when the entire Bakersfield line nailed him just as he got off the pass that Williams dropped thereby losing a possible pro career.

So Williams who's had 15 years of taunts decides to challenge his father-in-law to replay the game and maybe history won't repeat itself. It's going to take a lot though to motivate the rest of the team, especially Russell, but Williams has a bag of tricks.

I guess there's nothing sillier then old men trying to act young again. As Bill Holden said to Gloria Swanson, there's nothing wrong with being 50 unless you try to act like you're 25. That forms the basis for most of the comedy in The Best Of Times.

Both Williams and Russell have done better work, but this one will provide a few laughs. Still Williams as a jock does not compute.

The 1980's plus Kurt Russell and Robin Williams......sign me up. I enjoyed it and would encourage fans of these two guys to check it out.

I remember one day I was sitting around the house, bored. I saw that a movie was coming on and that it had Kurt Russell and Robin Williams, so I thought I ought to check it out. It was one of those great moments where I was unexpectedly greeted with a really fun, charming movie.

Both Russell and Williams give funny performances, but their characters also feel pretty real. The girls are also quite believable and fun to watch. The football scenes are funny, but when it's not making you laugh, it seems genuine. I also felt drawn into this little town called "Taft". Here's this little town that seems quite small with not a lot to do, yet I found something enthralling about it. No doubt the characterizations are a big plus for the film. I highly recommend this movie, whether you like football or not because the cast and director really make it work.

Robin Williams is a great actor but this surely isn't his best movie. In the first fifteen minutes the whole story is clear: they are going to play the match, win it and live happily ever after with their wives. The tale is the same as any 'sports' movie made in the 1980's; the only difference is that the guys are older.

kurt russell is in top form as grizzled reno hightower in this classic sports film from the 80's. a decaffeinated robin williams garners laughs as a sad-sack football revisionalist, jack dundee, aquarius, (gotta, gotta, gotta satisfy) who is on pins and needles as he grubs on the daughter of jack "the big boss" palance, in sheer, naked horror of her father's horrid, horrid wrath. donald moffat nearly steals the show as dundee's overbearing father-in-law, which harkens back to michael caine's work in jaws 4, which, in turn, echoes c. thomas howell's classic performance in soul man. you'll grip the edge of your seat as you witness the braveheart-esque titanic clash of dr. death and jack dundee (who's pretty fast for a caucasian).

I could watch football movies on an endless loop. I love all sports movies really, but football movies seem to be able to hype me up more and get me more emotionally involved.

In the movie "The Best of Times" Jack (Robin Williams) was a man stuck in the past--1972 to be exact. That would be the year that Taft High School ended their game in a tie with Bakersfield because Jack dropped the game winning pass. He never got over it.

In order to reclaim past glory for himself and the town of Taft he set up a rematch between the two 1972 teams. This was going to be his chance to rewrite history for himself, the QB, Reno (Kurt Russell), and Taft.

Robin Williams is always funny. Even still, it was some slow going in the beginning. The movie picked up once the game was afoot (to use a Sherlock Holmes phrase). The comedy, the drama, and suspense was kicked up a notch once the game started.

One of the funniest exchanges was when Reno told Jack to look alive because he was being covered by Dr. Death (Vister Hayes).

Jack: "Dr. Death? I thought he was in jail."

Reno: "No. He's out on parole."

Jack: "Parole?"

It was hilarious and it gave you a true feel of what Taft was up against. In football movies the protagonists are always playing for something no matter how small or how big and it never really matters. All that matters is that the game matters to the guys playing it.

One of the goofs is the chalkboard shows plays that would be flagged for procedure or ineligible man downfield if ran. Car shown in QBs home lot (blue AMC Pacer) would be similar to model shown in Wayne's World series.

Formula eighties comedy with the only real fun factor, being the two great actors Kurt Russell and Robin Williams. Even they dont perform excellent, but good enough to make it an enjoyable watch for fans of either two actors.

The good: it's eighties formula fun, to be recommended for eighties fans (only).

