noelani54

I would never have made it through this had I not been too sick to do anything else. However, there are some good parts. Some of the singing and dancing numbers are fairly good and some of the characters work well together. The biggest problem, as I see it, is that neither of the two leads is much involved in any good numbers. I don't see a shred of chemistry between the leads, either. Maybe if someone else was in the role of Stefanie it might have improved things, but Michele Pfeiffer just isn't believable as a tough Italian girl (or a singer or dancer).

I think Lorna Luft, although a bit old to play a high school student, did a very good job, although I wish there had been a number that showed off her voice. Another standout, in my opinion, was Leif Green, as Davey. I don't know why they would have him in a side car, rather than his own motorcycle. That was silly, but I think he did a great job with the role. If only the film had been stronger, it might have led to more of a career, for him.

It was apparently expected to establish a career for Maxwell Caulfield, as well as Michele Pfeiffer. Although he was definitely very cute, I didn't really see much in the way of solid talent, there. While Michele Pfeiffer, although miscast in this film, in my opinion, did demonstrate some solid acting talent and later got the roles to prove it.

This film would not have been made, until decades later, had someone not blown the whistle, while it was still meant to be classified. It had worked so well, that they wanted to reserve the right to use it again, if there was a similar war any time in the near future. Since it was made, though, I think they did an excellent job on the film, starting with casting Clifton Webb as the mastermind of the operation. Gloria Graham added a great deal, too, although her character was mostly fictitious. Stephen Boyd as the German spy also added strength to it.

I loved the way they demonstrated respect to the corpse, and the extreme care they took to cover every base. How many Allied troops were saved, just that one landing, is unknown, but would certainly have been in the thousands.

To sum it up, I feel this was an excellent telling of a brilliant and dramatic event in history!

I've watched this about ten time, now. The Jackson Five was big when I was in high school and I loved the songs they did in the very early 70s. I love how this addresses how mature he was, as a child, and how he was so eager to learn and instinctively knew things that it took most adult artists years to learn. He was amazing, and in interviews, he always seemed so nice, and to enjoy what he was doing, immensely.

I love the fact that this documentary ends before what I think of as the artificial Michael Jackson started to come out. That part is so unspeakably sad that I can't stand to watch anything about it. I don't really think saying that is a spoiler, since the title says that it only goes through "Off the Wall".