As Good As It Gets

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

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

I enjoyed this film very well. Michael Caine and Sidney Poitier played very powerful roles. This movie is about finding friendship during a time of hate. In South Africa it was apartheid, a type of segregation between the whites and the blacks. A revolutions named Shack Twala(Poitier) gets released from prison and he his lawyer(Prunella Gee) were about to celebrate along side with her boyfriend Jim(Caine). However, during a check, they are accosted by the constable(Nicol Williamson). Both Shack and Jim attack the South African Police and they are wanted. The police are criticized by their superiors for their actions. Both men and Rina take action on finding the leader, and some diamonds that are missing. The safari chase is amazing. It was funny when Rina lead the police in the chase, half- dressed. They would help her find her estranged husband(Rutger Hauer) to fly them out of the way. When they got the diamonds, there was two complicated factors: The Indian couple were involved in treachery within. The diamonds they found turned out to be fake. The revolutionary was nice when the natives used all their might to ground the helicopter. This movie is entertaining. I enjoyed it very much. 5 stars.

"The Wilby Conspiracy" is a strange film--there's no way around that. Now this isn't to say it's bad, but its unpredictability and very unusual plot left me feeling a bit bowled over by the whole thing.The first portion of the film looked a bit like a re-working of the Sidney Poitier-Tony Curtis film "The Defiant Ones" and according to IMDb, the studio played this up to the hilt. Portier has spent the last ten years as a political prisoner in a South African jail and has just received his release. As he and his lawyer and Michael Caine (who has no discernible reason for being there) leave the court, they are attacked by police and he and Caine beat the crap out of the two cops. Naturally, this is NOT going to make the rest of the police happy and the two men are now on the run. But it's not exactly like the earlier film--they are NOT handcuffed together and the don't hate each other.The film abruptly changes and moves into very strange territory. It then becomes a film all about the smuggling of diamonds to the rebels outside of South Africa. And, for much of the rest of the film there are plots, counter-plots and a lot of action near the end. It's all pretty interesting--just not what I'd expected. And while it is obviously an anti-Apartheid film, the message is a bit lost (at times) in the process. In other words, it's not as clearly anti-Apartheid as later films such as "A Dry White Season" or "Biko". This isn't a complaint--more just an observation about the overall tone of the film. I did enjoy it--it certainly was entertaining. My only complaint is that there were two sex scenes that seemed to have absolutely no reason for being there. I am not a prude--it just looked a bit sloppy and pointless. Still, with the rest of the film being rather strong, this can easily be overlooked.By the way, if you care, this is Rutger Hauer's first non-Dutch film.

Certainly any film set against the backdrop of South Africa's apartheid policy is grave, but this thriller is a bit too pat to really be recommended. Sidney Poitier is a recently released political prisoner who involves his lawyer (Prunella Gee) and her disinterested boyfriend (Michael Caine) in a plot to smuggle diamonds out of South Africa (to someone named Wilby). All three principles are terrific, but the script they're saddled with is at times too convoluted and at other times full of holes. It takes an inordinate of time to understand what's going on so the viewer ends up confused rather than intrigued. There are gaps in logic, both minor (how does Caine, without even looking for it, know the location of the side entrance to a building he's never been to?) and major (how does a dead man end up in Caine's trunk?) With Kenya subbing for South Africa the movies has some stunning photography and a great score by Stanley Myers. The supporting cast includes a young Rutger Hauer, Persis Khambatta and producer Helmut Dantine as a shifty prosecutor. Best of all is scenery chewer Nicol Williamson as the crafty cop trailing Poitier and Caine. Directed, blandly, by Ralph Nelson, whose wildly inconsistent output included the great LILIES OF THE FIELD, REQUIEM OF A HEAVEYWEIGHT and CHARLY as well as such oddities as EMBRYO and THE WRATH OF GOD.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Poitier made "The Defiant Ones" about a black man and a white man on the run together and "Something of Value" about the strife between Great Britain and its colonies in Africa. Here he takes part in a sort of cross between the two, a story about a South African rebel who is thrust together with a British playboy, both of whom have to fight for their survival on a 900 mile trek to Johannesburg. Having just been released from prison on prior rebellion-related charges, Poitier is immediately targeted and mistreated, causing Caine (the boyfriend of Poitier's attorney) to step in and help. Thanks to oppressive law enforcement officials, the pair must flee the area and attempt to escape the country entirely. There's more to the story, however, as British Major Williamson locates them, yet allows them to keep traveling, perhaps having a grander scheme in mind. When Caine and Poitier reach Johannesburg, they become embroiled in a plot to unearth some decade-long buried diamonds with the aid of Caine's girlfriend Gee, shifty Indian dentist Jaffrey and his attractive assistant Khambatta. The story continues to turn and develop, eventually involving Gee's estranged husband Hauer, until Williamson's intentions are finally made clear. Poitier is intense and committed but not without a hint of humor. He also plays a scrappier character than he often was permitted to play rather than the immaculately tailored and clean ones he frequently portrayed. Caine does an excellent job and has good chemistry with Poitier. He's given more sarcastic or otherwise funny lines to deliver and does so adeptly. His ne'er do well character begins to display some deeper sense of feeling as the film progresses. Gee is, at times, unbearable. Sporting an unflattering shaggy wig (in all but one scene) and overemphasizing her lines obnoxiously, she comes close to messing up the film several times. Fortunately, she has a few lower key scenes that help somewhat. Williamson is excellent and provides plenty of interest as well as menace. De Gooyer makes for a very nasty little sidekick. Jaffrey is amusing and sad all at once while Khambatta is sultry and surprisingly dangerous. Hauer, looking impossibly young and blonde, plays a perfect jerk. Possessing a decidedly blunt point of view, some viewers may find it unpalatable at times, but it remains fascinating nonetheless. Some of the broader comedy aspects might have been better left out or toned down as they sometimes spoil the tension. Some technical ineptitude (including a heavy reliance on questionable rear projection and a downright ridiculous use of speeding up the film) mars the production slightly. There is a wince-inducing sequence involving a power saw in a machine shop. Another impressive scene includes an entire section of a town working together to smuggle supplies onto a bus. The film is at its best when it focuses on the relationships between Poitier and Caine and that duo against Williamson. It falters a little when shoddy effects and the inappropriate acting of Gee take center stage. Filming took place in Kenya rather than in South Africa itself. Khambatta, a former Miss India, would soon appear (with shaved head) in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture."