Tales of the City

One is always concerned when a great work of written fiction is dressed up for the screen, but you can have no worries about the integrity of this production. We all paint pictures of characters when reading a book, and these images remain locked in our minds.

More often than not, when these characters appear in the flesh on the TV, we are a little disappointed. Not in this case! Maupin's wonderfully colourful feast about San Francisco in the seventies transfers vividly to the screen. The emotion and pace of the written original is dutifully kept in this production, with sterling performances all round. Dukakis exudes mystery, D'Amico portrays the endearing 'Mouse' with style, and Linney is sublime.

Expect to be experiencing all the human emotions in this delightful mini series. Perfect.

I remember watching this on PBS when it first came out, and how absolutely riveting I found it. Never had I watched something and been so wrapped up in it. The characters were brilliantly written and brilliantly portrayed by the excellent cast. This program succeeded in bringing to life a time and place where you really did "have to be there". This program takes you there. Whether you're into countercultures, history, or just plain entertainment, there is no other program that I could more wholeheartedly recommend.

Please. This film deserves a good review because it addresses a pastiche of events, occurring in a diverse neighborhood. A reviewer panned this film because the characters do not "link together". That is the point.

Does everyone "link together" with their neighbors?. The characters are well presented, and Laura Linney was very good in this, one of her earlier roles. Chloe Webb also deserves mention. Olympia Dukakis is also very believable, given the surprise role she is playing.

Donald Moffat is a repressed ad guru (quite a common character, these days, it seems) and Dukakis and he develop a relationship. The beach scenes are diverse and romantic; like any city; it is complex, and everything has good and bad aspects.

For anyone with an open mind, this is a noteworthy film. San Francisco is a beautiful backdrop, and the happenings in human relationships remind us that romance is never predictable, never empirical. This is a lovely film about the caprices of human nature. 9/10.

These actors were so well cast. I had read the book long before the mini-series came along. But this cast was almost exactly what I had imagined as I read the chapters. What an amazingly interesting and fun story of life. Not just life in San Fran in the '70's, but of human emotions and interaction anywhere and anytime. Very well acted and directed. If you like this, then by all means, pick up all of Armistad's books - you'll love them!

In my quest to see every thing Parker Posey has ever done, I put this miniseries (and it's successors) on the back-burner. I finally got around to it and was very impressed! What a fascinating and engrossing show. It has this magical atmosphere that really made me wish I was living in SF in the 70s. Parker is only in it a bit, but she's got some great dialogue. Olympia Dukakis is lovely and Laura Linney (who I find somewhat overrated these days) shines in the lead as a naïve Midwestern girl moving to the big city for the first time. It's probably the best work I've seen from her. My only complaint about this (and I suppose the fault lies with the source material) is that so many of the story lines take such an abruptly dark and twisted turn in the final episode. Even though I typically go for dark themes in my entertainment, it seems to come out of left field here. Still, it's great overall, and even features a cameo from the notorious Karen Black, playing herself as a candy bar craving fat farm attendant!