It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

I enjoyed watching it quite a bit. Best actor there-Don Cheadle, was prob the most miscast though it was fun to watch him play Sammy. Deano was done alright by Montengna, while Lawford was shown to be a real wuss. Joey Bishop well he was just a cameo so who can say? Now Sinatra-Liotta has the attitude and manner down, but sure doesn't look like him. He's also over 6 foot while Ol' Blue Eyes was 5-9 maybe and skinny. But as Sinatra, Liotta wasn't a bad choice.You get a crash course in familiar faces/big names here: Sam Giancana, JFK, Joseph Kennedy, RFK, Marilyn, Joltin Joe, Johnny Rosselli, Ava Gardner, hmmmmm I am sure I'm leaving someone out but you get the idea. All this and some Hoover eavesdropping too! You even have allusions to J. Edgar and that infamous blackmail pic of him and Clyde Tolson, Mickey Cohen, a ludicrous scene of Sinatra trying to phone Nixon to concede the election(!) and of course, Dan O'Herlihy(from Robocop etc etc) running everything too. And yes the Klan shows. O and don't forget May Britt...Oh the buying of West Virgina primary votes and the Chicago votes by the mob too. That we all heard of as well.So was this any good?! Sure. Did I buy into it? Well...mostly. I got a kick outta Sinatra's tantrum when he found out that BING of all people was getting to host JFK instead of himself in California, and he starts to bash apart the half-finished additions to his Palm Springs mansion. Quite funny.The woman playing Ava was beautiful though Marilyn wasn't so convincing. Judith Campbell/Exner well that came off okay. Momo was shown w/ Rosselli tossing around the idea of 'whacking Frank', which hadda be a twist on things if ever there was one. This I did actually buy.Overall you will enjoy it though it did need some more of JFK's time in office, the CSI guy as JFK was a hoot. I liked their sailing scene together him and Sinatra.You won't go wrong with this if you just sit back and take it with a grain of salt.*** outta ****

First of all, this is a great movie. HBO has done it again by producing another interesting and thought provoking original movie. But, I have one complaint about the film. I am a New Englander such as our former President Kennedy was. He was born in Brookline and grew up in south eastern Massachusetts and he summered often in and around Cape Cod. When it comes to ice cream toppings, we here in New England don't have chocolate sprinkles....we have what we call "Jimmy's." You see, rainbow colored sprinkles are just that...sprinkles but chocolate sprinkles are known as "Jimmys." When Jack and Bobby decide to have some late night ice cream, Jack asks Bobby to get the sprinkles. Bobby hands him a jar of chocolate "Jimmys," not sprinkles. A boy from New England should know better, but the Hollywood based production would have no clue about the difference between chocolate and rainbow colored sprinkles / "Jimmys". Otherwise, the movie was good.

The movie "The Rat Pack" is definitely unexpected and that is not necessarilly a good thing.I saw the movie soon after hearing that the surviving rat pack members did not want any part of cameo appearences in the Ocean's Eleven remake because "their Rat Pack was able having fun (and making movies in the process and that the "new" Rat Pack for the movie is just a bunch of "non-friend guys" to make a buck)". Maybe this was just rumor and I'm sure the quote is a bit off, but still THEY WERE ABOUT FUN.Therefore, I was really surprised to see a movie that was anything but fun. If anything this is a political biopic. It focuses on an older/aging Sinatra and how he loses his friends my not playing with the rules. This is an interesting twist and I could see it being interesting if you are looking for it.In all I guess the movie shows that (and how) it could be said that Sinatra played big and won big (in Casino logic), but he kept playing big and eventually the house took him.Aside from being a "non-fun" movie (I mean I can deal with educational or mind-provoking, but) the actors or at least the make-up is just off. Half of the rat pack does not appear to look like the Rat Pack. I just cannot buy that Dean Martin is in the movie and Frank Sinatra is even a Stretch. Don Cheadle on the other hand does a great Sammy Davis Jr. and the true bits about his life are at least interesting.I must have missed something at the beginning of the film though as I could not tell if the movie was a flashback or just during the turbulent period of the Rat Pack's life.I guess I'd recommend the parts of this movie that deal with the fun aspects of the Pack (the movies and the singing). The "Ocean's 11 (1960)" snipits are great, but I would not take a gamble on the rest.Rating: 5

I enjoyed "The Rat Pack" and especially liked the portrayals of Sinatra and Davis by Ray Liotta and Don Cheadle. Although this is an HBO movie, it is entertaining and not predictable as expected. Being a fan of the genre may help to enjoy this film, but it isn't required.