The Final Curtain

I recently watched this film on the Sundance channel, and it was wonderful. The performances were great, and it was especially enjoyable to watch Peter O'Toole. I think he gave one of his best contemporary performances in this film. You can tell he is still a master at his craft. This is a great film to watch on a rainy afternoon - great story, great cast. This film is wonderful and it gives you a glimpse into the dark world of show business - the shrewdness, the sometimes shady dealings that get people where they are in the industry. The tale the film tells is well woven and well told. I would recommend this film for younger audiences (18+) who maybe have not seen some of Peter O'Toole's older films. I think it is a great way for them to see a true master who is still at the top of his craft even though he is in the autumn of his years. A great film!

Obviously made on a low budget, so we have to concentrate on the story & the acting rather than computerised special effects or big Hollywood names. A unique storyline with duelling gameshow hosts and a narrator who is reluctantly writing the biography of one of them.

Well worth a watch, though I felt it strained belief towards the end. O'Toole (as ever) shows what being an actor REALLY means & why the present Hollywood generation are anonymous by comparison with the greats.

You'll remember this film long after you forget Charlies Angels 6 or the latest Jennifer Lopez epic

The only good thing one can say about this budget conscious, garish, cockamamie kludge is O'Toole. Telling of competing game show hosts, one old (O'Toole) and one young (Gillen), who have more in common than meets the eye, this dark comedy has little to offer beyond the Shakespearean performance of O'Toole who trudges doggedly through the script with inevitable futility. For wing nuts only. (C)

Peter O'Toole may be the only reason to watch "The Final Curtain", and it's of course a fabulous performance, although he is not given much to work with. The main problem here is that all the other actors are painfully bad and the script doesn't have the spark of "Trainspotting". All these young actors simply lack the charm and the talent to stand up to O'Toole, so their characters are utterly unconvincing and clichéd.

It's a shame when you look at it because you can't help but feel that Peter O'Toole's enormous talent is not being used properly. The movie's good intentions are noted, but the satire is pretty thin under this undistinguished direction, and there are clumsy plot holes throughout. I don't mean to say that this is a bad movie, but it could have been much better. Watch it for Peter's multi-layered performance, there's nothing like it.

As I saw in the last review I read, not many in this country have even seen it, But I viewed it today on cable and thought it was worth some thumbs up on my TiVo. It was of a class with O'Toole's "The Ruling Class" and (tho' he's aged much since that) shows that he still has a flair for the slightly sick comedy that many of us love. All I can say is I'm happy for digital cable with all the choices and TiVo for finding things that I enjoy. None of the other actors were known to me and I did not recognize the gal from "AB-FAB" but overall, it was a fun movie to watch. Much better than the "lesson" movies that Hollywood has chosen to give us in recent years. I am happy to confine my movie viewing to those of vintage (30's and 40s), foreign (even with subtitles) and the offerings of IFC and Sundance.