Kiss the Sky

Wrenching depiction of the male midlife crisis, in full bloom - completely acted out, with a kiss-off to the proverbial "American Dream." Well-cast with great scenery and direction, this film brings the audience into the internal struggle of two 40-something men trying to figure out what they and women really want out of life and relationships. With hopes and desires crumbling all around them, the American Dream not satisfying them, they accept the notion of process and continuous unsettlement, whether back with their families or off in a Buddhist monastery. The problem is not in what they have or do not have - it is with themselves. Very poignant angst captures the postmodern mindset.

Kiss the Sky is about two buddies Jeff and Marty who decide to go to the Phillipines to escape the wives and recapture the "freedom" of their youth. They end up becoming involved with a young Australian Girl played by Sheryl Lee of Twin Peaks fame. William Peterson plays Jeff, the more confident, outspoken, and dashing one and Marty is played by Gary Cole who is more emotionally shattered, but more into the religion of Buddhism.

Although the movie has some unnecessary sex scenes, it has some smartly written dialogue about the middle aged crisis that some men go through. It also shows kind of in a brutal way of what men want in a relationship and what a woman wants and how hard it is for the two sexes to communicate involving the emotions of the heart.

In their attempt to create their own Utopia, Jeff and Marty discover it is harder to turn to reality, then just holding onto the idea itself.

Terence Stamp gives the best performance playing a witty buddhist monk who gives advice to the two men. Patricia Charbonneau gives a great performance and still looks fantastic to this day.

This movie is definitely not for the whole family and I believe will cause discomfort for some men and women who watch due to honest dialogue of the movie and also because it deals with problems that I think a lot of married couples can relate to.

I picked up this movie because I have become interested in the career of Willim L. Petersen and wanted to see as much of his film work as possible.

I have read the comments here and do not agree that this is mostly a man's movie. I am a 50 year old woman and have spent some time questioning my life choices over the past year. I enjoyed seeing the mid-life crisis issue from a man's perspective; sort of like I had been allowed into a secret club for a little while. Clearly men and women are just wired up differently, making communication difficult if not impossible at times. I am tickled to have had access to this little glimpse of the way some men think and feel.

As for William Petersen, well, the role of Jeff was a good role for him, allowing him to be charming and gritty at the same time. Anyone who is interested in Petersen's acting will enjoy this movie for that alone.

I do not understand the rating for this one - I rated it an 8.

My guess is that women will not enjoy this movie, not to mention men who only like movies with a lot of action or comedy. This movie is definitely a talk-fest, but if you are interested in philosophy (why am I here?), you should like this one.

Men - I do not recommend watching this with your significant other. If you do, be prepared to say "I would never do that" and "I do not identify with these guys at all", otherwise, many arguments are predicted.

That's all my wife could say while she was watching this movie. And I recommend that men not identify too much with these guys if the want to stay in their SO's good graces. I had to promise that I would not... several times during this movie.

Kiss the Sky has not received a lot of attention and the critics panned it. Nonetheless, it holds your attention, and it actually inspired a "deep" conversation afterwards. And I'm not a deep guy. This is bad TV at its best.