isadorasdiary

Although this film may have been a (somewhat) unrealistic handling of the sort of back woods US towns I grew up in, Too Much Flesh likely did much more justice to the US than, say, Chocolat did to France. At least the French makers did the movie, set in Illinois, in English. Both films look into the provincialist persecution of freer sexuality and mores, but, with regard to the nature of sexual experience, at least, Too Much Flesh was a bit more realistic. It's not realistic just in that the "sex scenes" showed (almost) everything, but that real thought went into the directing of them. I noticed that the audience, like myself, was involved with these scenes just like any other acting in the movie - not seeing them just as an added entertainment perk, but as an important part of the subject matter. Overall, the main character, Lyle, the one with too much flesh, was a very inspired character, as was his actor, Jean-Marc Barr. The wife played by Rosanna Arquette embodied a very tortured and, I think, very possible psyche. Sure, there are weaknesses in the film. It might have been better if there were no "message" in the end, but leaving out the ending, the movie's progression was refreshing, with many interesting and original plot developments and a good number of laughs, too.

I have a lot of faith in Will Smith and Matt Damon. They seem to keep their integrity even through the worst settings (Smith in the *Fresh Prince of Belair* series and *Men in Black* and Damon in Spielberg's *Saving Private Ryan*). So when I saw they were both in this movie, I had to see it. Then I read some professional reviews from various magazines, etc., and heard almost nothing but that the movie was pretentious, slow, pointless, self-indulging, etc. Thank God I happened upon Ebert's review amongst all these negative ones. He nearly stood alone in judging it to be a movie with a lot to offer, and so I took the chance, and I think he was right. (If I were to do a review of movie reviewers, he'd get two thumbs up from me--very even-minded, not given to knee-jerks, even if I don't always agree with him.)

Though a long movie, I didn't notice the length. I have to admit, I stumbled through the choppy beginning as Charlize Theron struggled to hold up scenes on her own. I began to fear that all the other reviewers were right, but when the golf got started, so did the movie. It was a very nice movie about personal resolve and achieving excellence, and was wisely philosophical as well (through the mouth of Smith's Bagger Vance character).

By the way, I don't know anything about golf, but I read another user commentator who swears the movie was 100% historically accurate in depicting the state of golf at the time, even if there didn't seem to be quite as much racial prejudice on and off the golf course as you would expect during the Depression. The two golf competitors, played by Bruce McGill and Joel Gretsch, were both amazing supporting actors, making the golf competition that much more of a rich experience. The movie also had it's share of humor: the entire scene with Damon's character, Junuh, playing cards with his black drinking buddies; and when Junuh turns to Vance during the tournament and declares, "You're one hell of a caddy."

I'd probably only give the movie a 6, if I thought such unqualified ratings very valid, but if you go to movies to find at least a few great moments, as I do, this movie is sure to bring you out of the rough with a number of inspiring master strokes on director Robert Redford's part.