Last week I talked a little about a movie with Dustin Hoffman as an ex-con trying to to straight, so I thought I'd follow that up with a movie with Dustin Hoffman as a guy who's broken away from his criminal past and gone straight for more than 20 years. He thought for sure he was out, but he gets pulled back in.
It happens because of his son, played by Matthew Broderick. The patriarch in the family, Sean Connery, is an unregenerate rogue and crook, so for 23 years Hoffman has kept his son away from his grandfather. But genetics is a terrible thing. Broderick is fascinated by his grandfather. He drops out of college and tells Connery about a simple caper that will pay off hugely. Connery's all for it, and he finally manages to persuade Hoffman to take part. Would it surprise you to learn that things to go as planned?
I'm not going into specifics here, but some get off more lightly than others as a result of the flubbed caper. The last act of the movie is pretty much a mess, and there are a couple of plot holes that are worrisome. Still, there's a great cast and a great director, Sidney Lumet. So it's not a total loss. Judy and I went to see it in the theater, not knowing what to expect but thinking that with the cast it had, the movie would be great. It's not great. It's sort of middling, or that's my take on it. Considering all the talent involved, it should've been better. Maybe you like it more than I do.
It's hard to believe it's been almost 30 years since this movie was released. It's a very good fantasy that sometimes doesn't get the credit it should. As usual, however, I have trouble summarizing the plot. It's a bit more complicated than I'm going to make it sound, but here goes:
Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer play lovers separated by the curse of an envious and jealous bishop. The curse is that they are always together but can never touch. Peiffer, during daylight hours is a hawk and human at night. Hauer is a wolf at night and human during the day. Only during a brief instant at sunrise and sunset can they see one another in their human shapes.
Hauer has a plan to kill the bishop, but he needs someone to get him inside the city of Aquila and to the bishop so he can do it. That's where Broderick, who plays a clever thief known as Mouse, comes in. When Hauer kills the bishop, the curse will become complete, and there will be no hope for the lovers to reunite. They think it's that way already, so revenge is their only satisfaction. But of course there's a way to break the curse. Will they be able to do it? Far be it from me to spoil the suspense.
There is suspense in the movie, and it's also pretty funny (depending on your tolerance for Broderick in a role like this; mine is pretty high). The action scenes are very good, and the whole movie looks great. So does Pfeiffer, by the way. The movie's worth seeing for her alone. Check it out.
