Sorry, this movie sucks

Powerful

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

I'm a bit perplexed regarding what to say about this movie. First off, I think I enjoyed it more when I saw it years ago than I did now. But I think that was mainly because of the choice of songs. Cole Porter wrote all sorts of songs, but the movie goes for the particularly witty and urbane choices, including a number I hadn't heard before.The style of the movie has giddy improvisational style, as actors often seem to be chatting amongst themselves or making quiet asides. This is true not just in conversation, but in song as well, and it's clear the intention is to make the songs work as a continuation of the story and the characterization. It's an interesting approach that I found somewhat likable in conversation but not so much in songs, because it often completely trashes the melodies.Unfortunately, Bogdonavich was apparently of the opinion that a musical requires very little musical talent. Reynolds is a decidedly poor singer. Shepards can at least carry a tune, but it's hard to imagine anyone casting her as the lead in a musical who wasn't dating her. The supporting players do better. None of them are great singers either, but Eileen Brennan, John Hillerman, Madelein Kahn and that guy no one's ever heard of all understand how to sell a song. They would make great second bananas behind actors who were strong singers (or dancers, as was the case with Astaire or Kelly musicals), but instead they overshadow the leads, which is a little sad.The story is simple, essentially a matter of flirting and coupling among the four. Then ending is unsatisfactory.I've heard there are numerous edits of this movie floating around, and that some work better than others. I saw the version released on VHS, which is apparently neither the best nor the worst version out there. (I've heard the best version is on Netflix and DVD.)This isn't as terrible as some people claim, and it has some nice touches throughout, but it comes across as a bit of a vanity project in which a director with no experience in musicals nor much sense of what makes them work decided to put his girlfriend in one.

Peter Bogdanovitch is obviously in love stars and being among them - the starrier, the better.After a while, some of his films like this one seem to feel like "us" (the stars) vs "them", (the unanointed audience). He seems to have assembled a sure-fire formula for success - the glitziest supported by a Cole Porter score. The problem, of course, is that the singers can't sing or dance at all. What in the world was in the mind of the director. He was star-struck - that much is completely obvious - but it ended up that the stars were stuck. So was the audience.Curtis Stotlar

A horrible attempt to do a 1930s musical with 16 Cole Porter songs. Burt Reynolds, Cybill Shepherd, Madeline Kahn and Duilio Del Prete (no--I don't know who he is either) play two couples who fall in and out of love for two hours. Is this a good movie? No--it's terrible. A prime example on how NOT to do a musical. However it IS lots of fun to watch.The 16 Cole Porter songs are shoehorned in clumsingly. They come out of nowhere and come across as more (unintentionally) funny then charming. The songs themselves are great but (with the sole exception of Kahn) nobody can sing! Reynolds and Shepherd try but can't pull it off. Del Prete has a THICK Italian accent that makes most of his lyrics unintelligible. Kahn manages to pull it off. The dancing is worse than the singing. Kahn and Shepherd are tolerable but Reynolds and Del Prete are embarrassing! Those two guys look like they're stomping not dancing. The plot is stupid and thoroughly predictable. The dialogue is even worse. As for acting--Reynolds is obviously not taking any of it seriously and is having fun with his role. Too bad the audience isn't! Shepherd is just terrible--blank-faced and unfunny. Kahn was a wonderful actress but she looks lost here. Dep Prete tries--I mean he REALLY tries--but he's a terrible actor.On the plus side Eileen Brennan and John Hillerman are funny. They can't sing or dance either but they take their pathetic dialogue and wring what humor they can out of it. Mildred Natwick shows up briefly and jump starts the movie giving a wonderful performance. Also the film looks incredible--the sets are stunning and the costumes are beautiful (even in the crappy full frame version FXM shows).Still this is a terrible musical. At first you just sit there stunned at how horrendous it is--but then you start laughing. By the time we got to the unforgettable powder room sequence with Shepherd, Brennan and Kahn singing and dancing I was in hysterics! I taped this off FXM. The version is terrible--faded color, full frame and I'm missing the last few minutes--but it's a keeper. A real camp classic!

One thing a movie musical should not do is come to a grinding halt when most of the cast members begin to sing, but that's exactly what happens in Peter Bogdanovich's fitfully entertaining film. An homage of sorts to the sophisticated musicals of the 1930s where high society types live, love and break into song (usually written by the Gershwins or Irving Berlin) and dance. Instead of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Edward Everett Horton, we get Burt Reynolds, Cybill Shepherd, and John Hillerman...and Madeline Kahn, Eileen Brennan and somebody named Duilio Del Prete. Not necessarily lacking in talent, but this crew, with the exception of Kahn, show absolutely no musical capabilities. Reynolds looks the part, with Gable-esque mustache and tuxedo, Shepherd is undeniably charming and both Hillerman & Brennan are great comics, but Bogdanovich really sets them up for failure, having them sing (croak in most cases) a slew of Cole Porter songs and dance around lightly to mask their lack of ability. The film is not REALLY bad, but it is bad. There's cinematography by the great László Kovács, art direction by Gene Allen and a few clever wisecracks (delivered in most part by Brennan). There are a few colorful cameos by the likes of M. Emmett Walsh, Liam Dunn and Mildred Natwick, as Reynold's energetic mother.