... and I really enjoyed "The Sun Also Rises". This film is scripted as though the writer ate a heavy dinner and fell asleep while reading Hemmingway, with the resulting nightmares being this film. The story is about a group of four pilots released by the service at the end of World War I that, instead of going home, hang around in Europe drinking heavily and wasting their time with a woman even more annoying than the overall experience of watching this movie - Nikki (Helen Chandler). Ms. Chandler seems to be doing a bad imitation of Billie Burke here. While Ms. Burke was always interesting and whimsical in her roles, Nikki is just a simple and rather flippant ditz whose act gets old in a hurry.
Just knowing the background of the film I know where this story is trying to go, but there is no context to let you know these guys are numbing themselves to forget the war and anything that might matter. Instead, you are left with man-child behavior and dialogue that would make Judd Apatow blush. Every time I think any two of the characters are going to finally connect in a meaningful way and have a real conversation, there's a knock on the door - I cringe - and, sure enough, in come those darned wingmen, prattling on and on about nothing. Only at the end is there anything close to a successful attempt to tie everything together in a touching scene between ex-pilot Cary (Richard Barthelmess) and Nikki. My recommendation is to steer clear of this one.
Just knowing the background of the film I know where this story is trying to go, but there is no context to let you know these guys are numbing themselves to forget the war and anything that might matter. Instead, you are left with man-child behavior and dialogue that would make Judd Apatow blush. Every time I think any two of the characters are going to finally connect in a meaningful way and have a real conversation, there's a knock on the door - I cringe - and, sure enough, in come those darned wingmen, prattling on and on about nothing. Only at the end is there anything close to a successful attempt to tie everything together in a touching scene between ex-pilot Cary (Richard Barthelmess) and Nikki. My recommendation is to steer clear of this one.