Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Powerful

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

For those with an IQ above room temperature and for whom reality is important I'll only comment that this John Wayne movie is one of his best. It contains the innocent fun of the US in 1963 and is a straightforward film with a straightforward story and, contrary to those with some sort of liberal axe to grind this film is exactly what it was intended to be, i.e., 91 minutes of fun with a decent look at one of my favorite places on earth Kalapaki Beach, Lihue, Kauai and the Duke in his prime.

DONOVAN'S REEF is an unusual social commentary comedy set on one of those idyllic South Seas islands that you only ever find in old movies. At least there are no cannibals in this one. The story sees a bunch of ex-pat Americans wreaking havoc in the era as they try to keep secrets from one another and court beautiful women.I watched this as part of a John Wayne kick and I have to rank it as one of his lesser efforts. Wayne is his typical self but the film doesn't really do much with his character. Lee Marvin has some funny drunken scenes and Cesar Romero is always a welcome presence in film but the movie as a whole is a bit of a slog, made when director John Ford was on his last legs. It didn't give me much reason to laugh.

This movie is a lot of fun to watch, the scenery is great, the singing lovely, the people beautiful, the characters interesting and the performances are very good too. My major problem with this movie is the casting of the two youngest children of 'the Doc' and Manulani - Sarah and Luki were in no way children of the Doc and Manulani - Leilani looked the part and played it well but Sarah and Luki each had at least one Chinese parent. They could not have had an Hawaiian mother and a Caucasian father. The visual clash really interfered with their being presented as Leilani's siblings. The two child actors did well - but couldn't overcome their appearance. Trying to pass them off as half Hawaiian and half Caucasian was really an insult to them and their own heritage. My other problem with it was the spanking scene - I know, those kinds of scenes were in several movies of that time period but even then I found the 'it's okay to spank a woman to get her to behave the way you (the man) want her to behave' was objectionable. Other than those two issues .. an entertaining movie.

Donovan's Reef is a most peculiar creature.You might call it a romantic comedy, because that is probably the strongest thread running through it. Then again, there is a large element of knockabout farce involved. At the same time, it makes some quite serious points about racism, albeit it does so in a way which was reasonable at the time but which, seen from a modern viewpoint, almost reinforces a racism viewpoint (the Japanese residents of Haleakaloa, for instance, are very stereotyped). And you might also think of it as a travelogue, because it makes full use of the beautiful Hawaiian locations. It's also worth observing that, viewed from 2010, it is pretty sexist, too - all a woman needs to bring her into line is a good spanking followed by a good kissing, and all that! But for all that, it is a good natured film, and it has a warm heart. Wayne delivers the character we have seen in so many westerns, Lee Marvin and Caesar Romero overact dreadfully (but, to be fair, they are required to), Jack Warden is the conscience of the film, and the sinfully underused Elizabeth Allen (she had a successful TV career, but this was her highest profile film) is its heart. I also very much liked Jacqueline Malouf as Lelani, in a performance of maturity beyond her years, bridging the gap between the inconsequentialities of a child on the brink of adolescence and the dignity of a princess born.I simply enjoy this film very much, and I treasure it for the moment when Amelia shows that she has worked everything out, and welcomes Lelani as her sister, one of my all time favourite movie moments.