The bad: it's dated, it's cliche, it's not really funny most of the time, but it's simply okay.

The story: a small town and it's inhabitants (Kurt Russell and Robin Williams) have never gotten over loosing an American Football game in the past and they decide to challenge the winners to a rematch.

Passable little comedy/drama about small town losers wanting another shot at winning the high school football game they lost so many years before. Robin Williams plays the running back who dropped what would have been the winning touchdown and Kurt Russell plays the star quarterback. Many years removed from high school, the two find their marriages and finances on the rocks. Williams then convinces everyone to recreate the big game between rival towns in some vain hope that it will change everything in his life for the better. The script is by Ron Shelton, who'd later go on to write some memorable sports movies ("Bull Durham," "White Men Can't Jump," "Cobb," "Blue Chips," etc.) and would direct Kurt Russell in one of his best leading roles ("Dark Blue"), but this film is nowhere as memorable and hardly one of Russell's best roles. Williams' uptight banker character is just annoying, completely unlikable, and surprisingly unfunny. If it were not for the likability of Russell, I think this film would have been a complete dud.

I think "The Best of Times" was a lost cause from the get go. The initial premise (guy drops the winning touchdown pass against a rival high school team, can never seem to get over it and then tries to reunite the two teams to play again) is one of the dumbest I have ever heard. Since Ron Shelton went on to write much better sports films I wonder if there was more to it then that. I hope this film wasn't green lit with Shelton pitching the story as I wrote above.

So we have the premise. Going from there you would think, or hope, that there might be a few twists along the way to keep things lively. No such luck. This script follows every predictable cliché you can think of. There isn't a moment in this film you won't see coming a mile away before the film reveals it and the ending.... well if you can't figure out the ending by the end of the first reel then you haven't paid attention or seen any other sports movie in your life.

Robin Williams and Kurt Russell star (and bore) in the leads. Williams is the poor schmo who dropped the big pass and Russell is the quarterback who threw the fateful pass. Gee, do you think Russell will suit up just once more to see if he and Williams can right a wrong that the town has never forgotten? This is such a lame duck comedy with a lame duck script that one can only shake their heads wondering what might have been. Sure there are a few chuckles and, to be honest, there is one truly funny scene. Williams and Russell have marital problems and the wives invite them over for dinner to resolve things. Neither guy realizes that they have been invited over on a Monday and, yes, Monday Night Football is on. Keeping in mind that the two teams playing have a combined one victory, the men (Williams especially) try to resist the temptation to find out how the game is going. The scene dissolves into some hilarious bits as Williams goes to check the score by using a bathroom visit as a ruse. When he returns he coughs the score to Russell. Later as Russell is starting to make the moves on his wife Williams wheels the television into their view from another room.

It's an inspired and funny scene in a mostly uninspired and stupid movie.

Kurt Russell is at his best as the man who lives off his past glories, Reno Hightower. Robin Williams is his polar opposite in a rare low key performance as Jack Dundee. He dropped the Big Pass in more ways than one.

You'll see some of the most quotable scenes ever put into one film, as Jack hisses at a rat, Reno poses, and the call of the caribou goes out.

Don't miss this classic that isn't scared to show football in the mud the way it should be played (note to the NFL).

Robin Williams does his best to combine comedy and pathos, but comes off a bit shrill. Donald Moffat is too one-note as his father-in-law. Jeff Bridges is excellent though as the quarterback, and Holly Palance and Pamela Reed are marvelous, carrying the film through most of its rough spots. It fills time nicely, but is little more than that.

This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Robin Williams fit into the part like a rhino would fit into a tutu, even so his performance was still pitiful. Kurt Russell was more believable but still was awful. The plot left much to be desired and the rest of the acting was also terrible. The only thing this movie had going for it was the trailer, which suckered me in to wasting 90 minutes of my life which could have been better spent trying to lick the back of my head.

Do yourself a favor and burn this movie if you have it. If not, just be happy you don't.