I love this movie so much

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Don't be fooled by the dark glasses in the cover of its DVD box or its poster, this John Huston film is not about a hipster's feel-good adventure and Finney is no Hercule Poirot here (although he does reunite with his co-star Bisset from MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS 1974, 9/10), the truth is, it is adapted from Malcolm Lowry's classic but "unadaptable" novel with the same title. Set in 1939, Mexico, starts on the eve of the Day of the Dead, it focuses on a former British consul's life in one-day span, plagued by incorrigible alcoholism and blindsided by his ex-wife's return with an attempt to rekindle their new life together, he begins to realize he is a lost cause which is beyond any succor, and the finale is both stalely traumatizing and embarrassingly contrived. But one sure thing is that Finney devotes fully to the role and evokes wondrous affections from the very beginning, he is a genuine force of self-destruction, a damaged soul would be a nuisance to others, but underneath his portly and alcohol-soaked figure, he represents one state-of-mind can virtually remind us how fragile and pathologically determined one can be, even it heads to a doom. His two co-stars, Bisset and Andrews, come on board also pretty strikingly with their different nature of temperaments, Bisset is the glamorous ex-wife who balks at her further step as we do watch her hemming in the quandary, Andrews is a pleasant matador, his side of the story should have been more explored, clearly he knows what had happened between the couple, but nobody cares to shed a light here, as the horrible coda lurks, the movie only manages to exert all its energy to an irksome case of xenophobia without giving any justice to its cause and effect. So undeniably Houston's later career wanes harshly in quality, still, a notable mention should be addressed to the legendary composer Alex North (grabs his last Oscar nomination out of a total 15 nominations without a win except an Honorary award in 1986), whose eerie opening score of the variegated skull show does set a high bar to what this anti-climax film would actually offer, sad to say but this is another John Huston work I dare not to advocate (after THE MAN WHO COULD BE KING 1975, 5/10 and PRIZZI'S HONOR 1985, 5/10).

This is a masterpiece, based on a major modern novel by Malcom Lowry.... Finney and Huston at their best... This is almost too much! Albert Finney is one of the greatest living actors, usually taking the characters he plays much higher than one expects... Luckily enough, Huston (and later Figgis) gave to Finney material that stands equal to his greatness. I think the movie is beyond criticism. Huston takes a thorny modern novel and translates it into a powerful drama. Although the plot does not provide a happy-ending, the movie is far above "good". The photography, the dialogues, the music and the cast are all exceptional. I consider the movie one of the 10 movies that one has to watch before one dies! A true masterpiece...

Albert Finney's performance of alcoholism is shattering and spot on. This movie should be required as adjunctive therapy in the field of alcoholism recovery. The feeling of hopelessness that permeates this movie makes it an experience the viewer should be advised about.This movie packs a punch and Finney's performance is as exact and nuanced as is possible. His posture, his mental states, emotions, facial expressions, use of language, clothing, physicality are completely consistent with those of an alcoholic in an advanced stage of the disease.Although it's a one-man movie, the other main players act exactly as real people do when dealing with alcoholics and portray the emotions and feelings that surround alcoholic situations.This movie is definitely not a walk in the park.

Imagine Albert Finney, one of the great ham bones of the acting world. Imagine one of the great ham bones of the acting world playing a character who's drunk for the entire length of the movie. If you can imagine this, you can imagine why the audience applauded when Albert Finney's character finally died because it meant that the movie was apt to be over soon as well. Predictable and self-consciously "arty," the movie never seemed to be about anything, but rather seemed to be a vehicle for Albert Finney to overact (as usual). The plot was non-existent and the characters were stereotypical "strangers in a strange land."