Un loup dans la bergerie

Roger Moore, my fave Bond, finally gets a chance to show his acting chops. This flick is about a mysterious stranger who comes into the lives of three very different women and has a gorgeous Maine setting.

The only weak point is an out of place crime subplot. But it's wrapped up not too shabbily by the cast, director, and screenwriter. The screenplay could've been better, but all in all it's a mildly amusing, slight, harmless movie.

This film made me also realize that actor Jake Weber, who plays a hitman in this film, was not Alan Cumming. I always thought Alan was the guy from Meet Joe Black. They look so much alike, I guess it was easy for me to confuse them as the same dude.

I just wish old Rog would do some more dramatic roles in films like this. I always thought it would be great if Stanley Kubrick had cast Roger in Sydney Pollack's role in Eyes Wide Shut. Kinda like how Quentin Tarantino took a chance on Robert Forester, another under appreciated actor, in Jackie Brown. Ah, well, what might have been...

But I, as usual, well, not that usual, digress. See Bed & Breakfast. Dig?

I've got two favorite Robert Ellis Miller films - "Hawks" (featuring Timothy Dalton) and "Bed & Breakfast" (featuring Roger Moore , Colleen Dewhurst and Talia Shire) which originally was considered as a TV movie , but it was found very interesting so it was shown at cinemas. (The film was made in 1989 but it was first shown in 1992.)I'm not surprised because it's one of the best movies I've ever seen. Whole cast is just great but especially Roger Moore who proves that he's someone more than the Saint or Bond. He's a great actor.

Claire is a widower with a teenage daughter Cassie who runs a hotel with her mother in law, Ruth. Claire is trapped in an introspective world of mourning, Ruth longs for a man just to make her feel young again while Cassie is just discovering the world of sex and love. Into this mix comes a man who survived being thrown off a boat many miles out to sea. Adam settles in nicely but the men who thought he was dead are still after him.

I didn't have high hopes for this and it didn't let me down. The plot is very light despite the efforts to give it some drama with the crime subplot. However this subplot is a very damp squib indeed and climaxes with all the excitement and tension of a fart in a wet bag. The main story is the relationship between the three women and Adam, this is what should have made the film but this too is unconvincing for the most part. Adam affects them all in different ways and sparks things in each of them, however it is very sedentary and gets a bit dull after a while.

If the romance and the relationships had had a little more sparkle to them then it would have been a lot better, as it is only Dewhurst manages to bring some fire to her role but even then it seems very OTT and hammy in the middle of so much quietness. Moore is actually very good but only because he looks like he's got his tongue in his cheek the whole time with that constantly raised eyebrow! But he is nicely understated and doesn't make fun of the film so much as enjoy it's gentle pace. Oh – and how does he always manage to look 15 years younger than he is!?

Siemaszko is OK but has little to do but throw teenage strops etc. Shire meanwhile just takes it too seriously. This could have been a light romantic drama but instead she drags it's mood way down. She spends too much of the film sitting and staring into space looking sad. While Moore tries to be tanned and lively she just looks pale and sad. I know that her character demanded some of that in the role, but too much starts to sink the enjoyment a bit.

Overall I have to say that this is an average film that will probably only appeal to Moore complete-ists or those whose standard for entertainment starts and ends with daytime TV movies. It has a nice romantic, fun side to it but this edge is dulled by the majority of the film.

"Bed & Breakfast" is a film that you'd assume would be pretty bad. After all, it has a score of 5.4 on IMDB...which is well below the IMDB average. However, I was shocked that I really enjoyed the film...even though some might hate that it's a bit predictable. But to me, that predictability isn't a bad thing...sort of like a romance novel that leaves you feeling good.

Three generations of women live in a house they use as a B&B in Maine. However, they are three miserable women. Ruth is the grandma (Colleen Dewhurst) is old...but longing for excitement, love and sex...but she's afraid it's all passed her by. Claire (Talia Shite) is the mother...and she's very uptight about sex and carries her dead husband's memory with her everywhere. And, Cassie (Nina Siemaszko) is Claire's daughter...and she longs to leave the repressive home, as her mother finds fault with so much that Cassie does. However, when a stranger literally washes up on the shore, this unusual man (Roger Moore) ends up impacted all three of their lives for the better.

Predictable? Sure...often. But romantic movies usually have a certain amount of formula to them...so I could forgive this. I liked the acting, the nice story and the way the film worked out at the end. A nice date movie...or just a nice movie.

By the way, this was Colleen Dewhurst's last film and it debuted just after her death. It's a nice ending to her long career.

Bed and Breakfast is one of the few films that Roger Moore made following his departure from the James Bond hotseat in 1985, after A View to a Kill. At the height of his popularity (and employment) in the 1970s, Moore was frequently criticised for giving simplistic performances in roles which demanded virtually nothing of his talents. Ironically, this film features perhaps his best performance of all, yet was made at a time when he appeared in hardly any films at all.

The story is undeniably slight, but diverting all the same. It tells of a con man (Moore) who is washed ashore - bruised and beaten after being thrown off a gangster's yacht - on a beach in Maine. The nearest building is a ramshackle bed and breakfast hotel run by three generations of women, all from the same family and all constantly bickering about their (unimpressive) lot in life. Moore talks his way into their lives and awakens long repressed sexuality in all three of them. Then, predictably, the gangsters he was involved with earlier turn up and threaten his ruse....

The gangster subplot is quite hokey and does little to increase the interest of the picture. The film would have been enjoyable enough without it. However, the inter-relationship between Moore and the three isolated, frustrated women makes for intriguing and occasionally heart warming viewing, and gives all the actors the chance to deliver some excellent dialogue. The background photography, capturing the lovely Maine seascapes, is a treat throughout.

Bed and Breakfast is a film that everyone should see. No classic, true enough, but definitely one of Moore's best films and a totally harmless and civilised way to while away a lazy afternoon.