Simply Perfect

Memorable, crazy movie

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Orson, we hardly knew ye, thanks to this rendition...Well, we THINK we know what you were trying to say (put a diaper on pet monkeys?), but how will we ever be sure? How disappointing to have to sit through what could have been a great plot, ruined by overly dramatic accents (from French and Southern U.S. to Spanish) and the actors' mumbling/poor movie sound value in general. It made this film impossible to follow, let alone let viewers differentiate who was who and how to sort out each connection. That detail alone leaves a viewer playing with the remote's volume to try and catch all the insinuations and/or real plot points. These actors ALL need diction lessons, and the mix of the "cast"--bad choices--was annoying, annoying, ANNOYING. NO chemistry whatsoever, especially with that French reporter--UGH--she needs to find a new "career." What a waste of a powerful vehicle. And don't get me started on the incontinent monkey--WTF was THAT all about??

This is a murky story of politics, scandal, sex and deception. Sounds like it should have been a great film, but it wasn't. The basic plot was sound as we might expect from Orson Welles. But the way it was presented was too disjointed and abstruse. Without reading the original script, it is hard to tell if the responsibility for this lies with Welles, Oja Kodar (who did the adaptation) or George Hickenlooper, the director. I suspect it is the latter two.The biggest problem I had was character development. By the end of the film one should reasonably expect the pieces to fit together. Good character development should give us insight into the characters' motivation. I found this lacking. The flashbacks didn't really help us to understand the motivations of the characters as much as they should have. It seems that the brothers voluntarily switched identities, since Billy was wearing a name tag that said "Romero" on his uniform when he left to go to war. So, Blake really didn't steal his brother's identity as it appeared. This wasn't made very clear.There were lots of loose ends here. What motivated the limo driver to do what he did? Was it a need to be close to power, or some personal vendetta? Who knows?From a directorial and cinematography point of view, the film was far too dark, that is, underexposed. I'm certain they were trying for that look, but it made the photography look as if it were shot on 30 year old film of poor quality. Also, the audio was very bad. It was very difficult understanding a lot of the dialogue.William Hurt was miscast in this role. For certain films, his puling, self tortured style of delivery are appropriate to the character (Big Chill, Broadcast News, Children of a Lesser God). However, in this film his character required a more dynamic and confident portrayal, which he was unable to deliver.Nigel Hawthorne gave the best performance as Kim Mennaker, the Senator who brought the boys up. His ability to portray the old political warhorse, seduced by the trappings of power was excellent.Irene Jacob gave a good performance as Cela, the reporter with an obsession for the candidate and the truth behind him.Overall, the whole was less than the sum of the parts. The presentation was ponderous and uneven and the direction mediocre at best. Worth a 5/10. If you are looking for political campaign stories, there are better choices (Primary Colors, The Candidate, with Robert Redford).

It might seem hard to imagine that a movie based on an Orson Welles script, starring William Hurt, Nigel Hawthorne, Natasha Richardson and Irene Jacob couldn't get a theatrical release. Get a snootful of ten or fifteen minutes of this flatliner and you'll understand why. The movie does make one contribution to Welles scholarship: it proves once and for all that in the case of the superhuman Welles, the words of the page were not the main event.

I happened on The Big Brass Ring on Showtime while channel surfing, knowing none of its background. I commented to my wife about the wonderful acting and stunning script. I was a little embarrassed to find out it was written by Orson Welles, but I would pay that price anytime to see such a wonderful film.Does Welles have any other material hidden somewhere? One can only hope. In the meantime, if you haven't seen The Big Brass Ring, do see it: superb acting, terrific direction, a thought-provoking plot. TV isn't all drivel, after all.