Pretty Good

As Good As It Gets

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This tale of two Korean War Vets and their return home to Indianapolis is apparently supposed to be a harsh critique of mainstream American life in the 1950s. As the two young men try to find a deeper meaning to life and to do what makes them truly happy, they are constantly confronted by the heavy hand of conformity. They want to be unique individuals, but everywhere they turn, they are pressured to be "normal", to not date Jewish girls, to join a Protestant church, to take a desk job with a respectable business.The problem with this movie it that it greatly overplays its hand. The church figures, anti-Communist activists, and stereotypical Midwestern parents that it so harshly criticizes are unbelievable caricatures. The result is that instead of successfully nailing its intended targets, the film plays out almost like a right-wing parody of a left-wing attack on Middle America. It therefore fails mechanically. However, strictly as a piece of entertainment, it certainly has its moments. And the anti-conformity message, which I agree with, isn't completely ruined by the overdone writing and acting. Bottom line: the movie doesn't work, but you may still find watching it an okay way to spend an hour and a half.

Is there really a need to re-examine the seemingly worn-out subject of the plain, skinny guy looking for his heart's desire while his hunky jock buddy gets all the girls with little effort? Yes indeed, and Mark Pellington's "Going All the Way" takes a harder look at just that theme while adding a little humor and dark pathos to the mix.Based on the novel by Dan Wakefield (who also wrote the screenplay), this film hopes to show another side of the familiar topic of very different male friends who emotionally lean on each other through the trials of dating, this time set in post-Korean War middle America. Servicemen "Sonny" (Jeremy Davies) and "Gunner" (Ben Affleck) had gone to the same high school but haven't seen each other in quite a while when they meet on a train returning to their native Indianapolis. Sonny is the soft-spoken, non-athletic ex-photographer who did not see action, while Gunner is the handsome, ex-all-around-jock ladies man who served in Korea. Gunner has returned a changed man after his contact with Zen Buddhism (!), which has made him rethink his vacuous high school and college years and wants more out of life, partly explaining why he befriends the likes of Sonny, who he wouldn't have paid much attention to in the old days.The root cause perhaps of their emotional differences is that Gunner, besides having the typical charmed life seen in other films of this genre, has a very hot, free-spirited, with-it but bigoted mother, Nina (Leslie Ann Warren), whereas Sonny's parents (Jill Clayburgh and John Lordan) are rather plain, unexciting, very religious and controlling. Back home, the guys have fairly sophisticated personal conversations at bars, and Sonny even teaches Gunner about photography, something that interests the latter because he has some artistic spirit to express. They soon become fast friends.After a while, Gunner begins to question his sex-based relationship with ex-high school sweetheart DeeDee, who wants to get married because she is already 23 years old, after he meets the intellectually stimulating and physically delicious Marty (Rachel Weisz), who is a Jewish (gasp!) art student who inspires Gunner to dabble in abstract painting. Meanwhile, Sonny has gone back to his old sweetheart, the aptly named Buddy (Amy Locane), with whom he has sex--in his religious parents' house, no less!--but for whom he has little passion; it is a comfortable relationship of convenience that Buddy wishes could be more but who doesn't press him on it. However, when Sonny ends up meeting Marty's gorgeous, sensuous friend Gail (Rose McGowan) and is convinced she is "the one," he is exceptionally funny and charming, mostly due to excessive liquor, but has trouble "performing" when they get down to business. The troubled feelings caused by this setback, combined with Gunner's impending trip to New York City to follow after Marty and to start a new life there, sends the already rather emotionally fragile/unstable Sonny into a depression, causing a chain of events that the two will not soon forget.Sure, the basic premise of the film is a familiar one, but the performances and production values are what kept my attention. Davies' rather odd acting style adds an effective extra layer of pathos to the troubled Sonny, and Affleck is quite on the mark (despite a couple of distractingly anachronistic mannerisms) for what we are looking for in a smooth and handsome Gunner type. Clayburgh is completely believable as Sonny's over-the-top-sweet but covertly manipulative mother; however, I would have liked to see more of Warren, whose scene-stealing Nina was a great mix of sex appeal and shocking ignorance. Filmed in Indiana, the movie has nice outdoor scenes, unobtrusive sets (although the abstract painting at the museum is fabulous) and a fun score that add to the overall effect, with the exception of the opening tune which actually came out three years after the setting of this movie! "Going All the Way" is no 10-star film, to be sure, but the earnest efforts of cast and crew come through sufficiently that it is worth your while to give it a look. This is a character-driven film that asks you to open your heart and, although set in the 1950s, examines one aspect of the human condition that we can relate to even today.

saw this after reading the novel, (was forced to due to a college class) and i found this to be a rather decent translation. (much better than talented mr. ripley) It maybe your stereotypical stupid teen movie (eventhough the characters are not teenaged) Jeremy Davies was perfectly casted as Williard 'Sonny' Burns. Ben Affleck also makes a decent 'Gunner'the use of red in the film also made it more enjoyablei'd say its a 7/10 (but a 9/10 in the category of novel to movie film adaptations)

Caution May contain spoilers.Frankly, I found this movie interesting but more than a bit unclear, unbelieveable and confusing. I had no trouble believing Jeremy Davies as Willard ‘Sonny' Burns, the returning vet with a nerdy high school photographer past. I also had no trouble seeing Ben Affleck as the ex jock BMOC. However I didn't see why these two became friends. I became convinced partway through the movie that much of what we were seeing was the imaginings of an unhinged mind. First, there is the inexplicable friendship of Sonny and Gunner. Then, Sonny's 1950's straight-laced girlfriend comes to give him a morning quickie in his god-fearing parents' home. Third, his mother brings home a hulking ex-con, now religious zealot who suddenly appears in Sonny's room when he starts masturbating. Add in Sonny's apparent suicide attempt (was this edited down in the version I saw?). Altogether I was convinced that most of this film was happening in Sonny's head and that Ben Affleck's character was a figment of his imagination. Then the tone of the movie seemed to change and maybe we were just seeing a somewhat confused coming of age story.By the end of the film, I was just confused. Perhaps there was no disturbed mind at work here. At least not in any of the characters.