Kiss the Sky

I accidentally watched this movie around four or five years ago on TV as I spent my time away searching for something to watch on a friends house in the Middle East. I wasn't even focusing much on the plot then or whatsoever though the few naked scenes which I had the luck of seeing first of all the other scenes kept me interested enough so as not to switch channels for a while. I found it not really my type then (because then I was just in my mid thirties?). What interested me more afterward as this movie rolled on was that the language spoken in the background (aside from English) and the scenery seemed to be all too familiar. I'm a Filipino and hey, they were speaking Tagalog and those were places and items from the Philippines..the beaches, the markets, the festivals, the foot-pedaled trikes, passenger jeepneys etc., etc... In particular I was puzzled by their depiction and use of the Taal volcano island on Taal lake which they seemed to call Lake Toba in the film. Well back then, I already had this grand illusion that such place is the most beautiful of all places in the world (and I did travel a lot worldwide). The movie at least jived with my opinion that that place is paradise literally (though of course as the monk has said we create our own paradises or we pursue our paradises in vain?). Anyway these days I searched again for this movie for another value since I turned 40. It really appealed to us mid-lifers- white or Asian perhaps. Enjoy watching- its about you if you are more like my age and male of course. Though of course I don't approve of the threesome. And I love Sheryl Lee, I wonder where she is now.

I don't know who the person was who wrote the summary, but he/she did this movie no justice by dismissing it as a couple of guys on a mid life alcohol/drug fueled crisis. My take: I've been in the video biz for 20 years because I love movies--especially those amazing auteur classics Hollywood somehow let slide for so long in the 70s-- and I'm now 48, comfortable, guilty, confused, and feeling totally misunderstood, misjudged, and about to give up. Then I run across "Kiss the Sky", this incredible movie that actually tries to honestly describe the emptiness inherent in being a successful upper middle class (probably white) American Male. How many buddy movies have you seen like "City Slickers" or "Very Bad Things" that almost get that ineffable feeling of loss and despair right only to cop out with lowest common denominator humor or cheap sentiment? "Kiss the Sky", given the times and given the state of the movie industry is the closest we'll ever get. Deftly sidestepping cliches and easy answers, this tale of 2 middle aged guys who are smart enough to know that their material success doesn't mean that much and isn't really their doing anyway goes bravely if imperfectly where no movie that I have ever seen has gone before. ("Leaving Las Vegas" has some resonance but it's ultimately a one man story, not a generational statement.) I don't know where this movie came from or how it got made or who was nuts enough to think it had any commercial viability (it doesn't except if it's hawked as a hard R straight-to-video cheapie, and the person who wants that will be disappointed by this.) Anyway, if I'm speaking to you, watch this movie!

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.

Jeff (William L. Petersen) and Marty (Gary Cole) are best friends and in a middle age crisis. They spent time remembering their feats in their youths. Jeff is married with Franny (Patricia Charbonneau) and has two daughters. Marty is married with Beth. In their marriages, something is missing or was lost. When they travel to Philippines, they meet Andy (Sheryl Lee), a very different woman, and they both fall in love with her. They have a threesome and decide to leave their families and live together. They are introduced to Kozen (Terence Stamp), a Zen Buddhist monk friend of Andy, and they decide to build a refuge in one isolated beach. After a period together, Jeff misses his family and the relationship of the group deteriorates when Andy falls in love with Jeff. This movie, about uncertainties in the middle age, is very interesting. The story is not corny and I found it pleasant. The character of Jeff, who never finishes anything, always full of doubts, is very human. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): `Paraíso das Ilusões' (`Paradise of the Illusions')