American Success

I saw this at SIFF (Seattle International Film Festival) and it was brilliant. I saw it later on TV and it was awful. WHY? Why would they take a fabulous show and take away everything that made it memorable? I just don't understand! The version I loved started with a voice-over (JB) describing it as a fairy tale about a giant (opening shot of Beatty's feet dwarfing skyscrapers as he treads through a miniature city, pulling back to establish perspective), a wicked queen (the nasty office gossip), and a princess (the lovely Belinda Bauer, not living in the real world at all). This metaphor was maintained throughout, and it worked! When he makes the decision to become two people, his own bland persona ("We met on my Junior Year Abroad and got married because people thought we looked good together.") and a wicked, dangerous, *attractive* alter ego with a scar and a limp, the change in the reactions he elicits are amazing.

Watching the scam take shape, I wasn't sure until it was over just how he was going to pull it off, but he did, and I was more than willing to believe that they lived happily ever after. The fairy tale metaphor holds the film together.

The version I saw on TV was unrecognizable. They'd completely eliminated the fairy tale frame, making it an implausible scam without sufficient skeletal structure to allow it to stand upright.

The film festival edit was one of the most fun films I've ever seen. The TV edit was ghastly. Why did Richert let them do it????? At the Q&A session at SIFF, he was talking about the difficulties making this film and "Winter Kills", and I suggested he walk with a limp. Who knows...it might have helped. It worked for Jeff Bridges!

The American Success Company is movie gold. In the vein of much better-known movies like, Joe vs the Volcano, Being There, and Flirting with Disaster. Much like the aforementioned movies, The American Success Company is a movie with transcendent messages at the core of the fun, funny and whimsical tale. I remember watching this during my college years and being completely entertained. Now, forty years later, it holds up better than ever. Only now, the underlying messages of positive masculinity (a non-pc term these days), positive thinking (the good kind) and relationship dynamics, I like this movie even more than I remember. The only flaw in this film (which really isn't a flaw) is the dated look and formatting which might bother some. It's formatted for theaters in what I think is 1.85:1 which looks more like it's formatted for television vs widescreen. The old look aside, this movie is money. To quote one of my favorite moveis (Swingers), it's "so money, that it doesn't know how money it is". See it! Share it! It's comedy and stoic philosphy gold.

The "American Success Company" (AKA "Good as Gold" or "The Ringer"). It was later re-edited slightly and titled "American Success". Then it was re-edited again with many scenes switched around, a couple scenes added, and a narration by Jeff Bridges added and titled "Success".

I'm not sure why it was re-edited twice, but I think the reason might be related to the reason it was never released on video (except for a few copies when it was re-titled "Good As Gold") in the U.S.

It's a somewhat humorous story about a guy (Bridges) who's considered by his boss (Beatty) and his bosses daughter, who's also his wife (Bauer), to be a loser. So, with some makeup, some exercise, and some help from a local prostitute (Jagger) he becomes a new man. He also conceives a plan to steal a lot of money from the company that he works for (AM-SUC-CO, a movie version of American Express).

The last version ("Success") has a narration by Jeff Bridges, which clears up a lot of plot holes and confusion that are in the first two versions of the movie. Plus, I liked the extra scenes in the last version, which aren't in the previous two versions. "Success" is the version to see if you can find it.

This is the worst most preposterous long dragged out film that sony should have thrown in the trash. I have never seen a worse movie. This was a HUGE mistake to make. It was torture to watch and thought it would never made. If I could rate it negative -100 I would. A waster of Jeff Bridges talent. This should NEVER be shown again.

An amusing premise, but ultimately not believable enough (even in a movie) to really enjoy. I suppose the actors all did as well as possible considering the material. Special notice to Bianca Jagger, who was thoroughly credible, Which makes me wonder how hard acting really is. Not taking anything away from Ms. Jagger's performance, just noting how non-actors seem to often do reasonably well in movies. Boring overall, except to those interested in seeing Jeff Bridges at such a young age. Grade: D